Code: ASSIMILATE

Silver *Mini Mana* *Defensive Mana*
Hp: 185/185
Mp: 300/300
Atk: 1
Def: 7
Int: 11
Spr: 9

Silver moves to E4!

"Kuori... I said... lower your arm..."

He knew that it was pointless at this point. She was probably restarted by the water and she wasn't going to listen to him while she thought he was a threat. So he really only had one choice, as hard as it would be, he would have to fight her. Maybe if he beat enough sense into her she would stop the fight herself. Well... he had to try.

"Or.... I'll. Have. To. Make. You."

Silver casts Fire Mana Burst on Kuori!
(Damage: 100% Int x 3/Effect: Burn 50%/Element: Fire)

Silver *Mini Mana* *Defensive Mana*
Hp: 185/185
Mp: 294/300
Atk: 1
Def: 7
Int: 11
Spr: 9

Kuori takes 12 damage
HP: 368/380

Kuori avoids Burn

( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) A
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) B
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) C
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) D
( ) ( ) ( ) (S) ( ) ( ) (K) ( ) ( ) E
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) F
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) G
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) H
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) I
-1---2---3---4---5---6---7---8---9

Enemy Phase

Kuori moves to cell E-6

The android girl seemed to have paid no attention to the boy's remarks, and merely took two steps forward before opening missile pods on her body and sending them at the boy.

Kuori uses Hornet's Nest on cell E-4, hits Silver
ENG: 60/100

Silver takes 24 damage
HP: 161/185

Kuori gains 1 stack of Undiscovered Energies

Silver gains 1 stack of Defensive Mana

( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) A
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) B
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) C
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) D
( ) ( ) ( ) (S) ( ) (K) ( ) ( ) ( ) E
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) F
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) G
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) H
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) I
-1---2---3---4---5---6---7---8---9

Spoiler:

Player Phase 2

Silver *Mini Mana* *Defensive Mana*
Hp: 161/185
Mp: 294/300
Atk: 1
Def: 7 --> 8
Int: 11
Spr: 9 --> 10

Silver moves to E3!

"Kuori..."

He took a couple steps back, not wanting her to get any closer than she already had. If she got right next to him there was no telling what she would do, or how long he would last. Once he had made a little distance between them, he proceeded to strike down his ally turned villain with the same fiery attack.

Silver casts Fire Mana Burst on Kuori!
(Damage: 100% Int x 3/Effect: Burn 50%/Element: Fire)

Silver *Mini Mana* *Defensive Mana*
Hp: 161/185
Mp: 288/300
Atk: 1
Def: 7 --> 8
Int: 11
Spr: 9 --> 10

Kuori takes 12 damage
HP: 356/380

Kuori avoids Burn

( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) A
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) B
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) C
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) D
( ) ( ) (S) ( ) ( ) (K) ( ) ( ) ( ) E
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) F
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) G
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) H
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) I
-1---2---3---4---5---6---7---8---9

Enemy Phase

Kuori recovers ENG
ENG: 75/100

Kuori uses Snipe on Silver
ENG: 62/100

Kuori held up her arm again, as if aiming to shoot, and this time, she aimed directly for Silver's head.

"Do not resist. You will be ASSIMILATED!" Kuori said.

Without even waiting for Silver to respond this time, Kuori fired, the bullet sped toward Silver at an impossible speed, barely missing him by less than an inch. And then Kuori for some reason, began to giggle. She covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to silence it, but eventually she just let go and began to laugh.

"You are so easy to fool Silver. You should've seen the look on your face!" Kuori said between laughs, "Scared ya didn't I?"

"Wha?"

Silver stared dumbfounded, unable to process what was going on yet again. His head hurt from even attempting to solve it. He continued to stare at his laughing friend, the only sign he was still alive being his blinking every so often. It seemed to take forever, but this constant loop of just staring and blinking broke.

Silver twitched.

"Kuori."

Kuori finally stopped laughing and looked back at Silver, he seemed to be quite pissed off. She just smiled and walked up to Silver, patting him on the head.

"Come on now Silv, it was funny." Kuori said then turned to the girl they were supposed to escort, "So, I suppose said tower is that thing?"

