[PP-F5] Hidden in the Sands - Feeding the Enemy (Xion&Kalesh)

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh was waiting on the outskirts of the desert town of Armadillo, going through the list of people whose names he had. He needed someone he could trust not to kill him, but distant enough he wouldn't need to worry about them tricking him into giving them a bigger share or some such. He had found something in the desert he wanted to explore, doubting he would be able to explore it properly on his own. It was deep in the desert and sure it would be covered by the sand if he waited too long, so he decided to send a private message to the man who created his first perfect item.

To: Xion
From: Kalesh
Subject: Looking for an exploration partner!

Hey, been a while, hm? I'm on floor five and I think I found a ruin that nobody else has yet. It's deep in the desert, and I was hoping to explore it with some back up, just in case there are traps! So, meet me by the southern gate in Armadillo and we can explore the ruin! I'm willing to split any treasure we find 50/50. Fair? Hope to hear your reply!

He hit the send button and took a deep breath. At this point he just hoped Xion didn't plan to tell anyone else about it or have others follow them so they can stab in the back. Xion seemed trustworthy but they haven't exactly been outside of safezones together yet, so he remembered to keep himself wary. Today he was wearing his simple red leather jacket, his serrated scimitar, and the little hilt attachment accessory that boosts luck. He doubted he would need his accuracy buff today.

[Xion 0]

Xion sighed as he lay in bed, his gear next to him on the floor. He had nothing to do, there was no guild business to attend to and his shop was now closed, not permanently but for a while until he was able to deal with the work load. "Bloody boring..." he mumbled as he tried to force himself out of bed, ultimately failing. It was at this point that he received a PM from a player named Kalesh, for whom Xion had crafted a weapon before. It read. 

 

To: Xion
From: Kalesh
Subject: Looking for an exploration partner!

Hey, been a while, hm? I'm on floor five and I think I found a ruin that nobody else has yet. It's deep in the desert, and I was hoping to explore it with some back up, just in case there are traps! So, meet me by the southern gate in Armadillo and we can explore the ruin! I'm willing to split any treasure we find 50/50. Fair? Hope to hear your reply!

With a smile, he closed the PM and got out of bed, finally having a motivation and reason. After a few minuted he had left his shop and reached the teleport gate on floor one, commanding that it take him to Armadillo before he disappeared, appearing in the sandy town of Armadillo, the sunlight assaulting his eyes as he did so. Orienting himself using the sun, he walked towards the south gate, finding the player waiting patiently, not holding the blade that Xion had crafted he noted, with a  great deal of disapproval.  "Kalesh, long time no see" he said with a smile. 

[Kalesh 0]

He hummed in wait while looking around, hiding under a nearby shady pillar until he heard the sound of Xion's voice. He had been wondering if he was coming since he never got a response! Kalesh grinned as he turned to Xion, smiling as he said to the familiar smith "Heyo! It has, hasn't it?" He pats his light armor and drew his scimitar to show it. "You might not recognize it..." He points to the distinct moon shape at the end that his greatsword once had "But this is the blade you made me. I decided to change build a little. My armor isn't as heavy and my sword is a bit lighter, but it's as big as my leg for now." He shrugged his shoulders. "Bought a voucher and had the item 'reforged' I suppose." He smiled as he rested the long blade onto his shoulder, hoping he wasn't too upset. He chuckles and goes through his inventory, materializing a rare quality katana which he held in his left hand. It wasn't equipped, just an item that was outside his inventory. "I unlocked a certain skill" He winked before tossing the katana into his inventory. "I just need to rank it up, then I'll probably want to get another custom blade." He shrugged his shoulders, having a rough draft but he didn't even know where to find a monster suitable for it. With his explanation of why he wasn't sporting plate and a greatsword done he says "Anyways..." He points his blade to the desert and says "We will want to get moving. If I know game design, if we wait too long, a sandstorm or something might appear and bury the ruins... You still up for it?" He looked to Xion curiously now that he knew the potential dangers.

[Xion 0]

Xion raised an eyebrow as Kalesh told him that the comparatively small blade was the Crescent Moonblade, which before the update was a hulking greatsword as big if not bigger than Kalesh himself. "I'm always up for it, I'm a tank remember, I cannot afford to have fear" he said with a chuckle as he clapped Kalesh on the back. "Although I must warn you, that my damage is rather minimal, until I get my new weapon that is, assuming that Mack can get his ass in gear" he said with a smile. 

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh grinned as he looked in surprise at the smaller blade, saying happily to Xion as he started walking into the desert "Let's walk and talk... and that's fine to me. My defense is kinda pitiful right now, but I do a base of six damage right now. I could even buff it... In fact..." Kalesh starts to go through menus and then an ice-cone appeared in his hand! He chuckled as he started eating the alcoholic item. "Ahh... and now it's seven... Ugh, I feel heavier though." He smiled back to Xion as he decided to talk about his sword again  "Don't you worry, I'll probably end up trying to hold an odachi or something... Hm." He grinned like he suddenly had a terrible idea. "Maybe you could just make a regular katana as heavy as my old sword? The weight of the weapon doesn't necessarily align. Like a weaker blade is normally lighter, you know?" He shrugged his shoulders as he looked at his current scimitar. "I'd honestly feel bad altering this sword a second time. This is pretty much as big as I could get a one-handed sword." He shrugged his shoulders while looking up at the hot sun, cooling himself just a little with his treat.

