[Combat/Kumori] Further into Desolation - end

[Deleted]

[attr="class","quest"]

Sarum Expedition Combat Mission

As we get closer toward the city of Sarum,
monsters seem to continuously spawn.
Your job is to team up with fellow Adventurers
and take down your fair share of monsters
so that we can expand the camp
ever so closer toward the city borders.

NPC: Some old piece of paper?

List of Objectives:

- Kill Golem Sentinel Lv20: 0/5

Participants:
[DPS] Kumori Lv36
[Tank] @dindeen Lv55

Equipped: Charcoal Yoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) and Nótthrafn

Before the sun was up on the horizon, while the flocks of various types of birds around the city were still perched upon their branches or resting in their nests, a blue-eyed wolf-hair already rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes. The previous night she’d given it some thought and came to the conclusion that it would be best for her to go out beyond the confines of Londenium once again. Past the Greatwoods, not into the Marshlands but to Sarum, the new frontier. That most desolate of places, riddled with golems of different types. Rocks, rubble- everywhere.

Once again, she would visit that place to test her abilities and her resilience. Kyuu had a different mindset whenever she thought of Sarum. It wasn’t a place to muck around and have fun, no. The new frontier was that one area in Elder Tale where she always had to stay on her toes. Her quests had turned out pretty well so far, except maybe for that one time when an anomaly showed up on the frontlines. Hopefully such a thing would not happen once again for she might not be as fortunate as last time when a higher leveled adventurer was there to help her out.

The samurai got up and managed to find her way to the shower room where she quickly cleaned herself up and put on her yukata. The armor, she could equip later; when she walked out of the shower room with a towel on her head at a futile attempt to quickly dry her hair, she noticed Hrairoo who planted its little bottom on the floor in front of her. It seemed that the rabbit was woken up by her activities and so wanted either a hug or breakfast. Probably breakfast. Kyuu left the towel on her head and a mess in both the bedroom and shower room, both of which she did not care about. Hrairoo was hungry and she would not let the little one starve. Soon enough the pair was in the kitchen munching away on some apples. The wolf-hair put some lemon juice and honey on hers to give it some flavor while the rabbit’s breakfast consisted of apples which were thinly sliced. Once Roo was done, its tamer patted the creature’s head, explained that she was going to a dangerous place and unsummoned the frenmic rabbit to let it rest up in her armory.

A cool glass of water finished that early meal off and then Kyuu went back to what she was doing before. Cleaning up her room? No. Plans for going to Sarum? Yes. The expedition quests required at least two members and no lander in their right mind would give out a quest to a single person. The samurai opted to take one of her guild mates on the journey instead of waiting indefinitely at the camp and so she peered through every open door to look for an unwilling victim. Eventually she found one, that most unfortunate of all assassins in Elder Tale perhaps: Kumori. Once Kyuu spotted him, she dragged him away from whatever he was doing and out of whatever he was comfortably sitting or sleeping in. It was very early in the day and the sun was just rising, so Ryuu probably was not in the mood for an adventure. But the samurai was, oh yes, and she could not be denied.

The ride to Sarum was a lot less eventful. Trees, trees everywhere. Lander merchants frequented the makeshift camp ever since activity kicked up in that place, so the pair of adventurers did not find it difficult to look for a cart that would take them to their destination. Upon their arrival at the Sarum Expedition Camp, the samurai went ahead of Ryuu and paid the cart’s driver an agreeable sum. He nodded and thanked her, and she went off to look for a quest. The board was full of fliers as usual. Some of them were advertisements for crafters who were there at the moment, while others were quests with list of requirements. Still others were incomplete maps with messages tacked onto them, possibly instructions on how to complete those crudely written things.

Kyuu, with much difficulty, reached up to take a quest which seemed to have been neglected for a while. She half-expected for it to be a quest to take on a field boss, but oddly enough, it was not. The quest simply required the adventurers to take on some Golem Sentinels, five of them to be precise. The catch was that those golems could be found much farther ahead of the cleared paths and so anyone who had to take the quest might have to go up against sentries too. That, and the terrain was much more uneven on that place where the sentinels stood guard. The samurai looked it over for she might have missed some details, and when she was certain that the objective was simple enough, she walked over to Ryuu and showed the quest to him.

“ Golem Sentinels... “ she simply said, “ I hope they don’t respawn like crazy... last time the sentries did. Respawn like crazy, I mean. “

At that, Kyuu equipped her ooyoroi over her black yukata and made sure to take out her yumi and quiver too. The bow was as black as her armor and of a great length much like most Japanese bows. The size of the weapon was based on her own height though, and so the samurai would not find it too difficult to use. A calm mind and steady hand was required of her for archery, and it was something that Kyuu could see herself as whenever she was adventuring in Sarum. The quiver was also black in accordance with her theme, a nod to her real life family name which was Schwarz- literally ‘black’. Her bow Notthrafn still needed its companion though, a nagamaki which the samurai had wanted forged for a long time. Nottulfr would have been its name, but she was yet to find a willing and able blacksmith for the task. She did not have a mitsugake either and Ryuu got an ice cold stare because of that.

Nonetheless, the samurai would work with what she had. Kyuu slung both the yumi and its quiver across her body with the heaviest parts on her back. She had one hand on her saya while the other rested freely on her right side. The samurai had quite a serious air about her, very much unlike her usual childish expressions, and unlike her deadpan face too. Her brow was slightly furrowed as she scanned the desolate path before her. The other parties cleared out most of the golem sentries in the area, so the pair could head out and look for their quest objectives once they were both ready.

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 1145	Tags: Party list

HP	100%
MP	100%
Exp	1/10

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[Kumori]

Kumori HP: 100% MP: 100%

"In order to live, I will continue to fight. In order to retain my humanity, I will continue to destroy those who mean to harm my friends."

Ryuu was asleep in his bed. His normal time to wake up was about 8 am, way past sunrise, and well he could care less if someone were to barge into his room and wake him up. He was dreaming a quite pleasant dream.

In front of him were several people of note. What he noticed about all of them was that they were all female. Yes, they were all female. Now, most people would find it typical that he would have such a dream, but before you get into the generalization of Ryuu’s character, let me give you a background of his life. He’s not a lech, he’s not a pervert, and no, he does not want a harem. Contrary to popular belief, he’s actually just an average guy who wants to get married to one woman and have children with her. Yes. One. Woman. Not many women, but one. You see? He’s just a normal typical guy who was having the atypical dream of having multiple women at his bedside.

