[F9-PP] How Far Is Too Far? {Shark}

[Life 0]

The crusty barren wastelands of floor nine seethed out a heat L had only felt during the battle with the hydra. After a long rigorous day of training, L was finally ready to rest, though it was a virtual life, the days he spent in Aincrad felt just like any day he spent in real life. Except without the added intensive heat and the progressive need to hunt various monsters in an effort to clear through the floors. He often wondered just what was happening to his real life body back home. Just how long would it be before his body gives up on him? What if it already did.. a horrible feeling sunk in his gut as images of a hospital filled with people on life-support flashed in his mind. 

 

He straightened his posture and wiped his forehead "Man, that was a workout.. I should be getting back to the Knights of Christ about my application" He almost had forgotten, today was the day he finally extended his reach into the world of Aincrad. After he left the crimson inquisition he spent a lot of his time alone, it was a lot of time of self loathing, and a lot of time of loosing himself.. He cracked his knuckles and encouraged himself "Alright, lets do it!" He teleported down to the Knights of Christ guild, knocking on the door. "Hello?" He nervously waited for an answer, the Knights of Christ had been a very quiet guild despite it's known power, especially when it came to clearing floors. He specifically remember one member, Shark, when fighting the molten hydra.

[Shark 0]

I was finished with my daily patrol so I ended up using the time I had to relax in my guild hall for a bit. At that moment, I heard a knock on the door. I went and opened the door to see a player standing at the entrance. Hello there friend. How can I be of assistance to ya? I said as I welcomed the player in to relax with me. He seemed like a nice guy and looks to be decently strong. Maybe he is here to join my guild. I sure hope so. I need to increase my numbers so I can keep this guild alive. I thought to myself. 

[Life 0]

L was startled by the sudden open but quickly settled, with an awkward smile he spoke "Oh hey Shark, it's good to finally meet you. I am Life, from the molten Hydra fight, not sure if you noticed me" He wondered if Shark would remember him, he did kill one of the hydra heads buuut was quickly out shined by Zelrius on the bosses final stand. He shifted into a more casual stance as he walked inside and continued "To cut to the point. I'm interested in joining your guild. I was wondering if you where taking any new recruits. I promise I have a mean swing!" He rubbed the back of his head and laughed awkwardly, what was he doing? Obviously making a fool out of himself, that was apparent. He looked around the guild hall and 'ooed' rather childishly "Nice place you got here"

[Shark 0]

I was happy to see a player come find the guild hall just to join. What's up Life. I sure do remember you from the fight. I meant to come find you afterwards but I was called on an important issue. I loved you skills in the fight. I don't pay too much attention to Zelrius just because of some of his opinions and ways of acting on certain issues. I said as I relaxed a bit in my chair. I could tell life was out of his comfort zone a little and felt like he was making a fool of himself. I enjoyed that about people like him. They are the kind of people I am looking for. I bet you are feeling like you are making a fool of yourself here am I right? Well no matter, I enjoy that with people. The fact that they are willing to do something different without being forced to, pleases me and excites me. I told Life as I tried to ease him a bit. 

 

If you are interested in joining the guild then take me n an adventure. You lead. I want to test your skills in the following areas: Leadership, Communication, Combat, Decision Making. Think you can do that? I said to him as I took out my clipboard that I use to judge and rate the new recruits. I am ready whenever you are. 

[Life 0]

L relaxed a little as he spoke, Shark seemed to be very open and welcoming type. He nodded slightly as he continued to talk. What Shark had placed in front of him seemed to be a fair challenge indeed, and he was always looking for a good challenge. "Sounds like a plan. I was thinking of heading back into the ninth floor anyway" He got up and stretched, yawning lazily, he didn't have his weapon equipped just yet. He was still wondering if he was ready to finally fight with his katana in battle. 

 

He headed out of the guild hall and checked the time, not like it mattered on the 9th floor anyway, it was always dark and hot. "There was one place on the 9th floor that i wanted to explore, it's kind of like a hellish arena" He reached the teleporter and equipped his <<Fates Calling>>, a black folded katana with a smokey wave pattern along the blade due to the many folds of the rare metal. It dangled from the scabbard it rested in on his back, the strap coming from his top right shoulder to the bottom left of his abdomen and around to his back. "Floor nine!" 

 

The heat hit him instantly as they arrived on the ninth floor. "Just follow me" He turned and started to walk in the opposite direction than everyone else that arrived with them. They seemed to trek for what seemed like a good hour until they reached the destination L had been hanging for. "Well, here we are" L stared at the arenas hellish gates with a childish grin. 

