[COMPLETED!-PP-F5] Shark weak <<Blood in the Sand>> (Calrex)

[Takneil 0]

Dawning the <<Eternal Melody>> armor Takneil stood by the exit of the town, he had to be honest when he had taken up this quest he thought he would be going to a beach like floor. Looking around the sandy wasteland he sighed, of it was a desert. Shrugging he awaited the arrival of his Mentor, it seemed as though of late the two had been really powering through his training. reading the information over again on one of his open screens the boy sighed, he hated bothering the man. Even despite the fact he had been told many times it was fine, it felt as if he was slowing down Calrex's own leveling up and such. In the end He was the man's Protege so that was one thing he had to get used to, reliance. 

Edited January 13, 2016 by Takneil

[Calrex 0]

In a flash of light Calrex appeared on the fifth floor as he gave a calming breath. Unlike the past couple times he had seen his protege, this time he was no longer clad in the full-body armor of the Grand Chariot. Since he had gotten some more sleep compared to the past few weeks when he prohibited himself from sleeping in order to protect Teayre's shop. Now he seemed closer to his normal self as he gave a wave to Takneil as the boy came into view.

"Alright Tak, so this time it's the Sand Shark right? This ought to be some good practice for your shield skills, especially manipulating it to deflect blows and charges from larger creatures. Whenever you're ready, let's do this."

[Takneil 0]

Noticing the man out of his armor Takneil raised an amused brow, it seemed these days it was rare to catch his Mentor out of the <<Grand Chariot>>. Though he himself would probably be outside of his armor if not for the fact it negated the heat from the desert spread floor, closing the menu he smiled through the armor's helm. "Hey!"

Nodding he motioned for the man to follow. It would be good practice for him, but he hadn't a clue how big this thing would be. Making sure that his gear was all equipped he looked for any signs of the boss. "Yeah, thanks for coming out here." he had a feeling Calrex had taken on this boss many times already. Drawing <<Stinger Edge>> he moved through the sand.

[Calrex 0]

"Not a problem, these quests make for great practice, plus we'll be able to get you stronger. It's part of what a mentor does right?"

Drawing the Grand Blade he gave a calming breath before looking outwards onto the expanse of sand, continuing to wear just the barebones armor of the Grand Dragoon over his casual combat clothing. At this point he had come to understand that with his level of skill, unless he was wearing enhanced armor, the two pieces he normally changed between were either for personal preference or aesthetic, since they were there merely to trigger his mitigation skill.

"Alright then, best keep your eyes out. The Sand Shark is true to its name, and can burrow beneath like it were swimming through water. Unfortunately with the recent update I lost my Reveal skill, so I won't be able to see through to where it's hiding."

[Takneil 0]

"Yeah, the stronger I get the sooner I can actually help you." he stated. it would take a long time for Takneil to reach any where near the man's level, but in the mean time he could at least accept the man's tutelage. "So you lost your <<Reveal>>?, that sucks. I seemed to have lost my <<Athletics>> skill as well." with the newest update to the game he hadn't lost as much as the other players, while the skill was nice having it as a mod was much better in his personal opinion. 

"So this may take a while, want to gather materia-" Stumbling backwards the boy yelped as the ground under him seemed to shift, shifting his weight forward he managed not to fall. "What was that?" looking up he had found his answer. A large fin now cut through the sand freely before it dived back under, the boss had spawned. "Never mind." quickly raising his sword he scanned the moving sands. "where did it go?"

ID# 41544 results: Battle: 6+1=7(Success!) Craft: 6 Loot: 14 MOB: 1

Feeling himself begin to slide from where he stood the boy swiftly took action, Stepping to the side he watched as a giant shark like creation jumped into the air. if he hadn't have moved he would have been in that things mouth, gritting his teeth in frustration he lashed out at the boss. Striking against the skin he felt the force of the impact shudder up his arm, backing he shifted his position. He had been able to slightly cut it but to the mob it must have felt like nothing more than a paper cut.

