[PP:F7] Temple Secrets [KoTB- Magda, Calrex, Greg Baxen]

[Opal 0]

As she had been in Nimbus many times before, it was also the place that she hunted down Calrex while on her training. The two had not formally seen one another in a long time besides the previous engagement at the funeral of their mutual friend. The woman sighed and placed a hand over her head as she cleared the wisps of hair from her crystalline eyes. The floor seemed to be a sort of mixed melancholy with her overall attitude as the days of the floor boss were approaching. Stifling a small yawn from her tired body, the woman scanned over her equipment to make sure everything was in check for their expedition. She had mused of a certain Phantom Spirit the last time she was here with Calrex, hopefully nothing such as that would prove to be seen yet again. She had not the time or patience for such things. 

Edited April 6, 2016 by Opal

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg had been in the general area of floor 7, wandering around, looking for means to increase his level. It was at this point that he discovered Opal, Vice Commander of his guild, the <Knights of the Blood Oath>, standing around waiting for someone, or so he assumed. He approaches the Vice Commander. "Oh, Vice Commander Opal!" He calls out as he approaches, saluting as a sign of respect once he reaches where she's standing. "What brings you here?" the boy asked. He was curious. What WAS Opal doing here? "Are you waiting for someone?" He asked.

[Magda 0]

“Telport Nimbus!” The transition was quick but Magda was slowly becoming accustomed to the ordeal. The redhead emerged from the teleportation circle clad in white and crimson armor from the neck down. Her shield and hammer were kept at the ready but weren’t equipped just yet. She looked around at the stone structures around her. This was Nimbus, the main settlement on the Seventh floor. She’d been here once before so it was nice to get to revisit it. She was rather awestruck over just how much heavily this placed resembled a mighty fortress. A fortress built into a mountain like this one had was one that would survive the tests of time and battle. At least that’s what went through her mind and she always adored the fantasy novels she grew up on, even if she didn’t have a lot of time to read them in her most recent years.

She wondered through the village as she looked through her gear to ensure she had everything she needed. When she finally spotted the Vice Commander the redhead gave a hearty wave and a wide grin. “Vice Commander! How’re you doing today?” She walked over and looked around. Magda always managed to arrive early when she was invited to group up with the others. She idly pondered over who else would be joining them for this venture. Which is why she was rather surprised to see that someone else had beat her there. Her gaze shifted to the blond that seemed to be talking with the Vice Commander. When Magda got closer she just offered the two a wide grin and folded her hands behind her back. She idly pondered if this guy would be joining them and if so would anyone else.

[Calrex 0]

"Guess I'm getting back at it after all..."

As his avatar materialized on the seventh floor in the settlement of Nimbus Calrex gave a small sigh as he ruffled some of the hair on the back of his head. The floor held many memories to the Ultramarine Knight, particularly ones of interesting adventures through the mountain range. The most recent was when he, his protege Takneil, and the boy's good friend Hikoru all went exploring through the temples, only to be chased by another spectral apparition, "I guess this floor is just full of these types of creatures..."

Swiping on his menu he pulled up the position of the woman who had invited him on the excursion, Opal. He had certainly not seem the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath since the floor 14 boss fight. Shaking his head the bluenette, making his way over with his hands in his jacket pockets. Upon getting closer he saw two others were apparently along for the excursion. Giving a small sigh he looked forward with a small smile, raising his hand in greeting.

[Opal 0]

"Ahh, Greg! I guess you didn't see my guild announcement in the PM. Well, since you are here, I guess you can say I was waiting for you! We'll be going on a dungeon dive in the ruined temples in the mountains along with--" It was then that the fiery Amazon, Magda had showed up. Opal smiled, she had been taken an interest in these dives and that was a good place to start to get more power. Opal only hoped her scouting could prove to be useful for the others here. 

"With the guild being as massive as it is, I guess we haven't all had a chance to get familiar with one another yet. Magda, this is Greg Baxen. Greg, this is Magda. Mack's twin sister! Haha..." Opal laughed, still it was hard to believe they were related. There was uncanny similarities sure, but there was also a wide of differences between the two. None too soon did she spot the Ultramarine Knight, although there was a melancholy smile on his face. She felt that pain and she was sure after the loss of Azide and the funeral, things would be ever more so difficult. CLearing her throat, "Thank you, Cal for taking up the offer to do some exploring. I know the wounds are still fresh here and we got to get ready for a boss soon. Hopefully we can get back on track and not let Azide's death go in vain. He would want me to fight harder and stronger so we can all get home safe and sound." Although she bit her lip, there was a mysterious puzzle surrounding Azide and her last chat with him. 

