"I'm your newest servant, huh?" You cock your head and fold your arms, looking the tiny mutant up and down. "Well, forgive my skepticism, Emperor, but I'd like to know a thing or two about the job I'll be doing for you before I hop in and agree to servitude."

"Ah, of course! I am a gracious ruler, I wouldn't think of leaving you in the dark, not at all!" He gives you an obviously fake smile before turning to the trench coat lady, Mai. "Mai! Tell him about your mission, and make it quick!" With his orders complete, he turns to the Shiba Inu wearing the ninja outfit and begins smacking him with a newspaper, cruelly berating him for not attracting any applicants besides an 'uppity, snot-nosed brat.'

"I assume you could read enough of what Shu wrote to make out the fact that we are searching for the legendary Fountain of Youth." You give her a nod, and she moves on to explain the details. Apparently this Pilaf guy spent the last of his fortune on this venture after a disaster destroyed his castle. All of this money was spent on travel expenses, collecting supplies, and most importantly, information. Apparently they spent nearly ten-million Zeni on gathering intel alone, most of which was wasted on people who claimed to know all about the Fountain of Youth, then ran away with Pilaf's money.

Mai goes on to casually let you know everything they've gathered. The Fountain of Youth is supposedly somewhere in the mountains east of North City. It's said to be a spring which is found in the deepest depths of the darkest cave. The water in the spring is referred to as the Elixir of Immortality, and it provides more than just eternal youth. Drinking from the fountain is said to make one completely unkillable. Any time he who drinks it is injured, his flesh will weave together and repair the damage in an instant, no matter how severe.

Apparently, this Pilaf guy developed a serious fear of his mortality after coming face to face with some kind of giant monkey monster, so he wants immortality now. He doesn't really strike you as the type of guy who ought to have something like that though.

>Thank them for the offer, but turn it down. Now that they've told you everything they know, you can go find that fountain on your own! Not only can you get immortality for yourself, but you can stop this scumbag from getting it.
>Accept the job offer. You're fine working with them, even if that Pilaf guy kind of seems like an untrustworthy asshole.

>>3866928
>Accept the job offer. You're fine working with them, even if that Pilaf guy kind of seems like an untrustworthy asshole.

Sounds like a tall tale, but we might as well get in on the ground floor if he's willing to just throw out cash

>>3866928
>>3866928
>Accept the job offer. You're fine working with them, even if that Pilaf guy kind of seems like an untrustworthy asshole.

Why isn't our sister dead yet?

>>3866928
>Accept the job offer. You're fine working with them, even if that Pilaf guy kind of seems like an untrustworthy asshole.
With out money let's buy supplies. A backpack, water bottles, instant food, dried meat, a compass. You know the essentials.

>>3867189
What the fuck is wrong with you. Jesus christ.

You give it a few moments of thought before shrugging and giving this lady a smirk. "I'm in. Even if this Elixir of Immortality is, at best, a gross exaggeration, I could use some cash. Besides, I have my doubts that the three of you could find it on your own without getting yourselves killed."

Mai winces and glances back at Pilaf as you say that. She lets out a sigh and wipes sweat from her brow when she sees that he was too busy chasing after Shu to have heard you. "I would suggest not saying such things in front of the Emperor. His ego is egregiously bloated."

Pilaf suddenly stops in his chase and looks at Mai, angrily stomping toward her. "What did you just say about me, Mai?" You can't help but laugh as she panics and starts running away from the little blue man with the rolled up newspaper. You only laugh harder when the dog guy, who's still running around, slams head on into Mai, sending her tumbling back into Pilaf. You're pretty sure they must be the luckiest three people in the world to have even made it this far.

Your attention, as well as theirs, is suddenly ripped away as you hear a loud cough from behind you. It's that Tights lady standing with her hands on her hips. She's wearing a big grin as she tells you, "That was a really fascinating conversation you had there, kid. Fun fact, I'm a writer. I normally write sci-fi books; ever heard of Chako the Space Policeman?" She seems disappointed when you shake your head, but goes on. "Well, anyways, I've been looking to branch out into fantasy, and a race to find a mystical Fountain of Youth sounds like the perfect thing to base a book on.

"So basically..." You barely have enough time to parse her rapid speech before she reaches into her pocket and pulls a capsule out, pressing the button on it and throwing it behind her. A futuristic-looking hoverbike poofs into place and she walks over to it, climbing on. "I'll be taking that Elixir of Immortality all for myself. Don't even try to stop me!" She then lets out a horribly cheesy evil laugh and the bike zooms up into the air, immediately racing northwest, toward the snowcap mountains.

You feel like you should be upset or confused about what just happened, but all you really feel is excitement. This is shaping up to be a real adventure, not just a fruitless romp through the mountains. While the Pilaf gang are still blinking and looking at each other in shock and confusion, you race over and pick each of them up, dusting them off. "Come on guys, this is no time to be sitting around! We've got competition now, every second counts. Gimme all our funds, I'll run around and pick up everything we need so we can leave by dusk."

Fortunately, these three are a bunch of suckers, and Pilaf scrambles to give you all the money he has left without a word of protest. Despite how easy it'd be to run off with the fat wad of bills he just gave you, the adventure thing is more enticing. You start counting it up and doing some mental calculations.

Between what they've got here and the money you earned last night, you have plenty enough for the basic stuff. Food, water, camping and hiking supplies, even enough to buy a vehicle so you can keep up. In fact, you even have some extra after the cost of all that. Now, what do you do with it?

