The party made their way to a safe area to recover, Murmur carrying the heavily-disoriented Fenris over her shoulder. She plopped him onto a tree stump where he sat slumped over for a few minutes, while Ami started fiddling with the screen pulled up in front of her.
“Aaand… done!” Ami closed out of the bug report menu. “They should hotfix it by tomorrow, so you shouldn't get notification bombed later on.”
“... Good.”
Fenris’s face—in an exceedingly rare turn of events—scrunched up as he recalled the experience.
“Woah, I’ve never seen you make a face like this before…” Ami started squishing the wrinkles in his brow. “It sucked that bad, huh?”
“Mrgh…” Fenris groaned, pawing weakly at the hands poking his forehead.
“Leave him be for a moment, Calamity dear.”
Belphegor squatted next to Fenris, shooing off Ami before raising his slender, alien-like hand. Healing magicks started emanating from it, the golden light mending Fenris’s injured knee.
“Sorry, Fenris m’boy—your headache isn't actually a status effect, so I can't heal it,” Belphegor gave a wry smile. “Once you’re feeling well enough to talk, I’d like to ask about a few things… Take your time to rest, of course.”
“Mm… Now is fine…” Fenris groggily replied.
“Are you certain? In that case…”
Fenris explained how the levels he gained blasted him with notifications.
———
“Your skills jumped all the way to level 5?!” Belphegor asked excitedly.
It seemed that people rarely saw skills jump levels—not to mention that they usually had to learn the skills before even beginning to level them. Even if the training method was a bit brutal, it had taken Belphegor until level 10 or so—at least two hours—to reach the level 5 milestone the conventional way.
“This is an incredible discovery… We should be able to make much more progress than I’d anticipated.”
Ami looked particularly smug.
“I knew it wasn't my imagination—I told you skills leveled faster with harder fights!”
“Yes, yes—very smart of you,” Belphegor gave Ami a quick pat on the head, eliciting a satisfied “Muehehe~” from her. “But how did you come up with that theory in the first place?”
“While we were hunting together, I noticed that my skill levels were catching up to you faster than my player level, which seemed weird.”
“Hmm, so the experience system is different for skills? I suppose that’d explain why grinding it like player levels is slower—fighting against an easy enemy isn't much different than just wailing on a training dummy.”
“That’s it! That's the problem!” Ami exaggeratedly thrusted her finger at Belphegor. “It isn't supposed to be a grind—it's supposed to be a challenge!”
She carefully stepped up onto a log, taking a few moments to check her footing before unleashing Calamity.
“These foolish, cowardly beings who seek power without struggle, reward without risk—they stifle the potential they were granted!” Calamity raised her fist high. “For the will of the living to mean anything, it is our duty to challenge this stagnancy; through my will—my conquest—the weak will be forced to struggle and grow strong, or crawl in the mud like the worms that they are! AHAHAHAHA—!”
Belphegor and Murmur applauded, singing a multitude of spirited praises and agreeable opinions, such as “Very inspiring, milady” and “Yes, like worms”.
Fenris also applauded. He didn't quite understand what was happening, but was happy that everyone seemed to be getting along.
“Anyways,” Ami said, immediately dropping the act as she hopped off of her podium. “Was there anything else we wanted to talk about?”
“There was that weird way that the wolves targeted you,” Murmur recalled. “Normally, you only generate aggro from using skills or directly damaging the enemy. Since Wolfie went in first, they should have kept focusing on him instead of switching to Ami.”
Fenris looked at the ominous dark mist drifting off of Ami.
“... Is it because you’re an Aberrant?”
Ami thought about it.
“I mean, that’d help explain why Murmur usually ends up tanking instead of me since her effect is stronger, but… Wouldn't Belphegor get super aggro or something if that were the case?”
“Please no, I’m just a squishy backline caster!” Belphegor panicked.
“... Maybe he’s… too scary, so the enemies just stay away...?”
“Oh, like the uncanny valley, except for Aberrant-ness?”
“Hmm...” Belphegor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I’ll ask around on the forums to see if any other aberrations have noticed anything.”
“If it's true, maybe we’ll start seeing more cuties in the frontlines~”
“Ooh, I wanna see more heavy armor types like you, Murmur!”
“Girls in heavy armor are the best, aren't they?” Murmur agreed.
Belphegor sagely nodded.
“My wifey really is the best.”
“Oh, darling…”
“Ah— They’re flirting again!” Ami scurried behind Fenris with a look of dismay. “PDA! Big brother shield!”
Amused by her antics, Fenris’s tail started wagging.
“Ack—” It bapped Ami in the face.
