Kobold Clear-Out! Journey into the Underground! [Event]

[Hirosame]

Hiro began to walk casually over to the recently uncovered tunnel entrance. Upon reaching it, he walked beyond it. He had heard that there were a bunch of potholes that appeared, and one of them a player had fallen into. It ended up just a little bit away from the Entrance of the Underground tunnel. It was reported that the level 20 player had lost half of his HP, mostly because of his armor had weighed him down. It was a pretty long drop. Hiro wanted to try it. He wanted to jump down into the Underground like that, and nullify the damage using a skill of his. It sounded like a wonderfully good time to him. But, maybe not so much to Saeko, who had been in the town with him. Rubbing the back of his head, he remembered how Saeko had put it. "Anybody who thinks that's a good idea is only going to get themselves killed, you idiot!" She shouted from his memory. However, he wasn't just rubbing the back of his head because of that, but also because she slapped the back of his head as he said what he was going to do.

He chuckled a bit. Saeko must've actually been kinda worried. After Hiro got her to be friends with @dindeen, she's acted more like an overbearing sister to him. Then again, he'd been a bratty younger brother beforehand, forcing Saeko to get more friends. Although, it seemed to him that she was satisfied with only having him as an acquaintance. She'd never actually say he's a friend. But, that's just how stubborn Saeko was. He brushed the thought from his head, as he walked up to the pothole he had heard about. Placing his hands in his black trench coat pockets, he casually stepped into the massive hole in the ground. Bringing his other foot along with him, he descended rapidly into the depths. It was a really long drop, and after a few moments of being in the tunnel-like enclosure, the area opened up wide. Sunlight was peeking in through various holes and crevices. Hiro performed a few aerial flips just for show, and to have a bit more fun as he fell. He was getting a lot closer to the ground now, and he smirked.

He activated one of his earliest skills, Aura Kick, as he landed. A shockwave of mana flowed from where he was, as it stretched a decent way away from him. A few Kobolds turned around, their aggro detectors having been triggered. It was the skill's nature to draw aggro to the user upon landing. Hiro was crouched over, his hands still in his pockets. He started to slowly stand up, as a group of four level 5 Kobolds started to run directly at him. He ignored them for a moment, and observed the surroundings. "So, this is the Underground Network I've heard about." He said to himself. Smiling brightly, he turned to face the enemies before him. Striking a battle pose, Hiro took his hands out of his pockets. The quest today was to just kill a bunch of the nearby Kobolds and a good number of the Kobold Nobles. So, he might as well get started. It was a preliminary exploration, so it would take a lot of killing to stabilize the entrance area.

Hiro ducked underneath a strike from one of the monsters, and swiftly brought his leg around in a roundhouse kick, blasting the monster with his leg, causing it to disappear immediately. This wouldn't be too hard for the level 51 Monk to deal with it all. The other three all attacked in semi-unison. Their strikes had about a second of delay between the impact point, so Hiro easily dodged all of the attacks. It was so lovely being an evasion-fighting type, in that he could just dodge from side to side and attack, dealing a great amount of damage. Living up to his namesake, the Immortal Brawler struck with his fist into the body of the first of the three Kobolds. There was going to be another person joining them, whom he believed to be named Tessia, and he believed that they weren't as high a level as he was. Also, Caer was coming along. He hadn't seen her since the Maya-chan fight! Also, she was one of Saeko's newest friends. It would be good times ahead, for sure.

He had forgotten the other two Kobolds, as they were swiftly approaching him. He quickly turned over to face them, and slammed one of them in the face with a high kick. The other was staggering a bit, seeing as its allies had been taken out so quickly. He started to run back a little, but Hiro didn't give him a moment. Charging at him swiftly, Hiro used Incarnated Assault to make visions of himself appear in different places behind where he actually was. The Kobold, confused and scared, didn't see that Hiro was right behind it. He delivered a straight kick backwards, causing to explode into data. He started to walk over to the entrance of the Underground once again, and leaned against a support beam right at the entrance. He looked over to where the masses of Kobolds were, and smiled. Saeko might have disapproved of this idea, but he was still going to have tons of fun with it. "Sheesh, if Saeko's so worried, why don't we just get married or something?" He said silently to himself, chuckling.

