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Per order of Chief Grey of FOODS, today begins your training montage.

---

No scrapyard this time. Still reeling a bit from all the various injuries you've been slowly accumulating, Ken has just taken you out to the park and made sure the two of you have your dosage of Dragon venom so nobody will bother you.

She doesn't look particularly happy. Like, more than normal. While you found out she's only 18, barely two years older than you, she's had to find out that you're evidently friends with a Dragon, something you're sure is still weighing with her. She leans into her sledgehammer, palms on the end, chin on the back of her hands.

"What's on the menu, Noah?" She says, trying to look gruff. "Is there anything you'd like me to know before we get started?"

You have a feeling she's about to work you to the bone.

>What can you teach me about [kind of Alchemy] (Choose one from our Character Sheet)
>Look, you're upset, I'm still reeling. We need to talk this out before we can actually get anything done.
>I have like, at least a dozen people inside my head and I think they feed me Pneuma.
>Free Option.
>Free Option.

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GLOSSARY OF TERMS
https://pastebin.com/qVWdrUrh

CHARACTER LISTING
https://pastebin.com/4MuQuhtj

LISTING ON SUPTG
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Dragon%20Slayer%20Quest

PREVIOUS THREAD
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2022/5083609/


If you're enjoying the quest, your upvotes are greatly appreciated, but not at all required

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Noah's Dossier
Physical Health: Mediocre
Mental Health: Mediocre
Strength: Middling
Agility: Mediocre

Grades: Above-Average
Intelligence: Middling

Pneuma Reserves: Excellent
Pneuma Control: Poor
Alchemical Sense: Excellent

Alchemical Styles
Forge Alchemy - Level 1
Mobility Alchemy - Level 1
Architectural Alchemy - Level 1
First Aid Alchemy - Level 1
Resonance Alchemy - Level 1
Biomedical Alchemy (Forbidden) - Level 1
Egregoric Alchemy (Forbidden) - Level 1

>>5135857
>Well you know how I was asking about MIB stuff? Well I checked on those students from the homunculus thing and they literally don't remember all the crap that happened.

>>5135857
>Look, you're upset, I'm still reeling. We need to talk this out before we can actually get anything done.
>What can you teach me about [Forge Alchemy]?
>Do you want a Snickers? You're not you when you're hungry. (Don't do this lmao)

>>5135857
>Look, you're upset, I'm still reeling. We need to talk this out before we can actually get anything done.

>>5135857
I'd like to figure out an optimal workout and diet thing day in and day out. The right things to eat and the right time of day. Do you eat before or after exercising? How much do you need to exercise? I wanna get big like a bear.
Like, I heard people drink juice and weh to get muscles. Would I look lame if I carried around a fanny pack full of energy bars, or a bottle or Gatorade?

Voting for Pneuma Control

>>5135882
+1

I swear to christ if this new medication doesn't actually do anything after the Two Months it takes for it to start kicking in and I have to suffer these side effects for nothing I'm going to fucking go ballistic.
>>5135953
>>5135882
>>5135981
"Hey, you remember how I was asking about the MIB stuff?" You say, trying to start the conversation on business before moving into the personal stuff. Ken raises an eyebrow and doesn't respond. "I checked in on those students from the homunculus incident and they literally don't remember a single thing that happened. All gone."

"Really?" Ken responds, sounding diplomatically intrigued. "So that means the pills... Hmm. Interesting. I'll pass this along to Hyde. Thanks."

Her words are all stiff, like dry cardboard. You have no doubt she will pass the information along to Hyde, but you get the overwhelming impression she'd rather not be here. The two of you stare at each other for a little bit. Well, Ken tries not to, mostly looking at your feet or her feet instead. The time passes.

"Look. Ken, look at me." You say, bending down into a quiet squat, elbows on your knees. You stand back up and analyze the height differential - Ken's about two inches shorter than you, but, really, that just means she has better leverage over your center of gravity. "You're upset. I'm still reeling from all this shit. We need to talk this out before we can actually get anything done."

"What do I look like, your therapist?" She barks, hands squeezing her sledgehammer handle tight. "I don't care about your shit. You don't care about my shit. I'm just your tutor and that's everything. The sooner we can get started the sooner I can get back to my day job."

You don't point out to her that tutoring you is her day job at the moment. And you're not sure if more pressure on her will actually do anything besides piss her off - it feels like a fifty fifty shot either way.

>"Right, well, if that's how it's gonna be..." She wants to start training? Start training. Throw what you've got at her.
>"I want to do this right just as much as you do. I don't think you'll be able to teach me well if you're pissed off at me. You don't even need to think I'm right - but bottling it up won't help us at all."
>Pull rank. Fold your arms and try to be intimidating. "Either you can get over yourself and we can deal with this like adults or we'll just have to do this awkward staring thing until you're ready to talk. Your choice."
>Free Option.
>Free Option.

>>5137389
>"Right, well, if that's how it's gonna be..." She wants to start training? Start training. Throw what you've got at her.
We'll talk later when we're exhausted.

>>5137389
>"I want to do this right just as much as you do. I don't think you'll be able to teach me well if you're pissed off at me. You don't even need to think I'm right - but bottling it up won't help us at all."

>>5137389
>"I do care about your shit, damnit. We're... friends, aren't we?"
>"I want to respect your wishes, your boundaries, but right now... Talk to me. Please. Is it my fault? Is there anything I can do to fix it?"

>>5137389
>"If I get through training this week, can I subject you to my cultured taste in music?"

Rolled 2 (1d4)

>>5137419
1
>>5137500
2
>>5137656
3
>>5137671
4

>>5137500
"I want to do this right just as much as you do. I don't think you'll be able to teach me well if you're pissed off at me. You don't even need to think I'm right - but bottling it up won't help us at all." You say, trying to appeal to some sense of rightness within Ken that you're reasonably certain is in there. She scowls at you even more deeply.

"What the fuck do you think, dumbass? You're just gonna up and tell me that you found a "nice Dragon" and you've been working with them for god-knows how long? While we've been busting our ass off trying to make sure your ingrateful ass isn't dead?" She barks, face twitching with anger. You don't correct her grammar, despite the thought occurring to you for a moment. "Of course you're not right. Just say your fucking piece and then swing at me. Let's get this over with."

You say the first thing that comes to mind. "They're trying to kill other Dragons. That's why we even interact with each other. We're exchanging information." You say, shoving your hands in your pockets and adjusting your waistband. "I know you must think I'm some kind of idiot but I trust at the very least that we have the same goals. They haven't killed anyone yet after they transformed and became a Two-star."

"And you know that for sure?" She says, still scowling, wiping her hair out of her face. You blink at her a couple of times.

"Yeah. I've had to bandage them a couple of times because their regeneration barely works. I don't know if that's a thing that you can really shut off." You say. "They got injured fighting a Dragon. People don't make claw-marks like that, not even someone from Pandora. I'm a newbie, but I'm not an idiot."

She furrows her brow. You're not sure if you got through to her, but given that she's not shouting at you for bandaging up a Dragon, you've got your hopes up a little. She spits out a venomous "Whatever. There. We've had our feelings jam. Can we get started now?"

