[PP - F5] The Climb, Pt.1 (Mack)

[Takao 0]

«Floor 5»
6:25 AST

"How in the world did I get talked into this..?" Takao muttered to himself, rubbing his eye left eye slowly as a yawn escaped his throat. Perhaps he was a little more impressionable than he thought, or maybe Mack was just considerably more convincing than he had given him credit for, but the exact reasoning didn't matter to him much anymore. They had a hard day's work ahead of them, and starting early was the best way to get a jump on things. He settled into the sand, still cool from the previous night, and folded his arms. The desert floor was their starting point, and thankfully so. If Takao had to go trudging about in the blistering heat again for long, he'd likely go mad.

[Mack 0]

"You ready," the familiar rumbling tone of a red-headed blacksmith asked as he stopped near where Takao was resting. Using a bit of ingenuity, and the good will of a number of low-level players that he had helped out over the past few months, Mack had learned the general locations of a vast number of mini-dungeons spread across floors five through fifteen. However, to find those dungeons he knew he was going to need someone with Takao's knack for finding that which one was not supposed to easily find. Of course, thanks to his real world military experience, the axe man was used to early days and long days. He'd already been up and gone for a jog and, as he stood looking down at his emerald eyed companion for this vast endeavor, the bulky blacksmith was toweling off his face. 

[Takao 0]

Had Takao not been in a sleepy daze, the rumbling tone of his red-headed behemoth adventuring companion would've likely caused him to jump. But instead, his head rolled across his shoulders to face Mack. He slowly climbed up to his feet, grains of sand falling from his clothing to rejoin the massive collective. "I'm out of bed and here," He said, stretching his arms skyward as another yawn slipped out. "S'bout as ready as I'll get. Let's get goin', I wanna find this thing before the heat sets in. Otherwise you might end up draggin' me there and back." The dry cadence to his voice gave off subtle hints of him joking even though he was entirely serious. He didn't mix with extreme temperatures on either end of the spectrum.

[Mack 0]

"Agreed, I hate this floor. It would also be reason enough to slaughter this game's creator when I find him," Mack rumbled, lacing his fingers together and cracking all of his knuckles in one swift jerking motion. "The sooner we move on from this floor and the sixth the better. If only all of these dungeons were on the fourth floor, in the snow, that would be ideal. Cold is always better than hot," Mack continued, explaining for the benefit of his still sleepy eyed companion even as he returned the towel to his inventory. "You can always put on more clothing to be warm, but when it's hot there's only so much that can be removed before you're naked and still entirely too hot. Now, we need to head up along that mountain ridge over there, yes?"

[Takao 0]

"I was talkin' to one of the Brokers a few days ago about that, actually." Takao said as they walked, his thumbs hooking to the baldric across his chest that held his sword to his back. "'bout the same time I started searching for the dungeons. According to her, they don't even spawn below the fifth floor. Figures." He grumbled, shaking his head. Despite the fourth floor being in stark contrast to the desert themed tier of Aincrad, it was still far from his favourite. A nice change of pace in comparison surely, but Takao definitely preferred the floors with more mild climates. He shook his head and focused on moving. The faster they found the dungeon, the sooner they were moving on. "Yeah. There's a cliff on the far side that drops off. Supposedly there's a path leading to the dungeon's entrance."

[Mack 0]

"Sounds charming," Mack groused, following along in Takao's footsteps as the brunette led the way to their destination. From everything he had heard from the brokers and his contacts, the only way to find the truly spectacular dungeons was if you were partied up anyway. It figured, but then again the game was an MMORPG, so it made sense that a certain amount of teamwork would be required and things really did work out nicely when both players in that party had complimentary skills sets. Mack was reflecting on that when, quite suddenly, he chuckled. It had just occurred to him what their party make-up was in more classical terms. "You're the bard," he rumbled, chuckling again. "You know the lore, where the dungeons are, and how to find them. I swear, if you start playing an Irish jig..."

[Takao 0]

"I'm the what?" Takao asked, an eyebrow quirking upward as he turned his head and looked over his shoulder. His idea of a bard was likely skewed and different from Mack's, the typical roleplay game classes being lost on him. Growing up in the golden age of gaming technology meant that tabletop games had gone regrettably untouched. He thought them to be musical, constantly carrying around a lute and reciting poems whenever the opportunity presented itself. "You'd have to Jomei if you want somethin' like that. Homeboy doesn't jig." He said, chuckling lightly at his own choice of words. "Alright, so I'm the bard. What's that make you then?"

[Mack 0]

"Yes, that is the sort of thing that Jomei would do... I imagine," Mack continued, still chuckling at the revelation that had just come to him, the brilliant epiphany, that Takao was the tone deaf bard. Or, at least, Mack was reasonably sure that Takao hadn't selected the performer career. Still, other than the non-musical hang-up, which was just plain ironic, everything else seemed to be pretty spot on. "That makes me the warrior or the fighter," Mack said at last, as if that were the most plain thing in the entire world. "While we're on the job topic, I would really prefer no tunes while we search weirdly deep orc butts for treasure. What happens on the fifth floor, stays on the fifth floor. Agreed?"

