[PP-F3] Search for Sunken Iron Treasure

[HikariZX 0]

Seeing Elyth's message in the sand and Miaki quickly changing his clothes into a swimsuit, Hikari considered doing the same. "Hmmm... drat." As she didn't have something like that, Hikari was content with just removing her armor to at least avoid rust in the arm guard's joints. Quickly turning to Miaki, she asked: "Hey, do you have an Antidote Crystal handy?" She thought maybe Elyth's sudden transformation was caused due to a status effect and an antidote crystal could cure it. "Maybe this transformation is caused by a status affliction or something."

[Miaki 0]

Miaki looked through his inventory for a cure potion. "You know... I think I might have one." He recalled making one weeks ago but never using it. It wasn't common for him to encounter situations where he needed one but the idea that it might help Elyth up was a possibility. What she probably needed though was a priest. 'Does SAO have priests?' He asked himself thinking about how in some RPGs there would be a priest or monk of some kind who could cure unusual ailments to the body. Things like curses or hauntings could be cleared right up with a simple donation to the church or monastery. He found one in his inventory and pressed the selection option. The window winked out and the small green vial appeared in his hands. "You think this might actually work?" He asked Hikari then looking to Elyth for a shaking or nodding of the head.

[HikariZX 0]

"Honestly, it's just a hunch..." Hikari said without confidence, she really just thought of the possibility and had nothing to prove it would work. "Elyth, is there a status icon below your HP?" She went to the General Store just before entering this floor but what she bought were just Health Crystals, they couldn't heal status afflictions like this. Waiting for Elyth to nod or tap her paws, Hikari steeled herself for the underwater pressure, at the same time preparing to hold her breath.

[Elyth 0]

Hmm, Elyth thought. There was indeed some kind of status affliction under her, uh, Nisepanda HP bar, but she couldn't really check what it was. Besides, why would her companions want to change her back right now? She could ferry them underwater! How cool was that? And they wanted to rid her of this chance to experience what it was like to be a Nisepanda!

Elyth scoffed and dipped her feet into the water. Slowly, she entered the clear water, and descended underwater.

Blinking, Elyth cleared away some tears that came from opening her eyes underwater. She noticed the few leaves drifting at the surface of the water disappearing, and decided not to think about it. Elyth looked around for anything- like a spark or something, and...

There it was! A tiny glint in the water was all it took for Elyth to start swimming towards it, her four legs wading through the water. She still had a large quantity of air left, being a Nisepanda, and saw a... cave?

Elyth burst through the water and tumbled onto a dry smooth cave floor.

Let's have me needing to get an item to change back!

[Miaki 0]

Miaki tucked away the vial in his inventory after Elyth seemed to be rejecting the idea for her own reasons. Maybe she was enjoying herself or maybe she didn't like he taste of his potions. Granted they did kinda suck in taste but surely they were not that bad. Atleast that is what he tried to tell himself. His thoughts were interrupted by going underwater. He squinted through the water trying to see through it. It was much easier to see underwater for him in Sword Art Online as opposed to the "other world". In that place he had rather poor vision and needed glasses. Here he only wore cosmetic glasses on occasion.

When they entered the cave light glimmered from the entrance they came through but aside from hat they had no source of light. "Hikari, do you happen to have anything to light this place up a little?" He asked while checking his own inventory for something to brighten the area beyond where the light glimmered into the underwater cave entrance.

[HikariZX 0]

Going underwater, Hikari did her best to hold her breath. She was a good swimmer in real life, not fantastic, but good, though she never did master opening her eyes underwater. Reaching the dark cave, Miaki asked her if she had something to light it up. "No, nothing, I'm pretty much fresh out of the inn, only thing not starter on me's my coat. Speaking of that..." Equipping her coat again, Hikari turned to Elyth. "Can we just try the crystal to see if it works?" Hikari was skeptical, but since Elyth did seem to notice something below her health bar before they dove in, this was their best shot. Waiting for Elyth to respond, Hikari re-equipped her sword as well, the sheath hanging from her belt.

