"What's your name, guy?"
"Huh?" uttered Thierry as Isidore and he meandered between hills of rocks and snow. "My name?" questioned Thierry. He then recalled Isidore and his meeting. "Oh, yeah. I did forget to introduce myself!" he realized.
"Mhm," confirmed Isidore in a hum. As he did so, he continued to look and walk ahead. "So. what's your name?"
"Thiery Zagré," answered Thierry. "And you?"
"I already told you that it's Isidore Michelmore!" snapped Isidore. He then huffed. "But Zagré, huh?" he mused. "I think I understand now,"
"Huh?" questioned Thierry. "Understand? Understand what?"
"Why you suck at this game!" exclaimed Isidore as an explosion occurred! The hills bloated as a balloon inflates and then popped into rocky spikes! At the same time, a fog of snow enveloped Isidore and Thierry and hampered both of their sights! So neither Isidore nor Thierry were able to perceive the spikes as the spikes soared towards them!
"An ambush?" realized Thierry in his thoughts. He then braced himself for impact with the spikes, expecting and preparing himself to be pierced instead of struggling to defend himself or evade. Thierry then felt coldness followed by wetness. Not because he was hit by the rocks and wounded. But rather because he was grazed by an explosion of water!
"Burst: Aqua Hammer!" chanted Isidore as he deflected the barrage of spikes with a surge of water. As Isidore did so, he blew away the fog of snow and flattened Thierry and his surroundings! "Always expect to be ambushed when you're in a field!" advised Isidore as the dispersal of the fog revealed a dozen enemies where the hills had been.
The enemies were porcucolls, enormously fat and hairless rodents whose immaculately white bodies were dotted with frosty and jagged stones. Thierry could not help but gawk as each of the porcucolls' stones began to branch like a bush and then grow into a hill around the porcucolls. Eventually, after having covered and flattened themselves, each of the porcucolls appeared to be a hill. But they also had gun barrel-like and hollow rocks elongated from them and in all directions.
"A dungeon is a stronghold, but a field is a wilderness! So the enemies of the fields are predators, not warriors!" stressed Isidore. As he did so, an eruption of ice poured out each of the porcucolls' gun barrels and towards Thierry and him!
As the icy jets streamed towards Thierry and him, Isidore hooked an arm around Thierry's waist and then spring into the air! Subsequently, jets slammed into each other where Isidore and Thierry had been. This caused an explosion of the ice into a flat-topped but otherwise jagged tower, just in time for Isidore and Thierry to land atop the tower.
"So in a dungeon, the enemies will await your challenge or intrusion! But in a field, the enemies will ambush you or even hunt you!" stressed Isidore to Thierry. He then backflipped off the tower and over a porcucoll.
"Bang!" exclaimed Isidore as he came to be directly over the porcucoll and upside-down as well. Subsequently, Isidore's right forearm bloated into a bulge of muscles and then shifted into the head of a draconic and sapphire serpent! Afterward, a gurgle of water accumulated within the head's maw and then detonated into a directed explosion of steam!
In an instant, the porcucoll was broiled into a melt as it was hit by the steam! It then exploded from the melt's swiftness, splattering its fellow porcucolls as it did so! The porcucolls cried in horror and pain as they were drenched in their fellow's burning-hot remains, allowing Isidore to finish his backflip and land into a crouch.
"H-his arm! H--how did he do that to his arm? H-h-he really is an enemy!" gasped Thierry from atop the tower. Thierry then watched Isidore about-face towards the other porcucolls as he arose into a stand.
"I'm a draconewt, remember?" laughed Isidore. He then crouched for a moment before springing into a sprint, dodging a beam of ice as he did so. Subsequently, Thierry cried in fear and surprise alike as beams of ice flew around him and shook the tower as the tower was struck by them! For in their fit of terror and their fury of vengeance, all of the porcucolls were firing powerfully yet randomly!
"Because of that I can partially or even wholly assume the form of an aquatic dragon!" clarified Isidore as he leaped over a blast of ice and then landed into a leaning skate in order to duck a frosty stream! Isidore then rolled sidewards in order to kick off the ground and into a sideward somersault!
