The World’s Fluffiest Catch (Job, Solo)

Going from town to town was something Aliarey had done often. Staying in the same place got boring and the jobs would often stagnate. There really was not much else to her life other than taking lazy days until her money ran dry which would then prompt her into taking a number of jobs that would pay well enough to last for a while. Rinse and repeat. That day she found herself walking through the streets of Magnolia Town window shopping. It was about time to add some new weapons into her collection and she figured she had enough to at least get something basic and simple. The big guns would unfortunately have to wait a bit.

Her boots clacked upon the cobblestone street as she made her way through the town in the direction of where she knew some weapon shops were located. A slight delay stopped her, however. Along the way to her destination she came across a shop that seemed to be selling various knick knacks and room décor. Normally such a shop would have gone unnoticed by the gun user who was more interested in filling up her arsenal storage rather than a room. Especially considering she stayed at inns most of the time rather than having a place to call her own. This shop was special. This shop had something that stood out even to her.

Blue eyes caught sight of a pile of small pile of blankets set outside the shop as a display. Some were solid colors, some had designs, some were ribbed, while others were smooth as silk. The one that made her stop and double take what her mind failed to process the first time looked like the most expensive of the bunch. It was set up by itself as a main centerpiece as if the owner was proud to have something of such quality. Even from her distance she could make out how extremely fluffy it looked. Not wanting to be caught looking at blankets, Aliarey looked to the left and to the right to make sure no one was paying attention to her actions. It was doubtful anyone around would really care she was looking at blankets rather than something powerful but she was still embarrassed for herself. Such a thing catching her interest wasn’t normal at all!

Satisfied that no one was watching, Aliarey slowly crept up the store entrance and stared down at the blanket on display. So fluffy. After checking again that no one was watching she gave it a quick poke with her finger. The blanket did not explode upon being touched nor did she instantly die. Good, it was safe. Having come to such a conclusion, she found herself now reaching out for the blanket with both hands and proceeded to squish it repeatedly. How could such a thing be so soft? This continued for five minutes more as she grinned widely. She could literally squish the blanket all day and still never be bored. That could not be done in front of the store though. No. That blanket had to be hers first! Aliarey lifted up the fluffy yet somewhat heavy blanket from its display and hugged it to her chest. No one else was allowed to touch it.

Aliarey opened the door to the shop and rushed inside, willing to give every jewel she had to have the blanket for herself. Unfortunately, luck seemed to not want to be on her side lately. The blanket had been brought to the counter but the old woman behind it just shook her head and claimed it was not for sale. It had already been reserved for another buyer just before she found it herself. It also turned out there were no more anywhere in that store or the entire town.

“What do you mean there aren’t anymore?! Can’t you just make one?”

The old woman, while not really liking the younger woman’s tone at all, went on to explain that that type of blanket was very rare. The fabric was made from the wool of a very vicious breed of sheep that was difficult to domesticate or put down. She also went on to explain that such a blanket was very expensive and it was unlikely the girl before her could even afford one. However, the old woman was one for negotiations and she had a nose for future sales. She offered Aliarey a free blanket made from that sheep’s wool if, and only if, Alairey could hunt down one of the beasts and bring it back to the store so more blankets could be made. Naturally there would be some jewels offered as well due to the danger involved. The terms were reasonable enough as well as the payout. She doubted a breed of sheep could be that dangerous so to her the mission was in the bag. The next train out of town was taken. Its destination? The closest she could get to a place called Spooky Forest.

The quest for the fluffy blanket began.

(Word Count: 846)

The member 'Lumindis' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

The trip from Magnolia to Spooky Forest had been a long one. Well, not really all that long but considering she would of preferred instantaneous teleportation two days was much too long. The closest the train had gotten her to her destination was a small village an hour away. The rest of the way had to be traveled by foot. How troublesome. Still, while she was at the village she took the time to prepare herself for the job. Preparation wasn’t really something she did on a regular basis but her hunt was taking place in the wild. Her normal attire was not suitable for such a thing. The normal clothes she normally wore were switched out for a set of made of thick cloth and light leather. It wasn’t anything too fancy but it would get the job done. With clothes switched, her pistols in their holsters, her assault rifle strapped to her back, and her arsenal of magical weapons readied to be called upon, Aliarey made her way out of the village and towards the forest.