>Get a faster vehicle. This is a race, after all.
>Double up on the necessities. You'd rather not end up starving out there.
>See if you can't find some magic books and stuff. Travel means downtime, and Luxia definitely wanted you to learn at least a little.
>Hold on to the money. You never know when you'll need some spare dough.

>>3867443
>See if you can't find some magic books and stuff. Travel means downtime, and Luxia definitely wanted you to learn at least a little.

>>3867443
>>See if you can't find some magic books and stuff. Travel means downtime, and Luxia definitely wanted you to learn at least a little.

>>3867443
>Get a faster vehicle. This is a race, after all.
>See if you can't find some magic books and stuff. Travel means downtime, and Luxia definitely wanted you to learn at least a little.
Dont really need the second option. We can kill what we need to eat.

File: Tiny Robo.png (1.51 MB, 1350x906)

1.51 MB PNG

"Hmm..." You count up some of the cash and split the stack in half. You almost extend your hand to give it to Pilaf, but you stop yourself and hand it to Mai. "Take this and go look for a dealership. Buy the most reliable hovercar you can get with this much, and make sure it's a hovercar. I doubt the places we'll be driving through will have roads a car would fit on. Pilaf and Shu, you have the vital duty of... um..." You take a second to try and come up with a lie. You don't want either of them anywhere near the money, after all. They'd just get scammed again.

Then, Shu pipes up. "We have to wait here for people from the job posting, right?"

"Yes! Exactly!" You shout in response, patting Shu on the shoulder. You're proud of him, providing the perfect excuse to sit around and do absolutely nothing while you do important stuff. "We'll all meet up just after dusk, then we set off! See you soon!" With that you give them a wave and start running toward the road. A brief somersault over the top of a car gets you to the other side of the road, and you snake your way through the city.

The evening passes quickly, but by the end of it you're carrying four backpacks stuffed to the brim with supplies, accidentally bumping people all over the place. Fortunately for you, you happened upon a quaint little bookstore in the middle of your shopping, and decided to check out what was inside. Most of the books were entirely mundane, but a hushed conversation about occult stuff earned you a look at what the store owner described as a "Baby's First Grimoire". It cost you a hefty sum, well over 40000 Zeni, but you think it's a wise investment.

Once you get back to the park, you find Mai with her head hung while Pilaf shouts at her. He's yelling at her for picking an awful, unsightly hovercar. The car they're standing next to doesn't look that bad to you though. Sure, it's a little dinged up, and the paint job is only half finished, but it's floating just fine. Either way, there's no point wasting any more time, so you toss the bags onto it.

Before you can tell everyone to get in, a loud clang interrupts you. Some kind of metal ball crashed into the ground a few dozen feet away from you, and you watch it unfold. It turns into a tiny little robot only half your height, with a pair of big green hands. The thing runs toward you and stops a few feet from you, getting into some kind of battle posture. A speaker somewhere on it crackles to life and announces, "Miss Tights has a message for you: If you slowpokes don't hurry up, your journey will end before it's even begun! Prepare to fight! Hiyaaaaa!"

With a high-pitched, robotic battle cry, it charges toward you and swings one of it's fists at you. The punch hurts about as much as a punch from one of the kids you'd get into mock fights with back home. You think Tights underestimated you.

>Punt this thing into the clock on that building across the park. This city has way too many clocks already.
>Break off its arms and legs, you can keep it around as a cute little mascot or something!
>Ignore it and leave. No time to waste!

>>3867739
>>Ignore it and leave. No time to waste!

>>3867739
Beat it up and steal it

>>3867739
>>Ignore it and leave. No time to waste!

You roll your eyes and give the thing a tiny kick, knocking it over while you hop up into the car, dragging Pilaf and Shu along with you. Mai hops into the front seat and you all zoom off into the sky, flying up over the city. As the streets below darken, you see lights blink to life all over the city, dotting the darkness of the night like stars. The sea of lights fades into the horizon behind you as you pass over East City's massive bamboo forest.

Leaning back in your seat, you watch the Pilaf gang get up to their antics. The little tyrant starts bragging loudly about how far his leadership skills have gotten you all. Apparently in his eyes leadership means constantly insulting and punishing his devoted followers while a complete stranger tells everyone what to do. You'd criticize, but this setup works out pretty good for you. Plus it's a great source of slapstick comedy.

You lay your head back and look up at the sky. The moon is big and full, shining down brightly on all of you. It's strangely soothing, the thrum of the engine and the cool night air. You close your eyes and pass out in an instant.

When you finally wake up again, you find yourself parked in a clearing in the midst of a jungle. It makes sense, you think. Based on what you know from looking at maps, a ton of the land between the Snowcap Mountains and East City is a thick jungle. You let out a yawn as you reach into one of the bags and nab some granola, starting to snack on it for breakfast. You clap your hand on Shu's shoulder hard enough that he wakes up with a startled bark, and you tell him, "Your turn to drive! Wake up Mai and let's get going."

Shu whines, but he obediently crawls forward and shakes Mai awake, swapping places with her. He confidently insists, "This means it's your turn to drive next though... uh... hey, you never told us your name."

"Oh!" You reflect, realizing that in your hurry to get stuff done and start adventuring, you forgot about that entirely. "My name's Shoji. I'd ask yours, but I sort of picked it up along the way, Shu. Also, I can't drive, I'm barely thirteen." Shu lets out a disappointed sigh when you remind him and starts sulking while he lifts you all into the air.

Once you get moving again, you have some time to waste. You've got to spend it on something.