Subsequently, Isidore altered his right forearm from an aqua dragon's head into an aqua dragon's tail! Isidore then applied his sideward somersault as a means of lashing his aqua dragon's tail! In doing so, Isidore smacked a porcucolls with the equivalent of a tungsten whip! This smashed the porcucolls into a barrage of bullet-like giblets and pelted the other porcucolls with those giblets!
"We enemies don't have apparel and weapons like you NPCs and PCs! Instead, we have an Ability and a Type! And my type, draconewt, allows me to fight like this!" continued Isidore as he landed onto the tips of his toes and then slid into a stand on both of his feet. Isidore then approached the living porcucolls with a stroll and a swing of his aqua dragon's tail into whiplashes. Despite all that he had already seen, Thierry could not help but gasp as Isidore also converted his left arm into another aqua dragon's tail and then began to lash that tail as well!
Afterward, a porcucoll eyed the ongoings with terror as barrages of ice were blocked by the lashes and frosted the tails. Because the frosty tails became more forceful as the frost made them more weighty! As such, when Isidore neared and began to whip the porcucolls, the porcucolls were blasted into explosions of jagged mincemeat! Eventually, the eying porcucoll realized the battle was lost and retreated in terror. It hopped like a rabbit as it raced away, desperately fleeing the suicide that it had unknowingly committed itself to.
"I don't think so!" heard the porcucoll an instant before its life was over. For during that instant, Isidore had pierced the porcucoll with a pair of tail thrusts! "Finish what you started!" he yelled as the flung the porcucoll through the air with a lash and then smashed the porcucoll into pieces as he threw it into the icy tower. "Oopsie," squeaked Isidore as he collapsed the tower and dropped Thierry into a tumble. "My bad!"
"You did that on purpose!" complained Thierry in a whine. He would have continued, but he dropped face-first into the ground and then a roll as well. "Owie!"
"Did not," insisted Isidore as he reverted his forearms into their base and humanoid state. "Either way, if you're actually a Zagré, you probably haven't been in a dungeon or the fields very much! And that is why you suck! You don't know how others or even you fight!"
"I do not suck!" growled Thierry. But then after a huff, he began frowning instead of growling. "But what do you mean by, 'if you're actually a Zagré'?" he questioned.
"That's not important," asserted Isidore in a yawn, earning himself the growl's return by doing so. "My cave was a dungeon, y'know?" added Isidore. "If you had encountered any other enemy in that situation, you would have died!" he warned. "Died! Died! Died died died died died di-"
"I get it!" hissed Thierry. "I get it, alright‽ So shut up!"
"Then stop acting tough and get tough!" huffed Isidore. "Listen up newb, nobody likes an escort mission! So I am going to teach you how to play this game!" he announced.
"How could fighting be a game to you?" murmured Thierry. "You know that you can die, right?" he warned.
"Of course I can die!" spat Isidore, much to Thierry's surprise. "But, well, an NPC wouldn't understand!" he spat next.
"Uh huh," snorted Thierry. "Sure you freaking psychopath,"
"Either way..." huffed Isidore. "...your ability to fight is determined by 3 things," he stressed. "For an enemy like myself, it's Ability, Burst, and Type! But for NPCs like you, and PCs as well, it's Apparel, Burst, and Weapon!"
"The actions that you can perform come from your attunement with your apparel and or weapons," asserted Isidore. "An enemy like me is always and automatically attuned with its Ability and its Type, but NPCs like you and PCs can attune with and divorce themselves from any apparel and weapon that they equip themselves with!" he explained. "This is why your equipment is important!" he exclaimed. "If your equipment is not powerful, you will not be powerful, understand‽"
"Yes?" answered Thierry, hesitantly. "I think?"
"Then take this," demanded Isidore with a lift and show of his hand. As Isidore did so, a sword appeared atop his hand's palm! The sword exhibited a double-edged, lengthy, straight, and tip-less blade. It also exhibited a cross guard with rose-shaped quillon tips, a 2-handable and ergonomic grip, and a cuboid pommel. Notably; the blade, the rosy tips of the quillons, and the pommel were all a dull roseate. While the grip and most of the quillons were a lustrous white.
At first, Thierry eyed the sword with suspicion. After all, Isidore had conjured it from either nothing or nowhere! But eventually, Thierry sighed and took the sword. As soon as Thierry grasped the sword's grip and lifted the sword off Isidore's palm, Thierry learned the name of the sword. It was the Gelid Rose, a 1 out of a million chances drop from the porcucolls that Isidore had just slaughtered.
