[PP - F21] How to be Taxidermists << Trouble in the Mines >>

[Ruby 0]

With her ever growing quest to show more and more people her knew look, Ruby had woke up today with a single goal... try to pretend that Jomei didn't know her and pull a funny little prank. However she didn't really... necessarily how she could be able to do such a thing, however she had also wanted to meet up with him to check up on things, and even get some SP together. Ruby had opened her messanger and sent Jomei a message:

Quote

To: @Jomei

Hey Jomei! It has been a hot minute... well, I guess not necessarily, however its been a minute since a one on one meeting...? I guess...?

anyways, i wanna do a quest with you, heard about some of the new ones on Floor 21 and i would like to do one with you, let me know before I head out for the day~

~ Rubs

And with one press of a button she had sent the message and began to wait for a message back.

[Jomei 0]

"Hm?" Jomei's eyes were drawn to the small, yellow notification that indicated that he had received a message. The man had been in his workshop, hard at work at writing some new songs.. of course, none that would prove useful in combat, simply being tunes that were pleasing to the ear. Bringing a hand up from the ivory keys of the piano he sat at, Jomei tapped on the small icon, before the message from his guild mate, Ruby, stretched out in front of his eyes. The Irishman could not hold back a small chuckle at the small, awkward greeting she had started with before getting to the point of the message -- wanting to check out one of the newly discovered quests on the Twenty First floor. Jomei had heard rumors of a bunch of new quests that had been found, and the man had yet to get any information from his broker about them. Figuring it would be more fun to just discover how the quest ran on his own, Jomei whipped up a quick reply to the girl.

Quote

To: Ruby

Hey Ruby,
Sure, I'll meet you there.

- Jomei

Keeping his message short, sweet, and to the point, the ginger stood from the ebony bench and swiped a hand upwards to summon his menus. Scrolling through his inventory, Jomei equipped his green trench coat and thin pieces of armor to his chest, knees, and shoulder. Lastly, with Oathkeeper falling into place on his hip, Jomei made his way out of the workshop and into the living room. Calling Adere to his shoulder, the man bid his fiance goodbye, and told her where he would be heading. With his farewells to Telrenya out of the way, the ginger left the house and began the short walk to the center of Taft, where the teleport gate was located. 

Jomei's tall frame materialized onto the Twenty First floor, olive eyes blinking multiple times as he worked to adjust to the dimly lit cavern that Tomoika resided in. "Now.. where could she be?" he questioned, looking around for the familiar blonde hair.. or was it pink now?

[Ruby 0]

After a moment of waiting she had finally received a message back, opening her messenger and looking at the message she had seen that he would meet her there. Ruby had smiled and got up from her seat and moved forward towards the floor teleporter. After a moment and getting to the 21st floor she had looked around again with a frown, she had some pretty bad memories about being on this floor, however she had felt like it was time to create better memories or at least not look at this floor so poorly. However after a moment she had turned around to see Jomei. Ruby had smiled as she had approached him, Purobolos not by her side and rather setting up a joke and is hiding behind Jomei. Ruby had spoke out "Hi, aren't you Jomei? Ruby told me I could meet you here." she had said in a friendly manner and tried to pretend as though she was someone that had just joined the guild.

@Jomei

[Jomei 0]

Jomei hummed a soft tune to himself as he kept his eyes open for the vibrant head of hair that made Ruby stand out from the rest. A voice calling him by name caught his attention, and turning to the side Jomei saw that it was in face, not Ruby, but a girl with dark, short hair approaching him, claiming that Ruby said she could meet him here. Jomei's brows knit with concern, "Yeah.. I'm Jomei.." he said slowly, confused about the situation. The first thing he noticed was the guild symbol placed above the green health bar that curved around her torso. The ginger's concerned expression turned a bit sour, if this was a new member of the guild that he did not know about.. he was going to have to have words with the members of the Holy Dragon Alliance yet again about inviting members to the guild without it going through Jomei, especially after what happened with Ryo. "Who are y-" Jomei stopped mid way through his sentence, before squinting his eyes and looking a bit closer at the girl, "Wait... Ruby?" 

