[Complete] [PP-F8] Slaying the <<Monkey King>> (Takao)

[Lawfer 0]

Sitting atop a small tree perch in Florenthia Village, the dragoon sat in wait as he scanned the area. He didn't venture much into the fields of floor 8 for no reason except that it lacked any sufficient reason to venture into the deep sea of trees. Before the update, there was not a field boss to make the time spent in the sunless floor worthwhile. But since the arrival of the new boss, he would be tackling it with @Takao. He had become accustomed to training with the vagabond swordsman as of late. Takao had been one of the strongest in Aincrad at this point, and his knack for finding the best hunting grounds had made the company even more alluring. Raising his right hand, he opened his menu and checked the time. "Guess he should be arriving any moment now."

Edited June 11, 2016 by Lawfer

[Takao 0]

The eighth floor was admittedly one of Takao's favourites. He thoroughly enjoyed nature, at least for the most part, and the massive forest that covered the floor was something like a haven for him. It reminded him of his home in some capacity... or perhaps how his imagination from childhood recalled the forests around the Osaka prefecture. They were few and far between, yet his overactive imagination left him in awe of their magnificence. The eighth floor was as close to a physical rendition of those memories as he could get, and they brought a much needed calm to his mind. So, whenever the opportunity came to justify a trip to the otherwise empty section of Aincrad, Takao was more than willing to jump on the opportunity. His detect skill did wonders with helping him locate Lawfer, whom had taken up a perch atop a tree. The brunet stopped below the tree and raised his hand for a half-hearted wave. "Hey Lawf. Ready t'get moving?"

[Lawfer 0]

Looking down from atop his perch the spearman smiled, "Hey Tak! Yeah, I'll be right down." He commented as he placed both his hands on the branch. Pushing off of it he descended to the ground, where he landed on both feet in a semi-squatting position. Standing up, he began stretching his legs. "Its a good thing we don't get cramps here." He joked as he began walking towards the safe zone gate. "Well I guess we get to kill a giant monkey. Sounds super fun! How have you been? Anything new in Tak town?" he asked with a slight smirk on his face. The path seemed pretty straight forward even among the trees.

[Takao 0]

"A monkey, right." Takao said after watching Lawfer jumped from his tree perch and landed close by. His gaze momentarily returned to the branch, then fell back down to Lawfer. "S'that why you were in the tree?" He asked, one eyebrow quirked upward with a bit of curiousity despite the words being spoke in monotone. He shrugged it off and started off down the straight path, which would eventually lead them to their simian quarry. "Whole lot of nothing, really." He said, and considered leaving it at that for a while. But it was understandable that maintaining his current attitude would undoubtedly begin to push people away, if it already hadn't, and there was plenty to talk about. "I got back from scouting the new floor a little while ago, and eh... Frontline's in for some ѕhit."

Edited June 4, 2016 by Takao

[Lawfer 0]

Letting out a light chuckle, the speaman nodded. "That is exactly why i was up in a tree. Gotta get into the mind of what we are hunting." He jested as he raised his right hand and equipped his armor. As the spiral of scarlet light surrounded him, his dragoon armor encased his body as the light dispersed. "But seriously, I just enjoy hanging out in trees. You get a much better breeze up there plus most mobs cant get to you. Its a great place to rest, when I left for awhile and lived out in the wilds it was one of the only places I could get any sleep." As he finished, he realized the last words of Tak were a bit domineering. "Nice. Whats the new floor like?" Pausing for a moment, he followed up with another question. "I missed out on the last raid. What happened?" He asked as he began walking towards the indicated area for the field boss that he received from the info broker.

[Takao 0]

"How very protagonist-esque of you." Takao said, his quip being quickly followed by a low, lighthearted chuckle. Ultimately, resting in the wilds was something he avoided doing regardless of the venue or how safe he thought it was. If he could help it, anyway. Being caught in a disadvantageous spot was something he rarely found himself interested in doing. "Why'd you live out in the wilderness? Seems kinda risky, especially with how many settlements way out in the boonies you could chill in." He said, but ultimately shrugged. A person's choices were their own, and he hadn't the right to judge them. "Short version of the story is that Teayre went mental and killed two people. Ebony and Manta." He said in monotone, furrowed eyebrows being the only indication of emotion on his face. "Seems like this is happening every raid now."

