[attr="class","framed69"]

[attr="class","biglowe69reescroll"]

[break][break]



"Lost..." Elara had left early to ensure she could if nothing else be on time, but found herself using some of the extra allotment to sight-see a little. The countryside here was gorgeous, packed with hills and moody forests alike, though she'd expected it to be more wet in general. A bit of rain would have been nice. Instead she had no real excuse for getting as off the path as she had, given that this whole gamified system had a mini-map with markers to tell her exactly where to go. No, Eel had just been plain distracted by the scenery, and once by a pair of song thrush. The sight had made her a little homesick.



[break][break]



It was a nice late morning by all counts, and by the little clock on her interface that she would anxiously pull up whenever she felt like she was going to be late again. Normally she'd take her own time, but this mission she'd accepted for some much needed experience. Granted, the briefing had been kind of vague; Elara wasn't even sure what kind of experience there was to be gained by 'touching grass'. She wandered down a winding forest path and out into open fields, again. She appreciated the clouds, she took a deep breath of a kind winter's breeze, then braved the open ground towards a silhouette crouched nearby.



[break][break]



Elara found herself uncertain as to whether she should call out, feeling anxious to break the general silence of nature, but not wanting to sneak up on another person. She settled for somewhere between and called out a probably too-quiet greeting of "Hi there." Eel wasn't sure if she'd been heard but continued moving up regardless, her eyes catching a swarm of movement further away, which put her in mind again of this new Earth that had monsters and such roaming it. "Hmm." She hummed nothing in particular to herself before giving a "Howdy", now at a more reasonable distance to be heard, noting the phone in the other person's hand; Elara didn't even realize phones still worked, and was kicking herself internally for not having grabbed her own that night before she was ceremoniously apocalypsed.



[break][break]



"I think we're working together today, though I'm not really sure on what..." Elara shuffled awkwardly in place, eyes moving between the group of what seemed to be living gelatin and Lottie before settling a gaze on the other woman. "Elara, or Eel if it's easier." She pulled a hand from the pocket of a deep forest-green fur-lined coat and offered it in greeting, giving a weak smile. Meeting new people always made her a little nervous, but hopefully having a commonly-agreed upon goal would smooth things out.


[break][break]



"Apologies if I was late, I got a little lost." She continued shuffling, conspicuously shifting weight from one foot to another, noticeably admiring Lottie's styling while doing her best not to compare it to Eel's lack of fashion sense.

[attr="class","big69"]

[attr="class","framed69"]

[attr="class","biglowe69reescroll"]

[break][break]



Elara was immediately awash in what to her was a kind of intensity. There were stern folk, people who had a very serious aura. There were those who were angry, keyed up for any and all reasons. And then of course there were people who were cheerful, turned to eleven and excitable. There were many other kinds of people Eel might consider intense, but the last of the examples seemed to apply to her new partner for the day. It wasn't a bad thing by any means; Elara found an appreciate for people who could be upbeat, and was more than happy to ride the wave of that energy. It just wasn't typically Eel's thing, and it was a mood she often had to adjust for. She was glad at least that her awkward handshake had been met.



[break][break]



Lottie wasted no time diving right into conversation, but Elara found herself dwelling on the nickname comment for maybe a few seconds too long. Was 'Eels' cute? She guessed it could have a certain charm to it, but it was a nickname born more of practicality, a combination of First and Last name into a succinct little package. Granted, she certainly hearing Wendy call it. Elara felt an impulse to respond immediately and give Lottie a nickname, but her first idea was just 'A Lot', and to some people that could probably come off like an insult? Even if Elara didn't mean it as such. She'd brew the nickname ideas a bit more. She continued waiting for a natural break in the conversation to respond, but just found herself nodding, doubly so at remarks to the loss of the internet. A quick "Oh, yeah..." was all she managed, and it might have just seemed like an agreement to the mission being 'exciting'.




[break][break]



Then the crunchy part started, talk of class details and ability designations. Elara had been no stranger to game mechanics- more specifically video games and even some tabletop in her time, but had found less and less time to spend on it as her career had picked up, and as it had dwindled had started to pick up the old hobbies again in those last few months before her life good and truly fell apart. She'd poured over her own stat block a good bit and found herself with that crippling anxiety of where to move from there, fearing advancing in a non-optimal way given that failure to build her skillset well could literally lead to death. You could say Elara had never wanted to Try Hard up until her life was on the line.



[break][break]



"So you're kind of a bruiser, then? That's pretty rad." Elara found herself warming up a little, her conversational skills coming back to her little by little. She smiled. "I'm sort of a front-liner too, but in a more... I guess, scary way?" Eel was still kind of learning how to conceptualize her own abilities, and hadn't yet really had to explain them yet. "I fight in close range, I'm not particularly defensive but I can heal my wounds and attack nearby enemies with a desiccated ghostly face. I make them feel guilt and remorse, and I can use it on allies too to remove negative effects. The guilt seems to hit allies too, though. Oh, and I can make items. Haven't messed with that one yet. All-in-all I'm good on the frontlines, but I guess a little better on the outskirts, picking off high-priority targets."



