[PP-F17] On Another Adventure <<Herculean Labor>> (Beatbox)

[Hikoru 0]

After the recent news of the passing of his friend and Mentor, Hikoru knew that he needed to get his mind off things. He had heard about a few new quests that had appeared with a small patch that had been added to the game. He needed all the SP he needed so he could continue on his mentor's legacy, as he knew that he was now the only Master of Shadows in this game, and he needed to make his name known, so he could make sure that his friend's name could live on. He looked at one of the quests, and it said that the boss would be more difficult, so he sent a message to his friend and previous guild-mate @Beatbox and asked if he wanted to join.  He gave a small sigh and stood, leaving to meet at the area in which they had decided to meet, his cowl drawn over his face to hide his facial features, and the only thing that could be seen were his glasses, which gleamed from the light of the sun overhead.

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox had received a message from Hikoru one day, he was in the middle of a nap, but he opened his eyes a little to read the message. After reading, Beatbox stretched his arms, and got out of bed. "Come Ocarina... we've got work to do." he said with a yawn as he stood up and stretched again, his familiar had crawled up to his shoulder then onto his head where it fell asleep again. "Close enough." he had said to himself as he started to head out to the floor 17 area... he wondered how Hikoru would react to see the KoB symbol next to his HP meter... but who knows, maybe he doesn't honestly care much for it. He eventually found his way to the coordinates he had said and from the distance he could see Hikoru. Beatbox walked up to him and said to him as he placed a hand into his pocket and a hand over his eyes to look out in the distance "Hey Hikoru, how's it been?" even though he feels like he already knows the answer to that question.

@Nocturn

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru looked up to see @Beatbox appearing before him in his armor, his health bar full and his energy level looking high. He saw the new Guild symbol, and had already known that Beatbox had left his guild, but he didn't expect this. He ignored it. It didn't matter to him, nothing did anymore. He stood and just looked at the man, his eyes giving him the answer he was looking for. He was heartbroken, shattered, empty. Nothing would be fixing him after this. His fiancee, the one he wanted to marry, to love forever, had betrayed his trust. Something he valued more than anything. He was unsure of where to go from here. At this point, he would much rather die than keep playing, but he knew that he couldn't. He had to keep pushing forward for his family, for his mom, for his brother.

He just pointed and started to walk in the general direction of the Quest area. He hadn't been on this floor much, so he didn't have the map fully covered, which he didn't care. He wanted to get this done so he could get stronger before the next raid, which he knew was coming up soon. As soon as they could make it through the blasted Labyrinth, a patch that he was hating more than anything. They would more than likely be done by now if the Labyrinth wasn't a thing that was real. But there was no point in complaining about something that he couldn't change. For now, he would focus on the task at hand and get ready to fight for his life, because he knew that today would be a much, much harder fight for him compared to his ally next to him

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox had grinned, he knew why he was honestly upset, Ariel. He knew that one day they were eventually going to get married... but now that idea had seemed to be shattered. Beatbox had planted his hand on the handle of his sword and said out to him as he moved to the side a bit and planting his other hand on his hip "Come on Hikoru, put on a smile. Life's too short to be constantly upset. I know this sucks, and I have lost my relationship in the same day, hell within' the same 5 minutes. But, its no doubt the front liners need you, I need you there." he looked over with a angered look "You're one of the last people I know who have a sense of sanity anymore in this damned game." he flicked down his fingers in the air opening his inventory and pulled out two damage potions and looked up to Hikoru and said out to him "Here. We'll need it." then downed the potion that he had for himself, giving him a little bit more of a damage boost for these battles to come... he knew they we're going to be a little challenging.