[Lawfer 0]

The spearman found himself chuckling as well. "If your gonna do something, might as well make it protagonist-esque." He jested back while trying not to break into a louder laugh. "You're right, I could have relaxed in inn's or something along those lines and I did..." He paused for a moment to think how deeply he wanted to get into the conversation, but Lawfer trusted Tak and had no problems divulging all the information. "Well, much like my protagonist-esqueness, I just wanted to explore as much of Aincrad as I could on the lower levels. So I took a three month break to see everything I could. It didn't help me level very much but I was able to fill most of the map data from floors 1-7." As he finished, the change in Takao's voice was noticeable. "So that's what happened... I guess our biggest problem isn't the bosses now... Guess that means I'm going to have to make sure I'm there to fill in on the next raid." 

[Takao 0]

"Well, 'spose there's nothin' really wrong with it, since you are kinda the main character of your own life. Live it up, carpe diem, whatever. Somethin' like that." Takao said as he shrugged and stretched his offhand skyward. "The lower levels are fun to explore, I haven't actually done much of it down there myself. When I started the whole levelin' up thing, I kinda skipped past those floors. I've only really scouted the upper floors extensively, 'cause of dungeons 'n stuff." He continued, jade eyes set on the road ahead of them. It continued on for some ways, but the appearance of the Monkey King would happen well before they reached the end of the path. "I think... the frontlines will be relatively safe now, save for Opal and her cronies. Teayre didn't seem all right in the head, so her snapping was inevitable. I just don't think anybody expected it to be as explosive as it was. Everybody else seems pretty stable... 'cept maybe Hikoru, he's really emotional."

[Lawfer 0]

"Something like that indeed." he commented back with a slightly sarcastic tone, as he scratched the back of his neck. "You don't need to worry much about Opal. After everything that happened went down in the 15th boss floor raid, I fought her. She wont be too much trouble, even if they are a band of PKer's I imagine she is their strongest member... and Hikoru... i've only met him once but I didn't think he seemed all that strong." As he finished, the dragoon heard a large howl in the distance. "I think thats the King Monkey." Lawfer commented as he grasped the handle of his Highwind and ripped it off of his shoulder. 

"I'll take point." He stated as he caught glimpse of the swinging monkey as it drew closer and closer. Pulling back his spear, he pushed off of his back foot and activated <Charge>. Appearing in front of the field boss, Lawfer activated <Southern Imperial Cross>. Unleashing four rapid stabs followed by a massive thrust to its midsection. The Monkey king toppled over, as Lawfer circled away from the overgrown primate. "You're up Tak."

ID: 60744
BD: 9
MD: 2 

Lawfer: 140/140 l 23/35 (-13/+1) l SA Used: Imperial Southern Cross: - 13EN l 12+3+1= 16*10= 160 - 50Mit= 110DMG+Stun

Monkey King: 90/200 l 50 Mit - Stunned

Edited June 6, 2016 by Lawfer

[Takao 0]

"Underestimating people is what got us into this situation in the first place. Even if Opal was dead, I'd still worry about what she set up beforehand. She killed one of the highest leveled players at the time who also had a unique, and she did it publicly. Opal's up to somethin', and I don't fancy disregarding whatever that might be." Takao said in response. He was an analytical mind, meticulously mulling over his thoughts and considering all the options that came to mind. Whatever Opal had hoped to gain by killing Ssendom, it had to be something worthwhile. She wasn't stupid, he knew that much. "Hikoru's a dagger user, so his damage output should be high, but I don't think he's invested in charge yet. He has Shadowed Path too. Other than that he's a relatively low level at the moment."

It was then that the howl of a monkey bellowed in the distance. Takao's grip on his sword instinctively tightened, the leather creaking as his body readied itself for action. As Lawfer leapt forward and took the initiative, Takao's legs tensed and he followed closely behind. He struck the monster a total of eight times with his sword, which shone yellow with the activation of a sword art, and subsequently cut down the monster's remaining life with ease. Takao landed with a soft thud and glanced over his shoulder as the monkey burst into fluttering shards of data. "Hm. Easy enough."