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had giggled when he had said that he was Jomei, Ruby had done a quick eye movement to Purobolos to start moving slowly towards Jomei from behind, however she had looked back saying "Yeah, I am new to the guild and all and I wanted to meet everyone before hearing about a meeting or something." She had smiled, however he had began to ask who she was, and before he could finish his statement he moved closer squinting his eyes asking if it was Ruby. Ruby had let out a small chuckle with a smile as Purobolos had managed to get behind him, Ruby had snapped her fingers and with one action. Purobolos had exploded behind him, Ruby had opened her eyes and said out to him after the explosion "The one and only~" she had then giggled. From the smoke, the smoke then moved back together forming a ball where Purobolos had began to reform back into his ball form, afterwards Purobolos had let out a goblin like laugh.

@Jomei

[Jomei 0]

With a snap of the girl's fingers, something small exploded behind the ginger. The sound caused Jomei to stumble forward toward Ruby to move away from the explosion. In a singular motion, Jomei planted a foot into the ground and turned the other way, ripping his rapier from its scabbard and pointing it back where he had once stood. His defensive stance dropped as Ruby's familiar slowly began to reform, cackling with a wide, jagged smile. "Very funny guys.." Jomei said, his arm dropping to his side before sheathing the blade once again. The ginger let out a heavy sigh, raising a hand to run through his ginger locks, pushing the fringe that hung in front of his eye out of his face only for a moment, the long hair falling back into place after moving his hand away. "So, another new look?" he said with a chuckle, "I thought you were enjoying the long, pink hair." 

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had let out a chuckle as he had jerked forward after the explosion and pulling out his weapon in a safe zone, however before long he had said out Very Funny, in the middle of her giggle Ruby had said out to him "Actually its very funny to me, you are so quick to violence you are." she had finished her giggle fest. However he had said out to her about her new look asking if she was enjoying the long pink hair, Ruby had taken a step towards him and said poking his chest "Well, maybe I wanted to try a new look, I am a fashionista after all." she had used her finger to do a small push as she had said to him "I would ask you how I look, however knowing you I already know the answer to it. Just remember that my eyes are right here." she had giggled trying to pull his leg a little bit trying to joke around saying he might be staring at other places while they were talking.

@Jomei

[Jomei 0]

Jomei let out a small sigh, "When you've seen as much as I've seen.. you don't take so kindly to explosion right behind you, and you just expect the worst. If I'm going to protect Tel and everyone else, I can't run and have to be ready for anything." he said with a nod, his voice a bit more serious. Jomei simply shrugged his shoulders in response to why Ruby had changed her look yet again, "Can't argue with you there, you're free to do as you wish." he said with a small chuckle. With a finger pressed to her chest, the woman playfully pushed him forward, refraining from asking him how she looked, but making sure to tell him where her eyes were, "Yes Ruby, I know exactly where your eyes are.." Jomei said with a shake of his head. With the pleasantries out of the way, the ginger straightened out his back and crossed his arms, "So.. whats this new quest you say you heard about?" 

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had placed her fists on her hip and leaned forward a bit "You are correct, but it seems you forget a very huge detail about where we are at." she had brought on hand up to flick his shoulder, however after a moment she had hit a virtual barrier before a screen popping up saying Immortal Object, she had looked to him and said "We are in a safe zone, literally even if that was right at your face it wouldn't do anything." After a moment Ruby had felt a little playful trying to pull his leg a little bit saying out that her eyes were up here, in response he had said he knew exactly where they were. Ruby had said out while giving him a poke "Good, I am only testing you as you are a taken man, and like I said, you betray her and your ass is mine." she had backed off and said "Speaking of her, is she doing alright? Saw her at the boss raid meeting, while I don't think shes ready, if shes up for it I am not going to tell her no." then he had asked about the quest, Ruby had displayed a bit of a shrug saying out "Well, I am not too sure exactly what I need to do, however from what I heard we just gotta bring back hides back to a town."

@Jomei

[Jomei 0]

The ginger simply sighed, Ruby may have been right about the two's location in the safe zone.. but it was still the principle of the fact. Jomei had seen much more battle than she had, seen a lot more death, and the destruction that this game was truly capable of. As a solder who had seen battle before, it was no surprise that Jomei would react the way he did to an explosion or anything of the sort, despite the easy-to-forget luxury of the towns serving as safe-zones. Jomei smirked, rolling his eyes at Ruby's 'test' to see if Jomei was still loyal to his now fiance, Telrenya. Jomei had given into the temptation of someone much more lustful than Ruby long ago, he was not planning on making that mistake ever again. "Tel is doing fine." Jomei said with a smile, "I had doubts about her being ready at first as well but.. I've seen her im combat. She has made incredible strides since we first met. The two of us took on the whole Dragon Anthology quest line with no problems.. making record time with that final boss too." he said with a chuckle. "And she will be on our team for the raid, that's not changing. So we can all protect each other." 

