[Ponyville | Emerald Glade]
Death was starting to look comforting to Artorias, her hooves striking again and again with gusto and strain. Even with the Pain Inhibitor only adjusted by Malware's tampering, resulting in some pain when struck or striking objects incorrectly, it still amounted to much discomfort overtime. Her hooves felt raw and weak, her stamina bar tapped out once more, leaving her ragged until it refilled slowly, even with the aid of stamina potions here and there.
She was performing a quest to achieve a new skill tree, the prerequisite was that she had to break a dark tree trunk that basically had a metric-ton of health, you couldn't use weapons, magic was off-limits and only your hooves could do damage. Anything that increased speed was allowed. This was Artorias' routine every day for several days, after doing her requests and grinding she'd come in the afternoon to chip away at the tree, her progress slowly degrading her mental capacity for patience.
"Graaah! Would you topple over for fuck sake!?" She growled, headbutting the tree angrily as the pain shot through her forehead for a second. "This right here is what's going to push me toward arson, I swear to God."
[※•⁎·°•⁎․•°·•⁎※]
Eight-Thousand-eighty... Artorias lost count somewhere around the four thousand mark, she didn't feel the need to continue, her mind preoccupied with attempting to keep her hooves from wringing the neck of the old stallion that kept trying to peep on her. Sure, as a pony she didn't have the trouble of people staring at her chest but it was the eyes themselves that gave off that stupid, staring intention. Only now with her fatigued state, her mind wasn't as rational as her norm.
"Oh God, my hooves are hurting but he's still theeeere!" Her dry eyes craned toward the elder pony sat on a stool in the field, watching her diligently, more specifically at her ass. "Go awaaaay...~!" She whined, seeing that he had moved, now he was sitting to the far left. "I can still see you!!"
Another half-an-hour had passed, her stamina slowly returning out the corner of her eye, that blue bar mocking her lack of progress. Panting against the thick trunk she groaned, slamming her head against the tree. "How did I get myself into this crap quest, I could have gotten more Bits and experience through stupid side-quests for Pinkie!"
Even more of the day fizzled away, her hooves striking the solid trunk with gusto. "Why do I-" Thunk! "-have to go-" Thunk! "-through hours-" Thunk! "-of this crap!" She stopped for a breather. "Why did I even come back today!?"
[※•⁎·°•⁎․•°·•⁎※]
Time was dead and meaning held no meaning, the universe felt upsidedown and this stupid, insurable tree trunk reigned supreme. Artorias didn't know how many hours had passed, she had looked up actual info in the Beginner's Guide for answers she had grown so desperate to make it end. Sadly, all she was reminded of was the actual number of Hit Points the tree had, and she lost count once it dipped into the red, that meant she was close, somewhere, she didn't care anymore.
*Pow-Shatter*
Her hoof flew forward and through the fragmented remains of the tree, flopping to the grass with a hoarse chuckle, watching the individual shards trickle away into the afternoon sun. Flying to her hooves she climbed atop the stump, lifting her hooves high with a scream, letting out the last ounces of pain and torment from her burning lungs. "YES, MOTHER OF GOD! I AM THE TREE SLAYER, SLAYER OF THE TREES!!" Her eyes were wide with fury, one of the newly acquired skills resonating across her forehooves with an aqua glow. "GAIA QUIVERS BEFORE ME!!"
[Side-Quest Completed!]
|Way of the Hoof|
The old stallion's teachings have paid off, you have unlocked the secret strength residing in your hooves, use this power wisely.
Reward!
-Access to Martial Arts skills
With a mighty sigh, Artorias plucked from her toolbar a hoof-sized crystal, blue in texture like the ocean. "Screw you, old man, I'm going home and going to bed! Hahaha! Teleport, Ponyville!" With a proud declaration the blinding light overtook Artortias in seconds, her only mindset was that of the comfort of an inn bed
To Be Continued...