PP - F3 The Air Monster, Ziz Part 1 (Azide, Rebekah) (The Three Beasts Series) (Completed)

[Calrex 0]

Quote

To: Azide, Rebekah

From: Calrex

Subject: Field Monster Night Event

Hey guys, I just came across a strange event during some training late a night on the third floor. My guess is that it summons a powerful field monster that might be good to practice against before the floor boss. If you guys want in, meet me at the gates of the main settlement just before nightfall.

Sending out the message above Calrex gave a small sigh as he teleported to the third floor settlement of Delilah Village, arriving in a flash of light. It was just getting to becoming night as the sun was a short distance away from the horizon line as the blue-haired player made his way through the crowds towards the gates of the safe zone, "Going from what I could gather, there wasn't anything from the information brokers on that event I came across. It might be a new addition to the game with the Sword Art system. From what I know of past games though, summoning rituals in plain sight of the field usually meant a form of field monster event. So, rather than killing the summoners and stopping the ritual if we let the spell complete we might be able to fight a stronger monster."

Arriving at the gate he swiped on his menu to make sure all of his gear was in order before putting his hands in his jacket pockets, awaiting for his teammates to arrive. 

Edited November 20, 2015 by Calrex

[Rebekah 0]

Rebekah had just received a message last night about some strange event happening on the third floor. Immediately, she visited an information broker for more information, but the opposite had occurred, as they wanted to pay her for information that she was about to find out. She declined, as the last thing she wanted was to attract a horde of players to the floor for that event alone, when it would be best to tackle it on their own. It could possibly be a simultaneous quest, where multiple groups could be fighting over the same object that respawns once in a while. There was no time to waste investigating that out, as she made her way directly to that floor, equipped with all of her gear. She still had a few modifications that was needed to be made before the next raid, and this was the time to test out the problems with her current gear so she could change them efficiently. Calrex was one of the stronger players she knew, and was surprised that he wanted help, which meant it was something dangerous to undergo alone.

[Azide 0]

The peace had been picturesque; it was a feeling that he could get used to. Between everything that had transpired over the last few months, along with the long list of errands he'd chipped away in more recent times, days like these had been few and far between. And even though the knotted wooden frame of his chair was just a touch too stiff for his liking, he leaned further back and closed his eyes. Azide had never identified as a particularly bold man, but at that moment he was enjoying himself too much to care- he lifted his legs and allowed them to rest atop his desk, just this once. This was a day for celebration.

He closed his eyes and began to hum along to the melody of If You Leave Me Now. Just as he'd begun to sing along to the music in his head, a sudden ping made his eyes flutter open and his arms flail about, clawing at the air as his seat tipped over backwards. Meanwhile, Lucifer the snake slithered right over him, as if challenging him to do something about it.

"Ugh..."

Edited October 7, 2015 by Azide

[Calrex 0]

Calrex looking over as he saw the familiar face of Rebekah as the blonde made her way over, giving a friendly wave as he rested against one of the sides of the gateway leading out of the settlement, "That leaves Azide. Hopefully he's able to make it. I don't know how tough this might be, so it would be helpful to have three people to the squad rather than just two."

"Hey Rebakah, glad you could make it. I invited Azide as well, so hopefully he's on his way. This thing might be tough, but hopefully with all three of us it shouldn't be too dangerous."

Pushing himself off of the wall with a small shove from his upper body he went into a standing position as he gave a nod, "So here's the gist of what I know so far. A couple of nights ago I was out training here during the time that the stronger night monsters spawned, but at some point there seemed to be a ritual that was taking place, with a couple of guards and summoners serving as enemies. I managed to eliminate them before the ritual completed, but from what I could gather letting them finish it possibly summons a very strong field boss level monster. I'm thinking about taking it on. Hopefully something good comes from it."