[break][break]



She was feeling self-conscious now, talking so much about herself. Elara looked down at her hands and pretended to exam her nails, then fussed with the zipper of her jacket, wondering if she should zip it up to at least give off an appearance of collectedness. "Mmm, so a few slimes at a time then seems best for us, if that's our goal for now." She gave a little half-smile and a shrug, still feeling fairly uncertain, but inside she was hoping she could impress.

[attr="class","big69"]

[attr="class","framed69"]

[attr="class","biglowe69reescroll"]

[break][break]

"Hey, we can work this out..." It didn't seem to matter- the vanguard slimes pressed forward as the greater pack retreated, and Elara was left briefly considering what a turquoise-green slime might taste like. Did the different colors have different flavors? She wanted to imagine it would be a crisp lemon-lime, but maybe it was closer to a green apple? No, most likely it was an acrid flavor like some sort of cleaning chemical or digestive fluid, but a girl could dream.

[break][break]

Turning to her companion for the day, Elara was feeling anxious at the new arrivals, but prepared herself anyways. Nothing could prepare her for the sudden and complete absence of Lottie, however. “Um, did she run away?” Elara made an exaggerated gulp but entirely on accident and felt her skin get a little warm, sweating a little. This had already been a tall-ask for a mission for two, at least by Eel’s estimation, but for one…

[break][break]

“I might be screwed!” Still, there was a job to do, as much as she hadn’t wanted to hurt these slimes. She pressed forward slightly and the front-most slime adjusted in turn. Maybe just a bit of a tussle- no death involved- would be enough for Earth-chan? What was touching grass if not garnering life experience? “Alright Gloopy, you and me.”

[break][break]

Elara activated her ability by giving her best glare, her face taking on the form of an emaciated skull of cervid shape, eye sockets hollow with milky white globes, teeth filed as if on metal or bone, antlers cracked and broken in places. It was all an illusion of course, and the slime apparently saw through it enough to continue readying an attack. Thankfully Elara’s Anathema was two-fold, and while it hadn’t stopped the slime from leaping into the air in an attempt to bodily crush Eel, it had slowed it enough that she was able to jump back and avoid joining the ground in becoming a crater.

[break][break]

Elara used Anathema - Splat Slime is [Hindered] and [Guilt Ridden]

[attr="class","big69"]

[attr="class","framed69"]

[attr="class","biglowe69reescroll"]

[break][break]

Elara continued to make space while keeping the slime she was focused on in between her and the other two, who seemed prepare to attack. Her arm was in pain, entirely due to negligence, and it seemed the nice weather was fading quickly as dark clouds started to roll in. It looked like rain.

[break][break]

“Alright, a little more then.” The slime was in agreement, or maybe not agreement so much as prepared to continue trying to defend itself and the herd. Brave and admirable behavior from the creature. Elara was hurting but found the energy to carry on for the time being, not wanting to be outdone by the slime. She had no intention of killing the beast, but was prepared to give it a good fight at least.

[break][break]

The slime for it’s part started that odd vibrating posture again, blobbing down into something a little closer to a puddle, likely preparing a third attack. Eel needed to dodge again and kept herself moving. She was getting kind of tired of running around the damp grass but kept up her pace, both eyes on the foe. Then the slime stopped. It wasn’t vibrating, it wasn’t moving. It had halted it’s attack? Elara slowed and tensed- was it going to try something new? Then they made their move, diving toward the woman in a straight line at it’s top speed. It was only due to the previous magical hindrance that Elara was able to dive and roll out of the way, feeling the rush of air as it passed by her and only barely missed.

[break][break]

Elara for her part stood right up into a fighting stance, or what passed for one from an untrained combatant, then lashed out with her non-damaged arm and sent another spectral maw towards the slime. It took another chunk of slime fluid- or flesh? It seemed pretty angry, but not dead, stil sloughing it’s way toward her. “Fine, I’m leaving. Let’s call it a draw okay? We traded some blows, I touched grass. Well, fell on it...” Elara put her hands up and continued backing away, this time aiming to create as much distance as possible. Then she ran. Hopefully this would be enough to satiate Earth-chan, because she wasn’t confident in finishing this fight alone, and even less so in her ability to fight two more of the damned things.

[break][break]

“Hope y’all have a nice day! Sorry about the… yeah.” She released her Core as a show of good faith, repairing a small amount of the damage to her arm in the process. Hopefully the slimes would be just fine.

[break][break]

Elara used Core - Splat Slime takes E Rank Magic Damage and is Guilty, and still [Guilt Ridden] and [Hindered]

[attr="class","big69"]