>Try reading that grimoire, see if you can get a feel for magic stuff!
>Try meditating. You should practice the spirit stuff when you have time.

>>3868543
>Try reading that grimoire, see if you can get a feel for magic stuff!
I cant wait to cast fireball

>>3868543
>>Try meditating. You should practice the spirit stuff when you have time.
We should wait for the Magic training until we have a chance to ask our mentor incase we hit a brick wall.

File: tenor.gif (214 KB, 220x124)

214 KB GIF

>>3869017
If we hit a major brick wall we could ask her, til then we can read up on magic.

>>3869165
I'm taking this as a vote for the grimoire.

You kick back and crack open the book to start reading. Hopefully you can get some progress despite being cramped in a hovercar with the wind whipping against your face.

>Roll 1d100

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>3869201
My reading skills are unbeatable.

Rolled 32 (1d100)

>>3869201
MagicYEEEEEEEEART

Rolled 61 (1d100)

>>3869201

>>3869214
>>3869245
>>3869436
Good news is at least one of us is literate.

You dig into the book with a relaxed smile, starting into the first page. Luckily for you, it's not that hard to read. You know almost all the words the book throws at you, and the introduction seems fairly self-explanatory. It gets into the sort of thing that Luxia was telling you about with souls and stuff. The process is actually pretty enjoyable, in part because you're reading against the soothing orange glow of a sunrise while you fly over a vast, vibrant green jungle.

Halfway into the chapter though, you find yourself needing to reread a sentence trying to make sense of it. Then the one before it. Then the whole paragraph it's a part of. With a sinking feeling growing in your heart, you slowly realize... you need to reread almost everything you've read already. The first time, you let yourself get distracted, and none of it really cemented in your mind. If someone asked you what the first chapter was even about, you couldn't even answer that.

With a sigh, you smack your forehead and flip back to the first page, reading it more thoroughly. This time you actually seem to pick up on what it's saying. The book does go over some information you already know, but it also explains some things you don't. The soul thing makes sense, but it introduces this stuff called "mana". You have to read through each paragraph carefully before it dawns on you, this mana stuff is what Luxia called Ichor! Knowing that, things make a lot more sense. Soon enough, the book moves on to the beginning of an explanation of how to "grasp" the soul. You flip to the next page to learn more, and--

Something causes the car to jerk around, nearly throwing you out of it into the open air. However, you still feel your stomach lurch, as it becomes clear that the car is falling toward the ground. Shu attempts in vain to pull it back up, but you're going down. Your rapid descent quickly stops as you reach the ground, and you see exactly what happened. A big robot is now holding your car in it's hand, with big, bold letters on the side labeling it as "MAGNETOTRON".

A pair of smaller, human sized robots flip out of the bushes to stand next to it, speaking in unison with robotic, crackly voices. "Mistress Tights sends her regards. Prepare to die."

>Get in there and smash up the big robot. If you can take out the thing holding your car, you can get away.
>Hop out and keep the two smaller ones busy. They're likely the real threat, since the big guy is just standing still, and was probably just meant to pull you out of the sky.
>Ask the Pilaf gang if they've got any weapons or skills that'd be useful in a fight.

>>3869476
>Hop out and keep the two smaller ones busy. They're likely the real threat, since the big guy is just standing still, and was probably just meant to pull you out of the sky.

>>3869476
>>Hop out and keep the two smaller ones busy. They're likely the real threat, since the big guy is just standing still, and was probably just meant to pull you out of the sky.

>>3869476
>Hop out and keep the two smaller ones busy. They're likely the real threat, since the big guy is just standing still, and was probably just meant to pull you out of the sky.
>Ask the Pilaf gang if they've got any weapons or skills that'd be useful in a fight.

You stash your book safely away and throw yourself out of the car, landing on the forest floor with a loud crunch and preparing to turn a couple of tin cans into scrap.

>Roll 1d100

Rolled 37 (1d100)

>>3870094
Viper Clan bay bee

Rolled 9 (1d100)

>>3870094

>>3870102
>>3870126
I don't think you guys are praying to the right gods of fortune. It seems like they're conspiring to get you killed.

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>3870094

>>3870131
I'm just used to having absolutely atrocious fucking luck, but there's precious few others rolling in this quest so far.

>>3870131
The Dice Gods are cruel beings just as likely to curse their faithful as they are blasphemers.

Rolled 40, 3, 79, 82, 45, 16, 81, 4, 69, 27, 5, 74, 18, 39, 84, 27, 90, 14, 10, 81 = 888 (20d100)

>>3870094
Rolling to clear out all the shit dice

Rolled 21 (1d100)

>>3870094
Is this best of three?

>>3870357
Yeah, it is. I'd have written the next post by now, but real life obligations mean I can't spend much time on this for the next few hours. I should be able to continue in a couple of hours.

You crack your knuckles and start walking toward the robots. They both start somersaulting toward you and one of them tries to sweep your feet out from under you. Seeing an opportunity, you jump up and slam your feet down into it's leg, crushing it with a metallic bang. Unfortunately, in your excitement to deal some damage, you failed to notice the other one sneaking up behind you. You're winded and thrown to the ground as it smacks an iron elbow into your back.

It helps its partner up while you recover from the fall, flipping onto your back and looking up at them. You definitely haven't been at your best today. That doesn't mean you're helpless though. The two bots charge toward you while you stand up, and before you know it they're on you, throwing a flurry of attacks toward you. While you do your best to block their attacks, the rhythm of reading and deflecting blows cools your head, especially since it's so simple. These guys clearly don't know how to throw in any curveballs like Mika could.