-1 Major Damage Potion / +6 Damage for Thread

Gave 1 Major Damage Potion to @Hikoru-bb

 

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru listened, but he knew that his words would mean nothing to him at this point. He gave the boy attention for a few moments, and accepted the potion with a nod, and chugged it, ignoring the bland taste as his stats rose, and he threw the bottle down as it pixelated. He was mad, but there was nothing he could do. He breathed and looked at the boy, pulling down his hood and taking off his glasses, giving Beatbox one of the few chances to see him without his glasses. He held onto them, and he stared for a few moments before speaking

"There's nothing to smile about Beatbox..." He said quietly, as monotone as he could "This game changed her, and now i'm here alone with my thoughts. You may be here, but I know for a fact that my mind wont be lingering long." He said. He looked down and sighed "These next few months for me are gonna be difficult Beat. I don't even know if I will be able to do the frontlines at this point..." He save a small sigh and put his glasses back on "For now, lets just go and get this quest done..." He said, pulling up his hood and hiding his face again, done with speaking for the time being.

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox listened to his words and only gotten more and more angered, he rose out as he was finished speaking and barked out "So your going to give up on saving her own sanity?! So you're going to give up just like this? Simply put, you cannot. I wont allow you to. The Ariel you know and love is still in there somewhere, rekindle her old feelings, rekindle what is right about her. Fix the corrupt files that are inside her body, you are the only one capable to. So stop being a stick in the mud, and lets get back to work!" he growled before turning to the path that leads up to the quest recently discovered, he looked at him with a slightly angered look "Lead the way, we ain't got all day to take down this boss. More than likely we're not the only players wanting to do this quest one day." he looked forward then smirked "Unless you've already given up, then if thats the case, I wont mind fighting this alone. I've lost my sense in humanity anymore, everyone only cares for their damn self. I don't mind risking my life for the exchange that one day I might gain the power to cleanse this world of its corrupted data." he looked down onto his hand and clenched it together to a fist as he looked up before walking forward reluctantly.

@Hikoru

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru stopped and clenched his teeth in anger. He kept blabbering on about things that he had no experience in, and he had enough. He grabbed his shoulder, and decked him square in the face, the end of his fist connecting with the right side of his face. His eyes blazed with anger as he grabbed the cuff of his armor and held him by the scruff of his neck, his teeth bared in an almost snarl-like look of a wolf or wild animal, and his eyes filled with anger and malice

"Dont you DARE try and tell me what the hell to do in this situation!" He screamed in his face "I have been on countless raids, Boss fights, and events than you could imagine! I've fought and almost died countless times, living on ONE HEALTH against Sheeptar's Minions! I've watched players died before me, including a level one player. I watched a brother in arms die, and now my Mentor is dead and my Fiancee is the one that watched him do it!" He pushed him into a nearby wall, his eyes now full of fury and not holding back "Your just a kid in these games. You haven't gone through what I have. You haven't been brought to the brink of death, you haven't watched your friend die before your eyes. SO DON'T YOU EVER SPEAK OUT OF LINE AGAIN. YOU GOT THAT?" He screamed "THIS ISN'T ABOUT YOU, AND DONT YOU DARE SPEAK DOWN ON ME AGAIN. I'M THE ONE THAT CALLED YOU HERE, WHY ELSE WOULD YOU AND I BE IN THIS SITUATION?!?!" He said. He breathed for a moment and let go, throwing him into the wall and walking away. He kept his back turned to him "I get that you killed a player, and that your girlfriend left you moments after mine..." He said. "But how long did you stay with her compared to me? How much time did you try and put into your relationship?..." He looked at him, a few tears in his eyes "How far into the future did you plan with her?..." He looked down with just a sad smile "I know not as far as I did...." He looked at Beat, and shook his head. "Don't try and tell me that I can fixed what's happened. Your girlfriend never killed the man you trusted the most in this game, someone you saw as a father, a brother, and a teacher..." He laughed a weak laugh "But my Fiancee did." He looked down to the ground, and fell onto his knees. "You can't imagine the pain of this... Don't try to sympathize with me, there's no point." He saw the tears fall onto the ground underneath him, and he finally realized that he was crying.