Somewhere in the town, Saeko sneezed.

[925 Words]

[Tessia]

It had been at least three to four days since she had started her research and study of the Soil Golems body shape.  Stuck up in her rented room, trying to forge and re-forge the Magitech into her armor had proven very difficult.  Mainly in the respect that she had to use her available mana, which wasn't much thanks too her class choice, to attempt it over and over.  Stopping for a moment, she regarded her leather armor, with old diodes and filaments binding the plates too her armor.  Maybe this could work, if she wore it outside and tried to make it function maybe then she would see results.  Picking up her top, she adjusted the filaments so that they would contain a constant amount of her mana, and show that she had only about a good 70% remaining.  

Donning her leather armor top and exposing the bare filaments too her skin, Tessia shuddered at the feel of the sudden drainage on her mana.  The plates glowed as the filaments hummed a bit, she then donned her top over it thankful that it covered up her pseudo invention.  It would take a bit of real combat to draw out how this thing was supposed to work, and hopefully she wouldn't take too many hits attempting to start it.  Checking to be sure the glow didn't go through her shirt, she picked up her battle ax and turned out the light.  Leaving her other parts in the room, Tessia strode out into the Inn's dining area. 

The nice thing about being in a MMO is that there were always places to go, people to be around, and things that needed too be done.  She sat at a table and regarded a few of the local players she had seen before, listening for any quest or maybe something that involved combat that she could partake in.  After awhile, the groups thinned a bit and Tessia decided it was time to hit up the quest board outside the Inn. Heading outside, she nodded as, just like always, there were quite a few quests aligned for people looking for combat.  Scanning over a few odd ones, she caught a glimpse of a offer for a Kobold Clearing quest.

After checking her bestiary about the creatures, she nodded and accepted it.  It was to be in the Caverns not too far from the Town lead by someone called Hirosame, a level 45 Monk.  Thinking this quest would be a good chance for her to try out her armor, as well as gain some leveling in the process, Tessia began the trek towards the Caverns.  Hearing about the pitfalls that lead into the Caverns, Tessia readied two throwing knives as she began to approach the entrance.  Sitting on top of one of the holes, she slide down it easily, slipping her knives into the dirt of the wall to guide and slow her descent.  

Landing on her feet easily, she stood and slipped her knives back into her pouch.  Fiddling with her under armor, she adjusted the filaments so that they would activate and draw on her mana, taking a cumulative amount so that it didn't constantly drain her reserve.  Luckily she spotted the monk not a moment too soon, withdrawing her hands from her sides she adjusted her face mask and said.  "So, you must be Hirosame.  I am Tessia, no doubt you got my confirmation of your quest when i signed for it?"  she offered her hand and smiled despite her mask being in the way.  He was pretty cute, even if her standards were a little well picky.  She had hoped that this quest would allow for some decent use of her armor, and hoped as well too keep it hidden for now.  She didn't wish to draw attention too her project, that if successful meant the creation of a new armor type.

[Deleted]

	HP 100% Regen 5HP every 5s MP 100% Regen 3MP every 5s	Caerbannog :: Level 89 :: Samurai :: Aeryn Armor: Charcoal Ooyoroi with Pitch-black Yukata masked with Zankapfel Main Weapon: Nóttúlfr (Night Wolf) with Mitsuho and Black Star Left Forearm: Nótthöggr (Night Striker) Quick Slot: Nótthrafn (Night Raven)
WC: 1000	Tags: Hirosame Tessia	Skills: Samurai's Challenge (C1)

“Kushuu~!”