>Treat your shoes for high speed movement and charge at her to tackle her. (Mobility Alchemy)
>Bloody the ground and make a fist of dirt to sucker punch her from underneath or behind. (Architectural Alchemy)
>Find a rock. Squeeze the rock into some sort of brass-knuckle like arrangement. Start swinging. (Forge Alchemy)
>Free Option.
>Free Option.
>"No, actually, I'm going to keep talking." (Free Option, then choose another opening move. This might piss her off more...)

>>5139273
>Free Option.
Attempt what the priest did and freeze the moisture in the air. Bombard her with a storm of snowballs!

>>5139273
>Bloody the ground and make a fist of dirt to sucker punch her from underneath or behind. (Architectural Alchemy)

Need to take a break for tonight, sorry. Rresponse tomorrow when I have the energy for it. Cheers, fellas.

>>5139273
>Treat your shoes for high speed movement and charge at her to tackle her. (Mobility Alchemy)

>>5139334
>>5139348
>>5140441
Fucking can't pick a single idea huh?

>>5139334
+1
Range is our best bet here.

Apologies for the kind of lackluster update. I've become hilariously ill with, presumably, long covid and mustering the energy to write has been about as difficult as you could expect it to be for someone who's already kind of disabled, particularly thinking of the kinds of things that Noah needs to think about in-universe to perform Alchemy.
>>5139334
You immediately pull your hand up to bite into your thumb, pulling loose the injection spot where you put Dragon venom into yourself not fifteen minutes earlier so that you could train Alchemy in a public park without drawing attention. She glances at her own hand for a moment, and then, in preparation, jabs her thumb with something small and sharp through the open ends of her work gloves.

You swallow blood, letting the coppery taste filter through your gums, swishing it around in your teeth. Sure, she's a trained soldier in the war on Dragons, but you're a freak science accident, and you think that could give you a leg up on the element of surprise here.

You take a step closer. She follows, smearing blood on the handle of her sledgehammer. It twitches ever-so-slightly, like it's alive.

"Well? Gonna breathe fire again?" She asks. "I'm already prepared for that."

"Mmhmm." You reply. She immediately seems in a slightly better mood - maybe it's the prospect of beating the shit out of you in sparring, maybe it's because she likes to fight. Maybe she's just pretending to be mad and can't hold it in during exercise?... No, that's not it.

How the hell did Behemoth freeze the moisture in the air? All you've got is biological processes and chemical reactions. You need something to nucleate on. There's cold air, crisp grass, blood in your mouth, blood on your thumb... A stiff breeze hits you across the face.

>Free Option.

>>5141996
https://youtu.be/829x12VJKGQ
Draw moisture from the air and grass. Snow and ice is usually formed high up in the atmosphere wheres it's cold yeah? Would could possibly stimulate ot accelerate ice growth by breathing yeah?

>>5141996
Try to separate move the heat energy from the air to somewhere else. Maybe even create two simultaneous air streams, one superheated and the other supercooled.

>>5141996
oof, covid and apnea do not mix well

Yeah I really don't know what everyone was thinking with the ice thing. The dragons seem like they work with an extended range before the rubberband.

We can hyper compress the air near us, and spray it out to freeze a fog, but that's going to burn us faster than it's going to do anything to the environment.

>>5142016
>>5142055
>>5142113
You have a lot of heavy ideas, but not much in the way of workable strategy, your brain full of fog and performance anxiety and shouting voices that you've become far more distinctly aware of in the past couple of days than you were before. You lean down and wipe your thumbs over the blades of grass, feeling them gently cut into your fingertips, not in any harmful way, but that little scraping across your thumb wound causes your brain to light up in the littlest of agonies.

You take a fistful of grass. "Condense." You shout to the ground, digging your fingers in, willing the moisture in the air to begin forming dewdrops against the grass at an accelerated rate.

"Too busy playing with flowers? That's alright, I can go first!" Ken yells, her voice taking on a distinctly annoyed edge at you presuming to not take this seriously. She starts to charge, and you exhale.

"Cool off." You say, thinking of the evaporative effects of wind. When you blow on food, you take heat energy away. Things get colder. You don't know how your breath is effected by the rubberband effect, but it seems to work, your mouth suddenly getting minty fresh while wisps of whitish steam seem to waft off the ground.

Ken is not even in the vicinity of fucking around. She's holding her sledgehammer the wrong way around, presumably to avoid killing you, but it is raised over her head and she's not even going for Alchemy. She's just planning to bonk you with it.

The grass around you begins to stiffen up in a radiating, blooming cone as ice spreads from one to the other infectiously, beginning to form a layer of frost.

>Okay, we're getting somewhere. Let's use this breathing technique to blow some superchilled air towards Ken.
>Can we collect the frost on the ground and form it into something useful? We have ready access to ice now - we can condense it into crystals and do something with it.
>Free Option.
>Free Option.

>>5143305
>Can we collect the frost on the ground and form it into something useful? We have ready access to ice now - we can condense it into crystals and do something with it.
Breath is either useless or really fucking dangerous to a friendly.

Try to launch crystals, less for impact, more to latch on to Ken and slow her down

>>5143393
+1

>>5143305
>Can we collect the frost on the ground and form it into something useful? We have ready access to ice now - we can condense it into crystals and do something with it.
>Form icicles, spears of frost that point upwards and block her off. Try to avoid actually stabbing her, though, or at least only go for the protected bits.

>>5143604
>>5143576
>>5143393
No, no breath. Too uncontrollable right now, too much potential for actually harming Ken. What you need now is ice, and what you have now is frost. You drag your fingers across the grass and clutch it tight.

"Collect and condense!" You yell out, forcing your pneuma into the air, feeling it emerge from you in a wave of static electricity and pressure. You imagine an icicle, forming with the dripping of water combining with freezing temperatures, and try to project your will outwards. The white snow and frost collects into thick, clear chunks, and you feel energy leaving you and pressing out through the world at large in a way that feels distinctly different from everything else you've done before. Are you going Super Saiyan, or is this just the application of theory to practice with your egregores?

You can feel the pressure inside your skull like a wave threatening to burst free. And then you realize what you think is happening. If your theory of being a nest of egregores is true, would that mean that some of them would be able to project their own selves into your pneuma? Would they be able to off-load some of your cognitive load of having to trace a path from cause to effect in your Alchemy?...

Maybe.

You pull backwards and a field of blunt icicles emerges diagonally like a phalanx towards Ken, causing her to halt her charge for a moment and recoil backwards. Your brain feels like it's full of cotton, like the more you become aware of your egregores the more awake they get, a chittering anthill inside of your skull.

She swings like she's swinging a baseball bat, all force and zero finesse, just aim, shattering your field of icicles with a burst of wind. It sprays you with a fine layer of frost. Your mouth tastes like blood, and she starts charging in again after one more swing clears out the rest.

