[F17-SP] What Did You Expect? (Challenge of Olympus)

[Raidou 1]

Mid-afternoon sun held high in the sky, drawing a deep orange over the length of the floor. Raidou was at the beckoned call of a message not so dissimilar from the one he received some time ago regarding Alchemy. A soft trickle of wind held at his back, carrying aloft his crimson red robe with every step. He was expecting this with the sudden addition of where his beloved method had been placed, having blessed his HUD with its addition so early in the morning, and yet he chose to finish out the day's tasks before answering it's call. Through the realms of Athenia that was absent of any others presence, the white marble greeting his feet with an audible pounding past the gates in its rounded frame. For the mountain where he bested the first, he’d seek out and destroy the second.

She had no idea who she was messing with.

Mega Slime Farm Used: +10% Exp upon thread closure

Raidou | HP: 860/860 | EN: 104/104 | DMG: 22 | MIT: 117 | EVA: 4 | ACC: 3 | BH: 47 | LD: 6

Spoiler

Raidou, The Red Wanderer
Level: 31
Paragon Level: 60
HP: 860/860
EN: 104/104

Stats:
Damage: 22
Mitigation: 117
Evasion: 4
Accuracy: 3
Battle Healing: 47
Loot Dice: 6

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Auric Sunlight - Finality of Faith [T4/Perfect/2HSS] +3 Damage
Armor: Robe of the Red Wanderer [T1/Perfect/Cloth] +3 Evasion
Misc: Tactician's Gaze - Ogma [T1/Perfect/Trinket]: +3 Accuracy

Skills:
Searching R5
Cloth Armor R5
Fighting Spirit
Howl
2HSS R5
Battle Healing R5
Extended Mod Limit

Active Mods:
Detect
Focused Howl
Nimble
Ferocity
Vengeful Riposte
Tracking

Inactive Mods:

Active Extra Skills:
Forgotten King’s Authority
Parry
Survival
The Nomad who wanders

Inactive Extra Skills:

Battle Ready Inventory:
Iron Will (Tierless/Unique/Salve) Bloodclot: 1
Terra Firma Scale: 1
Darkness Salve: 3
Mass Heal Crystal: 5
Mass Heal Crystal: 5
Teleport Crystal: 1
Inert Pillar Fragment [Vanity/Broken Glowstone]: 1

 

[Raidou 1]

Into the main floor, the rocky expanse that composed it in sharp and jagged shards. Nemean Lion just outside its bounds and visible in the distance in its large tanned frame, a loud bellow causes Raidou to turn to it. It was unaware of the players presence, calling to its kin alone to continue the hunt. Toward the foot of Mount Olympus, seeking the would-be guide that would lead him up its trail in a towering pile of stone that dwarfed those around it. A soft and gentle green-skinned dryad, a flavor alone that would be his escort. She looks to Raidou expectantly “I’ve been waiting, Nature’s mother would see you up to meet her.” A lift of his hand to his lenses, an adjust that shields his eyes from view before a gesture of his hand to show that she was to take the lead and he would follow.

[Raidou 1]

Up the wobbled and crumbling roadway as it winds and bends slowly becoming an incline, reminded of the satyr that had brought him up prior. Surely the god he had bested would not be pleased to see him again he thought as he looked to the dryad in earnest who was struggling in her own right along the path, but he was long past concern for any rebuttal from the woman who challenged in an unfair battle of alchemy. He was no fool that she could exploit, and prepared a contingency should she attempt at ire as well as this new benefactor should she choose to do the same. He would allow no tricks. The path crumbles and tosses a handful of debris into the grounds below with a clatter on stonework below, Raidou steps precariously across it all, deft in movement from leagues of journeys across roads worse off than these.