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had just listened to Jomei speak, and she had gotten a little emotional, when she had first seen Tel she was desperate for help, needed a push in a direction... and Ruby had done as much as she could before bringing her into the guild where people could teach her a little bit better than herself. Ruby had let down a few tears after a moment and she had immediately rubbed them away with her arm and fighting the urge to cry, she had looked to Jomei with a smile however it was clear that she was a little emotional about it "S-she's just grown so quickly as I haven't grown much, a-and..." she had looked down for a moment and rubbed her eyes before looking up "Jomei, she told me. You two, you two are..." she had let out one laugh "Getting married." she had taken a deep breath "Just, never betray her. She means a lot to me. If I find out you had done it once, I swear I'd... I'd..." she had looked down again before taking a deep breath.

@Jomei

[Jomei 0]

Jomei's brows knit with concern when he saw Ruby's eyes begin to glisten as tears pooled in the corner of her eyes. She was emotional about the whole ordeal, with the blonde's growth in level and capabilities.. as well as their future marriage. His eyes widened for a moment, knowing that he was not the one to have told her of their recent engagement.. though she had mentioned that it was Telrenya who told her about it. The man smiled, his chin rising and falling with a nod, "Yeah. I'm not sure when its going to happen yet.. but we are going to get married." Ruby's tone suddenly dropped, sounding a bit more serious. She demanded Jomei never betray the girl, or he would have to answer to her. Letting out a small sigh through his nostrils, the man took a step forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Ruby... Tel means the world to me.. I've never loved someone as much as I love her. You know that I would do anything for her... I would never betray her as long as I live. You have my word." Gently squeezing the muscle of her shoulder, he smiled at her. "Now come on, let's go figure out what this quest is about."

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had felt like crying a little bit, however she had resisted to just cry out, she needed to be tough about this sort of thing... before long he had admitted that they we're going to get married. Ruby had just wanted to finish things up "To think at one point I had loved her that way once before... however as time progressed, it moved to a sisterly like love. And... I just am very happy to see how she had progressed and how she has grown as a person..." she had a few tears fall down her cheek as he had placed a hand on her shoulder giving it a squeeze promising that he would never betray her, Ruby had smiled and moved forward and gave the man a hug. Just for a moment it wasn't going to last forever, however it did last a good minute or two. However she had pulled away from the hug and wiped away her tears with her arm saying out to him nodding her head "Yeah... let's get to work instead of being emotional or trying to pull each others leg." she had giggled.

@Jomei

[Jomei 0]

Ginger brows rose at Ruby's nonchalant confession of once loving Telrenya as Jomei had. He knew that the two were close.. but had they been that close to where Ruby felt that way about her. Jomei bit down on his cheek, trying to keep any words he wanted to say to himself, as to not make things awkward between the two... though definitely knowing this would not exactly sit well in Jomei's mind. "Lets just go." he said, turning from the woman and beginning their walk to the other end of town.

Jomei pretty much walked in silence, not sure how to strike up conversation with the girl. As they made their way out of the safe zone and into the dark mines that made up most of Floor 21, his mind was more focused on finding whatever it was they needed to hunt down, rather than making small talk. The shriek of some sort of beast caught his ears as the sound bounced off the cavern walls, creating an echo. "What the hell was that?" Jomei said, slowly taking his rapier from its scabbard. 

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had seen that he had looked like he had something in mind to tell her, maybe it was something she said? She wasn't fully aware of what it fully it could be, she was extremely happy for the two after all, she doesn't know what she could of said to do it. However eventually he said to just go, Ruby had frowned a bit but shrugged it off "Alright, lead the way Robin Hood." she had tried to put forward a joke, however she had just continued to follow behind him. He had remained a bit silent, Ruby had kept a bit of a frown upon her face, again she just really didn't think that she said anything to really cause this, however its whatever year... anything could happen. However after a moment they had made their way into the dark mines and they had heard of a shriek bouncing off of the cavern walls creating a echo in which Jomei had took immediate action, Ruby had placed a hand on her hip and said out to him with a playful smile "Well, if I was a guessing girl I'd say that was the noise of a monster in the cavern. What? Are you Scared?" she had giggled.

