At the Hog Wash, Yeah! [ Q / Albedo ]

Gran chuckled a bit at Albedo, shaking her head, "Badass gear doesn't make the knight, dear. A skilled fighter with a rock could be an amateur with a sword, and you'd do best to remember that."

Gran recalled those exact words from her old mentor and smiled at the memory. She had questioned the statement, before her mentor had picked up a rock and asked if she wanted a demonstration. She'd said yes, and had her tiny metaphorical ass beaten. It was one of her fondest memories of losing a fight, really. That was the point where she had decided to get better with every weapon she could. From rocks to rocket launchers. Gran shot a look at Albedo and gave her a fond look.

"Well no, sweetie," Gran started along, "if the NPCs were to learn from their mistakes, then there would be no quests left for anyone to do. If Kayaba had programmed these little suckers to be that smart, none of us would stand a chance in the long run."

Gran pushed against the fence and pondered whether they should fight either of these monsters solo while they could just as easily take them on one at a time to be safe. On the one hand, they would get through this quest easily and without much risk at all, on the other hand . . .

"I'll get the one on the left. You get the one on the right." Gran laughed at the feeling of risk rising around her. She put one hand on the fence and vaulted over it in a smooth motion. Throwing caution to the wind was just one way to remind her she was alive. She pulled the giant mace from her back and spun it just a bit, letting it collide with the ground at her feet. She looked over at Albedo and nodded before dashing off, smile fading from her face. Now was a time to focus.

The boar turned on her almost as soon as it realised she was running at it. She almost wanted to wave at the thing as it began to charge at her. She resisted the urge. As they closed the distance, she readied herself. The boar's head went down and then up as it got close - a mechanic that allowed it to bust under the shields of players who weren't expecting it. She didn't have a shield, though, and only grinned maliciously, rolling off to the side as it barreled on. She skidded to a halt as she charged her skill, mace glowing and then launching in an arc of light, cracking mace head against swine rear end.

She wanted to give a joke about how the boar'd been a bad as she watched it get staggered, but decided against it. After all, Albedo should be busy with her own boar, so there was no one around to appreciate it.

"What's the matter?" she seemed to be talking to the boar, "Too afraid to hit a girl?"

She laughed as the boar turned, almost as if she'd actually insulted it. It huffed at her and she hefted her mace in both hands, ready for it to attack. The boar started moving forward, and she cracked the tip of it against one of the tusks. The boar squealed as she lifted the mace behind her head, letting it glow its terrifying light before bringing it down in an arc against the swine's head. She laughed as it exploded into those delicious scattered pixels. In a brief moment, she wondered if Kayaba could have programmed in bodies for the NPCs to have to take care of.

"One down," she said as she felt, more than saw, the tusk materialise in her inventory. She turned to watch the final parts of Albedo's fight with a smile, "Girl knows how to swing a sword, at least."

She averted her gaze to the other various boars throughout the field and started trying to decide which one to fight next.