Having calmed down, you focus on your training. You're not just any fighter, you're a student of the Viper School. The very first fighting lesson Dad ever taught you was this: Exploit your opponent's weakness. So you look for the weakest point of their bodies. It's clearly either the joints or... the big, single glassy eye each one of them has.

While you block, you wait and look for an opening. One appears when the one with the dented leg stumbles. You throw a feint toward it, and when the other one moves to try and stop you, you strike. Your hand curls up and you make a point with your knuckles. Your fist curls under it's arm and you jab it directly in the eye, shattering the red lens into a thousand pieces.

While the thing staggers around, malfunctioning from not being able to see anything, you look up at the others. The big bot isn't doing anything, but it's still holding the car securely. Pilaf is standing on the back of the vehicle shouting orders while Mai is hopelessly shooting a pistol at the robot and Shu is wildly swinging at it with his eyes closed, hitting it with his still sheathed sword.

You snicker at the sight, and realize that your fists probably wouldn't have much effect on it. You're not quite strong that the bot would break before your hands.

>Finish off the other smaller bot and get up there. You'll need to break your way in, but you're sure you can ruin it by tearing up some wires and stuff.
>Ask Shu if you can use his sword. You've never been as good with them as Mika, but you're trained in the use of weapons.
>Grab one of the robots you're fighting and use it as a weapon. What better to take down a huge robot than something big, heavy, and made of metal?

>>3870598
>Ask Shu if you can use his sword. You've never been as good with them as Mika, but you're trained in the use of weapons.

>>3870598
>>Grab one of the robots you're fighting and use it as a weapon. What better to take down a huge robot than something big, heavy, and made of metal?
Viper clan. No need for what most consider a 'proper' weapon, as long as we have a weapon of some kind.

>>3870700
This. Dad has trained us in the art of improvised weapon and bar room fighting.

>>3870598
>>Grab one of the robots you're fighting and use it as a weapon. What better to take down a huge robot than something big, heavy, and made of metal?
Hit a motherfucker with another motherfucker? very yes

Of all the skills your Dad taught you, the one you enjoyed practicing the most was the use of improvised weapons. As the robot in front of you throws a punch your way, you grab it by the wrist.

>Roll 1d100

Rolled 22 (1d100)

>>3872076

Rolled 33 (1d100)

>>3872076

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>3872076
Slap

Holding the machine firmly in your hand, you crouch down and throw it over your head, directly into the big guy behind you. It leaves a dent in the leg, but the huge bot seems entirely unfazed by the damage, still holding on tight. So you walk over and grab your robot before it has a chance to get back up, swinging it around by the leg like a flail. The clang from the next hit is like a crack of thunder, but the thing still doesn't seem affected.

You keep that pattern up for the next five minutes, until the robot you're using as a weapon is falling apart too much to use, missing both it's legs and flattening way too much to use. So you walk over and grab the one you blinded, using it instead. You have to keep it up for quite a while though, before anything comes of it. Eventually, after ten more minutes of the same thing, something finally happens. The metal giant's leg is finally bent so far to one side that the thing completely loses balance. It carries the car with it, throwing the Pilaf gang out into a pile, but when its head smashes into the ground the magnets deactivate and the car rights itself, floating just above the ground.

Gasping for air, with your mind caught in a fog of adrenaline and fury, you slowly walk over to the car and climb in, before completely collapsing into the back seat. You're going to need a few minutes.

You barely notice, but as you take off the Pilaf Gang seem afraid to say a word to you. You don't really have the energy to try and figure out why, but you feel like there's a general air of fear in the car now. You ignore it and close your eyes to take a nap.

When you wake up, evening has begun to fall over the forest. You sit up and rub your eyes, yawning loudly. Nobody says anything to you, for some reason. Maybe they're just tired? You're pretty tired too, all things considered. But there's some time before your normal bedtime.

>Get some more reading done. You were getting to a really good part this morning.
>Do some meditation. You should clear your head right now.
>Get some rest and try to figure out why everyone's so quiet now. You're still pretty damned tired.

>>3872161
>Get some more reading done. You were getting to a really good part this morning.

>>3872161
>>Do some meditation. You should clear your head right now.

>>3872161
>Get some more reading done. You were getting to a really good part this morning.
And ask them whats wrong

>>3872171
>>3872856
You crack open the mysterious tome and flip through the pages, prepared to read. Letting out a soft yawn, you try to wrap your tired mind around the material held within.

>Roll 1d100-20

Rolled 15 - 20 (1d100 - 20)

>>3872879
Remember to roll "dice+1d100+-20"

File: eli_vance_in_pain.jpg (79 KB, 496x573)

79 KB JPG

>>3872940

Rolled 73 + 20 (1d100 + 20)

>>3872879

Rolled 73 - 20 (1d100 - 20)

>>3872879

File: 1563708062919.jpg (15 KB, 512x512)

15 KB JPG

>>3872980
>>3873013

With your thirst for knowledge unquenched, you flip through the pages until you reach the point where you left off. You were just about to learn about a ritual designed to allow a novice to grasp their soul for the first time. When you start reading though, you find that you've lost most of the context for what you were reading. So, you head back a few pages and start skimming, trying to remind yourself of what the book was saying.

