PP - F21 Rolled Up Sleeves (Shield) (Completed)

[Calrex 0]

With the fall of Mothra Calrex gave a small sigh, returning the Grand Blade II back to its sheath. As the blade slide through the opening back into its home the dust that had previously covered it flecked off, falling to the ground before the clicking sound of the hilt lock engaged. Another floor boss had been slain, and with it another floor unlocked. They were finally past one fifth of the game, and with it the suspected next tier of equipment had become accessible, at least from what the rumors had been told.

Looking back at his group the bluenette gave a calm smile, "Nice work everyone. I'll be going ahead from here."

Exiting out of the boss room the Ultramarine Knight moved forward to the staircase, glancing down at his gear. The Tier Two forms of most of the Grand Chariot equipment sets were now going to be less useful, more for display compared to active use. "Guess I'd better get started making the necessary changes then."

After what felt like a nearly endless series of steps Calrex emerged on the 21st floor, his mind immediately recalling the tenth floor's theme of an underground cavern. However, it appeared this one had more of a welcoming, fantasy-like theme compared to the lower floor. "Shows what can really be done when a designer's imagination is put to good use."

He already figured that other groups were going to be on the search for the next dungeon. In the past he had done so as well, but with so many eager up and comers, the bluenette figured to leave the duty to them. Returning his equipment back to his lighter, but more varied equipment, Calrex stretched his arms. "Let's get this going."

Swiping on his menu he recalled someone that would potentially be a good companion for his particular goal this time around. Sending a quick message to invite Shield along for his material gathering excursion, "Time for version 3 of my gear."

ID: 84926
Loot Dice: 2 (Search and Detect +2 / Item +1) = 5
No Materials Found

Taking a knee to search around where he was Calrex felt a bead of sweat form on the side of his head. It wasn't out of exertion, but rather because of the awkwardness of the immediate situation. There was some form of build up with his last statement, only to be met by the disappointment of no materials in his current area.

"...maybe I should head further away from the staircase before I start looking further."

@Shield

[Shield 0]

It was some time before Shield finally joined Calrex, his eyes already forming bags from the intense focus from the nonstop activity since launching the attack on Mothra. Not to mention the remnants of the hangover from Piera's potion the night before.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Shield said, adjusting the earring that he wore. "We've been busy already. Believe it or not, we may have already found the labyrinth up to the next floor. By the way..." he said, frowning as he inspected the area. "Anemone and I already fished this area dry. We may want to move on to a different spot."

Spoiler

 ID# 84931 results: Loot: 16 + 3 LD item + 1 skill + 1 skill item = 20 - +1 material (1 total)

He made his way down the tunnel, ignoring the fissure that he and Anemone had already searched before, passing it by to continue down the main path. It wasn't long before the familiar glow of his earring lit the walls more brightly than the bioluminescent fungi. Looking down, he spotted a finger sized gold nugget laying on the ground. Bending down, he picked it up and showed Calrex.

"I said it before. This floor doesn't skimp."

@Calrex

Edited May 22, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

ID: 84934
Loot Dice: 6 (Search and Detect +2 / Item +1) = 9
No Materials Found

As Shield showed up behind him Calrex gave a nod and a calm smile, "Good to hear. At least we'll be making some really quick progress."

Upon mention that he and Anemone had pretty much picked the immediately area dry the bluenette could feel the sweatdrop on the side of his head, "Well that would explain why it's hard to find anything out here. I'm guessing that means you're also on the hunt to update your loadout then?"

Scanning the area he continued to look around, making note of Shield grabbing a bioluminescent mushroom from the ground, "Huh, I guess it's kind of like the tenth floor then. Just look for anything that really stands out from the environment."

Looking to his right Calrex walked over to grab what appeared to be a similar looking fungi. However, right as he was about to fully grasp it suddenly the stem of the mushroom seemed to partially unfold, revealing six legs as the camouflaged bug skittered away with great speed, "Well that's great, heh. Apparently on this floor they've got insects that look exactly like the mushrooms."