HP List

Takneil: 44/44 [Energy:10/11] (-1)

Calrex: 277/277 [Energy: 53/53]

Frenzied SandShark
Hp: 139/140 (-1)
DMit: 35
DMG: 30

Edited December 9, 2015 by Takneil

[Calrex 0]

ID: 41545
Battle Dice: 2 (Accuracy +3) = 5 (Disregarded Due to Howl)
<<Howl>> Activated (+3 Hate to all monsters)

As the large fin appeared from beneath the sand Calrex gave a nod as he drew the Grand Blade from its sheath, immediately knowing what he needed to do. Raising his sword high it glowed the familiar light blue hue as his armor began to radiate the same aura, activating his <<Howl>> skill.

Quickly bringing his blade down into the ground the echoing monstrous roar erupted from his armor, passing through the sand as he saw the shark begin to focus on him once he took the highest aggro.

"Alright, let's take this thing down Tak."

HP List
(Hate:1) Takneil: 44/44 [Energy:10/11]
(Hate: 3) Calrex: 277/277 [Energy: 53/53]

Frenzied SandShark
Hp: 139/140
DMit: 35
DMG: 30

Edited December 9, 2015 by Calrex

[Takneil 0]

ID# 41591 results: Battle: 10+1=11(Critical Success!) Craft: 11 Loot: 12 MOB: 4(Failure)

Watching as Calrex activated the all so familiar skill the boy took off of the ground, taking advantage of the Boss's divided attention. "Working on it!" he called out in response to the man. The Sandshark moved through the ground with ease as if it was truly swimming in water, though it's fin stuck out giving away it's position. Tightening his grasp around his swords hilt he let loose a swift slash across the enemy's fin, once again only dealing a minimal amount of damage. Why wasn't he getting more damage on the mob?, he knew he was low level but he would have dealt more than that according to the information. It was almost as if-. His eye widening in realization Takneil turned towards the man. "Calrex!, this thing has Mitigation!" he yelled out over the blowing wind.

HP List
(Hate:2) Takneil: 44/44 [Energy:9/11] (-1)
(Hate: 3) Calrex: 277/277 [Energy: 53/53]

Frenzied SandShark
Hp: 138/140 (-1)
DMit: 35
DMG: 30

Edited December 9, 2015 by Takneil

[Calrex 0]

ID: 41597
Battle Dice: 5 (Accuracy +3) = 8
Sword Art <<Nova Ascension>> Activated / <<Charge>> Activated (12 Energy Used / 41 Remaining)

Calrex gave a nod as he heard Takneil exclaim that the field boss had natural armor, giving a small sigh, "So the system probably augmented this particular quest boss to match the strongest level of the group participating."

"Alright then Tak, just stand back I've got this!"

As he went into his stance for activating <<Nova Ascension>> Calrex went one of the new skill mods he had purchased activate. His sword felt temporarily lighter as he rushed forward, unleashing the attack as the light blue aura coated Grand Blade ripped into the shark eight times before the Ultramarine Knight spun around and delivered a powerful hilt strike to the field boss. Mere moments after the oversized shark stopped moving as he confirmed the Stun effect was inflicted.

"Now this thing's going down. Take another shot!"

HP List
(Hate:2) Takneil: 44/44 [Energy:9/11] (-1)
(Hate: 4) Calrex: 277/277 [Energy: 41/53] (-12)

Frenzied SandShark
Hp: 47/140 (10+1+3 DMG * 9 Art - 35 MIT = 91 DMG / Stunned Until Next Turn)
DMit: 35
DMG: 30

Edited December 9, 2015 by Calrex

[Takneil 0]

ID# 42123 results: Battle: 5+1=6(Success!) Craft: 9 Loot: 4 MOB: 5(Failure!)

The boy nodded to his Mentor, following his wishes he took a step back. Keeping his blade at the ready he watched as Calrex unleashed a flurry of strikes on the shark, the HP of the boss whittled away to but a mere chunk. Noticing the status effect placed due to the attack Takneil dashed forward letting loose a swift slash, frowning as <<Stinger Edge>> only cut slightly into the sharks skin dealing only minimum damage he jumped away. thank god he wasn't doing this on his own or with even a party of Players of his own level, it would have annoyed him greatly...especially the part where the boss killed him. "Alright Cal!, it's all yours" he called out.

