PP - F11 The Ocean Monster, Leviathan (Azide, Tristan) (The Three Beasts Series)

[Calrex 0]

As Calrex appeared in the settlement of Taft he gave a small sigh, rubbing his eyes to try and dismiss the dark circles that had formed underneath as he kept his free hand in his pocket, "I might be a bit too tired for this, but it might be as good a time as any to give this a shot. Azide's already familiar with a similar creature to this, but I guess there really is a different creature on the different floors. since this one is the only floor that I've seen with a body of water large enough to support it..."

Giving a small sigh he swiped on his messages as he sent out the word to the three people he suspected would be qualified for the job. At the same time, they were also the people he felt had the most level-heads that he had the pleasure of meeting in SAO. Azide, from whom their past conversations showed a higher state of thinking that the bluenette hoped would continue to make him a strong player as he was the guild leader of Square One in the past. Takao, the currently only other strong one-handed straight sword player on the frontlines and the leader of the floor 12 boss raid, whom he saw a lot of potential in. Last but not least was Tristan, the absolute tank of the Azure Brigade and alongside Ssendom, Takao, and Oikawa, was one the players he could always trust to protect those the man brought under his charge. To his knowledge, he was also the only other person that seemed to show great concern for his wife, Teayre's well being, feeling that this would also be a good time to catch up.

Spoiler

To: Azide, Takao, Tristan
From: Calrex
Subject: Another Event Creature Found

Azide, I'm sure you're aware what this is about. I found yet another creature here on the eleventh floor that seemed to be based off the three beasts in mythology. This one appears to be based on Leviathan. You're all welcome to join me in taking this creature on, although I have a feeling we might be battling out on the ocean this time. I'll be at the gates of Taft leading out into the field zones. Let me know if there's anything that the info brokers might know about this thing, the more we understand about its battle AI and such the better.

After sending the message out Calrex immediately went to the marketplace, looking around for any information vendors that had set up shop. Unfortunately, just like it was with Ziz, none of the people seemed to know what the creature was, with some even offering col for him to pass on the information. Waving them off the bluenette gave a sigh as he headed to the gates, equpping the Grand Chariot: Legacy armor to mask the exhausted appearance of his face as he awaited his teammates to arrive.

Edited November 30, 2015 by Calrex

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan lately had been rather...lacking of things to do. With him doing all the big events with other players or soon underway and not any particularly impressive quests i in the horizon, Tristan had been lately debating what he could be spending his time doing in the meantime. Maybe he should find some low levels so he could complete the two beginner quests he never actually did for himself, since at the time he had Lessa forge him a bunch of gear, so the quests were rather useless to him as it was. He thought about it all and stroked his chin in thought, then decided to go for a wander for any there may be.
Tristan however was interrupted by a message from Calrex, who sent him a message to do the Leviathan together. Well, third time's the charm, not that he failed the previous times, so a needless phrase. Either way with time to kill, Tristan didn't mind tagging along. After all the crazy stuff regarding Teayre too, he wanted to catch up with him on the whole dad thing and the rumours that she was a criminal on SAO now.

[Azide 0]

From the gates of Taft, he glanced over to see a familiar sight in the distance, accompanied by the metallic clank of the man's heavy armor. With a grin and a slight wave, he called out to the armored player. "Nice of you to finally show up," said Azide, leaning against grand white wall which circle the entirety of the vaguely-rustic settlement. The twinkle in his eye was all that gave away the joviality of his words, which had been delivered with characteristic dryness. He stepped away from the wall, uncrossing his arms as he did so. With a shrug and short sigh, he spoke up again. "Before you ask, I'm afraid I wasn't able to learn anything about this 'Leviathan' creature that we don't already know, which is very little as it is." He shook his head, but recalled unpleasant evenings which had been spent in buildings not unlike the grand cathedral which sat at the heart of this very town. "'Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering,'" he quoted, with a roll of his eyes. Garbage was garbage, but in this case, at least it was vaguely relevant garbage.

Years upon years of Sunday masses had groomed him for this very line of foes, and it seemed inevitable that their final clash would inevitably be with the land beast, Behemoth. But in the meantime, he had yet to even lay eyes upon the serpent of the seas, and so it seemed a disservice to let his mind wander off to the next creature in line. With a raise of his hand, he brushed the brown fringes away from his eyes before looking Calrex more closely in the eye. "So, about this Tristan Delaney fellow," he began, pausing to clear his throat. "He's Azure, isn't he?"

[Takao 0]

A slow and lengthy yawn escaped from Takao's chest as he sauntered through the warp gate. The bright light illuminating his backs faded away while his arms reached skyward, stretching his digital muscles which were stiff from slumber. The invasive noise of a private message had stirred him from said slumber only moments before, although the contents of the note was what awoke him. With his usual getup and shoulder mounted familiar in tow, he tiredly hobbled down the stone staircase and ambled along the colourful streets of Taft, using the time to mull over what information his fellow straight sword wielding comrade had requested in the message. Details on a monster called the "Leviathan", a beast he was entirely unfamiliar with, although that didn't appear to be an uncommon theme. A quick gesture of his hand brought open his menu, and knowing clicks of the various chimes lead him to his messages. The information broker he typically contacted was equally clueless, and had even gone as far as to offer him col in exchange for relevant data. "Go figure." The words escaped as a quiet, under-the-breath mutter while his hand dismissed the menus.

After a short bout of walking, the gates of Taft sprawled into view, and beneath it stood a duo. One stylized in blue, whom Takao immediately recognized as Calrex. The last other was Azide, perhaps the only one of the three that he had any semblance of notable familiarity with. Disregarding his amity with the small gathering, or apparent lack thereof, he let his right hand raise up about halfway for a lazy wave.