"Feel the name that it has spoken to you and remember that name with your soul," urged Isidore to Thierry. "That is how you attune with it and make its power yours!"
"Remember with my soul?" asked Thierry in a murmur. He then hefted the Gelid Rose overheard and repeated the Gelid Rose's name in his thoughts. "Like this?" he questioned as the Gelid Rose's blade glowed and then infected his irises with that glow. Eventually, the Gelid Rose's blade and Thierry's irises dulled. At this point, Thierry lowered the Gelid Rose and then moved to sheathe the Gelid Rose. Immediately, a scabbard appeared at Thierry's side and attached to Thierry's breeches. Then the scabbard fitted the Gelid Rose and then held the Gelid Rose as Thierry released the Gelid Rose's grip.
"As to be expected from an NPC," chuckled Isidore as an aura of cold emanated from the Gelid Rose and enshrouded Thierry in a barrier of frost. Neither the aura nor the barrier chilled Thierry. Instead, the barrier empowered Thierry with healing. A healing that affected Thierry in an anesthetic manner as it broke Thierry's knees and then mended them into an efficient and functional state. "You're a natural," hummed Isidore as Thierry was healed. "You attuned perfectly,"
"Anytime you attune with an equip, you get an Action," noted Isidore with a point at Thierry's knees. "Actions can be active or passive. An active Action costs Action Points, your AP, to execute. While a passive Action executes itself as soon as it's equipped and lowers your AP max by a certain percentage," he continued in a hum.
"AP?" mumbled Thierry as he awed at his healing and enjoyed it by marching in place. "What's that?"
"Everyone, enemy or not, has Action Points and Health Points," answered Isidore in a sigh. "Also known as AP and HP respectively. It costs AP, either an amount of it or a percentage of its maximum value, to perform an Action. When you get your final and second attunement, I'll explain the cost of executing an active Action to you," he promised. "For now it's best to ignore that since you don't have any active Actions,"
"So I can just heal now?" asked Thierry. "Infinitely? Really?" he questioned.
"Not exactly," admitted Thierry. "That action does not heal damage, but rather, it heals wounds," he stressed.
"Aren't those the same thing?" asked Thierry. "When you're damaged you're wounded, yeah?"
"If you have already bled out, there is no point in sewing your wounds, yeah?" cooed Isidore. Thierry blinked and then nodded. "It's like that," he stressed. "When you take damage, you lose HP. And you're wounded as well. That sword will heal any amount and severity of wounds, though at the cost of lowering your max AP. However, it won't cancel damage. It won't give back the HP that you have lost,"
"All healing affects damage or wounds but never both," stressed Thierry. "The damaged that caused your knee problems was probably healed a long time ago but the wound persisted, yeah?" mused Thierry. "You have to differentiate between damage and wounds when healing in order to truly heal someone,"
"You know a lot about a lot, don't you?" realized Thierry. "Who are you?"
"As I said, I am the enemy that's going to become the final boss!" declared Isidore to Thierry. "So of course I have been studying up," snorted Isidore as he faced and walked away from Thierry, waving for Thierry to follow. "We'll need potions, I'm sure, so let's continue onward,"
"Alright," agreed Thierry as he followed after Isidore, without any of his former limp or slowness. "Thanks,"
"Unfortunately, while Actions and Bursts may be cool and powerful, it's not the best idea to spam," added Isidore as Thierry and he continued their journey across the hills and towards the mountain. "Because, remember, Actions and Bursts cost AP in 1 way or another. And your AP has other uses that keep you from sucking in a fight,"
"How many times are you going to insult my combat prowess?" grumbled Thierry.
"Until you stop sucking," admitted Isidore. "But either way, check this out!" requested Isidore. He then arranged his right hand to have a bent index finger and ring finger alongside an outstretched thumb, index finger, and little finger. Afterward, Isidore positioned his right hand in front of his left shoulder and then slid his right hand back to his right side.
As Isidore's right hand slid from his left to his right, a dot appeared at Isidore's left and then expanded rightward to form an oblong. The border of the oblong was both colored gold and stylized as the branches of a flowering tree. While the interior of the oblong was hued with silver but mostly translucent. Floating inside the area of the oblong was both printed text and, at the bottom right, the scripted text of Isidore's handwritten signature.