Now aside from the fact that it was atypical, Ryuu was still a man. If there were 8 different, beautiful women that were serving you, next to you, and just over all making physical contact with you, you would probably enjoy it regardless of your preference of having one woman. Well, for the most part. Since Ryuu had no single woman to direct his love towards yet, he was enjoying his dream quite fondly. They were well-dressed, while still looking cute, hott, and most importantly, that sexy librarian look. I don’t know why, but that Ryuu loves them. Yes. Glasses, ponytail, mid-length skirt, you know what I mean. The service he was receiving from them, the paradise he was living in…

…was abruptly doomed when his little sister went to his room and dragged him out of his bed. NO! PARADISE! he cried softly in his mind. Thankfully, his manhood was in check and nothing was there to be embarrassed about. He really needed to lock his door. He closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep within the next few seconds as to return to his paradise. Nope. Kyuu just wouldn’t allow it as she started jumping on him again. not again, not again… just ignore it, I can do this, I can do this! he thought, thinking that he’d be able to ignore her long enough that she’d give up. Unfortunately for Mr. Shadow here, when Kyuu was set on something, she wouldn’t allow anything to get in her way, even sleep. Kyuu took away his blanket that he had fought for for the last 30 seconds, and before he could recede into the fetal position, Kyuu swung her leg back and kicked him right where it counted. She probably learned that one from Jojo. When the foot connected with something squishy and vulnerable, Ryuu’s eyes opened wide eyed, and he began rolling in pain. “Ow, ow, ow, ow,” he said, placing both of his hands onto the spot, trying to alleviate the pain, thinking his hands had medicinal power. Tears rolled down his cheeks and all he could do was roll and cry. Sadly, his hands were only a psychological medicine, but even then, it didn’t allow the pain to subside any quicker. Knowing she was successful, Kyuu left his room and went to get the transportation. This would probably be the last time Ryuu would fight anyone when it came to waking him up. I hate you Jojo, he thought as he got dressed and got his items equipped. I hate you Kyuu, he said, as he gripped his daggers and tied them to their appropriate places. I really need to disallow people coming into my room, he thought as he exited the room. He donned a cheap cloak he bought at the market a while back for a few gold. It was vanity clothing for now, and since he hadn’t had the time to craft vanity clothing or armor yet, he’d probably look to looting it later.

They made it to Sarum with no incident. Kyuu looked at the quest board and grabbed the highest one, one she could barely reach. She read it and then told Ryuu of her findings. He nodded. “Sentinels? Shouldn’t be too bad… They’re maxed at level 20, so I think we’ll be okay,” he said. Ryuu looked at her as she began equipping herself, and what he noticed was that she now had a bow on her back. Ryuu scratched his head, trying to figure out if she had always had that. “A Yumi? Is that new?” he asked her. While Kyuu usually liked to play as ranged casters, the usage of a bow did give her range, but he was pretty sure she was getting used to using her nodachi.

She gave him a glare and he knew why. He had promised some things, so he would make them as soon as possible.

“I know, I know, they’ll be done soon… maybe when we catch a break, I’ll make it here, right in front of you,” he said to her. He sighed as he needed to make his own armor and vanity clothing as well. All were quite necessary. They were the only things that would keep him from dying, aside from his levels and HP and how fast he could deal damage. He was a level 36, soon to be level 45 Assassin, and he still only carried level 5 items. At least level 10 items were decent enough for him to use as better defense against the monsters, mitigating the damage taken, moreso than his current armor. Ryuu nodded towards Kyuu and notified her he was ready. “Lead away, Miss Tank. I expect you to keep me alive so I can do lots of damage to these sentinels… It isn’t the first time we’ve done it, but I’m, pretty sure we can deal with them quite easily… I just hope we don’t run into any of those Phalanxes… though we might be able to do it ourselves, to be honest,” he said as he shrugged.

OOC NOTES: 1020 words

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Deleted]

[attr="class","quest"]

Sarum Expedition Combat Mission

As we get closer toward the city of Sarum,
monsters seem to continuously spawn.
Your job is to team up with fellow Adventurers
and take down your fair share of monsters
so that we can expand the camp
ever so closer toward the city borders.

NPC: Some old piece of paper?

List of Objectives:

- Kill Golem Sentinel Lv20: 0/5

Participants:
[DPS] Kumori Lv36
[Tank] @dindeen Lv55

Equipped: Charcoal Yoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) and Nótthrafn
Skills: Denkosekka (C1) : Izunagiri (C2) : Fuurinkazan (C3) : Iaido (Passive)

If Caerbannog was already usually quiet, the Sarum quest made her even more mum than usual. It meant that she had no answers at all to Kumori’s questions, and his statements only were acknowledged with nods. The shine on her blue eyes was gone too for the samurai was in full tank mode. She was aware that being both the tank and being the higher leveled adventurer meant that she had to take the lead at all times. As usual, he talked a lot; it was not a fault, except maybe if he began to talk a lot during an actual fight.

As soon as the samurai stepped out of the Sarum Expedition Camp, her wolf-hair features began to appear. First, wolf ears appeared on her head and she pulled them high up, alert. Next, her wolf tail showed up though it seemed to just be an extension of her long black hair. The girl’s canines soon grew and lastly, her blue eyes became of a golden color. She walked past the parties of other adventurers and simply nodded at the ones who noticed her. Some were injured but there was nothing too serious; those who were hurt too much probably were sent back to the Abbey already.

The pair soon reached the frontlines where people had just managed to clear the area of golem sentries. With no anomaly that day, it would take a while before another wave of sentries reached that area. To take advantage of those calm moments, Caerbannog dashed off to her right side to stay out of the places where the golems would likely spawn. After that, she just ran forward to where the golem sentinels were supposedly stationed. Past low piles of rubble and a vast sea of rock, the samurai dashed and jumped over obstacles. She was able to steer clear of a golem sentry which was just spawning and she expected for the assassin to follow closely behind her.

Caerbannog then stopped on her tracks after she got out of the golem sentry’s range of sight. A much taller stone figure walked upon the suffering ground up ahead. Every step that the creature took made the ground tremble and the samurai could feel the vibrations on the earth. At that moment, the golem sentinel still had its back turned to them while it was patrolling the area. The ground rumbled for a few moments and large boulders levitated close to the patrolling sentinel. Another golem sentinel had appeared and they were both Level 20. Kyuu wondered for a moment if that other golem had just been slacking off of the job, but then she thought that such a generalization would have sounded rude and so she shrugged the thought away.

The samurai removed her black yumi from where it rested as she straightened up to prepare for an attack. Unlike her usual samurai stance which required her to put her right foot forward, the preparation for archery called for her other foot to step forward. Caerbannog then loosened her shoulders as she envisioned the activation of [Denkosekka] and subsequently used the skill. A barely visible armor of lightning enveloped her body and she felt lighter on her feet. However, that skill was not used to benefit her archery, no. Instead, she used Denkosekka to start up a chain. Kyuu then loosened her shoulders and relaxed her arms as she pulled up the yumi to her line of sight. She took an arrow from its pure black quiver and armed her bow. The body of the arrow rested near her left hand while held the yumi in place. With her right hand, Kyuu then pulled the arrow against the bowstring. She pulled it as far as she could and once the bowstring would go no further, the samurai let the arrow fly towards the two golems which has just aligned during their walks and patrols. The attack, however, was not a simple attack but rather an execution of her second chain [Izunagiri].

The arrow flew through the air, augmented by the strength of the samurai’s skill; it created a wind current around the arrow which afforded it extra piercing damage. Caerbannog had aimed for the golems’ heads unfortunately she was still not proficient with her bow. The attack landed lower than where she expected and slashed the back of a golem sentinel which was walking in the opposite direction. The piercing effect, however, allowed the arrow to keep its momentum as it flew and soon it landed right on the torso of the next golem sentry. The creature staggered backwards as the forced of the attack was accepted by its body and its hit points trickled down by a significant number.

Both golem sentinels then turned to Caerbannog who was the source of that attack. The most obvious thing about golems was the fact that they mostly had midrange or close ranged attacks. Caerbannog activated her third chain [Fuurinkazan] and her body emitted a fiery aura. Anyone who attacked her with melee skills would surely be damaged too. As for her weapons, both the nagamaki and her yumi, they were surrounded by a sharp wind current which would afford wind-type damage. The samurai did wonder about elemental resistance if only for a moment. Soon she dashed forward to meet both incoming golem sentinels, one of which was close to falling apart with an arrow stuck to its chest.