Group Materials Total: 1

@Shield

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 84936 results: Loot: 3 + 3 LD item + 1 skill + 1 skill item = 8 - No materials (1 total)

"Trust me, there's a lot more than that going on around here than just mushroom bugs," Shield replied, taking a moment to stretch and relieve the tension that had been building in his back. It couldn't be from wear and tear on his body, so he knew it had to be something psychosomatic. Mental fatigue must have been weighing on him to the point that his body felt left out.

Stupid brain. You're only making things worse, you know.

He led them further down the cavern that led in the opposite direction than the side of town where they had begun their scouting to find the labyrinth. There was still plenty to know about the new floor.

"So far, there are also lots of signs of volcanic activity, including vents and hot springs," he went on, realizing he had left his thoughts on a big of a cliffhanger a moment ago. "Though I will say that both the flora and fauna are noteworthy. And the fungi, but that much is obvious."

@Calrex

Edited May 22, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

ID: 84939
Loot Dice: 11 (Search and Detect +2 / Item +1) = 14
No Materials Found / Equipment Change

"Huh, I guess that they're combining elements from the past floors then. The underground setting of the tenth, volcanoes from the ninth, and of course the small things from others. Still, it's better than going for the dark gloomy feel of some others. Let's just hope this trend keeps up for the next floors to come."

Dusting off his hands after having yet another round of no results Calrex gave a small sigh, "Well this is certainly not a good start. Better see if this might work better."

The bluenette thought he had found something, picking up what appeared to be an ore. But right as he did it crumbled in his hand, being merely a piece of dirt that had a more polished surface that could be mistaken for a piece of material. With that he knew he needed to boost his searching skills further, at least for this outing.

Opening up his inventory the Grand Blade II and Amethyst Charm vanished from his avatar, being replaced by two items from the shared inventory he and Teayre had. Both were accessories that were useful for materials gathering, and hopefully would help boost his luck of finding anything.

Equipment Change:
Grand Blade II > Finder's Keepers (Search Skill Rank +1 / Loot Die +1)
Amethyst Charm > Slither of Silver (Accuracy +2 / Loot Die +1)

Search Rank 2 > 3
Loot Die 1 > 3

Group Materials Total: 1

@Shield

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 84945 results: Loot: 8 + 3 LD item + 1 skill + 1 skill item = 13 - No materials (1 total)

Shield was beginning to wonder if his lucky streak on the new floor had run dry. Granted, materials rarely just lay about in extreme abundance, but the beginning of his ventures on the floor had been extremely profitable right out of the gate. So far, this little leg of the journey was a little less inspiring.

"Maybe I've just been overworking myself," he thought aloud, stretching his arms above his head and looking up at the ceiling. "Well, I guess we just make the best of it and hope the luck turns around."

He kept his eyes peeled, but at least for the moment, his luck didn't change.

"Is it just me, or did Mothra go down pretty easily for such a touted floor boss?" he asked, hoping to pick a more experienced front liner's brain on the matter. "I don't have much to go off of, but it only got in one or two actual attacks on me, and one was safeguarded and the other I tanked with no problem."

@Calrex

Edited May 22, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

ID: 84947
Loot Dice: 3 (Search and Detect +3 / Item +3) = 9
No Materials Found

It seemed that even with the boost to his search abilities, Calrex wasn't having any better luck with finding materials. In fact, he swore that for the moment it actually made things worse. He had reached for what appeared to be another ore, only to find it was a simple rock. Tossing it over his shoulder the blunette gave a sigh before hearing Shield's query.

"Well, I guess it could be taken that way. However, overall the frontlines are fairly overleveled for the threats we should be facing, at least to my knowledge. Plus we have an fairly large array of attacking compared to tanks, meaning that the damage output is higher as well. But, I guess with the buildup to the battle it was fairly anticlimactic. Kind of reminds me of the final boss in that dungeon we were in."

