[Halloween] Scarecrow & Scaredycat

[Sark]

The plan had been simple; test out some new accessories with a friend. Nothing hard about that. However Sark was regretting that idea now.



It was midnight at the Thames Coastline. The heat had already leeched into the sky, giving the air a crisp edge to it. The susurrus of the ocean could be heard as it gently broke against the rocky beach just a hundred meters away. That wasn't what was putting Sark off though; it was the 2 storey tall fogbank which had rolled off the coast. Clammy fingers of moisture highlighted the cold, while the opaque mist had reduced his depth of view. The generally spooky setting was further highlighted by the numerous monster sounds that echoed around the area. The tailor had heard that special, spooky monsters had even been spawning, but to date he had not seen any of them, so it was likely just another wild goosechase that the lads from the Inn.



For the fifteenth time the samurai checked his bag; yes, the 4 accessories for Dorian were still there, no he could not flee home yet.



Across the next few minutes Sark slowly retreated back, until he bumped into a building. It was the Gravesend Church. The Gravesend was a popular spot to meet because while the building tall, crumbling, and lichen-covered it was the only building around. At some point, something far in the past had destroyed the buildings for several blocks, completely flattening or blasting them away, with the un-harmed epicentre of the Gravesent Church. Sark knew that had this still been a game that mysteries and rumours would have sprouted from gamers in forums, and from NPCs in game about what the event might've been, or why the church was spared. Instead, the area was desolate. It was part of the reason he had suggested that Dorian adjust to his new speed here, where there was little to trip over



Feeling anxious about the dark and the fog Sark did a quick circuit about the building. No monsters, no mysterious text on the walls foretelling doom, nothing at all. He explored inside again, but once again was able to confirm that there was nothing ominous waiting about. With a more content sigh, the dwarf dropped down against the front porch and rested. For now he would sit and wait. With his back protected he could rest a little easier, especially while his greatsword lay unsheathed and ready across his knees.

Samurai: _______ 20 Tailor: __________ 20 Acrobat: _______ 01

Word Count: 411 x1.2 = 493 Oct Art , Halloween

Pokes: @serenityspace

OOC:

Skill Descriptions:

Chain 01: "Lightspeed" Denkosetta, "Steel-Cutting Blade" Zantetsuken Chain 02: "Flashwave" Shunsen, "Vacuum Slash" Izunagiri Chain 03: "Blade Clone" Tsuguri Bunshin, "Divinity Slash" Seinaru Shinken Adventr.: Spear Break, Aura Swing Miscella.: Emergency Suture, Magic Light Party Up: Unyielding Spirit

[Deleted]

"The Thames Coastline... Oh, how I missed it so." Dorian trudged through the area, his overbearing scythe propped across his shoulders with the blade bobbing along beside him, pecking at the ground whenever her took another step forward. He had come out here once before, in search of fragments for the Messier Order, but that had been some time ago now; for the time being, he was here on a very different mission. Well, two missions to be precise. The first was a simple clearance mission; he had spent most of his time out in the Windsor Greatwood and beyond, clearing off the Halloween monsters that had been roaming and plaguing the land with their rumblings. Back when he was level 1, he had found himself greatly and aversely affected by the dark aura that had washed over Londinium, but now; now he was in control. After a brief spat where he almost fused mindsets with Skrowe - of all the cocky and snarky Shikigami to be stuck with - but now his mind was clear. Despite this, he still felt a chil whenever he picked up the familiar semblance of dark that signalled a return of Halloween's minions.

His second mission was a little less dreary, and a little more interesting. His friend Sark, an exceptional tailor and crafter, had managed to procure his efforts into accessories for him that would increase his speed. Combined with the Fleet bonus on his armour, a dashing Scarecrow ensemble fit for the season, he'd be able to crash through the vile spawn of darkness within the Coastal area with intense flurries of attack. Today was going to be a good day. As he noticed the fog bank coming up on his peripherals, his attention was brought to the meeting point that the Samurai had given to him, a religious building known as Gravesend Church. Whatever calamity had befallen the building, it had left destruction around it, the ground levelled to a flat expanse of dust and death. A fitting place, not only to test his new found abilities, as well as to make a stand against the horrors of the night.

"You know, we could have picked a more sunny time to do this," the Shaman spoke as he spotted the dwarf sat on the porch of the church, waiting idly for him. Hitching his scythe down onto the ground behind him, he slowly dragged it along the desolated ground, dust kicking up in his wake as he approached the familiar face. "Good to see you again, sir Sark." Stepping up onto the porch, Dorian eased down his hood with a single hand, the fabric flopping back onto the cream cloth of his mantle, before extending the same hand out towards the dwarf in a form of greeting. "So, you ready to get your Halloween on?"

---

Notes: Assumed level 20, according to provisionally claimed AP.
Words: 472
Tags: Sark
Party Buff: Heavenly Defense

HP: 100%
MP: 100%

SPOILER: Click to show

{Available Skills}

Leaping Apricot Technique: This spell will instantly transport the user to a location a certain distance away, leaving behind apricot flower petals from where the user stood. What seems like a powerful technique actually has some drawbacks, including a maximum range of 6 meters and the ability to travel within eight directions, not to mention the in-game restrictions for using this skill. However, it seems that these restrictions have been lifted following the Catastrophe, allowing more striving Shamans to learn this skill with less constraints. Also, using this skill post-Catastrophe also gives off an apricot scent, giving it an aromatic purpose outside of battle. This skill consumes about 20% of the Shaman's MP, has a casting time of 1.5 seconds, and has a cooldown of 40 seconds. The MP cost decreases by 5% for every 30 levels.

Demon's Eye: This skill when activated will slightly increases accuracy rate of the user's weapons. It also causes the weapon to be immune to hit spirit-type mobs whom normally nullify incoming physical damage. Of course, a successful hit requires an active attack towards a desired foe regardless. There was one time when the developers received e-mails saying that "I've used the Demon's Eye and I still keep on missing on ghost mobs!" among others. For this reason, several balance changes were implemented. When used, this skill adds a blue radiance on one's eyes, a rather scary sight post-Catastrophe. This skill has a casting time of 4 seconds, a duration of 60 seconds, and a cooldown of 70 seconds.

Divine Subjugation: The Shaman's body is infused with the blessings of the spirits, increasing the damage of the user's physical attacks for the next 8 seconds. The Shaman's body glows a bright yellow at this time and all their attacks also contribute to an increased amount of aggro. It is oriented towards Battle Shaman builds that use swords or bows as primary weapons. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds and a cooldown of 20 seconds.

Damage Interception: A barrier skill known as the signature move of the Shaman. Forms either a stationary barrier or a barrier around a target that continues to exist until the "energy" of the barrier expires. Energy will decrease slowly over time and decrease from damage taken. This skill has a casting time of 1.5 seconds and a cooldown of 5 seconds.

Rebound Barrier: Affectionately known as “Pinball Barrier” by veteran adventurers, the Rebound Barrier skill casts a spherical barrier around the target. Upon hostile contact with the barrier, both the target and the hostile are tossed in separate directions. Any damage from the attack still lands. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Soulcutter: A good contender in terms of Shaman DPS, this skill transforms the summoned Shikigami's body into a violent stream of magic energy. The energy is concentrated into a material form, creating a cutting-wave projectile as sharp as a sword. The attack is then shot up to 5 meters forward, after which the familiar spirit travels back to the Shaman. This skill has a casting time of 1 second, followed by an animation time in seconds equal to 0.2 x distance in meters traveled. Its cooldown time is 3 seconds. If Shikigami Astral Seal is active when this skill is used, it is temporarily disabled for this skill's duration.

Exorcism of a Cursed Lotus: A self-cast barrier that boosts the caster’s attack speed against a specific target without boosting movement speed. Upon taking any damage, the barrier shatters and the caster lose all benefits. Since this leaves the caster vulnerable to attack it is often better to combine this with attacks from other party members or with another barrier level underneath so as to keep the target preoccupied. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Shikigami Astral Seal: This skill transforms the physical body of the summoned Shikigami into a ghost-like form, making it intangible to all attacks. Conversely, the Shikigami retains the ability to affect its environment, allowing it to move and control objects like a poltergeist. Many Shamans typically have their Shikigami control objects like weapons in order to make them appear as though they were possessed. Others tend to utilize the summon to grab an enemy's limbs and prevent their movement, but the generally low offensive specs of the Shikigami makes this strategy not quite as effective. The duration of this skill lasts for a full minute, but it will automatically cancel if the Shikigami's duration runs out. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds. There is a 30 second cooldown period after this skill's deactivation before it may be used again.

Pacifying Dance: A skill that allows the dancer to perform beautiful dances to momentarily captivate those who see it. For the next 30 seconds, monsters within 25 meters have their nature changed. Aggressive and Predatory monsters become Wary. Wary, Aloof, and Cowardly monsters become Docile. Docile monsters become Friendly. This effect does not work against monsters that are already engaged in battle when this skill was used.

[Sark]

Skree .... skree .... skree ...

The noise of something scraping against concrete echoed dimly through the fogbank. It was an ominous noise; the sort that a sadistic serial killer would use to announce to his certain prey that their death was coming. Sark backed up against the wall, his eyes with terror.

Skree ... Skreeeeeeeeeeeeee

The noise was drawing closer, and the serial killer was continuously scraping it now. Sark’s mouth was dry, and his hands sweaty. The serial killer knew where he was; that much was obvious. He desperately looked left, then right. A murky image was resolving in the fog bank, something with a wickedly large scythe.

The Grim Reaper! It would certainly be a less 90 boss; and the king of the Halloween event. Sark had complained in the past that for a location as epic as The Gravesend Church it lacked a quest associated with it; well now he had his wish. Sark tried to summon some moisture in his mouth to shout defiances, but nothing would come. The spectre spoke up.

“Good to see you again, Sir Sark.”

With wobbly legs, Sark plomped down to the ground. It had only been his friend, Dorian. Despite his supportive class the man preferred a High Damage build like Sark, and like Sark relied on their classes power ups to compete with the traditional damage classes of Swashbuckler & Assassin. Where Sark had modelled himself after tiny anime children wielding ridiculous weapons, Dorian had modelled himself after a scarecrow. It was part of the reason Sark liked the boy so much, and Dorian was such a pleasant to be with to boot.

They shook hands, with Dorian asking about the seasonal event. Sark admitted he hadn’t had the chance to try it thus far; he had been too scared to try it last year, and this year there had always been something else to keep him busy.

