[Group Hunting] Hiding in Plain Sight!

[Aithne]

Sitting up from the area she had fallen asleep, Aithne stretched and let out a small groan. 'Man, that quest really tired me out. I'll have to train if I want to build endurance and survive in this world.' Standing up, Aithne decided that she would go get another quest so she could get more money and maybe think about buying equipment of some sort. Making her way out of the alley she was resting in, Aithne stretched her arms some to loosen her tense muscles. 'Sleeping where I have been isn't doing me any good either.' It was clear to her that she would have to go questing for a while before she was able to live a better life. She didn't want to do quest she thought was boring however. Aithne never liked fetch quests or gathering quests. She was more into hunting and expedition quests. As she returned to the Quest Board, she gave it another look. She didn't care what it was this time as long as she could fight something. Then a quest had caught her eye, due to its description. 'This could be a chance to get along with the Landers and I'll be helping beginners in a long run,' she thought as she decided that was the quest she was going to take. "Five boar skins should be easy," she said to herself as she headed towards the exit. 'Though I can't get over confident so I should probably wait and see if someone else will accept the quest.' This in mind, she decided to abuse the docile nature of her hunt, and decided to wait at an open field with some Young Pittered Boars to see if anyone else would come out to quest with.

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Word Count: 293
Notes: The order you jumped on board is the post order :)
Color #80bfff
Tags: Saber | Eisbaer

[Saber]

A heavy bang echoed down the hall of the inn as Saber forced his door open. He fell out of the room, crashed to the floor, and rolled to the other side of the hall as he stared back into his room in fear. He swallowed hard and clenched his jaw, staring ahead as he watched his Salamander summon waddled out of the room. It tilted its head and squeaked at him lightly, confused, but Saber knew what he did. He knew exactly what the bastard did, or at least what he had been trying to do. The little bastard tried to torch him just to kill a fly, a fly. What kind of logic was that?

“O-Oi. Don’t do that. Okay?” His voice was a bit shaken, and the lizard tilted its head the other direction. It stared at Saber with that confused expression on its face for a short wihle longer before finally nodding and squeaking. It walked over and brushed its armored head against Saber’s leg. A kind gesture, and one that made Saber sigh. His partner was a juvenile Salamander. That much he had learned over the past few days and it didn’t seem like young Salamanders had much intelligence, or any common sense at the least. His partner had resorted to using fire for more annoyances rather than simply biting or using his clawed hand to swipe at things. Having the creature out in areas like this was dangerous but if Saber wanted to bond with it then he had no choice.

Saber patted the Salamander on the head and then returned to his feet. The Salamander huffed at him and then followed as Saber left the inn. He had been staying in this place ever since he had been sucked into Elder Tale and it was probably best to consider his room his permanent residence for the time being. The innkeeper knew him by name and face, and even knew his Salamander as well. The first-time Saber returned with his summon out, the entire inn freaked out and tried to kill the poor thing. Saber was lucky he was good at persuasion or his partner would have been slaughtered. Thankfully that didn’t happen anymore.

Leaving the inn, Saber gave the innkeeper’s daughter a smile and a wave. The old man was usually standing there manning the counter but some mornings he left to restock their food and ale stock. This must have been one of those days. The daughter smiled cheerfully and waved back before returning to her work with another customer. The road outside was quiet compared to most days, but the day wasn’t exactly over yet either. News had spread to other areas about the riots in Londinium so travelers were either overly cautious or never came by at all. Saber didn’t blame them. Even he felt uncomfortable sometimes.

“Good afternoon, Saber.” One of the Guards nodded his way and Saber smiled back. His lizard huffed and whisked its tail at the potential meal. Saber hissed and gave his partner a very gently tap with his boot. The Salamander huffed again and kept moving along.

“Good afternoon, Garug.” Returning the greeting, Saber spoke clearly before passing through the gate. The guards didn’t question his Salamander and one of the younger females even waved to the little guy. The Salamander enjoyed the attention and his tail wagged a few times out of excitement, but Saber didn’t stop so neither could he. Saber didn’t stop at all, actually. He strode through Londnium and headed straight for one of the quest boards nearby. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much. A few people had already gathered and he didn’t doubt that the “better” quests were already taken at this point. Oh well.