@Jomei

[Jomei 0]

"Robin hood?" Did Jomei look like a Robin Hood? Maybe it was the forest green cloak he wore.. but that was the first time he was ever called that. With a short half chuckle and a smirk, the man turned to begin the walk. The shriek that caused both Ruby and Jomei to stop in their tracks was soon followed by sharp talons scraping against the cavern walls, and another shriek. "That one sounded a little different from the first one.. I don't think there's only one of those monsters up ahead." Taking only a few steps forward, the two players were suddenly met with a powerful burst of fire that filled the stone corridor. With wide eyes that were lit up by the raging flame, the ginger threw himself out of the way, hugging his back to the wall. The blast continued, hitting Ruby with its full force and dropping her health bar down a bit. "Ruby! You alright?!" Jomei shouted to her as the smoke of the scorched player faded. Not giving the enemy any more time to react, the ginger used his Charge skill to launch forward, driving the sharp end of his rapier into the drakeling's scaled flesh. He proceeded to riddle the monster with slashes and cuts, dropping its own health deep into the red. 

From around the corner, a second drakeling revealed itself, smoke pouring from the corners of its mouth. Before the man had a chance to move, a second burst of fire shot out from its mouth, this time hitting Jomei. The man's armor was able to block most of the damage, but that did not stop the drakeling from putting a small dent in his green health bar. "Dragons huh.. This is going to get interesting." the man said with a smirk. 

 

Spoiler

Jomei:
ID 101933
BD 4(+4)(-1) =7 Hit | Charge Activated |  Over Radiation: 14 x 17(+5 Charge)  = 308 (-15) = 293 dmg

Drakeling 1:
Breath of Fire (AoE)
ID 101934
BD 6(+2)(-4) 4 Miss (Jomei)
MD 9 Hit (100 Dmg) Ruby

Drakeling 2:
Breath of Fire (AoE)
ID 101935
BD 8(+2)(-4) 6 Hit (100 Dmg - 52 MIT = 48) Jomei
MD 4(+2)(-3) Miss Ruby

Jomei: 1342/1390 HP | 151/151 EN | 17 DMG | 4 ACC | 4 EVA | 52 MIT | 2 Savvy | 70 B. Healing (-48)
Ruby: (-100)

Drakeling
HP: 57/350 DMG: 200 MIT: 15 ACC: 2 EVA: 1 (BoF 0/4)

Drakeling
HP: 350/350 DMG: 200 MIT: 15 ACC: 2 EVA: 1 (BoF 0/4)

<< Breath of Fire >> : Each Drakeling will attack with an AoE dealing 100 unmitigatable damage. After a 4 turn cooldown, the Drakeling will use Breath of Fire again. 
 

@Ruby

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had let out a hum following behind Jomei as he had followed the sound of the screech, and after a moment a burst of fire had shot out and hit the two of them, Jomei being more affected by the blast more so than Ruby. Ruby had looked up as he had shouted out in concern asking if she was alright, Ruby had grew a playful smile and placed her hand on her forehead being overly dramatic "I can see the light Jomei... im dying..." before giggling to say "Of course I'm alright ginger power." then before they had knew it the drakelings had appeared for actual combat Jomei taking one, it seemed like common sense for Ruby to handle the other. Ruby had moved forward and slammed her fist against the Drakeling's head dealing a good chunk of its HP in damage. Look back to Jomei after his statement she had said out "Well you know what they say, Drakelings comes in herds. If this is the power of all of them, it might get boring after a while."

@Jomei

ID: 101952 - BD: 4+3-1=6
Sword Art Used: All Might [Damage: 15*15=225-15=210]

Jomei: 1342/1390 HP | 151/151 EN | 17 DMG | 4 ACC | 4 EVA | 52 MIT | 2 Savvy | 70 B. Healing (-48)
Ruby: 1000/1100 HP | 95/110 EN | 15 DMG | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 0 MIT | +3 Stealth | +6 LD | 20% First Aid Healing

Drakeling
HP: 57/350 DMG: 200 MIT: 15 ACC: 2 EVA: 1 (BoF 0/4)

Drakeling
HP: 140/350 DMG: 200 MIT: 15 ACC: 2 EVA: 1 (BoF 0/4)

<< Breath of Fire >> : Each Drakeling will attack with an AoE dealing 100 unmitigatable damage. After a 4 turn cooldown, the Drakeling will use Breath of Fire again. 

