Part 46: Feat of Patience

Side Notes 05: Feat of Patience



Now this is a story all about how I flipped a big crab upside down, and I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there, I'll tell you how I became the strength prince of Etria.

It's finally time to finish the Feat of strength II quest, since Gerson, after beating Iwaopeln, is now ready for it. I could've done it last update, but we had a lot of floors and other quests to cover and I won't even include it in the next update cause fuck these quests.



Hyah! I think that enemy got concussion!

The reason Gerson can do this is Smite, giving him an actual attack to speed this up. To reiterate, the reason this skill is so good is it adds the shield's DEF onto Gerson's ATK to use in the formula. The Moon Aspis is a pretty damn good shield at DEF+20 and VIT+4 and won't get outdone for quite a while. This is only level 1 Smite as well.



Unclip this, shift around here, attach this there... man Liana is really helpful getting this stuff out faster.

A Sudden Gust of Wind Before Your Eyes



As you can see from the HP, Gerson is still taking a bit of a beating, despite the 10 level and near 2 stratum difference. But with both Fortify and Defender up, that's about to change.



You should see the look on your face, gahahaha!



Obviously we'll need a fair few healing items for this, as well as Amritas, Defender isn't too cheap! And we've gotta clear out the bats before we do anything.



The main issue is keeping buffs up. They only last four turns after you put them up (with the game giving you no indication as to when) and since we've got to spend another turn setting up another buff, then another turn healing/restoring TP, we'll only have 1 turn to attack. We'll make it 2 turns and then put the buffs back up again, meaning for 2 turns, we'll only have the one buff up and take some additional damage.



You can't come in!

Not bad damage, but we'll need 9 more of those to kill it. While Fortify and Defender are at the same level and have the same reduction, Fortify is much cheaper and Boosting means I can ignore one buff for a few turns.




Let's get back to it.



jk, nothing happens and it's just a slow grind. Fuck this quest.

The Lounge Where We Speak of Tomorrow



Normally I'd be mad, but I'm just glad you're alright.

Of course I'm alright, gahahaha!

Come here, meaty, let's patch you up before everyone else gets back.

You don't know how glad I am to see you back safe. I can't believe you really beat that Killclaw all by yourself... you're going to be a legend with the adventurers of Etria, kid.

Zzzzzzz

Huh, that anesthetic worked a little too well. Alright, let's get him back to this room.

Hmm, I thought he'd be heavier.

Grrrrrk, undead strength doesn't count! Dios mio this armour...



Hey guys, I forgot my- uh, where is everyone?

Hopefully far away from here, never to return.

Right, sure, uh, whatever your name is. Oh hey, a new quest.

It's yet another ordeal from the Explorers Guild... this one's pretty bad. He wants you to defeat the Sickwood by yourself. Look... if you don't think you can do it, you can always cancel.

Ooh, sounds like fun, I'll get ready!

That Name Was Engraved Into the 100th Volume!



To prove they were the strongest, they'd challenge the Labyrinth day and night... when they first reached the 16th floor, this monster appeared. It looked like an ordinary tree, but it killed four of them in the blink of an eye. The only one to escape lost an eye while fleeing. It's a very old story, and no one's reached the 16th floor since, so few remember it. That things's a beast, but I believe you can take it. Good hunting.



Don't worry, I have ways of dealing with single enemies.



Firstly: ahahahahahaha, the Guildmaster nearly wiped to a Sickwood, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Secondly the game seems like it's assuming you're taking these tasks a lot earlier than we are, but the previous task really blocked us until Gerson was ready. Lavin will be just fine though, what can a Sickwood even do?

A Sudden Gust of Wind Before Your Eyes



Huh, Lavin's taking a while to get his sword from the pub. Wonder what he's doing...

Have you got ears, tree? Hehe, I hope not. HHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Well, the Poison was expected, but it's only 99 damage, so we've got 3 turns to end this. Hmm, we never did see what happened when everyone got poisoned, right?



Gah, I'm already burning up inside. You're not gonna make it worse!

It went for Venom again. Interesting. Since it has 2000HP, we can kill it in 3 turns, though of course, any other kind of damage will be devastating.



Nearly there!



Hah... hah... I did it...

Wow, that was lucky, the Sickwood didn't attack at all. And I'll tell you why. It's true that they do something else when they finally inflict your entire party with Poison, they'll then try to fully bind you, which would've been pretty damn scary. However, there's one thing in their AI that stops them from doing that: If Turn <= 6. So long as this applies, they will always, 100%, use Venom every turn. Of course, the internal turn counter is 1 less, so Sickwoods don't do anything until turn SEVEN. Frankly, I'm insulted the developers ever thought we'd take that long to kill one. Probably one of the most pathetic enemies in the series.



I was so worried when I heard you were going to challenge that monster alone... I'm glad you're safe. From now on, no more of this solo adventuring foolishness.

Oh there you are, everyone's wai- uh, why are you bleeding? Did you go into the labyrinth alone?!

A-Ah, I was just, uh...

Phew, Gerson should be alright for a- oh hello, am I dreaming as well? What have you been up to?

There was this quest. I mean, I don't wanna brag, but-

For crying out loud! Just because Gerson went out to kill that crab doesn't mean you get to go off by yourself too. Now clean yourself up and get back to work!

Y-Yes ma'am...

Pah, honestly. At least he's alright.