The Summoner took a brief look at the board and noticed that there was a girl mumbling to herself about one of the quests. He considered it odd but this wasn’t the first time he had seen someone talk to themselves, and it wouldn’t be his last. He looked at what quest she was eyeing and wiggled his nose. After she walked away, he moved in for a closer look. Skinning boars? That sounded interesting. He had some experience fighting the creatures, and had found that they weren’t particularly powerful or difficult to handle, so maybe that quest was a good choice. He pounded the board lightly with his fist and then whistled at his salamander. The creature looked up at him, his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth.

“What are you…” After remembering that questioning his Salamander’s antics wasn’t worthwhile, Saber elected to not finish asking.
“Nevermind. Fetch.” He pointed at the woman walking away and sent his Salamander after her. He huff and rumbled before racing ahead, pawing the ground awkwardly as he raced after the girl. Saber scratched the back of his head as he watched the lizard casually go in about five different directions before finally making a beeline for the girl. What was he doing…? Saber grimaced and jogged after his renegade juvenile, hoping he didn’t think her food.

…oh.

Saber finally caught up to see his Salamander also catching her. Though, he did so in a very strange manner. The Salamander ran up to the woman, lift his right clawed paw, and then placed it firmly on the side of her left thigh. In doing so, he effectively “tagged” her, but kept his paw there. He huffed and stared at the woman, triumphant in his efforts. Saber sighed and shook his head, finishing his jog as he approached the woman.

“Sorry miss. He’s a bit… adventurous.” As he approached, Saber whistled sharply and the Salamander looked at him. The creature patted the woman’s thigh again and Saber narrowed his eyes. The stare finally got through to the lizard and it quickly lumbered over to Saber’s side again.

“I saw you looking at the quest board and would like to join you, if you’ll have us.”

---

Tags: Aithne , Eisbaer

[Eisbaer]

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The artist formerly known as Constance was done fighting rabbits and prepared to take down larger game. The bigger enemies, such as the young pittered boars, made her wary of approach, but she would have to adjust sooner or later. There would be tougher foes more than twice their size, like man-eating plants or giant spiders. And none of those were very cute. Boars, however… Well, they weren't going to be cute once she was done with them.

Alraune was nestled in the woman's arms, eagerly pointing out adventurers, beasties, or landmarks. Her interest in the quest board nearly resulted in the stripping of several postings. She was still very much an infant, so to speak. Like that wolf pup she lamented on not taking 'til this day. Oh well. Alraune was cuter, besides.

She shifted the young flower girl onto her hip, who she began to lightly bounce in place as she walked. In many ways, Alraune reminded Constance of her nieces and nephews. All the flowers and inhuman appearance, it was almost like taking care of a small child. A small child who would later blossom into a beautiful woman. Those were…very problematic thoughts for her. The flower girl was essentially her adopted child, so it would not be right ethically to be attracted after the blooming. And surely it was wrong for other reasons…

Constance paused, keen eyes picking up an abnormally large lizard heading towards a girl. Behind it, a young man followed. If she had to guess, she'd have to say he was a summoner or at least a mage class. That class appealed to her originally, but she switched for the sake of playing support for her group. They hadn't exactly expected her to stick around for long, however.

The young flower wiggled her leafy arms at the ridiculous salamander. Out of all possible things to be enamored with, she had to pick the one thing that could firebomb her into oblivion. Not the young boars, or the unattended girl. But the wingless dragon. Constance took the hint, however. If there was ever a good time to hop into a boar slaughtering party, now was the time. Unfortunately, the apparent ages of her soon to be companions looked to be in the teen range, like most of the players she'd met so far.

The woman's self-consciousness doubled as she remembered the flower girl bouncing on her hip. She fought it down and steeled her nerves as she moved towards the trio, free hand awkwardly lifted in greeting. "Hello. Hope I'm not interrupting anything, but if you need a third for a quest, I'm more than happy to oblige." She longed for the day her Alraune upgraded from a sprout so that she did not have to feel like a "mom".

