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Valentine was quickly snatched into the convenience store by Pori, he assumed she was just trying to protect him. Though unbeknownst to him, he wasn't the one that she was protecting. As he glanced around he saw a messy area, clothes piled up in the same area, food that was collected, boxes, and other things, this girl was a slob if he ever saw one. Granted he couldn't blame her considering the world had just gone to shit and she clearly didn't know how to use her inventory.[break][break]

"Oh, you've been in this area for quite a while, huh?" Valentine asked as she was clearly familiar with the slime's movement patterns, she had to have been observing them for quite some time. Considering the young girl looked like she had been for quite from time, Valentine wasn't surprised especially when she could become a slime herself to blend in.[break][break]

"Nope, I've avoided them at every turn, I try not to get into fights with monsters unless absolutely necessary," Valentine said with a shrug, after all, he was a scout, and a scout's job was to observe, to find leads, and then inform the rest of the party.[break][break]

[attr="class","landtag2"]Pori[TAGGED]

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Valentine nodded, considering what the girl said was pretty spot on, it made a lot of sense, especially if she could blend in. It would allow her added protection and the purpose of being able to gather intel and food.[break][break]

"Hm, why there? Sounds like a cool place," Valentine said, inquisitively, he still didn't know a lot of the places that the waygates in the hub could take you. He had only gone through a few and quite frankly it was still strange to him, these gates that can transport him from one place to another but considering he had a class that could take him through different realms, and move his consciousness around. So when he thought about it, it wasn't that shocking, but still strange nonetheless considering just less than a week ago he was living a normal mundane life.[break][break]

After waiting a while, Valentine took out another drink, chugging it down as Pori drank her own, eventually, she said it was time for them to explore for signs of his sister and he jumped up with a pep in his step. He jogged out alongside her, then he noticed she was spot on about the slimes, finding that her methods of observation were correct. She clearly had studied the slimes movement patterns. Valentine let a smile rest on his face as he moved. [break][break]

"That's fine my class can allow me to scout out the building beforehand, I'll just need you to watch my body... I'll fall asleep for a moment when I use my ability, and I can't do it in battle." He said as he moved, speaking the words quickly and to the point. Though the warning was definitely noted, he could scout out buildings but only things his physical body would be able to see if he was looking at it, he had no night vision or anything of the such. [break][break]

Then he heard a voice, a loud scream, and the sound of an electric guitar sounded out, what the hell was that?[break][break]

[attr="class","landtag2"]Pori[TAGGED]

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“Ah, okay,” Valentine said the pieces coming together, now to mention of the place made sense. Although he did have a couple others questions about it. “Any reason for that place in particular, what kind of place is it?” Valentine said inquisitively. He wanted to know why Pori had chosen that place instead of Seoul. He wondered how much information she had known about it, why she even wanted to be in a place, not to mention just having information about the place could potentially help him in the future. [break][break]

Another cry sounded out, Valentine wasn’t sure what the hell was going, “what the hell is that?” He said curious wondering if they should stop so that he could scout out the area. [break][break]

“I wouldn’t know, I doubt so, but things are different now…” Valentine said, the world had been flipped upside down. For all he knew his sister could’ve gotten a class that made her more spontaneous, more impractical. He didn’t know anymore. Everything was just a serious of one unknown after the next and if he was being truthful with himself it was beginning to grate on him. [break][break]

They rounded area as another guitar cord was heard. Valentine found a spot that looked like it would provide good cover. He lent down on one knee and lowered his head finding that doing so often helped keep his body steady, and in a prone position that would allow him to immediately move if he were to be in trouble once returning to his body. [break][break]

“I’m going to use my ability, it’s astral projection so it’ll look like I’m sleep but while I do it my body will be defensive. Do me a solid and watch my body until I wake, by then I should know more information,” Valentine said as he closed his eyes letting his astral body float out of his physical body. The ethereal body of his unseen by all lifted from its body, making its way through the sky. He lifted high enough to see beyond the body by making his body fly around in a 360 degree circle, trying to find where the noise was coming from, once he spotted it he would have to observe to see what came next.[break][break]

[attr="class","landtag2"]Pori[TAGGED]

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"Hm, I guess that makes sense," Valentine said, and he meant it the reasoning was sound just not fleshed out very much at least from what he had heard. Certainly, a place with higher risk meant growing stronger faster, but sounding spooky, after what most people went through in their tutorials, he didn't think that such a thing would deter others. Nor did he think that at the moment humans would be more afraid of each other than the monsters than ran amok.[break][break]

Valentine flew from his physical body onto the astral plane, lifting his astral form higher and higher into the sky, eventually, he'd come across a scene of a blond guy surrounded by slimes playing on a guitar. However, instead of just throwing a concert for the slimes, it seemed like magic or something was coming from the guy. Though it seemed like the energy only built as he was consistently playing well. Perhaps it was something to do with his class. He seemed to be combating the slimes that were coming at him, many of them were coming from what looked to be every crack and hole in the wall one could see.[break][break]

The slimes were diffrent too, with red lights for eyes, and murky insides. The guy seemed to be fighting outside of a theater, perhaps he was someone put to stand on guard, to protect it. Valentine didn't care enough for others that he was willing to rush to his body just yet, the slimes seemed rather weak so he figured the guy could hold out for a little longer. First, he needed to see what was inside the theater, thus he flew his astral body through the wall into the theater doors, to glance around and see what came next. [break][break]

[attr="class","landtag2"]Pori[TAGGED]

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Valentine's ethereal body floated amongst the skies, slowly steady and ever-present, from above he could see the blond guy was starting to get swarmed by the slimes. Valentine, simply starred down, he was a scout, yes, but his job was to observe, though this guy had been in a shit position, it wasn't his job to save him, his moral compass was always steered more towards the grey, more towards self-preservation, and the fact of the matter was, this guy wasn't strong enough to hold out for help. The number of slimes far outnumbered him and Pori both.

