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>Crud, Dave got hurt...He should be fine right now, but we need to be careful...

>Good time as any to use our new combo move to kill the wolf. Have Sarah move to D8 and perform super-ultra Ether Hatchet on wolf.

>The Puni will most likely try and attack Dave next, so have Dave prepare for attack after the throw, if at all possible.

> Yeah, that didn't go as well as expected. We shouldn't underestimate our foes.

> (currently listening to this sweet jam) OK!!! We can win this fight with the power of friendship!! Sarah, to space D8 as IC commands! Dave, hop back to evade possible puni onslaught and then counterattack.

{Forest Battle - Splendid Force}

"Hey, we should do the thing!" you say.
"Uh, thing?"
"You know, the throwing magic at your hatchet thing." You move into a better position to hit the hatchet in the air, although you think Ether Light would probably just go around any obstacles anyway.
"Oh, that. Sure, I guess."

Dave readies another hatchet to throw, while you begin focusing on charging another shot of magic.

Just when you're both ready to attack, however, the Puni moves in between Dave and the wolf, seeming to want to attack him.

Before it can, you do the thing. Dave throws his hatchet toward the wolf, and it manages to clear the Puni's head to get there. You fire off a stream of magic and it hits the hatchet in midair, seemingly absorbing into the metal and making it glow periodically as it hits the wolf in the back. The glowing becomes more frequent until it's more like a repeated flash, and then there is an explosive burst of bright energy all around the wolf, which catches the Puni as well. You close your eyes against the blinding flash of light, and when you reopen them both of the monsters are gone.

"Heh...phew, that was close," says Dave.
"Yeah, uh, I'm glad that didn't explode in your face." You look to his leg. "Are you gonna be okay?"
"Eeh, I've had worse. Let's just wash it off real quick, don't wanna get rabies..."

Ether Hatchet learned!
(Hatchet Throw + Ether Light) Do the thing! Targets any enemy on a straight line from Dave which he could hit with Hatchet Throw. Deals physical damage to the target and then magical damage to anything in the 3x3 square centered on the target.

You recover a bit of fur from each of the wolves, but this Puni doesn't seem to have dropped the weird core thing the first one did.

The area beyond where these monsters were guarding looks like it has a bunch of wolves wandering around in it. There are some plants in there you don't think you've seen around the forest entrance.

Location Discovered: Wolf Territory!

Further Exploration Information:
When deciding whether to look for ingredients, monsters, or a way to go deeper, you also specify which part of the area you're in to do the searching in. It doesn't cost any time to go from one subarea to another. What monsters there are, what ingredients are available, and what you are able to discover by exploring for a way to go deeper changes from one subarea to another; sometimes a subarea branches off into several others and sometimes it's a dead end.

There's still a little time left today. What will you do?

>

Date: 1/7
Time: About three quarters

Status & Inventory:

1626 Cole

Location: Nearby Forest - Forest Entrance

Character Status:

SpoilerShow

Sarah Kennigan: Uninjured, Just Okay
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: Slightly Injured, Just Fine
Weapon: Hatchets
Armor: Normal Clothes
Accessory: None
Skills:

SpoilerShow

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

Fee: 0 Cole

Miranda (???): Uninjured, Fine
Weapon: Knight's Sword
Armor: Knight's Armor
Accessory: None
Skills:

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• Zero Motivation (passive): Eh. Miranda has less energy states than normal (Exhausted, Okay, Fine). It costs energy to perform regular move and attack actions in battle. Active skills require a large percentage of her maximum energy.
  
• Chill (passive): Whatever, it's fine. Miranda regains a small amount of energy anytime she isn't doing anything, regardless of if it's out of town or even in the middle of a battle.
  
• Spin Slash: Gotta respect the classics. Slashes everything in the 8 tiles surrounding Miranda for physical damage.
  
• Lazy Combo: Way too much effort. Performs six normal attacks in a row (which can have distinct targets), and then lacks the motivation to do anything at all for the next two turns (Chill is disabled during these turns).
  
• Slack Off (3/3): Miranda's favorite activity. Doesn't accomplish anything immediate, but restores a moderate amount of energy instead of spending it. Has a 2-turn cooldown and only works 3 times per battle.

Fee: 500 Cole

Dual Techs:

SpoilerShow

Sarah & Dave:
Ether Hatchet (Hatchet Throw + Ether Light): Do the thing! Targets any enemy on a straight line from Dave which he could hit with Hatchet Throw. Deals physical damage to the target and then magical damage to anything in the 3x3 square centered on the target.

All other info