Grandma's Gardening [ Quest / Icarus ]

Gran was a little disappointed that she wouldn't be able to surprise him with the walking eggplants. She rather enjoyed watching people flutter about in a surprised panic. She wasn't sure why she was so sadistic, but it didn't matter that much to her. She smiled and shook her head sadly, "So you've seen 'em before? That kind of ruins my surprise."

Gran started walking towards the corn, spinning her mace joyfully, "But don't worry, kid. This won't take all afternoon, I promise."

She stopped spinning her mace, so that it was right side up. She placed both hands on the handle and laughed as one of the Little Nepents started rising from the ground. It rose from the tilled soil as if the farmers had planted it there. Vines came out of the dirt and flopped around as it made its entrance. With a shrill shriek, it faced towards Gran, sharp plant-like teeth gleaming in the sun. Like a venus fly trap mixed with an eggplant. She snickered.

Darting forward, she held her mace firmly. The smooth metal tip of it arced through the air and slammed against the side of the Nepent. It squealed. Gran almost regretted hitting the thing before it had made its entrance, but this was fine. She smacked it again with her mace and the HP bar drained drastically, until it didn't exist at all. The plant shattered into its beautiful shards and Gran turned to face Icarus with a smile on her face.

"See? We'll be done in time for afternoon tea."

Gran laughed at the kid and shrugged coyly, "Tea is about the only thing I let anyone treat me to. That and alcohol, but I don't think there's much alcohol here on the first floor."

Gran recalled a few times when people had offered to treat her to something, only to end up poisoning it or trying to kill her. She just loved when she use to be a political assassin. The buggers always underestimated ladies. Trying her best to not get too nostalgic, Gran spun her weapon a bit again and looked around. It seemed like they would need to get closer for more Nepents to spawn. She smiled and shrugged, moving closer to the corn. And then, she got her wish. More Nepents spawned. She silently cursed under her breath, and her face went straight. This was about to get interesting.

Three mounds of dirt were rising up. One was much bigger than the other two. Shrieks rang across the farm, seeming to echo against the tree line in the distance. She realised the game must have realised that she could destroy the plants easily, so it was going to balance things out for her. That was fine, she needed a challenge.

With a laugh, she lunged forward at the largest one, slamming her mace into it with no remorse. It let out a shrill noise, like it was in genuine pain. Gran admired the thought Kayaba had put into the monsters as she launched her second attack, shattering the plant's existence. Two left.

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granXgran: 170/170 HP
64 STR | 18 DEX | 14 CON

Basic Attack on Large Nepent for 102 DMG
Basic Attack on Large Nepent for 102 DMG

LARGE NEPENT 0/175 HP
"The house plant had friends!"
175 HP | 30 STR | 5 DEX

LITTLE NEPENT 150/150 HP
"Did you piss off a house plant? Yes."
150 HP | 30 STR | 5 DEX

LITTLE NEPENT 150/150 HP
"Did you piss off a house plant? Yes."
150 HP | 30 STR | 5 DEX

Gran tightened her jaw. She saw from the corner of her eye that Icarus had no intention of even trying to help her. A vine from one of the Nepents found itself slapping her in the face. She could feel the red mark that it left, glowing on her cheek. She was about to respond in kind when the other Nepent wrapped its vine around her ankle and tugged. Gran half scowled, half grinned. Her STR was at least twice the plant's. She reached down and grabbed the vine. She gave it a hard yank, and the plant was sent careening in her direction. While it screeched and flew towards her, Gran put both hands on the mace and swung it full force at the plant. The enemy face-planted into the mace, chunking its hp down. With a grimace, Gran lifted the mace up and struck down at the plant that had been knocked sideways.

She smiled as the enemy shattered into pieces. She turned to face the other plant just in time to see it ready its next attack. The vine cracked across her chest with a deafening sound, and she could feel pain course through her body upon contact. It was dulled, but there. She snarled at the plant and brought her mace to bear, ready to charge at the thing.

-------
granXgran: 110/170 HP
64 STR | 18 DEX | 14 CON

Vine Whip on granXgran for 30 DMG
Basic Attack on Large Nepent for 102 DMG
Basic Attack on Large Nepent for 102 DMG
Vine Whip on granXgran for 30 DMG

LARGE NEPENT 0/175 HP
"The house plant had friends!"
175 HP | 30 STR | 5 DEX

LITTLE NEPENT 0/150 HP
"Did you piss off a house plant? Yes."
150 HP | 30 STR | 5 DEX

LITTLE NEPENT 150/150 HP
"Did you piss off a house plant? Yes."
150 HP | 30 STR | 5 DEX

Gran considered for a moment whether or not she should let the nepent attack Icarus. She smiled at the thought and swung her mace a couple of times at the eggplant. It shattered and she raised an eyebrow at Icarus, "Well of course, dear. My damage is super crazy deluxe insane, bro. Or whatever it is young people say these days."

Gran pointed at about where her HP bar should be on Icarus' hud and smiled, "Of course, my HP is on the verge of being in the yellow. From just one encounter. It's a trade off, really."

"Speaking of trade offs," Gran lifted her mace and pointed it at Icarus, "When are you going to get that blasted sword changed to a better one? You did what? Ten damage?"

She swore to herself that if he didn't have a weapon the next time, she was just going to buy one for him. It was stupid to not have a good weapon. She looked around them and wondered if the next encounter would be any more difficult. She did love a good challenge.[/blcokquote]




icarus

Gran shook her head with a sigh, "Well, to be honest, sometimes trying is all you can do. Like say, trying to help me fight these enemies. You need to get a feel for just how weak you are, dear. Otherwise you might get overconfident later and get skewered by a simple pig. Only a few people would want that, I'm sure."

She chortled along and tightened her grip on her mace. They were about in the center of the corn now. This is where things would get fun. How many little nepents had they killed now? She looked up to the counter and sighed. Three out of seven. So the large one didn't count, then? That was fine. She turned to face another rising mound of dirt. As soon as the skin on the top of its head was revealed, Gran smacked it with her mace. Like whack-a-mole. She smiled at the thought and hit it again, watching it shatter before it even came out of the dirt. Four out of seven.

"To answer your question," Gran shot Icarus a glance, "I've seen a couple people fighting the wolves, but I haven't fought one myself yet. I haven't had a strong enough party to back me up for it yet. I'm strong and brave and old, but I'm not stupid. If the game threw wolves at me like it threw these eggplants, I'd die instantly."

"What?" Gran layered her voice with snark, making fun of Icarus' sarcastic response, "You mean you're not the main villain of this story? Oh man, and I'd taken you all the way out here to talk you down from your evil ways!"

She put her hand on her chest and tilted her head to the side with a dramatic sigh. She thought about what to say next. Maybe some comment about how he carried himself like a buffoon. And then, he was caught up. It took Gran a moment to realise a nepent had spawned near them and was attacking Icarus. She watched as the vine wrapped around the kid quickly, and yanked him away. She stood there with a raised eyebrow as Icarus' faceplanted into the ground. She considered laughing at him, but shook her head. That would be demeaning. She casually stepped over him and walked closer to the little nepent. Two swings of her mace and it was no more. Five out of seven.

"Come on, kid," she turned and looked at Icarus, crooked smile growing on her face, "Surely you can do better than that?"