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∝: 466
✏: ---
@: Aithne Saber

瑤光

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[Aithne]

As she headed towards the field, Aithne was thinking on how she would approach the boars when her teammates were to arrive. 'Maybe they will catch my before I get there, ya never know,' she thought to herself as she sudden felt something on her left thigh. Stopping for a moment, she looked to her leg. 'A Salamander?' Turning to the creature, Aithne smiled some. Though Aithne had not played the game, she felt as if the Salamander did not mean any harm. "Where did you come from?" she asked the creature. Almost as if to answer her question, she heard a voice. Turning to face the voice, Aithne shook her head some. "No need to apologize. That is quite the creature you have there," she replied to the male. So what she had been thinking was correct. The Salamander belonged to someone that she would be questing with. "I would be more than happy to have you two join me," she informed him. Reaching her hand out to introduce herself, Aithne saw someone in the distance.

Shifting her attention to the person approaching from behind the male, Aithne smiled at her greeting. "Heya, I promise you aren't interrupting anything," she started, "and the more the merrier." Luckily they caught her before she was out in the fields. She probably would not have been able to wait for anyone to come and would have ended up doing it herself. "Well, since we are going to be questing together," Aithne began, "my name is Aithne, it is nice to meet you." First impressions were important, so Aithne was doing her best to leave a good one. She could use a few friends in this new world. These people seemed interesting, so that was a plus in her opinion. 'It will probably be easier to get stronger with a group,' she thought to herself.

---

Word Count: 312
Notes: -Empty-
Color #80bfff
Tags: Saber Eisbaer

[Saber]

Using the butt end of his blade’s scabbard, Saber thwapped the Salamander’s head. The armored critter winced and hissed before sticking a long pink tongue out towards its Summoner. Saber gave it a second hit and rumbled. His partner was quite the child at times. The only good side to that was the fact that the Salamander wasn’t in a rebellious stage. The little guy just wanted to play more than he wanted to work so all Saber had to do was keep him occupied. Unfortunately for the monsters in the area, the Salamander thought them either food or chew toys. Both of which weren’t great titles to have. But they did make for good exercise tools.

“He’s quite the handful sometimes.” Saber said as the woman pointed out the marvelous creature beside him. It had only been a short while since the pairing had been made and Saber was already starting to understand how much of a pain being a parent could be. Good thing he didn’t have kids.

The woman agreed to let them join her and Saber nodded courteously, prepared to set off should she be ready as well. However, before that happened and before he could open his mouth, Saber heard footsteps. His Salamander heard them first and his head snapped around to meet the noise. The lizard’s eyes opened and its body stiffened. Saber knew that face. He gave the Salamander a swift smack to the head and grumbled a firm “no” as his partner began to salivate. A soft cough was the sign of understanding from the lizard as it circled around behind Saber, its tail wagging slightly. An additional female was approaching the group and she had this little flower thing creature on her waist. Saber wasn’t surprised at such a sighting as he simply assumed her to have summoned the flower girl, but what was surprising was how she carried the thing. On her hip? Was she mom? Well, Mom had almost seen her child become food and that would have been bad. Very bad. “Speaking of kids” he thought as he huffed.

“No, damn it.” Saber glanced down as he heard a throated hiss from his partner when the woman was finally with them. It looked up and then placed a clawed paw on Saber’s leg. The creature tilted its head and Saber could have sworn the little thing smiled. The rodent. He wouldn’t sway Saber’s heart that easily.

“I said no. She’s not food. Neither of them are food.” With a light pat, he tapped the Salamander on the snout with his scabbard again and upon doing so, the Salamander stopped his complaints. Instead of arguing, it simply flopped down on the ground and lay there, spending the time staring or pawing at the floor. Saber kept a watchful eye on the little guy as the two women spoke with one another for a moment and watched as the creature chased a butterfly with its eyes. The fact that such a deadly thing could be so harmless was a bit confusing, but it would have to do. Saber raised a thumb towards the other woman who had joined the group and then listened as the original girl introduced herself as Aithne. She seemed like a nice girl and with the new addition being a mother figure, Saber didn’t think he would find himself in any kind of issues with them. It was all a matter of chemistry now.