“So I know! How about while you try out these accessories, we also beat up some of the special spawns!” He cheered. “It might be a little hard with the visibility” He admitted, trying to ignore the fear he had felt while alone. “But I think we could take ‘em!”

With that, he reached into his bag, grabbing the woollen socks, arm bracers, upper-arm cuff with the Messier’s cuneiform inscribed on it, and a Mini Jack themed cloak button. These were the accessories that would help boost his friend’s movement speed by a full 20%.

Samurai: _______ 20 Tailor: __________ 20 Acrobat: _______ 01

Word Count: 415 x1.2 = 498 Oct Art , Halloween

Pokes: @serenityspace

OOC:

Skill Descriptions:

Chain 01: "Lightspeed" Denkosetta, "Steel-Cutting Blade" Zantetsuken Chain 02: "Flashwave" Shunsen, "Vacuum Slash" Izunagiri Chain 03: "Blade Clone" Tsuguri Bunshin, "Divinity Slash" Seinaru Shinken Adventr.: Spear Break, Aura Swing Miscella.: Emergency Suture, Magic Light Party Up: Unyielding Spirit

[Deleted]

Dorian cocked his head to one side, a wild smirk playing across his lips as he noticed the strange fear that had set into the dwarf's features. Intriguing; he hadn't realised his ensemble had made him so fitting into the season... Though he may have to change it up once Halloween came to a close, if only to keep from giving friend's like Sark a heart attack every time he approached them. Always nice to know one has an impact, every now and then. The Shikigami had taken the words right out of Dorian's mouth... Or rather, he had taken it from his brain, given the circumstances. He gave a silent nod to Skrowe, obviously looking as if he was just nodding to nobody in particular to the Samurai still quivering in front of him. Luckily, he kept the conversation going, picking up the topic of the accessories before rambling about fighting the monsters that lay waiting in the fog.

"Sounds like a plan! Though we'll have to stick together closely; don't want to lose you in the fog, do I?" He gave a wicked chuckle, his eyes widening up with delight at the sight of the new accessories as Sark brought them out. Hitching up his scythe, he gave a resounding slam to skewer it into the floor of the porch, causing it to stick in and wobble a little before coming to a stop. Leaving his weapon firmly attached and sticking upwards at an angle from the floor, he stepped forward to take the items from the dwarf, kicking off his boots first to slip on the woolen socks, already feeling a surge of speed envelop his form. This was going to be fun! Next were the arm-bracers, fitting snugly atop the cloth armour covering his forearms; it certainly added to the ensemble nicely. Then he slipped the upper-cuff over onto his left bicep, a lovely addition that gave another surge of speed atop his bonuses. Finally, he pinned the Mini Jack onto his mantle, allowing it to hold neatly on his front.

"I already feel super speedy!" He retorted, whizzing back to remove his scythe from the porch and leap off onto the flattened ground in front of the church. "Now the dark creatures of the night won't know what hit them. Whose the top scarecrow in town? I am!" With his short speech of bravado over, he span his scythe around in his arms, giving the speed a test run as he twirled the blade and staff components around one another, making blurred spinning motions around his body. Turning to face Sark, he slid his feet out, swiftly spinning the blade up over his head, only to bring it crashing down with a crack as it pierced the ground, an echoed thud ringing out into the foggy air. "Not bad, huh?"

---

Notes: N/A
Words: 476
Tags: Sark
Party Buff: Heavenly Defense

HP: 100%
MP: 100%

SPOILER: Click to show

{Available Skills}

Leaping Apricot Technique: This spell will instantly transport the user to a location a certain distance away, leaving behind apricot flower petals from where the user stood. What seems like a powerful technique actually has some drawbacks, including a maximum range of 6 meters and the ability to travel within eight directions, not to mention the in-game restrictions for using this skill. However, it seems that these restrictions have been lifted following the Catastrophe, allowing more striving Shamans to learn this skill with less constraints. Also, using this skill post-Catastrophe also gives off an apricot scent, giving it an aromatic purpose outside of battle. This skill consumes about 20% of the Shaman's MP, has a casting time of 1.5 seconds, and has a cooldown of 40 seconds. The MP cost decreases by 5% for every 30 levels.

Demon's Eye: This skill when activated will slightly increases accuracy rate of the user's weapons. It also causes the weapon to be immune to hit spirit-type mobs whom normally nullify incoming physical damage. Of course, a successful hit requires an active attack towards a desired foe regardless. There was one time when the developers received e-mails saying that "I've used the Demon's Eye and I still keep on missing on ghost mobs!" among others. For this reason, several balance changes were implemented. When used, this skill adds a blue radiance on one's eyes, a rather scary sight post-Catastrophe. This skill has a casting time of 4 seconds, a duration of 60 seconds, and a cooldown of 70 seconds.

Divine Subjugation: The Shaman's body is infused with the blessings of the spirits, increasing the damage of the user's physical attacks for the next 8 seconds. The Shaman's body glows a bright yellow at this time and all their attacks also contribute to an increased amount of aggro. It is oriented towards Battle Shaman builds that use swords or bows as primary weapons. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds and a cooldown of 20 seconds.

Damage Interception: A barrier skill known as the signature move of the Shaman. Forms either a stationary barrier or a barrier around a target that continues to exist until the "energy" of the barrier expires. Energy will decrease slowly over time and decrease from damage taken. This skill has a casting time of 1.5 seconds and a cooldown of 5 seconds.

Rebound Barrier: Affectionately known as “Pinball Barrier” by veteran adventurers, the Rebound Barrier skill casts a spherical barrier around the target. Upon hostile contact with the barrier, both the target and the hostile are tossed in separate directions. Any damage from the attack still lands. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Soulcutter: A good contender in terms of Shaman DPS, this skill transforms the summoned Shikigami's body into a violent stream of magic energy. The energy is concentrated into a material form, creating a cutting-wave projectile as sharp as a sword. The attack is then shot up to 5 meters forward, after which the familiar spirit travels back to the Shaman. This skill has a casting time of 1 second, followed by an animation time in seconds equal to 0.2 x distance in meters traveled. Its cooldown time is 3 seconds. If Shikigami Astral Seal is active when this skill is used, it is temporarily disabled for this skill's duration.

Exorcism of a Cursed Lotus: A self-cast barrier that boosts the caster’s attack speed against a specific target without boosting movement speed. Upon taking any damage, the barrier shatters and the caster lose all benefits. Since this leaves the caster vulnerable to attack it is often better to combine this with attacks from other party members or with another barrier level underneath so as to keep the target preoccupied. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Shikigami Astral Seal: This skill transforms the physical body of the summoned Shikigami into a ghost-like form, making it intangible to all attacks. Conversely, the Shikigami retains the ability to affect its environment, allowing it to move and control objects like a poltergeist. Many Shamans typically have their Shikigami control objects like weapons in order to make them appear as though they were possessed. Others tend to utilize the summon to grab an enemy's limbs and prevent their movement, but the generally low offensive specs of the Shikigami makes this strategy not quite as effective. The duration of this skill lasts for a full minute, but it will automatically cancel if the Shikigami's duration runs out. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds. There is a 30 second cooldown period after this skill's deactivation before it may be used again.

Pacifying Dance: A skill that allows the dancer to perform beautiful dances to momentarily captivate those who see it. For the next 30 seconds, monsters within 25 meters have their nature changed. Aggressive and Predatory monsters become Wary. Wary, Aloof, and Cowardly monsters become Docile. Docile monsters become Friendly. This effect does not work against monsters that are already engaged in battle when this skill was used.

[Sark]

The accessories were passed across, and Sark watched with some trepidation as Dorian put each one on. As each piece was worn there was a discernible difference in his speed, with fingers tying faster and faster.He was certain about the measurements he had taken, but something fitting and something feeling comfortable were two different things. Thankfully, the other looked happy enough with them. The clothes fit, and the button did not hang too heavy on his cloak. 

"That's great!" Sark said in relief, a simple smile blooming on his face. 

The shaman dashed with alacrity towards his scythe and zoomed off the porch, landing safely.

"Now the dark creatures of the night won't know what hit them. Whose the top scarecrow in town? I am!"

"Be careful!" Sark advised, "While your body moves faster that doesn't mean your mind does..." The warning came too late, with Dorian whirling his scythe at great speeds around himself. Complex, Chinese maneuvers were performed and completed, until finally the shaman finished with a flourish, safe and sound. The display of martial prowess had inspired Sark, and energy bubbled up within him.

"Well nevermind then!" Sark cheered, glad for his friend. With someone this adept at adjustments, they would be fine on the battlefield. Whether they fought 1 minijack or a hundred, they would be safe. The samurai leapt from the porch as well, landing easily on the balls of his feet. 

"Come on then! The boggarts wont banish themselves!" Springing from the balls of his feet he began to jog slowly into the fog. A party request was sent towards Dorian, moreso for its navigational aide than for its automatic AP & item distribution. Being a party meant that if Sark focused he could pull up the direction that Dorian was in, and the distance to reach him. It was not as convenient as a mini-map, but worked just the same. 

Within seconds The Gravesend was obscured behind the fog, with Sark and Dorian entering a world of muted noises and half-seen foggy gusts. A thicker, slower layer of fog curled about their ankles, hiding the ground from view. Sark kept up a constant whisper, suggesting ideas for the pair.

"I'm thinking we try to split the focus of what we fight. We're both damage types, yeah? If I remember right, you even have a few tricks up your sleeve like that smelly move. Though I saw you ages back; what sort of stuff do you do these days?"

Samurai: _______ 20 Tailor: __________ 20 Acrobat: _______ 01

Word Count: 415 x1.2 = 498 Oct Art , Halloween

Pokes: @serenityspace

OOC: 415 twice in a row @_@

Skill Descriptions:

Chain 01: "Lightspeed" Denkosetta, "Steel-Cutting Blade" Zantetsuken Chain 02: "Flashwave" Shunsen, "Vacuum Slash" Izunagiri Chain 03: "Blade Clone" Tsuguri Bunshin, "Divinity Slash" Seinaru Shinken Adventr.: Spear Break, Aura Swing Miscella.: Emergency Suture, Magic Light Party Up: Unyielding Spirit

[Deleted]

The Shaman watched and waited for the dwarf to spring into action, his performance in front of the church evidently spurring on his Samurai friend; it had gained the desired effect, take away the fear and replace it with something much more effective. Fear was good, but not in large quantities. It was better to be overly confident than overly afraid. As Sark descended from the porch with ease, Dorian quickly enraptured both of his hands onto the staved portion of his scythe, giving a solid yank to swing it up out of the ground, the resulting momentum sending it over his shoulder and bringing it down with a thud on the opposite side of him, the blade stretched across the ground as it was before when he arrived.

