[PP-F21] A dangerous dungeon-party

[Zandra 0]

Sitting on my bed, staring at the fullbody mirror. With the elbows on my knees and cheeks resting in my open palms, I kept eyecontact with the person in the mirror. Was this really a good idea? Or will it do more damage then good. To that I don’t have an answer. I straightened my back and with arms high in the air I fell backwards at the soft double-bed. Well, at least Imgoing to have a reason to gather together, so hopefully there wont be too much trouble if something goes wrong. And I also going to have him there. Hopefully. I hope he will step in if needed. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh before pushing myself up. I swiped in the air infront of me and start writing a few mails.

Spoiler

Hi @Ariel - The Crowned Lion

It was awhile now since we actually did some fighting together. I’m gonna head to floor 21 today since awhile ago I got a map over a dungeon from my of my information-brokers. I would love if you wanted to accompany me on this battle. It is going to be a though battle and I definitely would have good use of your strength (in and out of combat).

Zandra

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Hello @Calrex

Hope everything is alright with you. Today I am going to explore a dungeon on floor 21. One of my information brokers got me a map over one that isn’t that far away from town. Thou it’s an advanced one so would really need a good tank to tag along. You can bring someone else with you as well. Having a spot open in the party if all invited shows up.

Zandra

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Heya @Hikoru

Well, there didn’t seemed to be a very long talk at the beach party. Thou I want you to know that I haven’t told anyone about what happened that day and night. Not even Ariel. Maybe we could meet sometime and do a bit more talking, without your dagger speaking so much like last time.

But if I should get to why I really sent you this message. Its because I’m going to head into an advanced dungeon on floor 21 and would like if you could join me and a few others. We would really have good use of your damage, especially when engaging the boss. I hope I will see you there.

Zandra

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Hoi @Hirru

Hope everything is fine with you Hirru. I just wanted to let you know that I am going to head to an advanced dungeon on floor 21. And I would like if you could join in. But I shall warn you, it will be dangerous but I hope we all gonna survive. See you there, hopefully.

Zandra

I also added that the meetup place was at the warp-plaza at floor 21. After all four mails have been sent, I putted a bunch of different healing and antidote crystals in my inventory. I equipped Inferno, my heavy armour. I putted on the Mask of the Dragoness, hiding most part of my face. Then I walked down the stairs and out thru the front door to the main settlement of floor 16. I warped up to 21 and there I walked over and sat down on a bench with my two handed axe in my lap.

Appearance:

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Armour and axe(including eyepatch):

Mask:

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OOC:

@Teayre there is no way Zandra would invite you. So I made it that @Calrex will choose you to follow him. 

-Use Yui's Grace (5/5 used)

[Calrex 0]

A message ping sounded in his ear for a moment as Calrex's inbox had a new message appear within it. After spending some time on the first floor, wandering around to see if there were any potential changes to the environment, "Figures, not like something would change from the floors we've unlocked...hm?"

Swiping with two fingers through the air the bluenette pulled down his menu from invisible space, materializing the flat panel in front of him. With a few presses he was able to navigate over to the inbox, seeing that it had come from Zandra, "Huh, haven't seen her in a while, at from the last time."

He could still recall the past time, when the two of them alongside Lee and Piera discover Jomei nearly dead on the fourth floor. From what he could discern, the ginger-headed swordsman was held prisoner for a long time by malicious players, "I'm still trying to figure out how the heck he was capable of being detained. Jomei may have been out of practice, but he was still a frontliner in stats. Maybe once I've got some time I'll need to find out if there are any potential causes of trouble that are at the same level as the assault teams. If so that might be a problem..."

As he read through the message he made note of the fact she had notified him of another space open for him to bring someone along, "Well, it's been a while since she's been out, at least from what I can remember. Might be good to help her get back up to snuff, especially with the new tier released and the next floor boss almost discovered."

Swiping back to create a new message he began to type out his message:

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@Teayre

Hey, Zandra is hosting an advanced dungeon raid on the newest floor. It might be good to getting ready for the next boss fight. If you've got the time to come along, I'll meet you at the floor's warp plaza. Not really sure who else is coming just yet, so we'll see.