The wolf-hair samurai would have intercepted them if not for the sudden stomp which the injured golem unleashed. It stopped on its tracks when Caerbannog was within its mid-range reach and just smashed the ground so suddenly. A shockwave was sent out to their surroundings, which would probably explain the damage done to the place, and effectively made the samurai lose her footing. She slipped on a rock which was upturned by the shockwave and subsequently fell on her left side. Kyuu’s left arm hit the ground and her bow was thrown a little far off, but she was able to roll away from the less-injured golem’s punch. That roll sent her close to the golem’s massive feet and once she was up, the samurai quickly drew her nagamaki and sliced the golem’s left ankle with [Iaido] in effect. She noted a numb feeling on her left arm, probably an effect of her sudden fall.

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 1105	Tags: Party list

HP	95%
MP	85%
Exp	1/10

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[Kumori]

	Kumori HP: 100% MP: 95%	"In order to live, I will continue to fight. In order to retain my humanity, I will continue to destroy those who mean to harm my friends."
Equipment: Windsor Antiqua Armor-Lv5 Windsor Antiqua Dagger-Lv5	Skills: Quick Draw | Accel Dance	Alternate: Windsor Antiqua Throwing Knives-Lv5

He was shocked at the words that Kyuu was saying, or lack thereof. She had only told him about what they were going to do, but nothing more. She was focused, more focused than he had seen before. She wasn’t usually like this, not unless she was determined. He knew that speaking, for her, made her use her energy. She was conserving it, to build up her mind, to steel her resolve, and to come out on top, with no deaths to count. As they stepped outside of the camp, he noticed her change completely. Her wolf-like features began to show much more prominently than before. He had not seen this side of her often. He wasn’t sure why she was like this. If he had tried to stop her, she’d just push him away and continue walking. It was both a blessing and a curse. When the situation would get dangerous, if she was still determined to fight, she would continue to do so. It happened when Ryuu beat her in a game several times in a row. She wouldn’t give up, and when Ryuu wanted to stop, she wouldn’t let him and gave him that deathly stare. In this state, he could not speak much for he knew that there would be no answer. He could not detract from her goal, or he risk finding her dead once again. All he could do was follow her and support her, both as a friend and as her damage dealer. Without him, he was simply sending her to her own doom. Ryuu wouldn’t allow that to happen, no, he could never let that happen, not while he was around.

There were several other parties that passed them by. He followed suit in nodding and smiling at them, but nothing more, as he did not want to disturb her. There could be no questions of “if she really wanted to do this,” since her mind was set upon the goal that even he was unsure of. Was it the writing on the paper, or was it something entirely different? His bet was it was something else. Something else was bugging her and he didn’t know what. When was it that they had grown this far apart? What had happened over the last few days or weeks that they had not gotten in touch with each other? All questions, he was unsure when and how to ask her. When they arrived at the frontlines, the previous parties that were here had taken care of the sentries, leaving an open area for them to traverse, but this left Kyuu unsatisfied. She wanted to lay the ground work of an offensive, as she dashed towards one side. Ryuu, taken aback by the sudden decision, was forced to follow suit. Fortunately, his speed was enough to catch up to her and successively follow her to where she wanted to go. She was leading him, this time, as she had a plan in mind. Without her speaking, all he could do was watch and respond with his own attacks. The sentries began spawning behind them. Ryuu looked back at the newly formed sentries, but by this time, the two were already far enough that Hate could not be drawn from it, but as soon as they exited the field of vision for the sentries, the samurai stopped in her tracks, forcing the assassin to do the same. He looked at Kyuu, trying to figure out why, but the vibrations that he felt through his feet made him understand the reason. “Sentinels,” he said, breaking the silence of their journey.

There were two sentinels patrolling the area. It did not force Ryuu to cower, however, as the two were both way above the levels of the sentinels. What did surprise him, though, was that the samurai was using a bow. He had seen it once before when she had used it to fight against boars. The Yumi, was a traditional bow of Feudal Japan. It was also the traditional Japanese sport that Ryuu had practiced for a little bit, but moved on to European archery. The two were very different, as European archery used a set of different bows. The Yumi was as tall, if not taller than the user, and required much more focus to use. That was his personal experience, as well as the different takes on the weapon used.

Her body lit up, which meant that she was using Denkosekka. How she was using it was interesting, though. That skill was a Chain 1 skill, and was used as a means to speed up the user, however, she was not using it to speed up her movement, no, a Yumi meant being stationary, and what she was doing surprised him. She was beginning to embrace her class as a samurai. She was beginning to come up with using skills no one would normally have thought of. Izunagiri was used next. The arrow was propelled forth with the use of wind, making it a much stronger attack. While it did not pierce the first target, it had cut it (sort of?) and then travelled further to embed itself into the other sentinel which staggered back due to the force of the arrow.

She had rushed in, towards the now oncoming Sentinels. He watched as Kyuu did her thing, but noticed she had been tripped by the injured sentinel. That was his first target, the hodgepodge of rocks that was somehow moving. Ryuu noticed the bow that the samurai had dropped, and it was up to him to make sure it did not sustain any damage. It looked new, and he’d be damned if he allowed that to happen. As he rushed in, he rolled and quickly picked up the bow Kyuu had dropped. Jumping off the uneven ground, he placed it on his back and pulled out a dagger into his right hand. He aimed for the most damaged of the two. Using [Quick Draw] he approached closed the gap between him and the damaged golem. Climbing the golem with a series of jumps, Ryuu pushed the arrow in further, using his free left hand, trying to force it through to the other side, and then bringing down his blade from the top of the golem’s head down to the feet, hoping it’d be enough to bring it down and explode into data crystals. He turned back towards the remaining golem that was in front of him. Ryuu took out his second dagger, ready to deal as much damage as he could do it. He would dash forward and activate [Accel Dance] which sped up his attacks. The more he used it, the faster his attacks were, and since these skills were cheap, he didn’t expend too much mana using them.

OOC NOTES:
Word Count: 1136 words

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Deleted]

[attr="class","quest"]

Sarum Expedition Combat Mission

As we get closer toward the city of Sarum,
monsters seem to continuously spawn.
Your job is to team up with fellow Adventurers
and take down your fair share of monsters
so that we can expand the camp
ever so closer toward the city borders.

NPC: Some old piece of paper?

List of Objectives:

- Kill Golem Sentinel Lv20: 3/5

Participants:
[DPS] Kumori Lv36
[Tank] @dindeen Lv55

Equipped: Charcoal Yoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) and Nótthrafn
Skills: Gonosen (C1) : Dokuganryu (C2) : Bishamonkeshin (C3) : Yabouzan (C4) : Iaido (Passive)

Ryuu was quick on his feet, as expected of an assassin of his level and experience. While the samurai dealt a blow to a sentinel’s ankle, he’d gone and killed off the one with lower hit points. He then turned to that other golem which just had its ankle sliced at. Once he moved in, Kyuu backed away and sheathed her nagamaki. That target was his, and hers were three incoming Golem Sentinels, all level 20. She knew that she could not take them all down on her own for she did not have enough firepower. Her main weapon was sadly still a Level 5 Windsor piece of shit and Ryuu had her Level 10 bow. No matter, she could still draw those Sentinels’ attention and turn them away from the assassin, at which point he could attack until the targets burst into a display of data crystals.

