//------------------------------// // Episode 7.5 - The Skill of Skills // Story: My Little Pony Realization // by Slendy //------------------------------// "Alright you chuckle-[BEEP]s, sit down and shut up, class is in session!" Artorias slammed an invisible textbook on a nonexistent table with a notice board behind her, names, and elemental symbols drawn up in chalk. "Professor Artorias here to break down the art of skills in MLPR, don't know what a skill is then how you're still alive astounds me! Also, praise is appreciated but no brown-nosing - Got that - Good, moving on!" Her hoof retrieved a large ruler, slapping the board as the chalk changed to several names with small examples in colored chalk. "Let's get serious, there are several 'Types' of skills in the game, each with their own specified usage in and out of combat." She circled the first, the text erasing the rest to consume the blackboard "First, the types-" She smiled, stepping back to reveal the board gleefully, putting a pair of blue-rimmed glasses on her snout. "There are Passive Skills, Magic Skills, Weapon or Sword Skills, and Unique Skills which are rarer or hidden, like the Martial Arts skill," She tapped the first. "Passives are your buffs and debuffs, any player can learn them depending on what skill tree they descend, for instance, going down Medic Pony will grant you access to more stamina increasing and efficiency skills, vitality, healing, the works," She continued, clearing her throat. "Whereas Warpath Pony focuses on your buffs for strength speed, etc," She leaned forward, gushing her voice. "There also might sorta be a near-limitless number of skills, just sayin'." The board changed at a slap of the ruler, herself twirling to stand on the right-hand-side of the board. "Onto magic. There are four elements in the game that players can use; Arc, Solar, Gaia, and Rime," A simple, chibi drawing of Artorias fighting Dren appeared, the sword highlighted with light blue swirls. "Arc is related to things like air, lightning, water, stuff like that," Next was of Twilight in her flaming rage mode, "Solar is something everyone can use, strangely, so fire - Duh - and light, like my shield's skills," Another drawing displayed Twilight's chibi being flashbang with while Artorias chuckled mockingly. "Suck it, Egghead - ahem, moving on~!" The blackboard rewrote itself, chibi chalk drawings of Applejack bucking a large boulder while a wizard Artorias, with a small, curly beard brought her hooves up, conjuring hail, "To summarize, Gaia really only consists of earth and some plant magic, like vines, really barebones compared to the rest, however. Rime grants us mere mortals the ability to harness ice and snow! The wrath of winter is in your hooves, my students!" She winked, spinning the board around on its hinges as she slapped it with the ruler, stopping it on a new picture The images were that of weapons of all shapes and sizes, from swords and hammers to the more complex halberds and morningstars. Artorias grumbled, rubbing her glasses. "Again, who is this targeted for? Ugh, poor promotional stunt aside, sword skills are the backbone of every battle, varying on the weapon held by a player and their level of intelligence, such as myself, so awesome, haha," Grinning she tapped the sword drawing, the others vanishing to show chibi forms of herself using colorful sword techniques. "They can range from heavy-hitting attacks to applying debuffs or the opposite to yourself, you got AOE for crowd control, and remember, just because the sword skill has more hits doesn't mean its better, remember that!" Two smaller drawings of Kyo and Sora being saved by Artorias as her chibi form tore through the Dire Wolf with two large arcs of blue chalk, stars twinkling around her form. Running her hoof over the board the images morphed into that of her Proxima Coat and a small necklace with a gem attached to the end. "Items can help to bolster your skill usage through passive skills or modifications to equipment," She then tapped her forehead, motioning to two copies of her coat on the board. "Note that like other RPGs with this loot element, not all copies of equipment's gonna do the same thing, some give cooldowns to skills, others provide health or magic boosts, mix and match and all that but more on equipment next lesson." With one final detailing, it was of her most recent battle in the Bear Forest alongside Rain, her chibi sketch tossing Genesis high into the air as it burned with small flicks of flames. "Lastly, and my favorite mechanic in MLPR is Composite skills, or the 'Composite Effect' to be precise," Adjusting her glasses she continued, waving her ruler like a blade. "It is the fusion of multiple skills, typically two or more, both of which reaching a certain level of proficiency, okay bare with me." Artorias cleared her throat "For combat-orientated skills this may refer to the fusion of two weapon types, unlocking a secret set of skills tailored between them, for instance, my Meteor Fall> Is a fusion of one-handed swords and Martial Arts," Beside the sketch was that of potions and cooking. "Stuff like crafting potions and the like can be achieved this way too, you just have to experiment or pay a broker to pass along some advice, nothing is listed in the system for every player, meaning you may see the skills but another player must learn for themselves," A small, yellow drawing of Gin appeared with bits bobbing above her head. With that, she tossed the ruler like a spear off-screen, the last of the images coming together to form one last text message before Artorias while she snorted smugly. "Want to be the best, learn to think outside the boundaries of 'flashy skills' and understand the fundamentals and motions with every form of art, do so, and you might just survive, Professor Artorias' class is out, dismissed!" She gave a bow and slowly walked away to the right with a whistle. "That means go and bloody do something productive already!" Lesson One |The Skill of Skills| Fight. Level. Survive. To Be Continued...