PP - F7 Meteor Radiation (Sub-Dungeon Exploration) (Oikawa, Tristan)

[Calrex 0]

As Calrex materialized on the seventh floor he gave a small exhale as the teleportation animation completed, putting his hands into his jacket pockets, "Whelp, another day, another chance to look for a dungeon."

Moving through the settlement of Nimbus he looked skyward to see that his blue peregrine falcon familiar, Roc, had opted to take a higher flying position, giving the bird of prey a larger view to observe. Winding through the streets of the settlement it didn't take long for the bluenette to arrive at the gates leading out of the safe zone. Swiping on his menu he browsed through his contacts, landing on one of the two individuals he considered to be close friends and confidants, closer than even he and Ssendom had become over the various encounters he and the brunette nicknamed "Dreadnaught" had recently gone through.

"I wonder if Oikawa's busy right now. He would probably benefit from some more skill points. It's too bad the Black Iron Palace wasn't a dungeon in itself. As well I haven't seen Tristan in a while. Might as well see how they're both doing"

Sending out a quick message to both individuals the Ultramarine Knight moved over to a nearby bench, sitting down and awaiting "The Faint" and "Invincible Warrior"'s replies.

Edited January 18, 2016 by Calrex

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan yawned as he rose from his bed, scratching the side of his face more out of placebo than anything else. Ever since getting married he had been rather content wi how the world went, to an extent losing focus of the completion of Aincrad. Well, it wasn't like he was weak, despite the opportunity to grow stronger, but he had just been rather tired as of late of it all.

Ping, he got a message. Tristan raised an eyebrow and opened up his menu. Dungeon exploration. Tristan gave a lopsided smile, this sounded like it could be interesting. Alright, why not?
Tristan rose out of bed, yawning and getting himself dressed together and the like. After having done so, he went out to where Calrex said he was to meet, so that they could hopefully find a dungeon to clear.

[Oikawa 1]

Soft light peered through the blinds. The illumination only slightly affecting the blonde's sleep as he tossed about in his bed within the Guild Hall. The pinging notification caused him to jolt up, sweat dripping from his brow as he did so. Heavy panting escaped him as he wiped the sweat away. Another nightmare? That's the third one this week, thought the blonde.

Shaking his head, he rolled out of bed. Careful not to step on the sleeping leopard at the foot of his bed, he cleaned himself up and returned to the bed; taking a seat as he did. Opening the menu, he selected the message and browsed its contents. Hmmmm, a dungeon? I've yet to tackle one of these. I guess it wouldn't hurt. Typing out his response, he sent it off before getting ready and awaking the leopard still napping about.

Once fed, dressed, and equipped, the two headed out the hall, and made their way to the teleportation gate. The bright effects appearing then disappearing as he and King materialized on the seventh floor. Bringing up the menu once more, Oikawa selected the friend tracker while choosing Calrex to track. Leading him through a series of twists and turns, the blonde realized he could've just followed the blue circling falcon as Calrex was sitting just beneath Roc. Approaching the bench, the Azure General took a seat next to him and sighed. "Dungeons. This ought to be fun no?"

[Calrex 0]

Not long after he had sent the message out Calrex looked back in the direction of the teleportation circle to see that both of his companions had arrived. First came Tristan, whom was easy to spot in a crowd due to the man's sheer height, as well as the long fiery red hair and massive shield. Second was Oikawa, who was just as easy to spot. The bluenette made note of the fact that this time around the blonde had brought along his leopard cub companion, King.

Seeing a familiar animal face down below Roc quickly descended back to the ground with his hunting swoop, accelerating to a speed that even the fastest <<Charge>> users wouldn't be able to keep up with. As he got close to the ground the peregrine falcon quickly pulled up to break his decent, flapping a few times to gently touch the ground.

Getting to his feet Calrex gave a nod to both as they arrived, "Hey guys, glad you could make it. Ready to get started?"

He was already geared up in his most balanced array of gear, with the Grand Blade II being strapped to the back of his hip. Attached to the end was the Amethyst Charm, while the Tide Pendant loosely hung from his neck. Lastly, the Grand Dragoon pauldrons and poleyns were attached to his shoulders and knees, fitting over his casual combat outfit.

Directing them towards the gates he began to walk, "How have you guys been? It's certainly been a while, heh."

Edited January 19, 2016 by Calrex

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan noticed that Calrex had some new equipment from the crowd, though they remained as short as ever, something that probably couldn't be fixed with equipment. Maybe they should go to a tailor and get platform shoes to make their figure stand out more...Tristan waved aside the thought, finding that mental image far too amusing. Moving back to the matter at hand, Tristan smiled and waved at the two. "Greetings. It has been indeed a while. I supposed while having a peaceful married life is nice, I can't let myself get too rusty on the field either.".

He noticed the two familiars having their exchange, which reminded him that we wanted to get one too. His only issue was lack of ways to boost his searching number which could make it difficult to find. He should maybe visit an artisan soon for something like that. Returning to the matter at hand, Tristan looked at them and said "So, I'm ready to go when you two are.".