The Golem Sentinels ran towards the pair of adventurers in a triangular formation with the middle sentinel a step or two ahead of its companions. Caerbannog ran towards then head on with her nagamaki sheathed and her right hand on its hilt. Her left arm still felt a bit numb though perhaps it was just a phantom pain. Later on, once their objectives were completed, she should probably get that checked at the Sarum Expedition Camp. The golems soon closed in on the samurai and her attention was completely on those three massive figures ahead of her. Instead of ducking or rolling out of their way, Kyuu only ran faster and only stopped at the spot where, as she anticipated, the middle golem would end up. As it threw a punch at her small figure, the samurai drew her nagamaki which utilized her passive [Iaido]. But she did not rely on just that knowing that her opponent was a master of punching things to death. Kyuu used her first chain [Gonosen] to strike right at the incoming fist. The blade of her weapon let out a few sparks as it clashed with equally hard rock. Much like that time when she teamed up with a higher leveled assassin, the samurai ducked a little so that the sparks would land on her head rather than on her face.

The golem sentinel’s arm was soon pushed back by that combination of Iaido and Gonosen, in addition to the damage that it sustained from the clash. Its companions moved in too since they were right behind that first golem, but before they could reach the girl, she used her second chain [Dokuganryu]. A thick cloud of smoke almost instantaneously dispersed from Caerbannog’s body as if it was a black aura that she emitted to her surroundings. The skill covered a distance of ten meters, large enough to obscure her from her current opponents. Ryuu would, unfortunately, also be affected by the skill and he would have to figure out how to fight in that dark cover.

While her targets were confused due to their diminished visuals, Caerbannog used her third chain [Bishamonkeshin] . It made her a bit obvious in that dark haze what with the fiery aura that the skill afforded but that was the point. The visual effect was spotted by the golems and it increased their Hate towards the samurai. However, due to the confusion brought about by the smoke screen, the sentinel to Caerbannog’s left stumbled into the middle golem which was a perfect set-up for her next move. The third golem soon stumbled onto its companions and so Kyuu then chained her last skill [Yabouzan]. Since it was a battoujutsu, the samurai held her weapon to the side and then she disappeared momentarily. With the ability that the skill afforded, the samurai teleported to a destination which was five meters in front of her. She managed to move through all of the three golems and what with such a high chain, the middle golem soon crumbled down to dust and turned to data crystals.

Two golems still lurked in that dark smoke which covered a radius of ten meters, but they were both severely damaged and stumbled around in the dark. With no way to determine where their target was, the sentinels simply spammed their Stomp skill which made them obvious in the dark even with the smoke all around them. Caerbannog sheathed her sword and readied for another attack, just then she realized that her left arm hurt like hell. She probably twisted her wrist or something but it was difficult to tell what with her armor all over it. The stomps did not help since all the flying rock and debris began gather up enough dust to make the Dokuganryu cover dissipate. Nonetheless, the samurai prepared to move in one last time even with just one working arm. Noticeably, while her right hand was on the sword’s hilt, her left hand was not on her saya which was very bad form for a nagamaki user.

Back down the road to the Sarum Expedition Camp, other adventurers saw the covering which was created by Dokuganryu and, not having seen such a wide-area cover before, they began to gather close to the edge of the skill’s area of effect. They stayed a safe distance away when the stomps began though. What would be revealed to them once Dokuganryu completely disappeared?

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 890	Tags: Party list

HP	93%
MP	68%
Exp	1/10

[newclass=.quest]position: relative; right: 0px; top: 0%; margin-top: 3px; float: left; text-align: left; font: 10px Arial Narrow; height: 30px; width: 30px; background-color: #000; opacity: 1; padding: 2px; border-radius: 7px; transition: width 0.1s; color: #fff; overflow: hidden;[/newclass][newclass=.quest:hover]position: relative; left: 0px; top: 0%; margin-top: 3px; float: left;  font: 10px Arial Narrow; height: 500px; width: 200px; background-color: #000; opacity: 1; padding: 2px; border-radius: 7px; color: #fff; overflow: hidden;[/newclass]

[Kumori]

	Kumori HP: 90% MP: 90%	"In order to live, I will continue to fight. In order to retain my humanity, I will continue to destroy those who mean to harm my friends."
Equipment: - Cuirass of Shadows -Windsor Antiqua Dagger -Windsor Antiqua Dagger	Skills: Quick Draw | Deadly Dance	Alternate: -Windsor Antiqua Throwing Knives

Kyuu had stepped away from the second golem sentinel so that she could engage the next set of three golems. Ryuu knew what she was attempting to do, and since the second golem was already immobilized, killing it would be quite easy. He used [Quick Draw] again in order to close the gap between him and the sentinel, slashing upwards to deal the final blow to it. It fell apart and exploded into another set of data crystals. He looked ahead to where Kyuu was. She was far enough ahead where it’d take him a bit of time to get there. He watched as the battle unfold. She only needed to hold out until he got to where she was, ready to do as much damage as possible to the golems that were in front of his dear friend. She started her Chaining, and by her third chain, he couldn’t see where she was, but at least the sentinels were easy to spot because of their huge mass. She soon disappeared, and the cloud of smoke had funneled into the position she was in. So much speed was scary, and so Ryuu couldn’t help but notice how scary she had become. Note to self: never, ever, get on Kyuu.. wait… that’s already a note, he thought. Kyuu, when mad, was scary. Kyuu, when mad, with skills, was even worse. Ryuu approached one of the last two golems that were left. He looked at Kyuu and noticed that her left hand was not on her saya and was shaking. It seemed she had wounded herself in the last attack.

He said to her in the telepathic party chat: “Rest and heal your hand. I can take care of these guys. Thanks for the assist,” he said as he continued to slash away at the lower health of the two. He used a [Deadly Dance] to deal a significant amount of damage to it, causing it to explode into data crystals, but before he could land, Ryuu saw the overly large fist come towards him. Ryuu prepared himself as best he could, as he could not dodge while he was in the air. He used his swords as pseudo shields, but it wasn’t good enough. Ryuu flew back and landed onto the ground, sustaining some damage. Major, or minor, it wasn’t enough to stop him, however. Ryuu ran up towards the golem, using his speed on the ground to his advantage. As he dodged the first of the punches, Ryuu jumped on top of the fist, waiting for the other fist to come down, he would jump again, forcing the golem to attack himself. The assassin landed on top of the arm that had just punched the golem and began to use it as a stair to the head of the golem. Ryuu grabbed the head of the golem and looked it in the eye, as if it was a living creature. “Time to die,” he said as he used his right hand to stab straight into the neck of the golem and pried the head off. Ryuu jumped off as the golem began to slump over and landed on his feet. He sheathed his sword and went to the samurai to check her wrist. Ryuu would gently grab it, but she’d no doubt wince at it. She had probably sprained it, so Ryuu looked around for a safe area. There was a small cave, much too small for the sentinels or the sentries to get into. He didn’t want Kyuu to fight, and he wasn’t sure how bad the injury was, but it was better if he carried her. His speed was the fastest, and since his strength was enough to carry her, it did not affect the speed of his runs. That, and he didn’t want to pull on the hand unnecessarily.