As the message left his inbox he gave a small sigh while making his way over to the teleportation plaza, "Not like I didn't forget what Zandra said, but she did say she trusted my judgement. I just hope that holds up. A lot of things people say seem to be getting cheaper and cheaper each day. Either case, if any kind of drama happens in there I'd best be ready to step in. If it's one place I don't want any nonsense happening in, it's a dungeon we can't get out of once we step in."

Walking up to the circle he set his destination before starting to change his equipment. The Grand Dragoon vanished while his full body was encapsulated by the dark ultramarine blue armor of the Grand Chariot III, and his forearms were wrapped in the Grand Gauntlets III. The only piece of equipment remaining from a few moments ago was the Amethyst Charm, which remained around his neck as he stepped out onto the 21st floor.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

"If I remember right, last fighting we did was against each other." said the blonde with a smile as she came from behind the full armored dragoness. She hopped over the bench and landed right next to Zandra, resting her hands on top of the wooden back support, behind the girl's shoulders. The blonde then leaned and said in a soft voice: "So, who else is coming? And I hope you understand that by inviting me, I won't necessarily play nice with whoever comes; especially if I don't know them." she added with a grin. From the side, a small furball brushed against Zandra's feet, making her presence known. Kimba and Ariel haven't seen eye to eye since a certain event but recently, they started reverting to the relationship they once had. This could be seen through small changed in they way they acted when they were together. "Seems that Kimba also missed you." added the blonde with a smile.

It wasn't long since she had received Zandra's message. After reading it, she didn't have to think twice about joining in the dungeon crawling expedition. Especially since it was located on the front line floor. Ariel didn't know if she had done stuff there yet. What she did know was that apparently without her involvement, the discovery of the new floor's boss room was way, way behind the usual schedule.

---

not pleased with how I described it, so I'll add a visual aid:

Spoiler

 

 

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru received a ping as he was resting on the 21st floor, his new base of operations as of late. It was quiet, sullen, and in some places free of monsters, so this is where he usually hung around in his free time, other than the 4th floor pub. He opened up and read the letter, having a small chuckle as she joked about their last encounter together. He made his way over through the shadows, cutting corners and leaping from building to building until he landed close to Zandra. As he started to approach, Ariel appeared. He grit his teeth and took a breath. He needed to end this, and there was one way to do it. He didn't care what she did in retaliation, this was needed to be done. He walked over to the two of them. He gave a nod towards @Zandra.

"Zandra, thanks for the invite..." He turned towards @Ariel - The Crowned Lion "And as for you...." He leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek. He stood for a moment. "That's apologising for everything." Then, using his Acrobatics Skill he went to give a swift roundhouse kick straight to the side of her jaw. He didn't see what happened or if it even connected, but he turned and looked the other way anyways. "And that's saying that I will never forgive you." And with that, he entered stealth and waited for the raid to begin. He found a small fountain and stood by it, his cloak shrouding him and making him all the more harder to see.

Hikoru entered stealth: 26+ to be found

Edited August 24, 2017 by Hikoru

[Zandra 0]

First to arrive was the one Zandra wanted the most to join in. After all, Ariel was probably the only person she could truly trust on. There was others that the alchemist would rank pretty high on that list, but after joining Ariel, so much have changed. As she landed beside Zandra, she greeted her with a smile. ‘’That sounds about right. And it was good fight as well. Even if I didn’t had a chance.’’ The last words was barely hearable from behind the mouthguard. She leaned forward and gave the lioness a hug. A few seconds later something was brushing against her leg. There was the white lion that was Ariels familiar. ‘’Hello there Kimba. I have missed you too.’’ She said and scratched the lion with her armoured hand.

Then the Berserk Healers took her focus back to Ariel. She scratched her neck. ‘’Well, this is gonna be a pretty dangerous dungeon. So I only invited those that would be of help. First was Calrex. I also said that maybe he could bring someone with him. Then you of course. I know Macradon is very busy at the moment so instead I asked Hirru, also from KoB thou.’’ That was when I spotted a cloaked figure approaching. ‘’And him.’’ She finished with a kind of troubled tone and pointed at the man.