Kuori pointed toward a direction, where quite a bit away from where they were standing, beside the river was a large cylinder-shaped structure. It was very high, so high, in fact, that it reached the altitude where the clouds were. And it emitted an ominous red aura.

He twitched again.

How could she think this was funny? Attacking them, pretending to be malfunctioning, making it seem like she was really going to kill them. It wasn't funny, it was crazy and totally unacceptable. He was about to kill her himself when Serenity quickly stepped in.

"Yes. That's the place. I almost got in there myself but I encountered a little difficulty."

Kuori nodded, the way toward the place didn't seem to be too difficult, and there were no hostile entities in sight, save for of course Silver's now somewhat hostility toward her. But they still probably needed to be careful, just in case something jumped out at them.

"Then let's go." Kuori said.

Serenity nodded with a small smile, ignoring Silver behind her as he muttered on about Kuori. It would be best to get going and fix the area before any creatures showed up and caused problems again. Taking the lead, Serenity and the party headed off for the tower, making it there without any trouble whatsoever.

From there, Serenity left the party and headed into the tower alone, rising up to another floor of the tower minutes afterwards. With a flick of her wrist, a deep breath, and a lot of focus two words appeared in the air before her: Code: Assimilate

And everything faded, the aura of the tower returning from a red blood color to a near transparent clear color. Within a couple of seconds, Serenity stood outside with the party, a rather large smile on her face now.

"There we go."

Kuori stared at the tower as the aura around it changed, she had felt the presence of more mechanical creatures like those crustaceans she had fought before, but when the tower's aura changed Kuori could feel nothing. It was as if all those creatures had magically disappeared. If this girl could do something like this now, there was no telling what her powers may allow her to do in the near future.

"Yes, now let's go back." Kuori said and closed her eyes, making contact with DSoED.

Immediatly after, a prism appeared and generated a small energy field around the group, which after a short delay, teleported them back to the testing facility.

"Welcome back, I see that you have completed my assignment. A very good job." DSoED spoke.

Serenity curtsied in a polite manner upon reentering the testing facility. It was calming to be back after the rather unsettling mission. Especially since she wasn't hurt and the mission had been a total success. Bowing her head, she spoke with her typical delicate voice.

"Thank you DSoED, I'm glad I was able to help."

"I'm also glad we were able to help... or rather I was. The mission was rather easy."

While Silver was happy to have had Kuori's support at the beginning of the mission, he was still rather aggravated. She chose to mess around when they had to stay focused. What would either of them been able to do if she seriously wounded him or worse Serenity? Nothing. Nothing at all. And it was that one mistake that would keep the android on his bad side for at least a while.

"Yes, thank you for your help. Now Serenity," DSoED started, "If you wish, I will allow you to accompany these two. Or, you may continue to stay here, with me, and help me with my testing."

This made Kuori wonder, what kind of testing was DSoED doing? Even she, a result of an experiment done by DSoED, had no knowledge of the supercomputer's "tests". Although curious, Kuori had a hunch that it wasn't the best time to be asking about it, and stayed quiet for once.

"I would like to accompany them if you don't mind DSoED. They might find a tower similar to the previous one before you and it would be in the best interest to heal it as soon as possible."

She kept her head bowed, holding her curtsy as a continued sign of respect for the supercomputer. After only a couple seconds she stood, awaiting the computer's response to her simple request. She figured that the computer would accept since she offered the choice, but she wasn't going to just go with what she wanted.

"Of course, you may." DSoED said, before a long mechanical arm reached out and handed Serenity a bag, "These are from the River Spirit, as an apology for the unnecessary fight. Now then, you may go."

With that the prism appeared again, and it warped the three off back to the town they were at before.

"...and leave me all alone." DSoED finished, after everyone had gone.

