[LP CYOA] 傳

[treave]

ERYFKRAD - C > B
Zero Credibility - D
Rex Feral - D
asxetos - C
Smashing Axe - D
Nevill - D
Baltika9 - D
Kipeci - D
Azira - C > D
Jester - C
TOME - A > B > D
Tribute - A > C
Elfberserker - B > A
Esquilax - D
profreshinal - D
XenomorphII - B > A
Kashmir Slippers - B
RealDDc - C
Random Word - C > D
Fangshi - D
Tigranes - B > D
The Brazilian Slaughter - C > D
m4davis - D
Lambchop19 - D
SirArvedeth - D
Bloodshifter - D
Anabanana - D
ScubaV - D
Grimgravy - C

***

Current tally:

A - 2
B - 4
C - 8
D - 15

Post flop:

A - 0
B - 3
C - 9
D - 17

***

Also, it's hard to say whether the Thunder-Breaking Kick trumps the Shouwang Claws, it was mentioned earlier that the number of levels a technique has isn't necessarily a great indicator of how powerful it is. I'm sure in certain circumstances... like say, a brutal, tooth-and-nail battle against impossible odds, the Shouwang Claws might be a better technique than even our perfected Wuying technique. Of course, treave can confirm whether this is the case.

Different tools for different goals. Claws are good for inflicting both physical and mental trauma, particularly if you can rip off a limb or two. The kicks are generally better for most fights right now, and perfect if the enemy doesn't have the ability to control the aerial field.

 

[Absinthe]

Well the big problem with C is that we gain so very little.

+1 Swords, most likely. Possibly other boosts. Huge +rep. We're quite possibly even looking at a rep boost with Kunlun and Taishan since we indulge their ridiculousness and beat their best disciples outright so they can't have any complaints other than "he's too strong." We also make much more progress on Zhang Jue's challenge. He wants us to prove we're better than all the eight sects, remember? Taking out multiple top dogs will make him happy. We don't get this if we go D.

We may amuse Zhang but we have already sent him an entire group of pirates and an Emperor, we do not have to gear every move we make to amusing the man. He will be much more happy if we complete the challenge and beat BJ, proving that we are the best of our generation.

It's not an either-or situation. Besides, if our rep gets high enough, then Bai Jiutian might even withdraw his challenge since despite his talk of honorable combat, he seems a sucker for saving his own face. If we do get +1 Swords from this, then we will be better prepared for Bai Jiutian also. Those concerns of being injured are much less grave when we have Cao'er and Qilin around.

As far as rep goes we will be fighting all eight in both C and D. So what if they are not "ready", this is not a friendly match or a tournament setting. This is an actual battle, people are dying as we speak and they want a "match", seriously to hell with these guys. If they think we cheated then they can challenge us to a rematch after we have beaten BJ. And we can beat them again for good measure.

Voting D just punishes them for their stupidity, even as it pisses them off. It's voting C that will wipe out their pride. "Did he take on your entire formation? Yes, and Su Liaojing at the same time. And you all lost? Yep. Well then, I guess he's just that good? *grumbles* I suppose so." This is how we prove we're the baddest motherfucker around and make them take it and admit we're better than them.

There is also our duty to defend these nubile maidens, if we manage to get injured which is more than possible we won't even be able to achieve the one goal we picked. Sure Cao'er and Quilin could try and look after them but how disappointed do think Zhang will be if he shows up and we are wounded and relying on our girls to protect us?

Zhang Jue approves of us getting injured in pursuit of glory. He's that kind of guy. He does not approve of bailing out on a good fight because you're too scared for your own skin. It's only the particular circumstances that make him say "well they were asking for it" instead of "wow Jing I need to beat into you how to have good fights."

As for the Sword Saint bailing us out, well there goes our rep. I that case we gave up doing something useful only to get our ass kicked and be saved by the Saint. That would really do wonders for our rep. So I would say that the Saint is a non factor in this fight. He has no reason to get involved.

