[PP-F5] An Unexpected Alliance (Opal) <<Butcher of The Sands>>

[Jomei 0]

After continuing a short distance down the way, the unlikely pair were met with some more resistance. The mummy-kind, just as last time. Jomei and Opal switched off once again, as she took the lead in the attack. With ease, the woman cut down the 4 mummies with a single sword art, leaving the bandage wrapped corpses to fall to the dirt before shattering like glass. Jomei simply watched from the sidelines, keeping his eyes open for the last couple of mummies to show up, so that the two could get to the boss and take it out. His olive orbs scanned the cavern, suddenly being drawn to a dark corner where he heard rustling and groaning. Seconds later, the remaining three zombies emerged, stumbling towards the platinum haired woman who had struck down their brethren. 

The Irishman dropped the rapier from his shoulder and held it once again at his side as he walked forward to stand in between Opal and the three mummies. Planting his foot into the ground, Jomei grabbed his sword in both hands and raised it up to take a stance similar to a katana wielder's ko gasumi stance. He let the three get into his range before he flipped the blade and cut diagonally down, then raising the sword back up in the opposite direction, forming another V shape. The two movements of his rapier were enough to wipe out the remaining three undead in one attack, and the three mummies fell backwards and turned back into pixels. Releasing his breath, Jomei sheathed his rapier and turned to Opal. "Thats it for them, lets get to the boss room."  

Jomei led the way forward for a short while through the dark cave, searching for what looked like an entrance. His eyes moved down to his feet as he though, "Opal, I have to ask. Putting aside what happened.. Zel and Dom's death, and.. what happened between us.. You could have killed me back there with no difficulty at all with your stealth skills. Its not like I play that big of a part here in SAO.. So why didn't you?" he stopped and turned to look at her with a stern face that matched his voice, "And don't give me a poetic and cryptic answer like you have been all day. I want the truth."

ID 67840
BD 6 (+4) = 10

Sweep: 2x13 = 26 dmg

Jomei: 184/184 (38/45)

x4 Mummy: HP: 0/20 || Dmg: 15 || Mit: 5

15/15 slain

 

[Opal 0]

Watching from a short distance, the woman's black curved smile was rendered to her face as Jomei struck down the last remaining mobs to the entrance of the Guardian's Room. Her eyes fell upon the ginger as he turned to her, a look on his face which seemed odd to her. There was curiosity behind his eyes and then he questioned her. No tricks, no plans of seduction. He wanted the truth from her as to why she didn't slay him out in the desert.

She sighed lightly and brought the Masamune from her hand as it dematerialized back into her inventory. She leaned against a wall of the cavern and brought her hands over her chest, "I don't suppose you'd let the question or subject just drop, would you?" she asked. The look in his eyes were those of wanting her answer. Her pale hand came up and swept the long violet strands from her eyes, "Would it change anything if I told you the truth? Or if there is any truth to anything I do. Why I do this, why I do that. Personal reasons. People are so easy to judge. I did not kill you Jomei, because...you are not part of my plans. Since you are not part of my plans, there is no reason for me to kill you. Do you understand that?" 

The woman shifted off from the wall and looked over her shoulder, "I am Opal of Laughing Coffin, I will kill anyone who stands in the way of my plans. That is the truth. And because I still have feelings for you." Her internal thoughts made her slightly sick to her stomach, to think of such things now, "I need some time before we push off to the next room. My energy is a little low..." The woman turned back around and folded her arms over her chest once more looking at the entrance of the door. 

<<ENR 1/3>>

--
Italics denotes personal thoughts. 

[Jomei 0]

Of course, her answer was still cryptic. He received no new information from the woman aside for the fact that she had a plan and Jomei was not part of it.  Something about her answer rubbed him the wrong way. 'He was not part of her plans.' Needless to say, if her so called "plan" was in fact a hit list, then he was happy to not be a part of it. However, trying to think in some sort of villainous way, he would think that those who live are part of the plans. All else who do not matter would be insignificant, therefore expendable. He stared into her violet orbs curiously before sighing and closing his eyes. "And I suppose you are not going to tell me what these, so called, plans are? Something to do with Laughing Coffin I presume.. Unless they are only part of the greater scheme of things in your mind." He did not expect her to answer that question, though the more information he could squeeze out of her, the better. 

