Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 4 : A Z-Machine Adventure

[The ⑨th Zentillion]

"Sure did. It slipped my mind, mostly. Kind of embarrassing. As for trapping something, I've never really done that before... Guess it's a good thing I have someone so experienced with it here with me, eh?"

[Hello Purvis]

"Sure did. It slipped my mind, mostly. Kind of embarrassing. As for trapping something, I've never really done that before... Guess it's a good thing I have someone so experienced with it here with me, eh?"

>"We'd need to get our hands on a stew pot," says Archer. "And, well, I'd like to take a closer look at one of spice sections that we passed by before, to be honest."

>_

[Stuffman]

> "I'm not sure if we can get a pot sturdy enough to use over an open flame...spices, though, we can definitely do spices."
> "Let's walk over to one of the bigger stores, then."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I'm not sure if we can get a pot sturdy enough to use over an open flame...spices, though, we can definitely do spices."
> "Let's walk over to one of the bigger stores, then."

>The two of you sally out.
>As you make your way through the underbrush, Archer easily leading the way, she says, "So, it's nice to take it easy during the day, especially after last night, but what are we planning to do tonight?"

>_

[Stuffman]

> "Well, without a target pegged, I think tonight we should just stay in camp and stand watch. Honestly, it'd be great if a fight happened tonight without us being involved."
> "Tomorrow we can go have a look around town and see if Berserker or Assassin's masters have arrived yet, or we can try to find out who this Molly person is."
> "Unless you have another idea?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Well, without a target pegged, I think tonight we should just stay in camp and stand watch. Honestly, it'd be great if a fight happened tonight without us being involved."
> "Tomorrow we can go have a look around town and see if Berserker or Assassin's masters have arrived yet, or we can try to find out who this Molly person is."
> "Unless you have another idea?"

>"I'm not sure what I think," says Archer. "It kind of irks me to just sit here and do nothing, while the enemy can make any number of advances. But maybe it's for the best?"

>_

[Stuffman]

> "Well, consider which opponents we have left. Assassin's not going to show up and I'm not keen on fighting with Kimimela, so that just leaves Berserker and Saber. If we're just randomly looking for a fight with those two, there's a high chance of things going sideways. I'd rather scout during the day and at least try to find out who their masters are."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Well, consider which opponents we have left. Assassin's not going to show up and I'm not keen on fighting with Kimimela, so that just leaves Berserker and Saber. If we're just randomly looking for a fight with those two, there's a high chance of things going sideways. I'd rather scout during the day and at least try to find out who their masters are."

>"It's been awhile since Berserker has shown up, hasn't it?" says Archer. "I wonder why?"

>_

[Stuffman]

> "Yeah, I think my theory about him showing up whenever two other servants meet is kind of a bust at this point. I think it was just coincidence."
> "...Maybe Assassin isn't laying as low as we thought, and he got to Berserker's master?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Yeah, I think my theory about him showing up whenever two other servants meet is kind of a bust at this point. I think it was just coincidence."
> "...Maybe Assassin isn't laying as low as we thought, and he got to Berserker's master?"

>"Maybe it's not just two servants meeting, but there's another element on top of it?" says Archer. "Frankly, I don't think Assassin would be nearly so helpful, even by accident."

>_

[Stuffman]

> "Well, both times the master wanted to negotiate...maybe as a measure to prevent anyone from teaming up? That'd be a really weird thing for a servant to be able to detect, though."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Well, both times the master wanted to negotiate...maybe as a measure to prevent anyone from teaming up? That'd be a really weird thing for a servant to be able to detect, though."

>"Maybe?" says Archer. "I dunno, I think it's probably less esoteric than that."

>_

[Stuffman]

> "I guess we'd have to see him again to figure it out."
> "Not that it does any good, because we'll probably fight next time that happens."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I guess we'd have to see him again to figure it out."
> "Not that it does any good, because we'll probably fight next time that happens."

>"Probably so," Archer says.

>_

[Stuffman]

> "Anyway, just because we're spending the night at camp doesn't mean we can't be productive. Now that I don't have to worry about that mana crystal attracting attention, I can start figuring out something to do with it."
> "For instance, you use mana to heal, right? What if I could wire that thing up so that you could heal in the middle of a battle without even using any of my mine?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Anyway, just because we're spending the night at camp doesn't mean we can't be productive. Now that I don't have to worry about that mana crystal attracting attention, I can start figuring out something to do with it."
> "For instance, you use mana to heal, right? What if I could wire that thing up so that you could heal in the middle of a battle without even using any of my mine?"

>"I can't deny that would be handy," she says. "Could you do that?"

>_

[Stuffman]

> "Maybe! I'm not really sure what's possible yet. I'll have to experiment a bit."
> "But it sounds straightforward enough. The crystal gives you mana, and you use it for something you already use it for."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Maybe! I'm not really sure what's possible yet. I'll have to experiment a bit."
> "But it sounds straightforward enough. The crystal gives you mana, and you use it for something you already use it for."

>"I want to think it's more complex than that," says Archer. "Otherwise magic wouldn't be hard. But maybe you're right?"

>_

[Stuffman]

> "Well, yes, I'm sure there'll be some hurdles. It might not work. But I am a magus, figuring this sort of thing out is what I do."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Well, yes, I'm sure there'll be some hurdles. It might not work. But I am a magus, figuring this sort of thing out is what I do."

>"I should have more faith in you, yeah," says Archer.

>_

[Stuffman]

> "You should!"
> "...But not too much."
> Let's head towards the store. Is there a stream on the way, since I'm actually remembering it this time?

[Hello Purvis]

> "You should!"
> "...But not too much."
> Let's head towards the store. Is there a stream on the way, since I'm actually remembering it this time?

>There are a couple of streams along the way, you have to hop over them.

>_

[Stuffman]

> "Okay, Archer, check it out. I'm going to try to do the slow thing again."
> Take a moment to relax and focus on the flow of water.
> Toss a Wall in there, and try to maintain our connection to it. See if we can slow the water as it flows around it.

[Hello Purvis]

> "Okay, Archer, check it out. I'm going to try to do the slow thing again."
> Take a moment to relax and focus on the flow of water.
> Toss a Wall in there, and try to maintain our connection to it. See if we can slow the water as it flows around it.

>You toss in the stone. Little happens at this point, but you haven't really tried to cast the spell.

>_

[Stuffman]

(I would like to cast the spell.)

[Hello Purvis]

(I would like to cast the spell.)

(You gots to tell me these things. You don't want me inferring actions, it might get you killed in ways you didn't intend. Or just cost you data that you want.)

>You cast the spell, and ir proceeds as normal. But, in the back of your mind, you can feel...something there? Something odd, like before. It's there for a moment or two, not long enough for you to seize on by the time you've confirmed it.

>_

[Stuffman]

> "Mm, wait. I think I almost had it."
> Let's try casting Freeze this time, since we rarely use that.
> Cast it into the water, this time with the intent of slowing the speed at which it freezes. Maybe that will help.

[Hello Purvis]

> "Mm, wait. I think I almost had it."
> Let's try casting Freeze this time, since we rarely use that.
> Cast it into the water, this time with the intent of slowing the speed at which it freezes. Maybe that will help.

>You cast another spell, and you can feel that sort of oddity again. This time, you grab it. For a moment, the whole stream seems to slow, as if you were watching it in seamless slow motion. Then you lose the feel for it, and the "spell" falls apart.

>_

[Stuffman]

> "Ah! There. Did you see it?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Ah! There. Did you see it?"

>Archer nods. "Yeah. It's just like last night."

>_