His feet began moving on his own as he followed the dwarf's lead, heading out into the fog, his scythe scraping along behind him. He quickly corrected himself, hitching the length of the stretched out handle over his shoulders, the point of the scythe tapping the ground with each step he took. "Boggarts? Really? We're in the Thames Coastline, not the Forbidden Forest." The Shaman and the Shikigami both chuckled at that; evidently Skrowe's humour was rubbing off on Dorian. Eventually, Sark sent the party invite, Dorian watching as it popped up onto his screen with a blipped noise. With his newly found speed, he had it accepted in no time at all, the small party list popping up afterwards with their names in it, Sark at the top, himself at the bottom. With their high levels, they would have no problems handling the rough stuff.

As the view of the church disappeared beyond the layer of fog behind them, his scythe began to kick up bouts of dust in their wake, the fog shifting and swirling as they moved through it, as if alive and trying to get out of the way of the giants crashing through unannounced. Dorian wondered what life would be like as fog, though he quickly surmised that it would be rather dull. He didn't have to dwell on the matter further, however, as his attention was brought back to reality by the voice of Sark, slightly distant thanks to the fog's noise muffling effect. "Split, DPS, focus; sounds good to me. We are indeed both damage types, but I've come a long way since the Train dungeon. Those kobolds saw me at my weakest, but now? They'd never get through a Shaman barrier like mine!" He chuckled softly, giving the staff of his Scythe a gentle stroke. "Plus, I have this thing as well, but I think I might trade it in for something more suitable after Halloween has passed; off-support requires a bit more versatility when it comes to fighting."

---

Notes: N/A
Words: 466
Tags: Sark
Party Buff: Heavenly Defense

HP: 100%
MP: 100%

SPOILER: Click to show

{Available Skills}

Leaping Apricot Technique: This spell will instantly transport the user to a location a certain distance away, leaving behind apricot flower petals from where the user stood. What seems like a powerful technique actually has some drawbacks, including a maximum range of 6 meters and the ability to travel within eight directions, not to mention the in-game restrictions for using this skill. However, it seems that these restrictions have been lifted following the Catastrophe, allowing more striving Shamans to learn this skill with less constraints. Also, using this skill post-Catastrophe also gives off an apricot scent, giving it an aromatic purpose outside of battle. This skill consumes about 20% of the Shaman's MP, has a casting time of 1.5 seconds, and has a cooldown of 40 seconds. The MP cost decreases by 5% for every 30 levels.

Demon's Eye: This skill when activated will slightly increases accuracy rate of the user's weapons. It also causes the weapon to be immune to hit spirit-type mobs whom normally nullify incoming physical damage. Of course, a successful hit requires an active attack towards a desired foe regardless. There was one time when the developers received e-mails saying that "I've used the Demon's Eye and I still keep on missing on ghost mobs!" among others. For this reason, several balance changes were implemented. When used, this skill adds a blue radiance on one's eyes, a rather scary sight post-Catastrophe. This skill has a casting time of 4 seconds, a duration of 60 seconds, and a cooldown of 70 seconds.

Divine Subjugation: The Shaman's body is infused with the blessings of the spirits, increasing the damage of the user's physical attacks for the next 8 seconds. The Shaman's body glows a bright yellow at this time and all their attacks also contribute to an increased amount of aggro. It is oriented towards Battle Shaman builds that use swords or bows as primary weapons. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds and a cooldown of 20 seconds.

Damage Interception: A barrier skill known as the signature move of the Shaman. Forms either a stationary barrier or a barrier around a target that continues to exist until the "energy" of the barrier expires. Energy will decrease slowly over time and decrease from damage taken. This skill has a casting time of 1.5 seconds and a cooldown of 5 seconds.

Rebound Barrier: Affectionately known as “Pinball Barrier” by veteran adventurers, the Rebound Barrier skill casts a spherical barrier around the target. Upon hostile contact with the barrier, both the target and the hostile are tossed in separate directions. Any damage from the attack still lands. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Soulcutter: A good contender in terms of Shaman DPS, this skill transforms the summoned Shikigami's body into a violent stream of magic energy. The energy is concentrated into a material form, creating a cutting-wave projectile as sharp as a sword. The attack is then shot up to 5 meters forward, after which the familiar spirit travels back to the Shaman. This skill has a casting time of 1 second, followed by an animation time in seconds equal to 0.2 x distance in meters traveled. Its cooldown time is 3 seconds. If Shikigami Astral Seal is active when this skill is used, it is temporarily disabled for this skill's duration.

Exorcism of a Cursed Lotus: A self-cast barrier that boosts the caster’s attack speed against a specific target without boosting movement speed. Upon taking any damage, the barrier shatters and the caster lose all benefits. Since this leaves the caster vulnerable to attack it is often better to combine this with attacks from other party members or with another barrier level underneath so as to keep the target preoccupied. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Shikigami Astral Seal: This skill transforms the physical body of the summoned Shikigami into a ghost-like form, making it intangible to all attacks. Conversely, the Shikigami retains the ability to affect its environment, allowing it to move and control objects like a poltergeist. Many Shamans typically have their Shikigami control objects like weapons in order to make them appear as though they were possessed. Others tend to utilize the summon to grab an enemy's limbs and prevent their movement, but the generally low offensive specs of the Shikigami makes this strategy not quite as effective. The duration of this skill lasts for a full minute, but it will automatically cancel if the Shikigami's duration runs out. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds. There is a 30 second cooldown period after this skill's deactivation before it may be used again.

Pacifying Dance: A skill that allows the dancer to perform beautiful dances to momentarily captivate those who see it. For the next 30 seconds, monsters within 25 meters have their nature changed. Aggressive and Predatory monsters become Wary. Wary, Aloof, and Cowardly monsters become Docile. Docile monsters become Friendly. This effect does not work against monsters that are already engaged in battle when this skill was used.

[Sark]

Sark kept an ear out while Dorian spoke. The shaman confirmed he was a damage-focused build like Sark, and much like Sark had been progressing quickly after their long decay at level 1. It was a heart warming story, and further improved his moods. If the pair of them could overcome their fears and accept the thrill that was the world outside Londinium, then they could do anything! 

As Dorian was speaking about his scythe Sark noticed a strange plume of mist. It was lasted only a moment, but the speed of the puff stuck out like an ink stain on a white shirt. 

"but I think I might trade it in for something more suitable"

A small faggot of twigs arced out of the murk and flew several feet over Sark's shoulder. The samurai adjusted his body silently, raising his sword in the direction where the bundle had been thrown from. A small pulse of adrenaline rose in him.

"after Halloween has passed; off-support requires"

As the first bundle clattered loudly against the ground some distance away, another bundle puffed from the fog. This one was aimed directly at Sark's chest, who battered the slowly tossed object away with a twist of his hips and a dip of the sword. Just as he completed this a 6 foot tall shape burst from the darkness, it's arms wide.

"a bit more versatility when it comes to fighting."

The shape closed the distance in a single bound, its bulky arms coming in to bearhug Sark. The tiny dwarf ducked low, sending his sword out in front and around him in a breakdancing flare like motion. The sword bit into wood, stopping its motion suddenly and sending Sark off balance. He lost his grip on the handle and sprawled across the ground. 

It wasn't fear that then rose within him, but irritation. The samurai twisted about himself, getting back onto his feet in a crouch and clapped once, loudly. He used it to focus himself; now was no time to be making novice mistakes like overextending. That was when he noticed it; after the initial lunge the monster hadn't moved from its spot, and his sword still seemed to be stuck on the monster. In the past that had only happened when he had fought a treant, who had been several times the size of the human-shaped monstrosity. Just what was going on?

"Bud, we got something here!"

Samurai: _______ 20 Tailor: __________ 20 Acrobat: _______ 01

Word Count: 406 x1.2 = 487 Oct Art , Halloween

Pokes: @serenityspace

OOC: Post 4

Skill Descriptions:

Chain 01: "Lightspeed" Denkosetta, "Steel-Cutting Blade" Zantetsuken Chain 02: "Flashwave" Shunsen, "Vacuum Slash" Izunagiri Chain 03: "Blade Clone" Tsuguri Bunshin, "Divinity Slash" Seinaru Shinken Adventr.: Spear Break, Aura Swing Miscella.: Emergency Suture, Magic Light Party Up: Unyielding Spirit

Crop Guardian (feel free to have more spawn)
Level 24
Type: Spirit
Rank: Normal
Nature: Predatory
Found in: All areas
Weakness/Resistances: Weak [Fire], Resist [Earth]
Skills:
- Immobility: Passive. Cannot move from its spawn point, be knocked into the air, knocked down, knocked back, or bound by movement-restricting skills.
- Bounce: Causes the monster to hop forward to move. Anyone in the way of the bounce is knocked back. This skill cancels the movement penalty of Immobility when used.
- Crow Specter: Summons a spirit crow to assist the monster in combat. Spirit Crows are considered 10 levels lower than the Crop Guardian and are immune to physical attacks.
- Harvest Moon: Uses the moon's power to fire down a strong ray of light onto the target.
- Psychic Hand: Uses telekinetic energy to deliver a ranged physical attack on a target up to 10 meters away.
Description: A scarecrow possessed by mischievous spirits that spends a lot of its time uprooting crops before they are due for harvest and then juggling them in the air using its kinetic powers.

[Deleted]

It was only until after Dorian had finished his train of thought that he had noticed Sark acting strangely, the sound of wood creaking and twigs breaking eventually reaching his ears, twirling around to see what the commotion was about, he saw as Sark managed to escape the grasp of 
a rather tall and ominous figure. Straining and squinting his eyes, Dorian concentrated on the shape, trying to discern it's identity from the smog around them. "It can't be," he murmured, his tone full of doubt and incredulity as he realised what he and the dwarf had stumbled into, the rickety form of the Crop Guardian waving slightly in the faint breeze of the fog bank. And after you had just talked about being the top scarecrow! The Shaman nodded his head, understanding the Shikigami's amazement at the scenario. "Looks like he heard me; and he's not happy about it." With a malicious grin, Dorian used the spare time that Sark had bought with his distracted break-danced attack to summon Skrowe into the air above him.

