With the party well-rested after their long break, they finally crossed the bridge into the steppes. However, they immediately stopped after their first encounter revealed a problem with their current strategy.
“Fen.” Louis stood with his arms sternly crossed in front of him.
“Nn?” Fenris, who was drenched in blood, was being forced to sit on his knees.
“Do you understand what the problem is here?”
“Is it because… this is mostly my blood…?”
Fenris, upon spotting a group of orcs, had immediately charged in and drawn all of their attention—leaving Louis and the others scrambling to catch up before Fenris got overwhelmed. It was about as anxiety-inducing as if their excitable pet dog had suddenly run out into traffic, except if the dog were also somehow strong enough to hit the cars back.
Unable to immediately put that complex feeling into words, Louis simply answered,
“... Well, that's part of it, yeah."
"The bigger problem is that we have to conserve Lily’s mana since we don't know how long we’ll be out here,” he explained further. “If you get injured like that, she has to spend a lot of it on casting [Heal].”
“Do you… not get hurt when fighting normally…?” Fenris tilted his head.
“... What made you think that that is normal?” Louis asked, slightly exasperated.
“I… used to get in a lot of fights… but nobody said anything whenever I came home injured…” Thinking back a bit more, Fenris suddenly realized something. “Huh… I guess my parents didn't really talk to me in the first place, though…
“O-oh,” Taken aback by Fenris’s response, Louis glanced to the side and consulted the others.
‘S-should I ask him about that?’
‘No way.’ Gen and Lily quickly shook their heads.
Fenris himself didn't actually think anything of his answer, but the topic seemed loaded enough that the others unanimously decided to steer clear of it regardless.
“... If you ever wanna talk about it, I’m here for ya, buddy.” Louis said as he comfortingly him a firm pat on the shoulder.
“?? Okay.” He didn't quite get it, but was happy that his friends seemed supportive.
With that settled, Louis went back to his main point.
“Anyways, Fen—do you know what ‘party roles’ are?”
Fenris’s ears perked up. He knew this one.
“They’re the bread you get when the class has a pizza party…!”
“... Are you talking about breadsticks, Fen?” Lily asked bemusedly.
“Oh.” Fenris was dumbfounded.
…
“Party rolls… are breadsticks.” Fenris started murmuring to himself as he processed the new information.
“—Wait, no.” Louis immediately put a stop to that misunderstanding. “Party roles. R-O-L-E-S.”
“Roles… are breadsticks?” Fenris tilted his head.
“... Let's just start from the beginning.”
———
“Each party member can fill a certain ‘role’ based on their playstyle—” Louis explained, spelling out ‘role’ to make sure Fenris didn't confuse it with bread again. “—and, when each member is doing their role well, you can win most fights without taking much damage.”
“What's… a playstyle?” Fenris raised his hand.
“A playstyle is… Man, how do you describe what that is?” Louis scratched his head. “Y’know what—Gen, could you show off your gear real quick as an example?”
“Certainly,” she obliged, taking out her shortsword and buckler. Louis, on the other hand, took out his spear and stood a few feet away from her.
“Gen’s role is the ‘party tank’—basically, she grabs the enemies’ attention and tries to keep it away from the rest of the party. While she does need to hurt ‘em a bit, it's more important for her to avoid taking damage, since she’ll be getting most of the attacks; that's why she’s got more armor than the rest of us and a shield for protection.”
“It's a bit small…” Fenris commented, looking at Gen’s buckler. Compared to the shield he’d used at the guild, it was about half the diameter.
“Gen likes playing a bit more aggressively, so she’s using a buckler for more mobility,” Louis shrugged. “Besides, it still protects her pretty well—watch this.”
Louis gave her a lighthearted poke with his spear, which she swatted away with the buckler.
“That's dangerous!” she hissed, swiping at his head with her blade.
“That was definitely more dangerous though?!” Louis cowered, ducking under the slash. “Woah, woah, chill!”
After a few seconds of watching Louis desperately dodge Gen’s assault, something seemed to click inside Fenris's head.
“Oh… Louis is ‘tanking’ right now…!” Fenris excitedly pointed out.
“That's right! You get it!” Louis praised him. “Now—please hurry up and help me?!”
———
(EXTRA: On pizza parties and breadsticks...)
Louis was also dumbfounded, albeit for a different reason.
“... This must be one of those ‘American things’ I've heard about," he whispered to Gen.
“Ara… It must be…” Gen thoughtfully put a hand to her cheek. She’d heard many tales about that land’s culture, but she never actually believed that any of them were real—up until now. “Spontaneously deciding to eat pizza in class… Truly, how strange.”
Lily smiled awkwardly after overhearing them. She felt like there was something off with their understanding, but wasn't able to correct them.
‘... I haven't been to a pizza party, either.’
She was a bit too upper-class to know what those were like; her private school usually had cake or sushi instead.
———
Spoilerwimbledon
Oops, I spilt a little bit of DRAMA. I'm putting the rest away for later.