>Impressive breakthrough but we need something tougher than ice. Get back to the old standby, make a wall of compressed dirt. (Architectural Alchemy)
>No! All we need is more, compressed ice. Keep at it! (Thermal Alchemy)
>Regardless of what defenses we have up, Ken's specialty is busting things down with her sledgehammer. We're going to get bonked, we need to defend ourselves from the worst of the impact and retaliate. Can we compress the dirt into some sort of handheld clay shield or gauntlet? (Forge Alchemy)
>She can't hit you if she can't move! Grapple her with some ice or dirt mitts. (Architectural Alchemy)
>She also can't hit you if she can't *catch* you. She's gotta lug around that sledgehammer while you can stay nice and mobile. Juice your shoes and let's get moving, we can figure out a counterattack strategy on the go. (Mobility Alchemy)
>Free Option.

>>5144994
>She also can't hit you if she can't *catch* you. She's gotta lug around that sledgehammer while you can stay nice and mobile. Juice your shoes and let's get moving, we can figure out a counterattack strategy on the go. (Mobility Alchemy)

>>5145002
+1 am shpeeeeed

>>5144994
>She can't hit you if she can't move! Grapple her with some ice or dirt mitts. (Architectural Alchemy)
This actually has the ability to shut her down.
>Use the spray of frost she so kindly threw into the air as a medium to encase her limbs in ice. Trip her up with shifting earth if necessary.

>>5145192
https://youtu.be/Nm6WwYXZK48
Why bother with that, when we can SSSSHHPPEEEEEEEEEEEED!

>>5144994
Supporting >>5145192

>>5145002
>>5145173
>>5145192
>>5145388
>>5145426
tied. someone's gotta break.

>>5145192
>>5145002
>>5145173
>>5145426
Your brain grapples for a moment with potentiality as Ken takes two steps forward, like a coin being tossed, and you quickly dig your nails into your palms to draw more blood - you'll need it. You swipe your hands through the air, feeling sprayed ice collect on your fingers, and scatter it to the ground like seed crystals. "Collect!" You yell as you duck down beneath her first swing, grinding your palms into the cold autumn dirt.

You aren't really actively sure of what thought process runs through your head as you flick blood droplets into the air off your palms. You know you need to have ice on her limbs. And the ice grows, in a thin sheet, until there's an uninterrupted line around her boots all the way back to your fingertips, a line that suddenly collects all the ice in the air and swells up like a sponge to form a thick layer around her legs.

"Hey! That's cold, asshole!" She yells, immediately getting to whacking her boots with the wrong end of her sledgehammer. You grind your palms into the dirt a little more, grimace at the pain, give them a twist, and out comes a wave of cold dirt to tip her backwards, causing her to quickly lose traction and fall backwards on her ass with a loud exhalation.

You use the open space to wipe blood on your shoes, and then pull your hands out of the dirt to wipe them off on your shirt. "Is it 'til first knock over or what?" You joke, causing her face to twitch.

"You use a lot of external Alchemy, Lee!" She shouts, letting out some kind of animal bark, whacking her boots, and shattering the ice so hard it immediately evaporates into steam, the hair on the back of your arms lifting straight up. Has she been working more on bloodbinding her sledgehammer? Some part of you in your brain makes you think the word "fascinating". "Gonna run yourself dry that way."

"Oh yeah? Does that use up more energy or something?" You ask, taking a couple of steps back as she slowly rises to her feet, shaking water out of her hair.

"Think about it. You have to keep affecting the external world continuously." She says, pitching something into the air. By the time your brain processes it as a fistful of mud, she's already swinging into it like it's a baseball. "I can just rely on physics!"

It sprays out like buckshot, evaporating into a cloud of vision-obscuring dust and mist as she blows it apart. Small pebbles scatter across your skin like bullets, pressing tiny raw scrapes across your cheeks, and you cover your eyes instinctively. "Don't get cocky just because you can attack at range!" She yells from somewhere in the cloud, while you wipe dust from your stinging eyes.

>>5146041
>She's right - why burn all the energy when we can just let physics do the work for us? Head down, bounce on your heels, and let's just tackle her. (Mobility Alchemy)
>She's probably using the dirt cloud as cover to try and make it hard to gauge how close she is. Let's shout a shockwave to disperse it, and maybe stun her with sheer volume. (Resonance Alchemy)
>Just making armaments out of dirt will drain us dry if we need to maintain them. We need to be quicker and punchier - make small roadbumps to trip up her footing rather than big impressive waves. (Architectural Alchemy)
>Free Option

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>>5146041
>She yells from somewhere in the cloud, while you wipe dust from your stinging eyes.
>Inside the clouds
Did someone say dust explosions? Take a step out the dust cloud using mobility alchemy, since there's already blood on your shoes, give your fingers a little snap to spark the fire, and lets see where that takes us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hS6IGO2tdA

>>5146043
>She's probably using the dirt cloud as cover to try and make it hard to gauge how close she is. Let's shout a shockwave to disperse it, and maybe stun her with sheer volume. (Resonance Alchemy)
>>5146053
Dirt doesn't do dust explosions.

>>5146053
Dust explosions require extremely dry, diffuse powder. While frost is dry, that's not the right kind of dry, and they're most certainly clumped up in chunks, aside from the problems of trying to start a fire right after you finished freezing everything.

Mustang transmutes fuel by the way, because Dust explosions are crazy bad for collateral without actually being very strong.

>>5146043
>She's probably using the dirt cloud as cover to try and make it hard to gauge how close she is. Let's shout a shockwave to disperse it, and maybe stun her with sheer volume. (Resonance Alchemy)

>>5146177
>>5146196
O-oh

>>5146043
>She's probably using the dirt cloud as cover to try and make it hard to gauge how close she is. Let's shout a shockwave to disperse it, and maybe stun her with sheer volume. (Resonance Alchemy)

Okay now that this has started autosaging I'm taking my Fatigue Break for the week. Catch you all tomorrow, thank you all for reading!

>>5147130
Thanks for running!

>>5147130
Danke danke.
>>5146177
+1, though I think tackling her into a hug would be shonen enough to be successful!

Only have the beef in me for one tonight, used it on SMT, will try to get an afternoon update in today since its 6 AM and I haven't slept yet but no promises. Cheers and apologies.

>>5149081
Are you doing better OP? Drinking your juice and tea?

>>5149081
Do your best! Rest well, boss.

>>5149356
I am not dead yet, and good news kinda: I don't have covid NOW... but it wasn't an antibody test so it doesn't really help diagnose if I had it before (which I would be very surprised if I didn't).
>>5146177
>>5146196
A scramble of activity and a quick flash of an unfamiliar face in gloves in your head unifies within a nanosecond into a single grand, unifying thought. "Get away!" You yell, spitting blood from your mouth in your spittle and beseeching the air to carry your voice, amplify it, direct it. Your throat strains under pressure you weren't expecting, and your ears are ringing, but it's not enough to physically disturb the dust beyond stirring it into a swirl.

At least, not until you clap your bloody hands together. "Boom!" you yell, and a charging Ken gets tossed backwards a good foot - along with you going back maybe a foot and a half with recoil, your hands jumping backwards from their clapped position and yanking at your shoulders painfully. You're prepared for it, and manage to skid yourself to a halt by grinding your heels into the dirt.

Ken is not prepared for it, and flips over once before bellyflopping into the dirt. She gets up, snarling like a dog. "You just have no restraint, do you?"

"I haven't been known for it, no." You can't help yourself from quipping.