HP List
(Hate:3) Takneil: 44/44 [Energy:8/11] (-1)
(Hate: 4) Calrex: 277/277 [Energy: 41/53] 

Frenzied SandShark
Hp: 46/140 (-1)
DMit: 35
DMG: 30

Edited December 15, 2015 by Takneil

[Calrex 0]

ID: 42200
Battle Dice: 5 (Accuracy +3) = 8
Sword Art <<Howling Octave>> Activated (8 Energy Used / 1 Recovered / 34 Remaining)

Calrex gave a nod as he focused on the target, initially preparing to finish it off with a Sword Art that would deal enough damage to end the enemy. But, as he gave another thought about how he would mentor Takneil he gave a calming breath. Rather than coating the Grand Blade with the dark purple aura of his <<Shadow Explosion>> attack, the sword lit up with the flaming orange hue of his <<Howling Octave>> Sword Art.

Rushing forward he unleashed the quintuple barrage of stabs before the trio of vertical slashes came out. Leaping back he watched as the shark's health dropped and dropped and dropped until it stopped just shy of zero, requiring only a single digit of damage to finish it.

"Alright Tak, deal the killing blow. Focus and strike at your hardest."

HP List
(Hate:3) Takneil: 44/44 [Energy:8/11] (-1)
(Hate: 5) Calrex: 277/277 [Energy: 34/53] (-8+1)

Frenzied SandShark
HP: 1/140 (10 DMG * 8 Art - 35 MIT = 45 DMG / Stun End)
DMit: 35
DMG: 30

Edited December 16, 2015 by Calrex

[Takneil 0]

ID# 42262 results: Battle: 4+1=5(Failure!) Craft: 6 Loot: 16 MOB: 1(Failure!)

Nodding his head he understood the man, the Boss only had a sliver of HP left. all it would take is a simple flick of his sword and it would end, in attempt to move forward Takneil let out a cry as he landed helm first in the sand. "What in?-" turning he groaned as he saw the weight of his armor had dragged him into the sand. "Cal I'm not going to be able to!, I got dragged into the sand." he yelled out, stabbing <<Stinger Edge>> into the sand to aid in pulling himself out. Why didn't he keep moving?. Silently cursing himself he gave a glance to witness the bosses final moments.

HP List
(Hate:3) Takneil: 44/44 [Energy:6/11] (-2)
(Hate: 5) Calrex: 277/277 [Energy: 34/53] 

Frenzied SandShark
HP: 1/140 
DMit: 35
DMG: 30

Edited December 16, 2015 by Takneil

[Calrex 0]

ID: 42273
Battle Dice: 10 (Accuracy +3) = 13 (+2 Damage)
Loot Dice: 10 (Search and Detect +2 / Item +1) = 13 (Loot Found)
Sword Art <<Vertical>> Activated (1 Energy Used / 1 Recovered / 34 Remaining)

"Well...that's certainly new."

As he saw his protege partially sink into the sand Calrex gave a calming breath as he turned to face the field boss, "Well, I guess I'm taking you out then."

Rushing forward he quickly brought the Grand Blade over his head as it lit alight with the light blue glow of his <<Vertical>> Sword Art. Quickly bringing it down he cleaves the shark in half before resheathing his blade as it burst into crystals.

Walking back over to Takneil he gave a nod as he helped the boy back onto his feet, "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that. You alright?"

Swiping on his menu he sent over the field boss quest item and half of the loot, after which he put his hands into his jacket pockets.