The day was still early but as the mage got closer to Spooky Forest the sky grew darker. Getting even closer gave a sense of eeriness that seemed unnatural. Just what was this place? A white foggy mist formed within the air, making it harder to see past the field of trees. “Well this place does seem to live up to its name,” she would comment outloud to herself, her self preservation nerves going on full alert. If the sheep she was looking for lived in such a place maybe it was more than she thought it was. Well whatever. Only way to find out was to just charge in. Taking several steps forward, Aliarey disappeared within the mass of trees.

The forest was mostly quiet, save for the sounds of her own steps as she made her way through the forest. There were some sounds that seemed like animals in the background but they seemed to be farther in. Come to think of it, she realized she wasn’t all too sure what this particular breed sounded like. Did it give the standard “bah” sound? Was she just supposed to be lucky and hope she ran right into it without knowing anything about the creature itself? Hm, not being one for details was starting to be a huge flaw in how she handled her missions.

The atmosphere was starting to become more uncomfortable the farther into the forest she ventured. She didn’t like it at all. Still, she traveled in one direction until she came across a wide creek with water flowing through its center. Typical. Her eyes scanned the area for a way to cross without having to go through the water. The thought of bringing rope had not crossed her mind beforehand. A somewhat rotted tree was near and with a good shove could form a bridge for her to get over the gap. Her feet carried her over to the tree and with gloved hands placed upon its trunk she gave it a push. It moved a little, the base creaking as the tree leaned forward towards the creek. It wasn’t enough though. “Of course it won’t move!” She kicked the tree in aggravation. No, that didn’t do anything to move the tree either. Maybe there was another way across further down.

Just as she was about to leave a crazed squawking pierced her ears. The form of what appeared to be a very ugly chicken whooshed by her. The creature did not seem happy. It scurried along the ground quickly and came around again, this time trying to peck Aliarey with its beak. She sidestepped but another had shown up and upon avoiding that one another appeared. This continued until she was having to deal with five of the disgusting things. They were quick and much too much trouble for their worth. Quickness was something she was familiar with given she was quick herself and as such was able to keep up with their attack pace. It was annoying though considering they were not her target.

Having had enough of the creatures, Aliarey requipped her Ember Revolvers. With the fire element weapons in hand, Aliarey continued her movement and eventually got all the chickens to group up. Having them so spread out as they originally were was getting on her nerves. She fired a shot at the lead chicken that was getting too close for comfort, sending a small fireball in its direction. The bird screeched in pain as it was hit, having been burned by its effect and slowing it down due to the pain. Another shot at another chicken with the same result. Charging up her guns as she moved backwards allowed her to send multiple fireballs that would hit the rest. One chicken had been hit by so many that its feathers had caught fire. It screeched as it ran awkwardly, running into the rest and spreading the flame. Before long the chickens were nothing more than a pile of steaming corpses. It wasn’t even fitting to call it a fried chicken meal for the birds looked inedible to start with.

The fire guns disappeared in a white flash, returning to the storage dimension they had come from. With that distraction out of the way it was time to move on. Aliarey decided to ignore the creek that was blocking her way originally and decided to just head downward towards another location of the forest. A clearing was reached moments later and while nothing too noteworthy could be seen her eyes did spot some tracks in the dirt. Even though she was not a professional tracker she still doubted they were tracks belonging to the ram she was looking for, but it didn’t hurt to make sure. Aliarey followed the tracks quietly and was soon led to a gigantic mud pool. The thought of how deep it went ran through her mind but it wasn’t exactly a detail she was willing to find out by jumping in. It was currently empty but judging by the mess of mud around it was quite obvious something came to the area quite often. Zoology wasn’t her forte but common sense would tell her that the vicious sheep was not here. It was time to move on.

