Page 2 of 10 FirstFirst 1234 ... LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 95

Thread: Kaer Morhen

  1. #11
    Kou scoffed. He knew exactly what the lass meant, and exactly what he... perhaps should have been doing all along. She had to understand, though. Surely, she knew of his hangups. If they all returned to their original world at the end of this adventure, what then? The two Adventurers who began this journey would return to being a rich girl on her path to becoming the head of a major corporation, and a poor lad shunning those who acquired fortune of any sort on the backs of others. What sort of life could exist there? Well, that was a puzzle he had yet to even give proper consideration to.

    Nevertheless, they were upon the old castle called Kaer Morhen. Standing outside to greet them, was a red-haired woman who clearly understood what the purpose of this journey was. Kou stepped forward. Looking at this woman, she didn't seem like she belonged to this branch of Witchers. No, she clearly more attributed to a particular sect which took a more... assassin-style approach in combat. This realization had a direct influence on Kou's response. "I'm pretty sure, yeah. Are you sure you should be here?"

  2. #12
    Hikari knew her brother understood her gentle nudging and thus had nothing in particular to say. Was she aware of the kinds of hold ups he would have had in their own world? Sure. She became instantly aware of them as soon as the lad spoke the girl's real name. A simple idol wouldn't have caused the lad so much trouble, given this knowledge it'd taken her a while to figure out exactly what his problem was with accepting the girl's affection, when it was so obvious that they liked each other. Whether he felt it would work out in the previous world or not, it likely would have. If the girl took the initiative, at least that was the way the Demi-human saw it. Knowing that girls chose the men they liked based on different criteria. A man could be turned into a Millionaire. But a girl who already had money and apparently wasn't the type of person who'd let her own shrivel and die, likely wasn't looking for anything so simple. Perhaps through their blossoming relationship, her brother would eventually see exactly the kind of man he was.

    But their matters of personal thought aside, the greeting from the assassin like woman at the door spurred Kou into a rather frank response. A chuckle came from her and she shrugged. "If you know that much, you should probably already be aware that those who bear Medallions do this world a service and some still don't like it. The castle at Noxus was razed to the ground only a few of us made it here. Since we are most familiar with the process that makes a Witcher, Kaer Morhen's keepers said we could make our home here. Besides there is more than one way to slay a beast," she explained the situation giving both backstory and enough warning of the kind of problem this lad could truly face in the future. "This life is a hard one, and certain aspects of it are for you and you alone. If you are willing step forward. If not, go back the way you came..."

  3. #13
    Naturally, Kou knew how much loathing the general population had for Witchers. Those who didn't have immediate use of a Witcher's abilities, most likely had quite a few negative things to say about them. Kou didn't care. Among gamers, Witchers were an annoying type of character to create, but very valuable in groups when built properly. The biggest annoyance was world interaction, but he was sure he could manage. As such, he stepped forward without a moment of hesitation. "Right, right, people hate Witchers. Scum of the Earth, welcome back!" he mused, moving even beyond the red-haired Witcher. Surprised as he was to learn that the Assassin-type Witchers were without a base in this world. Perhaps it had something to do with so few players choosing their school, what with the ability to be Alchemists and the like while joining a more combat-savvy sect. "Alright, so what's up first? Straight to the Grasses is fine with me," he said, knowing the thing known as the Trial of the Grasses typically came after a rather long series of side-quests. He also knew, however, that he'd given himself a certain advantage that would leave him more... prepared to skip ahead to this stage, simply by virtue of a choice he'd made in the creation of this Avatar.

  4. #14
    Hikari watched as her brother casually strolled right on in, not even seeming to be bothered by the potential to be hated. "Gambatte, I'm going to set camp and explore..." she mentioned casually, figuring at the very least she would have Arjuna or Karna for company when he was done scouting or whatever.

    Beyond this Kou's words as he moved past the obvious assassin leaning woman made her brow raise. "Not many would shrug it off so easily. Don't come to regret your carelessness..." she warned but for whatever reason avoided saying more. With the lad here and alone there was but little left to do but get him set up. His body needed adjusting so that he could take the Trial of Grasses, but...