His eyes wandered up to the status bar above him, marked by his name. Despite using only weaker sword arts to take care of the mummified enemies, he too could use a rest, especially being the two were in quite an advanced sub dungeon. "Agreed." He walked himself to the opposite side of the cavern and leaned up against the wall, taking a deep breath as he prepared for the silence that was to come of the two waiting. 

 

[Opal 0]

So far from what she could do, she was able to throw him off her scent so to speak. Jomei was still unknown to her plans that she had spoke of, but she wanted him to stay away from the importance of her own mission. The Laughing Coffin, for all intents and purposes, we fulfilling her wishes. If she had to decide on a team to play with, it was them that she would chose specifically for their unique and creative assets. Jomei didn't seem to pleased with her answer though, but he did not press the matter any further. Opting to stay at the opposite side of the cavern. 

Opal's gaze moved from the player to the sandy floor beneath her. She hated when people looked at her a certain way, it just made her blood boil uncontrollably. With both hands, they crashed upon her delicate face and moved up and down as she attempted to wake herself up. She leaned her head back against the wall and opened her mouth, "It's even hotter in here than it was out there. You know? We are just below the Butcher of the Sands quest marker. Have you done that quest yet? We can take down the Lizard if you haven't done the quest yet. I got some extra time to kill today, since I don't have any other personal engagements." The woman shrugged her shoulders, "Unless you just wanna get out of here. I'm kinda tired of looking at your face to be honest." But she wasn't being honest, she could look into his eyes for eternity and never have the desire to blink or look away. But that was something she would have to put to an end, the more she could hate the easier it became. If it became too difficult for her she could always...

--

ENR: 2/3

[Jomei 0]

When Opal paid no mind at all to Jomei's second question, he figured his assumptions were right. Could he blame her though? Depending on just what those plans were, she might think that Jomei could just turn and try and stop her right there. Jomei stared down at his boots, which were partly covered in sand, and listened to the echoing noises of the cave around them. The ginger chuckled when Opal made a comment about the temperature of the cave, "I was trying to ignore the heat, honestly. And Sando Satsu? No, I haven't taken that quest.. was hoping to at some point." She offered to help Jomei take out the Butcher after they finished here, which Jomei needed to think on for a moment. What reason did she have to help him, other than just having 'time to kill'. But, again, Jomei could see that she had no intents of ending his life, and seemed mostly genuine with him. Most of all, he needed that quest finished so he could level up and take on some more quests. "Yeah, I could use some help. As much as I did just want to get out of here.. if the quest is just right there, we might as well take care of it... Thanks." 

Jomei hated this. How someone who he held in such high regards, that was such a close friend to him, had dropped so low and murdered another one of his best friends. Unlike people like Dom or Lowenthal who, after their respective player kills, wanted people to see that they were still the same men.. Opal had completely changed for the sake of this, Laughing Coffin. His mind was boggled on whether to trust her or not, but something told him.. at least for the time being, he could. "You almost ready?" Jomei said, pushing himself up from the wall and rubbing his wrists. 

[Opal 0]

"You don't need to thank me." the woman said peeling her body off the cavern wall. Her hair sticking to the crag of rock before shuttling herself off of it as she gave the snow white strands a flick to cover her back and tightening the ponytail upon her head. The woman looked down at her menu and gave it a flick, the screen showed her inventory. Her violet eyes rolled and she enabled a one of her damage potions and tossed it towards Jomei, "Heads up," the reflective vial weaved into the and spiraled towards the ginger and his hands. 

The woman took another moment to apply the last one she had to her weapon which made the violet glow of her blade seem even more deadly looking. With her damage output buffed and her energy pools reflecting a full nature, she twisted her body and stretched for a moment giving the player opposite of her a quick nod, "Yeah. I'm ready on my side. And you don't need to be suspicious of that vial, its for your weapon, it's a rare damage buff. Should help out on taking out the Dungeon Boss as well as the Quest Boss above us when we exit." 

