Critical Inaccuracy, Chapter 3 of 7 - Trust is a Double-Edged Sword

It was just another peaceful, solitary, dreadfully droll, spring afternoon. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming, yada yada.

Only, today was not just a typical afternoon. For Wyril...

"Ah... Well, that's enough of that.", said Wyril, as he finished stretching, and stood up from his bed, "I won't get anywhere just lazing around all day. With that said, no good work is done on an empty stomach.".

Wyril stepped out of his room, and into the kitchen/dining room, hoping to find something good in the fridge, though knowing it was wishful thinking.

Opening it up, he found... not much of note. A few drinks, some leftovers from the nights before, and some basic ingredients; eggs, milk, butter, etc.

The leftovers didn't look all that appealing at the moment, but Wyril had some time on his hands, so he decided he'd make some good old-fashioned eggs.

Skipping the boring parts, (This is a short-story after all), he was now fueled, and ready to go.

One room away from the kitchen, he found himself in the 'exercise room'. Technically one could call it a garage, but it's not like he had a car to put there.

Taking off his shirt, and preparing for his own pain-staking exercise routine, Wyril said to himself, as he always does, "Rome wasn't built in a day...".

And with that, he got to work, with a number of machines and different types of weights.

By the end, he felt exhausted as always... Maybe this was an ordinary spring afternoon.

However, once he dried off and logged onto Chaos Master Online, all of that would change.

The typing of his information wasn't quite as energetic as Reyan or Barex, especially after such an intense workout, but he logged on nonetheless.

1:50pm.

"(Seems I've got some time before the others log on, as I figured. I should stock up on some consumables.)", said Wyril.

Now having unlocked the waypoint at the base of Mt. Torrent, Walrot teleported to Lyreal Village. Not the only village by any means, but the playerbase took it upon themselves to declare it the hub of most activities, for example The Ceremony.

As any shopper does, Walrot checked his bag, both to see what he needed, and to check his funds.

"(...Yeah, that should be enough to restock.)", said Wyril.

However, upon entering the shop, Wyril saw just about the last thing he expected.

"Allium: Oh, hey Walrot!", she said after having heard the bells on the door.

"Walrot: Oh, hello. I didn't expect to see you here".

Wyril's attention shifted to the snow-white rabbit beside Allium.

"Walrot: So you've tamed yourself another familiar?".

"Allium: Yep! ...and you'd better not try to kill this one", she said with a malicious energy.

"Walrot: The past is the past. Anyway, what brings you here?".

"Allium: This little guy was a real pain to catch. Cost me nearly all of my nets..."

"Walrot: I see. Taming seems to be quite the expensive pursuit".

"Allium: It's worth it though. Just look at him!"

Allium held up her rabbit familiar uncomfortably close to Walrot's face.

"Walrot: You and I seem to have very different tastes".

Allium looked disappointed, as she set down her familiar.

"Allium: Well, I guess taming isn't for everyone".

"Walrot: Anyway, the other should be on soon. You should finish up here".

"Allium: It's already 2? I guess I *did* get a little sidetracked...".

Allium then presumably teleported back to the mountain, while Walrot finished his shopping, and followed suit.

When he got there, he found that Barex had just arrived as well.

"Llucien: Yeah, right on time!".

"Walrot: I don't think anyone would really care if one of us showed up a little late. We could probably just start without them".

"Llucien: I guess that's true. Still, I wouldn't want to miss out on any of the grinding".

Suddenly, Torrain showed up, quickly followed by Lorelei.

"Torrain: Three, four... Looks like we're just waiting on our leader, right?"

"Lorelei: It's kinda weird that he's the one keeping us waiting. Hopefully he didn't stay up too late climbing..."

"Llucien: He and Torrain are pretty well-suited for soloing. I'm sure the monsters on the way up couldn't have given him much trouble".

And then at long last (Only like 2 minutes late) the man of the hour arrived.

"Torrain: The knight has arrived".

"Grante: *Sigh*".