Standing upright once again he dusted off his hands before speaking on a lighthearted tone, "It does seem like this area is pretty barren of materials though. You sure you and Anemone didn't pick the entire floor clean earlier?"

Group Materials Total: 1

@Shield

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 84950 results: Loot: 18 + 3 LD item + 1 skill + 1 skill item = 23 - +1 material (2 total)

Just as Calrex made the jab about having cleared out the floor, Shield's earring blazed to life. He turned his eyes towards the nearest wall, then to the floor, and just barely managed to spot an odd arrangement of legs on the ground. He knelt down to examine it more closely. It was exactly like the molt he had found with Anemone, but now having just seen the odd mushroom bug, a thought occurred to him.

"Hey, do you think this came from your little bug-room friend?" he asked, picking up the empty, insect-shaped husk. "I almost wonder if it isn't like some sort of hermit crab, though instead of having to scavenge shells, the shell just grows with them. Hell, it might even be an actual fungus of some sort that has a symbiotic relationship."

He marveled for a moment before stashing the chitinous item with the other materials he had accumulated so far on the new floor.

@Calrex

Edited May 22, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

ID: 84954
Loot Dice: 18 (Search and Detect +3 / Item +3) = 24
Material Found

Looking over as Shield picked up the material he had spotted, Calrex gave a nod, "It could be. I've definitely seen stranger things while looking for materials on the other floor. I guess a symbiotic relationship with the mushroom would be better than a parasitic one like the Cordyceps with ants. Speaking of the bug through."

Skittering away from a rock close to Shield's foot the bluenette spotted the same bug from before, or at least one of the same species. This one had a rather large mushroom on its back, one that appeared to be partially slowing it down as a result. Quickly shooting his hand forward Calrex was able to grasp it by the fungi on its back. However, right as he was about to fully lift it off of the ground, the bug appeared to detach the shell-like mushroom, running off into the caverns.

The fungi didn't appear to dissipate into crystals, making the bluenette think for a moment before adding it to his inventory, "Huh, maybe it can do that as a defense mechanism, kind of like how some lizards can detach their tails to distract a predator."

Group Materials Total: 3

@Shield

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 84962 results: Loot: 13 + 3 LD item + 1 skill + 1 expertise = 18 - +1 Material (3 total)

"Perhaps," he replied, scratching his own head at how curious the whole exchange had been. "Just hope it's not like an octopus. They can do that with their tentacles, but they continue to reach and grasp and such on their own. Apparently there's grey matter in each arm that lets it more or less function independently." 

He shuddered a little at the thought of the mushroom throwing out roots to try to take up nutrients from its new 'host.' Dismissing this thought, he turned around and resumed his search. It didn't take long for his earring to light up once again. Glancing around, at first he did not spot anything of note, although there was a stone by his foot. He nudged it to turn it over, and on the other side, there was another type of stone embedded in the rock.

He knelt, examining the object. The stone was light, but it had a rainbow sheen to it, reflecting galaxies of swirling color that had been seemingly frozen in time in the surface of the stone.

"Opal, I think, or at least the SAO equivalent of it," he said, nodding to himself as he tapped the item and banished it to his inventory.

@Calrex

Edited May 22, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

ID: 84964
Loot Dice: 4 (Search and Detect +3 / Item +3) = 10
No Materials Found

"Oh man, I would probably take a few steps away if that happened. Although I guess a lizard's tail can potentially do similar, but I think that's more because of the nerves going crazy with twitches than anything else."

As Calrex continued to look around on the ground for anything else that might be of use for crafting. Unfortunately it seemed like his luck with the task had not improved, as he could only still see dirt and not much else. "Doesn't look like there's any other opal-like items around where I'm at. Think we should move a little further in?"

Dusting his hands off the bluenette gave a small sigh to himself for a moment, "It's really been a while since I did a dedicated material gathering outing. I must be seriously rusty or something."