She throws aside her sledgehammer into the ground, cracks her neck quick left and right, and then bends her head down and starts charging at you. No Alchemy, just clearly trying to close the distance and tackle you.

>Free Option.
>Free Option.

>>5150003
>Jump over her with alchemy

>>5150003
Is she supposed to be training us, or has this been a session of us indirectly training her? I feel like she's getting more out of us than her. What's up with this girl wanting to throw some hands? Why can't we just do demonstrations and practice tried and true techniques like in school? Is she trying to teach us restraint, or how to imbue our alchemy into items instead of using it so expendably?

>>5150003
>Free Option.
>and then bends her head down and starts charging at you.
>No Alchemy, just clearly trying to close the distance and tackle you.
Again there weren't any established rules. It looks like she's going for some wrestling tactics, maybe keeping herself low to aim to grapple Noah's legs, or go for some kind of tackle grab for his abdomen?
I wanna try confusing her go having Noah lay on his back in a grappler position, but he don't know shit how to grapple.

Try a forwards knee strike to her head or a flying knee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0zwAfH0POI
Something something inelastic collision, something something two vehicles traveling into each other at 30mph is the equivalent of the same vehicle driving into a wall at 60mph.

>>5150003
>Leapfrog, no alchemy
>Say something like spin, but don't put any alchemy juice in it

>>5150003
>Free option
Sidestep and throw, redirecting all the force she’s coming at us with.

>>5150045
She’s supposed to be training us, but she’s also absolutely (and understandably) pissed. Probably looking to beat some sense into us, considering the hospitalizations and especially everything around Saint. Talking it out won’t get us anywhere right now, so we gotta show some grit.

>>5150348
>trying to hospitalize us
What is this chick trying to do? This kid already gets sent to the hospital every other week.

>>5150003
>Meet her charge head on.
IT'S A MAN'S ROMANCE TO SPEAK WITH YOUR BODY

>>5150003
>Free Option.
RULES OF NATURE!

>>5150003
QM how juicy are her abs? Are they defined enough to cut meat with?

>>5150857
I heard that Kendra Shields has an 8-pack. That she's shredded.
>>5150021
>>5150045
>>5150086
>>5150348
>>5150532
>>5150701
Your brain fires in several directions at once, with one particularly loud voice almost getting you to shout "Rules of nature!" even though you don't understand what that means. The general gist is clear enough, though.

As Ken keeps her head low and her footsteps heavy, you bend down and crack your own neck, ready to receive. One of your voices reminds you of physics - how two objects colliding at 30 mph in opposite directions is like the two of them each getting hit at 60 mph... or something like that. Now, you don't want to hurt Ken, but you're not going to just let her wail on you to work her own issues out - you're here to train, god damnit.

"Stop fucking around!" You yell, not quite what your Egregore collection had in mind, but probably close enough. You kick off and charge directly for her.

You have never been in an actual fight with another human being in your life. Just before the moment of impact, you attempt to sidestep her instead so you don't crash both of your heads into each other and concuss each other while people wont be able to notice you for another hour or two. Instead, you slide on your prior mud and cold dirt, and while you don't do nearly quite what you wanted to do on your way down, you do end up clotheslining her in the hips, spinning off on your heel and hurtling to the ground until you duck into a pained roll.

Falling hurts! Also, your arm hurts! Also, your shoulders hurt. She has way more mass than you, so at the moment of impact, it wrenched your arm backwards, but it still was you clotheslining her in the hips, and she flips over head-first and barely manages to stick her footing in the dirt, turning around to face you with her hands on her hips.

>"...Don't get cocky, it's just 1 to 2 now."
>"Alright, great, you nailed me. Can we actually start the training now or would you like to punch me in the stomach too?"
>"What's your *problem*?"
>Free Option.
>Free Option.

>>5150966
Eh, shes just trying to get a Rise out of us. I dont know what we're supposed to learn, but I think we need more violence.

>Architectural Alchemy - Level 1
Mix some blood in the ground and draw in more moisture from the air into the dirt shes standing it. Make the soil beneath her a hole in the ground that's slick with moistened mud. I wanna see her flounder in a mud hole for a second, then fill in the pit up to her neck in mud.

I think we should invest in more blood bound objects. Maybe a metal belt, one of those rope bracelets, or a utility knife?

>>5150966
>"Alright, great, you nailed me. Can we actually start the training now or would you like to punch me in the stomach too?"

>>5150966

>"...Don't get cocky, it's just 1 to 2 now."

Drop into a stance. Keep your hands up, in front of your face. Bend your knees enough to quickly shift your balance and footing. If she wants to go without alchemy, we'll do it too. We're gonna get our ass beat, but we need to learn some fighting fundamentals for when alchemy is not a good option. Plus, I think training our body will help with all sorts of stuff.

>That spoiler
M U H

>>5151081
Dud we have next to no martial fighting capabilities, and this isnt actually teaching us fighting fundamentals. She just went into this with no guidelines.
This is in no ways training our body. We're pretty much flailing at this point.

>>5150966
>Free Option.
Well now she just has blood on her shirt. She's gonna need to apply some bleach, probably.

>>5151163
True, true. Change my vote here >>5151081 to

>"Alright, great, you nailed me. Can we actually start the training now or would you like to punch me in the stomach too?"

If she wants to do the whole "talking with your fists" thing, the least she can do is teach us the right way to throw a punch first.

I hate to do this so close to a thread start but I need to take a couple days off in a row. My health took a sudden spike down towards the ground and I'm in no condition to write much less think. I'm really sorry, I'll try to return as quickly as I can. Thank you all so so much for your readership.

>>5153988
Thanks for running and get well!

>>5153988
Take all the time you need, dude.

Alright let's try to get back to it
>>5152111
>>5151025
>>5151163
"Alright, great, you nailed me. Can we actually start the training now, or would you like to punch me in the stomach, too?" You spit out defiantly - it sounds far ruder coming out your mouth than you envisioned it in your head, but you don't mind that at all. You think it's a fully necessary amount of venom, and that Ken is being kind of a shithead right now.

You slowly scoop yourself up from the ground, wiping dirt from your arms. Ken blinks at you a couple of times, and then looks at the ground. "I..." She mumbles for a moment.

"If you wanna box a speedbag just go to the fucking gym. I don't know about you, but I'd like to actually learn how to defend myself against the giant monsters constantly out for my head one of these days." You burst out, the words flowing freely now that the anger has burst through. "Now you can do your job that you apparently get paid for or I can just go try and shadowbox a pine tree so I can get a responsive teacher for once and you can take it easy today."

"God, who put that fucking gab on you?" Ken grumbles. The head of her sledgehammer hits the dirt. "Christ. Fine. We can have our big mud wrasslin' tournament next week, Dragon-kisser. You want business? You've got just business."

She puts both hands on the top of her sledgehammer, one on top of the other. "What'll it be, shortstop?"

>"Would it kill you to teach me how to actually throw a punch for once?"
>"Why don't you actually *teach* me some Alchemy. Like, with theory, instead of just shooting pebbles at me and trying to get me to figure it out on the fly."
>Tackle her, lmao.
>Free Option.
>Free Option.