She shook the thoughts, "Well, Cal. I am not sure if you have yet had the pleasure to meet Magda, this is Mack's twin sister. And this guy here is Greg. I know you are not part of the Knights of the Blood Oath and I respect your wishes to be a solo player so I won't ask. I seem to have got slapped in the face so to speak at a meeting when I attempted to recruit Takao and Oikawa. Well, then. With that in mind, I suppose since we have a weird level gap between us all, we'll just stick with minor mobs until we can get to the mountains. There is no reason to over exert ourselves. So I'll lead and you all follow?" 

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg nodded. "I've been wanting to level up and grow stronger, so I can fight on the frontlines to protect people. That's why I joined the KoB in the first place, isn't it?" It was then that Opal introduced him to Magda, Mack's twin sister. "Mack... I think I saw him at the Hot Springs party." Greg said, remembering the sheer chaotic nature of the party, and how he simply stayed out of it. After that, Calrex showed up.  He looked somewhat upset. Supposedly, as Opal had stated, due to the death of another player. Greg hadn't seen Calrex in a while, but didn't want to bother him if he was upset. He did, however, respond to Opal introducing him to Calrex. "We've already met." he said. "When I was lower level, he was one of the people who helped me level up." Greg explained, before wondering what she meant about the 'weird level gap'. "What are everyone's levels, anyway? I'm level 20 right now."

[Magda 0]

Magda didn’t notice the blue haired man’s arrival at first due to being focused on both the Vice Commander and the blond that was next to her. While the Vice Commander spoke Magda just listened along with a grin. When she introduced the blond as Greg, Magda smiled and offered her hand to shake his. “Nice to meet you Greg,” she said but was quickly distracted when the Vice Commander cleared her throat. She spoke to someone named Cal and that was when she first took note of his arrival. Her grin faltered slightly when she got a good read on their expressions and due to what the Vice Commander said. Her grin didn’t vanish entirely but she did remain quiet once she heard her Vice Commander speak of Azide’s death. The way the Vice Commander bit her lip did cause Magda to worry a little but it didn’t seem to keep the woman down for long.

The Vice Commander made the introductions so Magda reached out to shake Cal’s hand. “Nice to meet you,” she said briefly after the Vice Commander finished speaking. She didn’t know what happened at the meeting but it didn’t sound good in regards to Takao and Oikawa. Magda grinned despite being reminded of the level gap and suddenly beamed at the Vice Commander. “Sounds like a plan to me.” When Greg asked what her level was she deflated a bit but didn’t hesitate in saying, “I’m level nine.” While it was true she was the lowest level here she didn't let it get her down. Instead she just grinned and placed her hands on her hips. "But that'll be changing soon since my goal is to fight on the front lines. I have a lot to do but I am never one to shy away from hard work."

[Calrex 0]

"A pleasure to meet you Magda, and good to see you both doing well."

Calrex gave a friendly smile as the introductions were exchanged. Keeping his hands into his jacket pockets the bluenette did his best to suppress the depressing emotions that had overcome him most of time since Azide's death, "Now's the time to focus and keep these guys safe."

"As for levels Greg, heh, well, you can guess I'm still trying to keep my pace. Right now I'm level 61. In any case, sounds good to me Opal. Of course if we meet any particularly difficult creatures, I should probably take point in order to gain the aggro."

Swiping on his menu the Ultramarine Knight made sure his gear was ready before gently resting his left hand at his side while his right calmly grasped the Grand Blade II.

Looking over as Magad finished speaking the bluenette gave a nod and a calm smile, "It's good to see your energy Magda, however as a regular member, don't be in too much of a rush there. As Opal can attest, once you make it, your daily life will not really be the same as now. Savor this time working your way up, and try to experience as much of this world we're stuck in outside of combat. There will always be a need for frontliners to push through the floors, but your time is precious."