Group Materials Total: 4

@Shield

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 84982 results: Loot: 3 + 3 LD item + 1 skill + 1 expertise = 8 - No materials (3 total)

"Same, up until the new floor," Shield replied, turning over a stone at his foot before moving on as well. "Being a merchant means easier access to at least some materials, but with new gear opportunities, the front liners need to swap out for something more useful. I already have my order in with Teion, but it's impossible to say when I'll need more."

The path's grade grew steeper the further the two wandered, eventually ending up at practically a forty five degree angle downward. As the composition of the walls changed, descending through different sediments, so too did the source of illumination. Fungi were replaced by crystals, clusters of which were scattered along the walls.

"Also, keep your eye our for chests," Shield added. "Used to be you could only open them with certain skills, but one opened for me the other day without any picking or anything of the like."

@Calrex

Edited May 23, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

OOC: Disregard roll 85043. Linked to wrong post in wrong topic =_=U

IC:

ID: 85044
Loot Dice: 1 (Search and Detect +3 / Item +3) = 7
No Materials Found

"Huh, I almost completely forgot about chests. Me and a couple of others went out to find one a while back. Unfortunately it turned out to be a mimic, so it didn't really give anything truly useful. Although I guess if you've got Teion already busy with a Tier 3 order I might need to get another blacksmith for mine then, heh."

As he followed along Calrex checked nearby, seeing what looked to be another piece of the opal that Shield had found earlier. Walking over he knelt down and began to reach for it, but then stopped as he saw three pairs of legs unfold from beneath, yet another camouflaged insect scuttling away after being exposed, "Oh you've got to be kidding me. Do all of the materials around here have a creature that disguises as it?"

Group Materials Total: 4

@Shield

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 85042 results: Loot: 18 + 3 LD item + 1 skill + 1 expertise = 23 - +1 material (4 total)

"Odd," Shield thought aloud, watching the odd little hermit bug skitter away. "If there are that many things, you'd think they're constantly in danger of being eaten, but I don't see predators yet. Then again, maybe it's less complicated than that and the devs just wanted to screw with players."

As he voiced that thought, his earring's inlaid gold wire shone out brightly in the pale light from the surrounding crystals. Sure enough, one of the nearby crystalline structures shone a different color, shedding a slightly pinkish light in the sea of pale blue. He tapped it, bringing up the item's menu before stashing it in his gear with the others they had found.

"It's definitely a lot more interesting to look at than other floors," he said, nodding down the luminous hallway ahead of them. "Maybe that was on purpose as well. A bunch of dismal levels leading up to something that's a little more pleasant to look at."

@Calrex

Edited May 23, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

ID: 85045
Loot Dice: 9 (Search and Detect +3 / Item +3) = 15
Materials Found

"No kidding on that. It's like someone took the tenth floor and put a nicer spin on it. As for the insects it does seem kind of counterintuitive that they would disguise themselves as things that attract attention."

As his eyes continued to scan suddenly his attention was brought to what appeared to be a crystalline ore that was embedded into one of the cavern walls. Walking over he reached forward and carefully extracted it from its place embedded in the rock. Looking at the ore it seemed to reflect the light of the cavern almost like a piece of glass, but it retained the rougher texture of naturally formed ore, "Huh, neat. Not really sure what the real world equivalent would be of this, but it'll hopefully be useful."

Adding the material to his inventory the bluenette gave a nod, "Looks like our luck might be turning around on this trip."

Group Materials Total: 6

@Shield

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 85046 results: Loot: 4 + 3 LD item + 1 skill + 1 expertise = 9 - No materials (4 total)

"Perhaps," Shield answered, continuing to peer ahead until his earring notified him of anything noteworthy. For now, it remained dormant. "If I had to call that anything, it almost reminds me of pyrite. Reflective, but almost too reflective to be actual gold or silver ore."

His eyes scanned the tunnel up ahead of them. It was odd. Usually, a natural tunnel like this would vanish into darkness at the point where there was too little to clearly see, but since the illumination was constant and even throughout almost all of the floor so far, it did not fade. Eventually the tunnel just turned and disappeared around a corner rather than into darkness.