‘’Hello there Hikoru.’’ She greeted him and gave a small wave. ‘’No probl…’’ The brunette started to answer when the shadow master did something unexpected. ‘’What?’’ she said to herself. What he just did wasn’t something she would have guessed after the talks the two of them have been having lately. But his second action made more sence. Thou when his foot flew thru the air and the moment later he disappeared her face turned from troubled to furious in an instance. ‘’What the F**K are you doing?! Here I invited you to join up. And the first thing you do is this?! Are you totally incapable of acting like a normal person. Just kicking someone like that out of nowhere and hiding like a freaking coward the moment after.’’ Zandras eyes darted around and searched the area. But there was no sign of him. Thou she guessed he was still near. After the talks the two of them have been having, she thougth that he would have been able to at least control his emotions enough to not attack someone again. But she seemed to be wrong. A few swipes and the mask over her eyes was changed. She had got a grip of herself and calmed down a little bit and finished with. ‘’At least you didn’t used your dagger this time. So I guess that’s some improvement.’’

[Hirru 0]

The hunter was sitting in the Knights of the Blood Oath's guild hall, ruminating on some battle plans for the upcoming boss fight, when he got an invite to scour a sub-dungeon on the twenty first floor by Zandra.  Normally, the hunter would think that there should be better usage of the resources available.  Especially since they were about to go into a floor boss fight within the next week or so.  The recent information that was brought up have been saying things that showed the increased difficulty within sub-dungeons, and with this being on the twenty first floor, that sense of severity and danger could be said to rival that of a floor boss, if it was an Advanced class.  Should they really be doing something this reckless?  The emphasis made on "hope" near the end didn't sit well either.

Thinking back on the few times that he had ventured with Zandra, she had always been able to keep her own self safe while even protecting other; even before she gained the First Aid skill.  Something told him that they would be fine, if they had the buffs to go with it, but that also begged the question:  'who else did Zandra invite for a full blown raid?'.  The hunter's curiosity would get the better of him as he came to the meeting point.

Once there, the hunter immediately felt his detection skill set begin to alert him to a hidden presence.  He didn't know where it was, but the hunter didn't need to know, if it was Zandra that he was around.  With the info, the hunter could only speculate that Zandra had invited Hikoru, as well.  The shadow didn't like being a visible a whole lot, but it was good to have a scouter that could bypass anything and everything.  

The next thing that the hunter would notice would be two women, both well known by now: Zandra, the Berserk Healer; and, Ariel, the Crowned Lion.  By the orange marking on Ariel, he could already tell that it WAS Hikoru that was being pinged.  The hunter didn't really know anyone else but Hik to possibly do that.  Though, some of the Knights would try, but they would be here now, and the hunter was not going to start that.  Lowenthal may have been Vice Commander when he died, but the hunter was not going to let his death be cause of emotional distress.  All of them were required to get through the hundred floors and get everyone back to their world.  Instead, he sighed heavily knowing what was to come from it.

"*sigh* This is why I try to keep those two in separate teams.."

The final person would be someone that the hunter actually walked with to get here, so would technically be the first, Ultramarine Calrex.  He had seen the azure warrior while he was heading to the meeting point after the hunter warped to the twenty first floor.  A sight for sore eyes to be true.  The hunter was unsure how everything would go with Ariel and Hikoru at each others throats, while the hunter and Zandra would have to keep them apart.  All that, while worrying about an unknown danger was going to be a little less problematic.  One person can not hold long against something like this, but a team definitely would.  Though, the hunter would have liked a full raid team, if the radical nature of this team was pointing at the possibility of this being Advanced.

"Guess we're not early, it seems."

[Teayre 0]

The moment her screen pinged, Teayre’s mouth fell open. It was Calrex. Opening the message her eyes flick through it quickly, a loud thumping could be heard. “An advanced dungeon…” Swiping down to open her character screen she sighed, “I’m out of practise.” Hitting reply Teayre sent a message back to Calrex.

Spoiler

I’ll be there, Do we… Do we have a katana in our inventory?
I’ve been practising again…

Hitting send the red head makes her way quickly to the twenty-first floor. Her eyes took in Calrex immediately and a green haired man, clad in red armour. Swallowing as she saw the rest of the people. Zandra and Ariel. Her hand instinctively went to her weapon, her nostrils flared for a moment as she lurked in the darkness. Shaking, she let her hand fall away. “This isn’t the time Teayre.” As she approached the group slowly.