"On the first menu of anyone's Screen is their statistics," explained Isidore as Thierry awed at the Screen with a look over Isidore's shoulder. "Here are mine,"
«Name» - Isidore Michelmore 「イジドア ミシェルモア, Ijidoa Misherumoa」
«Type» - Draconewt
«Level» - 16
«Status» -「SEALED」
«HP» - 160「Max: 160」
«AP» - 40「Max: 160」
«Disciplines» - Statistic「Assignment」
«Affinity» - 24「0」
«Condition» - 24「20」
«Dexterity» - 24「0」
«Exertion» - 24「20」
«Movement» - 32「20」
«Perception» - 32「20」
«Synergy» - 32「0」★FAVORITE★
«Ability» -「SEALED」
«Burst» - Aqua Hammer「アクア ハンマー, Akua Hanmā」
"It cost me 20 AP to destroy the cave and those knights with my Aqua Hammer," noted Isidore as Thierry observed and read his Screen. "The Aqua Hammer that I defended you and myself with cost 5 AP. And Dracoshift, my innate power as a Draconewt-type Enemy, also cost me 5 AP per shift!" he added. "So abusing my Actions as I have has cost me a total of 40 of my 160 AP!"
"Then shouldn't you have 120 AP left instead of just 40?" asked Thierry.
"Well, I always keep half of my AP assigned to my disciplines as boosters," answered Isidore with a point at the boxed numbers beside his statistics. "Your disciplines have values that can be increased when you level up, but you can also boost those values with assignments of your AP," he revealed. "I always keep my Condition, Exertion, Movement, and Perception boosted for defensive purposes. It's because of the boost to my Perception that I was able to detect and react to that ambush while you didn't notice a thing!"
"By the way, these are your statistics..." continued Isidore. As he did so, he about-faced toward Thierry and ceased his stroll. He then arranged his left hand to have a bent thumb, index finger, and little finger alongside an outstretched index finger and ring finger. Afterward, Isidore positioned his left hand in front of his right shoulder and then slid his left hand back to his left side. In doing so, Isidore opened Thierry's Screen into a stack atop his Screen!
«Name» - Thiery Zagré 「ティエリー ゼイガー, Tierī Zeigā」
«Race» - Fulling
«Level» - 1
«Status» -「HEALTHY」
«HP» - 4「Max: 10」
«AP» - 9「Max: 10 - 10%」
«Disciplines» - Statistic「Assignment」
«Affinity» - 1「0」
«Condition» - 2「0」
«Dexterity» - 3「0」★FAVORITE★
«Exertion» - 2「0」
«Movement» - 2「0」
«Perception» - 1「0」
«Synergy» - 1「0」
«Attunements» - 1 of 2
. Gelid Rose「ゲリッド ローズ, Geriddo Rōzu」
. EMPTY
«Burst» -「UNDISCOVERED」
"As you can see, compared to me, you suck," cackled Isidore as Thierry gawked at his Screen in disbelief. "While I am Level 16, you are Level 1. And while I have assigned AP to boost my disciplines, you haven't at all!"
"A-a-at least I am healthy while you're sealed!" spat Thierry.
"You were crippled just a few minutes ago!" countered Isidore. "You would still be crippled, and dead, if it wasn't for me!"
"Shut up!" demanded Thierry. He then balled his hands into fists. "Damn it! Damn it!" he cried. "Why am I so weak‽"
"Don't fret," yawned Isidore. "You'll be strong soon enough," he promised. "After all, you're a companion of the future final boss now!"
"I don't even know what that means..." grumbled Thierry. "...though, for some reason, I feel that I should,"
"Come on," urged Isidore as he dismissed Thierry and his Screens by downwardly swiping them. "Let's collect those ingredients and brew those potions, okay?" insisted Isidore. "Then we'll gather and hunt ourselves a meal. Other than AP conversion and potions; drinking, eating, resting, and sleeping are the only ways to fix that HP loss of yours,"
"AP Conver-"
"I'll get to it when I get to it!" interjected Isidore in a snap.
"Alright, alright!" huffed Thierry. "Jerk,"
"Hmph," huffed Isidore in turn. Isidore and Thierry then fell into silence as they furthered their journey to the mountains.