“I am Saber and the annoying, scaly fire thing beside me is my Summon.” As he extended a hand to direct attention to his Salamander while introducing the dunce, Saber felt a light brush against his leg and then heard weight moving away from him. Saber shut his eyes and took in a deep breath. The Salamander left the group, bored, and began to fight with one of the close boars nearby.

“…I’ll add impatient to that list. Oi!” Saber turned away from the women so he could call out to the lizard, but it had tackled a squealing young boar and was already gnawing on it. The Summoner stared at the creature for an extra second and then turned away, not even willing to attempt to reel in the juvenile. It wouldn’t go too far.

"I envy you." He motioned towards the new miss and her young plant child, which seemed much more docile. And here he thought he was different. How wrong he was. Well, at least the Salamander didn’t call him Dad.

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Tags: Aithne , Eisbaer

[Eisbaer]

[attr="class","solcap"]

Constance was never truly worried that she'd get turned away. In her mind this was still just a game, and many players were down to party up, although some preferred speed runs to casual grinding. "Oh, thank you--" Her voice trailed off as her Alraune began to fuss and paw at her shoulder. It wasn't hard to see why, either.

The large lizard was making eyes at her sweet little flower child. Hungry eyes. Did lizards even eat flowers? Weren't they big on bugs and...actually, could they eat meat? If it were a gator or a croc, perhaps. She held the flower girl closer to her, all the same. Would be a shame if one of her first groups ended with another familiar eating hers. It didn't look like it would attack, however. A butterfly currently held it enraptured.

"I'm Eisbaer," she said to Aithne, and with a little nod to the male. That username was going to make her cringe for a while. She wanted to say she'd like to be addressed as Constance, but the vibe just wasn't right for that yet. "...Saber?" Aithne was a weird name, but at least it sounded like one. Did this guy really name himself after a sword? That was almost as silly as her name. "And this little scamp is my summon -- an Alraune."

She held the toddler sized girl in the air for inspection. The Alraune briefly glanced at the humanoids, before turning her sights to the red lizard. "Caca," she cooed at its back. "Caca head." Constance paled at the child's rude words. Fortunate for her, the lizard was focused on making bacon bits.

Constance poked the flower child in the cheek. "Children can be a blessing." Or a curse, truthfully. At least the Alraune was too young to get into too much mischief.

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∝: 305
✏: Forgot about this thread, gg
@: Aithne Saber

瑤光

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[Saber]

“Always running off on me, you should really quit that.” Saber rumbled and bumped the top of the Salamander’s head with the bottom of his katana’s scabbard. The summoned fire lizard huffed out of its nose, as its mouth was full of boar meat. A pig squealed and squirmed in the Salamander’s mouth, unable to break free due to the fierce grip. Saber sighed and turned back towards the others.

“My Salamander isn’t actually cooperating very well today, and I’d rather him not harm either of you. Sorry, ladies, but I’ll be bowing out of this one. Maybe next time, okay?” Saber apologized and bowed his head lightly. That was when he heard another squeal and felt a heavy tail slap the back of his knees. His body collapsed and Saber toppled backwards, slamming onto his back. The Summoner coughed and sneered, clutching his katana. That damned lizard…

”「"こら!"」[ KORA! ] ” His second tongue slipped but he didn’t pay it any mind. Pushing off the ground, Saber rolled to his knees and then rose into a sprint as he chased after his Salamander. The pig had wiggled free somehow and now the two animals were in a full breakout run towards a collection of trees. Saber clutched onto his sword and chased after them, huffing as his shoes struggled to support his weight. Those old, beaten things were pretty much worthless at this point and running in them only reminded him of that.

But, the running didn’t last very long. The sprint lasted only about twenty seconds before the Salamander had given up running. Of course, that only meant he gave up running. He hadn’t given up on catching the pig. The Salamander had closed the gap a bit and had brought the pig almost into lunging range, but the pig had far more stamina. It was just about to extend its lead when the Salamander’s tail flared. Its throat bulged and its eyes opened. Then, out of its rows of savage teeth came a mouthful of fire. The flames reached out and snagged onto the boar, engulfing the poor creature in a ball of orange and yellow. Saber was reminded of the smell of bacon as the pig squealed in agony, flopping around and rolling around in the green.