[collapse]
With the party well-rested after their long break, they finally crossed the bridge into the steppes. However, they immediately stopped after their first encounter revealed a problem with their current strategy.
“Fen.” Louis stood with his arms sternly crossed in front of him.
“Nn?” Fenris, who was drenched in blood, was being forced to sit on his knees.
“Do you understand what the problem is here?”
“Is it because… this is mostly my blood…?”
Fenris, upon spotting a group of orcs, had immediately charged in and drawn all of their attention—leaving Louis and the others scrambling to catch up before Fenris got overwhelmed. It was about as anxiety-inducing as if their excitable pet dog had suddenly run out into traffic, except if the dog were also somehow strong enough to hit the cars back.
Unable to immediately put that complex feeling into words, Louis simply answered,
“... Well, that's part of it, yeah."
"The bigger problem is that we have to conserve Lily’s mana since we don't know how long we’ll be out here,” he explained further. “If you get injured like that, she has to spend a lot of it on casting [Heal].”
“Do you… not get hurt when fighting normally…?” Fenris tilted his head.
“... What made you think that that is normal?” Louis asked, slightly exasperated.
“I… used to get in a lot of fights… but nobody said anything whenever I came home injured…” Thinking back a bit more, Fenris suddenly realized something. “Huh… I guess my parents didn't really talk to me in the first place, though…
“O-oh,” Taken aback by Fenris’s response, Louis glanced to the side and consulted the others.
‘S-should I ask him about that?’
‘No way.’ Gen and Lily quickly shook their heads.
Fenris himself didn't actually think anything of his answer, but the topic seemed loaded enough that the others unanimously decided to steer clear of it regardless.
“... If you ever wanna talk about it, I’m here for ya, buddy.” Louis said as he comfortingly him a firm pat on the shoulder.
“?? Okay.” He didn't quite get it, but was happy that his friends seemed supportive.
With that settled, Louis went back to his main point.
“Anyways, Fen—do you know what ‘party roles’ are?”
Fenris’s ears perked up. He knew this one.
“They’re the bread you get when the class has a pizza party…!”
“... Are you talking about breadsticks, Fen?” Lily asked bemusedly.
“Oh.” Fenris was dumbfounded.
…
“Party rolls… are breadsticks.” Fenris started murmuring to himself as he processed the new information.
“—Wait, no.” Louis immediately put a stop to that misunderstanding. “Party roles. R-O-L-E-S.”
“Roles… are breadsticks?” Fenris tilted his head.
“... Let's just start from the beginning.”
———
“Each party member can fill a certain ‘role’ based on their playstyle—” Louis explained, spelling out ‘role’ to make sure Fenris didn't confuse it with bread again. “—and, when each member is doing their role well, you can win most fights without taking much damage.”
“What's… a playstyle?” Fenris raised his hand.
“A playstyle is… Man, how do you describe what that is?” Louis scratched his head. “Y’know what—Gen, could you show off your gear real quick as an example?”
“Certainly,” she obliged, taking out her shortsword and buckler. Louis, on the other hand, took out his spear and stood a few feet away from her.
“Gen’s role is the ‘party tank’—basically, she grabs the enemies’ attention and tries to keep it away from the rest of the party. While she does need to hurt ‘em a bit, it's more important for her to avoid taking damage, since she’ll be getting most of the attacks; that's why she’s got more armor than the rest of us and a shield for protection.”
“It's a bit small…” Fenris commented, looking at Gen’s buckler. Compared to the shield he’d used at the guild, it was about half the diameter.
“Gen likes playing a bit more aggressively, so she’s using a buckler for more mobility,” Louis shrugged. “Besides, it still protects her pretty well—watch this.”
Louis gave her a lighthearted poke with his spear, which she swatted away with the buckler.
“That's dangerous!” she hissed, swiping at his head with her blade.
“That was definitely more dangerous though?!” Louis cowered, ducking under the slash. “Woah, woah, chill!”
After a few seconds of watching Louis desperately dodge Gen’s assault, something seemed to click inside Fenris's head.
“Oh… Louis is ‘tanking’ right now…!” Fenris excitedly pointed out.
“That's right! You get it!” Louis praised him. “Now—please hurry up and help me?!”
———
(EXTRA: On pizza parties and breadsticks...)
Louis was also dumbfounded, albeit for a different reason.
“... This must be one of those ‘American things’ I've heard about," he whispered to Gen.
“Ara… It must be…” Gen thoughtfully put a hand to her cheek. She’d heard many tales about that land’s culture, but she never actually believed that any of them were real—up until now. “Spontaneously deciding to eat pizza in class… Truly, how strange.”
Lily smiled awkwardly after overhearing them. She felt like there was something off with their understanding, but wasn't able to correct them.
‘... I haven't been to a pizza party, either.’
She was a bit too upper-class to know what those were like; her private school usually had cake or sushi instead.
———
Spoilerwimbledon
Oops, I spilt a little bit of DRAMA. I'm putting the rest away for later.
[collapse]