[Opal 0]

"Sixty-One!?" Opal almost jumped from the number, "Must be eating your wheaties." she said with a small chuckle. In anycase, the daylight hour was burning and they had more important venues to venture into such as the next dungeon. It was good that at least Cal and Greg knew one another, that made things easier to scope out and there didn't seem to be any hatred between the four of them so the group would get along well. WIth a brush of her hair from her dainty fingers, the woman glided her nails over her forehead to sweep the locks of blonde from her eyes. Summoning her odachi, the woman shifted the blade over her shoulder and started to walk them out of Nimbus. 

"I figured since we have odd level gaps, and I know I already touched on the subject, it might be best if we steer clear away from mobs until we get to the dungeon itself. This way we can save on energy and not waste it. We'll get plenty of experience and skill points from the dungeon boss itself so it won't be a lost cause." Opal made her suggestion to the group as they continued out into the mountainous world of floor seven. She looked back to make sure everyone was following closely, yet she had this odd pain in her chest still. The events of the past seemed to weigh heavy, but as she found out as a front liner, you couldn't dally too long with emotion. That was something you had to bury inside if you wanted to survive.  

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg greeted Magda as she greeted him. "Same here. I hope to enjoy working with you and the other knights." It was then that Greg heard Calrex say his level, and in all honesty? Greg's jaw almost dropped. "Jeez! I knew you were really strong, but DAMN! Sixty-one?! That's really, really high!" Greg exclaimed. Before he could praise Calrex for being such a high level, though, Opal explained the plan. "That sounds like a good idea. Even low-levelled mobs can be dangerous, and even if they aren't, you're absolutely correct in saying we should conserve energy for the boss."

[Magda 0]

Magda’s jaw practically dropped when she heard Calrex announce what his level was. “Sixty one?!” Magda shouted in echo of Opal’s own surprise. Her mood was a little dampened when the man instructed her to enjoy her time progressing to being front-line ready. She didn’t mind the fact that she’d be constantly in battle, or at least that’s what she thought. The only way for her to truly know would be when that time finally arrived. Opal’s suggestion to avoid any fighting until they actually found the dungeon received a delayed nod from Magda. The Vice Commander’s reasoning was sound actually and in any fight conditioning was important. If a fighter became too fatigued early on then they wouldn’t make it in a prolonged fight. “That's an idea I can get behind. We can't exhaust everything we have too quickly after all.” For now Magda would simply follow along with the others with a grin on her face.

[Calrex 0]

Calrex felt a bead of sweat form on the side of his head as he saw the expressions of surprise and disbelief on all three of his teammates faces, putting a hand behind his head, "That bad? Heh, well I have been hard at work as usual. I can't be the highest level player in all of Aincrad if I didn't have the highest level right?"

A casual smile came to his face before giving a nod to Opal, "Sounds like a good idea to me. We definitely want to conserve our energy if we're going to be taking on dungeon monsters. There may be a point we might not be able to regenerate energy at a decent speed, so we'd best proceed with caution."

"Well, caution is something I always try to keep a focus on, but it wouldn't be surprising if I let myself slip when on my own. Being a high level can definitely make one cocky, especially if you can avoid and endure most attacks without requiring assistance. But it can get a bit difficult to find motivation to continue training when you're just going through the motions time after time."

[Opal 0]

Everyone was surprised by the answer Cal had given them on their level, Opal had know the player to be something of a power leveler, but that was ridiculous. She had been running dungeons for a little while now and still she could not match his impressive pace. She sighed and laughed lightly, tendrils of white falling from in front of her face. With her hand she pushed back those strands behind her ear and looked back and smiled at her small group and the player that wa Calrex. He always seemed to be alert, but also so very deep in thought. Perhaps his mind was on Teayre, that woman had yet to do the redemption quest as far as her knowledge and her safety when not with Calrex might be weighing heavily on his mind.

"I am sure she is alright, Cal." The woman said in service to him, she had not known what he was thinking, but surely she must be weighing heavily on his mind. The female continued to lead the group towards the ruined temples. With avoiding the mobs, they were making good time and with plenty of sunlight left in the day. They could clear a lower level dungeon no problem if they kept up with this speed and that was Opal's plan. 

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg scratched his head, before shrugging. "Well, what are we waiting for? Shouldn't we be looking for a dungeon right around now?" Greg questioned. Surely they had waited long enough, hadn't they? "I, personally am eager to get started ASAP so I can begin levelling." He continued. "After all, if we take things too slowly, we'll die of old age before we reach the end of Aincrad." He finishes.