With that said, the woman swept her Masamune to the left and right, the glow of her blade humming lightly from the induced potion. She instinctively took Point in the formation, her violet eyes and hands tracing over the door of the guardian's stronghold as she bravely pushed it open. The air was stale as soon as the door creaked open, as if the dusty thing hadn't been opened in years upon years. These small effects made the game more genuine, but in the end, it was just a means to push forward and gain experience. Who cared about lore or history of the game? No one cared about that business as soon as they realized they were trapped here. It was just a numbers thing now, and really, that's all she cared for at this point as well. 

"Let's go."

Notes:
ENR: 3/3
Used 2 Dmg +4 Pots from Sig, Will Update when Jomei does his post

[Jomei 0]

As Opal peeled her body from the humid, stone wall, she swiped her hand upwards to open her inventory menu. Jomei watched her just to see what she was doing, as he reached across his body and wrapped his fingers around the red wrapped handle of Saint Andrew's Bane. As he yanked upward, the sound of the metal moving along its scabbard echoed through the cave until the ebony blade was fully emerged. The man looked at his own sword for a moment before hearing Opal call out to him. Turning his head, Jomei saw a small vial hurdling through the air towards the ginger. Reaching out his left hand, Jomei caught the glass bottle and observed it, being reassured by Opal that it was merely a damage potion and that he had nothing to worry about. With the vial in his hand, Jomei flicked the top open as if igniting a lighter and turned the mouth over so the contents poured over his rapier. As the liquid absorbed into it, the ebony blade began to give off a golden glow, similar to the one that would engulf his sword whenever using a sword art. Spinning the rapier in his hand twice, Jomei looked back over to Opal and nodded.

The two began their approach towards the boss door, Opal taking the lead. The man took a larger step forward so he stood by her side, rather than following behind her. "Right." Jomei replied back to Opal as he gripped his rapier and stepped forward, waiting for the guardian to appear. 

3/3 En Regen

+4 Damage Pot from Opal
+4 Damage Pot used.

New Damage: 17

[Opal 0]

The woman pushed the door open even further, allowing some light to trickle into the darkness as it cascaded into the gloomy room. One by one, torches were lit and illuminated the center of the battleground where it stood a giant of a man sitting on a throne of bones. But his fire and body were on fire it seemed. As they entered the room, the name of the Dungeon Boss was simply named Fire Lord and Opal gave a quick scoff at the name. With Masamune raised and poised, she declared she would take point to start things off. Without giving any time to prepare, the woman kicked off the dusty ground sending up a wave of granulated debris from her feet. The woman <<charged>> in with her weapon a glow from the damage pot, she would end this as quickly as it would start. Her blade trailed forward, all the strength and animosity she could muster as it swept over towards this Fire Lord. With a brimming laughter, he sat on his throne and raised his hand to catch the point of the Masamune blade, the fire around him ignited as he simply flicked the blade away causing Opal to up turn, twist and fall backwards a few feet.

However it seemed she had taken some damage from the NPC as well. But it was barely noticeable, her high mitigation for this floor and this boss would overcome his damaging attacks. She had no fear of dieing here, but hopefully Jomei had better luck than she did. 

<<Battle Engaged>>

Jomei: HP: 184/184
EN: 45/45
Sword Art:

Opal: HP: 192/193
EN: 46/48
Sword Art: Miss -2
 

Fire Lord: HP: 350/350
Dmg: 55

ID: 68051
BD: 1 [Fun fact, my last 3 combat rolls were 1s too.]
MD: 6

 

Edited September 17, 2016 by Opal

[Jomei 0]

The two found themselves fully emerged into the room, when torches began to light one by one around the battlefield. Once they were all lit, the boss could be seen sitting in the center atop a throne of skeletons. Jomei glared up at the boss, who seemed to be on fire as well, in relation to his name "Fire Lord." Opal immediately charged in with her katana at the ready, rather than taking on the boss as a team. Her attack proved to be futile, as the Fire Lord simply knocked Opal back as if she were nothing but a fly. His olive eyes widened for a moment, seeing someone as powerful as Opal knocked away as if she were nothing. Jomei, however, was not planning to let it do the same to him.