 

[Shark 0]

I followed L as we went to the 9th floor. He described the place to me and I knew exactly where we were going. Welp... This will be fun. I said to Life as we began our journey. I equipped my armor and weapons.Now let's see what we come across here. I said as I ventured of the teleport pad. I looked over at Life, Well... Lead the way friend. We began our journey to the hellish place. I scoured the paths and prepared for the worst.

[Life 0]

A strong current of blistering hot wind blew against his face as he took closer steps towards the gates. He placed his hand on it's metal bars and could feel his skin searing. He pushed lightly and the whole gate radiated with an intense unholy fire. It opened without much effort as if welcoming the two inside it. With a careful step he could hear a stream of lava near him bubbling, it seemed to trail further into the hellish arena until he could no longer see it, only it's faint glow in the darkness. He leaned to one side lazily, thinking what was to come next, he was sure that an npc was supposed to greet them, just as one did on floor 8. "It seems... oddly quiet... don't you think Shark?" He looked up and could see a countless number of slacking chains leading up into the hazed sky. He scratched the back of his head, rather  uncomfortable with how the situation turned out. Maybe once the hydra died, this place became obsolete? They walked further inside, the only sounds coming from the searing winds, bubbling lava and the gentle tang of chains. The arena was deserted, however there was something very peculiar other than that. He stopped in his tracks, in front of... it. He wasn't sure how he missed it while he was walking towards it but he could see it clear as day now. Another door, almost like a phone booth made of molten rock. He opened the door carefully, and what laid in front was a dark stairwell, leading into the arenas underground. He was starting to regret coming here in the first place. How far was too far?

[Shark 0]

We finally got to the hellish looking gate and right away I started feeling weird about this place. I looked to Life as we entered the gate. It does seem a bit quiet. Even if this place was affected by the Hydra battle, there should still be some remnants and some people here. I was eager to find out what happened but I had a feeling that something was going to happen to us. I've got a bad feeling abut this. Let's get going so we can figure this out. I said as we began our journey into what seemed like hell. Multiple thoughts were running through my head as we started walking, There should have been an NPC greeting us at the gate but there was none. There should still be NPC's in the dungeon that are part of the adventure. How is this affected by the Hydra battle? Theses thoughts were troubling me so I readied my weapons and prepared for the worst.

[Life 0]

He bit the bottom of his lip and rubbed the back of his head unsure of how to proceed. 'It's to late to turn back now' he thought to himself as he took a step closer and peered into the stairwell, with a small groan of protest he forced himself inside and began to hurry down "Last one downs a rotten boar!" He tried to seem fine and cheery but the reality was his insides where anything but that. The smog and smell of brimstone made his stomach churn, the heat radiating off the walls made it seem as if he was being cooked inside an oven. It was a long and daunting journey down that stairwell, but when he reached the bottom he almost wanted to slap himself for ever being worried; the room was nice and neat, almost as if it was a medieval dining room. Until the ground erupted below him and the sign popped up over head.

 

 

Prepare For Battle!

 

Now he felt the need to slap himself for ever coming down in the first place. How could he even be so naive, this place wasn't abandoned, it wasn't the actual arena at all. He must have made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in an intricate trap. That, or it was actually abandoned. Thoughts rushed through his head as landed flat on what seemed like a pile of hay. He shook his head and looked around, it didn't look like a battle was about to commence, was there? "Shark? are you ok?" The room was extremely dark and he could barely see a thing. "Im starting to wish i took that night vision skill.."

[Shark 0]

We kept walking until we came upon a stairwell. Life yelled at me that the last one down was a rotten boar. I did not want to be last because i couldn't stand the smell. I gathered my strength and made a huge leap for the bottom. As soon as I hit the last few stairs, I slipped on a banana peel and flew into what seemed like a pile of hay. I'm fine, just can't see a darn thing in this darkness. Thankfully with some of the training I have been doing, I can get a sense for where the enemies are. I said as I stood up and closed my eyes to try and get a sense for if the area was safe or not. So far I couldn't feel a thing. Night vision would be really useful right about now. I said as I tried to feel around for a path that leads somewhere, using my sword as a detection stick like a blind person. I was wondering what Life was doing to try and solve this situation. Maybe we could find a light somewhere. Any ideas? I asked so I could get a sense for what is running through his mind

[Life 0]

To his relief, Shark was still with him. "Ok, so we made it out in one piece. That's a good sign" He supposed at least, anything was better than death. The 'prepare for battle' still loomed overhead, taunting him. He gritted his teeth and tried to look around, he could at least make out the things in front of him. The floor was made from cobble and now that he concentrate, the room smelt of rotten flesh. 'Worse and worse..' he thought to himself. His train of thought was broken by Shark "Yeah, finding light is probably a good idea right about now, i don't like the look of this situation we're stuck in" He placed his hand along the wall, hoping to get a hold of a torch. To his dismay he only ran his hand along a smooth,cold,slimy substance. "I don't think i want to know what that is.." He mumbled