[Rebekah 0]

As the weakest player in the group, she knew that she was going to have the most trouble when facing whatever they were facing. But she was not afraid at what was going to happen next, as she knew how strong both of them were. When it came down to offensive skills, the girl could possibly match strike for strike in a normal duel, but defensively, she was a mess, and the two of them could easily defeat her. Because of that, she was not worried, unless the boss was too strong. Rebekah had almost maximized her damage potential, and now she was looking for more of a utility and defensive build to round her out.

The girl had never turned down an opportunity against a strong field boss before, as it was a chance for her to show her skills, and find out how she could improve in battle. Those opportunities often rarely present itself, but when they arise, she knew she would have to make the most out of these opportunities. As she waited for Azide to arrive, she knew that the three of them would be enough, or else Calrex would have easily called in additional reinforcements to assist, but she was fighting blind, without prior intel on attack patterns or damage output.

[Azide 0]

"Hey guys." Azide waved at his would-be party in the way one might receive a particularly naggy aunt as she pulled into the driveway for a family reunion. Half-hearted as his greeting had been, he could at least take solace in the unlikelihood of either Calrex or Rebekah pinching his cheeks, or asking why he didn't have a girlfriend yet. He was also fairly glad that he did not have to pick out all of the glass shards which had embedded themselves in his hair- it turned out that the vibrations from his fall had triggered a nasty alchemical explosion, although the shrapnel at least had possessed the courtesy to dissolve away a short while later. It was sort of funny, in a way, that glass had a tendency to shatter twice in Aincrad. But it was considerably funnier when one was not on the receiving end of those lacerating edges.

As he sulked up to gathered pair, he noticed that Calrex was saying something, and Rebekah was not. It was pretty much business as usual, it seemed. With no surprises there, Azide leaned against the inner archway of the gate, his arms folded and his eyes slightly twitching. "When you guys are ready to head out, I'll be ready as well," he said, peering out through the gateway. By now, dusk was nipping at their heels- he hoped that they could tackle whatever this was before visibility became an issue. Like most players, he had not thought it worthwhile to invest in the Night Vision skill.

[Calrex 0]

Calrex gave a nod as he looked to see Azide arrive, "Glad you could make it. I briefed Rebekah on what I knew of this, but right now everything is still up to speculation until we actually do this, so we'd best get moving. Last time it was getting close to midnight when they appeared, so I'm not exactly sure how long it will take for them to spawn."

Note: For here we'll make rolls to see if we can find the summoning ritual. Rolls of 15 and up on the LD (taking into account Search and Detect modifiers) will result in us finding the summoners. In addition, on rolls of 6 and higher per round the ritual advances one step, taking three steps in all for it to complete.

ID: 34169
Craft Dice: 6 (Ritual Advances 1 Stage / Two Stages Remaining)
Loot Dice: 14 (Search and Detect +2) = 16 (Well...ok then XP)

It wasn't long before the group found the summoners. Just like before, there were two NPCs dressed in mage-like outfits with their hands raised skywards, while two others were serving as guards with swords at their sides. From what Calrex could determine the ritual had already progressed to the level he had previously interrupted it at. "Alright, let's stay here for now until it completes. I hope both of you have teleport crystals in case things get hairy."

Ritual Stage: 1/3 Complete

Edited October 8, 2015 by Calrex

[Rebekah 0]

The girl was still a bit confused at what was happening, but knew that all she had to do was to follow their leads. Even Azide seemed to have a clear understanding of what was happening, so before she was going to jump to conclusions, she knew that they were going to let it happen. There was one thing that her mind was not clear on, which was the NPC mages in this game. There was magic in this game, or was she just jumping too fast to conclusions about NPC, as they respawn if there killed. So, if they were unkillable, or was this a quest. Rebekah had seen too many weird things in the game, so she prefer to know less rather than more, but she never stop receiving information from information brokers.