[Miaki 0]

Finding a small lantern in his inventory Miaki highlighted the listed item and it appeared in his hand. "This should help with seeing better." He said while holding up the lantern and showing the path lead further on. He produced a green <> from his inventory and looked at it in his hand. "Sure do. We can give this a shot. Its not like we cant get more of these later." Looking further down the path with his lantern he looked to the other two. "We can use this anytime we want. Just give us some kind of sign when you are ready. Hikari, would you hold this?" He tossed the cure crystal to Hakari. "I'd like to have a free hand. I thought I noticed something in the water just as we broke the surface." He sat the lantern down beside the small pool they came through and peered into the water.

[HikariZX 0]

Catching the Cure Crystal in her left hand, something rare for her as she was right-handed, Hikari waited for Elyth to give some kind of signal to use it. "Yeah, I'll hold this for now." Looking at the stats of her weapon, she decided it was more than enough to take care of anything here when combined with her weapon skill. "Elyth, stay back a bit" Noticing Miaki approaching the edge of the water, Hikari readied herself for a potential fight. "Is there anything under there?" Though she was a bit worried, she knew Miaki could fend for himself easily and so could she, in this floor, so she eased up while still being ready for anything. Under the edge of the water seemed to be a glowing light of some sort, though not even Hikari's above-average eyesight could tell exactly what it was. "What the...?" Waiting for Miaki to speak up, Hikari grabbed the sword's handle tighter, expecting a fight at any moment.

[Miaki 0]

The shimmering light that was under the water was in fact a small chest that was reflecting the light from their lantern. "Well, well, well." Miaki said as he took a deep breath and slid into the refreshing waters. With his feet aiming down, he used a waved his arms up to help him sink lower, a little trick he learned from his times diving in the "other world". He lowered himself down to where the chest was and grabbed one of the iron handles with both hands and pushed up from the ground. He swam upwards making long strong kicks to help him reach the top. He broke the surface and dropped the chest on the ledge. "Ha! Got it." He said catching his breath. "Wonder how lucky we got."

[Elyth 0]

Elyth looked from the downed and ascended Miaki sitting on the cave floor (but really, how was there air here? It was like physics decided to take a vacation or something) to Silver, who was still holding the Cure Crystal (Please, uh, deity(s) of SAO, please let this not work) and nodded to Silver, hoping that she would understand that Elyth wanted to at least try the cure.

Elyth sat down in her Nisepanda form, and waited patiently for Sil to use the crystal.

Materials are going to appear when Miaki opens the chest, huh... she thought, peering at Miaki and the treasure chest.

Oh wait, I'm going to sneez- awwwwogh

Elyth yawned. [

[it was a yawn, so I slipped it in.]

[HikariZX 0]

Turning away from the chest while Miaki opened it, Hikari raised the Cure Crystal to Elyth, shouting the activation word. "Cure!" The crystal shattered and a light was seen on Elyth. After a while it vanished completely but Elyth stayed the same tall yellow fluffy cute we know her as, a nisepanda. "Damn it... Hey Miaki, do you know about something more powerful than an antidote crystal? Something that can definitely cure all ailments." Hikari knew Miaki was an alchemist and furthermore he was the leader of a guild, he might have heard of something like that somewhere...

[Miaki 0]

He watched the crystal fail which surprised him greatly. Nothing was more powerful than a crystallized version of a potion. It was considered an instant effect. But the failure of the cure told him that Elyth's change wasn't a negative status to her. "That's... the most effective type of cure... I don't know what would do the trick now." Looking down at the chest sitting in front of him he lifted it open.

(OOC: Loot roll 8 (+2 from Silverwing)... Result 3 mats))

Opening the chest he saw three materials inside.

Materials found:

<<1x Silver Ore (Artisan)>>

<<2x Atlantis Iron Ingots (Smithing)>>

He looked at Elyth and Hikari. "Not my best find but it's something. Maybe we'll find more later."

[HikariZX 0]

Hearing Miaki's words, Hikari felt a little discouraged, though she regained her composure once she saw what Miaki found in the chest. "It might not be much, but it's still good material. Elyth, can you access your inventory right now?" Hikari noticed the kind of materials they were and she knew they wouldn't be useful at all to Miaki's profession, yet the Silver Ore wasn't to hers either so she was thinking if it was for Elyth, instead. If Elyth couldn't open her inventory and receive the items, then Hikari'd hold on to them until she could.