[Oikawa 1]

His peripheral vision quickly picked up on the arrival of the crimson haired tank he knew all to well. Shifting his gaze from the familiars to the approaching player, Oikawa grinned as Tristan greeted them. "Married life hehe. Forgot you settled down Lord Womanizer," teased the blonde. "Jokes aside, I've been a lot better as of late. I'm getting back into the swing of things, albeit at a slow rate, but progress nonetheless. What about you Cal? I haven't really chatted with you since my official return." King slowly crept behind the group, as Calrex led them to the town's exit.

Brandishing his Unique sword, Amphibian Teeth; he quickly checked over the rest of his gear. The vanity cloak that remained equipped at nearly all times, his shield Raikiri II, and non-vanity version of his Citrine Badge. The gear suited a more PvP style of combat, but functioned well for a solo player as well. Which for the most part, the blonde was a solo player despite his rank and title within the Azure Brigade. 

Having confirmed his equips, he focused on the task before them, dungeons.

[Calrex 0]

Upon Tristan's arrival Calrex gave a nod and a small laugh, "Well I'm sure you'd be just fine even if you and Flints went on a honeymoon for a few months with the gear and skills you have. I think of the three of us I'm the one that can't really slack off for a second for fear of falling behind."

Looking over at Oikawa the bluenette took note of the fact that the man nicknamed The Faint was sporting the badge he, Teayre, and Calrex himself all bore, the representation of their own little group that crossed all guild borders, the symbol of the Spectrum Coalition. At this point it had been some time since the Ultramarine Knight had thought of adding anyone to the unofficial group's numbers, and to some level it almost seemed like a legend among the players to some level. While not carrying as much reputation as the Azure Brigade, he did occasionally hear about lower level adventurers hoping to seek out the "ghost guild." The thought always gave Calrex a laugh, "Well, I've been pretty much doing exactly what I've been up to since before you went into isolation. The only difference from then and now is that I'm actually sleeping regularly."

This fact did indeed ring true. The last few times Oikawa had seen Calrex in the past, the sleep deprivation showed rather clear on his face. Back then his normally light skin bore dark circles beneath his eyes, and on occasion he lost the strength to swing his sword at full power. Now it seemed he was back to his usual self.

Walking alongside his two fellow dungeon explorers the bluenette figured he should pass on what he knew of the dungeons, since it seemed neither Tristan nor Oikawa were aware of how the dungeons functioned, "We'll need to get a good distance away from the settlement's gates before the dungeon has a chance of being discovered. Most likely we'll need into viewing range of the temples. Once we do it's a random chance on what level of difficulty the dungeon is. I completed one on my own in the past on the fifth floor, but I have a feeling that was probably a low level dungeon. With the three of us hopefully we'll be able to find a high level one to gain some extra experience from it."

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan laughed at the jest Oikawa gave about being a womanizer. "I'm not entirely sure what it is that causes people to flock in various manners, be it friendship or further, though I suppose there is a definite sense of security that comes with being married. Plus I won't be everyone's fan, I've had a fair few people have a more negative disposition of me, such as the pink haired Mari. However, that is partially my fault for things in the past, so I'll just roll with it.".

"And Calrex, you're more than enough of a player as is, in the gaming aspect." he chuckled, with the other meaning having been the previous topic at hand. "After all, your damage output is of high class, certainly more than many players. I on the other hand am far more limited in my role. Anyhow, let us get back to the matter at hand, which is clearing the dungeon. I do hope it is a high level one too, since with you and I, our defences are more than adequate.". Tristan gripped his shield, as he felt the security of holding it.

[Oikawa 1]

The blonde nodded and chuckled in response to Tristan's comment. After Calrex gave them a quick rundown of how the dungeons worked, Oikawa turned to Calrex and Tristan and gestured for them to lead the way.  Remembering a string of words the bluenette had used earlier, Oikawa quickened his pace to match his. "You mentioned how you have no room to slack off for fear of falling behind, yet you are one of the strongest players in Aincrad among the unique players despite not having any of your own. How far behind do you really think you are when its so clear you're carving a path ahead?" Though he didn't intend to show it, the blonde was rather jealous of his long time friend's ability to not only persevere and surpass but his ability to remain optimistic in such times. A feat the Azure General wish he had completed. But rather than take on the challenge and embrace it, he ran away. A coward among men who have yet to run away from the dangers. Sighing he shook his head and continued to walk.

[Calrex 0]

Calrex listened attentively as both of his teammates gave their two bits as to the bluenette's own concern for his strength as he gave a nod, "Yeah, I see what you mean, heh. I just might be overthinking it or something. Thanks. In any case, you're right, back to the dungeon finding. We'll still need to cover a good distance before we have any chance of finding one. Sometimes they might even be simple entrances. A couple times now I've fallen into or activated a mechanism for discovering one. With any luck we'll be able to find a high level one that we can train within, in any case."

As the trio continued on the gates of Nimbus became a small dot in their line of view. Ahead of them was more and more mountainous terrain, with the cloud above being low enough to touch the tips of the mountaintops. "Once we get into sight of the temples that litter the floor we might be in a suitable location for a dungeon to appear. Let's just hope we don't run into too many distractions along the way. Although it seems with our current level most of the monsters on this floor are avoiding engaging combat with us."