The party made their way to a safe area to recover, Murmur carrying the heavily-disoriented Fenris over her shoulder. She plopped him onto a tree stump where he sat slumped over for a few minutes, while Ami started fiddling with the screen pulled up in front of her.
“Aaand… done!” Ami closed out of the bug report menu. “They should hotfix it by tomorrow, so you shouldn't get notification bombed later on.”
“... Good.”
Fenris’s face—in an exceedingly rare turn of events—scrunched up as he recalled the experience.
“Woah, I’ve never seen you make a face like this before…” Ami started squishing the wrinkles in his brow. “It sucked that bad, huh?”
“Mrgh…” Fenris groaned, pawing weakly at the hands poking his forehead.
“Leave him be for a moment, Calamity dear.”
Belphegor squatted next to Fenris, shooing off Ami before raising his slender, alien-like hand. Healing magicks started emanating from it, the golden light mending Fenris’s injured knee.
“Sorry, Fenris m’boy—your headache isn't actually a status effect, so I can't heal it,” Belphegor gave a wry smile. “Once you’re feeling well enough to talk, I’d like to ask about a few things… Take your time to rest, of course.”
“Mm… Now is fine…” Fenris groggily replied.
“Are you certain? In that case…”
Fenris explained how the levels he gained blasted him with notifications.
———
“Your skills jumped all the way to level 5?!” Belphegor asked excitedly.
It seemed that people rarely saw skills jump levels—not to mention that they usually had to learn the skills before even beginning to level them. Even if the training method was a bit brutal, it had taken Belphegor until level 10 or so—at least two hours—to reach the level 5 milestone the conventional way.
“This is an incredible discovery… We should be able to make much more progress than I’d anticipated.”
Ami looked particularly smug.
“I knew it wasn't my imagination—I told you skills leveled faster with harder fights!”
“Yes, yes—very smart of you,” Belphegor gave Ami a quick pat on the head, eliciting a satisfied “Muehehe~” from her. “But how did you come up with that theory in the first place?”
“While we were hunting together, I noticed that my skill levels were catching up to you faster than my player level, which seemed weird.”
“Hmm, so the experience system is different for skills? I suppose that’d explain why grinding it like player levels is slower—fighting against an easy enemy isn't much different than just wailing on a training dummy.”
“That’s it! That's the problem!” Ami exaggeratedly thrusted her finger at Belphegor. “It isn't supposed to be a grind—it's supposed to be a challenge!”
She carefully stepped up onto a log, taking a few moments to check her footing before unleashing Calamity.
“These foolish, cowardly beings who seek power without struggle, reward without risk—they stifle the potential they were granted!” Calamity raised her fist high. “For the will of the living to mean anything, it is our duty to challenge this stagnancy; through my will—my conquest—the weak will be forced to struggle and grow strong, or crawl in the mud like the worms that they are! AHAHAHAHA—!”
Belphegor and Murmur applauded, singing a multitude of spirited praises and agreeable opinions, such as “Very inspiring, milady” and “Yes, like worms”.
Fenris also applauded. He didn't quite understand what was happening, but was happy that everyone seemed to be getting along.
“Anyways,” Ami said, immediately dropping the act as she hopped off of her podium. “Was there anything else we wanted to talk about?”
“There was that weird way that the wolves targeted you,” Murmur recalled. “Normally, you only generate aggro from using skills or directly damaging the enemy. Since Wolfie went in first, they should have kept focusing on him instead of switching to Ami.”
Fenris looked at the ominous dark mist drifting off of Ami.
“... Is it because you’re an Aberrant?”
Ami thought about it.
“I mean, that’d help explain why Murmur usually ends up tanking instead of me since her effect is stronger, but… Wouldn't Belphegor get super aggro or something if that were the case?”
“Please no, I’m just a squishy backline caster!” Belphegor panicked.
“... Maybe he’s… too scary, so the enemies just stay away...?”
“Oh, like the uncanny valley, except for Aberrant-ness?”
“Hmm...” Belphegor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I’ll ask around on the forums to see if any other aberrations have noticed anything.”
“If it's true, maybe we’ll start seeing more cuties in the frontlines~”
“Ooh, I wanna see more heavy armor types like you, Murmur!”
“Girls in heavy armor are the best, aren't they?” Murmur agreed.
Belphegor sagely nodded.
“My wifey really is the best.”
“Oh, darling…”
“Ah— They’re flirting again!” Ami scurried behind Fenris with a look of dismay. “PDA! Big brother shield!”
Amused by her antics, Fenris’s tail started wagging.
“Ack—” It bapped Ami in the face.