Luck would fail her once more for as the young woman turned around to head back the way she came she was met with a rather large group of pigs. They looked angry and rather unfriendly. Perhaps sharing their little mud pool was against their policy. The pool could be theirs for all she cared but communicating such a thing would prove impossible. Anytime a step was made to leave the pigs would snort angrily and come closer. It was only a matter of time before they started to charge.

(Word Count: 1150
Total so far: 1996
Mana: 90%
Health: 220)

New WC Figures:
350 words of this post are for the 1500 solo C Rank WC and original turn in

New WC: 850

“Ugh, come on!” Another complaint that surely the pigs would fail to understand. First the chickens and now a large group of pigs. What was the next animal obstacle to get in her way of locating a fluffy mean sheep? A demon cow? Spooky Forest was more like the local madman’s farmhouse.

Aliarey glared at the pigs as they glared right back at her. A staring contest was not going to make the situation any better but she hated the idea of wasting anymore of her magic or ammo on such simple creatures. It would not do well to be completely out by the time her target was located. Then again, since when was she the type to have that kind of thought process? Patience was not one of her virtues and those pigs were in her way! The best way to deal with pigs was to turn them into bacon, or rather, burnt corpses that got in the way of one too many explosions. A shame she did not exactly have any dynamite or throw able bombs. One of her normal requips would have to be used instead.

A bright flash of light appeared in her hands and in seconds it had taken the shape of her trusty Boom Spider Launcher. It was a weird take on a grenade launcher for its shots were not ordinary grenades. The weapon held three bombs that would run around until a solid surface crossed its path. It was mostly useful when dealing with targets on buildings or angled surfaces since the bombs themselves could attach themselves and crawl up walls, but they should have been fine for a large group of pigs.

The pigs were still not amused. A bright flash of light was the last straw for their own patience. They were wary of the intruder before, but now their own primal instincts were telling them to take care of the human before she could take care of them. The lead three charged forward, aiming to crash right into Aliarey and knock her over. A point blank shot of her launcher hit one of the pigs, causing a small explosion that hit the two pigs with it and knocked Aliarey back. Her own attack had hit her as well due to being too close but being reckless was in her nature. She quickly reclaimed her footing before the rest of the pigs swarmed her.

Injured but not out of the count the three lead pigs were. It would seem they were tougher than some normal farm pig. "Tch, hell.” Aliarey bit her lip as she saw the pigs injured but not dead. She loved ending things in an instant boom or shot. Having fights drawn out just made more room for her own mistakes and recklessness to get the better of her. She held up her weapon and aimed at the bigger group of pigs that were now joining in on the attack. Another spider bomb was shot from the launcher’s barrel and it wasted no time in running to the side looking for a random target. Some of the pigs were confused at the appearance of the mechanical contraption and stopped while the rest ignored their existence and kept going. Aliarey kept on the move without waiting to see what happened. The sounds of an explosion would suffice. She took her chances and rushed past the charging group, activating the launchers ability to give the rest of its power to her. Such an act made her very steps turn into a trail of mini explosions. The sounds of mini explosions and pig screams filled her ears. It was a horrible sound and it rang throughout the otherwise silent forest. It was their own fault for being stupid enough to follow her.

A bigger explosion then thundered followed by more squeals. More unlucky pigs had found out the danger of her mechanical spiders. Her lips formed into a smirk. They deserved every hit they took for getting in her way. How many were there in total? Was it eleven? Kind of an odd number. That exact thought had been going through her head when pig number twelve made its appearance. She had almost made it back to the clearing she had traveled through moments before when the swine intercepted her path and charged into her legs, knocking her into a nearby tree. “Crap,” she muttered just before a couple of her launcher’s mini explosions caught her before she could dismiss it. She wasn’t immune to her own weaponry and the trail effect required constant movement if she wished to avoid the attacks it created.