"I see him, sir Sark. Time to rumble!" With that he pointed his hand forward towards the beast, stepping to the side slightly to get a better shot as he commanded Skrowe to attack. "Soulcutter!" One second was all it took, and with a sudden burst of energy, the chibi scarecrow's form became a prismatic ball, before slicing forward through the air, using the blade of the sword stuck within the Guardian's gut to guide his attack as he zapped through like a bolt of lightning, coming out the other end and zooming back over to Dorian in his previous form. "That should keep him guessing; your turn!" Dorian swung his scythe up, gripping it in his two hands and making a gentle uppercut lunge with the staff end to knock against the Samurai's embedded blade; with both the energy that had coursed through the Crop Guardian and the sudden tap of his weapon, he managed to remove the blade from the monster's body, letting it tumble over to the dwarf's feet for him to utilise. "Have at him!"

Alas, with the amount of damage he had done with Skrowe, Dorian had managed to catch the Guardian's attention, watching as it's eyes focused on him. Waving one of it's arms in a dismissive flail at the Shaman, it's rickety, wooden body beginning to glow with a strange lunar light as it cast down a beam of energy, directed from the moon itself to glance forward and blast him with a strong attack. Hit hard by the monstrous scarecrow, Dorian doubled back a few steps, his health dropping a sizeable amount considering the creature's level. "Better late than never, sir Sark!" His voice called out through the fog, a valiant attempt to call the Samurai to action.

---

Notes: N/A
Words: 472
Tags: Sark
Party Buff: Heavenly Defense

HP: 85%
MP: 85%

SPOILER: Click to show

{Available Skills}

Leaping Apricot Technique: This spell will instantly transport the user to a location a certain distance away, leaving behind apricot flower petals from where the user stood. What seems like a powerful technique actually has some drawbacks, including a maximum range of 6 meters and the ability to travel within eight directions, not to mention the in-game restrictions for using this skill. However, it seems that these restrictions have been lifted following the Catastrophe, allowing more striving Shamans to learn this skill with less constraints. Also, using this skill post-Catastrophe also gives off an apricot scent, giving it an aromatic purpose outside of battle. This skill consumes about 20% of the Shaman's MP, has a casting time of 1.5 seconds, and has a cooldown of 40 seconds. The MP cost decreases by 5% for every 30 levels.

Demon's Eye: This skill when activated will slightly increases accuracy rate of the user's weapons. It also causes the weapon to be immune to hit spirit-type mobs whom normally nullify incoming physical damage. Of course, a successful hit requires an active attack towards a desired foe regardless. There was one time when the developers received e-mails saying that "I've used the Demon's Eye and I still keep on missing on ghost mobs!" among others. For this reason, several balance changes were implemented. When used, this skill adds a blue radiance on one's eyes, a rather scary sight post-Catastrophe. This skill has a casting time of 4 seconds, a duration of 60 seconds, and a cooldown of 70 seconds.

Divine Subjugation: The Shaman's body is infused with the blessings of the spirits, increasing the damage of the user's physical attacks for the next 8 seconds. The Shaman's body glows a bright yellow at this time and all their attacks also contribute to an increased amount of aggro. It is oriented towards Battle Shaman builds that use swords or bows as primary weapons. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds and a cooldown of 20 seconds.

Damage Interception: A barrier skill known as the signature move of the Shaman. Forms either a stationary barrier or a barrier around a target that continues to exist until the "energy" of the barrier expires. Energy will decrease slowly over time and decrease from damage taken. This skill has a casting time of 1.5 seconds and a cooldown of 5 seconds.

Rebound Barrier: Affectionately known as “Pinball Barrier” by veteran adventurers, the Rebound Barrier skill casts a spherical barrier around the target. Upon hostile contact with the barrier, both the target and the hostile are tossed in separate directions. Any damage from the attack still lands. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Soulcutter: A good contender in terms of Shaman DPS, this skill transforms the summoned Shikigami's body into a violent stream of magic energy. The energy is concentrated into a material form, creating a cutting-wave projectile as sharp as a sword. The attack is then shot up to 5 meters forward, after which the familiar spirit travels back to the Shaman. This skill has a casting time of 1 second, followed by an animation time in seconds equal to 0.2 x distance in meters traveled. Its cooldown time is 3 seconds. If Shikigami Astral Seal is active when this skill is used, it is temporarily disabled for this skill's duration.

Exorcism of a Cursed Lotus: A self-cast barrier that boosts the caster’s attack speed against a specific target without boosting movement speed. Upon taking any damage, the barrier shatters and the caster lose all benefits. Since this leaves the caster vulnerable to attack it is often better to combine this with attacks from other party members or with another barrier level underneath so as to keep the target preoccupied. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Shikigami Astral Seal: This skill transforms the physical body of the summoned Shikigami into a ghost-like form, making it intangible to all attacks. Conversely, the Shikigami retains the ability to affect its environment, allowing it to move and control objects like a poltergeist. Many Shamans typically have their Shikigami control objects like weapons in order to make them appear as though they were possessed. Others tend to utilize the summon to grab an enemy's limbs and prevent their movement, but the generally low offensive specs of the Shikigami makes this strategy not quite as effective. The duration of this skill lasts for a full minute, but it will automatically cancel if the Shikigami's duration runs out. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds. There is a 30 second cooldown period after this skill's deactivation before it may be used again.

Pacifying Dance: A skill that allows the dancer to perform beautiful dances to momentarily captivate those who see it. For the next 30 seconds, monsters within 25 meters have their nature changed. Aggressive and Predatory monsters become Wary. Wary, Aloof, and Cowardly monsters become Docile. Docile monsters become Friendly. This effect does not work against monsters that are already engaged in battle when this skill was used.

[Sark]

Dorian, true to his promise rose to action. His spiritual companion shifted into a glowing blade and burst through the Halloween apparition, with Dorian quickly following it up with his own attack. Sark's sword-shaped axe clattered to the ground, and the samurai quick reequipped himself.

The scarecrow grew more visible as it began to glow, making the surrounding fog shine with reflected brightness. Not knowing what would happen Sark readied his blade, the tip pointing towards the sky as the handle rested against his chest in a pose similar to a baseball Dave Target Practice Lord batter. Should some sort of magical attack from the scarecrow, he would be ready. The attack never came at Sark, instead the scarecrow twistied its immobile body towards Dorian and let loose a bear blast towards the boy. Sark took a moment to appraise the situation; despite the hit Dorian still seemed healthy, and there was only determination in his eyes, not fear.

His turn then. True to form, he started the battle like the way he started all of them. He cried the skill name, and arcs of mana rose from the ground. A golden nimbus of electricity coated him, improving his movespeed and giving him a thin barrier of protection. He raced forward, fog billowing off his miniature form as he closed the distance with the animated haybale. It twisted towards him, arms crossing, before it opened them again. Like a magician releasing a dove, dozens of ghostly crows appeared from nowhere. The murder moved as a single entity, flapping past Sark and trying to distract him, before wheeling around to dive on the shaman. Sark wove between the birds, taking only minimal damage during his navigations. When he was free of them he lifted his sword high overhead. 

"Ace Move: Vacuum Slash!"

A miniature tornado formed about his blade, the fog racing in to meet the [wind] element that coated the blade. He slashed down, lightly slicing the scarecrow's bulky plaid shirt with the blade while the tornado slammed through the rest of the creature, throwing its hat high into the sky and much of its hay across the area. Using the momentum of the slash Sark allowed his body to tumble forward, performing a neat roll which finished with him directly between the scarecrow and Dorian.

"I'll keep you safe; finish it!"

Samurai: _______ 20 Tailor: __________ 20 Acrobat: _______ 01

Word Count: 391x1.2 = 469 Oct Art , Halloween

Pokes: @serenityspace

OOC: Post 5

Skill Descriptions:

Chain 01: "Lightspeed" Denkosetta, "Steel-Cutting Blade" Zantetsuken Chain 02: "Flashwave" Shunsen, "Vacuum Slash" Izunagiri Chain 03: "Blade Clone" Tsuguri Bunshin, "Divinity Slash" Seinaru Shinken Adventr.: Spear Break, Aura Swing Miscella.: Emergency Suture, Magic Light Party Up: Unyielding Spirit

Crop Guardian (feel free to have more spawn)
Level 24
Type: Spirit
Rank: Normal
Nature: Predatory
Found in: All areas
Weakness/Resistances: Weak [Fire], Resist [Earth]
Skills:
- Immobility: Passive. Cannot move from its spawn point, be knocked into the air, knocked down, knocked back, or bound by movement-restricting skills.
- Bounce: Causes the monster to hop forward to move. Anyone in the way of the bounce is knocked back. This skill cancels the movement penalty of Immobility when used.
- Crow Specter: Summons a spirit crow to assist the monster in combat. Spirit Crows are considered 10 levels lower than the Crop Guardian and are immune to physical attacks.
- Harvest Moon: Uses the moon's power to fire down a strong ray of light onto the target.
- Psychic Hand: Uses telekinetic energy to deliver a ranged physical attack on a target up to 10 meters away.
Description: A scarecrow possessed by mischievous spirits that spends a lot of its time uprooting crops before they are due for harvest and then juggling them in the air using its kinetic powers.

[Deleted]

The Shaman dug his feet into the ground, keeping himself situated with his scythe in hand as he watched the dwarf take charge; using the brief few moments earned by the Samurai's attacks, he collected a bit of his health back, taking a short breather before he was thrown back into the fight. "Let's not jump into things like that again." Skrowe's worried tone was all Dorian needed to hear, his head nodding on it's own to agree with the Shikigami's words of advice. But alas, they would not be able to remain stationary for long, as he noted the sudden appearance of crows summoning from the Crop Guardian's form. "I need to get me some of those," the Shaman mumbled, picking up on the fact that the murder was headed in his direction. Acting quickly, he spun his scythe to hold it out horizontally in front of his body, creating a blockade as he activated his skill. "Damage Interception!" With the sudden outcry, he felt a wave of energy flow out from his chest, culminating into a visibly glowing barrier that stood motionless between himself and the crows.

Unable to react fast enough, the spectral crows continued their assault, their wispy forms colliding upon the barrier, one after the other. Eventually, the last crow made a daring dart into the prismatic wall, destroying it with it's last bit of damage. "Easy peasy," Dorian cooed mockingly towards the Crop Guardian. By now, Sark had managed to deal some damage, manoeuvring himself to stand between the two scarecrows, calling out he was ready to protect. Dorian gave a single bow of his head, acknowledging the Samurai's words before leap frogging off of the dwarf's shoulders, lunging at the Crop Guardian with an almighty roar.