It takes even longer than expected, unfortunately, and you find yourself reading and rereading paragraphs every so often. When you finally do get to the new stuff, you're not entirely sure of your knowledge. However, you begin turning through the pages and mentally listing out all the necessary steps needed for the ritual. A quiet, serene place, several hours of free time, canvas and paints or an instrument you're proficient in, some dried chamomile or peppermint, and a willingness to self-reflect.

You don't have all of that on hand, but you'd bet you can get it the next time you stop in a town. That isn't all you need though. You'll need to actually understand what the book is telling you to do, and it's not easy. It's giving you a bunch of cryptic stuff about "the force that drives a painter's hand" and "separating the human and the artist." You could definitely perform the ritual, but you're only half-confident that you could get it to work with your current understanding. Frankly, you just aren't in the right mental state to wrap your mind around all this junk.

It's getting late, however, and you look up to see the car parked and your friends all asleep. Damn. You'd been meaning to ask them what was up, but you got too wrapped up in the book. Oh well. It's bedtime, so you'll sleep. You nab a blanket out of your backpack and curl up, getting some much-needed rest.

You wake up to the sound of the engine coming to life. You're still tired as your eyes flutter open, but you can't go back to bed. You have to be awake if another group of robots attack, these losers wouldn't stand a chance on their own.

The car continues to be pretty silent, but that might just be because you and Mai are the only ones who are awake. The silence is broken soon into the drive by noises from down below. You look out of your car to see a group of several men wearing weird yellow outfits and shouting while they punch trees. You're... pretty confused. You're out in the middle of nowhere, after all.

>Stop the car and go check it out. This is too unusual to overlook.
>Ignore them and take a minute to quietly ask Mai why she and the others are being so silent.
>Just relax and let your mind wander. You have a long road ahead of you, you can't fret over every little thing.

>>3873682
>Stop the car and go check it out. This is too unusual to overlook.

>>3873682
>>Stop the car and go check it out. This is too unusual to overlook.

>>3873682
>Stop the car and go check it out. This is too unusual to overlook.

File: 0958f574-81a0-4b17-890a-8(...).png (287 KB, 418x632)

287 KB PNG

"Hey, stop the car for a minute.", you instruct Mai. She gives you a wordless nod and slows your hovercar to a halt, letting it fall just below the treeline. You hop out and start walking toward the guys. They continue to beat up on the trees, scraping bark off and shouting with each rhythmic punch. As you approach, a man walking around casually looking at the men stops and turns toward you.

You give him a little wave and he frowns, stomping toward you. In a deep, strong voice, the chubby dude asks, "What are you doing out here, kid? This is a dangerous jungle, not a playground." He looks like he's trying way too hard to seem authoritative. It's especially silly how serious he wants to be, since he has six weird dots on his bald head.

"I'm just wondering what a bunch of grown men are doing beating up a forest. Are you trying to teach it a lesson, make it safer for kids like me?" You grin, watching him put on a snarl and glare at you. It looks kinda funny, the way his big bushy eyebrows are all furled.

"No, brat. We're not beating up the forest, this is my martial arts school. I'm training them so that they can win the next World Martial Arts Tournament and earn me half a million Zeni." He gives you a confident smirk, folding his arms.

You cock your head, putting on the guise of an innocent child to mock him. "You sure don't look like martial artists to me. I'm pretty sure martial arts are for fighting people, not trees. What's this training supposed to even do?"

He huffs, acting haughty now. "Of course you wouldn't understand, you're just a little punk. By the end of this training, my students should be able to punch clean through a tree. I bet some of them could do it already, if they really tried. Do you wanna try it out, pipsqueak?"

>Sure. You'll knock over a few trees to prove a point.
>Prove it. If him or his students can really punch a tree in half, you wanna see it.
>You've got a better idea. You bet none of his students could knock a kid like you down, much less a tree.

>>3874184
>>Sure. You'll knock over a few trees to prove a point.

>>3874184
>Sure. You'll knock over a few trees to prove a point.

>>3874184
>Sure. You'll knock over a few trees to prove a point.
Then beat the other trees with another tree

Rolled 61 (1d100)

>>3874184
Rolling because I'll be busy latrr

"Sure. Why not." You nod, waltzing over to a random tree and looking it up and down. "So, I just punch it as hard as I can?"

He snorts nastily, grinning. "Be my guest, kid. Just don't blame me when you break your hand."

You roll your eyes and line up with the tree. In the blink of an eye, your hand snaps out toward it, knuckles held sharply forward. At the end of the strike, you step back. A loud snapping noise rings out as a crack forms up the length of the tree. You turn around while it splits apart from the top down, broken with a single punch. Your confident smirk is enough to turn the weird guy's expression of shock into one of anger. "So... what exactly makes you martial artists? If a kid can do this, what makes you special?"

He starts fuming, but he clearly doesn't have any idea what to say in response. Eventually he gives up and growls at you, cracking his knuckles. "You little shit! How dare you insult the Orin Temple! We're gonna teach you a lesson you'll never forget! Everyone, get over here!"

They want a fight, huh. You're pretty confident that you'd win, based solely on the fact that their training for a big tournament consists of just punching trees a whole lot. Still though, you've stopped for a while already, and you are chasing after Tights.

>Give them the beatdown they deserve.
>Get going already. You've wasted enough time.

>>3874295
>>Give them the beatdown they deserve.

>>3874295
>Give them the beatdown they deserve.

>>3874377
>>3874765
You crack your neck, crack your knuckles, and prepare to get to work.
>Roll 1d100

Rolled 42 (1d100)

>>3874791
Time to get Goku and Krillin involved hunting down someone who brutalized these guys for "no reason!"