"It seems a little suspicious," Shield said aloud as he continued to turn the last twenty four hours over in his mind. "So much buildup for a new boss, and then a somewhat simple victor and an easy search for the next labyrinth. I feel like the game is trying to lull us into a false sense of safety."

@Calrex

Edited May 23, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

ID: 85048
Loot Dice: 5 (Search and Detect +3 / Item +3) = 11
No Materials Found

"That hesitation is probably for a good reason. Not too many floors ago Rohk that did some damage to the frontlines and took out a couple of players, although I think there was one I still can't wrap my head around. She wasn't even double digits in level yet and decided to show up. In any case, before that the two or three bosses before all went down after one or two full rotations. There's the chance that the game might be pulling that same stunt again."

Spotting what appeared to be another pyrite-like ore in the wall again Calrex began to reach for it. However, this time he hesitated, already cautious of it being another insect mimic. Clenching his hand into a fist he thrust it forward to test if it was. Unfortunately it proved to be such a creature, as a crunching sound came out before the insect burst into crystals, "Darn, was really hoping it wasn't one."

Group Materials Total: 6

@Shield

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 85049 results: Loot: 18 + 3 LD item + 1 skill + 1 expertise = 23 - +1 material (5 total)

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think that's the first kill I've seen on this floor," Shield said, patting Calrex on the shoulder. "So you've got that going for you. Which is nice."

As he began to walk again, his earring responded to the change of location almost immediately, flaring up like a candle in the dimness of the passage. At his feet, he spotted another molt of whatever creatures seemed to populate the floor. Quite likely, it was the same one that Calrex had just dealt with.

"How is it that something that looks like treasure but isn't produces something that looks like trash but isn't?" he asked, scratching his head before giving up with a shrug and storing the item away with the rest. "I suppose that's just one more reason ton distrust this floor, in the end. The bosses are too easy, plus all of these sneaky little mushroom rock bugs."

@Calrex

Edited May 23, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

ID: 85052
Loot Dice: 18 (Search and Detect +3 / Item +3) = 24
Materials Found

"Heh, I guess I can take that accolade for now, although I think the recipient of it wasn't very deserving for it."

Calrex gave a laugh as he looked around again, seeing that there was another fallen piece of ore from his punch into the wall, "Huh, it must have fallen from the shockwave. Weird, I didn't think I hit the wall that hard."

Picking up the piece he added it to his inventory, stretching his arms before dusting off his hands once again, "Any luck where you're at? I think the designers decided to randomly sparse out the materials around here to make it harder to get Tier 3 equipment out of the gate."

"Which might make things problematic if we decide to take on the next floor boss soon. We'd be up against a Tier 3 boss with Tier 2 equipment for the most part."

Putting his hands into his jacket pockets for a moment before continuing the search.

Group Materials Total: 8

OOC: Linked accidentally to here for the chest picking roll 85051. Apologies =_=U

@Shield

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 85050 results: Loot: 15 + 3 LD item + 1 skill + 1 expertise = 23 - Chest Found!

As Shield examined his side of the tunnel, he stepped a little closer to the wall and his Seeking Aura earring lit up like midday, casting a golden light across the wall. He glanced around, but at first he could see nothing of note. There were merely more crystals, none of which looked out of place. Confused, he looked to the largest cluster of them, and as he examined it, something caught his eye. There was a shape to their formation. It was as if they were all formed on the top of something round and semi-cylindrical.

Kneeling closer to the ground, he tapped a few of the shining prisms, but they gave no indication of being noteworthy or special. With a shrug he began to break them away, sweeping his arm to the side to break through the natural structures. Slowly, he began to uncover something. It wasn't stone. If anything, it was wooden, and at its corners were metal bracings.

"Hey, Calrex?" he called out behind him. "I think I just found us a chest."

@Calrex

Edited May 23, 2017 by Shield