Been fishing for a bit since the new update, and here are some interesting things I found
Learned that you can catch Alpha Pals via fishing. Just need to watch out for sparkly silhouettes in the water!
Also liking that there's a different pose for your character for each Pal caught by fishing rod. This Kelpsea looks like it's exhausted from its little battle against me.
If you fish on top of a Pal, they'll appear in the shot too, as exemplified by me on my Xenolord just hovering above the water while reeling in this normal-sized Pengullet.
~Xenolord~ Cascade of Time (Working title, leave me alone.)
This is the first chapter of 'Cascade of Time'. (CAN IT! If you've got a better friggin' name I'm all ears!) It's basically an Alternate Universe Reboot of the Adventure Quest chain myself and Dark Angel did years ago. Enjoy.
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Maria was awoken that day to the pounding of a gauntleted hand on the fairly flimsy wooden door, mixed with the cruel tauntings of the sun pouring through the open window, cackling as she fruitlessly attempted to block Evil Mister Sun from her view.
“Maria! It's time to get up!” Came a voice from the door, the bed-headed woman in the bed slowly sitting up, her blond, slightly curly hair falling about her face as she looked around through sleep-adled blue eyes. “C'mon Maria. You've got your first day of training the newbies, you can't be late.”
“Mmmmm....” Maria groaned as she slowly sat out of bed, rubbing her face with a hand. “Fuggin'...” Whatever words were to follow her classy outburst were stifled by a great yawn as she stood up, her feet slapping lightly against the wooden floor. Even in the white-wash of light from the window, the girl's light tan skin, Caucasian in appearance, was shining brilliantly as she tastelessly, and very unwomanly, scratched her stomach as she surveyed her surroundings. “I'm out of bed, Moon Called... dun worry, I'mma not gonna be late...” She groaned as she slowly plodded over to the basin to wash her face and arms. First day after graduating as a Guardian, and they already had her training some of the newcomers. She had met her class earlier in the week, shortly before her graduation. Most of them look like a group of sloppy nothings, farmers and seamstress' kids who've never held a sword or cast a spell in their lives, and it was Maria's job to make sure, by the end of her six month session, to be able to do just that.
Maria reached for the hem of her tank top and pulled it off, taking the opportunity to stretch while she was at it. Ugh... those last few nights of eating more then she should were starting to rear their ugly heads... She had gained three pounds in the last two weeks... her once slim and curvy body now a little more curvy, and slightly less slim. “Look like a damn muffin with tits...” She continued to groan, cupping her breasts with both hands, pushing them up. She had an impressive chest, sitting somewhere around the vicinity of a high-C, low-D cup, which filled the armor she had made for her perfectly. “...keep eating for ten and it won't though...” she continued to think aloud as she swore under her breath, unbuttoning her cut-off shorts and pushing them around her ankles. Taking a few steps back, Maria looked at herself in the polished mirror.
Maria Despair stood at around five ten, weighing in at a hundred and seventy pounds; most of which accentuated by a mild, yet attractive layer of muscle across her entire body. Though nowhere near body builder status, one could see the undulations of her muscles in her arms, legs and stomach. Most men of Battleon consider her build ideal (even if she could kick most of their asses in a stand-up fight). Maria disliked looking at herself in the mirror. It reminded her of exactly how ordinary she was, even as far as Guardians were concerned... and she hated beyond hatred the idea of her blending into a crowd. She wanted... no... she needed to stand out.
Tossling her blond hair, she tried collecting it behind her head... pulling it into two pigtails... just... any new style she could try without looking like she just got out of bed. Her slightly curly blond hair was a bit of her pride and joy... but she couldn't for the life of her get it to do what she wanted. It frizzed when it wanted to, it flew about like parchment in the wind with even the slightest gust, and most irritating of all... bedhead.
As the morning flow often went, as Maria tried to make her hair sit, stay, and play dead, her eyes invariably went to her face in the mirror. She had a face Artix often described as 'eternally young' and 'full of life'. Though somewhat cute and rounded, Maria's face was one of a warrior. Strong cheeks, a powerful chin and eyes that commanded a mix of respect and fear, many of the Guardians were jealous of Maria for just that reason... sometimes... even Maria herself was jealous of her.
“Are you going to stop admiring yourself in the mirror sometime this century, Maria, or are you going to want to be bronzed for future generations to admire?” Maria gave a little jump at the sudden burst of speech from the door. It was Moon Called again, the girl probably looking through the keyhole. Maria smiled and gave a little spin on her heel.
“Bronzing sounds nice... just make sure I look happy when you go through with it.” Moon Called laughed a little on the other side of the door.
“Will do, Maria. Be down in the training grounds in half an hour. Your first day is today.” Maria grunted a response as she opened a drawer near her bed, taking out a light tunic and a very comfortable pair of panties, putting them on with a slow, methodical hand.