ID: 34697

LD: 10
CD: 12 (ritual complete part 2)

Edited October 11, 2015 by Rebekah

[Azide 0]

Midnight might be alright with a player like Calrex, who possessed Reveal, and by proxy, Night Vision- but that was certainly a scenario that he himself would like to avoid. Sure, he could hit like a truck with his set of skills and equipment, but it wasn't easy being made out of paper. Without a single point of mitigation to his name, he was more or less held together by the equivalent of staples and chewing gum. All it would take was a missed attack, or even a stiff breeze, for him to find himself in for a world of hurt. With Calrex taking the lead, they set off in search of... something. Exactly what that something was escaped him, and he could guess that the man had forgotten that he himself had not been briefed. "I'm sure we'll run into whatever it is we're searching for sooner or later."

--- 

As it turned out, it had been sooner. Much sooner, in fact; it seemed as if they had just set out when Calrex had come to a stop, staring at something in the distance. When he'd trailed his eyes over in the same general direction, he spotted a pair of robed men, who resembled what the average person might picture a druid to look like. On the flanks of the incanting duo, two men stood alert and armed. "Cal, I think this would be a good time to admit that I have no idea what we're actually doing," he whispered. "Are you trying to convert us for one of those satanic cults or something?" 

ID: 34717 | CD: 10 Ritual Stage 3/3 [Complete]

Edited October 11, 2015 by Azide

[Calrex 0]

"Heh, it's nothing like tha..."

Before Calrex could respond to Azide's inquiry he heard the sound of magic streaking through the sky as he looked forward. The runic symbols that were in the air had vanished towards the sky as suddenly an almost dome-like network of magical circles and other patterns formed. Not much longer after the array began to move towards a single point.

By this time the summoners and their guards had despawned as a "WARNING" alert flashed across the trio's screens. Calrex's eyes narrowed as he drew the Grand Blade, "Alright, looks like my suspicions were right. This is a special event monster. Guys get ready, I think the creature will be forming soon. I'd go with your best equipment possible, we'll need it."

Edited October 13, 2015 by Calrex

[Rebekah 0]

Best equipment. The girl had already worn her best equipment on her, as it was a general rule to always wear your stuff especially if you are not in a safe area. It had been a long time since she had last faced an event level boss, but she did not know what to expect, as it was being summoned by the NPCs. The girl already held her heartstriker in her hand from the moment she had arrived. Without having night vision, she had a tougher time to see than the other two players, but even she could see the runic symbols, and the magic circles, but that was about it. Rebekah knew that in a battle, she was going to need to get in a lot closer to see to see the boss, however that would also mean, that she would be more vulnerable, and have less time to react to any attacks.

[Azide 0]

"Damn it, Calrex," he muttered, drawing his dagger. A peculiar and sprawling display stretched far and wide in the sky above. In essence, the sight was a showcase of assorted shapes and symbols, most of them foreign and all of them cryptic. "If I had known that you were trying to summon Satan, I would've just stayed home." The ground beneath their feet trembled as a foreboding warning flashed across his field of view. It was then that he realized the strange bunch of NPC's in the distance had vanished, leaving them alone with whatever it was that would soon be greeting them.

Calrex made a remark advising them to ready their best equipment, although it was strange to think that any player would walk around with anything other than the best of their arsenal. When a moment's notice was all that it took to be caught off guard, every second was precious- besides, his armor was stylish to double as casual wear anyway. On the other hand, Rebekah continued to stay silent; he could have sworn that the girl had not spoken even once since he'd arrived. Hopefully, she would at least let her rapier speak for itself when the time came to strike.

