The Furball

Stung

It was early afternoon in Tahrongi when I arrived, having traveled north from Sarutabaruta and into the Kolshushu region. The whole canyon was covered in a thick carpet of dark clouds, and I kind of missed feeling the gentle touch of the warm sun. It isn’t raining at least, I said to myself. There was an eerie silence lingering throughout the area, and I felt kind of lonely to be honest. Sure, I had my linkshell to keep my company, but I’d much rather have someone accompany on my adventures in Tahrongi.

I walked over to a ledge, scouting the area to make sure I wouldn’t run into a grumpy goblin. Just below me there was a few bees flying busily from plant to plant, collecting nectar to make the most delicious honey. A few feet away was a lonely mandragora, walking around in an frivolous manner. I sighed, thinking how much I’d want to hug it. Mandragoras are just so cute, and it is sometimes hard to resist the temptation to just pick them up and carry them around. I have no doubt in my mind that they would make an effort to slap you senseless before you even knew what hit you.

I carefully unsheathed my katana, sneaking up on a lone bee. Once again I looked around me, making sure I wasn’t followed by any beasts. The coast was clear, so I took a deep breath while raising my katana. Hyaa~, I called out as I slashed through the bee, dealing a considerable amount of damage. The bee, startled by the surprise attack, took off into the air. I took a step forward and thrust my katana forward, hoping to pierce the bee’s hard cover, but missed completely. The bee took a turn and came directly toward me, raising it’s sting and thereby preparing to injure me.

I narrowly escaped it’s sharp sting, hitting it with all my might to push it away from me. A Critical Hit! The bee took another turn, flying around me instead of away from me this time. With three steps backwards, I was able to distance myself from it enough to anticipate it’s next attack. The bee flew towards me, preparing a final sting. I clutched my hands around the grip on my katana, took a step slightly to the left while I rotated my body to increase the power and speed of my attack, cutting right through the bee. The bee dropped to the ground, flapping it’s insect wings a last time before it passed into the next world.

When the Goblin Attacks

I looked around carefully, making sure I wouldn’t be spotted by a nearby group of Yagudos. I had been caught by surprise by a Scribe and an Initiate earlier in the evening, and I was sure the others would be looking for them by now. A group of feather~faces wouldn’t normally be much of a hassle, but things could easily get ugly in my current state.

I groaned in pain as I cleaned a wound on my arm, pouring some distilled water mixed with some herbs over it afterwards to cool it down. Stained blood was covering the whole sleeve, and I was a bit sad that since it was one of my favorite shirts too. I’m sure my Moogle could clean it, but right now I was more worried about my own well-being than the shirt. I carefully looked through my pouch, hoping I had a flask of antidote left. Guess I should stock up soon. Only two left, I said to myself while I unscrewed the cork on the antidote and drank it. I also applied some pressure to my arm using some linen I had tucked away in my satchel.

It was early morning by now, and the first few birds had started chirping. Apart from a few clouds lingering on the horizon in the north-west, just over Tahrongi Canyon, the sky was pretty much clear. I enjoyed the clear morning air, full of moisture from the Pamtam Straits.

The pain slowly faded away, and I was relieved that the antidote I took was able to cure the poison. I got up on my feet and started to sneak behind a nearby tree. A goblin was patrolling the path, mumbling something to itself. Their high pitched voices make it hard not to laugh when you hear them, but I suppose that’s rather rude. I somehow feel very sorry for the mandragoras when I hear their squeal as they fall to the ground unconscious.

Stop!
I turned around, surprised by the sudden call. A goblin had snuck up on me from behind, and was charging toward me. I unsheathed my katana and prepared to battle. My arm was feeling a little better, but I wasn’t completely rested still. But a beast couldn’t care less about such details. It thrust it’s rusty dagger toward me with a grin on it’s face. Or, I thought it saw a grin through it’s mask.

Oh, no you don’t, I said, parrying the goblin’s attack with my katana, at the same time pushing him away with my foot. I took a step forward, before I launched a powerful attack toward it’s side. The goblin screamed in pain as I struck it. It quickly stepped to the side, trying to sneak in an attack from below, but I could easily anticipate the attack.

I made another powerful swing with my katana, but missed the evading goblin completely. It laughed cheerfully through it’s mask, celebrating my miss. Oh, keep quiet you, I hissed at it. You can not attack me. Finally, the Goblin victory, it said again in their usual quirky way.

The goblin suddenly took three steps backwards, picked up a goblin bomb and tossed it toward me before ducking to cover itself. I meowed in panic as I tried to jump away from the bomb. I barely missed the blast, but I could feel burnt hair from my tail. I hissed at the goblin again, but instead of charging at him, I stood completely still. I closed my eyes and concentrated.

Trick? I’ll go and attack the cat, the goblin said before charging toward me. I slowly raised my katana, waiting for the right moment. Now, I told myself. I just knew when to launch my attack. I struck the goblin twice in fast succession, using an attack I recently learned. Tachi: Enpi, although not very advanced, still does a fair bit of damage. Strong cat. I have no chance, the goblin groaned, falling toward the ground.

Battling by the Oasis

Night had fallen over the lands of Zepwell Island, and a dry wind swept over the dunes. A recent sandstorm had whirled up the sand, making a thing layer much like that of new snow. It was hard moving around on my own, so I decided to rent a chocobo.

Eulaclaire, the chocobo renter, had a hard time breathing because of all the dust, and was coughing repeatedly. Try drinking this, I told her, handing her a bottle of freshly made Melon Juice. The girl’s face lit up with joy and astonishment, surprised by the random kindness of a stranger. Than… thank you, kind madam, Eulaclaire said, showing her appreciation by telling me I would get the next ride for free. I shook my head at the girl, telling her that I couldn’t possibly accept such a gift. At least let me lend you my finest chocobo, she said, eagerly trying to return my kindness.