Ryuu picked her up into his arms and ran as fast as he could towards the cave. There were three or four sentinels that had noticed them, and so it was a race. Ryuu was confident he’d make it to the cave, he just hoped the golems were stupid enough not to attack the cave. With the sentinels on his tail, Ryuu didn’t look back and concentrated on running. After a few more seconds of his dash, he had finally made it to the cave without incident. It seemed that the sentinels backed off, knowing they had no way to attack them from their position. The assassin sighed as he put the samurai down and ordered her to sit.

Ryuu began stitching up a splint for her, so that she’d be able to heal after they rested. “Do you have a minor HP Potion? You should use it,” he said to her. He then looked out of the cave. It was time for lunch anyways. They had travelled all day and they hadn’t eaten yet. Ryuu took out a few items that Kyuu had crafted before for food. “Let’s eat, and while we rest, I can make your accessory…” he said to her.

OOC NOTES:
Word Count: 845 words

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Deleted]

[attr="class","quest"]

Sarum Expedition Combat Mission

As we get closer toward the city of Sarum,
monsters seem to continuously spawn.
Your job is to team up with fellow Adventurers
and take down your fair share of monsters
so that we can expand the camp
ever so closer toward the city borders.

NPC: Some old piece of paper?

List of Objectives:

- Kill Golem Sentinel Lv20: 5/5

Participants:
[DPS] Kumori Lv36
[Tank] @dindeen Lv55

Equipped: Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) and Nótthrafn -:- Skills: Picnic

Although she was unable to use her left arm properly and could have just been massacred by the golems if she did try to move in, Kyuu was not pleased at all when he said that he’d ‘take care of these guys’. To the samurai, it felt that he was putting her on the sidelines and it pissed her off greatly. She was already more than ten levels above him but still he treated her like a child. Kyuu could only think about how annoying the assassin was, up until he was hit by a golem’s attack. The girl’s ears perked up and her expression changed from that of a serious, I’ll-kill-everything look to that of worry. Her concern was for naught though since Ryuu managed to recover and he turned the tides on his enemy.

That moment when the assassin turned to her was not all too fun, however. Once again, in Kyuu’s mind, Ryuu was treating her like a kid that he had to babysit. She did not push him away though since golem sentinels soon ran after them, and if she flailed away from his grasp then she’d just make things worse for their two-man party. The samurai instead glared at Ryuu as he ran. The golems fortunately were not able to close in on them, and in the distance Dokuganryu finally cleared up to reveal nothing but a pile of rubble to those who came out to see the commotion.

While in the cave, the samurai sat down quietly, took off her ooyoroi via her interface and accepted the offered splint. When Ryuu asked her for a potion, Kyuu squinted at the long-haired guy as if he just said the dumbest thing. She instead pulled out some questionable nuggets and shared it with him using the chef skill ‘Picnic’. As for drinks, she had that too courtesy of the brewer Elkeid. The samurai gave her iced mint tea to Ryuu and she kept the grape mogu-mogu for herself. It was the first time that she tried that Elder Tale version of the drink, and the brewer fortunately was able to replicate the real world taste. In fact, it tasted better perhaps because Elkeid used real grape juice and jelly instead of artificially manufactured liquid. Her mogu-mogu came in a transparent bottle which was shaped like the real world version, albeit of a different material. The iced mint tea for Ryuu was in a bottle too and he ought to drink it up before the coolness declined.

The samurai would have glared at Ryuu some more, and notably she looked at her bow which was still in the assassin’s possession, if not for the mention of the word ‘accessory’. Kyuu’s eyes widened and her wolf ears pointed towards the assassin. She stuffed one last nugget in her mouth, ate it quickly and drank some more of her mogu-mogu before she nodded at her personal tailor. The accessory in question was a small version of her plushie Mitsuho, the black panther which Kyuu insisted on referring to as a kitty. It was to be used a tassel for her sword, though the girl still wished that she had a proper nagamaki instead of the windsor one that she was using.

“ Attack power please, “ she said, pertaining to the effect that she wanted on the item; Kyuu took another sip of her grape drink before she asked, “ Why named Mitsuho? “

Unlike the rest of her plushies including Kuromimi, it was Ryuu who named the black panther for it was the first stuffed toy that he ever gave to Kyuu.

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 600	Tags: Party list

HP	100% - rested
MP	100% - rested
Exp	3/10

[newclass=.quest]position: relative; right: 0px; top: 0%; margin-top: 3px; float: left; text-align: left; font: 10px Arial Narrow; height: 30px; width: 30px; background-color: #000; opacity: 1; padding: 2px; border-radius: 7px; transition: width 0.1s; color: #fff; overflow: hidden;[/newclass][newclass=.quest:hover]position: relative; left: 0px; top: 0%; margin-top: 3px; float: left;  font: 10px Arial Narrow; height: 500px; width: 200px; background-color: #000; opacity: 1; padding: 2px; border-radius: 7px; color: #fff; overflow: hidden;[/newclass]

[Kumori]

	Kumori HP: 100% MP: 100%	"In order to live, I will continue to fight. In order to retain my humanity, I will continue to destroy those who mean to harm my friends."
Equipment: - Cuirass of Shadows -Windsor Antiqua Dagger -Windsor Antiqua Dagger	Skills:	Quick Slot: -Windsor Antiqua Throwing Knives

Ryuu had almost forgotten about the bow that was on his back. He took it off and gave it back to her. He then took out the accessory he had been working on for a while. He looked at it and it looked exactly like Mitsuho. Kyuu asked him a question of why he named it that. It was the panther he had gotten for her that one time she skipped their study session. “Mitsuho… I named it that so that you’d remember that I’m always there to protect you, and if I’m not, then Mitsuho will be… also… if you’re lost, this will light your path,” he said to her. “You’re my little sister, that’s why I named it that way,” he said to her. He then began making alterations to the tassel. He made it so that parts of it were bright, sewing a bit of gold and silver on it to attract attention of anyone who faced the person who used the tassel. The distraction would considerably aid the person who was fighting considerably, so long as they did not get distracted by it themselves.

It was common for tassels to be used for decorative purposes, however they were more practical than people could imagine. They were often used as a means to distract their opponent as well as keep hold of the weapon. It was to be able to see something glittering in a brown and dirty field. The tassel had its uses, but Ryuu was trying to make it so that it helped the user moreso than just practicality. To help in a battle, like the tassel of a spear did.

OOC NOTES:
Word Count: 276 words

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Deleted]

[attr="class","quest"]

Sarum Expedition Combat Mission

As we get closer toward the city of Sarum,
monsters seem to continuously spawn.
Your job is to team up with fellow Adventurers
and take down your fair share of monsters
so that we can expand the camp
ever so closer toward the city borders.

NPC: Some old piece of paper?

List of Objectives:

- Kill Golem Sentinel Lv20: 5/5

Participants:
[DPS] Kumori Lv36
[Tank] @dindeen Lv55

Equipped: Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) and Nótthrafn 

The wolf-hair put down her bottle of mogu-mogu so that she could take Notthrafn out of Ryuu’s hands. She then slung it over herself again with the heavy part on her back. With a bit of difficulty, she checked her quiver and found it to be in good condition. She then waited for Ryuu’s explanation about the plushie’s name while he was working on the accessory. Based on the name itself, she had an idea as to the meaning, still when the assassin said it out loud, the girl was left wide-eyed though only for a moment. She shook her head and put on her usual deadpan face; not as serious as her expression while fighting but still without a trace of a smile.