[Calrex 0]

As the magical runes in the sky converged to a single point they suddenly let out a flash. The originally foggy moonlit sky seemed suddenly begin parting, revealing the dark blue sky above. At the same time a large looming shadow began to stretch across the expanse of the fields. From above a large many-winged bird, big enough to possibly rival the size of a floor boss, descended. Letting out a screeching howl that seemed to echo far and wide, a health bar appeared next to the creature's head: Ziz, the Air Monster.
__________________________________

Looking upwards Calrex gave a series of breaths to calm himself as he fell under the creature's shadow, his grip tightening on the Grand Blade. He had thought the event boss was going to be large, but this creature was massive, only seen in games which had players constantly fighting creatures at least five times their size. Even in those games this would have been considered at the least a special creature to hunt. Shaking his head he looked over and gave a nod to both of his teammates, "We'd best get moving. This thing is a flying creature, so let's try and bring it down from the skies!"

OOC: Using my current stats because I forgot what level we started this at. Go ahead and use your up to date states as well.

ID: 34922
Battle Dice: 8 (Accuracy +3) = 11
Craft Dice: 6 (Not Blown Back)
Loot Dice: 19 (Ziz doesn't change position / Attacks using Talon Strike)
Mob Dice: 6 (Evasion +4/3/4) = 2/3/2
Sword Art <<Meteor Break>> Activated (11 Used / 32 Remaining)

Since the trio were still in striking range of the creature Calrex quickly closed in, activating his new skill, <<Meteor Break>>, his sword glowing with a golden shine. Cutting through the air he dodged left and right as the massive bird's talons smashed into the ground around him. Leaping up he used his shoulder to slam into the creature's side before unleashing a barrage of slashes, punches, and tackles to barrage the creature before leaping back. Bringing up his arm he felt his hair and clothing getting blown backwards, taking a decent amount of strength to hold his ground.

HP List
Calrex: 177/177
   Energy: 32/43
Rebekah: 126/126
   Energy: 29/29
Azide: 129/129
   Energy: 31/31

Enemies:
Ziz: 450/500 (10 DMG * Art 11 - 60 MIT = 50 DMG)

 

Ziz Abilities:

50 MIT

Wing Beat (Constant Effect):
The strong winds of Ziz's wings causes and effect that could possibly prevent you from attacking. Rolls of the CD (on your turn) determine the effect:
6 and up: Success, no effect
3-5: Unable to take action this turn. Cannot attack, but you don't get blown back.
1-2: Blown Back. Get pushed away this turn, and must take a post to get back into striking range. 

Reposition (Chance Action):
Ziz changes position, forcing players to have to move back into striking range to attack. Rolls of the LD determine the result:
11 and up: Ziz doesn't change position
1-10: Ziz moved further away. Treated the same way as the Blown Back condition.

Talon Strike:
Ziz strikes at the ground with its talons, attempting to rip at players below. Rolls of 11 and up on the LD result in this attack.
When in striking range of Ziz, players are targeted. Players out of striking range do not get targeted.
60 DMG

Feather Barrage:
Ziz flaps its wings forward, sending a barrage of sharp feathers at those it cannot attack with its talons. Rolls of 1-10 on the LD result in this attack.
When out of striking range of Ziz, players are targeted. Players within striking range do not get targeted.
45 DMG and Blown Back condition persists due to being temporarily pinned by the feathers

Edited October 13, 2015 by Calrex

[Rebekah 0]

The girl looked at the flying monster, and knew instantly this was nothing like she had ever faced. It was giving her a huge handicap, and she was bound to struggle. At least she was not doing this solo, which would have made matters a lot worse. As she watch Calrex lead off with a simple strike, she knew that she would easily be able to do the same thing. The problem was not landing a strike for her, but rather, getting close enough to land a single blow to kill the monster. This was the biggest problem that they were going to face, and the wind prevented her from getting any closer to strike.

ID: 35231
Battle Dice: 6+3=9* (no crit)
Crafting Dice: 3 (unable to attack)

Calrex 177/177, EP: 32/43
Rebekah 126/126, EP: 27/29??
Azide 129/129, EP 31/31

Edited October 16, 2015 by Rebekah

[Azide 0]

A long and drawn out whistle lingered on his lips as the parting night sky gave birth to a monstrosity of absolutely mind blowing proportions. "That's one big bird," said Azide, allowing himself a single understatement for their dizzying predicament. Even then, he had to slip the remark in between the constant droning generated by the beating of the creature's heavy and numerous wings. Moreover, visibility had already been bad enough with the thin light of the moon shining down on them. With Ziz blotting out the hanging crescent entirely, he knew he would have to make every last hit really count. 