    "What?"

    Kou's words seemed to hit the woman's ear as she thought and beyond what he said, he claimed to be mostly ready for that trial. "Did you just say you're ready for the Trial of Grasses? Do you have any idea what that can do to you if you aren't prepared? Hell even if you are prepared. Only 3 of 10 survive the process in the first place and when the numbers are better they are usually mad? Is that what you want? You'll die. " the woman asked as she moved forward, she couldn't believe this level of foolishness. Is this what she was sensing as this lad approached, reckless abandon about his life? Where was she going, towards the Alchemy lab, but she'd been going there to get the starter herbs together, though she could easily administer the Trial of Grasses immediately if a person wished to undergo it, it was tantamount to suicide. She walked down into the castle, below ground level into a chamber which contained a great number of ingredients. Not so strangely, measuring devices, mortars and pestles and all other manner of material were present. But in the center of this room was a large table with shackles on it where the body could be aligned to keep it from self-harming.

  5. #15
    The woman was clearly bothered by his insistence upon taking the Trial of the Grasses right away. He expected as much; unprepared characters doing such a thing in Age of Eternity were deleted as the result of a bad dice roll via RNG. He knew the chances, and he knew the risk of failure... and it didn't apply to him the same as it did to others. As he followed the redhead, Kou decided he would answer her question by bringing attention to his left hand. What he'd done to ruin this Avatar's abilities should not have had the consequences it did - not for someone capable of accomplishing the feat in the first place. It happened simply because his body was incapable of handling it, and thus endangered his human form.

    In truth, Kou's Mana was not endangered at all; it simply took everything he had just to keep himself stable. To show his meaning, he let this control slip just a bit. As a result of this, his hand began fading into the form of a wisp-like aura, not unlike that which encased his newest Avatar... which happened to be a Celestial. "Nothing to worry about. I'm not gonna die or anything. Well... not all of me. This is just a last-ditch effort to stay the way I am," he said, knowing he was half human, half Celestial in this form. The human half of him was in danger of being destroyed the next time he exerted himself. That was his issue. By becoming a Witcher, or at least by undergoing this trial, he would either put an end to that half of himself, or strengthen it enough to restore its capacity against a Celestial half which overpowered it otherwise. All in all, he was merely gambling to keep this Avatar's future intact.

  6. #16
    This lad would not be discouraged from his actions. It was strange to this woman. She'd seen more than her fair share of new pupils die, but never had she told someone in such blunt terms they were going to die, to have them argue about it. There was no backing down, no light of hope diminishing within the lad's eyes as she shared this news. He simply claimed that it would be fine. He showed her what he meant by this, allowing his Mana control to fail and in his left hand a wisp of energy showed. The Medallion on her neck vibrated with magical energy and she was left with a raised brow. "A creature that high order, chose a human as their mate? How strange..." she murmured. Still given what his problem was, the absoluteness of his death was no longer certain. It seemed the boy simply wished to remain exactly as his was, without becoming the same type of higher order creature who created him.

    She sighed, her red hair swiftly moving about her shoulders as she gathered a myriad of ingredients and began pouring them into a mortar and pestle. "Even if you don't die, you do understand that the changes made to your physiology will be permanent. There will be no heirs produced by you... you cannot change your mind about this," for a person native to this world such a speech was absolutely normal. She didn't know it what it would likely seem like to the lad. Instead she busied her hands, crushing herbs adding strange liquids and live small samples. This concoction was a vile mix of things, made to mutate everything about this lad that was human. it would make him stronger, faster, give him a certain bit of extra... but things could not be gained without other things being lost. If he understood this they would continue. She walked over to a nearby fireplace removing from the mantle a coin like Medallion, which was blank in its conception but malleable by magic alone. The base of it was things that a Witcher would use, but what would become of it, and its final shape was something that would be determined by this boy's body alone. "If you are certain put on the necklace and sit on the table prepare for your binding." If he lived through the ordeal, the Medallion would bind itself to him and change its shape. If not, he'd die, and she'd return it to where it had been before. She sat a cup beside the lad containing the contents of her concoction the Trial of Grasses would begin as soon as he was ready.