Loot List:
1 Material
1 Sand Armor Potion
Bonus Loot: 700 col (Mob HP 140 * 5 col = 700)

HP List
(Hate:3) Takneil: 44/44 [Energy:6/11] (-2)
(Hate: 5) Calrex: 277/277 [Energy: 34/53] (-1+1)

Frenzied SandShark
HP: 0/140 (10 DMG * 1 Art - 35 MIT = 1 Minimum DMG)
DMit: 35
DMG: 30

Edited December 16, 2015 by Calrex

[Takneil 0]

Accepting the hand of his Mentor, Takneil was pulled out of the sand. "yeah I'm fine, I think..." Brushing sand off of his armor he pulled <<Stinger Edge>> out of the sand and sheathed it. "I have to say, I was not expecting the ground to decide I would be a tasty snack" he stated brandishing a smile, of course hidden behind his helm. Noticing the gift notification he nodded, once again he managed to fall short before ending an enemy. It would have felt rather nice to get a boss kill under his belt, even if it was mostly Calrex. looking for any other enemies he shrugged and turned to the man. "Another go?, or should we wait for our energy to regenerate?"

[Calrex 0]

(2 Posts Remaining Until Full Energy Recharge, 1 Recovered / 35 Remaining)

Calrex gave a nod as his protege extracted himself from the sand, dusting his arms off as he gave a calming breath, "Hm...let's go ahead and let our energy recover first/ I've got more than enough reserves to spare, but I'd prefer we take the safe approach and be back at full charge before we attempt any other battles."

"With that Tak should have an item that will help boost his mitigation by a bit. If he's working on the tank side of his build first, this will certainly assist him."

"I have a feeling if we stick around here another larger shark should eventually spawn and target us. That was what happened to me the last time I soloed this quest. It certainly wasn't the most pleasant encounter, but it wasn't any more difficult than this one would be."

[Takneil 0]

Energy: 8/11

"Alright cool" Taking a seat on the ground, not before checking if it swallow him again. Takneil took off his and let out a exhausted breath. "yeah, it's better to be safe than sorry." watching his energy bar regenerate he looked off into the distance. It was hard to think that this wasn't his real life anymore, he felt like he was a new person than who he used to be. A lowly boy always beaten on and constantly loosing everything he cared about, but now?. It seemed it was the opposite in Sword Art Online, he was strong, he made close friends, and he could fight back against those who would harm him. 

Forming a curious look he turned his eye towards his Mentor. "Hey?, if you don't mind me asking...what was the outside world like to you?"

[Calrex 0]

(1 Post Remaining Until Full Energy Recharge, 1 Recovered, 36 Remaining)

"The outside world, well, to be honest, I think I had it pretty good for the most part..."

Looking over he addressed his pupil's inquiry. It was certainly something he constantly looked back to whenever he was with Teayre, or anyone else that seemed to have a rough life outside of SAO. "To be honest, my life was for the most part fairly ordinary. I had a decent upbringing, no mental scarring from my parents or relations all though my childhood up to now. Graduated college and got a job at an IT company. In some ways, my life was almost painfully uneventful before this, heh."

"I guess that's why sometimes when I encounter those that are doing something I would consider extreme it feels like I should probably hold my tongue, since I haven't experienced what they've been through. I'm not an empathetic person, so I can't really synergize my emotions to them other than what they're openly expressing."

"If we were to get out of this game even now, I would highly doubt much of my life would be any different. The only things that might change would be my employment and possibly my current living situation."

Turning to face Takneil he gave a friendly nod, "How about you?"

[Takneil 0]

Energy: 9/11

Running a hand through his mismatched hair he sighed "So you had a fairly laid back life huh? I'm kind of envious." he stated. He had completely expected a different story from Calrex but it seemed even people like him can be changed due to Sword Art Online, at least he had gone down a road the boy could admire. 