File 01 Completed, the party recieves the following rewards:

Hi-Potion x1

Mana Drop x1

River Water x1

4000 Credits

New Recipies learned
--------------------------------------
~Weapon Shop~

N/A

~Academy (Tier 1)~

N/A

~Armor Shop~

N/A

~Item Shop~

Potion – Restores 20 HP upon use (500 Credits; Number in Stock: 5)

Herb – Restores 10 MP upon use (400 Credits; Number in Stock: 0)

Antidote – Cures Poison upon use (300 Credits; Number in Stock: 4)

Elixir – Cures any status effect upon use (1000 Credits; Number in Stock: 3)

Yggdrasil Dew – Revives one fallen character with 20% (3000 Credits; Number in Stock: 2)

~Krak Pot~

+ Hi-Potion - Restores 50 HP upon use. [Reagents: Potion x3; 500 Credits]

+ Mana Drop - Restores 20 MP upon use. [Reagents: Herb x3; 400 Credits]

+ Fairy Powder - Restores 20 HP and 10 MP upon use. [Reagents: Potion x2; Herb x2; 700 Credits]

+ Yggdrasil Leaf - Revives one fallen character with 50% max HP upon use. [Reagents: Yggdrasil Dew x3; 5000 Credits]

+ Stimpack - Grants Haste and 20% ATK and INT upon use, user takes 20% max HP damage initially and loses 10% max ATK and INT each turn during the next 5 turns. [Reagents: Potion x2; Herb x2; Antidote x2; Elixir x1; 1500 Credits]

+ SUPERCHARGE - A weapon system designed specifically to harness the energies of electricity while not harming the wearer. [+3 ATK; +2 INT; Lighting element; Weapon; Equippable by Kuori; Reagents: MT-002 Prototype x1; Rusted Arm x1; Electric Conductor x1; 7000 Credits]

+ Academy Uniform - The official boy's uniform of the Magic Academy. [+3 DEF; +3 SPR; +10 MP; Armor; Equippable by Silver; Reagents: Comfortable Clothing x1; Herb x2; Mana Drop x2; 7500 Credits]

+ Ashen Plating - Metal plate armor that, despite its composition and dark color, resist fire and magic fairly well. [+5 DEF; +3 SPR; Half Fire; Armor; Equippable by Kuori; Reagents: Worn Plating x1, Black Steel x5; Chunk of Iron x3; 9000 Credits]

+ Mermaid Tear - A pale blue crystal shaped like a water droplet stranded on a string as a necklace. [+10 MP; Accessory; Equippable by Silver; Reagents: Mana Drop x3; River Water x1; 3000 Credits]

+ Angel's Tear - A chain necklace with three small sapphire-like crystals shaped like water droplets. [+10 MP; +5 MP Regen per turn; Accessory; Equippable by Silver; Reagents: Mermaid Tear x1; Mana Drop x2; 5500 Credits]
--------------------------------------
~Town Square~

+ File X3: Wanted: The Elusive Muse [Requirements: N/A; Rewards: Items, ???; TAKEN]

+ File X4: Call to Arms [Requirements: N/A; Rewards: Items; TAKEN]

+ File X5: Trial of the Champion - Part 1 [Requirements: Party of at least 3 members; Rewards: Items]

~DSoED~

N/A

Once they had been warped back to town, Serenity was the first to turn to the others. They would obviously know what to get while here, and she could just go with them to help get whatever that would be. Taking a quick look around, she spoke yet again.

"What do you think we'll be needing?"

Silver spoke seconds afterwards.

"Nothing major. I did notice something when we were here last, so I'll go check if they still have it available."

With that he ran off before Kuori or Serenity could stop him, not really wanting to stick around. He was fine with Serenity, but the more time he could get away from the mechanical menace the better. Zipping through the shops he quickly bought out most of the items he had been looking for.

Silver buys 3 Herbs!
1200 Credits lost!

Silver makes Academy Uniform!
Comfortable Clothing x1; Herb x2; Mana Drop x2; 7500 Credits lost!

Meanwhile, Serenity still stood with Kuori rather stunned.

"Uh... okay... what should we do then?"

Kuori looked back at the girl, and thought for a moment while she looked through the list of recipies she had. There was one item that she took interest in, but that'll come later. Since Silver already went to the alchemy pot and he seemed to be trying to avoid the android for some reason, so she'll go to the alchemy pot later.

"Hmm, I suppose we can walk around a bit. We might find something to do while waiting for DSoED to figure out what we do next." Kuori replied.

Kuori turned and headed off toward the center of the city, last time it was there where she saw the flyer for the Magic Academy and the rumor of the Ghostblade. No doubt there will be something this time as well.