[Raidou 1]

The path leads to that gilded and gaudy structure that reflected almost a mirror in its polish, in whites and gold trims with an aura of excess. That same pair of golden double doors graced his presence prior, massive in stature. The very same that was attempted to be used a gate and trap him within under trickery. The nymph begins to peel it open with a bit of discomfort and difficulty. She was hardly of the same stature as the male before her that played gatekeeper and was proven in her struggle. It begins to shutter and shift with her push, one half of it sliding ajar as she heaves forward. Raidou lifts a hand of his own and with ease, he lightens her burden, there was still a sense of kindness beneath that exterior of seriousness. She pays him thanks and receives a nod from him in response.

[Raidou 1]

The gate opens to reveal that same memory, the same blackened silhouettes adorning chairs in an array. A circular fashion around the main center, where the tests would be produced and levied against players who came to fight them. Raidou looks up to them unfazed as before, that same cool and placid demeanor that was common before. One of these spectators scoffs, as another lifts a hand to silence them. Surely the one from before that had lost their little duel and held spite against her opponent. This time, however, Raidou was the first to speak “I will not handle your little games, you wish to face me then attempt a fair wager. Else I have no qualms leaving to my own devices.” A raised hand lowers, to an egotistical chuckle. As if he had something funny, that head believing there was no way that she could lose as the prior had.

She was wrong.

[Raidou 1]

A slink from the chair and a gentle glide down, stepping from the shadows into the beam of light cast from a skylight above. Revealed is a woman adorned in long flowing white, a theme of nature held upon her frame. A crown of gold leaf that held a ring around her forehead, beautiful and flawless. To some, she’d inspire awe, to Raidou she was no different than a beast or creature. Adjusting his lenses and keeping his presence as solid and demanding as he had become accustomed, it worked wonders in building almost a sense of uncomfortability across the chamber. Where before they would work to discourage him, he was unfazed. He had been through this show before and welcomed their challenge in silence and adamancy. She ushers closer to him as a way of sizing him up. Demeter's eyes felt as though they would pierce him, but he had fought creatures with a load stronger vision than this.

[Raidou 1]

Demeter was no raid boss, nothing with enough threat to inspire any fear where the Shadow could not, Raidou was tried and true these days. Unperturbed by such simple matters, such as a glance. She offers another chuckle, but the swordsman in red can smell the concern on her tone. Demeter was starting to get the sense of what she had just welcomed on their mountain, and it was a man that had faced it all and walked away unscathed. The world had changed, and in that change was a man that was hardly recognizable from the first time he had been in this chamber. "Shall we begin?" She asks with a soft balance in her voice, desperate to hide what Raidou was already hearing. His will was breaking hers down, in his assurance, her own was beginning to falter and crumble like the road that leads up the side of this mountain.

[Raidou 1]

A solid stance and a twist of his head slightly toward his right shoulder. “Choose your game, but know I will see through any fallacy.” Raidou offered a threat as a confirmation, a will unlike any other. That of a tank that had faced death, no longer a boy. She could threaten him with anything and it would pale to the malevolent that was offered the light. Nothing brought him fear, so why would she be any different? A lift of a white draped appendage sees a crop appear the same as before, within this rough was a spectacle of the color of all sorts. The nomad immediately begins to identify the lot, having paid his due and recorded them all. A small black book contained each term, effect, and name bestowed. Demeter was discouraged by his silence, his presence was quite staggering even for a god of the mountain.

[Raidou 1]

Her eyes advance back to the red wanderer, a pair of violet eyes across peach complexion. "Within this rough lays a rare material unlike any other. A small bud of purest gold with untold power. Find it first and you will receive my blessing. Fail and I will claim my superiority. I have heard tale of your abilities, and wish to prove my dominance." She smiles with her game placed down with purity, choosing to withhold the attempts at underhanded as the trial before. Demeter had the inkling that Raidou would see right through any attempt at unbalancing this challenge. "I feel as though you will be discouraged." tightening the gloves around his hands and reaches for his right shoulder. With a tear the flutter of the crimson robe is removed from his back "I accept your challenge, I hate that I will take this from you." Raidou adjusts his lenses as the robe is laid flat.