[Takao 0]

Takao snorted out a laugh as he listened to Mack. "Bein' the bard sounds so lame, dude! They don't just run around with their flutes and make music, right? They can fight at least, yeah?" He exhaled a sigh and shook his head, a gloved hand running from his face and through his hair. "No complaints here. I'm not the musical type anyway," The brunet reached over his shoulder and grasped the hilt of his sword, swinging from the scabbard in a single swift motion. "The only thing I make sing is my steel!" His tone immediately adopted a bastardized European accent, sounding more like an intentionally terrible parody than an honest attempt. The laughing that followed helped to reinforce that idea. "...Please don't tell anybody I said that."

Edited March 24, 2016 by Takao

[Mack 0]

"Ah, young grasshopper," the ginger giant began, adopting an equally bad Chinese accent, like the kind in really bad kung fu movies. "If bard work very hard, bard can be big and strong, like fighter," the enormous blacksmith continued, settling one hand for the briefest of moments on Takao's head. "Big muscle, big weapon, big armor, the love of all women... these are what make the swordsman truly a legend. Now come," Mack continued, offering a deliberately buck toothed grin. "I will train you, and you will break all hearts everywhere." The axe man chuckled and dropped the act. "Are we even heading in the right direction?"

[Takao 0]

"Ouhh, sank yu, sensei." Takao said, holding back another fit of laughter as he sheathed the sword and bowed his head low. Bastardizing two accents in rapid succession, and one of them was even a terrible stereotype of his own ethnicity-- surely there would be retribution. It was fine though, he thought, being Japanese himself and all. As he straightened his back and Mack questioned their heading, Takao exhaled a comically exaggerated scoff. "Pff... Are we headed in the right direction, he asks..." Takao muttered, shaking his head as he pulled up the map once again to examine their route. His expression flat lined and he stopped, slowly shifted himself to face about ninety degrees to his right, and wordlessly resumed walking in the correct direction.

[Mack 0]

The axe man loosed a deep booming laugh as Takao suddenly stopped, did a right face, and resumed walking. "Not one word," he asked, arching an eyebrow and trying to refrain from making remarks about following a blind, tone deaf, bard. Or about how most of the rest of the world said it was others that followed big, dumb Americans as they blundered about and not the other way around. Crossing his arms over his chest, and still snickering quietly to himself, as the sun just began to peek over the horizon to begin offering light and bringing just an awful amount of heat with it, Mack continued to follow along behind Takao as the pair of them slowly began to make their way steadily upwards in elevation.

[Takao 0]

"You distracted me," Takao said, justifying his momentary lack of a sense of direction. The map hovered in front of him as he walked, small markers indicating their position on the fifth floor. "Totally your bad." A brief glance up from the map to confirm the location followed his words, and the menu was promptly closed afterward. "Alright, looks like this is the general area... and I don't see anybody around. Looks like we're either early or somebody's already gotten to it." He said, hoping that it were the latter. As the brunet ascended the dune, he found it to plateau at the top and suddenly drop off not far from that. The ground turned to more solid sandstone, providing some relief from the exhausting desert terrain. "See anything?"

[Mack 0]

"My fault," Mack asked, a slight tug at one of the corners of his mouth. "You're the bard, you're supposed to be able to find all these things in your sleep. I'm just the hired muscle," Mack rumbled as Takao tried to put the evil of their wrong turn on the warrior. Typical bard. Ascending to the top of the dune to stand next to Takao, Mack scanned the slowly coloring horizon to see what he could see. "Well, is that the path over there," he asked after a moment, pointing to what looked to be an almost imperceptible goat path that, nonetheless, seemed to take off on a winding course directly along the side of the cliff that would take them to their final destination.

[Takao 0]

"Yep, that's it." Takao said as Mack pointed out the path. It wasn't particularly wide, nor did it offer much space for combat, but he didn't expect there to be many enemies until they entered the dungeon itself. His eyes flashed and the green hues grew in vibrancy, adopting a mechanical appearance to them as he glanced over the sheer cliff. "Alright, let's see..." He mumbled to himself as he glanced over the walls. He stopped at a seemingly arbitrary point along the path and turned to the face the wall. A slight tap with the pad of his fist was all it took for the false wall to burst into pixels and reveal the entrance. "Hah. Easy."

- -

Advanced Dungeon found.