@Beatbox

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox listened in anger after taking a punch to the face, he was to remain respectful to his words as he continued to listen to his words, after he was done speaking he gained the strength to move his arms out of his grip and return the punch back and him and bring him towards the ground. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS WHOLE ORDEAL DO YOU HIKORU? I'VE KILLED OUT OF A MISTAKE AN ACTUAL HUMAN BEING, AN ACTUAL PERSON THAT SOMEONE ACTUALLY CARED ABOUT, AND YOU...?" he growled as he got up from pinning him to the ground "An NPC, those words of players insulting you didn't mean a damn thing now did it, well..." he looked up "It did for me, everyone of everyone's words affected me in a single way that lead me towards one thing: Depression." he looked down at Hikoru, "I planned way too far ahead with Hakai, she trusted me and loved me despite killing her previous wife, and I loved her back... I wanted to marry her, I wanted to spend time with her, but she never saw the same thing back. I had high hopes and she gave me a single beam of light that I desperately needed. And you know what...?" he looked over to the area in which the path lies "She's gone now, I haven't watched players die, however I've seen my very own guild dwindle away, players no where to be found... and it's all my fault. I will find them one day, I will find the causes of their deaths if needed. But now..." he looked down on his shaking hand once more before clenching it "I must sacrifice my own life for the safety of others, I will continue to fight on the front lines no matter if I die or not, I must help everyone towards one goal and end the point of selfishness, and if I can't then... damn everyone who defies me." he unsheathed his sword and started to run downwards onto the path towards where the boss lies downward to "YOU HEAR ME LIONS? ITS DINNER TIME, ONLY THIS TIME AROUND, YOU'LL HAVE TO FIGHT FOR YOUR LIVES FOR IT." he yelled out in anger, in pain, in the depression that he is in. He quickly went into his inventory and drank up a mitigation potion, because he felt like he was going to need it for the battle that was to come.

-1 Major Mitigation Potion / +54 MIT for Thread.

@Hikoru

 

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Beatbox: 875/875 - 86/86 - DMG: 20 - MIT: 110

Nemean Lioness x3: 512/512 - MIT: 47 - DMG: 170 - ACC: 1 - EVA: 2

 

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru sat and took the punch as Beat screamed at him back, which he expected. He was pinned to the ground and screamed for what the boy had done, exactly what he had done moments ago. He told about him and his ex-lover, and his goals were. He found a newborn respect for the lad, and gave a small sigh as he stood of. Unexpectedly, the boy charged ahead, taking on a few of the lions at the mouth of the den. He sighed and unsheathed his dagger, sprinting forward. Using his <<Acrobatics>> Mod, he charged forward and jumped, grabbing onto Beatbox's shoulder and using him as a springboard, landing and striking one of the lionesses in the small of it's back, hitting right in-between the shoulder blades, the words "CRITICAL" Hanging in the air in front of him. He just smiled and adjusted his glasses

"That's just like you, to charge ahead without your friend next to you." he said, looking at the boy with a stern look.He gave a small nod and stayed where he was. he saw that he was able to Paralyze and activate the Bleed on the Lioness that he had struck, and he just gave a nod "Think you can take some hits?" He asked, and prepared for the upcoming onslaught of attacks.

ID: 74726

BD: 9 (Crit! +1 Damage, <<Bleed and Paralysis Activate>>)

Hikoru used Eternal Cyclone: 1x13=13x20= 260 Damage-47=213 Damage to Lioness (-11 Energy)

[H:1] Hikoru: 1055/1055 93/104 (-11)

[H: 0] Beatbox: 875/875 - 86/86 - DMG: 20 - MIT: 110

Nemean Lioness x3: 299/512 - MIT: 47 - DMG: 170 - ACC: 1 - EVA: 2

                                 512/512

                                 512/512

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox grinned as he quickly got in front of him and got the first attack on one of the lions, however this gave Beatbox a wonderful opportunity to try out his newest skill... Charge. He looked at @Hikoru with a smirk and said "That was the intention, Master of Shadows." then gave him a wink as he used for the first time in months... his concentration skill. And focused on the group of the three lions and charged forward with a battle cry as his sword glowed and eerie dark blue then faded to black as he unleashed "Shadow Explosion" hitting all three of them with darkness slices throughout their bodies, one recovered from its paralysis and the other two had pounced onto Beatbox clawing at his HP and chest, Beatbox looked at them while charging his next sword art... he wasn't worried about dying, this was merely just a delay for their doom.