"Lorelei: What, did you not make it to the next waypoint?".

"Grante: No, I did. It's just... there's one more obstacle before the peak".

"Llucien:...which is?".

"Grante: Just... come with me, I'll show you".

Grante then teleported to the Mt. Torrent Checkpoint, and invited the others to join him.

"Walrot: I'm sure whatever it is, it can't be enough to stop us entirely".

Grante then slowly walked toward the large wooden gate, barring access to the summit, and attempted to push it open.

Suddenly, a cutscene started.

"Llucien: That can't be good...".

Thundering footsteps could be heard, as the ground shook beneath them, until their owner jumped over the gate from behind, revealing itself to be The Gatekeeper.

"Allium: That thing looks terrifying! Are you sure we can take it?".

"Lorelei: I second that notion. What do we do?".

"Grante: In my experience, do no damage and die. But something tells me that's not the intended method".

"Llucien: Well we *are* like 20 levels below the recommended, right?".

"Torrain: Yep. And if Grante couldn't take it alone, I don't love our chances of taking it as a party".

"Lorelei: Do its stats scale with party size, or?".

"Grante: They sure do. It wouldn't be too much of a problem if you guys had higher damage output than me, since it would more than even out, but I'm probably the strongest here. As far as bossing at least. We all know Walrot's our clearing-powerhouse".

"Lorelei: You seem to've given a lot of thought to this. Are we sure we can't just like, go *around* the gate?".

"Torrain: I mean, it's not like we can fly, right?".

"Walrot: What about Allium?".

"Llucien: Oh right, she has the flying puffball or whatever".

"Allium: Sure, I could give it a shot. I'm not confident it'll do much though...".

Allium summoned her puffball (named Millo, for those curious), and tried, in vain, to fly around the gate. Millo collapsed upon hitting an invisible wall around the mountain.

"Grante: Yeah, I can't really say I'm surprised. Tons of MMOs have got barriers like that, to stop movement-based classes from just being able to skip through story stuff".

"Llucien: Not just mmos, tons of games have stuff like that. Only, other games tend to do it with kill-planes... they're just as painful as they sound".

"Walrot: Now that we know evasion isn't an option, what's our plan for taking this 'Gatekeeper' down?".

"Grante: I tried to think up a couple of strategies on my own, but admittedly I'm not much of a tactician. From what I've gathered though, you and Llucien should fit the bill".

"Llucien: I don't know about all that, but I'm down to give it a try. We should start by giving it a test run, to see what we're working with".

"Walrot: Yes, I'd like to check its elemental resistances, namely. If it's got something it doesn't like, that should speed things up quite a bit".

"Grante: Okay, then everyone ready for the warmup?".

"Torrain: I don't have much to test, but I guess learning how it attacks could be useful".

"Lorelei: Mostly same here. Let me know if you find any weak points".

"Grante: ...Allium?".

"Allium: Well, I'm sure I won't be much help in the fight anyways, but I'll tag along".

And without further adieu, the fight began.

Walrot led with some support spells, both offense and defense, and then began loosing spells left and right. Fireballs, stalagmites, icicles, you name it.

"(It doesn't seem to have any major weaknesses... Perhaps this will prove to be a tough fight after all.)", said Wyril.

Meanwhile, Torrain and Grante took the front lines, tanking while putting in some consistent dps.

Llucien and Lorelei teamed up to look for weak points, and exploit blindspots and other opportunities as they appeared, dealing good burst damage whenever possible.

Finally, Allium stayed in the backlines, having her familiars fire off a couple of weak spells every now and again, too afraid to close the distance.

As the fight went on, Grante and Torrain began running out of health, and Llucien and Lorelei were forced to stay back due to their own health. Walrot began running low on mana, forced to close distance, and Allium's familiars began to run out of steam as well.

As much as they all hated to admit it... the fight was over. They lost.

Respawning at the checkpoint, the party began organizing a plan.

"Grante: Okay, so what'd we learn as far as weaknesses?".