Swarms/packs/ group monsters were some of the worst to be around, something like slimes, something one would think is cute and innocent were in truth some of the deadliest monsters. They were hard to kill, at least that's how most games had them be, Valentine had no fire, no way to burn the slimes, he knew Pori could become a slime, but hers looked different from the slimes he could see below. Even if she was able to distract them by becoming one, would they accept her simply because she was a slime, would they not hold some kind of prejudice? What if they turned on her, then he'd be down an ally, and would be endangering himself as the slimes would swarm his direction.[break][break]

The shaking of the theater walls was a welcome sight for his attention, rather than having to watch the boys end and see where the mass of slimes moved next he could search further into the building. With a simple exert of his will, Valentine began moving his astral body through the walls into the theater. He found himself staring down at what seemed to be liquid, so much filthy water, that it looked as if he was staring at a swirling pond of sewage. The chairs, trash, and rocks seemed to swirl around within this mass. Valentine adjusted his view, leaning his astral body forward and floating upward to get a better birds eye view, could then see that this mass of sewage was a large slime. Not just any, as it seemed to birth new slimes with a force of effort, but unlike her, the baby slimes had glowing red eyes, he watched as they escaped moving throughout the ruined foundation itself. Then from the side, he could see a skeleton was set free from the confines of the slime. Valentine had no doubt that whatever had happened to the person in that dress, was the same as what was about to happen to that boy.[break][break]

Alas, Valentine felt there was nothing they could do about it, besides try and create a distraction for him to get away, but that was far-fetched, and the boy would have to depend on his own power to do so, and judging by how he had already faltered, proving that he could not maintain his strumming to use his power properly, Valentine doubted he would be able to do just that, but as he peered down at the slime, seeing it regurgitate new child after child, he had a thought run through his mind. What if these slimes had a hive mind? Do all these slimes coordinate based on instinct, or are they controlled? Regardless, of what it was, they clearly had a hierarchy and a purpose. Seeing that skeleton, the trash, and letting Valentine know that the slime was a creature that ate everything in its path indiscriminately, and as a scout, it was his job to avoid that path, at least until they had a plan of action to take care of it. [break][break]

He had a find musings of how to do so tickle, his brain, but first, his duty was to alert Pori to what was ahead. The longer they stayed in this area, the closer they were increased the risk of being attacked by these creatures. Thankfully, Valentine's abilities linked his astral body to his physical for when he was astral projecting, he was asleep, and in being so he often became immediately aware of his surroundings. Which would be his alarm to return to his body with even faster haste, if he said slimes had begun to move in on them. Returned to his body feeling as if he had gathered a proficient amount of information, for now. Valentine would let his astral body sink into his physical. His eyes would flutter open, he lifted his head softly from the ground before turning to Pori to speak. [break][break]

"I found out where the music is coming from, there's a guy whose class uses it to deal damage, he was fighting the slimes, but he's pretty much a goner now. I think we can avoid the slimes if we head in the opposite direction of that theater down there. Do you have anything better mapped out?" He said, waiting for Pori to respond, if she didn't have anything mapped out for the area he could always scout again, however, felt like getting a direction of movement was the most important matter to discuss first. [break][break]

He continued onward to say, "there's a field boss over there, a huge slime, unfortunately, the boss is protected by a hoard of slimes. All that can use ranged attacks, they seem... polluted," Valentine said, giving a small pause before continuing, "I have a plan, we could possibly kill that slime, but not right now, we need supplies first, and I doubt we have the strength to those things down as is." Valentine said, glancing at Pori, waiting for her response.[break][break]

[attr="class","landtag2"]Pori [TAGGED]

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Valentine nodded to Pori curious as to what the girl would say, then she informed him that we should be able to avoid those slimes if we stuck to certain alleyways. Valentine smiled with glee, knowing that they had an escape route that would be all that was needed if they could find the other components of his plan. In most manga and anime he had seen slimes were usually weak to either fire magic or electricity, if they could ensure both then the plan he had might work. The best part was, was that he could get most of the things he needed just by visiting a gas station or an auto parts store. Though he'd prefer to find both. [break][break]

"Alleyway it is," Valentine said, with a smile. He was already in a crouched running position he was ready to move as soon as she wanted to. He glanced around at his general area, trying to get a better feel for the environment in this city. If the apartments around here had some type of outside balcony or ladder that could be used to get the high ground and a better view of their surroundings. [break][break]

"Field boss is basically gaming terminology for a boss in certain fields. You can just think of them as a boss monster that has a certain area for its territory," Valentine said, listening in as she continued to speak about the slimes being polluted. Though he wondered what that meant for slimes in general. Was this the kind of slime creature that could take on the properties of the things they ate like the kind in a manga? He didn't know, but he did hope either fire or lightning would help kill the slimes.[break][break]

"Oh good, then we'd need to find a gas station, and possibly a car hardware store, do you know if there's any of those near here?" Valentine said, prepared to move whenever his young companion decided to lead the way. [break][break]

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