And Kuori was correct, she did find something, a few things actually. The first was a flyer promoting something called the Ring of Blood, but apparently Kuori and Silver wouldn't be able to do anything about it because there were only the two of them that can fight, and the Ring of Blood required three people. The second was a wanted poster. Apparently a traveling bard caused some trouble in the market a few days ago, and they needed someone to hunt the man down. And the third, was a poster board explaining that the army was short on soldiers and required help in a war they are beginning to fight. Of course, Kuori took the last two jobs.

Kuori takes File X3 and File X4

Afterwards, Kuori went to the alchemy pot. Thankfully Silver wasn't there, and Kuori placed the required items inside the pot, creating a new set of weapons for herself.

Kuori creates SUPERCHARGE

After equipping her weapons, the android returned to the point they originally were at and waited for Silver to return.

Silver meanwhile had gone down to the academy after picking up his uniform, half expecting to take a quick lesson. But when Noon wasn't in for the day and wouldn't be back for awhile, Silver was left to trudge back to the others. He wasn't bothered by the fact that Noon wasn't in, but he was a little peeved. He had only learned so much last time, he had a lot more to learn. But he guessed it couldn't be helped and continued on. It didn't take him long to reach the others, a forced smile on his face.

"What do we have now?"

"Well..." Kuori started, before being cut off by another voice.

"Kuori, Silver. I heard you took the Bard job!"

The android girl somewhat recognized the voice, and turned to see the magician who was Silver's teacher, Noon, walking toward them. But before she could smile and greet the man, Kuori noticed he was injured, and quite badly too. There were bandages over his head, as well as his over his right eye. His right arm was also bandaged with another bandage hanging it from his neck, possibly disjointed or cracked or maybe even broken. His walk was also quite strange, he was limping, as if his left leg also had a few cracked bones. He also had various cuts and bruises, some of them had scabs over them.

"Noon! What happened to you?" Kuori asked, suprised that a magician of Noon's calibur would get beaten up so easily.

"The bard, he did this." Noon replied, "I found the boy in the academy courtyard, naturally I didn't recognize him as a student of the academy. So I thought he was trespassing. When I questioned him he didn't speak at all, he merely stared at me. He must've had ill intentions, and when I began to cast a spell to attempt to scare the boy off, he began to play his lute. After only three notes I blacked out for some reason, and when I came to the boy was gone and I was in the Infirmary with these wounds."

Silver's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw Noon basically covered in bandages. The forced smile faded, the look on his face now one of great concern and care. And then the reason was out in the open, the bard, their little mark for the mission they would be doing next.

He was gonna get it.

"Well then... it appears we need to do our job then."

"One more thing, be careful. I heard that the boy headed off to the northwest forest area. There, one of the great Troll tribes, the Amani, and their empire Zul'Aman is located in the deeper reaches of the forest. Hopefully you won't have to go that far, for the Amani Trolls are powerful savages with brute force like you've never seen before." Noon warned.

With the warning in mind, the group set off to find the boy bard who had done a number on Noon. But after hours of searching, no sign of him. Kuori was ready to give up, when she heard a soft sound, it was music. The group immediately chased after the source of the sound, and sure enough, they found the boy bard. He was just entering an opened primitive gate, and disappeared into a passageway.

When the group gave chase further, the sound stopped, and they saw the boy bard, with his back to a wall, cornered by two Trolls.

"Help me." Serenity suddenly heard a young boy's voice in her head.

Once the Trolls noticed the group though, they diverted their attention to the three newcomers, turning their backs on the boy and allowing him to escape. They both drew their weapons.

"Da Amani rulers of dis land!" One said.

"Joo tresspass on Amani land?" The other continued.

"Joo humans will pay in blood!" The first one finished.

File X3-01
Location: Zul'Aman; Entrance Hall
Objective: Route Enemy
Defeat: Party is Defeated

(w) ( ) ( ) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) A
(w) (p) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) B
(w) ( ) (M) (p) ( ) (p) (K) ( ) (w) C
(w) (p) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) D
(w) ( ) ( ) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) E
(w) (p) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) F
(w) ( ) ( ) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) G
(w) (p) (K) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) H
(w) ( ) ( ) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) I
-1---2---3---4---5---6---7---8---9

Spoiler:

You may start in rows H-I

Silver starts at I3!