>>5161542
>Try to do the laser thing, and get her to walk you through the process. Maybe you're being crazy wasteful or something, or maybe she's got tips for doing this on the move.

>>5161542
>"Why don't you actually *teach* me some Alchemy. Like, with theory, instead of just shooting pebbles at me and trying to get me to figure it out on the fly."

>>5161542
>Tackle her, lmao.
SIKE

>>5161655
you had me at laser +1
I love me fucking lasers. Do we do lasers godzilla style, or laser eyes?

>>5161714
>>5161744
>two gay boys with different onions

>>5161761
phone or torch flashlight, focus and resonate the light into goddamn lazers. I am slightly concerned about radiation, but it should be fine. Probably.

>>5161763
You mean the same torch flashlight that can cause fires and blind people even when they close their eyes? Very tempting. What about bloodblinding a small metal laser pen? It's innoculous, easy to carry, easy to replace the batteries.

>>5161784
Sure, after we confirm how effective it is

>>5161761
>passing up the chance to get your hands all over Ken's 8-pack
Are you even a man? Lasers are good and all but without a giant robot to pair then with they're only half as interesting.

>>5161655
Can someone remind me what laser thing is being referred to here? Is it a specific thing that happened in a previous thread being referenced, or is it literally just "hey can we shoot lasers"?

>>5163287
>>5161763

Focus a phone flashlight into a laser

Focus a laser pointer into a more discreet laser

Focus a torch flashlight into a ray of death

Focus a flamethrower or plasma torch into a fucking retro lightsaber

>>5163287
https://youtu.be/2I_fW0dhZn8
https://youtu.be/1ccEwtjVSHM
https://youtu.be/tyUh_xSjvXQ
For referance of what we want.
Give us the pocket lasers and flashbanger.

>>5161655
>>5161761
>>5163325
>>5163596
"Teach me how to shoot lasers." You say. You twitch a little bit, trying for a second to look at your own brain, but then you realize you look like you're rolling your eyes and are also getting a headache so you just sort of let it happen. "Sorry, facial twitch. Not a joke. Teach me how to shoot lasers."

"Like... from your eyes?" Ken asks, visibly trying not to laugh at you.

"No. There's this one guy on YouTube who my friend showed me once, and he buys like.. industrial grade laser pointers and hooks them up to big focusing lenses and shit to make lasers that can burn through metal." You reply. "I want to do that."

Ken raises an eyebrow at you, visibly trying to keep herself looking stern, angry, and emotionally compromised, but unable to take your suggestion seriously, the corners of her lips twitching. "Alright, big boy. Show me your laser pointer and we can get to work."

You pull your phone out and shine your flashlight in her eyes. She stumbles back a step with a tight squint to her face. You put your phone down. "Jesus. What do they fucking put in those things?" She grumbles, walking closer to you and then sitting down on the ground, cross-legged. You sit down with her. The grass is cold and crispy, crunching under your butt. "Okay. This is important; what do you actually mean by laser beam? I am going to try to take you as seriously as I possibly can."

>"I want to set shit on fire from a distance.."
>"I just want to be able to blind Dragons quickly and efficiently to get an upper hand."
>"No, seriously, I want to make like a lightsaber out of a flashlight or something like that. Like, to cut through things."
>Free Option.

>>5164909
>"I just want to be able to blind Dragons quickly and efficiently to get an upper hand."
Combined with Resonance Alchemy, we can make a style out of absolutely fucking up the enemy's senses. On-demand Alchemical flashbangs aren't out of our reach if we try.

>>5164909
>I want something I can whip out anywhere to sear some crispy dragon eyes
>And if that works, I want to see what happens if I use some big flashlights, like those diy torches......preferably without setting the neighborhood on fire

>>5164909
>"No, seriously, I want to make like a lightsaber out of a flashlight or something like that. Like, to cut through things."
This is every nerd's dream. I must have one. I dont care if I need to make one from my bear hands I will.

>>5164909
>Free Option.
Has Ken ever considered attaching a rocket to one side of her sledge hammer, or a small explosive to increase the amount of force she can put into a swing? It sounds unwieldy, but it's an idea nontheless.
Has she considered welding spikes to one side of the sledge hammer's head? If it draws too much attention just cover it up.

Sorry, just having a lot of trouble writing for obvious reasons - this weekend was particularly bad lungs-wise.

I think the plan going forward is that I will be taking a hiatus for anywhere from 1-3 weeks after this thread is over to consult with my doctor. I will create a little Discord server pretty much exclusively to be used for me to go "Okay, next thread is here", and then I will delete it or lock people from actually talking in it - I've asked people and the prevailing mood is "generally Discord servers for quests are bad because they eat the discussion" which is a reasonable objection to have.
>>5164927
>>5164923
>>5164981
>>5165061
The prevailing mood emerges from your mouth. "I want to be able to crisp some Dragon eyes quick. Something I can blind Dragons with quickly and efficiently to get an upper hand."

Ken raises an eyebrow at you. "There are definitely more efficient options than a lightsaber. Have you considered throwing dirt?"

"But that's not a lightsaber." You reply. Ken blinks and mutters something about dinosaurs under her breath, but you don't lean in to listen any closer.

"I'm sure if anyone can do that, it's you and your weird, freakish constitution," She says, poking you in the stomach. "But I still don't think you're thinking like an Alchemist. Well, okay, maybe you're thinking like an old-style Alchemist, but definitely not the kind that needs to defend themselves from life-threatening, uh, threats."

"How so?" You reply.

"Well, I told you already. You keep coming up with ideas that require you to sustain an Alchemical reaction. As long as you need to keep pumping energy in to sustain it, you're burning precious calories and pneuma. Force is mass times acceleration, that's all you'll need." She replies to you, grabbing a handful of dirt. She whispers something to it, the static grows at the back of your neck, and you watch the dirt dry out into a pile of clumped dusty soil, the water leaking out of her hands and dripping down onto the ground below. She clutches it tight and tosses it, with no Alchemy, into the air, where it scatters into a thick dust cloud.

"Have you ever considered attaching a small spike, or perhaps a rocket, to your sledgehammer?" You ask her, watching the dust settle down onto the ground.

"No. The sledgehammer is meant for breaking bones. If I wanted an ice pick, I'd have an ice pick." She replies, not even humoring the rocket comment. She sighs, coughing a little bit on her own dust cloud. "You know what would probably work great as a lightsaber?"

"Tell me." You say, arms furled over your chest. You're still a little mad at her, you haven't forgotten in all of the past five minutes.

>>5167440
"What if you took a sword... and just heated it up? Or maybe a length of pipe with a handle. Like you're preparing a big-ass cautery pen." She suggests. "The amount of energy you'd need to focus in any sort of consumer flashlight to achieve a sustained beam is more than I think even you could handle. But metal is a great conductor of heat, much better than air. You heat it up once, maybe just near the tip and it'll stay red-hot for a while."

"And blinding things?" You ask, scooting backwards slightly on the grass to adjust into a more comfortable position.

"Have you ever looked at red hot metal before?" Ken asks, offering an upside down hand in gesture.

"I try not to make a habit of it." You shoot back.

