BRINGING HOME THE BACON [Q/PAXILON]

Pax was all action now. He made a mental note that pigs could, in fact, run into each other and damage one another. He felt his blood pumping, hearing the rhythmic thud in his ear drums. No game had ever made him feel like this before. That risk of death. That sensation of being able to feel your opponent fall apart. He licked his lips and grinned wickedly, tightening the grip on his sword. He lunged forward and jabbed his sword into one of the pig's side. He felt the anger he'd been building up for this entire situation just boiling over inside him. He would not be bested by some program.

He went to start a sword art, but felt himself get knocked in the side by the boar he had failed to take action against. He saw his HP bar lessen ever so slightly. Luckily, it hadn't been a charge. He reflexively kicked at the boar and then swung his sword down on to its head. His attention turned to the first boar that was readying to attack him. He smacked the boar with his shield, as if parrying an attack. The effect was the same as blocking, but it felt to him like he was only attacking.

Pax was getting tunnel-vision something fierce. Honestly, he had yet to blow off any steam in this game. The pressure that had been building up inside him was suddenly released in this combat, tearing at the edges of his mind like a beast that hadn't been fed in a week. In reality, the only thing that he had ever had to blow off his steam from every day life was video games. To be trapped inside what let him escape was the kind of irony he could not get behind. And it was pissing him off more and more by the minute.

A scream built up in his stomach, exploding through his throat and out of his mouth in a terrifying noise. It was a scream of anger, agony, and fear. But most of all, it was a scream of hate.

Pax was engulfed with emotions. The steady rise of frustration and rage suddenly clicked inside him. His wild eyes slowly turned into a sharp, refined glare. All the chaos that was his mind slowly sorted itself out, but the emotion was still there. His reckless abandon morphed ever closer into calculated thirst for blood. There was nothing but the combat now. Every brain cell he had suddenly stopped burning with anguish and turned the collective intellect towards achieving victory over these pigs. Pax exhaled a sharp, calming breath. His eyes flicked from the first swine to the second, gauging what moves they would use next. His attention snapped as one pig lowered its head.

Simple charge, the words snapped quickly through his mind, Lower shield. Counter. Simple attack into skill charge.

He brought his shield to bare, level with the pig's snout. Instead of pushing forward immediately like he had before, he waited. He pulled back the shield slightly as the pig collided into him, using the momentum like a spring to shove the shield into the pig. The mob staggered backwards exactly like the others had before, but it felt more natural for Pax to lunge into action this way. He brought his sword up across the pig's face in a very precise swing, bringing the blade to rest inches from his shoulder. He hadn't even moved his feet yet.

As the sword began to glow, the currently untouched pig started to move. Marth was attacking it. Without a second thought, he pivoted back to the pig he had attacked first, launching his skill directly into the mob's head. Poor thing had taken two blows to the face now. He snarled, the sound carrying in to a low, guttural growl.

Another pig, he hadn't quite heard Marth, but that was fine. He watched as Marth moved to take action against the new challenger, He's fine. Aggro.

Pax swiftly managed a not so efficient attack against the swine he hadn't hit yet, assuring that he took the aggro from both of the pigs as Marth handled the other one. He inhaled sharply and prepared for the two pigs to attack him again.

With an uneasy sense of calm, he spoke words that he thought he was only thinking, "I will tear this game apart."

Pax focused on the pig fervently. His mind told him that three mobs reduced chances of victory too greatly. He brought his sword behind him and quickly charged a skill, launching it immediately, cutting through the pig viciously. He eyed the depleting HP bar of the mob, and then he gave it another slash. He grinned maliciously as he felt the skin give way to digital shards, that satisfying shattering sound ringing in his ears. He snapped back into focus and whipped around, smile instantly fading away as he focused on a new target.

Something in the back of his head was telling him to slow down. He was getting like this because he needed sleep. He was losing his calm over pigs. He mentally snarled at the voice that was telling him to snap out of it. He was fine. He just needed to blow off some steam.

"I'm fine," he snarled between gritted teeth, directing the anger of it towards the pig nearest him. He hefted his sword behind him and went to attack the closest swine before noticing movement from behind Marth. He kept the sword skill ready and slammed his shield hand into Marth's shoulder, pushing him clear out of the way. That pig had recovered too quickly. It had started a charge right towards Marth's back. Pax barely managed to clip the pig's snout with his shield in time. He let out a sigh of relief as he still managed to stagger the pig. As he let out the sigh, he launched a horizontal sword skill at the pig he hadn't blocked, hoping to stagger the mob, to give him a moment of breathing room.

True calm settled back into his mind as he turned his eyes to Marth, voice cracking from the sudden realisation that he had lost it for a moment, "Worrying about people like me is going to get you killed, kid!"

With that comment, he huffed and made a light slash for the pig with the lower HP. It connected, but not quite with as much feeling as he'd hoped. He blinked a couple tears from his eyes. He wasn't sad, but rather stressed.

"I could really do with a nap right now."

His hands were shaking. Adrenaline was still pumping, but he'd lost that killer motive. But he was still in a position where he needed to fight. Pax took a second to breathe. He reminded himself that sleep could come after he didn't die. He glanced at Marth with a coy, shaken smile, "Hero, huh? That's awfully kind."

He grinned weakly as he side-stepped a pig's attack, returning in kind a basic attack of his own, "But I gotta say, it's not a slow descent. It's more like extreme free fall. A perfect example, actually."


He eyed the new attacker with a good bit of irritation in his voice, "I'll distract this one, and try to block a few hits for you. We need to get this over with."

He squared his legs and drew his sword back, letting it shine brightly before he huffed, "I could really go for some ribs right now."

He slapped the pig with his shield, slashing a diagonal line of light through the pig's face. He was really going to have to apologise to Marth when this was all said and done. He examined the pig as it staggered backwards. He scowled, "We need to start heading back to the road before we end up with more bacon than we can handle."

Pax released a lot of tension as the last mob died. Muscles he didn't even know were tensed loosened and he felt his posture sag. He walked towards the road as he shook his shield arm, unequipping the shield. He slid his sword back into its sheath and tilted his head, popping the vertebrae in his neck. He felt like he had been forced to roll boulders up a mountain for all eternity.

He only nodded at Marth's request. He was definitely not fit to be talking about what just happened, nor did he have the words to describe it. He followed after Marth, trying his best to analyse himself. What exactly had caused the outburst? He shook his head slowly, unsure of himself at the moment. He grinned a bit at Marth's next words, though, "Oh man, is that a challenge? I'd be up for it, if I weren't so tired, honestly."

He didn't mention that he was pretty sure stats influenced how fast you could run, as well. He was so tired, he wasn't even sure if Marth was issuing a challenge. Either way, he'd take his sweet time getting back to the city. If nothing else, he could at least turn in this stupid quest.