he could see starting-level characters bunny-hopping through the ruins as they collected ten whatevers and killed twenty whatsits. For truly of such deeds are legends made.
The first thing he saw when got control of Efthalia was a pretty little medusa sitting under an olive tree. She jumped up and waved, her long, jewel-coloured snakes wriggling excitedly.
Aconite has invited you to join a group: y/n
Aconite is now group leader.
[Group][Aconite]: Hi
[Group][Efthalia]: Hi :)
[Group][Aconite]: Have you checked out the dance animation yet?
Drew /danced and Efthalia writhed in a circle, hips and snakes swaying provocatively.
[Group][Efthalia]: i should probably stop doing that
[Group][Aconite]: Hee
[Group][Efthalia]: thought I’d try ele tanking
[Group][Aconite]: Thought I’d try harnessing the fell powers of the nether realm to rain death and destruction upon mine enemies
[Group][Aconite]: I don’t often get to DPS
[Group][Aconite]: I’m excited
[Group][Efthalia]: don’t get too excited
[Group][Efthalia]: you’re going to have like one spell
Aconite began to twist her hands in mystical circles as dark energy gathered between her fingertips. After three long seconds, a burst of shadow tendrils exploded from her fingertips, dealing seven points of damage to a hapless kitten.
[Group][Efthalia]: !!!!
[Group][Efthalia]: wow you are pure evil
[Group][Aconite]: Bwhahahaha
[Group][Aconite]: Kittens of the world tremble before me
[Group][Efthalia]: probably a good thing youre a healer
[Group][Aconite]: :)
[Group][Efthalia]: we should get a quest
There was dominatrixy-looking medusa called Magistrix Venetezia standing conveniently close by, as if she expected a never-ending stream of young medusas to appear before her, ready to undertake any number of menial and arbitrary tasks. Drew clicked on her and a lengthy text box popped up. Normally he skipped this stuff and went straight to whatever it was he was supposed to be killing, but he was pretty sure Solace would want to read the whole thing.
It turned out that the power of the medusas was dwindling because Reasons, and this meant that all the people they’d turned into stone over the centuries were slowly turning back, but had gone crazy on account of having been statues for hundreds of years. Which meant it was the sad duty of all young medusas to seek them out and murder them in the face. For, like, honour and fate and shit. Drew accepted this noble quest and bounced up and down to signal his readiness to Solace.
[Group][Aconite]: I think there’s another quest over by the fallen temple
[Group][Aconite]: Might as well get them both
The two of them jogged obediently over to the temple where Magistrix Demetria suggested they should practice using the mighty legacy of their once great empire to curtail the damage being done to their fragile homeland by the island’s ravenous fauna.
[Group][Aconite]: So, you want to murder innocent prisoners or turn goats into stone?
[Group][Efthalia]: goats are a menace
[Group][Efthalia]: I was on this school trip once and one nearly ate my DS
[Group][Aconite]: Did you kill it for the XP?
[Group][Efthalia]: I would have done but it was red for me
[Group][Aconite]: Hee
Drew took his questing pretty seriously, so he pulled up the map and plotted the most efficient path between the land of the terrible goats and the lair of the completely nonthreatening prisoners.
[Group][Efthalia]: kk follow me
[Group][Aconite]: Sir yes Sir!
[Group][Aconite]: Lt Goatkiller reporting for duty
[Group][Efthalia]: do have any idea of the penalty for mocking a superior goat killer?
[Group][Aconite]: Court martial followed by immediate cessation of chocolate rations?
[Group][Efthalia]: lol
Drew was grinning as he led the way through the ruins and up a kind of shallow escarpment to where some goats were peacefully grazing.
[Group][Aconite]: Omg, check them out, destroying the ancestral homeland of our people.
[Group][Efthalia]: horny bastards
[Group][Aconite]: lol
[Group][Aconite]: So, strat?
It took Drew a couple of seconds of eying the goats quite seriously to realise this had probably been a joke.
Then he realised he’d left it too long to just laugh, so he had to pretend he’d been going with it all along.
[Group][Efthalia]: kk this is a 2 phase fight
[Group][Efthalia]: in phase 1 we cast the only spells we’ve got
[Group][Efthalia]: then in phase 2 one of us remembers to cast stone gaze
[Group][Aconite]: You actually thought about that for a second didn’t you?
[Group][Efthalia]: :(
[Group][Aconite]: Aww, you’re cute
Efthalia summoned the elemental forces of fire for 2.5 seconds and lightly singed the goat for three points of damage. It lowered its head, and charged her for five points of damage, which was a significant chunk of health.
[Group][Efthalia]: omg nerf goats
Shadows engulfed the goat and it flumped sideways with a despairing bleat.
[Group][Aconite]: Woot! SB crit for 8!
[Group][Efthalia]: Wow, it’s like playing with Bjorn
[Group][Efthalia]: also we were supposed to use stone gaze on it
[Group][Efthalia]: not just keep DPSing like a noob
[Group][Aconite]: :(
[Group][Aconite]: But that’s what DPS do!
[Group][Efthalia]: you