‘Mitsu’ was a different reading for the Kanji 光 ‘hikari’ which meant 'light', and ‘ho’ was for 保 which meant ‘protection’. The plushie and the tassel were meant to protect and guide her, that much she understood; but what was the connection between Ryuu and the name? Perhaps it was the serious atmosphere of Sarum that helped her think straight, or rather with a mindset that was appropriate to her age, but at that point Caerbannog thought it... kinda... weird. She tilted her head a little and pointed her wolf ears at Ryuu as he worked on the accessory.

The samurai looked him over, and aside from their dark colored hair, she did not think him as someone who resembled herself in any way. Though that might be because of the avatar, and so with her mind’s eye she tried to think back to what Ryuu looked like in the real world. Or at least, her memories of him before they parted. He had similarly colored brown hair but it was fairly short, at least short enough to cover just part of his face above his brow. It was rarely too unkempt except those times when he fell asleep on a desk and had to rest his head upon his arms. In contrast, Kyuu’s hair was completely black owing to her mother’s genes and it was usually quite a mess. Ryuu’s eyes were a deep, dark brown while the samurai’s, much like her avatar, were of a vivid blue like the ocean which reflects the sky. Her eye color was similar to that of her father.

Just by their appearance, one could tell that they were not really siblings. Aside from the East-Asian features, they were nothing alike. Even with their height and build, it was too far off for two people who were only three years apart in age. So for the first time in a long time, Kyuu wondered how and why the young man thought her as his ‘little sister’. She was just a weirdo who liked collecting plushies, playing videogames and throwing tantrums. Aside from books and games, they had little in common; she did not even like studying, while he did. But those thoughts aside, Kyuu herself could not explain what siblings were supposed to do together or feel about each other, so in the end she confused the heck out of her own mind.

Caerbannog stared at the ground and soon rubbed her temple. Thinking sure made her head hurt. She looked at the cave entrance and noticed that their surroundings had gone quiet, so perhaps it was a good time to head out soon. The samurai removed her splint and noticed that it only hurt a little, perhaps a phantom pain, but the swelling was gone and she could move her left arm properly. She then looked back at Ryuu and scooted over to his side to get a better view of what he was doing. The wolf-hair put her knees up in front of her chest and wrapped her arms around them as she rested her chin on a knee and watched the tailor craft the accessory.

“ Ryuu-oniichan... “ she mumbled while her eyes were on the tassel Mitsuho, “ Thanks for helping me back there. “

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 665	Tags: Party list

HP	100% - rested
MP	100% - rested
Exp	3/10

[newclass=.quest]position: relative; right: 0px; top: 0%; margin-top: 3px; float: left; text-align: left; font: 10px Arial Narrow; height: 30px; width: 30px; background-color: #000; opacity: 1; padding: 2px; border-radius: 7px; transition: width 0.1s; color: #fff; overflow: hidden;[/newclass][newclass=.quest:hover]position: relative; left: 0px; top: 0%; margin-top: 3px; float: left;  font: 10px Arial Narrow; height: 500px; width: 200px; background-color: #000; opacity: 1; padding: 2px; border-radius: 7px; color: #fff; overflow: hidden;[/newclass]

[Kumori]

	Kumori HP: 100% MP: 100%	"In order to live, I will continue to fight. In order to retain my humanity, I will continue to destroy those who mean to harm my friends."
Equipment: - Cuirass of Shadows -Windsor Antiqua Dagger -Windsor Antiqua Dagger	Skills:	Quick Slot: -Windsor Antiqua Throwing Knives

Ryuu looked up at Kyuu who had begun rubbing her temple. He tilted his head, confused as what she was thinking so hard about, but he returned to doing the finishing touches on the accessory. He began tying bells to it in order to catch more of the senses of the opponent. While they were small bells, and usually didn’t mean to do much, he knew that the human mind was easily tricked. With the bright red tassel that he strung alongside the panther that was there for decoration and the gold and silver pieces that were on the panther, the bells would help in forcing the opponent to hear the swinging of the bell, and since it was loosely attached, most opponents would be mistaken by the erratic nature of the bells. This gave no cues as to when or where the sword would be swung, but instead would confuse many. The only problem was that Kyuu had to get used to using it. While it was a good distraction against foes, it could be a distraction to the user as well, especially the noise that it made. After fastening everything onto it, he gave it to Kyuu.

She had said something to him, barely audible. She had said “thank you,” and Ryuu smiled. “Ie, you would do the same for me… besides, you’re stronger than me now, aren’t you?” he said to her. She wasn’t a kid anymore. Come to think of it, she was never a kid after he met her. She always acted like one, but she was an adult. She always was. Maybe it was time for him to realize that she wasn’t his sister. Maybe it was time for him to let go of the memory of his sister. While he still saw a lot of Fuyu in Kyuu, he knew they were different. Ryuu stiched on the bottom of the tassel, the stylized F he used for making his mark on what he had crafted. He gave it to her and told her: “To protect you and to light your path… It’s a reminder that I’m always there for you,” he said to her.

OOC NOTES:
Word Count: 361 words

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Deleted]

[attr="class","quest"]

Sarum Expedition Combat Mission

As we get closer toward the city of Sarum,
monsters seem to continuously spawn.
Your job is to team up with fellow Adventurers
and take down your fair share of monsters
so that we can expand the camp
ever so closer toward the city borders.

NPC: Some old piece of paper?

List of Objectives:

- Kill Golem Sentinel Lv20: 5/5
- Kill Golem Phalanx: 0/1

Participants:
[DPS] Kumori Lv36
[Tank] @dindeen Lv55

Equipped: Charcoal Ooyoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) and Nótthrafn 
Skill: Samurai's Challenge

The samurai waited out Ryuu’s crafting, her eyes on the accessory as it slowly took form. After she thanked the assassin for his earlier assistance, he said something rather surprising. Or perhaps Kyuu was just surprised since it was the first time that she heard him say it. Ryuu actually said that she was stronger than him. That was acknowledgement, wasn’t it? Her tsun-dencies dictated the samurai to say something like “ Hmf! It’s not like I leveled up so that you’ll notice me! “ but Kyuu was not actually that much of a tsundere. She was just somewhat dense and at times too worried about what other people will react to what she’d say.

“ Hmf! It’s not like I leveled up so that you’ll notice me! “

Welp. It slipped out. Kyuu realized what she said only after she blurted it out already. At that, she quickly covered her face with both hands, partially a facepalm, partially a really bad attempt to make Ryuu go away. It hid the completely red blush on her face though which was the result of both embarrassment and annoyance (at herself). That episode was soon cut short when the tailor finished Mitsuho and handed it to Kyuu. Her face was not so red anymore when she lowered her hands and so to prevent further humiliation, the samurai quickly accepted the tassel and put it on the hilt of her nagamaki. She then stood up, used the interface to equip her ooyoroi and headed out.

The desolate plains which they crossed earlier were eerily quiet. There were no golem sentinels in that area; she noticed that they were farther ahead, close to the path which led to the Sarum Expedition Camp. Kyuu slipped Notthrafn off of her body and armed it with a lone arrow. She held the bow down to her right side with both hands tending to it, one on bow and the other on the arrow. A massive shadow then rose up from behind and fell upon the samurai. But she did not turn around to look at it, no. Instead, Kyuu dashed forward until she was out of that shadow and only when she was two meters away from that darkness did the samurai turn to look at the figure.

