Hail friends,
I've been having bad luck with scrolls lately.
Perhaps this morning would be different.Despise.
The place I love to hate because of its predictable nature. And yet, a place that still hides some surprises that have yet to be seen. I recall to the entrance to fire and try to stir up some trouble. DetroitGirl's embarassing remains lay at the steps to the sparkles.
An omen for things to come?
One can only hope.
*steps through sparkles*Rats and slimes.
Someone was just getting started... or perhaps no one at all? I take the long way around to try and see what I can see.Shady Doll of WILD!
Ah, WILD. The guild I've always wanted to get, but have eluded me at every step. Truth be told, this was maybe the third time I've even caught them in the act. (I need my beauty sleep). But maybe this morning would be different!
I roll up my sleeves and am up to the challenge.
Across the bridge I go and try to spy what I'm up against.A blue archer and a blue necromancer.
(So far so good.)
I look down at my feet and again I'm reminded of what were once great treasure to behold.What once sold for millions of gold pieces now are swept under the rug like the rest of the trash.
I wait for 'til the coast is clear and humor myself anyway.
Two more WILD come into view (and also on their blues).I snatch at their packs as they pass, but I'm just out of reach.
First the rat mages, then the archers and silver serpents, it wouldn't be much longer now. More and more of their friends join the party while I await for the inevitable confrontation.The Piper graces us with his presence and the rest of the calvalry arrives in style.
Everything moves in slow motion now.
First jiji strikes, then the rest of them follow, Shady Doll walks one tile too close, and I help myself to her pack. First 1/2 life and then 1/3. 1/4 life and it wouldn't be much longer now. Still no sign of anyone else ruining the party and raiding their spawn.
"Everything is going as planned. There would be no surprises." At least that's what they tell themselves.
The Piper falls and I scan the two scrolls that present themselves before me:I creep in closer as jiji and hanzou jump the gate before I had a chance satisfy my curiosity. YAKUZA no ANIKI and sasuke were next. But again, nothing but a host of 110's and a 105's laughing in my face.
Where was the treasure that was promised me this morning? Where are the scrolls of power that are promised to all that roam these caves? Where was the glory? Where was the challenge?
Where -- OH WHERE -- have all the 120's run off to??
...
(And where was the protector?)
Aselius!(Looks like I spoke too soon.)
Six scroll and all for the taking. Aselius summons a horde minion and I take my time. The first five were nothing but the same unwanted trash that lay on the floor around us. I turn to the 6th and final scroll (in the 5th and final pack):115 Tactics!
Looks like the 120's will have to wait. With only two blues left, I waste no more time, reach into her pack, and take what's mine.--And the game is afoot!
For a reason that I still can't recall even now, I decide to stray from the tested and true plan of action. I skip the gate, hold my breath, keep my eye on the lone defender on the other end of the island, brave the field of mushroom traps and spike traps that litter the ground, and dash for the bridge!
I thank them for their time, thank them for their scrolls, thank them the gold, and--
--curse them for fielding the bridge!
(Shit.)I summon a mirror image and get stopped in my tracks. A field of energy backed up with an army of liches block me now. With the field, the liches and the two blues right behind, my options were running low.
I can an invisibility, shadow jump to the front of the bridge, thank the gods they changed the line-of-sight, non-targeting issues that have been plaguing the bridge for years, watch as the necromancer teaches my mirror image a lesson with a revenant and a strangle, shadow jump once more to the gate, take a bow, and make my exit!
SUCCESS!
I return to find that I must have scared them away. The two blues were gone, as well as the horde minion. None left to gather the one-hundred and twenty-five thousand gold pieces but little ol' me.
(If you insist.)
All quiet now, I find myself pondering what makes it all worth while. A lesson to be learned and a lesson that I must be reminded of every so often. A 115 Tactics? Is a 115 Tactics any more glorious than a 115 Mace Fighting or 115 Provocation that I was scoffing at just a moment ago? I ponder these questions and come to the same conclusion that I remind myself of once more:
It once was theirs. Now it's mine. Everything is right with the world once more.
The taste of victory never gets old.
'Til next time!