Caerbannog sneezed into her hand at the moment that she stepped into a tunnel that was connected to St. Pancras Station. Who knew that there were such places beneath the busy merchants stalls and bustling streets? The Station had always been known to the samurai as the go-to place for obtaining crafting materials and tools, and also for learning new crafts. But it seemed that now, with the discovery of an explorable underground, the Station was actually doing what it was supposed to do... which was to connect Londinium to someplace else. To where exactly? Well, no one knew just yet and that was why exploration teams were being gathered to be thrown face-first into the not-so-loving arms of kobolds.

Be it by chance or not, blue-eyed Little Caerbannog had received a quest invitation from the monk Hirosame. He certainly did look like the friendly type based on what she could remember of him, and was not anything like the super emo lone wolves that some adventurers turned to. So it was not a surprise that he’d have the gall to invite an almost-stranger to a quest, though Caer did wonder if her recent meeting with his friend Saeko had anything to do with it. She was curious, and so the girl thought to ask the monk once she arrived at her destination. But first things first...

Dust. Dust everywhere. It reminded her of a Windsor dungeon run where a certain adventurer *cough Renai cough* seemed to have a peculiar aversion to dust or anything that was out of place. Caerbannog snickered at the thought of finding him in the Underground, perhaps he would be attempting to clean the entire place. If she wasn’t on a quest and did find him there, the samurai would have probably helped the adventuring butler since she did not exactly have anything to do with her time. But Renai was neither here nor there, and all Caer found were a lot of junk that needed segregating, sorting and cleaning.

Half the way into the tunnel which used to be just an abandoned alley that led to a blank wall, Caerbannog sneezed again as she kicked up some dust. A high-pitched kushuu~ echoed down the tunnel until it arrived at the entrance to the Underground, and a little way beyond it were various potholes of different sizes. It was the quest area, so it seemed, but there wasn’t really anything going on- whoa, did that adventurer just jump into what could be an abyss? Caer thought she saw someone just jump in without much precaution, and so the samurai ran over to the pothole to make sure that her fellow adventurer was still alive. She peeked it- it was dark inside and she could not see the bottom, quite a drop from where she stood.

The blue-eyed wolf-hair secured her black iron chain around her left arm. It could act as a shield and also as be used to retrieve her other weapons if they ever were struck out of her hands. Her nagamaki was sheathed, as usual; Caer put her right hand on her skirt to hold it down, a proper girl should be prepared for her descent into an abyss after all, and then she jumped into who-knows-where. She’d seen the side of the hole from the top, though only a bit of it but still she could estimate her distance from it. When she noticed some illumination from below which meant that she was close to the end of the drop, Caer pulled back her left arm, clenched her fist and punched it into the wall. Her iron chain Notthoggr protected her fist and her forearm. The force of her punch buried her hand into the wall and slowed down her fall until finally, she reached a part where she could kick off from since there was enough light for her to see exactly what was around her. With her fall significantly slower than it could have been, Caer pulled her arm out of the wall and fell less dangerously the rest of the way.

“kuh... KUSHU-!” the samurai sneezed just as she landed for her arrival kicked up another cloud of dust.

She rubbed her nose on her right arm’s sleeve and as the dust settled, she straightened up and patted her skirt down. Nearby, a familiar face was leaning against a beam. Caer waved to him with her left hand while her right arm was still profusely rubbing the lower half of her face. She then noticed a figure which looked similar to the one that she followed down that rabbit hole. That other adventurer wore a face mask and had held out her hand to Hirosame, probably as a greeting which meant that they might be adventuring with her too. Further ahead, groups of kobolds, probably clueless that they would soon be slaughtered, lingered about.

“Yoroshi-“ Caer began her greeting as she walked towards the two, but it was interrupted as she sneezed again, “-KUSHUUUU!”