As Ziz descended upon them, talons bared and ready to kill, Azide leapt out of the way and landed with a controlled tumble. As he raised himself to his feet, he shot a quick thumbs up to both Calrex and Rebekah, gleaning that his party mates had also managed to escape the airborne beast's wrath. With the former landing a formidable blow against the towering avian and the latter bogged down by a fowl wind, Azide bared a talon of his own, drawing the dagger from his sheath in one smooth motion. 

But before he could even take another step, he found himself sent sliding back on the heels of his feet as a battering gust caught him flat-footed. "A little setback," he shouted, battling the howl of the raging winds, his arms crossed and braced ahead of him. "But I'll be back and ready to go in no time, just do what you guys do best!"

ID: 35300 | CD: 2 (Blown back)

BD: 5 + 3 (Acc) - 1 (Low light) = 7

Party HP
Azide 129/129, EP 29/31(-2) 
Calrex 177/177, EP: 32/43
Rebekah 126/126, EP: 27/29

Ziz 450/500

Edited October 16, 2015 by Azide

[Calrex 0]

ID: 35301
Battle Dice: 3 (Accuracy +3) = 6 (Disregarded Due to Blown Back)
Craft Dice: 2 (Blown Back Condition!)
Loot Dice: 18 (Ziz doesn't change position / Talon Strike: Only Rebekah can be targeted)
Mob Dice: 5 (Evasion +3) = 2
Miss Occurred (2 Energy Lost / 1 Recovered / 31 Remaining)

"Heh, I'll give it a gah!"

Before Calrex could reply he felt his feet lose their grip on the ground as he was pushed by the powerful winds that Ziz's wings were producing, forcing him back close to where Azide was.

In order to keep himself from flying further back he quickly flicked the Grand Blade into a reverse grip and pierced it into the ground, the sword serving as a makeshift support against the fierce gusts, "Geezes this thing is certainly persistent. Rebekah keep trying to wear it down! We'll be back in a bit!"

At the same time the air monster had decided to try and focus on the one remaining player within its talons' reach, attempting to strike at Rebekah. However, it seemed its talons, although large, were inaccurate as they slammed into the ground feet away from the blonde.

"These winds are certainly problematic. I just hope this thing isn't going to try and change position soon. That'll be a hassle."

HP List
Calrex: 177/177
   Energy: 31/43
Rebekah: 126/126
   Energy: 27/29
Azide: 129/129
   Energy: 29/31

Enemies:
Ziz: 450/500

Edited October 17, 2015 by Calrex

[Rebekah 0]

She stood there and watch Calrex get blown back, leaving her essentially in the front, as they will need to struggle to regain their position to be close enough to strike. This was going to make it hard for them to do anything, but she figured that she was now going to have to do as much damage as possible in order to give themselves a chance at killing this thing that had appeared in front of them. As she waited for the monster to appear, she knew that she could keep up with evading the boss' strikes until they got close enough to help her.

Rebekah was able to fight through the wind, and launch her strongest combo. She could have stunned the monster but decided not to as they needed to prioritize damage on the ziz. She knew that they can still be targeted even if they were out of range to strike, thus she knew that every bit counts. As Rebekah launched herself up into the middle of its body, she knew she had one chance to deal extra damage by landing a critical. The girl went for that opportunity, and struck it right in its hearts before withdrawing her rapier quickly, and backing out to a safer distance.