"me?" he asked a little surprised. Taking a deep breath he laid a hand on the patch that covered his right eye, it was a sensitive subject for him but he could trust the man. After all he was his mentor. "I'm not going to go through all of it. I would normally, but we simply don't have the time." taking a moment to choose his next words carefully he nodded. "in recent years, just before SAO I managed to lead a rather normal life. But before that, well...I seemed to draw out the bad in people. just my presence was enough. It started with my parents, I can't remember a time when they didn't abuse me. It was minor of course, a few scratches here a few bruises there. Stuff that was easily covered up, but then it spread to my school. The teachers turned their heads as kids picked on me, and I was the one that was pointed out as being the one who instigated it. It wasn't long before I dropped out of school, I didn't inform my parents and when I left in the morning for the bus I went to the library instead. When they found out..." hesitating he removed his hand from his eye patch, he could still feel a slight pain from when his parents had tore out his eye. Shaking his head he sighed. "Let's just say that I don't wear this eye patch for show, but I managed to escape that life. I took shelter with a new family, so that part of my life is over. After that well, you know. Wound up here"

[Calrex 0]

(Energy Fully Recovered)

"Is it just me, or has pretty everyone and their mother other than me been through some kind of abuse before they got trapped in SAO? Did it just attract those looking for some kind of escape?"

As the thought passed through his mind Calrex closed his eyes and gave a sigh as he listened to Takneil's story. In some ways, the boy's past reminded him a lot of what Teayre had been through, "Maybe the way I am just attracts these individuals? Well, I'm not about to start reading too far into it."

With a calming breath Calrex gave a nod, "Well, I don't really have words for what you've been through before this, but I'm glad to hear that so far things are going well with your new family. Hopefully whatever it was that caused you that pain will be long gone by the time we get out of here. I can't guarantee things will be better or worse once this is all over, but hopefully the person you are that the things you learn from your encounters in here will strengthen you to be able to stay strong in the face of any adversities you may come across back in the real world."

Looking up at his energy bar Calrex saw that it had fully replenished as he scanned the expanse, "In any case, let's see if we can fit in one more battle before we get heading back to the settlement. Your energy should be back to full in a couple of seconds, so once you're ready I'll attract our next foe."

Edited December 17, 2015 by Calrex

[Takneil 0]

Energy: 10/11

Nodding he offered a smile. "It's fine, I wasn't looking for pity. though you are right, so far I've become a stronger person than what I would have become outside of here." standing from the sand he took a final breath before placing his helm on his head once more. Turning towards his mentor he couldn't help but smile. "I'm glad you do what you do Cal, going out of your way to help people. People who otherwise have no where to turn to. That's a unique quality to have and one that I aspire to..." 

Feeling movement under his feet Takneil swiftly drew <<Stinger Edge>> and fell into a battle stance. "Now enough of this sappy stuff, it's here. Oh and I don't think it matters if I'm ready, that thing isn't gonna wait any longer." he joked as he waited to strike.

[Calrex 0]

ID: 42468
Battle Dice: 3 (Accuracy +3) = 6 (Disregarded Due to Howl)
Mob Dice: 10 (Evasion +4) = 6 (+2 Damage)
<<Howl>> Activated (+3 Hate to all enemies)

"Heh, I'm glad you think it's still a good idea, but don't think it's entirely out of the goodness of my heart. The more people we keep alive, the more people we can add to the frontlines, and the faster we can clear these floors. It's a small investment on my part that I simply hope will pay off later on."

With a friendly smirk he gave a nod as Takneil said he was ready, "Yeah, let's save that stuff for the safe zones. Here we go."

Looking he saw the large movement in the sand coming towards them. Extending a hand he motioned for his protege to move to the side before he raised the Grand Blade high, activating <<Howl>> as he unleashed the monstrous roar that was produced by his aura and armor combined.

As he finished the skill he looked and saw an even larger shark leap from the same, clamping down on his shoulder. Gritting his teeth Calrex quickly turned his body, releasing the shark's bite as he kept his eyes on the creature. Most likely that attack would have ended him back when he didn't wear armor, but with his grandmastered Heavy Armor skill it was reduced to negligible effect.

"Looks like the big catch is here. Let's take it down and get going!"

HP List
(Hate: 0) Takneil: 44/44
   Energy: 10/11
(Hate: 3) Calrex: 276/277 (50+2 DMG - 60 MIT = 1 Minimum DMG)
   Energy: 53/53

Enraged SandShark
HP: 200/200
DMit: 50
DMG: 50

Edited December 18, 2015 by Calrex