-
Dressed in some semblance of dignity, Maria walked out of her room, shutting and locking the oaken door behind her, into the cold, stone hallway of the Guardian Tower. As she slowly made her way around the tower to the stairs down, she listened to the daily chatter of several girls her age waking up for the day to come. The Guardian Tower; the massive, looming structure in the center of the town of Battleon, was in actuality, three towers. The larger, central structure between the smaller towers was the actual 'Guardian Tower', and the only one of the three buildings open to public access. The ground floor of the tower was a lobby/reception area where Guardians could meet with their non-Guardian friends or family without putting anyone in any real danger. Above the lobby was the Situation Room, where a massive map of Lore was spread across an equally large table, showing little pins on the map for any point of interest (military, political or otherwise) that sprung up on Lore.
Above the situation room was the Guardian Breifing Room. This is where any Guardian or Guardians who were sent on missions anywhere on Lore were brought up to speed of the mission's details by their commander, in this case, Artix Krieger. The floor above that was the Combat Preperation Room, more commonly referred to as, simply, the Locker Room. Though there were no real 'lockers' in this room, it was an armory of sorts, where all the Guardian's weapons and armor was stored when not in use. The Combat Prep room was also where the bridges to the two dorm towers connected, one for male Guardians, and the other for Female Guardians. Both bridges were enchanted by a very powerful mage when the Guardian Tower was built to prevent anyone of the opposite gender from crossing the bridge. Maria smiled fondly as she remembered a time when Wolfblitzer tried to cross the bridge to the Female Dorms... watching his feet slip and slide like he was walking on ice was the funniest thing she's seen in a long while.
“Mornin' Maria.” Speaking of Wolfblitzer, the black-haired Guardian was busy trying to squeeze into his leg armor at the time, his second foot not wanting to sqeeze into the steel.
“Morning Wolfblitzer. Having a problem getting your pants on.”
“Oh, come on, Maria. You know me. Whenever you're around, I can't seem to keep my pants...” He grunted a little as he managed to push his leg all the way through. “...on.” He finished, looking up with a smile, Maria returning with a groan as she went to her own armor, standing on a wrought iron stand, and began to dress.
Unfortunately, one of the problems with plate armor is it DOES take a while to get on... especially when you're busy doing it all by yourself. After a solid twenty minutes struggling with the armor, she finally managed to beat it into submission and stand, her boots clacking loudly against the stone floor. Maria's Guardian Armor was not standard at all. When Guardians are in training, they are issued a standard variation of the Guardian Armor, gunmetal gray plate with yellow trim, a yellow cape to match. However, upon your graduation, Guardians are permitted to customize the color of their armor and cape to their heart's content. Maria's was a unique sight to all, and even looking at her from the rear, one could tell who it was.
With a cloak of pure ivory, and armor of a shimmering alabastor, Maria's armor reflected more then just the jealous looks of onlookers. With two minutes to spare, Maria managed to head down to the lobby and out the rear gate, to the training grounds where dozens upon dozens of Guardians-In-Training, their armor a dead giveaway, sparred with one another in their morning warm-up routines. Maria recognized Artix von Krieger amongst the others as he watched the class go through their warm-ups. He smiled as he watched Maria step out onto the green, waving her over. “Everyone, everyone...” He called, most of the trainees looking up and stopping their warm ups to acknowledge their higher-up. “Listen for a moment, if you would. I would like to introduce you to your instructor for your training time spent here at the Guardian Tower... Guardian Maria Despair.” He opened his hand to the girl, who advanced and nodded, thanking him silently as he allowed her her two cents.
“Thank you, Captain. Good morning everyone, my name is Maria Despair, and I'll be your instructor. It's a pleasure to meet you all.” Everyone in the group bowed and echoed a 'Good morning Instructor Despair' in their cumulative tone. Maria smiled at everyone, and motioned for them to pick up their swords. “Alright, we're going to start with something easy today. I trust you covered form, grip and flow in your basic training courses, so we'll skip that and jump right into basics of combat. From what I saw of your warm ups, most, if not all of you are farily skilled. That's always good. We're going to start with the basic parry today. I need a volunteer.” She watched as three tentative hands went up in the crowd, one belonging to a young boy with red hair, the second belonging to a smug looking boy with deep sapphire hair, and the third belonging to a girl with brown hair spiked into a mace head. Maria looked about, and picked someone who looked THRILLED to be there at that time.
“You, in the back. Black hair. Look like she's going to a funeral.” The girl looked around as everyone separated from her. The girl looked at Maria, pointed to herself and mouthed 'me?'. Maria nodded. Slowly, shes tarted making her way to the front. “What's your name, girl.”
“R-Rayne... Instructor. Rayne Anasi.” She looked at the crowd, and spoke again. “I... didn't volunteer.” Maria only gave a wide grin, her pearly teeth shining off the ambient sunlight as she nodded.