Embarrassing! Oh, her face would have been beet red if there were more people around. Hopefully, her sneezing would stop once she got used to her surroundings. But even without a crowd around her to see that embarrassment, Caer’s face turned beet red anyway. She could not exactly control it after all; it was a natural reaction and she could only hope that her untimely sneeze did not make her seem too rude. And then, to get rid of the awkwardness, she put her arms down, her hands balled up into tiny fists.

“I am Caerbannog, and I am ready to commit genocide!” the wolf-hair yelled at Hirosame and the masked lady before she dashed off towards the groups of kobolds.

Her blue eyes turned gold as she ran past the first few rows of rat-like creatures, and once their attention was turned to her, Caerbannog raised her fists up to the sky... and put her middle fingers up for all to see: [Samurai’s Challenge].

[Hirosame]

While he waited for more to show up, Hiro was a bit lost in his own mind. It had occurred to him that he and Saeko had spent a majority of the recent time with one another, whereas they hadn't spoken much beforehand. He figured it was after she went on that quest with that guy who stole her rabbit kill. Saeko complained so much about it, and how he was trying to be a knight in shining armor. Hiro chuckled a bit at the thought of Saeko being so flustered about somebody like that. She actually went on about it while at a tavern, where Saeko had actually called him to meet. She needed somebody to complain to while she got drunk. Afterwards, Saeko was so hammered, Hiro had to carry her to a room on his back in order for her to officially go to sleep. Smiling a bit, he thought a little more about Saeko. She was cute in that respect, he figured, but too much of a tsundere to really be effective. Maybe she just needed someone to rely on; to be there for her more often. Maybe he'd see an even cuter side of her soon enough! He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, feeling as though Saeko had read his thoughts or something. He should stop thinking about her for now.

A girl had begun to greet Hiro, and this snapped him back to reality. He jolted a bit, and made a rather surprised reaction. This girl was a ninja or something! Hiro had no idea she was even there, until she said something! Although, he was thinking about Saeko, and then his head started hurting. Taking a moment to wonder if it's sane to think about the female samurai at a time like this, the ninja put her hand out to Hiro. He guessed that this was Tessia, the Assassin who would be joining him today. He extended his own hand, shook Tessia's, and greeted her likewise. "A pleasure, Tessia. Just call me Hiro, and yeah, we'll be on this quest together soon enough." He looked towards the entrance, wondering if the girl had arrived through there. He would've heard it, if she did. So, he assumed that she also jumped down one of the holes. He sobbed slightly inside, thinking that he was gonna be the cool guy who jumped down the hole. He didn't expect somebody else to do the same.

Hiro's thought process was brutally murdered by @dindeen's introduction, and declaration of genocide. He started to wave over at her, but she had already turned and ran towards the Kobolds nearby. That's not the kind of thing you should proclaim when you first meet up with people, Caer. He thought to himself. The female samurai, who had recently become Saeko's friend, initiated a battle, almost immediately upon entering. He looked above where Caerbannog had entered, and realized that she had also entered through a hole in the ground. It looks like it wasn't his day to be the cool guy, after all. He shook the thought from his mind, and started to run towards the action. "Can't let her have all the fun! C'mon, party's starting!" Hiro called out to the Assassin. Hopefully, she would follow suit soon enough, and begin fighting alongside the other two. Hiro grinned menacingly, and activated a new skill of his, Eye of the Tiger.

Hiro took an immediate hostile stance, and started to fight some of the higher-leveled Kobolds. Ones that were level 12 and up. Caer was kind enough to attract the attention of a large number of the monsters, which meant Hiro could go all out on the stronger ones. Tessia, since she was a lower level than both Hiro and Caer, would have plenty of lower leveled monsters to fight. It would be fun for everybody, for sure! Hiro's movement speed had increased by about 25%, thanks to his skill, and his attack speed followed suit. He learned a trick with Eye of the Tiger, in that if you use your entire body to strike, the movement speed effect would stack with your attack speed. He begun to chain combo after combo of attacks, followed by deft dodges and flips. He soon had a small ring around him that he was fighting, since his aggro-draw was strong enough by now. He posed a threat to these little bastards, and for good cause. He was gonna kill them!