 

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ID: 74728 - BD: 3+4+1[Concentration Used]-2=6 - MD: 8+1-3=6

Sword Art Used: Shadow Explosion [Damage: 14+6+3[Charge!]=23*9=207-47=160]

Beatbox: 755/875 - 68/86 - DMG: 20 - MIT: 110 [-18 EN / -120 HP] [Bleeding: 20 - 3/3]

Hikoru: 1055/1055 - 93/104 - DMG: 20

Nemean Lioness x2: 352/512 - MIT: 47 - DMG: 170 - ACC: 1 - EVA: 2 [Damage: 170-110=60*2=120] [-160 HP]

Nemean Lioness x1: 139/512 - MIT: 47 - DMG: 170 - ACC: 1 - EVA: 2 [Recovered Paralysis.] [-160 HP]

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru gave a small nod and watched as he noticed his ex-apprentice use his <<Charge>> Skill, and gave him a nod of encouragement. He had a skill that he hadn't had time himself to get into, but he knew that he would have to catch up to him damage wise soon. He gave a small chuckle and moved forward, using his <<Concentration>> Skill and striking the Lioness that he had struck before, slicing and dicing until she was soon turned to pixels. He gave a thumbs up to Beat and stood, re-adjusting his glasses and looking at the lionesses

"They aren't all that strong are they? Shame." He said with a small sigh. He was expecting for more of a challenge, but he didn't mind it that they werent. He knew there was still a much stronger creature to fight, he just had to wait and get through the den entrance. But by the looks of things, he guessed that he would have to retreat with Beatbox if he wanted to go in with their strength at their maximum.

ID: 74732

BD: 4+4 (Concentration)=8-2=6 Hit!

Hikoru used Eternal Cyclone: 1x13=13x19= 247 Damage-47=200 Damage to Lioness

[H: 1] Beatbox: 755/875 - 68/86 - DMG: 20 - MIT: 110

[H: 1] Hikoru: 1055/1055 - 83/104 - DMG: 19

Nemean Lioness x2: 352/512 - MIT: 47 - DMG: 170 - ACC: 1 - EVA: 2 

Nemean Lioness x1: 0/512 - MIT: 47 - DMG: 170 - ACC: 1 - EVA: 2

[Beatbox 0]

The lions had continued to apply the pressure onto Beatbox as they had continued to claw Beatbox this time critically hitting him, he had felt the pain from the claws and the bleed from the previous attack, he groaned out in pain before getting his sword and pushing them away from him and unleashed the same sword art hitting the both of them once more. He placed his arm across his chest looking down to see the pixelated red claw marks across his chest that soon disappeared but the pain had lingered. He took a deep breath and regained his stance once more as he charged his sword up once more for another sword art to unleash. He looked back at Hikoru and back to the lions, he knew if they didn't stop soon he would suffer probably a little too much damage before the actual boss fight.

@Hikoru

 

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ID: 74736 - BD: 5+4-2=7 - MD: 10

Sword Art Used: Shadow Explosion [Damage: 14+6=20*9=180-47=133]

Beatbox: 611/875 - 51/86 - DMG: 20 - MIT: 110 [+1 EN / -18 EN / -144 HP] [Bleeding: 20 - 2/3]

Hikoru: 1055/1055 - 83/104 - DMG: 20

Nemean Lioness x2: 219/512 - MIT: 47 - DMG: 170 - ACC: 1 - EVA: 2 [Damage: 170+2-110=62*2=124] [-133 HP]

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru watched as the lionesses attacked Beatbox, bringing his health lower and lower. He knew he could at least end one of the lives of the lionesses in front of him, he just had to hit it. He leapt for an attack, but the one he aimed for saw him coming, and moved out of the way immediently. He grit his teeth and stood, wiping the dirt off his face after his faceplant onto the ground

"Crap, I missed..." He said, standing and facing them, as he expected another attack "Beat! I missed it! Sorry man you're gonna have to take more damage than planned! Stay strong! Take at least one of them out if you can! I can try to finish off the other one!" He said, doing his best to keep calm in this situation. They would definitely have to regroup after this and heal up, or else they would be screwed going into the cave.