» ID : [[ 53024 ]]
» LD : [[ 30 (20 + 2(Vitamins) + 3(Hands of Midas) + 3(Search&Detect) + 2(Reveal)) ]

[Mack 0]

"Maybe you duel classed," Mack admitted after a few moments of watching Takao work to find the dungeon. It was always a bit of a miracle to watch the brunette swordsman at work. Mostly, this was because the ginger giant knew he couldn't hope to replicate Takao's ability to find these kinds of dungeons. At least, not yet he couldn't. "Bard/Thief isn't such a rare double classing," the soldier continued, surreptitiously patting down his money bag to make sure it was still attached to his hip even as Takao tapped a seemingly random spot in the cliff wall to reveal the dungeon's entrance. "After you, you disarm the traps. I kill the monsters." Unsheathing Invictus from his back, Mack shouldered the heavy axe and waited for his emerald-eyed companion to lead the way.

[Takao 0]

ID: 53066
BD: 3 + 3(ACC)
LD: 17 + 2(Vitamins) + 3(Hands of Midas)

Takao: 185/185 (33/45) [Sword Art: Sharp Nail 1*6*22=132 DMG] (13 Base + 4 Charge + 3 Damage Crystal + 1 Alcoholic)

Kobold Thief 1 -7/100 (Mit. 25) [132-25=107 DMG]
Kobold Thief 2 -7/100 (Mit. 25) [132-25=107 DMG]
Kobold Thief 3 -7/100 (Mit. 25) [132-25=107 DMG]
Kobold Thief 4 -7/100 (Mit. 25) [132-25=107 DMG]

11/15 Remaining

"Too bad I didn't take dagger instead of OHSS," Takao remarked as he peered into the entrance. Unlit torches lined the walls as the cave drew deeper, and instantaneously were lit aflame as Takao took the first steps into the cave. "Would've really completed the stereotype then. Anyway, I dunno what you're talkin' about with the "I kill the monsters" thing. Our strategy of me wipin' out the small ones on the way and you getting the big one at the end worked out the other day." He said as he pulled the blade from his back before moving any further inside. "Speakin' of." Takao muttered upon taking the first few steps inside. The reveal skill revealed the locations of a few hiding monsters, which Takao made short work of with a mid-level sword art.

Total Rewards:

8 Mats - Takao
4000 Col

Edited March 25, 2016 by Takao

[Mack 0]

ID: 53093
LD: 8 (No Mat)

"To be a true bard/thief you'd need to have your weapon somehow hidden inside of a lute or ukulele, or something like that," Mack rumbled with a slight chuckle. He followed along behind Takao as they entered the torch lit passage of the dungeon carrying Invictus easily over his right shoulder. If Takao wanted to use the same strategy as the one they had employed previously in clearing the dungeon on the ninth floor, well, that was perfectly alright with Mack. After all, that had all worked out alright in the end. Even if Mack hadn't quite made it look as easy tackling the Balrog as Takao had made it look in taking on the ankle biters.

Edited March 24, 2016 by Mack

[Takao 0]

ID: 53094
BD: 8 + 3(ACC)
LD: 11 + 2(Vitamins) + 3(Hands of Midas) + 3(Search & Detect)

Takao: 185/185 (22/45) [Sword Art: Sharp Nail 1*6*22=132 DMG] (13 Base + 4 Charge + 3 Damage Crystal + 1 Alcoholic)

Kobold Thief 5 -7/100 (Mit. 25) [132-25=107 DMG]
Kobold Thief 6 -7/100 (Mit. 25) [132-25=107 DMG]
Kobold Thief 7 -7/100 (Mit. 25) [132-25=107 DMG]
Kobold Thief 8 -7/100 (Mit. 25) [132-25=107 DMG]

7/15 Remaining

He hadn't even made it another twenty feet before the obvious signs of monsters ahead were revealed to him, courtesy of the skill by the same name. The white and black steel of the Inundator began to glow deep red, and three steps forward was all the more it took to annihilate the monsters. "Hm," He mumbled, snapping his off hand when the idea had finally come to him. "Hah, got it! I could call it my ukillele!" He said, chuckling to himself at the thought. Puns were his forte, even more so than grinding away at weak monsters and exploiting flawed systems. "I think I could dig that."

Total Rewards:

(+8)16 Mats - Takao
(+2000)6000 Col

[Mack 0]

ID: 53099
LD: 8 (No Mat)

Mack watched as Takao dispatched a second group of Kobold thieves. Kobold assassins. Whatever the kobolds were supposed to be. They were kobolds, no doubt they had a warlord hiding somewhere within the deeper reaches of the dungeon. A warlord that it would be Mack's job to slaughter without fear or mercy. "That's punny, you're a punny guy," Mack rumbled, cracking a small chuckle at the joke. As Takao was wrapping up with the second group of Kobolds, Mack again swiped his finger in the air and pulled up his inventory. Scrolling through, he selected Trooper's Respite and tossed the boots to the brunette. "Here, in case you need the energy recovery, or decide to help in the boss fight."

Edited March 25, 2016 by Mack