"These things are likely to have low immunity to magic. Try to focus on stuff like that."

Starting out behind his half mechanical friend, he began to focus on the second troll at the other end. They could each take one of them, that much he was sure of. But if they did that, then they might get over powered, which would cause a problem for them. Maybe it would be a better idea to stick together.

"Stick together."

The android girl nodded, although when she turned to look at the Trolls she reconsidered. They were actually intelligent this time, unlike most of the other things they fought before. Which meant it might've not been the best idea to talk about strategy. And Kuori was reassured when one of the Trolls spoke again.

"Hey hey, we can hear joo mon."

File X3-01
Location: Zul'Aman; Entrance Hall
Objective: Route Enemy
Defeat: Party is Defeated

(w) ( ) ( ) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) A
(w) (p) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) B
(w) ( ) (M) (p) ( ) (p) (K) ( ) (w) C
(w) (p) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) D
(w) ( ) ( ) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) E
(w) (p) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) F
(w) ( ) ( ) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) G
(w) (p) (K) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) H
(w) ( ) (S) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) I
-1---2---3---4---5---6---7---8---9

Spoiler:

Player Phase 1

Silver *Mini Mana* *Defensive Mana*
Hp: 35/35
Mp: 55/55
Atk: 1
Def: 7
Int: 11
Spr: 9

"I can't reach them quite yet..."

Silver ignored the trolls at the other end of the battlefield, making a rather whispered comment towards Kuori. He too realized talking strategy in front of their enemies wasn't the best. But before this they never had to be careful with something like that, so he slipped up. They would be able to deal with it this time, he was pretty sure they could.

Silver waits.

Silver *Mini Mana* *Defensive Mana*
Hp: 35/35
Mp: 55/55
Atk: 1
Def: 7
Int: 11
Spr: 9

Kuori moves to cell E-3

Kuori stood still for a moment then walked forward, if Silver wasn't going to move then she can't retreat. The boy probably wouldn't be able to defend himself well against these monsters. She could probably do better to defend herself against them, not that she can really reach these things right now anyway.
------------------------------------

(w) ( ) ( ) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) A
(w) (p) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) B
(w) ( ) (M) (p) ( ) (p) (K) ( ) (w) C
(w) (p) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) D
(w) ( ) (K) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) E
(w) (p) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) F
(w) ( ) ( ) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) G
(w) (p) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) H
(w) ( ) (S) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) I
-1---2---3---4---5---6---7---8---9

Enemy Phase

Maji moves to cell D-3

Maji uses Bash on Kuori
MP: 38/50

Kuori takes 14 damage and 7 bonus damage
HP: 39/60

Kuori avoids Addle

Maji takes 7 damage
HP: 63/70

Maji's ATK increases
ATK: 18
-----------------------
Kelraz moves to cell D-4

Kelraz uses Fresh Wounds
MP: 43/50

Kelraz waits

(w) ( ) ( ) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) A
(w) (p) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) B
(w) ( ) ( ) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) C
(w) (p) (M) (K) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) D
(w) ( ) (K) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) E
(w) (p) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) F
(w) ( ) ( ) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) G
(w) (p) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (p) (w) H
(w) ( ) (S) (p) ( ) (p) ( ) ( ) (w) I
-1---2---3---4---5---6---7---8---9

Spoiler:

Player Phase 2

Silver *Mini Mana* *Defensive Mana*
Hp: 35/35
Mp: 55/55
Atk: 1
Def: 7
Int: 11
Spr: 9

Silver moves to G3!

"Burn!"

Now he had his chance, now that the surprisingly intelligent trolls had gotten even closer to them. Taking a couple steps forward he began to focus his energy on the closest troll. It only took a couple second for the flames to erupt continuously. It wouldn't take much longer for the troll to fall.

Silver casts Fire Mana Burst on Maji!
(Damage: 100% Int x 3/Effect: Burn 50%/Element: Fire)

Silver *Mini Mana* *Defensive Mana*
Hp: 35/35
Mp: 49/55
Atk: 1
Def: 7
Int: 11
Spr: 9