[Jomei 0]

"Very funny Ruby" Jomei said, sucking his teeth before smirking, "Should have figured you'd be fine." After pounding the second Drakeling for scorching her skin, the two small dragon-like creatures recovered from the attacks and glared across at the two players, releasing small, growl like chirps as they lowered their heads towards the stone floor. "Looks like they are getting ready for another pass, get ready." Olive eyes locked onto the drake's mouth, looking for any signs of smoke or fire. Expecting another fire based attack, the small dragon rushed at Jomei, lifting a clawed hand to swipe across his person. With a quick retreating step, Jomei dodged the claws of the dragon, before thrusting his blade forward and following back in. Oathkeeper pierced the Drake's skin multiple times in quick succession, the last stab causing the monster to shatter like glass. "There's one.. damn, doesn't look like it dropped any of the hides you were talking about."

Spoiler

Jomei:
ID: 103403
BD: 3(+4)(-1) 6 Hit
Shooting Star: 17 x 7 = 119 (-15) = 104 Dmg vs Drakeling 1
CD: 3 No Drakeling Skin

Drakeling 1:
 
Drakeling 2:
ID 103404
MD 6(+2)(-3) 5 Miss

[1|0]Jomei: 1390/1390 HP | 138/151 EN | 17 DMG | 4 ACC | 4 EVA | 52 MIT | 2 Savvy | 70 B. Healing (+70)
[0|1]Ruby: 1000/1100 HP | 95/110 EN | 15 DMG | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 0 MIT | +3 Stealth | +6 LD | 20% First Aid Healing

Drakeling
HP: 0/350 DMG: 200 MIT: 15 ACC: 2 EVA: 1 (BoF 1/4) (-104)

Drakeling
HP: 140/350 DMG: 200 MIT: 15 ACC: 2 EVA: 1 (BoF 1/4)

<< Breath of Fire >> : Each Drakeling will attack with an AoE dealing 100 unmitigatable damage. After a 4 turn cooldown, the Drakeling will use Breath of Fire again. 
_____________________________________

Drakelings Defeated: 1/10
Drakeling Skins: 0 (CD:8+)

[Ruby 0]

"What can I say? I'm just a funny gal." Ruby replied to him with a giggle. Ruby turned back the Drakeling that had continued to press its luck against Ruby, Ruby had looked at it a little more carefully... it wasn't quite a dragon, however it kind of did have a tinier version of one... maybe it was a baby dragon? Ruby shook her head, this was no time to contemplate whether or not Drakeling is a term for a baby dragon. "Got it capt'n" she had replied back, and as Jomei moved forward to attack so did Ruby to the opposite dragon, Ruby simply hand charged up her Punch and slammed it against the top of the drakelings head smashing it into the ground. The drakeling had exploded in crystals and Ruby had simply looked back to Jomei saying "Well, you certainly never lost your touch in combat."

@Jomei

Spoiler

ID: 106219
BD: 7+3-1=9
Sword Art Used: All Might [Damage: 15*15=225-15=210 to Drakeling 2]
CD: 4 [Nope, FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF]

[1|0]Jomei: 1390/1390 HP | 138/151 EN | 17 DMG | 4 ACC | 4 EVA | 52 MIT | 2 Savvy | 70 B. Healing (+70)
[0|1]Ruby: 1000/1100 HP | 95/110 EN | 15 DMG | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 0 MIT | +3 Stealth | +6 LD | 20% First Aid Healing

Drakeling
HP: 0/350 DMG: 200 MIT: 15 ACC: 2 EVA: 1 (BoF 1/4) (-104)

Drakeling
HP: 0/350 DMG: 200 MIT: 15 ACC: 2 EVA: 1 (BoF 1/4) (-210)

<< Breath of Fire >> : Each Drakeling will attack with an AoE dealing 100 unmitigatable damage. After a 4 turn cooldown, the Drakeling will use Breath of Fire again. 
_____________________________________

Drakelings Defeated: 2/10
Drakeling Skins: 0 (CD:8+)

[Jomei 0]

"Heh, you've still got a hell of a punch as well." Jomei said with a smirk after Ruby extinguished the last of the Drakelings. "Glad to see that taking the medic role hasn't taken away from your combat skills." After the two small dragon-like creatures had been finished, Jomei noticed a small data screen with a tally appear in front of him only for a moment; Drakelings: 2/10 Pelts 0. Just as quickly as the screen had appeared, it slowly faded to give Jomei full view from his HUD. "Looks like we are far from finished here.. we've still got a bit of clean up to do.. Hopefully we can snag some of those skins as well." Another roar of a far off drakeling bounced off the walls of the cavern, leaving the two to hear the echo of the beast. "Come on, lets go find the next two.. I'd hate to have to deal with more than two of them at once." 

 

((If you still want to continue, you can spawn the next two)