Swinging his scythe back, he spun his body around, using the momentum to slash the large blade of his weapon through the rickety wooden form of the monster, his feet gracefully landing him on the opposite side of the creature. As he turned to assess the damage, he watched as the Crop Guardian released a deafening howl of pain before bursting into the bubbles of data so familiar to the two Adventurers now; dissipating into the fog, the monster was no more. "Score one for us," Dorian rejoiced, walking through the remnants of the monster to meet back up with the Samurai. "Well, one down; shall we see if their are any more nasties lurking in the fog?" Of course, Dorian didn't need to pose the question; hitching his scythe back up over his shoulders, he eagerly set off past the dwarf, taking it slow at first to wait for him to catch up as they delved deeper into the fog.

---

Notes: N/A
Words: 454
Tags: Sark
Party Buff: Heavenly Defense

HP: 90%
MP: 80%

SPOILER: Click to show

{Available Skills}

Leaping Apricot Technique: This spell will instantly transport the user to a location a certain distance away, leaving behind apricot flower petals from where the user stood. What seems like a powerful technique actually has some drawbacks, including a maximum range of 6 meters and the ability to travel within eight directions, not to mention the in-game restrictions for using this skill. However, it seems that these restrictions have been lifted following the Catastrophe, allowing more striving Shamans to learn this skill with less constraints. Also, using this skill post-Catastrophe also gives off an apricot scent, giving it an aromatic purpose outside of battle. This skill consumes about 20% of the Shaman's MP, has a casting time of 1.5 seconds, and has a cooldown of 40 seconds. The MP cost decreases by 5% for every 30 levels.

Demon's Eye: This skill when activated will slightly increases accuracy rate of the user's weapons. It also causes the weapon to be immune to hit spirit-type mobs whom normally nullify incoming physical damage. Of course, a successful hit requires an active attack towards a desired foe regardless. There was one time when the developers received e-mails saying that "I've used the Demon's Eye and I still keep on missing on ghost mobs!" among others. For this reason, several balance changes were implemented. When used, this skill adds a blue radiance on one's eyes, a rather scary sight post-Catastrophe. This skill has a casting time of 4 seconds, a duration of 60 seconds, and a cooldown of 70 seconds.

Divine Subjugation: The Shaman's body is infused with the blessings of the spirits, increasing the damage of the user's physical attacks for the next 8 seconds. The Shaman's body glows a bright yellow at this time and all their attacks also contribute to an increased amount of aggro. It is oriented towards Battle Shaman builds that use swords or bows as primary weapons. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds and a cooldown of 20 seconds.

Damage Interception: A barrier skill known as the signature move of the Shaman. Forms either a stationary barrier or a barrier around a target that continues to exist until the "energy" of the barrier expires. Energy will decrease slowly over time and decrease from damage taken. This skill has a casting time of 1.5 seconds and a cooldown of 5 seconds.

Rebound Barrier: Affectionately known as “Pinball Barrier” by veteran adventurers, the Rebound Barrier skill casts a spherical barrier around the target. Upon hostile contact with the barrier, both the target and the hostile are tossed in separate directions. Any damage from the attack still lands. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Soulcutter: A good contender in terms of Shaman DPS, this skill transforms the summoned Shikigami's body into a violent stream of magic energy. The energy is concentrated into a material form, creating a cutting-wave projectile as sharp as a sword. The attack is then shot up to 5 meters forward, after which the familiar spirit travels back to the Shaman. This skill has a casting time of 1 second, followed by an animation time in seconds equal to 0.2 x distance in meters traveled. Its cooldown time is 3 seconds. If Shikigami Astral Seal is active when this skill is used, it is temporarily disabled for this skill's duration.

Exorcism of a Cursed Lotus: A self-cast barrier that boosts the caster’s attack speed against a specific target without boosting movement speed. Upon taking any damage, the barrier shatters and the caster lose all benefits. Since this leaves the caster vulnerable to attack it is often better to combine this with attacks from other party members or with another barrier level underneath so as to keep the target preoccupied. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Shikigami Astral Seal: This skill transforms the physical body of the summoned Shikigami into a ghost-like form, making it intangible to all attacks. Conversely, the Shikigami retains the ability to affect its environment, allowing it to move and control objects like a poltergeist. Many Shamans typically have their Shikigami control objects like weapons in order to make them appear as though they were possessed. Others tend to utilize the summon to grab an enemy's limbs and prevent their movement, but the generally low offensive specs of the Shikigami makes this strategy not quite as effective. The duration of this skill lasts for a full minute, but it will automatically cancel if the Shikigami's duration runs out. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds. There is a 30 second cooldown period after this skill's deactivation before it may be used again.

Pacifying Dance: A skill that allows the dancer to perform beautiful dances to momentarily captivate those who see it. For the next 30 seconds, monsters within 25 meters have their nature changed. Aggressive and Predatory monsters become Wary. Wary, Aloof, and Cowardly monsters become Docile. Docile monsters become Friendly. This effect does not work against monsters that are already engaged in battle when this skill was used.

[Sark]

The Crop Guardian was promptly finished off with the display of martial skill from Dorian. Sark nodded, his friend had certainly improved a lot since they had last met. Somewhere across the last few weeks he had found his drive, making the important shift from surviving in this new world to living in the new world. It glowed in Dorian's eyes, but seeing his confidence in battle only confirmed it.

"That was awesome Dorian! Good work!" Sark cheered, thumping his friend on the back.

Dorian then suggested they continue their search. He wanted to test out his accessories more, and seemed to also have a particular passion about fighting these Halloween modeled monsters. Sark, he was just in it for the fun. His fear had abated and his usual good cheer was there. He jogged to catch up with Dorian, then kept to in pace with him. They were close enough to see each other through the murky fog, but had enough distance to both swing their weapons without touching the other.

As they walked the susurrus of the ocean increased. The fog grew thicker too, but no monsters had yet appeared. The muted clop of their feet changed from one step to the next, with the pair now walking on the broken pebbles that made up the coastline. The pebbles were slick with the sweat of the fog, making their pace slower than before. The swell and crash of each wave could be heard, and with a gust of wind the fog temporarily cleared.

There, by the coastline, was a line of three more Crop Guardians. Their bodies were hunched together as if discussing something, and for a moment Sark also thought he saw someone in a suit amongst them. The fog rolled back in, hiding them from view. The samurai turned to his partner, the question clear in his eyes.

Samurai:_______ 20 Tailor:__________ 20 Acrobat:_______ 01

Word Count: 312x1.2 = 374 Oct Art , Halloween

Pokes: @serenityspace

OOC: Post 6 My posts are shortening every time xD;;

Skill Descriptions:

Chain 01: "Lightspeed" Denkosetta, "Steel-Cutting Blade" Zantetsuken Chain 02: "Flashwave" Shunsen, "Vacuum Slash" Izunagiri Chain 03: "Blade Clone" Tsuguri Bunshin, "Divinity Slash" Seinaru Shinken Adventr.: Spear Break, Aura Swing Miscella.: Emergency Suture, Magic Light Party Up: Unyielding Spirit

[Deleted]

The Shaman simply beamed a grin of joy at the dwarf as he praised the handiwork of his combat, replying with a bow of his head. "You did well too, sir Sark; but thank you kindly." It wasn't long before the two of them were off again, walking side by side through the fog, keeping close together to avoid losing one another. The further they travelled into the bank, the thicker the smog seemed to become, collecting in a mass of vision impairment and terror. Yeesh, it's thicker than... whatever soup is really thick... Dorian blinked at the Shikigami's loss of words; it seems even he was fearful of venturing in further. But Dorian had a mission, and that mission was too important to simply shirk away when a side of fog rolled in. Eventually the duo spotted a line of tall, mangly forms, similar in appearance to the Crop Guardian they had stumbled upon earlier. "Well, this should be fun..." Turning to look at Sark, he gave the Samurai a nod in return, exuding confidence so as to keep his spirits up.

Peering back over, Dorian readied his scythe, dragging it behind him slowly as they approached the gathering; his eyes focused sternly through the shadowed fog, picking up another member of the group, someone in a suit... Interesting, but nothing to turn away for. He crouched down slightly, taking careful steps as he lured himself forward, making an idle gesture with one of his hands for Sark to move ahead and get their attention. He was the tank, after all, and this time the Shaman didn't want to get too beaten up. Grasping the staff of his scythe with both hands, his digits wrapping and locking down upon it, he watched and waited for the dwarf to make his move, gesturing at him to put a Damage Interception barrier over his form just as he came close, so as to give him a little protection before charging in. "This could get dangerous, so I'll need to keep up barriers if we're going to survive these baddies."

---

Notes: It would appear I am in the same boat. xD
Words: 349
Tags: Sark
Party Buff: Heavenly Defense

HP: 90%
MP: 75%

SPOILER: Click to show

{Available Skills}

Leaping Apricot Technique: This spell will instantly transport the user to a location a certain distance away, leaving behind apricot flower petals from where the user stood. What seems like a powerful technique actually has some drawbacks, including a maximum range of 6 meters and the ability to travel within eight directions, not to mention the in-game restrictions for using this skill. However, it seems that these restrictions have been lifted following the Catastrophe, allowing more striving Shamans to learn this skill with less constraints. Also, using this skill post-Catastrophe also gives off an apricot scent, giving it an aromatic purpose outside of battle. This skill consumes about 20% of the Shaman's MP, has a casting time of 1.5 seconds, and has a cooldown of 40 seconds. The MP cost decreases by 5% for every 30 levels.

Demon's Eye: This skill when activated will slightly increases accuracy rate of the user's weapons. It also causes the weapon to be immune to hit spirit-type mobs whom normally nullify incoming physical damage. Of course, a successful hit requires an active attack towards a desired foe regardless. There was one time when the developers received e-mails saying that "I've used the Demon's Eye and I still keep on missing on ghost mobs!" among others. For this reason, several balance changes were implemented. When used, this skill adds a blue radiance on one's eyes, a rather scary sight post-Catastrophe. This skill has a casting time of 4 seconds, a duration of 60 seconds, and a cooldown of 70 seconds.

Divine Subjugation: The Shaman's body is infused with the blessings of the spirits, increasing the damage of the user's physical attacks for the next 8 seconds. The Shaman's body glows a bright yellow at this time and all their attacks also contribute to an increased amount of aggro. It is oriented towards Battle Shaman builds that use swords or bows as primary weapons. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds and a cooldown of 20 seconds.