"My turn." Jomei said to himself as he took a couple of steps back and lowered his body before taking off at a swift pace. As he accelerated, more and more sand and debris kicked up behind him, even more so when he activated his newly improved <<Charge>> skill. Jomei saw the Fire Lord increase the amplitude of his flames to make it harder for Jomei to approach him. To counter his defense, Jomei stopped short from his run and launched himself like a bullet, right over the fire, and straight at the boss. In the air, Jomei turned his body so that his left shoulder was protruding out slightly more than the other one. He then felt his body collide with the Fire Lord, his shoulder crashing right into its chest. The Fire Lord began to fall backwards, being knocked off balance, which gave Jomei a chance to unleash his Over Radiation sword art. Pulling back his blade, it began to emit an even brighter gold color, and he slashed forward, the initial attack cutting straight across the Fire Lord's abdomen. Seeing that he was able to land his attack, Jomei unleashed a flurry of cuts and stabs, knocking the Fire Lord from its throne and onto the ground. 

As the boss crashed into the ground, Jomei finished his assault with one final stab into its body, before flipping off of the Fire Lord and hopping back towards Opal. "That wasn't enough to finish him, so you can handle the little thats left?" the ginger smirked and teased Opal.

<<Battle Engaged>>

Jomei: HP: 184/184
EN: 31/45
Sword Art: Over Radiation + Charge: 17(+3 Charge +1 Ferocity) x 14 = 294 dmg

Opal: HP: 192/193
EN: 46/48
Sword Art:
 

Fire Lord: HP: 56/350
Dmg: 55

ID: 68052
BD: 4(+4) = 8 hit

[Opal 0]

With her blow defected, Jomei had popped in and began his fierce attack. Somehow or another, in the time in between events unknown, this player had actually got a lot more powerful than she realized. The thrust of his blade, the power behind each of the strikes darting up the target with pinpoint accuracy and precision. The woman just allowed him to take care of most of the boss, which was simple enough to bring him down to a level she could finish off. With Fire Lord staggered, she did not give the NPC room to breath. She swept her blade off to the side and narrowed her eyes as she took a leaning step forward. Focusing on the movements, the Masamune began to glow eerily once more as it began the starting stage of her sword art. 

With a flash of light, faster than an eye could see, the attack happened, Opal had barely moved and inch save for her sword arm moving across her body. With a wild orange streak that seemed to go from head to toe, the foe Fire Lord was annihilated with a single strike of her blade. Albeit, he was weak enough to finish off with such a low ranking sword art. With his body perishing, the two were given a pop up notice that the dungeon was cleared and their collective experience had been shared between the two of them. The woman shifted on her leg when the ground rumbled and the exit to the cavern was made with a set of stony stairs leading up. Sand fell from the crevice as the ground had shifted, "I suppose all that is left is the Quest Boss. Thanks for the assist," she said with a smirk, not giving into the fact that he had done the 'heavy lifting.' 

<<Battle Engaged>>

Jomei: HP: 184/184
EN: 31/45
Sword Art: Over Radiation + Charge: 17(+3 Charge +1 Ferocity) x 14 = 294 dmg

Opal: HP: 192/193
EN: 43/48
Sword Art:  Tsuji kaze - 18x1x4  (4 Energy) = 72 Dmg

Fire Lord: HP: 0/350
Dmg: 55

ID: 68059
BD: 5+2
MD: 3
LD: 7+4= 11+5*100= 1600 Col [All Col goes towards Jomei for being a good sport]
6 Mats [ 3 each] 

OOC: You can start up the Quest Boss on your next post, or I can summon him on mine. Either or is fine. 

Edited September 17, 2016 by Opal

[Jomei 0]

Jomei watched as Opal tore the Fire Lord in two with one swift slash of her Masasume. Standing right next to her, he looked at the face of the once high and mighty boss as his eyes went lifeless. Once the boss was gone, Jomei shuddered. He just looked that boss in the eyes as Opal murdered it. He rubbed his eyes and sighed, he had been hanging around her for a bit too long. After the Fire Lord was no more, the two got a message saying that the dungeons boss had been cleared, in which they got their rewards, and the exit was revealed. Jomei chuckled at Opal's 'thanks' and decided to not fight her pride, "Sure." he simply said as he lead the way towards the stone staircase leading the two out of the dungeon. 