After Caer had so kindly proposed genocide upon the United Nations of Hirosame, Tessia, and Caerbannog, Hiro felt that he should help bring about the new world order that she had so promisingly offered. The mobs of Kobolds started to attack him one after the other, making for simple dodges and swift counterattack opportunities. Dodge, hit. Dodge, hit. Dodge, FLIPPY KICK! The formula was broken by Hiro's own short attention span. Dodging and hitting in rapid succession, while effective, is boring. So, he added in some flair. He decided to use his legs a bit more in the fight, since they were stronger than using his fists. Performing a few bicycle kicks and donkey kicks here and there, he incorporated a some roundhouse kicks and low-sweeping kicks, to knock them off balance. Soon enough, the small circle surrounding the the monk had disintegrated, thanks to his pure damage capabilities of being a monk. "Next!?" He shouted, looking for another target.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, Saeko was looking at some new weapons. Maybe she'd pick one up? She had a sudden urge to fight something. Or drink. Yeah, drink. She sent a message to Hiro. Hey, when you're all done with what you're doing, wanna have a drink? She waited impatiently for his reply.

[962 Words]

[Tessia]

Taking a moment to revel in the beauty of the other girl samurai, Tessia couldn't help but smirk glad for the low light and her mask obscuring it.  Her liking of the girl went further as she ran straight past the Kobold's and presented what she thought of them for all too see.  Snickering quietly she drew her large battle ax off her back and began to strafe backward behind a large boulder.  Dropping her ax blade first, she drew out her bow this time and crouched, taking aim at the furthest ones from the other two.

No sense in being dazzled as Hirosame dashed forward and just began to utterly blast them all way.  Tessia activated Quick Draw, then Accel Dance as she took aim and began launching arrows faster and faster, taking out any of the weakest ones that were too far away from the group.  One shot faster than the next, taking full advantage of her allies large aggo, she launched shot after accurate shot right into the necks of the writhing Kobold's that were unlucky enough too attempt to get too close too Caer.  After taking out around five or so, Tessia dropped her bow and picked up her ax, dashing forward with a full five stacks of Accel Dance speeding her movement.

She had never gone this fast, having to rely on her focus in the immediate 4 feet as everything else blurred by so much she couldn't see straight.  One nice thing about have highly damaging allies was that she could move about freely and kill freely with the highest speed shes been able too achieve. thus far. Tapping her chest quickly to activate her Mana Liner, she felt its glow climbing off her marks all over her face and arms.  It hummed quietly as it projected the thin blue mana armor that she willed into being.  Thanks too her Crescent cooling down her Accel dance, she activated it again as she closed distance on a Kobold Noble.  

Her ax shot off her shoulder as she pivoted with it, striking the thing just as it turned to see a blur whirling towards it.  Down it went as Tessia bolted towards another one, her ax lashing out and removing its heavy head from it's shoulders.  One too the next one closer to Caer now, it noticed her and lashed out with it's club, nailing her right in the chest.  Grunting from the blow but barely feeling it as she flashed by, her ax lopped off it's left leg as she spun about and planted it deeply into it's skull as it hit the ground.

Reaching up Tessia already knew but cursed silently anyway, the Mana Liner had shattered into pieces as she tore what was left of it off and tossed it aside.  she then peered up at her mana bar and health too see if it had indeed absorbed any of the incoming damage.  Sighing resignedly as her Accel Buff wore off, she noted that while it did seem to block the impact or even slow the creature's strike, her HP remained in the green but still lowered.  Growling to herself and knowing she would have to make another, she stepped back towards the boulder to retrieve her bow, Tossing the remains of her work aside so as not to raise question.  Why not let them finish this up what was left?  Back to the drawing board later she supposed.  At least there was a cute girl for her to be around, this wouldn't be a total loss.