Damage Interception: A barrier skill known as the signature move of the Shaman. Forms either a stationary barrier or a barrier around a target that continues to exist until the "energy" of the barrier expires. Energy will decrease slowly over time and decrease from damage taken. This skill has a casting time of 1.5 seconds and a cooldown of 5 seconds.

Rebound Barrier: Affectionately known as “Pinball Barrier” by veteran adventurers, the Rebound Barrier skill casts a spherical barrier around the target. Upon hostile contact with the barrier, both the target and the hostile are tossed in separate directions. Any damage from the attack still lands. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Soulcutter: A good contender in terms of Shaman DPS, this skill transforms the summoned Shikigami's body into a violent stream of magic energy. The energy is concentrated into a material form, creating a cutting-wave projectile as sharp as a sword. The attack is then shot up to 5 meters forward, after which the familiar spirit travels back to the Shaman. This skill has a casting time of 1 second, followed by an animation time in seconds equal to 0.2 x distance in meters traveled. Its cooldown time is 3 seconds. If Shikigami Astral Seal is active when this skill is used, it is temporarily disabled for this skill's duration.

Exorcism of a Cursed Lotus: A self-cast barrier that boosts the caster’s attack speed against a specific target without boosting movement speed. Upon taking any damage, the barrier shatters and the caster lose all benefits. Since this leaves the caster vulnerable to attack it is often better to combine this with attacks from other party members or with another barrier level underneath so as to keep the target preoccupied. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Shikigami Astral Seal: This skill transforms the physical body of the summoned Shikigami into a ghost-like form, making it intangible to all attacks. Conversely, the Shikigami retains the ability to affect its environment, allowing it to move and control objects like a poltergeist. Many Shamans typically have their Shikigami control objects like weapons in order to make them appear as though they were possessed. Others tend to utilize the summon to grab an enemy's limbs and prevent their movement, but the generally low offensive specs of the Shikigami makes this strategy not quite as effective. The duration of this skill lasts for a full minute, but it will automatically cancel if the Shikigami's duration runs out. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds. There is a 30 second cooldown period after this skill's deactivation before it may be used again.

Pacifying Dance: A skill that allows the dancer to perform beautiful dances to momentarily captivate those who see it. For the next 30 seconds, monsters within 25 meters have their nature changed. Aggressive and Predatory monsters become Wary. Wary, Aloof, and Cowardly monsters become Docile. Docile monsters become Friendly. This effect does not work against monsters that are already engaged in battle when this skill was used.

[Sark]

Together they snuck up. The conversation between the four monsters seemed to end, with the suited figure stepping back into the ocean in a slow, emotionless gait. Each stepped crunched through the beach gravel, but the noise was muted by the fog that wrapped them all.

When they got close enough Dorian made a few hand gestures in the simple sign language of adventures. The message seemed clear to Sark; Tank Ahead, Barrier Up.  It had been a standard combination in the game world, and was one of few tactics that had transitioned unchanged into this mixed universe.

A magic circle could be dimly seen encircling Sark like like the world's most complex hula hoop. The samurai snuck a little closer until he judged himself close enough. He moistened suddenly dry lips, before with a surge of courage stood up bodly. He shouted his skill, announcing his presence boldly.

"Ace Move: Lightspeed!"

A familiar sensation rolled up his legs as the infused mana increased his speed. The samurai bent down, cautiously moving his sword to one side of his hip. There was a barely perceptible pause as he gathered himself then with a burst that sent gravel scattering he rushed forward, closing the distance at speed. The great sword picked up the glow of the moonlight, continuing to glow brighter as Sark neared the three. At the last moment he took a step the side, swinging out his Charged Attack. It passed through the nearest of the scarecrows, and drew the attention of the second as well. By the time Sark had landed his side flip, both were crossing their arms in unison; their call sign for the spectral crow flock that would appear in a moment. He knew instantly where he stood there would be no time to dodge, even with his enhanced speed.

All he could was try to take the blow, relying on both the barrier from lightspeed and the shamanic barrier to take the brunt of the two attacks. 

After the attack his tactic would be simple; keep the aggro of at least two of them on him, then move in and out of their attack ranges with passing attacks.

Samurai:_______ 20 Tailor:__________ 20 Acrobat:_______ 01

Word Count: 1.1 (Halloween) x 364 = 400

Pokes: @serenityspace

OOC: Post 7

Skill Descriptions:

Chain 01: "Lightspeed" Denkosetta, "Steel-Cutting Blade" Zantetsuken Chain 02: "Flashwave" Shunsen, "Vacuum Slash" Izunagiri Chain 03: "Blade Clone" Tsuguri Bunshin, "Divinity Slash" Seinaru Shinken Adventr.: Spear Break, Aura Swing Miscella.: Emergency Suture, Magic Light Party Up: Unyielding Spirit

[Deleted]

Dorian watched as the dwarf charged ahead, swinging in with his oversized blade and striking down the first of the three Crop Guardian's, attracting the one hit and the one beside it with his aggro. Shaking off the marvel of how fast Sark had moved, the Shaman sprung into action, keeping an eye on his barrier that was the Samurai's defence against the crows, the spectral birds summoning above the monster's heads. "My turn," he whispered to himself, gripping his scythe tightly and lunging forward, his newly found speed slipping him past Sark with incredible velocity, bringing him just nearby the trio of rooted creatures. Concentrating his mana, he took a two second pause, flowing his power into his body in a new barrier spell he had picked up, 'Exorcism of a Cursed Lotus'. With this new self-cast, his attack speed would be boosted even further by the mana enriching his form, but it would only last ten seconds; of course, that was all the time he needed.

Spiralling his scythe around his body, he swept back and forth behind the three Guardians, slashing his large blade through them with each pass by, collecting up three hits on each. With a sickening crunch, his blade cut deep into the rickety straw and wood forms, their screeches interrupting their casting for a moment as they drew their spells above their heads. Luckily though he had drawn a small amount of aggro, the monsters had already targeted Sark, their spectral casts darting at the Samurai and battering themselves against his defences. Darting back to stand behind the dwarf, he readied his scythe once more, the effects of his barrier fading along with it as he gave a defiant glare to the grouping of monsters. "Let's knock 'em down a notch, sir Sark." Giving the Samurai a confident nod, he held his ground, keeping his focus so that he could protect or unleash when needed.

---

Notes: N/A
Words: 322
Tags: Sark
Party Buff: Heavenly Defense

HP: 90%
MP: 75%

SPOILER: Click to show

{Available Skills}

Leaping Apricot Technique: This spell will instantly transport the user to a location a certain distance away, leaving behind apricot flower petals from where the user stood. What seems like a powerful technique actually has some drawbacks, including a maximum range of 6 meters and the ability to travel within eight directions, not to mention the in-game restrictions for using this skill. However, it seems that these restrictions have been lifted following the Catastrophe, allowing more striving Shamans to learn this skill with less constraints. Also, using this skill post-Catastrophe also gives off an apricot scent, giving it an aromatic purpose outside of battle. This skill consumes about 20% of the Shaman's MP, has a casting time of 1.5 seconds, and has a cooldown of 40 seconds. The MP cost decreases by 5% for every 30 levels.

Demon's Eye: This skill when activated will slightly increases accuracy rate of the user's weapons. It also causes the weapon to be immune to hit spirit-type mobs whom normally nullify incoming physical damage. Of course, a successful hit requires an active attack towards a desired foe regardless. There was one time when the developers received e-mails saying that "I've used the Demon's Eye and I still keep on missing on ghost mobs!" among others. For this reason, several balance changes were implemented. When used, this skill adds a blue radiance on one's eyes, a rather scary sight post-Catastrophe. This skill has a casting time of 4 seconds, a duration of 60 seconds, and a cooldown of 70 seconds.

Divine Subjugation: The Shaman's body is infused with the blessings of the spirits, increasing the damage of the user's physical attacks for the next 8 seconds. The Shaman's body glows a bright yellow at this time and all their attacks also contribute to an increased amount of aggro. It is oriented towards Battle Shaman builds that use swords or bows as primary weapons. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds and a cooldown of 20 seconds.

Damage Interception: A barrier skill known as the signature move of the Shaman. Forms either a stationary barrier or a barrier around a target that continues to exist until the "energy" of the barrier expires. Energy will decrease slowly over time and decrease from damage taken. This skill has a casting time of 1.5 seconds and a cooldown of 5 seconds.

Rebound Barrier: Affectionately known as “Pinball Barrier” by veteran adventurers, the Rebound Barrier skill casts a spherical barrier around the target. Upon hostile contact with the barrier, both the target and the hostile are tossed in separate directions. Any damage from the attack still lands. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Soulcutter: A good contender in terms of Shaman DPS, this skill transforms the summoned Shikigami's body into a violent stream of magic energy. The energy is concentrated into a material form, creating a cutting-wave projectile as sharp as a sword. The attack is then shot up to 5 meters forward, after which the familiar spirit travels back to the Shaman. This skill has a casting time of 1 second, followed by an animation time in seconds equal to 0.2 x distance in meters traveled. Its cooldown time is 3 seconds. If Shikigami Astral Seal is active when this skill is used, it is temporarily disabled for this skill's duration.

Exorcism of a Cursed Lotus: A self-cast barrier that boosts the caster’s attack speed against a specific target without boosting movement speed. Upon taking any damage, the barrier shatters and the caster lose all benefits. Since this leaves the caster vulnerable to attack it is often better to combine this with attacks from other party members or with another barrier level underneath so as to keep the target preoccupied. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Shikigami Astral Seal: This skill transforms the physical body of the summoned Shikigami into a ghost-like form, making it intangible to all attacks. Conversely, the Shikigami retains the ability to affect its environment, allowing it to move and control objects like a poltergeist. Many Shamans typically have their Shikigami control objects like weapons in order to make them appear as though they were possessed. Others tend to utilize the summon to grab an enemy's limbs and prevent their movement, but the generally low offensive specs of the Shikigami makes this strategy not quite as effective. The duration of this skill lasts for a full minute, but it will automatically cancel if the Shikigami's duration runs out. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds. There is a 30 second cooldown period after this skill's deactivation before it may be used again.

Pacifying Dance: A skill that allows the dancer to perform beautiful dances to momentarily captivate those who see it. For the next 30 seconds, monsters within 25 meters have their nature changed. Aggressive and Predatory monsters become Wary. Wary, Aloof, and Cowardly monsters become Docile. Docile monsters become Friendly. This effect does not work against monsters that are already engaged in battle when this skill was used.