ID: 35487
BD: 10
CD: 6

Overradiation: [1x13x[10+2]]=156-60 MIT=96 DMG

HP List
Calrex: 177/177
   Energy: 31/43
Rebekah: 126/126
   Energy: 15/29
Azide: 129/129
   Energy: 29/31

Enemies:
Ziz: 354/500

Edited October 19, 2015 by Rebekah

[Azide 0]

"Afraid I was getting lonely back here all by myself?" asked Azide, calling to Calrex over the whoosh of the whistling wind. He clicked his tongue, following the action up with an approving nod- he would have thrown in a quick thumbs-up, if he hadn't needed both of his hands braced in front of himself just stay on balance. The raven-haired man had shown himself to be a resourceful one, anchoring himself to the ground with his sword. Of course, he was fortunate that weapons never seemed to dull in the world of Aincrad, but that little disclaimer did nothing to dull the brilliance of the swordsman's quick-thinking ingenuity.

Shooting the man a quick sidelong glance, he laughed, all while feeling his heels sliding slowly backward in the loose soil. It was times like these where he wished he wore cleats, or perhaps even something with a spiked heel, however ridiculous the latter might look. "So considerate, Calrex. But I'd rather we keep ourselves toward the front- you're welcome to join me, of course." As he finished speaking, he caught sight of a curious stretch of space to his right where the airborne debris was not nearly as dense or plentiful. "A blind spot in the creature's current?" he wondered. 

Deciding that he had little to lose, Azide lowered his stance, with the dual intent of lowering his own surface area while also keeping his center of gravity that much closer to the ground. From there, he made a rush for the disaffected air pocket he'd spotted, gritting his teeth as he battled the headwind for a chance to move himself to a more favorable position. In the end, his efforts paid off as he navigated through the calmer winds until eventually coming to a sliding halt beside Rebekah. "This thing sure can take a beating, can't it?" he remarked, readying his dagger for a potential counterattack.

HP List

Azide: 129/129 | Front
   Energy: 30/31 (+1)
Calrex: 177/177 | Back
   Energy: 31/43
Rebekah: 126/126 | Front
   Energy: 15/29

Enemies:
Ziz: 354/500

[Calrex 0]

ID: 35502
Battle Dice: 8 (Accuracy +3) = 11 (Disregarded Due to Blown Back condition)
Loot Dice: 15 (Ziz doesn't reposition / Talon Strike)
Mob Dice: 4 (Evasion 3/4) = 1/0
(1 Energy Recovered)

Calrex looked to see that Azide had found a break in the torrent of winds that were emanating from the flying monster. Following behind he quickly extracted the Grad Blade from the ground as he ran forward, immediately planting the sword once he got back into striking range, "Alright, finally back. You guys hanging in there?"

At the same time as Calrex got close to being back in attack range Ziz decided to strike again with its talons, still failing at getting a single hit on either Rebekah or Azide. Giving another screech it expressed its frustration from continuously missing.

HP List
Azide: 129/129 | Front
   Energy: 30/31
Calrex: 177/177 | Back > Front
   Energy: 32/43
Rebekah: 126/126 | Front
   Energy: 15/29

Enemies:
Ziz: 354/500

Edited October 19, 2015 by Calrex

[Rebekah 0]

As Rebekah waited for the two of them to get back closer to fight, she knew that it was her turn once again to strike before anything else happens. As it stands, she was draining her energy faster than anyone else, and another full combo would knock out her entire bar. She thought about saving it, but realized it was better to go all out and conserve later. While she did have a way to regain the energy, she hoped that they could help her out by dealing damage to ziz, while she regains some. The winds made her unable to attack anyways, as they were too strong, as she waited for them to strike. At least they were back together once again, before the winds knock them backwards.

ID:35516
BD:2+3=5
CD:3 (cannot attack)

HP List
Calrex: 177/177 | Front
   Energy: 32/43
Rebekah: 126/126 | Front
   Energy: 14/29
Azide: 129/129 | Front
   Energy: 30/31

Enemies:
Ziz: 354/500

Edited October 19, 2015 by Rebekah