[Raidou 1]

To his knees as Demeter would fall on her own, beginning to scour for the missing plant amongst the sea of others. Blood-Booster, Cold -Ivory. Potions of many could be forged from what lay within this, and each passage causes them all to stir in a gold glimmer. It was more than likely a deterrent to increasing difficulty. Raidou passes them by digging deeper beneath them, leaving them when normally he would have taken them. He'd best this entity who assumed herself better, with an age of time creating the wind at his back. How she assumed she could take a man that spent every day doing this, with no end he was practiced. She knew not what she faced and even still with a skill drained did not do much to the memory of perfection. He had trained this skill to the end once, and the memory of it still lingered.

[Raidou 1]

The mirrored reflection portrays the glimmer that bleeds from the plant matter that continues to outcry and demand attention. Demeter seemed to be struggling in her own right, trying to keep pace with the swordsman whose hands brushed through them like a comb. There was a method to his madness, creating a casting web and a mental grid. Taking each in sequence and marking off that which was checked thoroughly. Where the god was darting back and forth almost frantically, albeit quickly she was losing her place rather easily as well. Although Raidou's movements were rapid, they were surgical and with intention. Sliding through the patch in foot-sized sections across his heart on the floor, offering some padding between his knees and the rock beneath it. How she attempted to best a man she knew hardly anything about, assuming herself better without doing her research was almost laughable. Raidou was not so foolish to underestimate his opponent.

[Raidou 1]

Section by section, movement by movement as Raidou leaves oh so much almost untouched other than a single brushing sweep. The glow fades rather quickly as he peels back the tufts like fur on a wolf. They spring back, and the nomad can begin to sense desperation from his opposition, gaining speed and beginning to become flustered. "Patience." Raidou offers the lesson that he had shared with others, unsure why he could not allow her to suffer. "Shut your mouth." Demeter snaps, feeling rather low that he would dare to attempt to support her. She was above him in her mind and needed no assistance from him. A soft exhale from the swordsman for the lesson would not be imparted to someone so foolish. A proof was necessary, as he moved but a single shift right to the next square in the grid, sliding an open palm across a bright lime green stalk.

[Raidou 1]

Passing over that piece, that standard unit that was the basis of all potions. The very same that he had plucked countless times before now and left it where it grew for but once. Demeter was becoming almost visibly shaken with each passing second, and even though they were squaring off in this little waltz, Raidou could not help but feel pity. The system had offered her little, and that ego purchased her the inability to hear his pointers. Perhaps through besting her she could finally hear him, although he was hesitant to impart it to her in one hand. He could very well make the next that would face her struggle more than he would, which may not be wise. Even still the swordsman had trouble allow one to suffer in such a way, even if it were an NPC. Adjusting his lenses and trying to press the distraction from his mind.

[Raidou 1]

Spinning his fingers through that rough with ease, she was clearly outmatched. But this was a fact that Raidou already knew, he’d been doing this for ages. She was a new production of this recent change, Raidou was not. He was practiced, having performed this task so numerous a time before. Demeter begins to slow, finding his actions to become more and more discouraging as the seconds rolled past. The nomad could feel her staring, sizing him up and looking for some way to break his focus. Like so many before her, she wished to cheat. Her pride would not allow her to simply accept being bested like this, she was a god after all. With a twist of her hand she was attempting to make the gold plant within the rough, seeing if she could simply force it to spring up to her first. If it found her instead of the other way around, then she'd win this little wager and her ego wouldn't suffer.

[Raidou 1]

A concealed smile as she worked her secret, hoping to keep her little change a secret. Assuming she now had the upper hand, her hands began to slow. Still playing the part and feigning as though she was trying. Demeter was so sure that she had won, it wasn't until Raidou ushered his outstretched palm toward her that the grin would fade. "I believe this is what was expected." He spoke with that same solidarity in his tone, adjusting the lenses on his face. Shocked, Demeter snaps. "What!?" She glances at the flowers and blooms beneath her feet before her eyes dart to the seats where the other gods sat. A small snicker, from the one that had lost to the boy prior. It seems she was no longer alone in her defeat, which made it a bit easier to the palette. She raises to her feet and moves to the swordsman to confirm.