The chocobos found on Zepwell are specially trained to traverse the dunes, no matter how difficult the weather is. The chocobo had golden feathers, and was cheer joy to ride with. Some chocobos have a mind of their own and are easily scared, but even the terrifying manticores didn’t bother this bird the least. Running in the sand seemed effortless to the chocobo, having sturdy yet nimble legs.

A lush oasis appeared before our eyes as we climbed one of the many sandbanks in the dune. I were getting quite thirsty myself, as the temperature in these parts of Vana’diel is intense to say the least. I found myself sweating, even though it was only night. I could only imagine how hot it would get during day.

My party, which was waiting for my by the outpost, spoke a language I’m not at all familiar with. Using a magical auto-translator, developed by the moogles some hundred years ago, we laid out the battle plan. It’s quirky at best, but I suppose it gets the job done. And although we didn’t speak a whole lot to each other, the party worked out quite well. The experience wasn’t all that good, but at least we got some bonuses from partaking in various training regimes using Fields of Valor.

We concentrated our efforts around fighting the goblins that had set up their camps around the oasis as well. Every now and then the Bard brought a Manticore, a fearsome monster that could very well knock someone senseless with a single attack. We did quite well, but I think some of people I were partying with overestimated me as the Bard didn’t sing any ballads for me at first. Sure, I have Sublimation, but that will only get you so far in an area where monsters dish out so-called, Area of Effect attacks.

Watch out, the tank suddenly yelled, having no means to stop the goblin from chasing after me. Oh rats, I said, watching in horror as the goblin swung it’s blade at me. Everything suddenly went pitch black, and that’s all I can remember.

You okay? a friendly tarutaru asked. I sat up, and my throat was really dry. What happened? I asked. You got beataru by a goblin, he answered. I looked confused, as I had no recollection of what had just transpired. The party~warty dragged you here, he comforted, that was some fancy moves, but you better~wetter be more careful.

I suppose using Accession and a high level regen spell—or even a cure for that matter—is a bad, bad idea. At least till I can stack up some more enmity- gear.

Slowly Learning

A loud clank rolled through the cavernous tunnels. There was a spark of light as mighty swords struck the soft, protective shell of a Worker Crawler. The yellow and black vermin fought back aggressively, swinging it’s large head at us. The antennas on it’s front head acted like a whip with spikes, causing extra damage as it thumped it’s head against us.

Our feline tank hold up well against the crawler, occasionally blocking it’s steady attacks. The crawler suddenly turned around, facing Yasko, a linkshell friend of mine. It closed it’s mouth for a gobbling on something while staring angrily at Yasko. Look out, I cried out, but my warning came too late. The crawler spewed a silk like substance toward Yasko, hitting a tarutaru damage dealer standing behind her. Eww, she cried disgusted. The silk was slowing their attacks down, and I felt sorry for them. I could only imagine how it must feel to be covered in something icky like that. I closed my eyes, trying to cast a spell to remedy the silk. I started molding my mana into a curative spell to completely remove the detrimental effect, but the spell failed completely. I’m sorry, I just can’t cast Erase at this level, I told my party, saddened by the limitations put forth by Level Sync.

Eat this, our tank hissed at the crawler, grabbing its attention. She lashed the crawler into the ground with her sword, provoking the monster even further. The crawler got back up at it’s tentacle-like feet, hitting the tank with a big swooping motion. Our feline friend bashed her shield into the crawler, stunning it for a moment. The crawler looked worn out, and it’s attacks had slowed down considerably. This ought to do it, Yasko said, launching a powerful combo on the crawler. The crawler fell over, whimpering in pain. The party cheered, having defeated the crawler. Now let’s get the next, our tarutaru Thief said eagerly, running off into a tunnel looking for more crawlers.

I had set out to get four levels that day, but ending up getting five. I was overjoyed, having now become a level 48 Scholar. What wondrous adventures lie ahead of me? I wondered.

The Student

The colibri was attacking my party’s tank relentlessly, clearly agitated after having been shot upon by one of our rangers. It appeared to be hovering mid-air, moving it’s wings at an unbelievable speed. I tried not to pay too close attention to the wings, as I get easily dizzy when looking at fast moving objects like that. The wings move so quickly in fact, that it gets hard to concentrate, and over time my eyes grow tired. Unfortunately, it’s a trait that me and my feline friends share, as our senses are much more developed than certain other races.

The bird was pecking and scratching out party to defend itself, but our tank was determined and blocked the attacks very well. Our tank retained the colibri’s attention well, and as the main healer I had no problem keeping up with the cures. I closed my eyes, drawing the mana power within me forth, and transformed the energy into a curative spell. I opened my eyes, piercing through the intense battle and focused my sight on the tank. Be healed, I whispered to myself as I raised my hand, drawing out the power I had just accumulated, before I pointed at my hand toward the tank and directed the spell toward him. The tank was engulfed in light, and I could clearly see the spell heal the wounds that the colibri had inflicted.

My party had set our camp up in the Ronfaure past, at a camp that I had quite frankly never seen. The experience was good, and we all quickly gained our levels. I looked around me, and found large beetles walking around, eating on the bark from the nearby trees. They seemed to enjoy their meals so much, and I was happy that they weren’t aggressive in any way as I sure wouldn’t want to be the one being eaten.

Sadly, though, the camp wouldn’t provide enough experience for me to stay there for very much longer as I’m growing stronger and I’m slowly being able to cast more and stronger spells. And even though the battles, intense as they were, aren’t particularly hard, I eagerly await the day I can wear my scholar’s uniform. But I have still a long way to go before I deserve to wear such garments.