39 Vol 1. pt. 39 Patch 7.0: Pirates and Scholars (1/2)
Rock's Standing score is a positive five. Naturally, Rock is a very good girl. Sure, she might have been attacking other players, but she was only doing it to be a good girl! Rock's supreme goodness is rewarded with a score fitting for a good girl.
”That's my good girl,” Fenrir praises her before Thelmes leads the group into the next room.
Inside of the room are several odd constructs. There is a punching bag that looks like it is made out of slime, a simple golem made out of rock, and a pair of cuffs on a table that look like they're supposed to measure somebody's blood pressure.
”These will measure your average Strength, Health, and Mana. Please step forward in front of the punching bag when you are ready,” Thelmes explains.
Fenrir steps up first. ”Alright, now what?” he asks.
”Now, punch it as hard as you can ten times.”
Fenrir follows the cat-goblin's instructions and begins punching the slimy punching bag. Every single punch has the entirety of his strength poured into it, yet he barely manages to push into the slime with his attack. He doesn't know if it's just more resistant than it looks, or if he's incredibly weak.
After the tenth punch, the goblin places a hand inside of the slime and looks as if he is measuring something. ”Hmm. I see. Hmm, hmm… alright, you did an average of seven damage per punch. That puts you at E for Strength, but don't worry! If you're a new player then having such a low score is to be expected.”
Fenrir doesn't have to look at Cassiel to know how she's looking at him right now. At least Serra is here to pat him on the back in consolation.
Cassiel does the same thing he did.
”Splendid! Thirteen damage per punch will put you at D for Strength.”
Cassiel looks disappointed in herself even though she's still stronger than Fenrir.
”How can you tell how much damage we did?” Fenrir asks.
”Everybody is always curious about our methods. Without going into too much of the boring details,” Cassiel lets out a sigh of relief, ”we have assigned a health pool of five-hundred to this crafted device,” Thelmes says, looking at the punching bag. ”We cannot tell exactly how much health it has, of course, but we are able to detect a rough… percentage of its condition. It takes a bit of guesswork and experience, but essentially, it comes down to the fact that you reduced its health by what I am estimating to be fourteen percent. That would put the device at four hundred and thirty health, and with ten punches, that puts your damage at seven on average.”
Serra looks like the only who completely understands what Thelmes is saying. Both Fenrir and Cassiel look lost.
”For your companion, just hold her up and command her to bite it ten times.”
Since Serra is already holding Rock again, she does Fenrir's job for him and holds Rock up near the bag. Rock doesn't wait to be commanded and chomps down into the slime. She makes a disgusted face every single time since she keeps getting slime stuck in her mouth. When she's done, she shakes her head and does her best at spitting out all the slime.
”Splendid! Companions are always such a lovely surprise to measure. She performed an average of twenty-two damage per bite which will put her in the upper half of D for Strength.”
Cassiel and Fenrir both look over at Rock with surprised expressions. ”Good girl,” Serra says, giving Rock a few pats on the head.
Fenrir looks at the cards now. There is a spider chart on the right side of the cards with the first stat being labeled ”Strength,” and his chart barely shows it reaching toward the stat.
The Health measuring is just as simple but reversed from the first test. Rather than punch something over and over again, they are the ones getting punched. Fortunately, it is just by a weak golem that, according to Thelmes, only does one damage per hit. ”I see, I see. Hmm. Splendid! You have roughly one hundred and thirty-seven Health, which is good growth for a new character! Everybody starts off at one-hundred, so to gain thirty-seven more points in a week is great growth! However, I am concerned about the sort of situations you are putting yourself in to gain so much Health so quickly.”
”I get beat up a lot,” Fenrir says as the number ”137” appears at the top left of the card underneath his name.
Cassiel only has one-hundred and twenty-nine health. It makes sense when Fenrir remembers what Saya said about getting hit a lot to increase Health. Cassiel is a great fighter and capable of dodging almost all of his attacks, so she's had fewer chances for her body to grow used to being injured.
As for Rock… Fenrir expected it since Rock is made out of – well, rock, but he didn't think it would be so high. Rock's Health is approximately one hundred and eighty-four. ”Having an artificial companion made out of such a sturdy material certainly pays off!” Thelmes says.
Finally is the Mana test. Fenrir places his arms in the cuffs which strap him down to the table and drain him of all his innate mana. ”Not interested in magic?” Thelmes asks.
”Not really,” Fenrir answers.
A ”100” appears next to Fenrir's Mana on his card. Cassiel gets one hundred and sixty-one, and Rock gets a one hundred just like her owner.
Thelmes leads them into the next room. It may be a room, but it just looks like a long hallway that loops around in a circle.
Do hallways technically count as rooms?