As they neared the top of the stairs, Jomei heard the sounds of the sandstorm still raging on above them. He furrowed his brows and continued forward onto the surface, only to see that they were in some sort of arena, the storm engulfing everything outside of the battlefield. Jomei looked around at the arena; it did not seem like one made for other to watch the spectacle, for instead of seating, there were rusted blades, spears, and other weapons stuck into the dirt, some blades pointing towards the sandy battlefield, others served more as mementoes of fallen warriors. "A.. pretty bad place to have the dungeon let out don't you think." Jomei said with pinched brows, a bead of sweat dripping from his cheek. 

Suddenly, from a dark dust cloud on the far side of the arena, Jomei noticed two large red eyes staring at them, followed by a blood curdling roar. They vanished for a moment as the entity that owned them jumped into the air and crashed into the sand in front of them. The beast rose to its feet, growling as it reached its peak height. The crocodile-like boss was armored, and wielded a half circle Glaive. "This is Sando-Satsu I presume.."

With similar motions to what he did before, Jomei launched forward, leaving nothing bust a gust of wind behind him. He made his approach at lightning speed and immediately started his attack once he was in range. Jomei threw everything he had into each blow, trying to cut this lizard down to size. However, its armor and thick skin made it a bit more difficult than the Fire Lord. As Jomei's blade crashed into the armored breast plate of Sando Satsu, it chuckled and decided to return fire with a single swipe of its glaive. Jomei's eyes grew large as the entirety of the blade cut open his chest, leaving a deep red and white gash from his lower hip, to his shoulder. The man was launched high into the air before crashing into the sand, his health deep into the red. Jomei began to breath heavy as he watched it drop. His eyes moved over to Opal, hoping she would be able to finish off the rest of it.. or he might not be making it out of the desert after all. The back of Jomei's head fell into the sand as he continued to struggle to breathe from the devastating attack. 

<<Battle Engaged>>

Jomei: HP: 34/184
EN: 18/45
Sword Art: Over Radiation + Charge: (17 + 3 + 1) x 14 = 256 (-20) = 236 dmg

Opal: HP: 193/193
EN: 44/48
Sword Art:  

Sando Satsu: HP: 114/350
Mitigation: 20 (30 After Jomei's attack)
Dmg: 100 (150 After Jomei's attack)
Sando Satsu ignores Block, Evasion, and Mitigation. But does not do bonus damage on a 9-10
-Cull of the Meek: On a natural roll of 10 he will spin with his weapon at maximum reach hitting everyone in the fight. He will gain 10 hp per person hit.
-Dominus: When he reaches 175 hp, he grows massive in size upping his damage to 150 and mitigation to 30 for the rest of the fight.

ID: 68072
BD: 5(+4) = 9
MD: 9

[Opal 0]

The woman followed close behind her unexpected partner in this particular scenario. Her eyes squinted from the blaring sun as her feet slowly made their way upwards towards the battle arena. The sun cast golden harsh rays of heat down on her body, causing her to make a sound of discomfort as she shielded her eyes and allowed her pupils to focus once more. With the blurred vision casting away with a few blinks, the arena seemed much more or less how it was before. This was her third time at this arena now, the first was with Azide, her feelings at the time were mixed but he had assured her that while he was there, nothing would come to harm them. Opal swallowed and looked to Jomei as the Sando Satsu ripped itself from the sky and appeared in the arena bellowing out an aggressive roar. 

The woman's hair was unfurled from the shattering blow of the ground as sand grains were kicked and disturbed by the NPC reptilian Quest Boss. No matter, this thing would not see much limelight. Popping her neck, she was unsure of who would be going first. It was only a moment's passing before she saw a blur of green and the ginger haired player crossing paths with the oversized troglodyte. Once more; accuracy, power and precision lay out before him as he dotted the create with striking thrusts and blows. To say in the least, rapiers had the more elegant of attacks in this game. Though him choosing such a weapon befitted his personality above all else. The gallant ones tend to do that, she thought towards herself. 