 

He continued along the wall until his hand went over something hard, it felt like a lever. He had a bad feeling about what would happen if he pulled it, but he did it anyway. A pit beneath the floor but ahead of them began to slowly ignite, it was separated from them by an iron grate. "Well, it's something" Before he could finish the pit exploded with an abrupt eruption of fire and coal. The thick smoke filled the room and a sick twisted laughter could be heard past the flames along with a dragging of what sounded like a metal chain. Two purple eyes pierced the red inferno and was cut in half by a thick chain sickle. The shadowed figure whipped the ground and two hounds jumped over the heated grate. The fire livened up again behind them and the hounds snapped with malicious snarls. "Mangy muts? That's the best you can throw at me?" He tried to laugh his nerve off, keeping a cool head was going to be important in this battle.

 

The two beasts made the first move, they weren't very fond of jokes it seemed. Their angered movement seemed to be fuelled by the heat, their molten crusty skin seemed to breath in and welcomed the heat. They rushed in but L was much to quick. With two steps he was past them and landed his katana into the beassts side

 

~Blistering heat: -1 damage mitigation to players. Applies "Heated concentration" to mobs, +1 accuracy.

~Shadow and smoke: -1 accuracy

 

~ID: 12796; BD: 4+3-1= 6; MD: 7-3+1= 5

 

~Enemy:

-Core hound 1: 25/30 

-Core hound 2: 30/30

-Shrouded figure: ???/???

 

~Party:

Life: 49/49

Shark: 71/71 

 

(Sorry for the slow reply, been awfully busy and i was focusing on some of the stuff in the cardinal) 

[Shark 0]

Life said that the wall he used to stand up on was slimy and he didn't want to know what it was. I've got a bad feeling about this. I said as I readied myself for battle. We then see fire light up around us as a mystery figure and two mutts appear in front of us. Alright, let's do this L! Ill take whichever one you don't. I told him as he went in and dealt some damage to one of the monsters. I then jumped into the air and lit my sword a dark blue and swung to deal some serious damage to one of the mutts. 

 

I made a clean slice through the monster and took a good chunk of health out. Alright! This is more like it. Let's quickly beat these things so we can figure out that mystery figure. I said as I got pretty hyped up.

 

ID: 12815, 7

Damage dealt: 5

 

~Enemy:

-Core hound 1: 25/30 

-Core hound 2: 25/30

-Shrouded figure: ???/???

 

~Party:

Life: 49/49

Shark: 71/71 

[Life 0]

Life watched Shark follow up shortly "One each? Sounds good to me" He smirked and turned pointed the end of his blade towards his enemy "Here i come!" He rushed towards the beast and kept his blade beside him; the beast roared ferociously, daring him to attack and the two rushed towards each other. A pillar of flame erupted from the cobble between them and sent them both flying backwards. "That scared the crap out of me!" L quickly scrambled for his feet and groaned irritated at his missed opportunity, the core hound seemed annoyed as well.

 

 

~Blistering heat: -1 damage mitigation to players. Applies "Heated concentration" to mobs, +1 accuracy.

~Shadow and smoke: -1 accuracy

 

~ID: 12879; BD: 2+3-1= 4; MD: 7-3+1= 5

 

~Enemy:

-Core hound 1: 25/30 

-Core hound 2: 25/30

-Shrouded figure: ???/???

 

~Party:

Life: 49/49

Shark: 71/71 

[Shark 0]

I jumped towards the hounds and swung my sword like a mad man as I got them to back off a bit so we had more ground to work with. Alright Life, let's end this thing quickly. I said as I turned my sword a deep blue and struck the hound. I made a few laps around the hounds as i tried to confuse the heck out of them. The hound I was dealing with fell for it but the other one didn't seem to buy it. Alright L... Take 'em out! I said as I tried to pump him up and deal more damage.

 

ID: 14321, 7

 

~Enemy:

-Core hound 1: 20/30 

-Core hound 2: 25/30

-Shrouded figure: ???/???

 

~Party:

Life: 49/49

Shark: 71/71 

[Life 0]

L saw his opportunity to make his move. He darted in swiftly and without warning, Sharks distraction seemed to help with his infiltration. Before the hounds could realise the danger they where in, L had already landed a deadly blow against the hounds rocky armour cracking it and leaving a small part of it open, the innards of the beast appeared to simply be magma. "These things are crazy!" The beast staggered back and opened its jaws wide, L knew what was coming for him and already began to dodge. Not a moment after he moved the beasts magma innards spewed out and began to eat away at the wall behind him. L swallowed hard and sighed in relief, the beasts fiery light dimmed down after the attack and seemed to passively glare at him with bloodlust. The other hound still seemed to be focused on Shark and mysterious figure continued to watch intently. 