[Deleted]

	HP 100% Regen 5HP every 5s MP 100% Regen 3MP every 5s	Caerbannog :: Level 89 :: Samurai :: Aeryn Armor: Charcoal Ooyoroi with Pitch-black Yukata masked with Zankapfel Main Weapon: Nóttúlfr (Night Wolf) with Mitsuho and Black Star Left Forearm: Nótthöggr (Night Striker) Quick Slot: Nótthrafn (Night Raven)
WC: 365	Tags: Hirosame Tessia	Skills: Mawarufuusen (C2)

So maaaybe she should have introduced herself properly to the female adventurer who was all but a stranger to her. Caerbannog had taken a gander at that person’s information bar and noticed that the name was Tessia, and the icon indicated that she was an assassin. When the kobolds, drawn in by the Challenge, surrounded the samurai, she dodged some incoming attacks until the monk and the assassin picked their own targets- and Caer was rather surprised that the female adventurer wielded an ax. She’d only ever seen swashbucklers with that weapon, and if other MMORPGs were something to go by, tank-type characters usually wielded such heavy objects. But here was Tessia, a different kind of assassin. As long as the job gets done though, Caerbannog had no qualms about each person’s style or choice in weaponry.

The wolf-hair punched a few kobolds and headbutted ones that got too close. When Hiro finally cleared out his attackers and Tessia seemed to be done with hers too, Caerbannog drew her sword, passively activating Iaido against the unfortunate kobold that was right in front of her. Its head rolled on the cold ground before it began to dissipate into the air, and just as it did, the samurai put her weapon up in the air. She began to rotate her blade overhead much like, for lack of a better description, a helicopter blade. Oh, how it reminded her of that time when she tossed a certain dwarf at a Level 40 briar weasel. The effect was pretty much the same albeit at a larger scale since there were many creatures nearby. The kobolds, though some of them wanted to run after the monk and the assassin, were pulled towards little Caer Bear and when they tried to run away, they found that their movement was incredibly slowed down.

Caerbannog kept up [Mawarufuusen] for a while both to draw in any hiding enemies and to slow down the targets in case they wanted to turn to and attack Hiro or Tessia. The samurai stood in the middle of the mini-tornado for a good ten seconds which was probably enough for the other adventurers to continue their cleansing of the Underground.

[Hirosame]

Battle flowed through Hiro's blood, making him crave the heat of the fight even more so. He probably got that mentality from Saeko, which he would probably need to control in future situations. Eye of the Tiger was still in effect, which he made full use of. His body roared with energy and ferocity, as he ran from side to side, smacking, slapping, and kicking enemies away from him left and right. He didn't even look over at the other two allies of his, assuming that they were doing just fine. He wasn't really worried about the lower-leveled Tessia, as Assassins have high damage output. If she gets hit, though, that'd be a different story entirely. Assassins, while highly damage-oriented, can't really take too much of a hit. Granted, Hiro probably couldn't either, mostly because Monks don't have high resistances. His only saving graces are his total health and his evasion level. This was the opposite of a Samurai, which @dindeen probably knew fairly well.

Whatever, there was more fighting to be done! Hiro couldn't think about stuff like that anymore when such a fun and exhilarating thing was going on, just in front of him! At first, he ignored the message from Saeko, but he'd get back to it later. He might as well invite Caer out with them as well. That might make Saeko a bit jealous, and ultimately would cause her to drink harder. Whatever. Hiro's eyes glowed bright orange, his iris' having changed color thanks to his currently active skill. A deathly grin appeared on his face as he swung his body from side to side, up and down, lashing out against the mobs nearest him. Caer seemed to be casting a spell or ability to draw them in closer to her. He didn't give any less of a crap, except that that only centralized them more. Hiro's eyes fixed on the target, and his legs carried him at warp-speed to the enemies at hand. His movements were almost invisible, and his body very swiftly became a blur.

