THE MOMENT
Tempus arrived to the sounds of combat. The Demon King's throne room was vast and empty except for two figures engaged in a kinetic battle that saw them move all around the room. The towering figure in black armor was doing his best to swat the teenage girl with a massive club; but, she was too nimble. The girl with long purple hair and spectacles wore unfamiliar cloth armor that Tempus couldn't identify right away, and her quick movements made it even more difficult to focus on her. She dodged, weaved, and ran up walls to avoid the Demon King's constant attacks, all without retaliating herself.
"Huh," Tempus watched for a moment as he tried to determine if she needed help. He wasn't ready to step in; but, he legitimately couldn't tell how she was doing against the powerful foe. She seemed to be solely on the defensive, yet she didn't look worried at all.
After taking in the combat for a few seconds, he caught a glimpse of something when she dodged. The girl jumped onto the stone wall, then she leaped at an angle and flipped to land behind the demon king. In that motion, Tempus noticed a delicate shimmer of light. It was a thread of some sort and she wrapped it around him with the dynamic movement. Tempus watched more carefully and he noted that she indeed do something with thread each time she avoided an attack. He realized she was being deliberate. That put him at ease, and made him wonder about her more. He'd seen her before but never paid attention. He brought up his Slate and browsed the team listings to see if she was a competitor while he waited.
"Vivi... Chroma Club...," he found her, and his mouth dropped open as he looked up at the ongoing fight. "...TAILOR?" he asked aloud. "Hell of a tailor...," he chuckled while Vivi continued to dodge attacks and wrap threads around the Demon King. Except, finally, she stopped moving. After a final aerial dodge and spin, she landed in front of the dark lord and seemingly dropped her guard.
The demon king did not hesitate to wind up a huge swing. He raised the club that was almost twice Vivi's size and brought it down as he grunted with obvious force. The blunt weapon stopped immediately upon landing on Vivi's head, and the armored figure reacted to an unseen force. His knees wobbled, and he bowed his head all at once while groaning in pain. Then, Tempus became aware of a sparking sound, like a million matches flaring up at once. Every thread flared to life with bright orange-white flames consuming the demon king in a blaze. He dropped his club, fell to his knees, then disintegrated into ashy white powder.
"That was awesome!" Tempus yelled as he crossed the throne room to approach her. She seemed genuinely startled that he was there and even gave a small yelp of embarrassment.
"Hey, I'm Tempus, from the AlterNet Crew," he smiled as he introduced himself with a wave.
"Hi," she nodded. "I'm Vivi, from the Chroma Club," she said. She knew who he was, because she'd been keeping tabs on all the teams; but, just saying 'I know' felt rude to her.
"That was so cool," Tempus chuckled as he shook his head. "What the hell is your Skill called? You just tanked a direct hit from the demon king without a scratch."
"Non-Newtonian," Vivi answered. "It's a Slime skill that absorbs and reflects damage, and I have an Ignition Thread skill that ignites when taking a hit. They go well together," she said.
"Whoa... we've got a Slime tank!" Tempus was hopeful he could be helpful to the team. "I wonder if she has the Skill yet," he said.
"Do you know what kind of Slime she is?" Vivi asked. She actually knew the answer to that question; but, she was curious how much his team knew about their members. She often got the impression that they weren't very cooperative with each other. "I had to quest for it, but Sand Slimes can choose it as a starter."
"You'd think I'd know that," Tempus chuckled. "Lunessa likes to keep to herself mostly; but she's a Paladin. I think the Sand Slime is the tanky one, so that kind of makes sense. She probably has it," he nodded.
"You've never seen her use it?" Vivi asked.
"As a team, we hardly ever quest together...," Tempus shrugged with a sigh. "We had... well, we lost a game against the Solar Council recently. I didn't notice her using it, but there was a lot going on so I might've missed it," he shrugged.
"Well, if she didn't start with it, she can quest for it," Vivi nodded to sum up the conversation. "Are you here for the demon king?" she asked.
"Are you farming him?" Tempus asked. It wasn't an intentional deflection; but, he'd grown curious. He had been exploring to see what he could accomplish on his own and wasn't there on any specific quest.
"He drops some crafting stuff," Vivi nodded. "But, I've been here most of the morning," she smiled. "You can take a shot if you want," she said.
"Thank you, no thank you," Tempus shook his head. "Just looking around at stuff for now to see where I can do content. For now, I'll let you get back to your farm, there are a few other places I want to look into. If I come back and you're still here, I might take that turn," he said.
"Of course," Vivi smiled at him. He returned the smile with a wave, then he headed out of the throne room as the demon king spawned again.