It stood above the small hill which housed the cave where the samurai rested earlier. The Level 20 elite mob, a towering Golem Phalanx, stared down at the puny human who was looking up to it. Kyuu put her left foot forward and her right foot back. She lifted her arms to around her eye level and then she pulled her right elbow back drawing the yumi’s string with it. She inhaled and exhaled calmly, eyes set on the wide torso of the golem. Her goal was not to injure it but to draw its attention so that it would not be able to throw a surprise attack at the assassin who might soon emerge from the cave.

Once the bowstring was drawn back completely, Kyuu let her arrow fly. It zipped through the air and landed right at the middle of the golem phalanx’s chest. The samurai quickly jumped back further from the cave as she slung her bow across her body again. The golem phalanx looked at the arrow which protruded from its chest, and then it looked at the girl. The creature soon jumped down from atop the hill and took a few steps towards Kyuu. It was still too close to the cave though, so Kyuu took her usual nagamaki stance with her hand on the saya and her right foot forward. Using [Samurai’s Challenge], she drew the golem phalanx’s attention with a thumbs-up then thumbs-down gesture as if she was the leader of a bike gang or yakuza ring. The golem did not understand the gesture entirely, but it felt a great Hate surface from beneath. Phalanx-san then bashed its knuckles against one another in front of its chest, pulled off the arrow and threw it to the side. It took a few steps forward and then it pointed at Kyuu.

Challenge Accepted.

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 680	Tags: Party list

HP	100%
MP	100%
Exp	3/10

[newclass=.quest]position: relative; right: 0px; top: 0%; margin-top: 3px; float: left; text-align: left; font: 10px Arial Narrow; height: 30px; width: 30px; background-color: #000; opacity: 1; padding: 2px; border-radius: 7px; transition: width 0.1s; color: #fff; overflow: hidden;[/newclass][newclass=.quest:hover]position: relative; left: 0px; top: 0%; margin-top: 3px; float: left;  font: 10px Arial Narrow; height: 500px; width: 200px; background-color: #000; opacity: 1; padding: 2px; border-radius: 7px; color: #fff; overflow: hidden;[/newclass]

[Kumori]

100% 87%

Equipment: Cuirass of Shadows | Windsor Antiqua Dagger * 2 Skills: Quick Draw | Stealth Strike | Assassinate Tags:

: Word Count : 0578 OOC Notes: Quick Slot: Windsor Antiqua Throwing Knives

The phrase that Kyuu said had made Ryuu chuckle. He had just acknowledged that Caerbannog was stronger than Kumori. It was hard to deny, since she was 15 levels above him. She covered up her face and tried to hide her blush that was trying it’s best to reveal itself to any the onlooker, Ryuu. He turned back to the craft to finish sewing the finishing touches and then gave it to her. Her blush was still there, but it was a lot less apparent. He had the inkling temptation to pat her head, like he usually did, but he didn’t make the motion to even start it. While he was still a douchebag, he knew, at times, when not to be. Well sometimes… well.. rarely, at least nowadays. After Kyuu had readied herself, Ryuu did the same. He was back to 100% in both HP and MP. The rest had given them plenty of recovery. While they would head back because they had finished their quest here, it was time to go back home and tell the people of their spoils. He stood, but before he could even leave the cave, the short samurai began walking forward. He was a few meters behind her, increasing their field of vision. The samurai had removed her bow and knocked an arrow, prepared to fight anything from afar. That was when their luck had run out. The immediate spawning of a Golem Phalanx had appeared right in front of him. Before he could warn Kyuu about it, she had already reacted. She dashed out of the area of the shadow, which made it the perfect opportunity for the Assassin. In order to give the samurai more time to switch her weapons after she had shot her arrow at the golem, Ryuu would rush forward and use [Quick Draw] in order to approach it as fast as possible. As he hit the golem, he grabbed a throwing dagger from his quickslot, activating [Shadow Bind]. As soon as the knife hit the shadow of the golem, it would begin to envelope the golem, tangling it. Because the golem was so large, the large shadows of the golem that mirrored its shape began to cover it and disallowed movement. Creating that opportunity for the both of them, and having the flank position against the golem, he had two skills that would help him here. [Stealth Strike] and [Assassinate] were the skills he was thinking of. It was the deadliest combination for an assassin, and so long as they had the advantage and were sure they were not going to miss, the combo was a powerful, dealing several times of damage than the normal attack. His skills had made him invisible and deadly. As he slashed the back of the golem, the Kanji of Death appeared and brown blood splattered as an effect. He had successfully combined his Stealth Strike and Assassinate. He was sure to have dealt a decent amount of damage, and so far both of them had yet to incur any damage. This may be a short fight after all, however Ryuu was not going to be able to use Assassinate for 45 seconds. He would now wait for Kyuu’s response to his attack, hopefully attracting him more with Hate. With the deadly combination of a Samurai and an Assassin, anything was possible for them. They may not be magic users, but their physical prowess would tell enough of their abilities. Code by DinDeen@DeviantArt. Original Art by Tistelmark

[Deleted]

[attr="class","quest"]

Sarum Expedition Combat Mission

As we get closer toward the city of Sarum,
monsters seem to continuously spawn.
Your job is to team up with fellow Adventurers
and take down your fair share of monsters
so that we can expand the camp
ever so closer toward the city borders.

NPC: Some old piece of paper?

List of Objectives:

- Kill Golem Sentinel Lv20: 5/5
- Kill Golem Phalanx: 0/1

Participants:
[DPS] Kumori Lv36
[Tank] @dindeen Lv55

Equipped: Charcoal Ooyoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) and Nótthrafn 
Skill: Rokutenmaou (Cx) | Shunsen (C2) | Tsurugibunshin (C3)

Ryuu wasted no time at all when it came to attacking the elite golem. The samurai could barely follow his movements much less make sense of his attacks, all she knew was that the Phalanx’s hit points continued to drop with each hit. That was all they needed at that point. Fortunately, the assassin could attack as much as he could since the mob’s attention was on his sister for a while due to Samurai’s Challenge. Once he slowed down, it was the wolf-hair’s turn to attack.

Or so she thought. But the Golem Phalanx had other ideas. It wasn’t just going to stand there and take the hits, nope. It was going to crush the puny adventurers with its bare hands. To start that up, the elite mob slammed its fists hard on the ground and started throwing rocks all over the area. As if that was not enough, the mob stomped on the ground many times so Kyuu had to crouch down so that she would not fall over. Soon, she saw any opening on the golem’s attack pattern.

When the Phalanx lifted its fists up so that it could slam down the ground again, Caerbannog ran towards it and intercepted that attack with [Rokutenmaou]. A small amount of splash damage hit the Phalanx when its fists connected with Kyuu’s drawn sword. The golem’s Hate towards Kyuu increased, and she was sure that its attention was on her, the samurai threw her second chain [Shunsen] at it which created a horizontal vacuum wave that damaged and then stalled the elite for a short while.

While the Phalanx was taken aback by that sudden move from the much smaller Samurai, it was still hell-bent on punishing the small fleshy creatures. Caerbannog saw the determination on the golem’s eyes, so at that she activated her third chain [Tsurugibunshin]. Using her own mana which had to be consciously manipulated for the skill to word, Kyuu ran to the Phalanx’s side which was away from Kumori. Instead of running away though, the girl turned around to face the golem. She then dashed to its right side but not enough to make it turn around.