Rolled 14 (1d100)

>>3874791

Rolled 88 (1d100)

>>3874791

The pretenders start to make their way toward you, apparently not bothered at all by the fact that you're just a kid. That's fine with you though. You aren't afraid of a bunch of losers who barely even know how to throw a punch. The big man stands back while his goons charge toward you, preparing to punch you out. You step out of the way of the first blow, sending the guy's fist straight into the tree behind you. The second guy's fist is casually elbowed away, and you throw a knockout punch to his jaw. The next idiot leaves himself entirely unguarded, earning him a precise jab to the neck, knocking him to his knees as he clutches his neck, trying to breathe.

The rest of the gaggle of buffoons go down with similar ease, until you reach the self-proclaimed Sensei of the group. You'd hardly consider him a teacher though, if his bright idea before a competition is to make his students punch trees. It's like he saw a kung-fu flick once and thought he just had to come up with something that sounds stupid to make his students into amazing martial artists overnight.

He puts up his fists hesitantly, clearly afraid of you, but willing to fight. You give him credit for that much at least, but you want to know something before you beat him down. "When is the next World Martial Arts Tournament? Dad never let me go, but I want to know what it's like."

He blinks, having pulled his face back in preparation for a punch. "Uh... it's uh... in three weeks."

"I'll see you there then, mister. If you still think it's worth going, I mean." You give him a thankful smile and an elbow to the gut. The fact that he stays standing after the hit is good for you. You'll actually get a satisfying beatdown with him. Each time he tries to guard his body, you hit him with another blow somewhere he isn't blocking, consistently giving him smacks that bruise his skin and push him steadily backward.

Looking at his face, he seems relieved that you aren't hitting the face or the neck or anything weak. You're just throwing body blows at him. You know he's going to wish you had taken him out sooner in just a second, as you suddenly jump up and give him a smack to the forehead that sends him toppling backward. He trips over one of the bodies of his students and is sent tumbling backward down an embankment. Halfway through his fall, something catches him. A log extending across the creek below stops his fall; he lands down hard on it, with his crotch breaking his fall.

You snicker as his face goes pale and he starts to cry. With the pile of garbage behind you, you walk over to the car and hop over the side. Shu seems to have woken up, but Pilaf is still asleep. He whispers to Mai, "I sure am glad the kid is on our side."

She nods and starts up the car, flying away from the sight of nearly twenty grown men with years of training put down by a single child. You can see why Dad went around to martial arts schools beating up all the worthless pretenders, that was a blast! Plus, now you've got a lead on a big tournament you can go to. If there's anywhere you'll be able to go to get stronger, that sounds like it.

For now though, you've still got a mission. There's an evil lady with enough cash to throw waves of expensive robots your way to defeat, and you're still a few steps behind her. You can see the Snowcaps off in the distance though, and you're almost through the jungle. It's just a matter of waiting for Shu and Mai to get you there. In the meantime...

>You can do more reading. You really want to figure out this magic stuff, and how to do that ritual right.
>You should meditate. You've been neglecting all the Spirit stuff Luxia told you about.

>>3875421
>You should meditate. You've been neglecting all the Spirit stuff Luxia told you about.

>>3875421
>>You should meditate. You've been neglecting all the Spirit stuff Luxia told you about.

>>3875434
>>3875625
You kick off your shoes, fold your legs, and relax with your eyes closed. Meditation and relaxation are basically the same thing, right?
>Roll 1d100

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>3875633

Rolled 17 (1d100)

>>3875633

Rolled 35 (1d100)

>>3875633

Meditate... meditate. You've got this. Meditation is easy. You just relax all your muscles and sit until the magic happens. And... stop thinking about stuff for a while. The simplest thing you've ever done. You could do it in a snap. So you do.

...

You open your eyes with a yawn, laid back comfortably against the seat behind you. You sit up with a satisfied smile, looking out at the horizon. Huh, the sun has almost set already. You could've sworn it was still a few hours until noon when you started... meditating. As you rub the sleep out of your eyes, it dawns on you. That wasn't meditation, it was just sleep. You just wasted most of your day taking a nap.

You let out a groan and just lean over the edge of the car, looking down and watching the Jungle below grow more sparse. The landscape gradually shifts from a warm, thick haven of life to a colder plain of grass dotted with the occasional tree or field of flowers. In the middle of the plain rests a small town, which you're headed directly for. After all, it's been hard to see through the jungle, but you're vaguely following the path of the Ice Cube River, with it's source in the heart of the Snowcap Mountains, and it passes directly through this town.

You'll want to get in and out of the town quickly, to keep up with Tights. To do that, you'll need to get your business out of the way as fast as you can. You have enough supplies that you could get away with skipping over the town, but there are a few things that'd be worth doing. Firstly, it'd be nice to have some information about the mountains ahead of you so you're informed, and second, you could gather the materials you needed for that magic ritual you were supposed to do. For those though, you might need some cash.

>Just steal for what you need and intimidate to gather information.
>Sell some things to get cash, and ask for the information as politely as possible.
>Skip over the town. You don't strictly need anything from it, and this is a time-sensitive mission.

>>3875692
>Skip over the town. You don't strictly need anything from it, and this is a time-sensitive mission.

>>3875692
>Skip over the town. You don't strictly need anything from it, and this is a time-sensitive mission.

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108 KB JPG

>>3875692
>Skip over the town. You don't strictly need anything from it, and this is a time-sensitive mission.