Hiro activated another skill of his, Incarnated Assault to form more of himself to swing into the fray. Thanks to Eye of the Tiger, the multiplications of himself moved as quickly as he did. The five Monks charged right into the middle of the fight, punching and kicking all around. While the effects of the newly-activated skill were only two seconds long, it still gave him plenty of time to deal massive damage onto multiple enemies at once. The multiplications disappeared, almost as quickly as they had appeared, and it returned to the lone Monk in a fight. He didn't need to worry all that much about Caer's whirlwind hurting him, which was pretty reassuring. He just continued his frenzy of attacks as the skill bar in the top-right of his display was slowly shortening. Eye of the Tiger would soon deactivate, reverting him to his normal movement speed. Granted, that was still a high-enough movement speed, but the added buff made things go by so much quicker. Literally.

The skill toggled off, and Hiro sighed for a moment before continuing his fight. He would have to wait another minute before he could use the skill again, which he hoped would happen sooner, rather than later. He had managed to rally up a good number around him, where he activated Amazonian Tornado to deal massive damage and knock back the monster surrounding him. Hiro got down onto his hands, split his legs in the air, and started to break dance for just a moment, before flipping himself back up to a standing position. He turned towards Caer and addressed her about the invitation from Saeko. "Hey, Caer!" Hiro called out, dodging a Kobold's cudgel. "Saeko's invited me out for a drink once I'm done here! You wanna come with?" A simple invitation, but it would probably serve to help Saeko out a bit more, having more than just one friend there. With that thought still fresh in his mind, he countered the cudgel attack with a flat palm into the torso of the low-leveled beast. It exploded into data, and he looked around for his next target.

[698 Words]

[Tessia]

She tried not too get distracted.  And by that, mainly she meant by the spectacle of the samurai activating a rather neat technique.  And at the same time, allowing for a rather nice look at her rather fine legs.  Glad to be wearing the face mask and the fact that it was decently dark down here, Tessia watched as the mini tornado began pulling and hauling the enemies closer too the animal eared player.  Shaking her head and feeling her red cheeks go away finally, Tessia replaced her bow in her inventory and drew out her ax once again.

There were at least three Kobold's left nearby that Hirosame wasn't demolishing, and it seemed the girl was stuck in place with her sustained attack.  Noting that the nearest one towards the boulder that she hid behind was the one that broke her Liner, Tessia crouched and activated Fatal Ambush.  This was risky she knew, as she hadn't got past the "headache" the game afflicted her with after such a massive mana drain.  That, and her mana was just high enough too use it, her senses dulling as everything seemed too slow down, her focus on that one Kobold that had broke a good two nights of research and building.

As if running through molasses, Tessia bolted from her coverage and neared the flailing Kobold, her ax resting on her left shoulder and both hands gripping it gently but firmly.  She had learned that the best way too use this technique was to allow your body to follow along easily and not resist.  Just as the Kobold was spun about for around the third time, it saw her approach way too late, as her ax collided with the creature's neck, as Tessia yelled loudly and threw her weight behind the heavy weapon.

Her ax drove straight through the creature as she spun about and dashed towards the next.  Already that familiar feeling of wooziness and foggy edged vision bean, she had to at least wound this one, and she wouldn't be able too make it too the last.  As the Kobold staggered into a defensive stance, Tessia snapped out her ax's pommel right into the things arms.  As it flailed backwards almost falling into Caer's whirlwind, Tessia took a single step forward and brought her ax arcing back and then straight down as if chopping wood.  Sparks flew from the chunk of stone she left as her weapon cleaved this one into data bits as well.