With her right hand on the hilt and the left hand to steady her nagamaki, Kyuu slashed at the Phalanx’s right leg close to its knee. The idea was to make it fall over so that it would be unable to stomp or bash the ground. Due to Tsurugibunshin’s effect, the cut did not just happen ‘once’ but ‘twice’, with the afterimage of her sword following right after the real attack. Kyuu then took her left hand off of the sword, and with just her right hand and the blade turned towards the Phalanx’s knee, she slashed at it again. Due to that last act, the Golem Phalanx’s right knee was cut clean off.

Caerbannog then backed away from the elite as it crumbled down on the ground, not quite dead yet but it was getting there. Only then did she step back to make way for the assassin’s next combos. She did not quite understand how assassins work but obviously their skills also lined up to boost another.

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 530	Tags: Party list

HP	100%
MP	100%
Exp	3/10

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[Kumori]

100% 84%

Equipment: Cuirass of Shadows | Windsor Antiqua Dagger * 2 Skills: Tags:

: Word Count : 0303 OOC Notes: Quick Slot: Windsor Antiqua Throwing Knives

Because most of his damage skills were on cooldown, in order to maximize the rest of his skills, he had to use a round of only attacking, but in order to maximize the usage of his attacks, he activated[Accel Dance] which would speed up his normal attacks. The more he used it, the faster he seemed to be, and with it being Tier 2 now, it was much more dangerous than when it was still Tier 1. His attacks speed went up insanely, allowing him to place in 2 attacks where it would usually be one. While they were normal attacks, every little hitpoint counted, and while this was his cooldown period, awaiting for his Stealth Strike to become available again, he would still do decent damage. He jumped on top of the Phalanx, trying to find the weak spots of it, hitting every little bit of it, but to no avail, his attacks were doing the same damage. Even the weak spots he had found on other golems, they simply were not the same. The phalanx was a different monster. Because the Phalanx rarely showed up, it was hard to figure out where to attack it, unless you were a scholar. He stabbed whatever he could. Any hole that was exposed, any innard he thought was connections to the body, anything. Ryuu would do so, sending a flurry of slashes and stabs at the Golem’s back. The Golem, still focused mostly on the samurai because of the skills the Samurai used. This allowed him to capitalize on her skill usage. With more focus put on his sister, the more likely he would be able to do more damage. He would continue to attack until it was dead or until he had a chance to use Stealth Strike or he was thrown off. Code by DinDeen@DeviantArt. Original Art by Tistelmark

[Deleted]

[attr="class","quest"]

Sarum Expedition Combat Mission

As we get closer toward the city of Sarum,
monsters seem to continuously spawn.
Your job is to team up with fellow Adventurers
and take down your fair share of monsters
so that we can expand the camp
ever so closer toward the city borders.

NPC: Some old piece of paper?

List of Objectives:

- Kill Golem Sentinel Lv20: 5/5
- Kill Golem Phalanx: 0/1

Participants:
[DPS] Kumori Lv36
[Tank] @dindeen Lv55

Equipped: Charcoal Ooyoroi with Pitch-black Yukata | Windsor Antiqua Nagamaki (2H) and Nótthrafn 
Skill: Ikusanehan (C1 & C2) | Bishamonkeshin (C3) | Iaido

While the Golem Phalanx’s HP was whittled away by Ryuu’s attacks, the wolf-hair samurai sheathed her nagamaki when Tsurugibunshin ticked down to zero. She then started up [Ikusanehan] . The first chain created a red aura around her body as her offensive and defensive stats rose, and Kyuu dashed in towards the golem’s right side as its arm supported its body off of the ground. Dependent on the effect of her passive Iaido in addition to Ikusanehan’s buff, she slashed at the narrowest spot at an attempt to cut it off. The result was some extensive damage to the hit points, but the physics of the system did not allow her to cut through completely. Level 5 nagamaki was hardly a match for Level 20 rock and rubble, even with buffs- and as if that wasn't bad enough, Kyuu’s weapon got stuck too.

The Golem Phalanx took that as an opportunity to punch at the girl with its left fist. The attack connected due to the close proximity and all Kyuu could do was put up her arms over her face so that her armguards would at least take the hit instead of her nose. The samurai was knocked back by that attack and it dislodged her weapon, but it also resulted to one falling golem. It tried to put its weight on the right arm which was still braced against the ground, but that limb soon gave away due to the nagamaki cut and the golem’s weight pulled down by gravity.

Once she recovered from that hit, Kyuu chained [Ikusanehan] once again stacking the buff up to two. The red aura became more intense as it reflected the additional offensive and defensive effects of the buff. She dashed behind the fallen golem and thrust her nagamaki into its remaining knee so as to almost completely immobilize the elite mob. Removing limbs was quickly becoming Caerbannog’s thing, a mirror image of the Black Knight’s own plight in that old movie. She backed away when the golem began to scatter using Rock Windmill. Unsure if the Golem Phalanx would be able to put its pieces back together with that move, she chained [Bishamonkeshin] to draw its attention while her own HP was regenerated. The red glow of Ikusanehan grew even bright with Bishamonkeshin’s effect, and it that was not enough to draw the target’s Hate, then nothing in that desolate place could probably save the assassin from incurring its ire once he started up his combos again.

OOC Notes: ---
Word Count: 410	Tags: Party list

HP	100% - recovered with C3
MP	85%
Exp	3/10

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[Kumori]

100% 80%

Equipment: Cuirass of Shadows | Windsor Antiqua Dagger * 2 Skills: Stealth Strike | Deadly Dance Tags:

: Word Count : 0403 OOC Notes: Quick Slot: Windsor Antiqua Throwing Knives

The young samurai was effective at her job. She had taken hits as well as forcing the large golem to collapse onto the ground. She swiftly severed several limbs of the Golem, and to ensure that the golem could not regenerate through whatever means, she had forced the golem to dedicate all of its focus to the samurai. What he realized was that with her means of locking down a singular opponent, it gave the assassin ample time to prepare its attacks. When the golem had toppled, Ryuu had to move quickly, as he was on top of the golem. He would jump forward, attempting to step away from the direction of the toppling golem. He did not want to be caught under it, as even though it wasn’t a real attack, he doubted that getting crushed by a golem wouldn’t do any damage to him. He retreated back, trying to set up his next attack. His [Stealth Strike] had gone off it’s cool down. The only skill that was on cool down was his assassinate skill, which he had used at the beginning of the fight. Kumori knew what he had to do, as he activated the skill that had just gone off cool down. His disappearance did not matter to him, since the golem was unable to move anyways and because its attention was on Kyuu. Ryuu’s eyes glowed with a fire that could only be seen from a man who had set a goal to complete. That goal was to remove this Phalanx from existence. With all his speed, he rushed forward, approaching the downed golem. With all his dexterity, he began to spin. And with all his strength, he used his skill, [Deadly Dance] to complete the job. With the damage bonus of Stealth Strike, the golem crumbled and then exploded into data crystals. Ryuu sheathed his daggers and nodded at Kyuu. “We did good,” he said to Kyuu. He looked towards the Sarum Expedition Camp and then pointed towards it, “let’s go back… I think we’ve done enough today,” The pair began walking back, acting like a normal brother and sister, with flicking each other’s foreheads and pushing each other gently and playfully. They would do this until they got back to the camp, where people could see them. They knew what it was to be professional, and what it was to have a little bit of fun. Code by DinDeen@DeviantArt. Original Art by Tistelmark