>>3875692
>Sell some things to get cash, and ask for the information as politely as possible.
I really wished you guys would had supported, or the gm agreed to my suggestion of keeping the one robot we first encountered. It could had sold for some scrap.

Sorry for the wait between posts. Real life stuff was making it hard to write an update, but I should be good now.

As you look up at the mountains before you, you're reminded of what's important. This little town would just be a waste of time, you've got to get into those mountains and find that Fountain of Youth before Tights can get her hands on the Elixir of Life! So that... Pilaf can drink it? Maybe? You'll cross that bridge if you come to it, which you doubt will happen.

You hop up onto the back of the car and point toward the Snowcap Mountains, shouting out, "Full Speed Ahead!!" as you fly up toward it.

From there, unfortunately, things get pretty boring. Unlike with the jungle, the only things you can see around are rocks, snow, and more rocks. Boredom is the least of your worries though; after several hours of driving, Shu parks the car down on a cliff face with a sigh. You ask, "Why are we stopping, Shu? Need to make some yellow snow or something?"

He shakes his head and Mai looks at you with a curious look. "Did you not know, Shoji? All hovercars have an altitude limit. This is as high as we can go. Any higher and we're liable to fall out of the sky."

Your face goes pale, and you start to regret a few decisions. Primarily, not stopping in that village. Even if you'd just casually asked around, you'd probably have learned that your car wouldn't be any good up here. On top of that, you might have had an idea of where to go. You thought you could just look around from up high in the car, but as things are you'll need to plod through on foot, just hoping you'll run into what you're searching for.

This definitely changes the situation. As you see it, none of your options are ideal. Nevertheless, you have to pick one.

>Tread forward on foot. It'll be hard, but the real enemy here is stagnation.
>Head back to the town. It's going to take a while, but it's better than wandering aimlessly.
>Wait for Tights to send some robots to attack you. If you head in the direction they come from, you should know which way to go.

>>3882750
>Wait for Tights to send some robots to attack you. If you head in the direction they come from, you should know which way to go.

>>3882750
>Tread forward on foot. It'll be hard, but the real enemy here is stagnation.

>>3882750
Switching to
>Tread forward on foot. It'll be hard, but the real enemy here is stagnation

You give the issue a few seconds of thought before shrugging it off and smiling, hopping out of the car and shouting, "Let's get going then!" You step around to the back and grab the backpacks, throwing one each at Pilaf, Shu, and Mai and slipping one on yourself. While Pilaf shoves his bag toward Shu, forcing the poor dog-guy to carry both backpacks, you press the button to turn the car back into a tiny capsule.

While Mai puts away the capsule in a little carrying case, she asks, "Are you sure this is a good idea, Shoji? We just--" As you turn around to look at her, she's interrupted by the sound of Pilaf and Shu violently shushing her, fingers in front of their lips. She looks irritated by them, but coughs and quietly says, "Nevermind."

You cock your head and finally ask the question that's been on your mind for the past few days. "Why are you guys acting so weird? You're hardly talking to me, and now you don't want Mai to ask a simple question?"

Mai lets out a sigh and turns to Pilaf, frowning at him. "Sire, I'm going to tell him."

"You can't, Mai! What if--"

"He's already going to be upset if we keep pretending everything is alright."

"Mai, you can't tell him! That's an order!"

"Don't care. Telling him." She turns back to you. Judging by the look on her face, she's been following this guy's orders for too long to be bothered by whatever punishment is coming. Meanwhile, Pilaf cowers behind her and Shu dives into the snow. "Shoji, do you know a child who goes by the name Goku? Around the same age as you, maybe a little younger? Has the same kind of monster strength? Has a tail?"

You shake your head, wearing a bewildered look. How could this possibly have anything to do with you? Mai seems surprised by your answer, her eyes widening. "Really? He's not like... your brother or anything?" Another head shake. "So... if you get upset with us, you won't turn into a giant gorilla like he did?"

You blink, staring at her with your mouth slightly agape. You are so confused right now. Also, kind of insulted. "Are... are you cracking a joke at my expense? I mean, I know I'm stronger than most people but--"

Your confusion is interrupted by the sound of a cackling voice. You see an image of Tights being projected in the air above you. She's wearing much more gaudy clothes than before, and she sits in some kind of silver throne at the top of a rock face. She speaks up through some speakers behind the projection, and you can tell she's putting on a cheesy voice. "Ohoho! You fools, bickering among yourselves while your lives are at risk! I, Empress Tights, have placed explosive charges at the top of this mountain. In three minutes, they will explode, sending an avalanche down to sweep you all off of this mountain."

A blinking timer appears and begins counting down from three minutes. Despite the apparent danger, the first thing that comes to your mind is the question, "It's 'Empress Tights' now?"

"Yes! Oooohohohohohohoho!~" She laughs haughtily, obviously enjoying getting to play the villain. Even if she's not a great actor.

>Time to get moving! Grab Shu and Pilaf and make a break for it!
>Call her bluff. You wanna see what she'll do if you just sit around.
>Honestly, you're sick of the Pilaf Gang. They're so rude, calling you an ape. You should ask Tights if you can switch sides.

>>3882983
>Time to get moving! Grab Shu and Pilaf and make a break for it!

>>3882983
Wait she's willing to trigger an avalanche and possibly kill that whole village down the way and anyone else further below? That's kind of fucked up. We should deck her in the schnozz.

>>3883407
The village you passed isn't close enough to the base of this mountain that it'd get caught up in the avalanche. While it's possible that there might be some people on the side of this mountain, it's unlikely. The Snowcap Mountains are another one of the Dragon World's convenient mostly uninhabited wastelands.