The Sword Saint would probably approve of our actions, since we were rescuing these Fire Temple cultists from what appears to be certain death. Since he is known for his honorable conduct, I don't think he would frown upon us for honorably waiting for them to be prepared before we engage all of them either. Plus Cao'er and Qilin can back us up once we're done, so I'm not worried about the Sword Saint needing to intervene here. And I really don't think we'd lose the rep we'd gain from beating those eight just because the Sword Saint came in later to put an end to the madness. Hell, if the Sword Saint comes in to bail us out, that could even indirectly give us rep because he's got such amazing rep that whoever he sides with had to be someone worth siding.

Dude, join C. We can make it happen.

 

[Baltika9]

Zhang Jue approves of us getting injured in pursuit of glory. He's that kind of guy. He does not approve of bailing out on a good fight because you're too scared for your own skin. It's only the particular circumstances that make him say "well they were asking for it" instead of "wow Jing I need to beat into you how to have good fights."

Dude, you are not arguing in good faith here. This is completely false:

Regarding acceptability of D, I said it would be acceptable to Zhang. As in, he won't kill you over it, and understands that it is ok in a real brawl.

C is just not worth it.

 

[Absinthe]

The quote sounds like what I'm saying to me. And I don't need bullshit accusations about "you are not arguing in good faith" from you. I've got choice words I can share on that subject, but suffice it to say I find I find these words counterproductive and somewhat hypocritical from you. I respond to all the points presented, some of which seem pretty ridiculous to me, and now instead of presenting nuanced argument you're digging for dirt.

"Zhang won't kill us for voting D" is not a ringing ZJ endorsement for D.

 

[Fangshi]

+1 Swords, most likely. Possibly other boosts. Huge +rep. We're quite possibly even looking at a rep boost with Kunlun and Taishan since we indulge their ridiculousness and beat their best disciples outright so they can't have any complaints other than "he's too strong." We don't get this if we go D.

See now this is speculation. I could do it too, but it is besides the point. We don't know for a fact that we will get any stat boosts and we do not know that fighting all eight at once will trigger a stat boost while only fighting 4-6 would not. This is completely unfalsifiable and as such simply is not an argument.

As for the rep boost. We will get a bigger rep boost if we win in C than in D but we also do not need the rep at this point. We are so unorthodox that we have essentially become the "boogeyman" of the sects, BJ will fight us no matter what. We would be risking ourselves for an unnecessary reward.

And the orthodox sects will keep challenging us as long as we are around. We are very likely to have to fight these guys again down the line. I would rather not have to kill one of them if we go all out in C. If we go with D we will piss them of but we may be able to explain our actions sometime down the line, if we kill some of them then we have enemies for life.

Voting D just punishes them for their stupidity, even as it pisses them off. It's voting C that will wipe out their pride. "Did he take on your entire formation? Yes, and Su Liaojing at the same time. And you all lost? Yep. Well then, I guess he's just that good? *grumbles* I suppose so." This is how we prove we're the baddest motherfucker around and make them take it and admit we're better than them.

We prove we are the baddest guy around by beating the baddest girl guy around and that is BJ. At this point anything that distracts from that simply is not worth it. Ideally Vahista injures BJ and we come out without a scratch, then we can spend the next few months practicing while he recovers and we will be damn near equal. I don't want Jing taking unnecessary risks here for very little gain.

Zhang Jue approves of us getting injured in pursuit of glory. He's that kind of guy. He does not approve of bailing out on a good fight because you're too scared for your own skin. It's only the particular circumstances that make him say "well they were asking for it" instead of "wow Jing I need to beat into you how to have good fights."

Zhang also does not rely on others to win fights for him. If we are unable to fight when he shows up he will be disappointed.

As for glory if getting injured robs us of greater glory he will be disappointed, and we should be as well. These guys are irreverent, they are not worth a fair fight. Any glory we get from beating them will be like a drop of water in the ocean when compared to the glory we will get from defeating BJ.

We have responsibilities here that we can not simply set aside, no matter how tempting. We set out to protect these girls and that is what we must do, by whatever means necessary.

The Sword Saint would probably approve of our actions, since we were rescuing these Fire Temple cultists from what appears to be certain death. Since he is known for his honorable conduct, I don't think he would frown upon us for honorably waiting for them to be prepared before we engage all of them either. I really don't think we'd lose the rep we'd gain from beating those eight just because the sword saint came in later to put an end to the madness. Hell, if the Sword Saint comes in to bail us out, that could even indirectly give us rep because he's got such amazing rep that whoever he sides with had to be someone worth siding.

Have to disagree here, the whole reason we were worried about the Sword Saint in B3 is because he would steal our thunder. If he enters the battle then no one will even remember that we were here. He will overshadow everyone on the battlefield. If you want glory you do not want him getting involved at all.

Either way though he will know what we are doing and why, hell his sword demonstrates the measure of his character he will not place the minor formalities of the sects over what is right. If anything he will approve of a "chaotic good" act like D.

Except we don't.

So we don't care about these girls? (Because we do have about the same concrete, provable advantages in D as in C, greater physical risk for a rep boost.)

This is not why Codex passed up Operation Maiden Capture and the glorious brawl that was B3?

My understanding is that we wanted to be noble, that we wanted to show that unlike the sects Jing values the lives of even the weak. That we are better than them, different than them. It just so happens that D is the best way to prove this. It is a rejection of their stupidity, their corruption, their base foolishness and an assertion that their little rules are meaningless within the real world. It is precisely the sort of statement Jing would make and he can do it while trolling the hell out of them.

 

[Baltika9]

I don't know where this "but LORD Zhang won't approve!" is coming from when treave said that "he is okay with it, it is acceptable to him." And, yeah, C is doable, no doubt, but just not worth it.

 

[Absinthe]

See now this is speculation. I could do it too, but it is besides the point. We don't know for a fact that we will get any stat boosts and we do not know that fighting all eight at once will trigger a stat boost while only fighting 4-6 would not. This is completely unfalsifiable and as such simply is not an argument.

Heh, I do approve of that word - "unfalsifiable" - but so long as we are voting for an action in the future and attempting to analyze the effects of such a vote, the only appropriate means of proving one's inferences is by obtaining the update that is being voted upon. In other words, we're basically stuck dealing with speculation. The trick is to root it in reason. I believe the C vote, out of all the options, has the highest probability of giving a +1 (perhaps more, perhaps something else, perhaps even nothing at all; it's all up to treave) to sword skill, since we're up against all these sword fighters in their proper condition. Do you disagree?

As for the rep boost. We will get a bigger rep boost if we win in C than in D but we also do not need the rep at this point. We are so unorthodox that we have essentially become the "boogeyman" of the sects, BJ will fight us no matter what. We would be risking ourselves for an unnecessary reward.

I don't believe in burning bridges just because we have some slightly bad rep. I just don't. It feels like a Sunk Cost Fallacy when you're arguing "well we're already down, so we might as well go all the way." Besides, it's not just a question of orthodoxy or how well we are liked, but also a question of how well our strength is respected. That respect opens doors.

And the orthodox sects will keep challenging us as long as we are around. We are very likely to have to fight these guys again down the line. I would rather not have to kill one of them if we go all out in C. If we go with D we will piss them of but we may be able to explain our actions sometime down the line, if we kill some of them then we have enemies for life.

I don't think we'll really kill in C. I've already outlined reasons above for this. And if we go D then they will definitely hold a massive grudge against us. C makes them acknowledge us since by the rules of the jianghu we bested them at their best.

We prove we are the baddest guy around by beating the baddest girl guy around and that is BJ. At this point anything that distracts from that simply is not worth it. Ideally Vashista injures BJ and we come out without a scratch, then we can spend the next few months practicing while he recovers and we will be damn near equal. I don't want Jing taking unnecessary risks here for very little gain.

I do think there is more gain to voting C than what is immediately visible. I also think we will improve from this kind of experience.

Zhang also does not rely on others to win fights for him. If we are unable to fight when he shows up he will be disappointed.

No, he won't. As treave said, "Zhang has an 'aim for the top or die trying' outlook for you." That means getting horribly injured in the process of aiming for the top is good in his book, but not aiming for the top isn't.

As for glory if getting injured robs us of greater glory he will be disappointed, and we should be as well. These guys are irreverent, they are not worth a fair fight. Any glory we get from beating them will be like a drop of water in the ocean when compared to the glory we will get from defeating BJ.

Can we not speculate about down the road shit and focus on the matters at hand? This is what treave asked of us earlier, and it is also a matter that we really don't know about (unfalsifiable, as it were). Besides, with Cao'er and Qilin's help, we will assuredly recover, especially given the amount of time that we have.

We have responsibilities here that we can not simply set aside, no matter how tempting. We set out to protect these girls and that is what we must do, by whatever means necessary.

They will be protected either way. We are not shirking responsibilities.

Have to disagree here, the whole reason we were worried about the Sword Saint in B3 is because he would steal our thunder. If he enters the battle then no one will even remember that we were here. He will overshadow everyone on the battlefield. If you want glory you do not want him getting involved at all.

If he enters while we fight, sure. But if he enters after we finish them, then we've got our cred.

Either way though he will know what we are doing and why, hell his sword demonstrates the measure of his character he will not place the minor formalities of the sects over what is right. If anything he will approve of a "chaotic good" act like D.

I don't think he'd mind that either, but C will work fine too. This is not an area of concern.

So we don't care about these girls? (Because we do have about the same concrete, provable advantages in D as in C, greater physical risk for a rep boost.)

This is not why Codex passed up Operation Maiden Capture and the glorious brawl that was B3?

They'll be fine either way. Sheesh. Are you really that worried? Or are you just looking at a single point and hoping to drive it all the way? As for Maiden Capture, think of it as showing off in front of them, then. They'd surely be more impressed.

My understanding is that we wanted to be noble, that we wanted to show that unlike the sects Jing values the lives of even the weak. That we are better than them, different than them. It just so happens that D is the best way to prove this. It is a rejection of their stupidity, their corruption, their base foolishness and an assertion that their little rules are meaningless within the real world. It is precisely the sort of statement Jing would make and he can do it while trolling the hell out of them.

Here's the thing though: If we beat them at their best, then by the jianghu they are forced to respect us for our skill, and that means our words and actions will carry more weight with them. Voting D may performatively make our point, but it won't quite sink in on them like that (as they will localize the point more to Xu Jing).

 

[Kipeci]

Here's the thing though: If we beat them at their best, then by the jianghu they are forced to respect us for our skill, and that means our words and actions will carry more weight with them. Voting D may performatively make our point, but it won't quite sink in on them like that (as they will localize the point more to Xu Jing).

So they challenge us to a rematch at a later point and we stomp then then, too, with more knowledge of their formation as well as greater skills even if they pack in some extra tricks. Jing hasn't exactly gotten weaker over the course of the CYOA, and he's only going to improve as he actually trains for this stuff for the first period of his life.

As for the sword business, treave tends to spell those out when we're about to get them, as with the update with Guo Fu and the choices we could take in that match. If we were getting an upgrade with either one or the other, he'd probably mention it.

Though I think how often we fight experienced foes does factor into how often we're presented with those kinds of upgrades, this choice right now doesn't really impact either, and I don't see much of a reason why C would improve our sword rating while D wouldn't.

 

[Absinthe]

When it's risky business he doesn't necessarily spell it out. The Hundred Man Battle gave us our pick of Reikan and Kagemi (and the wodao), but he didn't mention those rewards in the choice either.

 

[Baltika9]

Yeah, because they were a reward from the Minamoto, not skill boosts we gained from experience.

Speaking of skill boosts, how far up on Speech 5-> 6 are we?

 

[Absinthe]

Screw it. Lets ask treave. Are we going to get an increase sword skill from voting C?

 

[Esquilax]

I don't believe in burning bridges just because we have some slightly bad rep. I just don't. It feels like a Sunk Cost Fallacy when you're arguing "well we're already down, so we might as well go all the way." Besides, it's not just a question of orthodoxy or how well we are liked, but also a question of how well our strength is respected. That respect opens doors.

Xu Jing is plenty respected as a pugilist. Yes, we're not at the level of Bai Jiutian (yet), but people know of our exploits and when we walk into places like the Black Dragon Society HQ, people know not to fuck with us. That's respect. Really, we don't have to work hard to get these uptight do-gooders to want to fight us - they already want to kick our ass.

I don't think we'll really kill in C. I've already outlined reasons above for this. And if we go D then they will definitely hold a massive grudge against us. C makes them acknowledge us since by the rules of the jianghu we bested them at their best.
...
I do think there is more gain to voting C than what is immediately visible. I also think we will improve from this kind of experience.
...
No, he won't. As treave said, "Zhang has an 'aim for the top or die trying' outlook for you." That means getting horribly injured in the process of aiming for the top is good in his book, but not aiming for the top isn't.
...
Here's the thing though: If we beat them at their best, then by the jianghu they are forced to respect us for our skill, and that means our words and actions will carry more weight with them. Voting D may performatively make our point, but it won't quite sink in on them like that (as they will localize the point more to Xu Jing).

I truncated this to focus on the bits that I wanted to address.

Regarding your third point here, it isn't about "aiming for the top", because for LORD ZHANG trying your best doesn't cut it. Losers do their best, winners go home and fuck the prom queen, and that's it. And in the grand scheme of things, being a winner means beating Bai Jiutian, because simply being tied for first place isn't winning. It's a tough fight for very little gain and lots of speculation regarding skill point boosts. If there's more to C than what's immediately visible, then we can speculate on anything.

Yeah, because they were a reward from the Minamoto, not skill boosts we gained from experience.

Speaking of skill boosts, how far up on Speech 5-> 6 are we?

To be fair, Su Liaojing and the Taishan Seven are big step up in terms of competition. I think we woul see a skill boost, but there's very little else positive in taking this fight. Even if we win, we still have to fight Bai Jiutian regardless, so it feels kinda pointless. That's really the crux of it. All this mental masturbation and obfuscation about skill boosts and getting respect in the orthodox world (c'mon, I thought we stopped giving a fuck about that ages ago!) is just completely besides the point.

 

[Fangshi]

I believe the C vote, out of all the options, has the highest probability of giving a +1 (perhaps more, perhaps something else, perhaps even nothing at all; it's all up to treave) to sword skill, since we're up against all these sword fighters in their proper condition. Do you disagree?

My understanding is that a single fight is actually unlikely to raise our sword skill at this point (it can happen but I do not see it happening here), the last chance we had to raise our sword skill was the result of using it over the period of a month and that only got us a +1. I do not think we will get stat boosts at all from this to be honest.

I don't believe in burning bridges just because we have some slightly bad rep. I just don't. It feels like a a Sunk Cost Fallacy when you're arguing "well we're already down, so we might as well go all the way." Besides, it's not just a question of orthodoxy or how well we are liked, but also a question of how well our strength is respected. That respect opens doors.

But the doors we need to open for the time being are already open. As for what we will have to do after that, well I will concern myself with that after we no longer have to worry about Zhang murdering us.

I don't think we'll really kill in C. I've already outlined reasons above for this. And if we go D then they will definitely hold a massive grudge against us. C makes them acknowledge us since by the rules of the jianghu we bested them at their best.

I do think we will be more likely to permanently injure or kill one of our opponents in C as we will not be able to hold back as easily. Murdering one of their friends will render them permanent enemies for the rest of Jing's life. My first concern through all of this is to minimize the loss of human life. They may hold a grudge with D but we can at least work on that, if we kill someone there is no fixing that. These eight together could test even BJ, I truly believe we will not simply walk over them in any of the options. They are a definite threat.

I do think there is more gain to voting C than what is immediately visible. I also think we will improve from this kind of experience.

More to gain but more to lose as well, if we compare the worst case scenarios then D is markedly superior to C. I would rather miss out on a rep bonus than suffer another injury. And as I have already said I don't believe a single fight will increase our primary skills in this case so I do not see real advantages in C.

No, he won't. As treave said, "Zhang has an 'aim for the top or die trying' outlook for you." That means getting horribly injured in the process of aiming for the top is good in his book, but not aiming for the top isn't.

But you can't get to the top if you are always injured. We need to be in our best fighting form to have a shot at BJ. Everytime we go YOLO and get hurt we fall further behind the guy, we need to surpass him. He is the only one we should be worried about at the moment.

Can we not speculate about down the road shit and focus on the matters at hand? This is what treave asked of us earlier, and it is also a matter that we don't really know about. Besides, with Cao'er and Qilin's help, we will assuredly recover, especially given the amount of time that we have.

What is good for the goose is good for the gander, if you can invoke long term rep bonuses and stat increases I see no reason not to draw attention to the risks we will face as a result of this fight. What if we are injured and lose out on chances to train with Yunzi, we could lose access to exotic moves and Yunzi points... now that would be a tragedy.

treave said to focus only on the battle but no one is following that sage advise I am afraid.

They will be protected either way. We are not shirking responsibilities.

Does not really work that way. We decided to protect them and if we go with C we are risking their safety to satisfy our ego and our own lust for glory. We owe it to them as their protector not to take the chance. If we choose C then we are simply stating that when push comes to shove our rep is worth more to us than human life (Jing of course still values human life, just not as much as a air tight claim to glory). I simply find that unacceptable to be honest.

If he enters while we fight, sure. But if he enters after we finish them, then we've got our cred.

Well we would need him most during the fight. If he descends on the battlefield at all though he will become the main story. Just like at the tournament we will be overshadowed by a greater presence and it will suck. So his involvement at all will diminish our share of the glory, which will already be fairly small as we did not choose an important battle to take part in.

I don't think he'd mind that either, but C will work fine too. This is not an area of concern.

Sure, they can both work well but it is the extra risk in C that I am arguing against. Jing needs to use his brain alongside his brawn and that is what D achieves. We are an unorthodox fighter, part of the beauty of that is that we get to fight dirty if we want.

Think of it as showing off in front of them, then. They'd surely be more impressed.

They are already impressed but what they would really like is to not die. D does that better than C is all.

Here's the thing though: If we beat them at their best, then by the jianghu they are forced to respect us for our skill, and that means our words and actions will carry more weight with them. Voting D may performatively make our point, but it won't quite sink in on them like that.

If they really want to be anal about it they could claim that they were tired from massacring fighting the Cult. They could claim that the chaos of the battle distracted them or that perhaps the Cult worked evil magics on them. If they do not want to accept our victory they will find ways to discredit it. And they will improve with age, they will want another shot at us somewhere down the line anyway. Honestly when that day comes I will have no problem fighting them but that is the thing.

This is not about them. This is not some martial arts tournament where they can play the good guys. They are massacring a fleeing enemy and they are being so very insufferable about it. They want this to be some sort of match but they are not worthy of a match. They are not worthy of a fair fight. What they are doing is wrong and with D we can make that point. It is about beating them our way, because to hell with them and the sects. We are better than they are, at least at this moment.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Y'all think too much.

 

[Kipeci]

I think there's more to proving yourself as a generally superior pugilist than even facing Bai Jutian. I mean, the Sword Saint's disciple thought he was up to it, but he couldn't advance to the end of the challenge because he broke the crappy tournament sword on Guo Fu. I'm not saying that he is stronger than him, but to actually prove ourselves we need to be belligerent and fight many folks to establish this as consistently decent about trashing our foes whoever they may be, rather than freaking out about BJ and unleashing some complex plan to wipe out him and only him. We focus on him way, way too much.

 

[treave]

Screw it. Lets ask treave. Are we going to get an increase sword skill from voting C?

Skill increase is not on the cards, but when you put the character in a pinch he tends to need to improvise ways out of it, so there's that for a possible technique argument.

...not that you should rely on it.

 

[Esquilax]

I think there's more to proving yourself as a generally superior pugilist than even facing Bai Jutian. I mean, the Sword Saint's disciple thought he was up to it, but he couldn't advance to the end of the challenge because he broke the crappy tournament sword on Guo Fu. I'm not saying that he is stronger than him, but to actually prove ourselves we need to be belligerent and fight many folks to establish this as consistently decent about trashing our foes whoever they may be, rather than freaking out about BJ and unleashing some complex plan to wipe out him and only him. We focus on him way, way too much.

Now this is the first compelling argument I've seen for C. Well done.

 

[Fangshi]

I think there's more to proving yourself as a generally superior pugilist than even facing Bai Jutian. I mean, the Sword Saint's disciple thought he was up to it, but he couldn't advance to the end of the challenge because he broke the crappy tournament sword on Guo Fu. I'm not saying that he is stronger than him, but to actually prove ourselves we need to be belligerent and fight many folks to establish this as consistently decent about trashing our foes whoever they may be, rather than freaking out about BJ and unleashing some complex plan to wipe out him and only him. We focus on him way, way too much.