-1 Avalanche Snowcone
+2 LD +1 Damage -1 Evasion

[Xion 0]

Xion chuckled as he watched Kalesh eat the rather cartoonish looking food item. "I've only ever eaten at inns and the like, I've never had any of the better foods that Aincrad has to offer" he said before Kalesh started to talk about swords, asking if a katana as heavy as the old crescent moonblade could be created. "I don't know...I would have to use an extremely dense metal, nothing like the type that I usually use, but it should be possible. For a price, of course if you want me to make one" he said with a slight grin,  while the Zefra forge wasn't open to customers, he wasn't completely out of the smithing business. 

[Kalesh 0]

He grinned happily and said "Ooh, it would be on honor to find such a metal then... Though really, the idea in my head doesn't really rely on size or weight." He sighed as he glanced up and towards the labyrinth tower, ever present on every floor. "Tsk. Too weak to visit the floors above ten, and I'd be destroyed by ten. If such a metal exists it's probably not on a lower floor I would think." He chuckled as he looked at his scimitar "Katanas better be worth it, I am weakening myself quite a bit trying to train a second weapon..." He shrugged, his little complaining session at an end. When prices were mentioned he grinned back and said "Bah, materials or col? I could probably get my hands on either, but materials are debatibly the easiest." He glanced to the side a bit as they walked through the hot desert, Kalesh was frequently checking his map to make sure they were on course, shifting his direction slightly to the right.

[Xion 0]

"MATs, preferably because I can work with those, col doesn't get you much in this game, and I have more than enough of it to last. And as for the metal I should be able to find it somewhere, a day's mining will be enough. But anyway, what beast are we looking for, and where can it be found?" he asked, looking at the horizon, the heat causing the air to seem wavy, as it someone had held a flame up to a projector. "And...will we need to fight to reach it? If so then allow me to attack first, draw the aggro and then you attack, MOBs can do terrifying amounts of damage now..."

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh blinked as he looked back at Xion curiously "Beast? Uhm... nothing, really. There might be some in the ruin, knowing Kayaba, but I didn't mention anything about a monster." He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "But yeah, materials make the world go round... but there are some nice things you can get at merchants... For example, a potion that gives you two ranks of thorns." He grinned, taking out his immolation potion to show he was not full of it, tapping it so its description showed up to confirm his words. "If it does hit me, then it's taking four damage out of the deal." He chuckled to himself as he returned the item to his inventory. "If we are talking beasts, I'd be interested in anything that has venom of some kind. I did buy a familiar call crystal in case I ever find something I like." He looks forward again and said "Ah, we are almost there." He pointed out towards the horizon, a set of four ruined sandstone pillars poking out of the sand, and in their center was a medium sized structure with an arched entrance that lead to stairs going down underground. "I never actually went inside. There should be a chest or two inside I'd wager, but first we need to find them..." He takes a breath and holds his scimitar at the ready. "You're tank, want to head in first?" He looked to Xion curiously to see if he went in or not.

((Remember, they aren't intentionally looking for a familiar, Kalesh just sees a creature he likes while they are treasure hunting xP ))

[Xion 0]

Xion nodded as Kalesh spoke, heading into what was left of the ruins first, his shield raised in anticipation of an ambush, which, knowing Kayaba was likely to happen. He scanned the area, seeing nothing. Until he noticed something... a large pair of dark, soulless eyes poking out from the sand, the tips of mandibles a few feet in front of the eyes. "Bloody hell..." Xion whispered to himself as his eyes grew wide, realizing what they had stumbled upon: an antilon, and a large one at that. Usually the creatures where no bigger than a man, but judging by the size of the mandibles that he could see this one was bigger than both of the combined. "Kalesh, stay back. There's an antilon there...we can either try to creep around it and hope that we aren't attacked or take it on, both of which could end horribly..."

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh he stopped himself in his steps as he glanced down at the monster, weighing his options as he said "It looks like it's solid stone deeper down, so I doubt it could follow us... Still, we don't want it ambushing us on the way out." He sighed as he readied his sword. "If you want to deal with it now, go. You are the tank, I'll mow him down." He said to Xion, feeling ever pressured by time. He doubted it would happen any minute now, but he didn't want to waste time in an underground ruin that might get swallowed by the sand eventually. "Just know I am not using my accuracy items. I'm stacking luck since we are hoping to find some treasure in there." He winked, the mission was treasure hunting after all!

((Just making sure we are clear on the rules for this quest, every 15 posts I get a capture attempt, this is the 11th post so we have three turns to beat it. That's you, me, you. If the 15th turn is fighting that monster we will lose a capture attempt and need to get to 30 posts :P ))

[Xion 0]

ID: 33186

BD: 1 (WHY) 

 

Xion nodded as  he drew his sword, hesitantly edging towards the antilon. As he neared he saw the head twitch a little, and thus backed off, deciding against attacking it at that moment. "I'll wait for a minute or two and then try again, I don't want it to be the one to attack first...hope you don't mind..." he said, as he looked at the antilon, it as still generally still, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it was staring at them.   

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh nodded in understanding as he started circling around behind the ant lion, taking a deep breath as he tried to skirt around it. "Okay... Might be the better idea..." He sighed softly while eyeing the creature that didn't seem to be about to attack him. It must have a trap-based aggro he supposed, if you don't enter its personal space then it was just a part of the environment. He had several charge-based attacks so he slowly started to back down the stairs towards the inner sanctum of the ruins. "I think we should just avoid it for the moment, we can kill it as a finale when we leave the ruin. Fair?"

[ID# 33190][BD: 2][MD: 1]

Edited September 27, 2015 by Kalesh