You have 16 Days Until Your Place of Business is Shut Down

>Sneak that shiz, Sarah! Both you and Dave should try and use the trees to your advantage.

>Sarah, go to D1. Dave, got to D4. Prepare your best sneak attack on fearsome beast. Do try and be quiet to maintain the element of surprise.

(Also just noticed how Dave went from "energetic" to "just fine". Seems that indicates our ability to use skills as well as possibly having other effects. Good to know.)

Anyone else have better positions or better ideas? I'm open to discuss!

> I think it'd be best to keep Sarah out of harm's way, since she's mildly injured. Sarah, go to D1 and Dave, stay where you are use Hatchet Throw to attract the wolf's attention.

> Once it approaches, Sarah, go around the back and finish it off. That should work without too much damage.

> Since our time is nearly over, we should probably think about heading back to town to plan out what we need to do for the next few days.

Going back to town takes half a day, so that might be an option...
I approve of your idea to do a sorta pincer attack, though :D

>If we are unable to travel home, find a nice place to hunker down till morning.

You move behind a nearby tree and give a 'throw your hatchet' signal at Dave. He shrugs and pulls out a hatchet, throwing it at the wolf. The wolf takes a hit square in the back, and turns straight around, charging full-force at Dave! It knocks him over with a tackle, and he has to push it off of him.

You dart around the tree as quickly as you can and smack the wolf in the back of the head. The wolf seems pretty badly injured, and is stunned slightly by the blow to its head.

Dave slashes the wolf with his hatchets, finishing it off. It disappears in a strange flash of light, leaving some of its fur behind. Figuring that might be useful for clothes or something like that, you gather it up and add it to the basket.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," you say.
"When did you learn strategy?" Dave asks.
"It's practically the same as pulling a prank," you say, shrugging.

You make camp for the night.

While having supper, Dave brings something up. "Well, I'm glad you're not too traumatized by fighting. Or, like, seeing things die."
"I don't really register the punis as being alive, honestly. Or flashing away as 'dying'. What's up with that, anyway?"
"I dunno, most monsters just sorta do that. I heard from a knight once that really strong monsters flash several times and lose individual chunks of themselves with each one as they die."
"That sounds so cool, we need to get in on that sometime."
"Uh, I'm not sure that's a good idea," he sweatdrops slightly. "At least until we're a little better at fighting. I mean, I can defend myself alright, but I'm no expert, and this is your first time even seeing monsters..."
"Well, what if we came up with some special techniques?" you suggest. "Master taught me how to sort of throw my magic at something as a way of self-defense. I wonder what'd happen if I did that to one of your hatchets while it was going toward an enemy."
"It might break the hatchet." You frown at him emphatically, and he shrugs. "Eh, it's worth a try anyway. I got spares."

Dual Tech: Ether Hatchet invented (Hatchet Throw + Ether Light).

Information: Dual Techs
After fighting in a battle together, some pairs of characters will think up ways to use their skills together in a way that amounts to more than the sum of its parts. Dual Techs use up both characters' turns and both characters' energy equivalent to the skills that are combined, of course, so it's a little riskier to use them, but they tend to be more effective than normal skills.

When a new Dual Tech is invented, its exact effects are unknown, although it's typically obvious what it's intended to do (such as whether it's an attack, buff, healing, etc.). It must be attempted in an actual battle in order to observe its effects, after which it is considered "learned" and its description appears in the status area.

A new day dawns...

Information: Returning to town
It takes just as long to return to town as it does to go to a location outside of town, naturally. This means it is always more efficient to do everything you want to do in a location in one trip, although this is risky and sometimes unwise if one of the party members has an appointment to keep. (Making someone miss something they wanted or needed to do is a great way to make them like you less; if such an event is coming up they will usually warn you about it.) Sometimes two locations will actually be closer to each other than either one is to town, so a trip spanning both of them may be more efficient than going to each place individually with a trip to town in between.

Will you seek ingredients, monsters, or explore the forest? Or will you return to town?

>

Date: 1/2
Time: Dawn

Status & Inventory:

236 Cole

Character Status:

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Sarah Kennigan: Barely Scratched, Energetic
Weapon: Basic Staff
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

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Ether Light: A self-defense technique from Master. Non-elemental magic attack, any 1 square.

Dave Barrett: Barely Scratched, Just Fine
Weapon: Hatchets
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

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Hatchet Throw: Throw a hatchet in any of 8 directions. Does physical damage to whatever it hits first.

Fee: 0 Cole

Basket (6/60):

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Magic Grass x 3
Puniball x 1
Wolf Fur x 2

Container:

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Spoiled Milk x 1
Tap Water x ∞

Known Recipes:

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Ingot: 1 Day; [Metal]
Cloth: 1 Day; [String]

Locations:

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Syzygy: Home town.
Nearby Forest: Half a day's walk east of Syzygy.
-Forest Entrance (Current Location)

A/N:

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I finally get to do the thing! I've been anticipating this moment since I started the adventure. :D

There was mention of "go back to town" but I thought I would at least check for confirmation of if we want to do that and then if so do it in next post.

Every time I play a new party-based RPG I am subtly disappointed somewhere in the back of my mind that it does not have dual techs. I don't understand how there's just one game known for them, like, ever.