Live a Live Part #72 - Final Chapter - Update # 4

Part 72: Final Chapter - Update # 4 - I will fear no monsters

Update 4 - I will fear no monsters

: So, Sunset, was it?

: ...

: As taciturn a~~n asshole~~ a fellow as ever, despite joining the party.

: ...

: The young miscreant, with all due respect to his freakish information gathering powers, was a bit of a liability in a stand up fight. And I'd just like to kno

: Yeah, Sunset is not very durable. He gains a bunch of attacks that are basically "shoot once, shoot twice, shoot an area, shoot four times with a special effect", none of which are particularly good until his ultimate technique.

: Right. One useless load - check.

: If you feel that way, I just could go back to wanderi

: NOOO! No... need for that. Every party needs a... cowboy, was it? _{Thread title and all}.
...
Li, if you'd be so kind?

: Ha-ya!

: These things are incredibly annoying to fight, since they have around 2000 hp and counter every strong technique with a debuff attack that also does a lot of damage. It's basically a damage race in which your party is constantly handicapped. However, they give 40 xp each (remember, 100 xp for a level up) and if you run from a battle, it may be ages before you see another one.

: You need to catch up, my friend.

: Stick with us (and with the monster slaying) and you'll soon be as strong as a raging fire!

: You'll be kicking ass in no time.

: As swift as a raging river!

: You'll... wait, Li, are you about to...

: Mysterious as the dark side of the mooooooooooon!

: I... I thought I was quite mysterious already

: Thank you for that wholly necessarily flashback to training montage hell, Li.

: I had lots of fun with my training montage! It was all about an old man beating the crap out of me!

: Good times... good times. I'm sure your training montage will be even more fun!

: Could we skip the training montage?

: I'm pretty sure that Sunset will just improve as we continue our adventure.

: He may be a clueless, spineless, pathetic sod now, but somehow, adventuring will make a man out him!

: Err... right.

: If what our hooligan friend

: Hiccup.

: Gesundheit.

: Yeah, that guy. If what he understood from the ghost thingies is true...

: A noble warrior prince was corrupted by a demon king, and corrupted the land in turn. We need to gather the heroes of different times who were drawn here in order to confront him and purge the source of evil in this world.

: Yep. Find some guys, find their "dungeons" to unlock their true power, kick some ass. The question is...

: How do we find the heroes or their dungeons? It's not as though walking into a random house near the castle will...

: You were saying?

: Locked. A stick of dynamite would be handy...

: No, this castle... I think it's here to test me. Which means we either find another entrance...

: Yeah, there are four houses you can enter, which correspond to four paths in the dungeon and four items for you to recover.

: Or else, a key will conveniently present itself, in the form of

: an easily dispatchable mook. Just like the training courses back in ninja academy.

: Now, let's proceed at our own pace towards the dungeon center, obeying all signs and so forth.

: Which reminds me - try not to get kidnapped and substituted for the assassination target, guys.

: Sensei Sifu was a bit of a dick about final exams.

: Two keys down.

: 2 more to go.

: ?

: Four houses, four dungeon paths, four keys.

:...
Nah. I'm pretty sure we got two keys without stepping outside, so we can probably finish this dungeon without ever changing entrances.

: Are we lost?

: A shinobi is never lost.

: Temporarily confused about our current location, then?

: Not that either.

: Because I'm pretty sure we've been this way before.

: You're imagining things.

: Maybe we should stop and ask for directions.

: From who? The rampaging monsters? "Dear ungodly abomination, could you please stop chewing on my innards long enough to direct me to the dungeon exit? And you, wannabe ninja fellow, kindly stop stabbing me and voluntarily hand over the plot advancement coupons?"

: Well, have you tried talking to the monsters? It could be societies fault. Driving them to live on their own, attacking random travellers that could tear their heads off. Just looking for a bit of understading, and getting shurikened in the face instead. A bit sad, really.

: You know what? Next monster we run into, you can have a conversation with. Maybe it will volunteer to join our team and replace the midget.

: Well?

:...
I'm pretty sure that one only speaks "boot to the face".

: Agreed. Lucky we're both fluent in that.

: Is that argument settled then? Can we try another house for another way through the dungeon?

: Sure.

: Oh hey, there's a whole new path here. Who could have possibly seen this coming?

: And that's the true story of how I've wasted half an hour going over the same five dungeon screens. Turns out that navigating a tiny dungeon was more difficult than an entire enemy castle for Obama.