 

~Blistering heat: -1 damage mitigation to players. Applies "Heated concentration" to mobs, +1 accuracy.

~Shadow and smoke: -1 accuracy

 

~ID: 14341; BD: 7+3-1= 9; MD: 6-3+1= 4

 

~Enemy:

-Core hound 1: 20/30 

-Core hound 2: 20/30

-Shrouded figure: ???/???

 

~Party:

Life: 49/49

Shark: 71/71 

[Shark 0]

I was so focused on taking out the hound that was after me, that I never actually looked over at the mysterious figure. Don't worry about him, I doubt that person will do anything until this fight is over. I said as I made a hard swing at the beast. I missed the first one and using the agility that I had, I ran circles around the hound until I saw a clear opening. The hound looked very confused at my tactic so I assumed that it was working, or so I thought. 

 

[iD: 15432, 4] 

 

I put so much thought into confusing the hound that I didn't pay attention to where I was going. I ran so fast as I looked at the hound that I didn't notice a crack in the floor. I tripped on the crack and flew into the wall by the location of where we fell. Ah, tststststststs... that hurts. I said as I got back up on my feet. Someones gotta have the bad luck... apparently that someone is me. 

 

~Enemy:

-Core hound 1: 20/30 

-Core hound 2: 20/30

-Shrouded figure: ???/???

 

~Party:

Life: 49/49

Shark: 70/71

[Life 0]

Life quickly glanced over toward Shark when given the freedom to, he seemed to be doing well with his fancy footwork, the corehound was completely baffled until he tripped miserably and hurt himself. L was both concerned and amused with a grin he yelled over toward Shark "You ok there?" His attention was so torn the hound ended up hurling himself toward him with a body that had over ignited. The fire consumed mass hurled towards him and with a split second decision he jumped upwards into the air and grabbed onto one of the dangling chains. The hound rammed itself straight into the wall and bits of its rocky exterior flung off like tiny meteorites. L hung there for a moment and observed the creature, its core heated up and was responsible for the generated rock on its outer body. It was quiet fascinating and he would have probably liked to study it a bit longer if only it wasn't trying to kill them. He dropped down and took a deep breathe. "Well, that was interesting. Lets try it again" 

 

~Blistering heat: -1 damage mitigation to players. Applies "Heated concentration" to mobs, +1 accuracy.

~Shadow and smoke: -1 accuracy

 

~ID: 1535

 

~Enemy:

-Core hound 1: 20/30 

-Core hound 2: 20/30

-Shrouded figure: ???/???

 

~Party:

Life: 49/49

Shark: 71/71 

[Shark 0]

I got back up on my feet as the hound came right at me like I was a free and open target. I ducked and the hound flew right over top of me and hit the wall. You're mine now! I yelled as I charged at the helpless hound. 

 

ID: 15612

 

The hound just moved to the side and managed to avoid my sword. I looked over at L who seemed concerned, I'm good. Just take care of that hound will ya?

[Life 0]

L nodded, shark would be able to handle himself, the important part was getting this battle over with as quickly as possible, these hounds weren't really much of a challenge if he was being honest with himself. With a few quick steps he was right at the beasts face and used the handle of his blade to pummel the core hounds snout, it staggered back and as it struggled to find its feat and extended the blow to pivot the blade which soared upwards cutting through its molten chest. Lava bursted out from its chest in response to the combo attack but it was poorly aimed and missed him completely. With a smug grin L swung around his blade getting off the bits of rock and magma once again ready to take the beast on again once it recovered. 

 

 

 

~ID: 15622

 

~Blistering heat: -1 damage mitigation to players. Applies "Heated concentration" to mobs, +1 accuracy.

~Shadow and smoke: -1 accuracy

 

~Enemy:

-Core hound 1: 15/30 

-Core hound 2: 20/30

-Shrouded figure: ???/???

 

~Party:

Life: 49/49

Shark: 71/71 

[Shark 0]

I noticed that L was doing more damage to the hounds than I was so I decided that it was time for me to step up. Alright Life, let's finish off these hounds so we can figure out who/ what is the mysterious figure. I said as I charged at the hound.

 

[iD: 15683]

 

I missed the hound and jumped back away from the hound and tried to avoid its attack. The hound just barely scratched me and dealt a little bit of damage because of the blistering heat that was in effect. Grrr... You hounds are starting to piss me off. I said as I prepared for my next attack.

 

~Enemy:

-Core hound 1: 15/30 

-Core hound 2: 20/30

-Shrouded figure: ???/???

 

~Party:

Life: 49/49

Shark: 70/71