ID: 74752

BD: 3+3-2=4 Miss!

Beatbox: 611/875 - 51/86 - DMG: 20 - MIT: 110 [Bleeding: 20 - 2/3]

Hikoru: 1055/1055 - 84/104 - DMG: 20

Nemean Lioness x2: 219/512 - MIT: 47 - DMG: 170 - ACC: 1 - EVA: 2

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox had looked over to see that he had missed and asked of him if he could take one down and he could take down the other, he frowned and said to him as he dodged out of the way of the two lions attempts to bring him down again "I can't I don't do enough damage to bring them down with amount of protection they have, if they didn't shave off some of my damage, I probably could have, for now I'll just hit them both again!" he yelled out as he unleashed the same sword art once more hitting them both for the same amount of damage once more, he knew that Hikoru could easily kill one of these lions from this amount of HP and Beatbox could take care of the other with no issue like a hot knife through butter. He smiled, but he knew that they had to take a step outside to regain their energy.

@Hikoru

 

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ID: 74756 - BD: 8+4-2=10 - MD: 3-3=1

Sword Art Used: Shadow Explosion [Damage: 14+6=20*9=180-47=133]

Beatbox: 591/875 - 34/86 - DMG: 20 - MIT: 110 [+1 EN / -18 EN / -20 HP] [Bleeding: 20 - 1/3]

Hikoru: 1055/1055 - 84/104 - DMG: 20

Nemean Lioness x2: 86/512 - MIT: 47 - DMG: 170 - ACC: 1 - EVA: 2 [-133 HP]

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru listened and gave a nod. He stood, but then he sheathed his dagger. He knew Beat had this easily, he just had to land one more hit, which he could easily do. Soon his weapon was concealed by his cloak and he stood waiting. If he needed to attack once more he would, but he was sure that Beatbox had this. The player had grown into a fine young man, though inexperienced, he had grown much stronger. He was growing wiser as well, but it would take a few more boss battles to truly have good experience in the frontlines as he and many other players had. He was proud of him, although he wouldn't say it aloud, because he also knew that there was a possibility that it would go to his head. Instead, he waited, his body concealed by the cloak he wore and hoped that Beat could finish off these last remaining Lionesses

ID: 74767

BD: 1

Beatbox: 591/875 - 34/86 - DMG: 20 - MIT: 110 [Bleeding: 20 - 1/3]

Hikoru: 1055/1055 - 85/104 - DMG: 20

Nemean Lioness x2: 86/512 - MIT: 47 - DMG: 170 - ACC: 1 - EVA: 2

@Beatbox

   0

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox frowned when Hikoru had failed to kill one of the lions, it was bad enough that he wasn't getting any of the attention of the lions and that Beatbox would have to apply the pressure, the lions eyes sparked red as they critically attacked Beatbox dragging him to the ground slashing at his chest, dealing more and more damage to him... he looked at his HP bar... it was yellow... it had been a long time since his HP bar had dropped that low. He growled and pushed them off and retaliated with a sword art ending the both of their lives, once the lions were killed he could hear the mighty roar of the boss coming from down the hall, and simply Beatbox needed to get out of here, he cannot fight the boss with this sort of health and energy, he had retreated outside to fully recover. 