The final pig was unphased. It was in a wild rampage and could care less about being hit by such a minor explosion. Attacking once more was all that was in its mind while a sense of caution was nonexistent. The smirk on Aliarey’s face had long faded. That damn pig had a lot of nerve as did the rest of them. It was their fault she was no longer at one hundred percent. If she had to leave the forest to heal up or restock before finding the ram she would be sure to come back and exterminate every last pig in the forest. For now, she withdrew one of her pistols from its holster along her hips and fired at the pig as it was coming for her. The magical projectile pierced its head, causing the creature to stop in its tracks before collapsing. Twelve pigs down. “Phew,” Aliarey sighed and slid her body down until she was sitting on the ground at the base of the tree she had run into. Her grip on her pistol remained just in case anything else decided to show up. The requip mage needed a breather before continuing her search. Five minutes, ten minutes. Time went on by with her back still pressed against the tree in a relaxed state. She ached all over and even her basic armor had open gaps in it caused from her explosions. The wounds were minor so it really wasn’t an issue but she was sure she wouldn’t be able to keep up her usual speed in that state. More training would have to be in order if farm animals was starting to give her trouble. Perhaps she had been having too many lazy days. Nah, that couldn’t of been the reason.

Finally ready to continue her hunt, Aliarey slowly stood up, wincing as a sharp pain went through her legs after putting her whole weight on them. The pain dulled as she started walking but she was still moving slower than before. A half hour went by without any distraction. No random animals, no massive force of nature blocking her path, just a straight shot through some bushes and trees in silence. A few minutes more brought her to the edge of a small cliff overlooking a wide green clearing full of fluffy sheep. Unfortunately they appeared to be everyday looking sheep. Surely that wasn’t the type she was looking for. No. Her target had to have a unique and ferocious look to it.

Her blue eyes scanned the area carefully but saw no such creature. Just when she thought she was so close! It was then a sheep’s ‘bah’ was heard. This was different than the ones given off by the sheep she saw, however. It was deep and much louder and it was very near. Aliarey looked around again. Just where was it? Another ‘bah’ from the creature could be heard. This time it sounded like it was below her. The young woman crouched down and waited. The cliff she had been standing on must of actually been part of an entrance to a cave.

Before long a large and ridiculously fluffy white ram walked out of the cave and into the clearing. So fluffy. That had to be it! Unfortunately, even she doubted running up to the ram and tackling the creature to hug its fluffy soft coat would be a good idea. Damn. She would have to ruin part of its coat just trying to take it down. It was what it was though and without much of a plan Aliarey began her assault.

She already had some advantage due to her higher vantage point and with a smirk she requipped into another set of pistols, this time holding the lightning element. Fire would have been her preferred choice but she couldn’t very well just burn all that lovely wool. Well actually she could. The real reason was that she could not summon them at that particular moment. Four shots of lightning filled projectiles left each gun and made contact with the ram. An expectation of major damage being inflicted was high, but it turned out she would be left disappointed. Her eyes narrowed when the ram just looked up at her and bellowed. The creature was unharmed. Its fur sparked with electricity as it took a step forward. Had its really fluffy coat protected it from her attacks? How annoying. Maybe a stronger dose would do the trick.

The guns she wielded started to spark with blue colored lightning as they began to combine energy into a stronger attack. Once combined a large electrical beam shot was fired and collided with the ram. It stumbled a bit but still remained unharmed. It’s wool had absorbed her attack once more. “Oh, this is ridiculous!” The ram’s only reply was to charge forward to deal with its attacker. It was quick. It was agile. It knew how to get up that cliff and render Aliarey’s high point advantage meaningless. Jumping along stones and boulders came easy for the creature and even though the woman had emptied her lighting powered guns into its body during its charge it did not slow down. The ram was now on the same cliff of its attacker and upon reaching the human it went in to take a bite out of her.

Aliarey sidestepped out of the way of the ram’s row of sharp teeth but nearly got hit by its back hooves as it quickly turned around to kick her. Even its hooves were sharp for they made small cuts through her leather attire. That definitely would of hurt if it had landed completely. Aliarey dismissed her lightning guns as she kept on the move. The ammo of the set was depleted therefore they were now completely and utterly useless. Her normal pistols would have to do for now. She drew them as she requipped into her Outlaw Armor set to increase the power of their attacks. The pistols were quickly emptied into the ram but it showed no signs of weakening or stopping its own assault. It charged forward with its horns downward, ready to impale the human on them should its attack make impact.