But her attention grew when the attack finalized and the monster reared an ugly blow crushing into Jomei sending him back into the sand. A look on her face showed she was worried, and quickly went down to his aid, "[censored], are you ok? This isn't good, Jomei. Something changed in this Quest Boss. It was never this difficult before..." the woman gulped, she could quite possibly lose him in this battle. That was the last thing she needed right now. A tight fist formed around her katana as she stood up by his side, "I'll take care of the rest, your life is much more valuable than my own. But that is not to say I am going to die here; there is too much at stake for my future. Our future." 

Eyes cast towards the vile creature; with the subsequent attack from Jomei's rapier, the monster grew double the size and hardier in numbers. Opal drew upon her blade once more calling out its name for help, "Masamune..." With a flurry of steps, she jumped and headed straight into the overbearing creature, her sword a lit with a glow of purple as she struck the creature with unrivaled fury. Her expression matched that of her animosity as she carved those wounds upon his flesh and armor, taking him down before falling into his corpse as it exploded into the final bits of its life extinguished from light. Taking in a deep breath, the woman exhaled slowly and turned around facing her companion in this weird turn of events. 

"Congrats on finishing the quest, but it seems our time here is nearly at an end. I'm not so much as a Bitch to leave you to rot out here. We'll both get to the safety of the safe zone and we'll part ways then." 

<<Battle Engaged>>

Jomei: HP: 34/184
EN: 18/45
Sword Art: Over Radiation + Charge: (17 + 3 + 1) x 14 = 256 (-20) = 236 dmg

Opal: HP: 193/193
EN: 30/48
Sword Art:    San Ge - 18x7x2 - (14 Energy) 252-30 Mit= 222

Sando Satsu: HP: 114/350
Mitigation: 20 (30 After Jomei's attack)
Dmg: 100 (150 After Jomei's attack)
Sando Satsu ignores Block, Evasion, and Mitigation. But does not do bonus damage on a 9-10
-Cull of the Meek: On a natural roll of 10 he will spin with his weapon at maximum reach hitting everyone in the fight. He will gain 10 hp per person hit.
-Dominus: When he reaches 175 hp, he grows massive in size upping his damage to 150 and mitigation to 30 for the rest of the fight.

ID: 68076
BD: 7+3 = hit 

Edited September 17, 2016 by Opal

[Jomei 0]

Jomei clamped his eyes shut as he gripped at his chest. No, he did not actually feel the pain from his body nearly being cut in two. But he was sure as hell imagining it as he realized just how close to death he was. He listened to see if he could hear the sounds of battle, to see if Opal continued the fight,  or left him to die. What happened next though, completely took him by surprise. Opal had come to his side to make sure that he was okay and not going to die on her. Jomei opened up one of his eyes to look at her, and he was shocked by the genuine look of concern on her face. The words she said to him, it reminded him of the old Opal.. before the killings, before Laughing Coffin, even before KoTB. My life.. more valuable than her own..? It all started to click, and she had only made it more obvious with her 'our future' comment. 

As Opal charged off to finish the Sando Satsu off, the man struggled to sit and and raise to his feet. He now knew that the Opal he knew was still in there, and he was not going to let her die. 

By the time Jomei had gotten to his feet and grabbed his rapier from the sand, Opal had already wiped The Butcher from the face of Aincrad. He was relieved to see it dead, it meant he was safe for now. "Opal, you..." he decided not to press it, for he wanted to keep that hidden side of Opal around to hopefully pull it back out for good one say. "Thanks for your help."  He chuckled, "today definitely didn't turn out the way I had planned.."

[Opal 0]

The woman slid her blade into the saya and looked at him with an uninterested look and shrugged her shoulders, "No problem, I guess. In any case. Let's get out of here. We have a long walk back and this sun is already ruining my complexion." It was just words to fill up the space of silence before long. With the arena and the ground clearing way of the quest area, it seemed like nothing more but desert sand grains for as long as the eye could see. Her eyes traversed over to Jomei and his health pool, "You know. We probably should have had a strategy before going in. But I didn't think that thing was gonna be so powerful. It nearly killed you with just one hit. The last two times I have been here, Sando was nothing compared to what he was now. I suppose the system updated the quest or something."