  7. #17
    "Yeah, isn't it?" Kou said, playing along with the idea while knowing he'd simply selected a combination of races to be. Perhaps, somewhere in the world, there was a legitimate case of a half-Celestial that was properly born. No matter. His existence was a matter of importance, but not how it came to be. He knew what his racial combination could do for him in taking the Trial of the Grasses, and he knew that his human half would be forever altered... maybe. Either way, there were no other worthwhile options. Either he'd lose the human half of his identity, or he'd earn a few boosts to its abilities, and essentially undo a hindrance in his build made by specializing in magic as a Saber Class. As neither outcome would do harm, he didn't even give a second thought to hopping atop the table and stretching himself out into the bindings. "Yeah yeah, it's fine. I'm not the type to worry about heirs and shit anyway. Gimme the juice~"

  8. #18
    It seemed the lad also thought his particular parentage was strange. Whatever the case, he claimed a readiness to continue that this woman could only admire, though she did so secretly given his mortality ratio. The fact that this lad claimed not to care about heirs was also very strange, if he already had them it would be one thing, but lives were long and many died wishing to pass along their knowledge. She supposed an understudy would also work, or technically he could claim an heir in a different manner. Whatever the case, she had a task to perform. "I understand, here..." and with that she aimed to pour the entirety of the cups contents down the lad's throat. Immediately after she'd secure his bindings and then she'd wait. There was nothing else to be done of course. And though she'd seen this process take place dozens if not hundreds of times before, watching the transformation of another individual always stirred her own memory of the process and always broke a little something inside of her.

  9. #19
    Now that the chatter was out of the way, Kou was ready to take on the Grasses. This was going to be a very, very new experience for the lad. He had no clue what to expect from the concoction being poured down his throat, but he found it to be rather... disgusting. If that was the worst he had to deal with, everything would be fine. If only the most tedious part of this ordeal was being so disgusted by the Grasses themselves, that he wished to vomit on the spot.

    It was far from the worst.

    Kou kept his position atop the table, as if he had much choice otherwise. Aside from a bit of coughing and a few rolls of the tongue from the liquid itself, it didn't seem so bad. That is, until he felt the Grasses making their way through his body. The sensation could not be described as pain. Well, perhaps it could... if such a mundane word could be individually applied to every cell, every fiber of his being. Convulsions came quickly. He had an immediate urge to scream as his eyelids stretched to their limit, but all that escaped him was a gurgling that would not stop. His fists clenched repeatedly, his ankles twisted with matching frequency, and his head turned with a quickness that led to his face slamming against the table. What made the people of this world decide this was a worthwhile process? For a simple advancement of one's own power, the procedure alone was enough to drive one to a madness which made it all worth nothing. Even knowing he had no chance of actual death, Kou felt as if he were being killed and recreated again, and again, and again. How long would this last? Maybe he should have asked. Maybe it didn't matter, as a single second more was always too much...

  10. #20
    The grasses and the disgusting original taste of things, his current feelings... they were only the beginning. This process was a long and arduous one. As his body became accustomed to its current state of furvor, another concoction needed to be mixed. Forktail Spine Fluid, Mandrake, Ribleaf, Manticore Poison Gland... all things to be combined and boiled down while the lad did suffer. If he was still alive by the time the concoction was finished, it'd be administered directly, this time through a tube and a vein in his arm. He would not have to taste this, but it would cause worse effects. Most likely of the side effects would be seizure, but there were others. She hadn't been kidding when she mentioned that madness was a factor, those who underwent these trials weren't always the same afterwards. "It will get worse before it gets better..." these words were probably of little comfort, but did at least imply the lad might be alright. Days on end this woman would stay at his side, and over the duration she'd administer more chemicals to change the lad's physiology. Did she block out his struggles? No... she listened to them all and continued her own work, leaving him in a half finished state wasn't an option either.

Page 2 of 10 FirstFirst 1234 ... LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •