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Breath of the Wild ~ a Log / CONTENTS [[+Artwork]]

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

The Most Dangerous Game


Afternoon of Tuesday, September 19, 2017 ~ 2


Out back of Kakariko on the Sahasra Slope, before I met the Bokoblins, I actually took a detour over toward the west. The very first Guardian Stalker I’d ever met was over there, safely down in a dell where it couldn’t reach me. And now I was armed with Ancient Arrows, and a little more experience.
I once again practiced my aim with a few normal arrows before shooting off an Ancient one; and again the Guardian’s life meter emptied in a heartbeat, as it shook and rumbled and collapsed and exploded to the ground.
And it left me Ancient Gears! 8D Why, if I could harvest these Guardians all right.... I’d be well on my way to a set of Ancient Armor!
WHY do Zelda games DO that???  8C
You want the item that makes Terrible Thing easy! Or easier. But the only way to GET said item is to do the Terrible Thing without its help! So that once you acquire the item, the item which would make the Terrible Thing more bearable—YOU ARE NO LONGER DAUNTED.
RURGH it is a WICKEDLY devious method of conveyance for the life lesson that you don’t need the magic feather.
BLAST THEIR MAD GENIUS.
Where the heck was I?
I was killing a Guardian.
I killed the Guardian, collected its spare parts, and ventured down into the dell. I was sure one of the big boulders down there was a Talus. The place was too rocky and open to not be a stage for a boss fight. But none of the boulders I jumped on jumped back at me.
At least, not until I was done exploring and accidentally jumped on just the right one on my way back out of the dell.
And this one was tricky in that its vulnerable protrusion of ore was situated somewhere down near its butt. It stuck out from a surface upon which I could not maintain a footing. I did the best I could with leaping blows from above and below, and eventually the brute went down.
I would have gone straight back to the slope to test out the mask on the Bokoblins after that, but I was further surprised by another Guardian. Another Guardian Stalker creeping around near where the first one had been. Out of the dell this time.
You know, in hindsight, I really should have marked my map with their locations.
Fortunately, habit saved my skin: I was once again keeping to the high ground, and on my grassy upper shelf I hugged the mountain tightly to keep out of the second Guardian’s line of sight.
But somehow, many paces later as I came near the road back into Kakariko again.... the needle red laser found me, the Piano threw a fit, and that Guardian Stalker was coming for me.
I turned to face it, jogged a little away from the cliff. Kept my feet moving.
It still walked as its targeting laser bored into my shirt. Just coming right up to me.
I kept moving—the laser beeped—I dashed to the left.

I had never dodged one of their attacks on foot before.

Leastways not without some cover.

But I saw the blue bolt shoot past me away on the right as I ran away from it, a perpendicular course.
Had I been in some magical Goldilocks Zone of the Guardian’s range? Not yet crossed the deadly event horizon of its targeting laser acquisition speed?
The outside of a record spins faster.
I didn’t think about it. I just nocked an arrow as the Guardian drew closer.
Did I even have time to practice with a normal arrow?
Yes.... yes I think I did make it stutter with a hit to its eye.
And then the Ancient Arrow.... and the Guardian crumbled and rolled down the hill. And I ran to collect its sprawling spare parts. More gears....

I killed a Guardian on open ground.

Just me and him. And I came out on top.


I could kill Guardians.


After I went and sported with the Bokoblins in my mask, I warped to Robbie’s. I was over budget on gears now. That Ancient Cuirass was as good as mine.
But as I looked at Cherry’s wares, I considered. Items of clothing for some parts of the body have a generally higher defense than those for others. Some items of clothing come with special perks. I had come seeking the Ancient Cuirass, but.... would that really be the best choice?
I also considered what materials were required for Cherry to make me more Ancient Arrows. Because I was definitely going to be wanting more of those in the future. Ancient Shafts.... What was my budget there?
It’s tough to go shopping when there are so many different flavors of what can act as currency, and the arrays of what they can purchase so varied and yet overlapping.
In the end the most economical and perk-preserving choice seemed to be the Ancient Helm. The Champion’s Tunic was still quite strong, and it granted me the ability to see my enemies’ life meters. Some Ancient Shafts were required for the Helm’s construction, but not so many that I couldn’t put the balance of what I had toward the purchase of five more Ancient Arrows, for the bulk-discount price of *cough* four hundred rupees. @_@
Eric Sorenson would be proud at least.  :|
Heh, the helm looked.... unearthly! My eyes were covered.
Actually it looked like—
“Hey, I look like a Shrine!” I said to David. ^_^
The top of the helm did come up in that distinctive shape. And the bottom fringe had bright blue little circles all around it, with a slightly more prominent one front and center where my eyes would have been. My hair hung loose in a shaggy golden mane, longer than I’d thought it was.
Actually I thought it looked kinda cool. XD
And so after that it was a warp to the Lomei Labyrinth, a paraglide over the court, and a quick dash into what I believe was the selfsame hole I had hidden in last time.
The Piano heralded the Guardian’s approach, and I let it draw near, and took it down just the same. More gears.
That was my original four Ancient Arrows spent. Five fresh ones left.
As long as I was on a roll, I decided to press my luck, warp to the Akkala Tower, and attempt to take on.... a Flyer.
It was pouring freezing rain when I got there.
I switched to my Warm Doublet, and considered the encircling fiends.... One Flyer’s patrol took it time and again to the dead end of one lonely turret of land that stuck out toward Zorana. Some forgotten bastion with a few crumbling ruins on it—and a few trees for cover. I’d try that one.
I leapt from the tower and paraglided over the Flyer, briefly wondering what would happen if I just dropped down on top of it....
Eh, another time.
I headed for the little row of trees and waited for it to come back.
Rusted cannons still stood faithfully in the pouring rain.
Uh.
It’s a special kind of dread, getting ready to make yourself seen....
The Flyer came back and just got hoppin’ mad when it saw me. When it drew near I took a few desperate practice shots, but the angle was difficult, and the Flyer was too close for me to dodge its first blast. Took out more than half my hearts. But I got up again and nailed the thing with an Ancient Arrow....!
And its life meter only half emptied.
Already it was finding me again, charging up—oh dear.
Mipha had to come to my aid before I was able to hit it again and bring it down completely.
So it took two shots to kill a Flyer.
Well that was good to know.
And now I had three Ancient Arrows left....
....
Maybe in the future I’d just try to stick to the crawlers if I could help it.
Those arrows were expensive.

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