The woman gave an exhausted sigh, pressing her hand to her head and sweeping the violet colored hairs from her face which now began to sweat along with the rest of her body as they moved at a sluggish pace through the sandy desert. The sun did not help matters any and she no longer had any of those neat little potions to keep her body cooled down. Much like her previous experience, she just wanted a cold dip in a lake or something and relax for the rest of the day. Finding Jomei out here was probably the last thing she wanted, especially after taking the life of what he had once called friend. She was at this point, unredeemable. She knew exactly what she had done, but did not find it wrong in any context. They were harsh times, and in the future there would possibly be even worse. Her look showed that she was thinking, biting and gnawing on her bottom lip as she thought about what she had done. She nearly got herself killed for him, was there still a part of her that she wanted to keep alive even after all that she had said and done? 

"What a nuisance." She said out loud. She kept silent for the most part finding the strength to continue with this dry, arid heat on her. The woman's long white hair clung to her body from the sweat which gleamed along her pale body, she would attempt to fan herself, but barely had the energy to continue. Soon enough though, the safe zone was in sight and none to soon.

"Great. The safe zone is just a little ways ahead. Anyways, I suppose I should start off by saying something. You are a good man, Jomei. You keep that good heart on you and live. Next time we meet though, we might be enemies crossing blades against one another and I'll finish the job that Sando had started with." 

--

OOC: I think we can wrap things up if ya wanna end the next post. 3 Mats and the 4 SP is fine with me. Not hurting for the col. Dont forget your Quest Reward Item too. 

[Jomei 0]

Jomei smirked as he brushed the sand off of his clothes and held his hand over the rip in his chest, "Right, because every villain needs to have pale, pasty skin" he said, teasing Opal, forgetting about his own pale, Irish skin. As the two spoke, the desert storm that surrounded them slowly faded, revealing an opening in the barrier of weapons where they could escape from. The two slipped through the sharp blades and stepped back onto the regular desert. With no town in sight, he knew it was going to be another long walk. "Yeah.. a strategy probably would have been good. I honestly did not expect it to be so strong either, but it wouldn't be the first time I've seen a quest get scaled to a higher player's level. I.. don't think I've ever been that close to death before." He looked down at the ground where he walked, "Again.. I have to thank you. If you weren't there.. I probably would be dead."

The hot sun beat down on the two as they continued their trek through the desert and back to Armadillo. Sweat protruded from every pore on Jomei's virtual body as the sun beat down on the back of his neck. "You know.. I'm starting to think that cave was a bit more bearable after all." he said with a quick laugh as he pushed the ginger locks of hair covering his eye back onto his head. Jomei looked at Opal, who walked just in front of him. He wanted to find her and get answers, which he did. But now this journey only opened up more questions he wanted to ask.. but all of those were a bit more.. risky to ask. He decided it would be best to not bring it up, and keep the information he heard from the Butcher fight in his back pocket. 

"Hm? Whats a nuisance?" Jomei asked the girl, who's stride seemed to become slightly exhausted and lacked energy. Jomei lifted his hand to open his inventory to pull out a bottle of water, but saw that the town of Armadillo was now in their sights. 

As Opal stopped and turned to Jomei, the Irishman stopped as well and listened to what she needed to say. Jomei smiled and shoved his hands into his pockets, walking past Opal without saying a word at first. He then turned to her, "Don't lose yourself too much, Opal.. and.. I hope that doesn't happen.."  He leaned his head towards her and gave a cocky smirk, "I'd hate to have to kill you." Taking one hand out of his pocket, he brought two fingers up to his forehead and gave the girl a casual salute before turning and heading back into Armadillo. As he walked away from her, he let out a huge sigh of relief. It had been a bit too long of a day for him, and he definitely needed a stiff drink or three after it. 

Thread Complete:

Jomei:
SP: +1 Thread, +3 Adv. Dungeon, +3 Quest = 7 SP
Col: 1600 + 200 = 1800 col 
Mats: 3
Cloak of the Sands: +2 Mitigation, +1 Thorns

Opal:
SP: +1 Thread, +3 Adv. Dungeon = 4 SP
Col: 200  
Mats: 3