[Raidou 1]

Leaning forward and allowing her hair to pour off of her shoulders, inspecting that almost too small to see, bit of foliage. It was what the wager was. Reaching a hand for it, Raidou cups it shut. "A deal is a deal." The nomad quips to Demeter. She glares and slides an outstretched hand around her left ear. "How did you, Did you cheat in this game?" A pause and a silence thick enough to cut. "A heavy accusation, I caught that movement of yours. You simply pointed it out. I didn't need to find it, I just needed to find movement. I warned you." The nomad offered her the truth, it had been her own attempt that had been her undoing. Just as before, these gods were fickle and had a way of condemning themselves. All he had to do is remain perceptive, and they would kill their own chances of success.

[Raidou 1]

Hesitantly, Demeter complies and produces her boon. Raidou allows his hand to slide open, revealing that little glimmering four-leaf clover on his skin. It was the object of her desire and of their duel, the nomad outstretches his offhand. With reluctance, she passes it to him, and in turn, on his end of the bargain, he hands her the plant. She spins it in her outstretched index and thumb "What is your name." A pause from the swordsman who was already heading for the threshold to exit, he had his own affairs like he had projected to her in the beginning. "You know the answer." He remarked toward her. A couple more steps before she shouts. "I want to hear it." Her face tight in a scowl. "Raidou, The red wanderer." he speaks as she fired daggers through the small of his back. Out of the gate-like doors into the light of the sky above.

[Raidou 1]

Leaving the god atop that gaudy and gilded mountaintop, to dwell with others that believed them better than those around them. They could keep their thrones, Raidou had no need for such a pedestal. He was a man of the people, knowing full well that by assuming himself no better. That was how he was to learn and to continue to grow. There would always be those that were better in some area or another. By assuming this, and becoming capable to study your peers was how his skills were so refined. A myriad of faces and names flood his thoughts, with each step down that shattered road producing a different one. He was nothing more than an amalgamation of everyone he had ever encountered. Demeter had no chance of facing such a thing, an ideal not a man. An ever-inquisitive mind, taking the best and most efficient from all that he would meet.

[Raidou 1]

It doesn't take long before the path has been beaten down the length of the mountain, Demeter was still in her stronghold. Shocked and appalled at how easily she'd been destroyed in her own projected game. Where she was experiencing a mix of sickness and humbling, Raidou was already clearing the gate of Athenia. Across that bright white cobbled stone brick path, toward the gate that would lead him upward. It was only a matter of time before he was back up to speed, and this little bump in the road was nothing more than that. He'd faced leagues and leagues of these sort of affairs, most of the quests in this game wouldn't be too much trouble for him anymore. The nomad had experienced it all, and returned unscathed. What hope did they have of slowing him down these days, with stats that no longer grew. Just methods personified as pure and undeniable.

[Raidou 1]

A step up onto the slightly raised circle, Raidou corrects the lenses on the bridge of his nose. A soft exhale and a decree jumps from his lips. "Floor 22, Coral." The gate triggers, and begins to glow in a cyan light that draws around him. A spark and a bend of space fire him up in a flash. That lake of reflection, the people of Coral still so absent-minded of what had transpired before. The hole in the center long forgotten to most. But it was as if it was still there to the wanderer in crimson. Breaking for the gate and for the guild hall that waited for his arrival. To deposit just one more trinket into his small workshop in its confines. Before he'd return into the field and continue his climb back to some semblance of normalcy, and a slight smile from a blue-haired girl that was finally getting the hang of what she was attempting to do.

Quest Complete:
1472*EXP (800 Thread Length [Page Count] + 500 Quest Reward = 1300*1.03=1339*1.1 [Mega] = 1472 EXP)
547*Col (400 Thread Length + 1472 *.1 =547)
Demeter’s Cornucopia | Crafting Tool | Bountiful: +1 CD when gathering.