Amanda took a black metal she had found and combined it with both her arrows and her bow, making OYNOWS and BOWYNX. Huh...so that metal was a dark onyx. Cool. Now...to wherever Mens was. She tapped the pendant and looked at RoboKitty. "Shall we go?"
"Sure." He said, floating off. Amanda followed, trying to stop herself from shaking.
Amanda: Message Equius
Why? He wasn't very helpful. But...he did seem to know how to fight the denizens... Okay...
JF: 3qu!us! !...
She stopped and thought about what she was going to say. She can't be mean...she took a breath and tried again, not knowing she had sent the first message she was debating over instead of deleting it.
JF: 3qu!us, do you hav3 any otfur adv!c3 or t!ps about f!ght!ng M3ns?
Aw, nothing like having information instantly implanted into your own mind. Never gets old! God, you feel like someone just shoved a book into your head. You always thought that the idea of instant implanting of information would involve needles injecting data or chemicals into your head, but no. All you need is a alien deity with magic powers.
Duke: Have second thoughts
You're starting to question if you're actually prepared to meet your denizen. The thought of you just going into the lair of a goddess, that all you know about is the fact that she's unpredictable, just doesn't sit in your stomach well. On one hand, this could be a delightful experience that ends up with you reaching the top of your echeladder...But on the other hand, this could just be you walking to your death...
"Shadow, I have something that will help. Your specibus is Bladekind, correct?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"Then take this. It is a sword made of the hardest diamonds I could find. But, it has a special secret." He handed her the sword and she gasped at its straight, yet curved blade, but...
"Why is the handle in the middle and not at the end?" She asked, taking hold of it and looking it over.
"That's where it's special. You can split it into two swords. That way, it'll be easier for you."
Shadow beamed as she had, in fact, took it apart and tested them out. "Th-this is amazing!" She said happily, hugging what she could reach. "Thank you...so much..."
"It is not a problem young one. Now go, I have already added my Grist stash to yours."
"Alright...thank you again Mr. Zephyrus." She said before running out of the cave.
Shadow: Message Ken
Once outside, she put her new daggers/sword away, assured Teddysprite she was fine, gave Faust a quick hug, then pulled her SUNTOP down so she could message Ken.
You slice through Imps and Ogres like lambs to the slaughter, and line the streets with corpses. A wall of GRIST that the other monsters have to slosh through makes them slower and easier to kill. Basilisks begin pouring in with the rest of the horde, and you keep up the work.
You climb the stairs over a pile of corpses. You are covered in stab wounds and blood, theirs and yours. Your right Horn is missing a large chunk, but that is of no concern now. You kick open the Throne Room Doors.
"GUESS WHO!?"
Deust : Strife
You pull out your ROYAL SCEPTER and bow to Chronos.
"En Garde!"
You lunge at the God of Time, speeding yourself up to 6x speed.
You sprint about the Throne Room, cutting down Lichs. You look to the throne and see...
It.
The One Eyed Shithead sits upon the throne.
Deust : Focus
...
...
...
You gasp heavily as you manage to go 12x speed, coughing up... Spores. Even with Chronos' cancellation, you are still at double speed, giving you enough time to throw your scepter up and block the blow.
You divert more power to your time slow, boosting it up to 1/10. Deust still has a 20% speed increase, but it's nothing you can't handle. You throw another punch, your gears shrieking as they grind against each other.
You sprint over to the One Eyed Shithead, or Giclops, and leap into the air. As you swing your Glaive downwards, it counters and punches you in the jaw, knocking out a few teeth. Oh well, you wont have this body for long. You continue to struggle witht eh beast, before running your Glaive through its torso. The deed is done.
Deust : Dodge!
You crouch under the punch and swing upwards, sticking your Scepter in between Chronos' gears.
"Who is there?" A voice boomed from inside the cave.
Amanda jumped but didn't stop. He's mechanical, emotionless. Always trying to judge the other and find the right and most logical choice. Don't act like you have been. She walked into the cavern and set an emotionless look to what she thinks might have matched his. "My name is Amanda. My class and aspect is the Thief of Mind. I am here to ask for assistance."
"And why should I help a child such as you?"
"I do not seek to fight such a powerful being such as yourself. It would not be wise nor beneficial to either of us."
"And how would you know what is beneficial to me? I could always gain your Grist, as little as it is. That can always be more valuable than helping someone who does not offer much of anything else."
"What good is Grist you will never use? You must realize why I am here in the first place."
"I do, but I do not acknowledge you. You must prove yourself first."
"And how should I prove myself to you?"
"Solve one of my puzzles."
Amanda repressed a groan. This was going to take a while.
She was smiling uncontrollably as she told him this. Faust was licking her ear and was being outright adorable right now, which didn't help. She ended up spinning him around and cuddling with him. I mean, how could she not? He was just too cute!
"Alright, here it is. One day three Greek philosophers settled under the shade of an olive tree, opened a bottle of Retsina, and began a lengthy discussion of the Fundamental Ontological Question: Why does anything exist? After a while, they began to ramble. Then, one by one, they fell asleep. While the men slept, three owls, one above each philosopher, completed their digestive process, dropped a present on each philosopher's forehead, the flew off with a noisy "hoot." Perhaps the hoot awakened the philosophers. As soon as they looked at each other, all three began, simultaneously, to laugh. Then, one of them abruptly stopped laughing. Why?
Uh...what? This sounded like one of the ridiculous ones that would be told on Earth. Was this supposed to be hard? Well...no need to show him that it was easy. She took some time to make it look like she was thinking of all the possibilities before she answered with: "The answer is: If he, the smartest philosopher, had nothing on his head, then he realized that the second smartest philosopher would have quickly worked out that the third smartest was laughing only at the second smartest philosopher, and thus the second smartest philosopher would have stopped laughing."
"That is correct. Now, for the next one. A man-"
"Oh no! You only said one! If you are adding another, then you'll need to add something else into our little wager."
Mens did something close to what she assumed was a smirk before answering. "Alright. What shall you want?"
"The location of my Quest Bed."
"That is both logical and reasonable. I am surprised you had thought of that so quickly."
"It was one of the things I had planned on asking you about once I came inside. The more I know before doing anything is the best course of action after all."
"That is correct. You pass. I shall help you. What is your strife specibus?"
Amanda faltered for but a minute. He was helping her! Oh my God! Yes! She didn't have to fight! "Bowkind." She said, trying to hold back her smile.
You divert all power to your chronomancy generator and revert your body to pre-battle condition. You do the same to Deust.
"You show incredible power, Deust, but you lack something. You lack the drive, the motivation. I cannot grant passage to one who lacks the motivation to take up the responsibility."