ID: 60745
BD: 4 + 3(ACC)

Takao: 257/257 (55/63) (-8)
Sword Art: «Howling Octave»
Damage: 13(Base) + 5(Charge) = 18 * 8(SA) = 144 DMG

Monkey King: 0/200 (144 - 50(MIT) = -94HP)

[Lawfer 0]

"Good work." the dragoon stated as he pushed up his half visor and locked it into place in the open position. It was a neat little set up, but it caused his vision to be blurred in red and at times that became distracting. "Now that we smashed the monkey, lets try to find that dungeon." He stated, as he looked back and forth with his head on a swivel. "You wanna lead the way like always?" He jested as pointed in two opposite directions. Thinking back to what Takao had said about Opal, not all of his claims were invalid. They had made a lot of sense, but Lawfer was confident in the fact that Opal was not as big of a threat as others made her out to be, but he would hold his tongue. He wasn't there when she took down Dom, nor was he there in the last raid where two others lost their life. 

<EN regen 1/3>

[Takao 0]

"Yup, it's right up around here somewhere, I think." Takao said, taking the initiative in their dungeoneering excursion by heading off in a vague direction that he knew a dungeon to be. Having an ongoing and mutually beneficial relationship with an information broker who actively hunted dungeons just to sell the information was a great advantage, even with the potential for said dungeon to have been found and cleared by the time he arrived himself. Seldom did that actually happen, as Takao seemed to have quite the intimate relationship with Lady Luck, but it was a possibility nonetheless. "It should still be there too, I don't think anybody's been through here recently."

[Lawfer 0]

"Sounds good." The Dragoon stated as he continued on following the dungeon clearing King Takao. Taking a deep breath in, the spearman looked up at the tree canopy above. The dense branches coupled with the high amount of leaves seemed to still blot out the sun with a few exceptions in minimal amounts. Placing his hand on his trusted Highwind, the dragoon changed his line of sight to directly in front of him. Before long, Lawfer had become anxious at the fact there was no background noises, not even the obscure sounds of wildlife. Without even realizing it, he began to hum lightly to the tune of 'Fly me to the Moon' before stopping himself. "My bad... It's just a little to quiet to my liking. Normally, there is at least some kind of background noise..."

[Takao 0]

"Odd portion of the forest, I guess." Takao said as he glanced from one side to the other, green eyes closing for a moment in order to activate the reveal skill. "Usually there's a lot more ambient background noise and a few lil' critters running about, but it seems kinda empty." He said, although ultimately shrugged it off. Empty portions weren't uncommon, they typically meant that players had hunted through the monsters recently and that Cardinal hadn't repopulated the area, which didn't exactly inspire confidence in their chances of finding a dungeon. One could also argue that most players that went dungeon hunting didn't typically waste their energy with mob genocide either, and preferred to locate the dungeon as quickly as possible, so it was a hard assumption to make. "I don't really mind either way."

[Lawfer 0]

Nodding at the acceptance of the background tune, Lawfer then responded. "You have any requests? I chose the normally useless profession of a performer so it shouldn't be terribly off key." A chuckle erupted after his own comment, then the dragoon had come to his senses. Picking up where he left off, Lawfer began humming 'Fly Me to the Moon' once more. The song had a personal connection to the blonde, as it was a song his mother would sing to him before her passing some years back. As the 'music' continued in his head, the humming continued until he noticed a set of ruins coming up in the distance. "Yo Tak! I'm sure you see it too... But you think the dungeon you were talking about has something to do with those ruins?"

[Takao 0]

"I'm tempted to give you some obscure rap song or somethin' just to see if you'll do it." Takao said, smirking and chuckling lightly at the thought. No such obscure rap song "or something" came to mind, so he instead fell quiet as Lawfer returned to humming and instead focused the remnants of his mental capacity onto finding the dungeon. Lawfer had pointed out some ruins, and Takao nodded. "Yeah, that's the area. I'll take a look." He said, utilizing the already-active Reveal skill to glance over the ruins as they walked through. Having spotted the dungeon's entrance hidden behind a false wall, Takao beckoned for Lawfer to follow. All it took was a light strike with his off-hand to reveal the entrance. "Aand boom goes the dynamite. You want first blood or am I takin' point?"

- -

Advanced Dungeon found.