Slipping behind Calrex she gently touches a hand to his back, before whispering her greeting. Taking two steps back she opened her inventory again. “Cal… I’ve not at what we’ve got in so long… Could you…” Her speech was broken, quiet but loud enough to be heard by her husband. 

@Zandra@Calrex@Ariel - The Crowned Lion@Hirru@Hikoru

 

Edited August 26, 2017 by Teayre

[Calrex 0]

As Calrex had continued along towards the designated meeting place his inbox had pinged with the response to his invitation. However, it did seem that some preparation would be necessary. He had known about Teayre training under Baldur in order to master her unique skill, as well as herself. It was from that fear previously that she had refrained from drawing a katana, instead opting for the one-handed curved sword in its place. However, it seemed that maybe she was confident enough to start trying to pick up the weapon of the samurai again.

It seemed along the way that he was joined by Hirru, who appeared to be another companion for this dungeon raid. The blunette had seem the young man take charge, actively collaborating and strategizing for the frontlines. The self-titled "Jade Hunter" had come a long way from when he first encountered him so long ago, back when Sword Arts were first discovered. Looking forward it appeared that something had already transpired between the other participants, or at least from what he could tell. If he was being honest, Calrex might have let a sigh of relief out that he was a few seconds late to the party that had just taken place. "Just too much teenage drama these days. I'm not that old, but I'm getting too old for that for sure..."

"Yeah, seems so. Still, seems we've got a decent party together for attempting this."

Feeling a hand on his back the bluenette turned to see the red-haired head of his wife. Even though his helmet didn't betray any emotions, a small smile did come across his face underneath, "Got your message, I think there's one in particular that's been sitting in our storage for a while. I had Oikawa make it some time back, but with the new tier out there's no point for it to keep gathering dust. Hopefully it's comfortable to wield."

Swiping on his menu a ball of light appeared in front of him before lengthening out to the size of a standard sized katana. As the features began to materialize it seemed the Oikawa Kanashiki may have been used as a base for the design. The handle and tsuba were a deep red, with the blade reflecting with a metallic blue hue. From the tsuba hung four ornaments in the shape of tears, each one draping at a different length from the others. As he handed it to her the name appeared on the screen in front, "Namida Koe no Owari."

Spoiler

Name: Namida Koe no Owari
Item Type: Katana
Quality: Perfect (Tier 2)
Enhancements: +3 Damage
Description: A katana that appears to have used the Oikawa Kanashiki design as a base. While the blade itself seems simple in design, it has a calming and welcoming aura rather than one lusting for combat. As the blade cuts through the air the sound produced by the blade seems to be one of saddening cries turning into cheerful laughter. The handle and tsuba are a crimson red, while the blade is a metallic blue. Hanging from the corners of the tsuba are four varied length teardrops. The name itself can be translated to "The end of sorrowful cries".

 

[Hikoru 0]

Hikoru listened and gave a sigh as Zandra screamed at him. He expected it, as he has just went for a kick at Ariel. He saw @Calrex approach, and he saw, for just a moment, a red head of hair. He felt a small smile form on his face and he quickly moved from his spot to Calrex and Teayre. He hadn't seen the power couple in months, and he had truly missed them. He made his presence known and pulled down his cloak's hood, his stealth disappearing as he came out of the shadows.

"Ah, the other Unique Skill users... This is the first time we've had a reunion since... Well, I don't know honestly." He said with a small laugh. He gave a nod towards @Teayre. "It's great to see you Momma- I mean, Teayre." He said, trying to be formal. He coughed and looked over their shoulders. "Sorry for the drama, I just... Finally, needed to get that out of my system..." He said, feeling a lot calmer than he had a few moments prior. He opened up his HUD and sent @Zandra a message, then put his hand next to his sheath under his cloak, prepared for the worst if it did come.

Spoiler

To: Zandra

Message: My apologies for that, I needed to finally let my emotions out for once. Trust me, that will be the only time I attack her in any way this entire trip, unless she tries to kill me. Then I have a right to fight back.