"Walrot: It doesn't seem to have any weakness as far as the elements".

"Grante: Llucien, Lorelei, and weak points?".

"Lorelei: Nothing major. We did find one on its back, but it's hard to get to, what with all of its moving and turning".

"Llucien: Still, if we find a way to utilize it, it could give us a major edge".

"Grante: Allium, did you find anything?".

"Allium: I mostly stayed in the back. I didn't really notice anything important though".

"Torrain: Now that we've shared our information, any thoughts on how to beat him?".

"Walrot: If we had some sort of paralysis, we might be able to use that weak point".

"Llucien: I don't have anything like that. Anyone else?".

The chat stayed quiet.

"Torrain: Chances are, it could be immune to it anyways. Given that's the only real info we picked up, it might just be a case of brute force".

"Grante: I think you might be right. Still, we know the weak point exists at least, so we can try to take advantage whenever possible. Everyone ready to go back in?".

"(We hardly got it halfway down last time. Knowing of a weak point couldn't possibly change that much, considering only those two can make much use of it anyways...)", said Wyril, "(There's gotta be some way to make it through... Otherwise...)".

With that, the battle began anew. Spoiler alert; it didn't go much better this time around.

Torrain and Grante only wound up taking more damage by trying to attack its back, while Llucien and Lorelei got greedy and paid the price. Meanwhile, Walrot and Allium's magic couldn't exploit weak points regardless.

Still, Walrot did what he could, even attacking the weak point with his bladed staff when possible, while Allium kept up some support spells, but it wasn't enough to make a noticeable difference.

"(It still wasn't enough. I suspected this might be the case, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. On top of that, I didn't learn anything knew, so the next bout won't go much better.)", said Wyril.

"Grante: *sigh*, anyone learn anything?".

Silence.

"Torrain: That's about what I expected. I don't think we can just 'try harder' though".

Walrot tried to think of ways to become stronger... but to no avail. Then, he turned to Allium and her familiars.

"(This is going to be tough... but we don't have a choice...)", said Wyril, as he took a deep breath and began typing.

"Walrot: I know what the problem is. I know how we can win".

"Llucien: Really? You don't seem like the joking type, so you'd better not be pulling my leg...".

Walrot stood up, and with a noticeable stern expression.

"Walrot: Allium... You need to leave.".

"Allium: Huh?".

"Lorelei: What are you talking about?".

"Walrot: You heard me. 'A chain is only as strong as its weakest link'. That hasn't become a saying for nothing".

"Torrain: Still, we're in this together, aren't we?".

"Grante: Yeah. C'mon Walrot, I'm sure we can think of a plan, or just farm somewhere else, or something!".

"Walrot: There is no 'plan', and there is no 'somewhere else'. Here I thought the rest of you wanted to beat the raid. What makes you think that she's up to the task? I, for one, have good reason to believe she isn't".

"Llucien: Well I'm not able to do much here either, does that mean I should leave?".

"Walrot: You misunderstand. We all have our weaknesses. You and Lorelei deal low damage when there aren't weak points. Torrain, and Grante especially, have trouble fighting ranged enemies due to their lack of range and/or mobility. A tamer like her is one of few exceptions, due to her familiars being as adaptive as they are".

"Lorelei: You're tripping on your words, Walrot. If she doesn't have a weakness, how can she be the weakest link!?".

"Walrot: *Tamers* are strong... She isn't. Further proving this fact, I haven't heard any counter-argument from the one in question".

"Torrain: Well you can't just attack someone so directly!-".

"Allium: It's fine... he's right...".

"Lorelei: Allium...".

"Allium: You all have your own reasons for being here, and taking on the raid, but I'm just tagging along for fun... I was never cut out for something like this...".

"Grante: You have just as much reason for being here as any of us do!".

"Allium: I'm sorry... goodbye".

Torrain: Allium!".

Just as she was about to log out, Walrot rushed forward and grabbed her hand.

"Allium: ...Why are you stopping me? Didn't you want me gone?".