ID :: 61150
LD :: 24
(11(LD) + 5(S&D) + 3(HoM) + 2(Reveal) + 1(Detect) + 2(Vitamins))

[Lawfer 0]

"You name it and I'll do it..." Lawfer retorted back as he watched the dungeon diver find yet another advanced dungeon. Chuckling at the thought, Lawfer stepped forward. "Yeah I got the first wave..." He commented as he grasped his highwind lightly and began his descent into the dimly lit cave. As the torches on the walls lit up, he found a precarious sight. Baboons throwing their feces at each other..." You're kidding me right..." He muttered as he activated charge then one of his lower level sword arts and decimated the primates before they even knew what had happened. "Yo Tak... I would hurry up and take the next wave down before you get crap all over you."

ID: 61249
BD: 9+3= +1DMG
MD: 4

Lawfer: 140/140 l 28/35 (-8/+1) l SA Used: Hellish Twice: - 8EN l 12+3+1= 16*4= 64AOE

Poo flinging Baboon: 0/32 l 8 Mit
Poo flinging Baboon: 0/32 l 8 Mit
Poo flinging Baboon: 0/32 l 8 Mit
Poo flinging Baboon: 0/32 l 8 Mit

Edited June 10, 2016 by Lawfer

[Takao 0]

"Oh, sweet merciful ѕhit." Takao managed to mutter out in vague relevance to the sight unfolding before him. The apes flinging their own feces at each other was certainly an unexpected sight, and a sight he didn't think was even possible to be seen. Aincrad was rather particular about ensuring that players didn't need to relieve themselves despite eating and drinking being necessary, so it had been quiet some time since Takao had seen what exactly he was seeing. Much like Lawfer, he acted quickly and activated a sword art to clear the next four monsters before they had a chance to act. "I swear, I'm gonna lose my mind if they throw any of that on me."

ID: 61255
BD: 5 + 3(ACC)

Takao: 257/257 (55/63) (-8)
Sword Art: «Vertical Square»
Damage: 13(Base) + 5(Charge) = 18 * 4(SA) = 72 DMG

Feces Pitching Simian: 0/32 (72 - 8(MIT) = -64HP)
Feces Pitching Simian: 0/32 (72 - 8(MIT) = -64HP)
Feces Pitching Simian: 0/32 (72 - 8(MIT) = -64HP)
Feces Pitching Simian: 0/32 (72 - 8(MIT) = -64HP)

7/15 Remaining

[Lawfer 0]

"Well with your evasion I dont think you will have a problem dodging any thing that comes flying your way." Lawfer jested as he carefully maneuvered through the room, making sure he didn't step on any thing that would linger on his greeves. As the next set of simians began to turn their heads at the unwanted explorers, the blonde activated charge once more, and chained it with <Hellish Twice> cutting the brown ball pitchers into ribbons. "I think we only have a few more before the boss." He commented as he halted his advance, noticing a heaping pile of monkey excrimante that was just waiting to be stepped on.

ID: 61257
BD: 7+3= +1DMG
MD: dead

Lawfer: 140/140 l 21/35 (-8/+1) l SA Used: Hellish Twice: - 8EN l 12+3= 15*4= 60AOE

Poo flinging Baboon: 0/32 l 8 Mit
Poo flinging Baboon: 0/32 l 8 Mit
Poo flinging Baboon: 0/32 l 8 Mit
Poo flinging Baboon: 0/32 l 8 Mit

3/15 Remaining

Edited June 10, 2016 by Lawfer

[Takao 0]

"This is just unsanitary." Takao said, avoiding whatever remnants of their excrement lingered on the ground with careful, calculated steps. It wasn't until the next group was found that he sprung into action, and destroyed them in the same manner that the four before had been killed. A wave of colourful data fragments appeared as the last of the monsters shattered, leaving only the boss room remaining. "Alright then, so far so good... I really don't wanna know what's behind that door, though." Takao grumbled, gesturing toward the boss room. "So eh, y'get first honours."

ID: 61258
BD: 3 + 3(ACC)

Takao: 257/257 (48/63) (+1/-8)
Sword Art: «Vertical Square»
Damage: 13(Base) + 5(Charge) = 18 * 4(SA) = 72 DMG

Feces Pitching Simian: 0/32 (72 - 8(MIT) = -64HP)
Feces Pitching Simian: 0/32 (72 - 8(MIT) = -64HP)
Feces Pitching Simian: 0/32 (72 - 8(MIT) = -64HP)
Feces Pitching Simian: 0/32 (72 - 8(MIT) = -64HP)

0/15 Remaining