[Sark]

As it turned out Sark was quite good at keeping aggro. A pair of the Crop Guardians kept their focus on him while the speedy shaman zipped past them all. Dorian went into a particular pose, where wind began to play with this hair. To Sark it was obvious his friend was casting a spell of some variety. The Crop Guardians had also been casting, who with a dramatic gesture summoned their combined murder of crows. With caws and croaks they flew a turn about the entire group,building up speed and spreading out. Their noises echoed strangely through the fog, giving the impression that these semi-visible crows stretched much further into the gloom than they truly did.

After a moment the attack came. From high and low and left and right the crows dived through the air, their bodies trailing streamers of fog. When they were only a fioot away a curved barrier sprung into view, it's complex art diagram an indication of its power. It blocked and destroyed the ravens who had attacked from the front. From the remaining angles however the barrier proved limited. Two ravens got inside Sark's guard before he could properly comprehend the multi pronged attack. As Sark's body began to move, the raven's were only inches away. His ace move, Lightspeed, arced up. The electrical-like mana jumped from the samurai to the two ravens, bursting them in a puff of data. The Samurai was slower now, but he had gotten his wits back.  He used the barrier like a wall ducking  and dodging many of the birds like it was a game of intense dodge ball. Several scored against him, but the majority of the ravens were absorbed by Dorian's Interception style barrier. The shield faded with the last raven.

Dorian had finished his cast. With glowing eyes the shaman danced forward with precise steps and a flashing blade which caught the light of the moon. The scythe gleamed as it twisted and flicked, carving into the wood of all three Crop Guardians. It was an excellent technique, and that it was a self-taught technique only made it more impressive. Dorian finished by sweeping behind his tank. He spared a moment to twist about to Dorian, giving him a thumbs up for the rockin' technique.

A wicked grin swept across Sark's face; after that Dorian would be recovering, so it was his turn.

"Ace Move! Flashwave!" He shouted, declaring this intentions.

The samurai crouched down, flipping his blade into the horizontal position required to properly execute the technique. But the technique didn't start. He felt something was wrong; there was no draining sense of mana, or invigorating adrenaline from a 2nd chain combination. A quick glance at the blade confirmed it; for some reason the technique was not charging. He was puzzled for a moment, then realization struck!

As Sark's body began to move, the raven's were only inches away. His ace move, Lightspeed, arced up. The electrical-like mana jumped from the samurai.
 
He had lost Lightspeed, and by extension his 1st chain technique, to the previous attack. His only other combination starter did negligible damage, so was worthless in this situation. In that case, he had to expand his options past class skills. The Crop Guardians forced his hand, with the furthest scarecrow leaping into the air, its stick free of Terra Firma. Seeing it in flight, Sark knew what his next technique would be.

Sark took a step back, giving himself a long, thin stance reminiscent of a kung fu stance. The blade was adjusted, still horizontal but the tip pointing towards the triplets.

"Spear ..."

Discrete clumps of mana rapidly coalesced about the tip of the blade, thickening and blunting it until the end gained a noticeable bulge. The aire-borne scarecrow began its descent. At the last moment the dwarf took a large step forward, making a full-body stabbing maneuver with the blade.

"...Break!"

The mana at the tip of the weapon exploded. The force of the blow reversed the Crop Guardian's flight, sending it spiralling madly through the fog. A few seconds later there was a splash hear over the dull crash of waves. One scarecrow down.

Samurai:_______ 20 Tailor:__________ 20 Acrobat:_______ 01

Word Count: 1.1 (Halloween) x 697 = 766

Pokes: @serenityspace

OOC: Post 8

Skill Descriptions:

Chain 01: "Lightspeed" Denkosetta, "Steel-Cutting Blade" Zantetsuken Chain 02: "Flashwave" Shunsen, "Vacuum Slash" Izunagiri Chain 03: "Blade Clone" Tsuguri Bunshin, "Divinity Slash" Seinaru Shinken Adventr.: Spear Break, Aura Swing Miscella.: Emergency Suture, Magic Light Party Up: Unyielding Spirit

[Deleted]

The battle raged on as Dorian took his step back, letting the dwarf take his turn at the array of monsters. The two of them had been working well together so far, but now it was the real test. The vast crow swarm seemed to swirl and turn in the fog, Dorian stepping off to deflect the few strays that wandered into his direction. With the help of his barrier mixed with the Samurai's own defensive capabilities, only a few of the spectral beasts made it past, colliding through Sark's guard. Releasing a sigh of relief, Dorian switched his attention forward once more, eyes on the prize. "Focus... Don't let them catch you napping!" He wasn't sure why those words seemed to gather in his head, nor why he had spoken them so suddenly, but Skrowe was probably to blame. Raising the blade of his scythe slightly, he readied himself for the battle. Hit 'em where it hurts, big guy. Show them the power of the true scarecrow! Nodding, he kept his cool, keeping an eye on the dwarf's activity.

Seemingly stopping for a moment, Sark seemed to look at his own blade incredulously... Something must have gone wrong. Dorian panicked for a moment, before seeing the Samurai ready himself in a strange new stance, watching in awe as the charged tip of his blade crashed into the leaping Crop Guardian, sending it shattering into the waters with a splash of data. "One down, two to go!" The Shaman gave a swift nod, indicating he was stepping up to the plate; after the display Sark had just given, the two monsters left behind had focused all their attention on him. With a solid aggro pulled by the dwarf, Dorian leapt forward, activating another skill to try and push the two Guardians down to their limits; if he couldn't kill them, he'd set them up for the fall. Charging his spiritual mana into the energy inside his body, he whispered upon the fogged air, "Demon's Eye!"

With a burst of light, his eyes became radiant with a blue hue around their edges, sparking off with an ominous glow, the moonlight drawing out the colour and fright of the appearance change. With his newly found and heightened accuracy, his blade was now sharper, able to cut into the dark spirit that inhabited the two Guardian's cores. With a raging leap off the ground, Dorian spun his body around, slashing the large blade of his scythe in a large swipe beneath his form to cut through the rickety wooden necks and chests of the two creatures fixed to their stands. A loud pair of shrieks echoed behind him as his form fell past to land on the soft ground behind them, his feet slightly slipping back into the lapped waves that rolled onto shore. "Your turn, sir Sark! Finish them off!"

---

Notes: N/A
Words: 479
Tags: Sark
Party Buff: Heavenly Defense

HP: 90%
MP: 65%

SPOILER: Click to show

{Available Skills}

Leaping Apricot Technique: This spell will instantly transport the user to a location a certain distance away, leaving behind apricot flower petals from where the user stood. What seems like a powerful technique actually has some drawbacks, including a maximum range of 6 meters and the ability to travel within eight directions, not to mention the in-game restrictions for using this skill. However, it seems that these restrictions have been lifted following the Catastrophe, allowing more striving Shamans to learn this skill with less constraints. Also, using this skill post-Catastrophe also gives off an apricot scent, giving it an aromatic purpose outside of battle. This skill consumes about 20% of the Shaman's MP, has a casting time of 1.5 seconds, and has a cooldown of 40 seconds. The MP cost decreases by 5% for every 30 levels.

Demon's Eye: This skill when activated will slightly increases accuracy rate of the user's weapons. It also causes the weapon to be immune to hit spirit-type mobs whom normally nullify incoming physical damage. Of course, a successful hit requires an active attack towards a desired foe regardless. There was one time when the developers received e-mails saying that "I've used the Demon's Eye and I still keep on missing on ghost mobs!" among others. For this reason, several balance changes were implemented. When used, this skill adds a blue radiance on one's eyes, a rather scary sight post-Catastrophe. This skill has a casting time of 4 seconds, a duration of 60 seconds, and a cooldown of 70 seconds.

Divine Subjugation: The Shaman's body is infused with the blessings of the spirits, increasing the damage of the user's physical attacks for the next 8 seconds. The Shaman's body glows a bright yellow at this time and all their attacks also contribute to an increased amount of aggro. It is oriented towards Battle Shaman builds that use swords or bows as primary weapons. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds and a cooldown of 20 seconds.

Damage Interception: A barrier skill known as the signature move of the Shaman. Forms either a stationary barrier or a barrier around a target that continues to exist until the "energy" of the barrier expires. Energy will decrease slowly over time and decrease from damage taken. This skill has a casting time of 1.5 seconds and a cooldown of 5 seconds.

Rebound Barrier: Affectionately known as “Pinball Barrier” by veteran adventurers, the Rebound Barrier skill casts a spherical barrier around the target. Upon hostile contact with the barrier, both the target and the hostile are tossed in separate directions. Any damage from the attack still lands. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Soulcutter: A good contender in terms of Shaman DPS, this skill transforms the summoned Shikigami's body into a violent stream of magic energy. The energy is concentrated into a material form, creating a cutting-wave projectile as sharp as a sword. The attack is then shot up to 5 meters forward, after which the familiar spirit travels back to the Shaman. This skill has a casting time of 1 second, followed by an animation time in seconds equal to 0.2 x distance in meters traveled. Its cooldown time is 3 seconds. If Shikigami Astral Seal is active when this skill is used, it is temporarily disabled for this skill's duration.

Exorcism of a Cursed Lotus: A self-cast barrier that boosts the caster’s attack speed against a specific target without boosting movement speed. Upon taking any damage, the barrier shatters and the caster lose all benefits. Since this leaves the caster vulnerable to attack it is often better to combine this with attacks from other party members or with another barrier level underneath so as to keep the target preoccupied. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Shikigami Astral Seal: This skill transforms the physical body of the summoned Shikigami into a ghost-like form, making it intangible to all attacks. Conversely, the Shikigami retains the ability to affect its environment, allowing it to move and control objects like a poltergeist. Many Shamans typically have their Shikigami control objects like weapons in order to make them appear as though they were possessed. Others tend to utilize the summon to grab an enemy's limbs and prevent their movement, but the generally low offensive specs of the Shikigami makes this strategy not quite as effective. The duration of this skill lasts for a full minute, but it will automatically cancel if the Shikigami's duration runs out. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds. There is a 30 second cooldown period after this skill's deactivation before it may be used again.

Pacifying Dance: A skill that allows the dancer to perform beautiful dances to momentarily captivate those who see it. For the next 30 seconds, monsters within 25 meters have their nature changed. Aggressive and Predatory monsters become Wary. Wary, Aloof, and Cowardly monsters become Docile. Docile monsters become Friendly. This effect does not work against monsters that are already engaged in battle when this skill was used.