"Yo, guys." said Takao, his voice slightly strained as he fought off the urge to yawn again until after he'd finished speaking.

[Calrex 0]

As Azide was the first to arrive Calrex gave a friendly nod. Well, if he were being accurate, he himself was second. The brunette was actually already at the designated meeting location, "Heh, am I really that late?"

Listening to the young man speak to him about his findings the bluenette gave a small sigh as he heard the former guildmaster say that his finds turned up fruitless as well. Just like it was with Ziz, the info brokers seemed to have fallen behind the group in their intelligence gathering. "If this is going to go any way like the encounter I had when training up here last time, we need to be careful of any attacks that the sea serpent can create. The tidal wave it sent at me last time nearly killed me."

As his teammate began to inquire about their guild-affiliated redhead Calrex gave nod before speaking in a calm, yet lighter-hearted tone, "In fact he is. However, from the times that I've fought alongside him, Tristan is a much different story than I'm sure you're familiar with Zelrius. He's a powerful fighter and someone I would trust to watch my back."

After he spoke the Ultramarine knight turned to see that a third member of the party, Takao, had arrived as he gave a nod. The expressionless appearance of the Grand Chariot: Legacy continued to mask the tired appearance of his face as he spoke, "Good to see you again Takao. Looks like we just need to wait for Tristan to arrive and we can get going. Just as a heads up, be careful of this thing's roar. The last time I accidentally encountered it the bellow released some kind of wall of water that knocked away a huge chunk of my health. Hopefully it doesn't pull something like that this time around."

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan stretched from where he stood, dreading that he would be on the pitiful state of a floor that was Floor 11. It had been boring lately and he needed something new to fight, which Tristan suspected Calrex was bringing forward in this fight. This excited him as this meant that he would have a new challenge to face, though he could only hope it wasn't so strong that it was very life threatening, since he had a Flints to protect from harm and he can't do that particularly well if he is dead.

After Tristan teleported in, he looked around and found the others gathering together, all players he knew from quests or only as acquaintances from floor clearing. He didn't have the plumed helmet of Achilles on, but did have the breastplate and the burden of the fallen blood splattered armor and the twinfire reflector, with his vanity Dragon Spear that he used simply so he had something that dealt damage with his weapon skills. He walked over and waved to them, his gentle voice speaking with "Greetings everyone, I assume we're ready to go then? I'm fascinated to see what this boss is.".

[Azide 0]

"I didn't mean to imply that he was in any way an unsavory figure." Of course, while he'd stopped short of expressing it outright, such an opinion would not be too far off the mark from his own. "Excuse the pun, but it's just that the Azure Brigade is colorful bunch, to say the least." If there were any particular reason for him to grant this Commandant the benefit of the doubt, it was that the man had certainly pulled his weight- and then some- in the tanking department. Perhaps it was because they were unlikely to compete directly when it came to front-lining resources, but at least the separation of their roles might provide some leeway in this case. Tristan could become literally invincible for all he cared, and it would make little difference when it came time to reap what they had sown. The same could hardly be said on behalf of a certain other Commandant, who only seemed to grow in power with every new floor.

In came Takao, who grabbed his attention with a half-hearted wave. Between the brevity of his greeting, the low energy of said greeting and the yawn which came after it, the young swordsman seemed as if he'd rather be in bed than at the gates of Taft. Nonetheless, Azide smiled and returned the gesture- albeit he forsook the half-mast hang of the other man's arm, and waved a much heartier arc. Though their experiences had not stretched quite as far back as those he'd shared with others, Takao was among the minority which he held full confidence in. "Hope you brought along one of those energy drinks of yours," he remarked, his tone carrying as dryly as always. "I may not know much about this Leviathan creature, but I doubt that we'll be fighting a sea serpent anywhere other than in the sea." He thought back to his last encounter, which he seen himself and Calrex facing off against an overgrown fish in the middle of a raging river. "In any case," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "it'd be best for all of us to be at the top of our game today." 

Finally, the last of their party arrived with a flash, signalling that he had only just teleported himself to the floor's flagship settlement. At the man's words, he nodded slowly, letting his eyes linger for a moment on the armor-clad redhead. For such a fiery-looking fellow, his softer tone was a rather unexpected development. Before long, he turned away, looking back to the other two. "Let's get to work."

[Calrex 0]

OOC; Takao will be absent for the remainder of the thread. Disregard roll 40740 XP.

IC:

Calrex gave a nod as Tristan arrived, "Well it's certainly something to be careful of. Most likely than not we're going to need to go out to sea to engage it in combat, at least from what I can gather. Azide, I'm sure you're familiar with this from when we fought that oversized snapper on the twelfth floor. I last encountered it back after we unlocked the twelfth floor, coming across it by mere chance when I used my Howl skill at the beachside. My guess is that since I decided to not engage the main body in combat it let out a roar that initiated a tidal wave as a way of resetting the event"

Looking over he saw Takao give a wave as the brunette took off, "I guess something came up. Alright then, looks like we're working with three people instead."

"In any case, let's get moving."

Heading out of the gate Calrex led his comrades towards the beach, eventually emerging out onto the beach. Heading over to the spot he was at last time he gave a calming breath as he drew the Grand Blade, flicking it into a reverse grip as he raised the weapon high. As before the Grand Chariot: Legacy began to emanate the light blue aura as the special effect chains materialized and began to spiral around his body. Slamming his sword into the sand the monstrous roar of his <<Howl>> skill shot out through the expanse, penetrating deep into the waves.

This time, compared to how it went in his past venture, instead of a merman appearing and attacking the group, a different even occurred. A medium sized sailboat appeared, fit to have enough room to support three people, materialized in front of them. "Well, I guess I was right. Alright then, let's take our positions and get out onto the water."

Edited November 30, 2015 by Calrex