"Walrot: ...'There is no shame in being weak'".

"Allium: You sure make it sound like there is".

"Walrot: 'Only shame in *staying* weak'...".

"Allium: I'm... not sure I follow".

"Walrot: For as little as we've all been in a party, having only met up a day or two ago... You guys aren't as enigmatic as you think you are...".

"Llucien: What's that even supposed to mean?".

"Walrot: In such a short period of time, I've learned so much about all of you- Much more than any of us bargained for. And Allium, I *know* you are stronger than this".

"Allium: I'm *not* strong... you said it yourself".

"Walrot: I don't mean digitally, and I don't mean physically, either. I'm talking about your spirit!".

"Allium: What do you know about my spirit...".

"Walrot: I know that you aren't one to give up so easily. I know you're the type that if you put your mind to something, you *will* finish what you started".

"Allium: I told you, I'm playing this for fun. You don't know me as well as you think".

"Walrot: You *started* playing this for fun. You thought that if you tag along, you could get some cute new familiars. That last part could still be true, but you've found a new reason to keep pushing forward, am I right?".

"Allium: What do you mean? Do you know something I don't?".

"Walrot: I was just 'some guy' before all this. Before this party, I didn't care much for anything rather than staying fit, and surviving... I had no clue what my plans for the future were".

"Allium: ...".

"Walrot: I started playing this game, and even agreed to join this party to kill some time... but things have changed. I don't *need* my own reason to push forward. Helping everyone else reach their goal... it's enough for me. I think in spite of everything I've been through, I've actually started to get attached to you all...".

"Allium: Good for you, but what does any of that have to do with me?".

"Walrot: You're the same, are you not?".

"Allium: I... don't know".

"Walrot: Well I do... at least, I *think* I do".

"Allium: And I think you might be right. I treat this as if I'm just wasting time... but I wouldn't still be here if that was the case...".

"Walrot: Exactly. And I believe the others might feel the same. At least to some degree".

"Allium: Walrot... I think I see what you were trying to do, now. Thank you".

"Lorelei:(Um, I think I missed something. Why is she thanking him?)".

"Llucien:(It's probably best that we don't get involved...)".

Allium spent some time in her inventory, though none were sure why.

"(It looks like I was right about her. I hope I wasn't too harsh...)", said Wyril.

Allium emerged from her inventory, and it was clear what she did.

Now with her hood down and hair shortened, she summoned Kibé and her 'Froggy' to her side, as she brandished her wand, creating a sharp blade of wind.

"Allium: I'm ready now. For the sake of all of your guys' dreams, I *will* keep moving forward!".

"Grante: Wow, you're really kicking things up a notch, Allium!".

"Allium: I'm done playing around.".

"Llucien: And your frog... he has a flower on his head".

"Allium: Yep!".

"Llucien: Um... why?".

"Allium: He will henceforth be known as Water Lily!".

"Lorelei: That doesn't answer the question...".

"Torrain: Why 'Water Lily'?".

"Allium: He's a beautiful oasis, in the vast desert of the swamp. Obviously".

"Llucien: I'm with her on that one".

"Walrot: One question. Did you get that accessory from Lyreal?".

"Allium: ...Maaaybe".

"Walrot: *Sigh*, I should've known you weren't just going there for familiar nets...".

"Allium: It's called efficiency".

"Llucien: How do you even have enough money to buy all of that?".

"Lorelei: My item, remember?".

"Grante: Hate to tell ya, but she dipped the second you used it".

"Lorelei: Oh yeah... I hope it was worth it".

"Torrain: Probably not, by your standards".

"Walrot: Then the question still stands. My bet is trading familiars".

"Llucien: She probably does more buying than selling".

"Lorelei: I would hope. Still, a rare familiar like that'd probably sell for a fortune...".

"Allium: Hands off!", as she readied her wand.

"Lorelei: Relax, I couldn't even steal him if I wanted to".

Noticing the time, they called it there.

To be continued...