>>3883416
But how much do we - a lad who knows more about fighting than anything else - know how far an avalanche travels?

>>3883485
Shoji may not be a mountain expert, but he's not Goku. You can guess that an avalanche won't travel all the way down the mountain, then all the way across the more than fifty miles of relatively flat ground dotted with hills between you and the village.

>>3883489
>he's not Goku
>he had to roll to read
You're hurting me.

>>3883495
Ouch. just realized.

>>3882983
>Time to get moving! Grab Shu and Pilaf and make a break for it!
Adventure!

You grin, looking around for a path to follow. Once you've got your escape route, you crab pilaf by his weird frilly neck thing, grab Shu's leg, and throw yourself into a dead sprint, shouting back, "You've got us this time Tights, but we'll get you eventually! Your dastardly ways will end soon enough, I swear it!"

Tights cackles, giving you her best attempt at a menacing grin. "Just try to stop me, kid! I'm going to get my immortality, then... I'll rule this world with an iron fist!!"

Suddenly, Pilaf wiggles out of your grip and you're forced to stop as he turns back. His fists are curled and he shouts at the top of his breath, "No! I'm the one who will rule the world! I get to rule it, just as soon as I get my hands on those Dragon Balls!"

"Oh?" Tights folds her arms, using a mocking tone. "You think you can do that? With just a bumbling dog, a disobedient girl, and a kid on your side? Don't make me laugh. You'll never achieve anything, shorty."

You go to interrupt the little tyrant to let him know you need to get going, but he doesn't give you a chance. Instead of responding with anything clever, he just shouts at the top of his lungs, "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!! I WANNA RULE THE WORLD, NOT YOU! IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE MINE!"

The silence after he shouts that is palpable. His voice continues echoing all around you, until it's interrupted by a noise. You look up at the rumbling above you to see... the avalanche that Pilaf's screaming just caused. Uh oh.

>Roll 1d100

Rolled 68 (1d100)

>>3885465

Rolled 75 (1d100)

>>3885465
Smack him upside his head and carry him off. Once we find safety let's ask what are dragon balls.

Rolled 22 (1d100)

>>3885465
Fine. I'll do it myself.

>>3885465
Real quick. Can we find the timer then capsule it for keep sakes?

You scramble to grab Pilaf while Mai gets a head start, physically dragging the blue mutant across the ground as he looks up and blinks at the oncoming disaster. You push into the fastest sprint you can manage while Pilaf shouts "Run faster!" over and over again behind you.

The wave of snow slowly catches up with you as you follow the only path you can see down the mountain, looking for somewhere to hide. Feeling the torrent of ice right on your heels, your main priority is running away, and that doesn't leave you with many options. Eventually, you run out of choices. Your dead sprint down the mountain leads you to a sheer cliff.

You try to skid to a stop right before you reach the edge, but you're not exactly used to carrying two people while you run over icy rocks. You curse loudly as you all tumble over the edge, and you accidentally let go of both Pilaf and Shu trying to catch yourself.

You're surprised to find that, despite having had a head start on you, Mai fell off as well. You see her clinging onto a ledge for dear life... then Shu grabs her by the legs. Her eyes widen and she tries to look back, right when Pilaf grabs onto Shu's legs. She panics with all the extra weight and scrambles, clawing at the ground in hopes of pulling herself up and not falling. Then, you grab onto Pilaf's legs.

Once again, Pilaf does what he does best, shouting, "Don't you dare let go, Mai! That's an order!" You don't think she was planning on it, but it definitely looks like she won't be able to hold on for long. So you decide to handle it yourself.

Using the Pilaf Gang like a human ladder, you crawl up onto the ledge, realizing that what you were hanging on was a cave sunk into the cliff face. You don't have much time to dwell on that though as Mai's fingers slip. You just barely catch her in time, stopping all three of them from falling to the rocky ground below. You pull them up with relative ease, lifting them into the cave along with you.

You all let out a collective sigh, looking out at the avalanche as it finishes falling down off the cliff like a waterfall of snow. Thank god you all survived that. It could've gone much worse.

Apparently Pilaf disagrees though, because he quickly turns to you and starts shouting. "I can't believe this! You buffoon, look what you did! You almost got us killed! And now we're all stranded on a cliff! How are we supposed to get down? You idiot!" He finishes his shouting by giving you an angry shove. On a normal day, you would've been unfazed by it, but after everything you aren't really ready for being pushed around. You stumble backward and fall back into the cave, tumbling down a sleep incline deeper into the mountain.

As you fall, you curse again. Your last thought is about how lucky you are that Dad isn't here, because you've said a lot of bad words today. Then there's a thump, and everything goes black.

END OF EPISODE 2
https://youtu.be/BvyzX5Abqz0

I hope you've all enjoyed the second thread. Sorry about the slow updates in the second half, real life stuff got in the way of quest stuff and I sort of ended up losing my momentum. Hopefully that won't happen again.

Next thread will probably come out some time next week, depends on what my schedule ends up looking like. If this thread stays alive long enough, I'll keep you updated here.

>>3887307
I certainly enjoyed myself, but I still want to smack Pilaf upside the head in the next thread.

>>3887307
I know for a fact young Goku is significantly stronger, but how do we compare to Krillan?

>>3889943
>how do we compare to Krillan?
You'll find out it you make it to the big upcoming tournament.

>>3891281
When's the next thread?