[Elyth 0]

Elyth, hearing Hikari's inquiry, tried saying, "Inventory" in Nisepandanese, but the thing would not open, and so Elyth could not use her inventory things. Instead, a sign popped up, saying:

You are cursed with Nisepanda

Your Inventory and HUD are unresponsive

Status Effects: +? HP

Well then, she thought. That made up for this inconvenience. Then, NOT AT ALLLLLLLL

Elyth groaned and shook her head at Silver. Apparently she was going to have to carry Nisepanda's materials now. Perhaps Silver could make some equipment for Elyth once she turned back into a human with said materials. Some better equipment would be nice.

Elyth was so weak. Elyth wanted to cry.

(Note: Elyth-drama in progress)

[HikariZX 0]

Seeing Elyth shake her head, Hikari now knew she would need to occupy an extra inventory slot with her materials. "*sigh* The two Atlantis Irons are useful, but I can't make anything from just ore..." Sighing at the same time as Elyth, Hikari let her head drop. "Miaki, is there really nothing that can cure her? Maybe we should check farther ahead in the dungeon." Holding her head back up, Hikari now waited for Miaki's response.

[Elyth 0]

Even if Miaki didn't do anything, Elyth was eager to press on. She stood up, bending her neck so that it didn't bump onto the pretty short cave ceiling, and walked further into the cave. She was a couple meters in when she noticed a hole in the ceiling. Being a particularly bold nisepanda, she stuck her head into the hole.

...........nope

Elyth took her head down, and kept on walking. The awkward truth was that she had just seen a cave of spiders and... No.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki shrugged his shoulders as Elyth walked away. "Maybe something will come up." Miaki was optimistic about things. After all, Sword Art Online was created as a fair game. There was always a solution for something. Miaki picked up the lantern and began to follow the fluffy Elyth through the cavern. The room echoed their steps and the dripping sound of water droplets falling from the ceiling. Holding his lantern above his head they could see the path breaking right a little.

[Elyth 0]

Elyth would have really liked to tell Miaki about the spiders, but decided against it. Of course, if the spiders weren't attacking them, there was no reason to provoke a fight. Really, they were spiders.

SPIDERS

Like Nisepandas, they were cute, little fuzzy spiders. Absolutely delightful.

Elyth steered her mind away from that train of thought and towards the corridor before her. There was a blank wall at the very end of the tunnel, and Elyth wasn't sure what they would do when they got there. On closer inspection...

Was that little knotch a button?

[Miaki 0]

Miaki walked beside the furry Elyth and examined what she was looking at. It was small grey, stone notch. He wouldn't have spotted it he it wasn't for Elyth, maybe she had better vision in her furry form. "Excellent find Elyth." He said with a nod as he pressed it. Nothing happened. Nothing at all. He looked behind him at Hikari and shrugged. "Maybe it's broken." He pressed it again this time with more firmness still with no result. "Come on!" He punched the notch with a palm thrust and the tunnel began to rumble around them. The sound of shifting stone could be heard all around them. Miaki braced himself as to not lose his balance at all everything began to shake more violently.

The walls parted open and revealed a large room filled with pristine lights. Walkways and platforms edged around the room and lead to other passageways. The walkways at the lowest point seemed to be floating because there was water everywhere for a person to dive into or swim to another point in the room. They began to walk through until Miaki noticed that another chest appeared to have been concealed by one of the wall panels. He knelt down and opened it finding loads of materials.

New items found!

x3 <> (Artisan)

x1 <> (Artisan)

x4 <> (Smithing)

[HikariZX 0]

Following Miaki through the tunnel, Hikari was assaulted by a radiant light as he opened the chest, setting her eyes upon a pile of crafting materials, high-quality ones too. "W-wow... this is amazing..." She couldn't keep her enthusiasm to herself, half the materials could only be used by her, after all. Elyth was still her nisepanda self, something Hikari wasn't quite happy about, as she never saw her true face. Looking at the end of the corridor, Hikari saw a very ornate circular fountain, carrying a huge size and pure, clean water that reflected the sunlight above the transparent ceiling above it. "Hey, how about we rest here a minute?" Grabbing a bit of the water in her hands, Hikari put it up to her mouth and drank it. "Ahhh... t-this water's..." She couldn't finish her sentence as it was just so good, tears of joy started pouring down her face. Hikari felt as though she was relieved of every single bad thing that happened to her, as if she was reborn anew. "Guys, you gotta try this!" Taking Elyth's paw in her hands, Hikari brought her to the water, hoping she'd drink it.