"Good. Anyway, use a camera. Work at it hard enough that you can bloodbind it and that's a reusable flashbang in your pocket. You don't need to burn something's retinas out forever if one flash will blind them long enough for you to decapitate them." She suggests, leaning back onto her elbows. "Or if it's a human assailant, perish the fucking thought, an amped up camera flash might actually just burn their retinas out. Food for thought. Let physics work for you."

>"But... Lightsaber."
>"Well, if *you* were trying to develop a personal combat style based on disorienting things, how would *you* go about it?"
>"You have not an ounce of fun in you, do you?"
>"Hold on, now you're bringing up flaming swords and I'm intrigued. What other rude fun can you get up to with swords?"
>Free Option.

>>5167443
>"Hold on, now you're bringing up flaming swords and I'm intrigued. What other rude fun can you get up to with swords?"

>>5167443
>Big flash sounds good
>But what if I'm not making the light? Say I get one of those bigass flashlights, and just focus all the light coming out into one beam.

>>5167443
>"Well, if *you* were trying to develop a personal combat style based on disorienting things, how would *you* go about it?"
>"Hold on, now you're bringing up flaming swords and I'm intrigued. What other rude fun can you get up to with swords?"
Ooh, if we can get one of those cameras with the absurdly loud shutters, we can try a 2-for-1 on Resonance and Light Alchemy.
Actually, both of these could technically fall under Wavelength Alchemy, but at that point there's not much stopping you from just irradiating the everloving shit out of whatever you want to fight. Acute radiation poisoning is pretty distracting, I imagine.

>>5167443
>"Well, if *you* were trying to develop a personal combat style based on disorienting things, how would *you* go about it?"

>>5167653
>>5167624
>>5167495
"Well, okay, two points. One - you're bringing up flaming swords and I'm intrigued." You say. She laughs, but doesn't explain herself, so you move on. "Two. What if you were trying to develop a personal combat style based on disorienting things, how would you go about it, if not a lightsaber?"

"I base my personal combat style on killing things, Noah." Ken replies, elbowing you in the ribs. "I do not need to disorient them if they are dead."

You roll your eyes at her and a little more of the tension in the air evaporates. You have a feeling that Ken is the sort of person that sublimates her emotions through talking shop. "Alright well, for the sake of argument."

"Well, I know like, two months ago you did spear training, but I think, for the sake of argument, if I really wanted to be that sort of person, a sword would probably give me the most metal to work with. Metal has its uses - you can superheat it, superchill it, magnetize it, grow it, shrink it, use it as an instrument... Actually, have you talked to Eriksdotter?" Ken asks, crossing her legs at the ankles. "I know she uses a bell and is the person to talk to about Resonance Alchemy. If you're gonna start carrying around a hunk of metal she might not be too bad to talk to."

"Why do you carry around a sledgehammer?" You ask, to stay on topic.

"Broken bones take an oversized amount of calories to regenerate with bioalchemy. Muscle and organ tissue, a Dragon can mostly just shit out more of it. Bones, they have to actually crack back into place and set correctly, which isn't fun even if you have a Dragon's pain tolerance and even if their body does most of the hard work." She explains, leaning against her sledgehammer. "You try to stab a Dragon a lot, it'll just keep healing, and they have more energy than you. Break its spine a couple times, and you'll run down the clock for it faster than it can for you. Assuming you can dodge, of course."

You nod knowingly.

"As for you, I'd say my earlier suggestion stands. Get a camera. If the rubberband effect wasn't a thing, I'd say maybe some of those little firecracker boys you can throw on the ground to pop and scare someone. But if you want my suggestion, get a sword and a camera. Maybe a tuning fork, talk to Eriksdotter, get her to tutor you while I focus on helping you not be as much of a scrawny runt. Maybe some pepper spray. Y'know. Shit you can throw in someone's eyes or face. Can o' Axe." Ken suggests, ruffling your hair in a way that would feel almost affectionate from anyone else.

>Get up. "Well? What are you waiting for? Let's un-scrawny this runt."
>"Where the fuck am I going to get a sword? And who is going to teach me how to use a sword?"
>Well, if you're going to be defending yourself from Dragons, why don't we stay seated and keep talking shop about effective defensive and offensive mechanisms?
>Ask her what the coolest thing you can do with a sword is.
>Free Option.

>>5168853
>Well, if you're going to be defending yourself from Dragons, why don't we stay seated and keep talking shop about effective defensive and offensive mechanisms?

>>5168853
>Well, if you're going to be defending yourself from Dragons, why don't we stay seated and keep talking shop about effective defensive and offensive mechanisms?

still pushing >>5167576

>>5168853
>Well, if you're going to be defending yourself from Dragons, why don't we stay seated and keep talking shop about effective defensive and offensive mechanisms?
Do some research on figuring out what to put in your body. Have we been eating our vitamins? Can we buy protein powder and start working out like a maniac? I want to be able to deadly atleast my own weight.

>>5168865
I think Ken is lowkey telling us to go ask Eriksdotter more about Resonance alchemy. Maybe we can save our questions for her since that's her specialty.
If we're going for the camera and laser beam, we're going to need to invest in specialized sunglasses and contact lenses to protect our eyes, since the light can get bright enough to blind us even I'd it's not pointed at us.

Gotta be awake early tomorrow to go into an empty office with only one other person for some fucking reason, will try to update in the afternoon. Thank you all for sticking with me while I slowly crumble to dust!

>>5169897
Take care, man.

>>5169897
Apologies, day was busier than expected. Need one more day of R&R, then back to your Training Montage.

>>5168910
>>5168865
>>5168861
"Well, if I'm going to be defending myself from Dragons, let's talk shop." You reply, cracking your knuckles. You grab each finger, pinching the tiny front knuckle with your thumb and the larger middle knuckle with your pointer finger, and jerk each one backwards like you're cranking a wrench around a bolt until they pop. Then, you use your pointer and thumb to grab the aforementioned tiny knuckles and twist them laterally sideways until they pop. It feels surprisingly natural given that you've never cracked your knuckles like this before. "Like... defending myself. Fighting them. Breaking bones. Lay it down on me."

She laughs. "They're made of meat. Beat them until they die."

"...Beat the meat?" You ask, and she immediately elbows you in the ribs.

"Watch it, kid. Test failed." She jokes, cackling.

"You were the one who said it first!" You protest. She sticks her tongue out at you and shoves you lightly into the grass. You slowly pull yourself back up.

"Why don't you tell me about Dragons, Mr. Dragon Expert?" She replies, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Since you know so much."

"Well... Saint merges with their clothes whenever they transform. And so does everyone else, I've noticed, which I'm guessing is a form of Bioalchemy." You observe. Ken makes a disgusted sounding noise from the back of her throat.

"Correct. Most personal effects become additional raw material and are usually subconsciously transmuted into scales, fur, or other forms of natural armor as appropriate. If you can somehow get a Dragon naked before they transform, not only is it mortifying, it poses an actual tactical advantage." Ken explains. "And, relatedly, most damage done to the outer layers can be safely ignored by Dragons. When they turn back, if they turn back, all that'll be damaged is their clothes. Shallow wounds don't do anything."

You nod, taking that knowledge into your brain's wrinkles.