A quick jump off the cliff saved her. She landed down in the clearing with a loud thud as her body collided with the ground. Certainly not the most graceful of landings. Pistols still in hand, she pressed them into the ground as she pushed herself up. Getting back on her feet was a must, especially since her ears caught the sound of the ram jumping from the cliff and landing nearby.

By the time she was back up on her feet the ram was coming in for another bite. Her armor’s special ability was able to save her from such a nasty thing. Six illusion clones were created from the armor she wore and spread in a circle around the ram. What the creature was not aware of was the fact the real Aliarey had switched places with one of the illusions as the formation circle happened. Its deadly bite did nothing more than latch onto air as it attacked the illusion clone. During this time Aliarey reloaded her pistols, the mimics doing the same action as she was doing.

The ram was confused but no less furious. It attacked different images as it was shot at repeatedly. Reload. Shoot. Reload. Shoot. Only her own attacks were doing any harm to the creature and its lovely wool was starting to turn red. The ram still had tons of energy, however, and would still require more to be taken down. Soon the clones and her requip armor itself disappeared, having reached their limits, but not before a small disc was summoned from her requip storage dimension. A toss of the disc and a few seconds later a small turret had formed that began to release a thick smoke into the air.

The ram had found itself unable to see through the smoke, but Aliarey herself was capable of seeing quite well through it. Another piece of armor, an eye visor to be exact, had been summoned to cover her eyes and was set to thermal mode. Through the smoke she could see the heat signatures of the ram and of the docile sheep that were panicking in the background. The creature was attacking aimlessly, hoping to hit something regardless of its temporary inability to see.

More shots of her pistol were fired towards it to continue the same attack method she had done earlier. The smoke eventually cleared, revealing a weakened ram that was having trouble standing. It moved slowly but would still not give in. This was starting to get tiring and Aliarey could tell she was running low on magic energy. Putting her pistols away for she no longer had the mana supply to reload them nor anymore bullets to reload manually, she took hold of the assault rifle that had been strapped to her back. She emptied the clip into the ram and then waited for it to fall as she put the rifle back in its usual resting place along her back.

Persistence even near death made the ram a stubborn creature. It held its head downward for once final charge. It was very slow moving compared to its earlier attacks that Aliarey could grab onto its horns before it connected with her body. Her bloodline was full of strength and could be called upon at any given time. Such a thing was not something she utilized often like some others, however, it did often have its perks. Holding back the ram in such a weakened state was no issue now that her ancestry gift was being used. It could even be done with one hand. The other hand reached out and touched the area between its eyes. An explosive energy burst out from her hands, dealing the final blow to the ram. Her other hand let go of the horn it held and the lifeless corpse fell to the ground.

The only thing left was to figure out how the hell she was going to get a giant fluffy sheep corpse out of the forest and back to the blanket shop. She kind of didn't think of or even plan for that scenario. Then again she didn't exactly plan for anything about anything. And so, she kind of had to drag it along. It was awkward for sure, especially by the time she got back to town with it. One could question why she didn't just shear the wool off herself and the answer to that was.... because she didn't know how. She'd probably ruin the wool and therefore ruin her future most awesome blanket! That was not allowed to happen. Dragging the corpse all over the dirt made more sense. Totally. There were a few stares, to which she just shouted that they could all help instead of looking at her as if she were crazy. That got them to look away. She had to sigh though and then shake her fist at them while once again shouting at them all for being useless. Whatever. With extra effort she made it back to the shop that had the world's fluffiest blankets ever. The mission was a success after the woman that owned the store accepted the dead monster sheep. Aliarey now had some more jewels to add to her collection as well as the most prized fluffy blanket ever made. EVER. Truly it was the most awesome day of her life.

(Word Count: 2711
Total Word Count: 4707

Mana: 5
Health: 156

Abilities Used:
Ember Revolvers - 10
Boom Spider Launcher - 10
Laser Tasers - 15
Outlaw Armor - 10
Mini Turret Disc v2 - 15
Eye Visor - 15
Spare Ammo UA - 20
Brute of Fiore Lineage
Explosive Burst Sig)

New WC: 3561