Saber’s Salamander stopped sprinting when the pig started to flop and laid down off to the side, waiting and watching as its flames steadily wore the creature out. Saber slowed his sprint to a casual jog and caught up just as the flames began to die off. The fire lizard lumbered over to the pig as it continued to squeal and gave it another firm bite, but this time the lizard ensured it wasn’t going to let go. This time, the lizard also used its claws. The razor-sharp paws on the Salamander dug into the pig’s flesh and seized it firmly, pinning the creature to the ground as it bled out.

A heavy sigh escaped Saber’s lips after he caught his breath. The Summoner drew he blade lazily and then buried it into the head of the pig. The creature gave out a few more squeals until silence graced the air. Blood and fat oozed out of the wounds and stuck to the blade as Saber yanked it free. He glared at his salamander, who was happily gnawing away at the tasty treat. The damned thing was going to get Saber killed one of these days.

“Oi.” Saber rapped the Salamander on the head with his knuckles, causing the creature to whimper and lean away. Its eyes shimmered as it looked at Saber; puppy dog eyes?

“Good try, you’re a lizard. Not the same family.” It was a good attempt, but the effect of having an armored lizard reminded Saber more of a baby dragon than a puppy dog. That memory actually worked against the Salamander, rather than for it.

“No more running off or I’ll turn you into food. Hurry up and finish so we can do this quest. We’ve already left the party so I don’t have time to waste on your playing around.” After wiping the blade off on the slightly charred pig flesh, Saber sheathed his katana. He tied the scabbard back onto his waist and turned away from his Salamander. The creature ate quickly and dug into the pig, guzzling down meat like some kind of machine. While it ate, Saber scanned the fields. The two girls had moved on without him and were on the other side of the zone from where he was. They were handling things on their own already so there wasn’t any reason for him to try and rejoin them. He had run off anyways.

But he wasn’t out of luck. While they had moved on and found their own pack of pigs to deal with, Saber spotted his own. A group of eight young boars were spread out nearby. They were gathered together in a group but had taken the lack of threats as an invitation to have some alone time. The goal of the Quest today was to skin the young boars so taking them on one at a time would give Saber enough time and space to do that. However, he was probably going to have to do it completely alone. The Salamander that was munching away to his side wasn’t exactly the best fit for a job that required finesse.

He sucked his teeth. He didn’t mind fighting alone at this point but having his familiar out was always a bit easier on his mind. It eased him because Saber had an extra set of eyes. Even if his Salamander was a bit of an untamed child, it made quite a bit of noise. Saber had been saved by its squealing and whining a few times already so having that additional bit of safety was nice. Yet, the Salamander had developed a taste for cooked bacon. If Saber left him out for this type of quest, he wasn’t going to get any of the hides he needed.

“Actually, it looks like you’ll be eating alone tonight.” Saber decided it would be best to not even chance it. He opened his menu, and then knelt down to his partner.
“Did you have enough?” The pig was practically a skeleton in its center region at this point, and it had only been a few minutes. The Salamander huffed and shook its head no, but it was clear it was pretty much done. Saber had picked up on the creature’s eating habits. When it was done with a meal or with a corpse, it tended to just start picking at things, exactly what it was doing now.

“Good. I will see you in a bit then. It looks like I have some work to do and I can’t have you out. Sorry, buddy.” At his words, the Salamander rumbled and perked up. It wagged its tail as Saber gave it a few pats on the head and then vanished into a small puff of smoke.

Saber waved away his menu and left the pig corpse behind. With no one near it, the game registered the body as dead and the pig dissolved by the time Saber reached his first victim. He wanted to be back in Londinium pretty quickly so he wasted no time attacking. The Young Pittered Boar let out a fierce, high pitched squeal and attempted to run but Saber tackled it to the ground. The two rolled for a few paces until Saber was able to get on its side. Using his knees, Saber pinned it down and drew the carving knife that had been given to him by Zuth. He jammed it into the pig’s neck, twisted, and continued to stab. There wasn’t much emotion on the man’s face except for a locked jaw and some sweat. Holding the pig still was difficult, but draining its health simply took time.

