Turnip
HP 52% | LV. 12 | XP 88% | Col 563
Location - Floor 1: Dungeons
Turnip continued to attack as Illfang's health dropped to the final bar. Boomeraxe flew graciously, hitting its mark time and time again, and Turnip wasted no time in slashing the boss' legs while the axe was in the air.
A problem came, though, when the Kobold Lord switched weapons. He threw his large axe aside, pulling out a long, slender Nodachi. Illfang was now several times faster, and far more dangerous of an enemy. Turnip couldn't say he was surprised. Lots of games implemented similar things to make bosses more difficult as they neared death. Even Monster Hunter, which he'd just been referencing a little while before, had that mist system in place. He still disagreed with the idea that enemies should become far more powerful when they were essentially on their deathbed, and should be weak as hell, but it was fairly widely used. He wouldn't hold it against Kayaba – for now.
Despite the boss' change of style, and apparent difficulty increase, Turnip was surprised to find that he wasn't finding the battle much more difficult. He was in the zone, now, and the fight was nearing its end for sure. The other players seemed to know that, too, and were dealing the final blows, heavy damage raining down on Illfang. Turnip continued at his own pace, and didn't stop the Boomeraxe onslaught until two powerful-looking sword-arts finally reduced the Kobold Lord to pixels.
The battle was over.
Turnip settled out of his boss-battle mindset, scanning the battlefield as a means of head-counting. Everyone he knew, more or less, was still alive since he'd last checked, which was good. There didn't seem to have been that many casualties, though the fact that there had been any at all was somewhat disheartening. Still – the boss was dead now. For the living, the game continues, and dwelling on the dead won't help anything.
A notification yanked Turnip out of his sombre train of thought:
CONGRATULATIONS!
You've Reached Level 13!
"Awwwww yeeeaaaaahhhhh! Sweet." He hummed to himself happily as he clicked through the various menus, checking his increased stats. His experience bar caught his eye. "That much? Damn, that was a whole level… makes a nice change from the regular sod-all."
Turnip closed the final pop-up and looked up again, seeing that the bard, Taka, had quite an ecstatic reaction. All in all, Turnip considered, the poet wasn't a bad guy. The singing was annoying, but he'd tolerate it – Taka didn't seem to be too bad in battle, either. This wasn't Baldur's Gate, after all, Turnip's dislike of the Bard class wasn't really founded in this game, it seemed.
Turnip gave a casual salute to the jovial player, "Glad to have fought with you, too, man. Nice fighting."
It seemed "the group" - of which Turnip considered himself a part of, if on the side-lines a little – was assembling near Illfang's drops, and Taka was moving towards them. Turnip followed suit, noticing the bard was trying to introduce himself.
"Might I ask who you all are?" Taka asked.
Turnip was behind him, but mentioned in passing, "I'm Turnip – vegetable extraordinare."
He'd leave Taka to the rest of his introductions – he was drawn to a loud voice; that shout-y moron from before, Saito.
"A WOMAN KILLING THE BOSS?! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! IT WAS PROBABLY WEAKER THAN W-"
Saito was stopped by a punch from Lucina, generating a cringe-worthy 'smack'. She'd been in the process of handing a box-like mini-chest thing to Kagome – presumably the loot from Illfang. The armoured figure failed to repress his laughter as Saito fell to the floor.
Turnip stepped next to Lucina and Kagome, "Alright, that's probably the best thing I've seen all day."
He was less happy, though, when Saito got back up, and snatched the box from Lucina's arm.
"THIS IS MINE! I DESERVE IT!"
Turnip frowned in response, appalled at the man's actions. This guy was… something. A wide assortment of expletives came to mind, but Turnip pushed them back. He removed Boomeraxe from his belt and gestured to Saito with it, turning to the two beside him.
"So, should I axe this guy's legs off, or-?"
"-I'LL KILL HIM!" Kagome screamed, rushing after Saito.
"Aaalllrighty, I guess I'll leave her to it."
Turnip looked sideways to Lucina, still keeping an eye on the chase, "So what's with the gender-hidey-lying thing,
Adam? If you really want to hide your appearance, I'd suggest investing in one of these. "He tapped his helmet to show what he was talking about, "Just a plain hood isn't really that effective – not everyone's as susceptible to disguises as I am."
Turnip watched on as Godot managed to snatch the box from Saito, landing in rather magnificent fashion. He handed the box to Kagome, and then began lecturing Saito.
The armoured figure continued, "At any rate, though: I don't care, and Saito is a prick. I think that just about sums up where I stand."
Turnip then moved up, approaching Godot, Kagome and Saito. Godot left, giving congratulations, to which Turnip gave a nod of acknowledgement. That left Kagome to serve Saito another punch to the face, which seemed to be a recurring theme. As Turnip approached, he heard Kagome say;
"Whew, that felt gooood. I should hit Saito more often."
"I think everyone should hit Saito more often." Turnip agreed, nodding profusely.
"Really though, good job, you guys. I was blown away by all of the teamwork."
Turnip gave another nod of acknowledgment.
"So... uh... You... do you guys mind... well, what I mean is... um... D-do you guys... well, that is..." Kagome held the box out in front of her. "D... do you mind if I have this...?"
Turnip smirked, "Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want it, but it's yours to have. You dealt the killing blow, after all; at least, I assume you di- wha-?"
He stopped speaking when he noticed Kagome being pushed over, and Saito – back again, the persistent little sod – picking up the box again.
"You cannot be serious." Turnip moaned, readying Boomeraxe as Kagome shouted after the fleeing man, "What the hell is this guy's problem- oh- bloody hell!"
A sword pierced through Saito's stomach, and the player dissolved into pixels. As they cleared, they revealed one of the PKers from the dungeons yesterday – Nirvana – grabbing the box from the floor. Turnip noticed movement to his side, moving past him as a player approached Nirvana – leaping, no less. Huh. She stopped in front of Nirvana and began speaking to him.
Turnip wasn't entirely sure what was going on here, but one thing was for certain – he wasn't letting that PKer get that loot. He launched Boomeraxe at Nirvana's hands; hopefully that other player's presence would distract him from it, and hopefully the axe would do its work in making him drop anything he was holding.
He shouted as an attempt of further distraction, "Murder! Granted, you probably did us a favour in killing that bastard, but still – it's a matter of principle."
Turnip drew Composite Long Bow +1 in his right hand, holding his left out to catch Boomeraxe, which should be on its way back. This Nirvana was trouble, Turnip was sure of it.