[Sark]

Sark took in gulps of air after his lucky break with his trust technique. He could feel the muscles around his elbow tightening from the strain, so he knew that he was beginning to run down to the lower half of his MP threshold. The small bodily strains were a sign of that for Sark, and the lower his MP dropped the more exhausted he would feel.

Dorian was still fighting well; as a shaman and a ritual race his MP pool was significantly larger than Sark's, so he could stay in a peak condition for significantly longer. In addition, Sark tried to generally finish battles quickly; he used his best combinations from the get go most of the time. His wandering trail of thought reminded him; he was yet to use his best techniques!

"Your turn, sir Sark! Finish them off!"

"Roger! We've got this!"

Generally, he would use his Lightspeed to get the combination started, but it was still on cooldown. His sudden lack of combination starters reminded the samurai to further diversify; especially into an aggro-holding combination.  In his situation beggers could not be choosers, so he moved back. He was directly between the two now, parrying and ducking between their cumbersome swings from damaged arms. Small puffs of hay scattered from their torn arms with each swing, making their attacks all the more eerie.

"Ace Move: Steel Cutter!"

His wedge-like sword took on a demonic glow and Sark crouched down under a haymaker punch. He rose with his sword swinging up from ankle to shoulder, crossing his body. The attack itself did almost no damage, but Sark was only using this as a set up. He let the weight of the sword lift him into the air, where he peformed a slow 360 spin.

"Ace Move: Vacuum Slash!"

Once again a small tornado of [wind] mana centered itself about the blade, drawing in the nearby fog. The muscles down his forearm spasmed briefly, warning the samurai he was running even lower on mana. As Sark returned to the earth he swept the blade down to release the tornado. Both wind and blade struck against the Crop Guardian. It battered against the sudden storm, bouncing and tossing against its anchor. Sark had hoped it would perish with the attack so he could finish the other off with his most impressive attack, but the scarecrow remained.

With a crunch of gravel he changed his stance, looking all the world like a sprinter ready to run.

"Ace Move: Blade Clone!"

Without a pause he rushed forward, leaving behind a shadowy duplicate of Sark. It resembled his greatly, but made purely of muted greys. A white caricature of a smile seemed fixed on its face. A full second after Sark began moving it followed. The two bounced back and forth between the two scarecrows like a ping pong, slashing and slipping around them. Aches and pains began to accumulate throughout Sark's musculature, forcing the samurai to keep his focus tight on the battle. For every motion Sark did, the clone duplicated. The scarecrows could not keep up against the punishment with one disintegrating into a burst of bubbled data.

That let the pair focus on the final scarecrow. He rushed in, parrying a punch and stepping in close for a slash. From the corner of his eye he swore he saw his clone not mimic the parry, but instead thrust its blade into the scarecrow's fist. There wasn't time to spare to check his facts as he dodged another blow. He dropped to the ground and performed a final slash, cutting the crop guardian free of its anchor. It toppled, exploding into data before it touched the ground.

The clone vanished, leaving Sark panting and sweat covered. His remaining mana was minimal, and it showed. His arms trembled with the exertion, and the dwarf could hardly stand.

"So ... yeah ... maybe I should have put more into MP ... Just gimme a sec. Phew!"

Samurai:_______ 20 Tailor:__________ 20 Acrobat:_______ 01

Word Count: 665

Pokes: @serenityspace

OOC: I thought it ended 9th Nov but it was 6th Nov D: Sorry

Skill Descriptions:

Chain 01: "Lightspeed" Denkosetta, "Steel-Cutting Blade" Zantetsuken Chain 02: "Flashwave" Shunsen, "Vacuum Slash" Izunagiri Chain 03: "Blade Clone" Tsuguri Bunshin, "Divinity Slash" Seinaru Shinken Adventr.: Spear Break, Aura Swing Miscella.: Emergency Suture, Magic Light Party Up: Unyielding Spirit

[Deleted]

With the frothed waters of the coast lapping at his heels, submerging his feet every time they washed further up the sand, Dorian watched and waited, taking slow, heavy breaths of air and recuperating in case he was needed. His eyes trained on the battlefield, he witnessed the flamboyant and loud display of Sark's blade and skills, the twin scarecrows gradually falling to his power. This guy knows what he's doing, Skrowe began, yammering away inside the Shaman's head to fill the silence that had fallen over them both, due to the lack of battle. I swear though, he seems to be losing power. Dorian blinked slowly, his attention brought to the dwarf's current state of being, flickering over the party list on his interface to see the Samurai's MP dwindling and dropping fast. Normally that would be fine, behind a computer screen MP was just a bar. But here, in the now real world that was Elder Tale, low MP meant low energy, and the dwarf's current state was evidence of what low energy could do to someone's ability to cope during a fight.

"Hang in there, sir Sark! You're cutting it thin!" The Shaman attempted to ring his voice out, trying in vain to grab the dwarf's attention and get him to settle, but the noise of his blade clashing with the rickety scarecrow bodies, as well as the splashing of waves and the rolling of froth atop the water, amusingly drowned out his voice completely. He was then left to watch worriedly, still recuperating a few more points of mana while Sark managed to cut down the second of the three Crop Guardians, leaving only one left to handle. The combat seemed to have picked up speed, as Dorian couldn't quite see through the haze and blur of Sark slashing back and forth; he almost could have sworn he saw two of the Samurai. Shaking his head, he brought himself back to reality, concentrating on keeping Sark alive to let him finish off the last scarecrow. Slipping another Damage Interception barrier onto the dwarf, he was able to cover him for a few more blows, letting him make the final cut to burst the last monster into bubbles of data.

"I think your issue isn't your amount of mana..." The Shaman explained teasingly, stepping out of the shallow water and approaching Sark, dragging himself up the short beach and standing beside the panting, exhausted Samurai. "Battle requires patience and diligence; try not to go swinging everything out at once, or you'll just do your enemy's job for them." He released one hand off of his scythe, slipping the blade out of the way and into the sand as he lowered his palm onto the dwarf's back, patting him comfortingly and trying to sooth his pained muscles a bit. "We can take a break if you'd like... Or maybe even call it a day; we killed a sizable bunch of fellows, might as well leave the rest to any other Adventurers who stumble through here. What do you say?"

---

Notes: Sorry for the late reply! x.x
Words: 511
Tags: Sark
Party Buff: Heavenly Defense

HP: 90%
MP: 60%

SPOILER: Click to show

{Available Skills}

Leaping Apricot Technique: This spell will instantly transport the user to a location a certain distance away, leaving behind apricot flower petals from where the user stood. What seems like a powerful technique actually has some drawbacks, including a maximum range of 6 meters and the ability to travel within eight directions, not to mention the in-game restrictions for using this skill. However, it seems that these restrictions have been lifted following the Catastrophe, allowing more striving Shamans to learn this skill with less constraints. Also, using this skill post-Catastrophe also gives off an apricot scent, giving it an aromatic purpose outside of battle. This skill consumes about 20% of the Shaman's MP, has a casting time of 1.5 seconds, and has a cooldown of 40 seconds. The MP cost decreases by 5% for every 30 levels.

Demon's Eye: This skill when activated will slightly increases accuracy rate of the user's weapons. It also causes the weapon to be immune to hit spirit-type mobs whom normally nullify incoming physical damage. Of course, a successful hit requires an active attack towards a desired foe regardless. There was one time when the developers received e-mails saying that "I've used the Demon's Eye and I still keep on missing on ghost mobs!" among others. For this reason, several balance changes were implemented. When used, this skill adds a blue radiance on one's eyes, a rather scary sight post-Catastrophe. This skill has a casting time of 4 seconds, a duration of 60 seconds, and a cooldown of 70 seconds.

Divine Subjugation: The Shaman's body is infused with the blessings of the spirits, increasing the damage of the user's physical attacks for the next 8 seconds. The Shaman's body glows a bright yellow at this time and all their attacks also contribute to an increased amount of aggro. It is oriented towards Battle Shaman builds that use swords or bows as primary weapons. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds and a cooldown of 20 seconds.

Damage Interception: A barrier skill known as the signature move of the Shaman. Forms either a stationary barrier or a barrier around a target that continues to exist until the "energy" of the barrier expires. Energy will decrease slowly over time and decrease from damage taken. This skill has a casting time of 1.5 seconds and a cooldown of 5 seconds.

Rebound Barrier: Affectionately known as “Pinball Barrier” by veteran adventurers, the Rebound Barrier skill casts a spherical barrier around the target. Upon hostile contact with the barrier, both the target and the hostile are tossed in separate directions. Any damage from the attack still lands. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Soulcutter: A good contender in terms of Shaman DPS, this skill transforms the summoned Shikigami's body into a violent stream of magic energy. The energy is concentrated into a material form, creating a cutting-wave projectile as sharp as a sword. The attack is then shot up to 5 meters forward, after which the familiar spirit travels back to the Shaman. This skill has a casting time of 1 second, followed by an animation time in seconds equal to 0.2 x distance in meters traveled. Its cooldown time is 3 seconds. If Shikigami Astral Seal is active when this skill is used, it is temporarily disabled for this skill's duration.

Exorcism of a Cursed Lotus: A self-cast barrier that boosts the caster’s attack speed against a specific target without boosting movement speed. Upon taking any damage, the barrier shatters and the caster lose all benefits. Since this leaves the caster vulnerable to attack it is often better to combine this with attacks from other party members or with another barrier level underneath so as to keep the target preoccupied. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds, a maximum duration of 10 seconds, and a cooldown of 15 seconds.

Shikigami Astral Seal: This skill transforms the physical body of the summoned Shikigami into a ghost-like form, making it intangible to all attacks. Conversely, the Shikigami retains the ability to affect its environment, allowing it to move and control objects like a poltergeist. Many Shamans typically have their Shikigami control objects like weapons in order to make them appear as though they were possessed. Others tend to utilize the summon to grab an enemy's limbs and prevent their movement, but the generally low offensive specs of the Shikigami makes this strategy not quite as effective. The duration of this skill lasts for a full minute, but it will automatically cancel if the Shikigami's duration runs out. This skill has a casting time of 2 seconds. There is a 30 second cooldown period after this skill's deactivation before it may be used again.

Pacifying Dance: A skill that allows the dancer to perform beautiful dances to momentarily captivate those who see it. For the next 30 seconds, monsters within 25 meters have their nature changed. Aggressive and Predatory monsters become Wary. Wary, Aloof, and Cowardly monsters become Docile. Docile monsters become Friendly. This effect does not work against monsters that are already engaged in battle when this skill was used.