Finally, with a final jab the animal stopped its struggle. The legs stopped kicking and the heart stopped beating, leaving Saber with a lifeless hunk of meat between his legs. Feeling a bit of exhaustion, Saber stood up and wiggled his arms, taking out the fatigue as he knelt down beside the body. This was a nasty job, but one he had some experience in. When he lived in Japan with Mr. Tomohiro, he had been taught how to skin a creature without damaging the innards as well as what pieces of meat were the best for consumption. In this world, the concept was the same, albiet just a bit more streamlined. Saber took his knife and got to cutting.

He sliced a line around the neck, and then a line down the side of the pig’s body, cutting up once he got to the pig’s bottom. He drew out the shape he wanted and then began to slowly shave off the flesh. He left a small layer of meat and fat on the underside, aiding in keeping the skin together as to keep it from being so flimsy and so it wouldn’t tear. Blood got on his clothes and stained his pants, but he didn’t bother whining about it. Instead, he kept cutting until the hide was completely off the corpse. Then, he deposited it into the sack in his inventory that he needed to return to the NPC.

At first, Saber was tempted to cut up the pig as well but he didn’t bother. He cleaned off his knife and then ran off after the next kill. The second pig corpse he had made dissolved just like the first. Saber caught his second pig in stride, as the animal attempted to flee and cut across the field. With a heavy step, Saber planted his left foot and then swung his right underneath the pig’s body. His ankle caught the pig’s underbelly. He lifted with a yank and caused the pig to tumble. Before it could recover, he was on it. The process was repeated and Saber used his knife again to end its life. Once more, he held the pig down until it was dead and then retrieved its skin.

“No wonder that blacksmith wants us to do this. This is tiring…” Saber huffed as he finished with the second slab of flesh. He cleaned off the blade again and carried on with his quest.

Two more times, Saber followed his small routine. He caught the pigs, trapped them with his legs, and then stabbed at them above their necks. Doing so preserved their skins and drained their health in the quickest way. It made finishing them off easy, but that didn’t make it less messy. By the time he finished with the four pig, he was exhausted. His legs burned and he was forced to take a moment and lay down. The third pig had struggled quite hard, nearly getting away. If it wasn’t for Saber’s balance, he would’ve been kicked off its side.

The Summoner took the moment to rest and lay there, breathing easily in through his nose and out through his mouth. His chest rose and fell, timed with the cycle of his heart. His body’s practiced rhythm allowed him to ease into a state of numbness. He listened to the wind, listened to the sound of the creatures in the field, and listened to the distance sounds of fighting. The ground had a soft chill to it, but it wasn’t something he had found uncomfortable. It cold his body and helped him become even more comfortable. Saber closed his eyes and let himself rest, long enough to hear the curious hooves approaching from his right.

“Today just isn’t my day.” Wanting to lay there for even longer, Saber considered ignoring the sound. However, the noise maker approached him steadily. It felt like ten minutes had passed by the time the pig was within reach, but it had only been seconds. The bold young creature sniffed at the air and drew closer, closer, until its snout lightly brushed Saber’s hand. Like a trap being sprung, Saber’s hand jerked outwards and snagged the boar’s nose. It let out a squeal and pulled back, yanking Saber towards it. The Summoner was on top of it in a flash, and the final skin was his.

With all five hides in his pack, Saber left behind the last body and returned to the city of Londinium. He reminded himself of the two women he had left abruptly and left himself a mental note to seek them out and formally apologize the next time he met up with them, if he ever did. For now though, he kept to his own world and headed back to Zuth. The dwarf was busy when he entered the shop and after some shouting, he simply left the hides on the counter. Zuth appeared just long enough to see all five were there, checked their quality, and then paid out the reward. Saber didn’t linger and bowed his head, leaving the dwarf to his work.

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[Party Quest Turned Solo]