>"Does this mean their scales are flammable?"
>"So is that why you focus on breaking bones rather than wounding?"
>"...Is that something I can learn how to do?"
>"And I know that Dragons can smell people like us and that they need to eat people like us to grow, but it's not a compulsion. They're capable of avoiding it if they want to, like Saint. Right?"
>"While we're on the topic, can all Dragons breathe fire or is that only a some-Dragons thing?"
>Free Option.

>>5172802
>"While we're on the topic, can all Dragons breathe fire or is that only a some-Dragons thing?"

File: serious bad breath.gif (905 KB, 500x277)

905 KB GIF

>>5172802
>"While we're on the topic, can all Dragons breathe fire or is that only a some-Dragons thing?"
You any idea how much energy it would take to separate the the oxygen molecules from water and moister? I had the idea of making fleshie things detonate from the inside out by drawing out the O from the H^2 and leave it mostly hydrogen, which is pretty flammable.
I wonder if I can attempt another attempt at breathing fire. Maybe combine how I was able to extract sodium from my saliva to make the micro explosive "fire" breath with hydrogen.

Has anyone considered carrying around a bunch of blood packs and saline since Alchemy uses a lot of blood?

>>5172802
>"While we're on the topic, can all Dragons breathe fire or is that only a some-Dragons thing?"
>Does anyone in FOODS transmute their clothing into armor as well? There's gotta be a way that isn't Bioalchemical. Or is maintaining it too draining?

>>5172802
>While we're on the topic, can all Dragons breathe fire or is that only a some-Dragons thing?"

>>5174291
>>5173060
>>5172876
>>5172933
>>5172935
"So, how do they breathe fire? And can all Dragons do that, or is that mostly some of them?" You ask, grabbing fistfuls of grass into your dirty hands and gently pulling them up into your lap before wiping off, rinsing, and repeating. "Like... are the separating the oxygen molecules from water in the air or something?"

Ken raises an eyebrow at you. "Probably not recommended. Most people I know who like to futz around with molecular level Alchemy like that are missing fingers, and if I had any actual authority over you I'd probably force you to stop doing that sodium flare shit." Ken says, sighing in mild resignation. "Nobody is actually sure how Dragons breathe fire. There's been plenty of theories, of course. Maybe some of them do what you do, and transmute their bodily materials into various flammable chemicals. Maybe Dragon venom is flammable, sometimes, and they aerosolize it. I think every Dragon probably has a different mechanism. Some people think it's common, and I think those people are wrong."

You keep ripping up grass. "Man, all I'm hearing about the whole Alchemy thing makes me think there's like, a dozen different competing bodies and really nobody knows anything, they just all think they're right."

Ken laughs. "That is, admittedly, basically correct."

You return back to the previous subject. "So, Father Benedict could breathe ice when he was in his Dragon form. Is that just like... do all Dragons have some kind of Breath Doohickey? Even if it's not necessarily fire?"

Ken rubs her chin in thought. "I think the majority of Dragons have some sort of oral doohickey that is usually breath related. At the bare minimum they all inject venom orally, at least for the ones that have teeth, and they all have venom glands. Most Dragons are reptilian, but not all of them."

>"Do... do we have person venom that we never got told about? When does that stuff develop in a Dragon? I find it weird that with a species with such variability, they've all universally got the memory obliterating venom."
>"Alright so how do I learn how to breathe fire without creating a sodium flare in my mouth? Let's get that out of the way."
>"Does anyone in FOODS transmute their clothing into armor as well? There's gotta be a way that isn't Bioalchemical. Or is maintaining it too draining?"
>"What are just like... some general tips to not die I can use? Tips to kill a Dragon?"
>Free Option.

>>5175470
>What happens when that gland bursts? I don't think overdosing on dragon venom is good for people, but can dragons overdose on their own memory juice?

>>5175470
>There's been plenty of theories, of course. Maybe some of them do what you do, and transmute their bodily materials into various flammable chemicals. Maybe Dragon venom is flammable, sometimes, and they aerosolize it. I think every Dragon probably has a different mechanism. Some people think it's common, and I think those people are wrong.
Okay I find this REALLY interesting. Maybe she's right and different dragons do weird things. Does it matter if that's right or wrong? Couldn't care, but this does give me an idea. I like to think it's less aerosalize and more liquid fire, like a real life flamethrower. More calories, but it'll burn longer and hotter.
We don't have a gland but we came close to doing something similar. Maybe instead of sodium tablets we could try for a more granular sized bits of sodium, or sodium powder? Lets try the breath again.

>>5175490
We could also just get a flamethrower. I'll stick to lasers for fun stuff

>>5175495
yeah, but then we'd have to carry a flamethrower around. We can continue our laser research when we talk to that resonance lady. She'll probably know more than Ken.
>I can't stop thinking about those typical anime scenes where guys fall head first into a pair of anime girl tits, but instead of tits it's guys falling face first into Ken's abs
>Ken's sweaty abs
oh lordy I need to sit down.

>>5175501
A tank of gas is one of the densest storage of calories we can do, from an alchemy perspective. NOT doing it is fine, but trying to match that output with food will kill noah.

>>5175504
Sure, it's something we can consider. What I wonder is how we can get away with carrying around a gas can. Maybe Noah can get a drivers license if he doesn't have one yet. He could buy a scooter or a bike then just put the gas in a compartment for when he needs it.

>>5175509
>What I wonder is how we can get away with carrying around a gas can
Wait, where are you going with this? The lighter part can be done without alchemy, so this is replacing the hair spray delivery with alchemy?

>>5175512
Dude I don't know anymore. I was thinking of experimenting with bioalchemy so we can spit the gas or something.

>>5175515
Doesn't Bioalchemy turn us into a Dragon though

>>5175750
Oh, right shit I forgot some alchemy is super illegal.

>>5175750
So bioalchemy doesn't turn you into a dragon, it's just that dragon's are instinctually adept at bioalchemy, some if not all bioalchemy is forbidden by FOODS though, so there's that.

>>5175474
You spend a couple of minutes quietly thinking to yourself while your egregoric riders chatter along in the recesses of your thoughts. For a second, you almost want to tell them something out loud, like how you're not allowed to do Bioalchemy because it's highly frowned upon by FOODS, but then the conversation occurring in your head turns back to that anyway and you do not have to look insane in front of your mentor.

"What happens if that gland bursts? I don't think overdosing on Dragon venom is good for people, but can Dragons overdose on their own memory juice?" You ask, laying back on the grass quietly as thick, grey clouds roll by overhead.

Ken shrugs her shoulders. "That's a good question, honestly. I think they're like snakes. They're probably immune to their own venom, but I've got no clue if other Dragons are close enough biologically or if their venom is close enough chemically that they'd be immune to another Dragon's venom." She replies, also flopping back onto the grass shortly after you do. "Actually, that's a great question. I have no idea, though. Ask Hyde. Or someone smarter than Hyde."

"Are there people smarter than Hyde?" You joke.

Ken glances at you from the grass. "Probably not."

>Well, this sort of degraded a little bit, but it's a nice day outside. Just kind of lay there.
>Alright, that's enough chatter, back to sparring.
>Ask Ken to show you some of her Alchemical tricks.
>Free Option.