@Hikoru

 

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ID: 74825 - BD: 4+4-2=6 - MD: 10

Sword Art Used: Shadow Explosion [Damage: 14+6=20*9=180-47=133]

Beatbox: 438/875 - 17/86 - DMG: 20 - MIT: 110 [+1 EN / -18 EN / -153 HP]

Hikoru: 1055/1055 - 85/104 - DMG: 20

Nemean Lioness x2: 0/512 - MIT: 47 - DMG: 170 - ACC: 1 - EVA: 2 [Damage: 170+2-110=62*2=124] [-133 HP]

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru watched as Beatbox finished off the creatures easily once he had hit the final blow, as he knew that he could. He saw him run, and he followed close behind, making sure to watch his back as they retreated. He breathed and sat down as they regroup together, and he gave a nod to him as he made sure that they weren't being followed by any stray lioness that could have seen them as an easy meal. He would have fought it off until Beat was better, but he knew that it could only last for so long before his health started to get low himself. He breathed deeply and ignored his dark thought and looked at the boy

"Nice job in there. Good to see that you've grown a lot since I last saw you." He said. It didn't seem that long to the boy, but to him it felt like an eternity since he had seen his ex-apprentice. He breathed deeply and sat on the ground, grabbing hid dagger and spinning it between his fingers as he waited for his energy to recover, and he knew that he would only have to wait a few moments until then. But for now, he needed to get Beatbox up on his health. He took a few crystals he had bought earlier in the week and used one on him immediently, then passes him three, leaving him with one left. "Here, use these when you need to." He said, then pocketed the last crystal in case of emergency.

Used 1 Crystal on Beatbox (+160 Health regained) [4 Remaining]

-3 Crystals to Beatbox [1 Remaining]

Beatbox: 598/875 (+160)

1/3 Posts until Energy Regen

@Beatbox

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox had taken the crystals that he had offered Beatbox, if it weren't for those crystals he wouldn't have honestly keep going on with this... this battle was just proving too much and they were hitting him too closely for comfort. He used one more on him in the time being and watching his HP go back up... one more of these crystals will bring him up to full, he gave Hikoru a smile and said "You think so? I know I have been increasing in levels quicker and quicker than usual, and been getting stronger and stronger by the moment, and you have... well, you've been the same I see. Just getting you're damage capabilities up there huh?" he chuckled as he placed a hand onto his hip as he looked forward upon him. He moved his shoulders upwards and his hands to the side as he shook his head and said "Even then, this build is merely a start to the actual build I want to make, I still have a lot to grow into." he said looking up upon him with a smile.

 

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[1/3]

Beatbox: 758/875 [+160 HP]

@Hikoru

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru chuckled as he said he hadn't changed much, and gave a small nod. It was true, he hadn't grown much in his abilities in awhile, but it was because he was saving his his SP and an Experience for a mod that he had been looking forward to for a long time. He gave a small chuckle and just sighed, laying against the wall of the cave, letting his body relax for a few moments before they would be on another mission to defeat these lions.

"Yes, a Mod i'm going for cost quite a lot. More than I wish it did. But after I have it, i'm gaining that little skill you used earlier today." He said, indicating to when he had used charge on one of the lionesses "I figure it'd probably be a good combo with the mod i'm getting, giving me more damage than even you can deal." He said with a small smirk. To be honest, he didn't know how much damage he would be dealing at the end of it, but he hoped it would be a considerable amount for what he needed.

2/3

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox had used one more healing crystal to bring him up to full health, leaving one more crystal to use just in case for a emergency situation, he sighed and kept his eyes peeled around for a dungeon, however Beatbox wasn't really proficient with finding anything so it wasn't a surprise that he didn't find a dungeon. He looked back to Hikoru after he had finished his statement and said to him "what Charge? This skill only helps out in the early combat in fights against monsters, after that if you dont do enough damage to them, you'll be stuck with your normal amounts of damage on the one that you are fighting. I got this DPS build down to a point, its surprisingly easy to get a simple DPS finished, however I don't have a unique skill so I don't know how it feels to have one. However I still look for the day I can try to get one." he sighed "I honestly really want to get one."

 

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[2/3]

ID: 74986 - LD: 5

Beatbox: 875/875 [+160 HP]

@Hikoru