Sure but in D we are still fighting them all, we just are not fighting fair. The only reason we are so focused on BJ is because she he holds the title. Beat him and we are the champ, then they have to dethrone us. If they refuse to fight then we can immediately claim victory. It is a good position to be in and BJ is the one person we absolutely have to beat.

 

[Baltika9]

treave, two quick questions:

Speaking of skill boosts, how far up on Speech 5-> 6 are we?

And any chance of an early update today? I am dying to find out where this scenario will lead:

“I don’t know, should I side with you?” You turn your head to the side, asking what appears to be the eldest girl of the cultist bunch. She gives you a confused look. One of the other girls whispers something in her ear, in a foreign language, and her eyes widen. “Y-you are the Holy Maiden’s…” she stammers. “Yes, yes, please help us! We don’t want to die here!”

“Sounds great, that. I don’t think anyone wants to die here. How grateful would you be?”

“I… ah…” she blushes, uncertain. “…I would be very grateful, young master,” she says shyly, looking down.

Implied sexual tension with Yunzi.
A lot of gratitude.
She called us Young Master. The Wudu also called us Young Master. The possibilities, they are endless.

 

[treave]

I think there's more to proving yourself as a generally superior pugilist than even facing Bai Jutian. I mean, the Sword Saint's disciple thought he was up to it, but he couldn't advance to the end of the challenge because he broke the crappy tournament sword on Guo Fu. I'm not saying that he is stronger than him, but to actually prove ourselves we need to be belligerent and fight many folks to establish this as consistently decent about trashing our foes whoever they may be, rather than freaking out about BJ and unleashing some complex plan to wipe out him and only him. We focus on him way, way too much.

Yeah, remember when the Chuzhan Fist was picked because OMG Wudang's going to be our biggest enemy?

treave, two quick questions:

Speaking of skill boosts, how far up on Speech 5-> 6 are we?

And any chance of an early update today?.

Your next chance at a speech increase will probably be during a time skip. Update, maybe. We'll see.

 

[Kipeci]

I think there's more to proving yourself as a generally superior pugilist than even facing Bai Jutian. I mean, the Sword Saint's disciple thought he was up to it, but he couldn't advance to the end of the challenge because he broke the crappy tournament sword on Guo Fu. I'm not saying that he is stronger than him, but to actually prove ourselves we need to be belligerent and fight many folks to establish this as consistently decent about trashing our foes whoever they may be, rather than freaking out about BJ and unleashing some complex plan to wipe out him and only him. We focus on him way, way too much.

Sure but in D we are still fighting them all, we just are not fighting fair. The only reason we are so focused on BJ is because she he holds the title. Beat him and we are the champ, then they have to dethrone us. If they refuse to fight then we can immediately claim victory. It is a good position to be in and BJ is the one person we absolutely have to beat.

I'm still voting D, you know... well, provided that we are fighting the guy from Kunlun in D. treave : We are doing that, right?

 

[treave]

I'm still voting D, you know... well, provided that we are fighting the guy from Kunlun in D. treave : We are doing that, right?

You are attacking the Taishan disciples, but whether or not the Kunlun guy attacks you is another matter.

Since he is still in his stance and on guard, he might react fast enough to intercept you with that long reach of his staff before you even reach one Taishan disciple... and then you'd have the events of C + all the relationship downsides already stated for D.

Or you might be fast enough to take down one or two before he acts, enough to give you an advantage in the fight.

Or he might not act at all, leaving the Taishan disciples to settle their beef with you.

You won't know until the choice is carried out.

 

[Anabanana]

Ugh, really? In that case, flopping to C.

 

[Baltika9]

I'm still voting D, you know... well, provided that we are fighting the guy from Kunlun in D. treave : We are doing that, right?

You are attacking the Taishan disciples, but whether or not the Kunlun guy attacks you is another matter.

Since he is still in his stance and on guard, he might react fast enough to intercept you with that long reach of his staff before you even reach one Taishan disciple... and then you'd have the events of C + all the relationship downsides already stated for D.

That would suck, but with AGI 10 and our combat instincts, I think we're good. I mean, we did shatter staves with our kicks just now.

 

[Kipeci]

Thanks for clarifying, flop to C. At least that way we face both, maybe they won't work too well fighting together.