>>5176889
>Ask Ken to show you some of her Alchemical tricks.
Dont we still have that switch blade? We can start blood binding that.

>>5176889
>How much of a budget do you spend on alchemy stuff? Do you go through a lot of clothes and hammers?
>Alright, that's enough chatter, back to sparring.
lets at least try out the camera flash.

>>5176941
+1

>>5176941
+1
And
>Sneak a rub of her abs for good luck
I-It's not cheating on Rebecca, I promise

>>5177476
anon please do not. I love Ken's abs as much as you do, but we must stay faithful.....unless Rebecca is cheating on Noah, then fuck her we're full team Ken then.

>>5176889
>Ask Ken to show you some of her Alchemical tricks.
>>5177476
Let's not do this.

>>5177577
buuuut we can consider this if Noah's relationship with Rebecca doesn't work out right?

>>5177593
It's bad luck to have a plan B in mind for relationships, boss

I want Ken to smother me with her abs

>>5176941
"How much do you spend on Alchemy stuff? Do you go through a lot of clothes and hammers?" You ask, rolling onto your side in the grass. Ken glances at you.

"We try not to have to buy new things. It's useful to have bloodbound equipment, and bloodbinding new stuff takes a lot of effort and, uh, blood." Ken answers, also rolling onto her side. She tosses her hammer loosely at you, letting it thump a small ditch into the dirt. "Here, see if you can tell that its on it's way."

You grab her sledgehammer by the handle and heft it into your hands, leaning on your shoulder. You're sure if you were a normal person, you wouldn't notice anything, but with your scar-tipped fingers running across the wood, the heavy head, you can feel some sort of resistance that can't be explained in words. Not a physical resistance, like two magnets of the same polarity poking each other - something different. It's not heavier. It just resists your touch. You roll it back along the dirt, and she grabs it out of the grass.

"I don't buy my own equipment, we're a government agency. It's just all in our budget. Work clothes, yeah, maybe, if they get shredded, but I try to just mend them. You ever try to mend clothes, kiddo?" Ken replies, pointing to several pieces of stitchwork across her padded vest over her button-down.

>"Life skills aren't exactly a thing I have in abundance."
>"Yeah, I sort of had to teach myself in case I ripped stuff. I can handle a needle and thread."
>"Do things remain bloodbound after you mend them?"
>"...Wait, the government pays you? Like, with my tax money?"
>Free Option.

>>5179102
>"Yeah, I sort of had to teach myself in case I ripped stuff. I can handle a needle and thread."
>"Do things remain bloodbound after you mend them?"

Pretty normal for a teen to have some kind of household experience, especially since his dad is no longer around.

>>5179150
+1

>>5179102
>>"Yeah, I sort of had to teach myself in case I ripped stuff. I can handle a needle and thread."
>>"Do things remain bloodbound after you mend them?"
>Do dragons aim for bloodbound stuff?

>>5179102
RIP I kinda wished our grandparents were alive. Imagine all the cool Asian dishes they could had taught up. What kind of Ching Chong are we OP? Chinese? Japanese? Korean? Cambodian? Vietnamese? Laotian? Taiwanese?

>>5179948
I would prefer you avoid the racism but Noah is Chinese.
>>5179150
>>5179188
>>5179199
"Yeah, I had to sort of teach myself in case I ripped stuff. I can handle a needle and thread." You say, not mentioning particularly how well you can or can't handle a needle and thread, but, well, Ken doesn't need to know that. Or see your shoddy-but-functional stitchwork. "Do things remain bloodbound after you mend them?"

Ken laughs. "Oh man, you just opened up Pandora's box. Great question. We don't know." She gestures to her clothes. "Obviously, just a little thread and patching doesn't matter, but there are still Alchemical scientists trying to figure out how much of a thing you can patch... what's the word, ontology? Alchemical ontology. So many fucking words. How much of a thing you can replace with new stuff before Alchemical forces no longer consider it the same thing."

"Is that another Hyde thing?" You ask, rolling onto your belly, the grass prickling at your skin just a little bit as you let your chin rest on the ground.

"Hyde? No, he's just a doctor. There's not a lot of scientists in our chapter." Ken replies, pulling herself up into a cross-legged sitting position. "Why? Pondering the mysteries of the universe? I can try and hook you up with one if this is a weird tangent you care about."

>"Well, knowing everything I can about Alchemy will allow me to abuse it for the highest amount of advantage in combat, right?"
>"That'd be great, thanks."
>"No, I was just sort of idly curious but I don't care that much. Let's get back to work."
>"Wait, isn't this that ship of Theseus thing?"
>Free Option.

>>5180788
>I'm gonna need you to introduce me to that Resonance expert, but another day.
>Alright, that's enough chatter, back to sparring.
lets at least try out the camera flash.

>>5180788
jokes on you, I'm Asian so I can make as many almond eyed racial jokes as I want.
>"That'd be great, thanks."
>"Wait, isn't this that ship of Theseus thing?"
Doesn't the same sort of apply to the human body? As you age your cells are always dying and replaced by newer ones, but slow down when you get too old. The same could be said to people right?

>>5180788
>"That'd be great, thanks."
>"Wait, isn't this that ship of Theseus thing?"
>I'm gonna need you to introduce me to that Resonance expert, but another day.
>>5180795
As a fellow chink, if the QM asks to stop, we should probably stop, even if it's 4chan. This isn't /pol/, after all.

>>5180795
>>5181526
"That'd be great, thank-- Wait. Isn't this that Ship of Theseus thing?" You ask, raising an eyebrow as Ken's phone buzzes with a quiet little alarm sound. Her face blanches quietly.

"Yeah, Ship of Theseus. I'm not a philosopher, so you'll have to talk to that guy about it." She says, not looking at you directly, but instead getting up from the ground and strapping her sledgehammer to her back. She checks her phone, pulling it out of her pocket, and then sighs quietly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "No."

"No?" You ask.

"No. I'm not doing that." She says, putting her phone away back in her pocket.

"What's going on?" You ask in return, pulling yourself up from the soft dirt.

Ken glares at you. "One-star outbreak 3 minutes from here by bike. Dispatch says you gotta help. Orders from the chief. But I'm not doing that." She tells you, breaking into a light jog towards the edge of the park, where her motorcycle is parked. "Go home, kid."

"Oh, uh, okay." You reply, in stunned silence at the suddenness. You hear, faintly, the sound of Ken's phone going off, and she pulls it out of her pocket mid-stride.

She's too far away for you to make out anything but a shouted "God damnit!", and then she turns to you. "What are you gawking at? Get over here already! Chief says it's teeth cutting time!"

---

And with that, I have burnt the energy I can keep for writing and will need to take a little vacation to work things out with my GP. New thread will be coming in a week or two hopefully, unless my health suddenly gets worse, which it might.

I made a discord server that will be used basically exclusively for posting "when will next DSQ be", and little else. The link is WB9fcAWhuK .

Thank you all very much for your readership, I appreciate it greatly. Thread archival coming tomorrow.

>>5183322
Thanks for running! Looking forward to whenever you post the next thread.