She sat there, unable to open her eyes however, and not anticipating the other unknown effect of her Liner armor, her actual armor had become broken, stripped of any defensive qualities it may have had before.  Although temporary, the last Kobold managed to snap out with it's cudgel and land a direct hit on her neck, launching her to the left violently as she growled against the pain.  Her bar flashing a bright red as she had just under 10% health remaining, all she could do was lie there, her tattoos flickering and stuttering with weak silver light from such a massive mana loss.  But, she trusted her new-found allies, and hopefully they would be able to reach her before that Kobold finished her and sent her back too the Cathedral.  Allowing herself a moments respite, with her fogged vision she just watched Caer happily.  If it was a better way too go, she couldn't think of any better.

[out of game note:armor is only temporarily disabled :) just for reference~ sorry this took me two days Hiro and Caer! ><]

[Deleted]

	HP 100% Regen 5HP every 5s MP 100% Regen 3MP every 5s	Caerbannog :: Level 89 :: Samurai :: Aeryn Armor: Charcoal Ooyoroi with Pitch-black Yukata masked with Zankapfel Main Weapon: Nóttúlfr (Night Wolf) with Mitsuho and Black Star Left Forearm: Nótthöggr (Night Striker) Quick Slot: Nótthrafn (Night Raven)
WC: 280	Tags: Hirosame Tessia	Skills: Bushamonkeshin (C3) | Murakumonotachi

Everything seemed to be going well for the group. Despite the large number of enemies and their varying levels, the adventurers’ efforts seemed to be able to deal with most of the creatures. Caerbannog acted as the bait while the other two killed off the incoming kobolds, with Caer being unable to do much aside from sidestepping and dodging due to the requirement of her skill. Hirosame was doing well on his end, being the monk that he was. As she glanced at the way that he fought, the samurai could not believe that Hiro was of the same class as the dwarf. Tobin was definitely not monk-y; he was more like a fleshy weapon made for throwing. Or maybe that was all in the girl’s head.

With her thoughts momentarily fixated on the enigma that was the dwarven monk, Caerbannog was rudely pulled back to the current situation when Tessia took a strong hit and was about to be gutted by a kobold. The samurai immediately put her weapon down and activated Bishamonkeshin, bathing the mobs in its quickly intensifying bright light. Unengaged kobold quickly turned towards Caer as the ace move’s Hate-drawing effect clouded their minds. Tessia’s attacker though only momentarily flinched, but turned back to its original target which was the disadvantaged assassin.

Seeing no other choice but to use her chains, Caerbannog used her ace move Murakumonotachi to create a semi-transparent barrier around her self, Hirosame and Tessia. It would be able to absorb physical attacks for a few seconds, hopefully long enough for the much faster monk to pull the assassin out of harm’s way while Caer ran to the opposite direction, pulling the attracted mobs along with her.

[Hirosame]

This was a dire situation indeed. Tessia's health had plummeted to an unsafe zone, and it seemed like she was out of mana to do much of anything else. Hiro needed to act fast. Eye of the Tiger came off of cooldown just a few moments before, and he needed to activate it now. The skill was used, and his speed increased significantly. He dashed over to the fallen assassin, and jumped into the air, delivering a fatal flying kick to the Kobold before Tessia. He quickly picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. He was about to start running in the opposite direction of @dindeen, when an idea popped into his head. It was something he had done in the fight with Maya-chan, and he needed to replicate it. So, instead of running away, Hiro used his superior speed to catch up to the samurai, and slung her over his other shoulder. "Sorry, you two!" Hiro shouted, continuing in the direction Caer was going. "I'll handle the rest. Just leave it to me!"

He sprinted as fast as his virtual body would let him, calculating how much mana he had left. He used up only about 25% of his total pool, which was good, since he'd need exactly half of his total mana to perform the next attack. He would also need a few seconds to charge up, but if they got far enough away, that would be no problem at all. He started to circle around the mobs for a few seconds, making two full rotations, carrying the two women over his shoulders. Hopefully, they didn't mind the fireman-style carry, and would just go along with it. He had a plan, that's all they needed to know. He stopped running around in circles and got sufficient distance from the mobs, placing the girls down. He turned around, and took a few steps forward. "Don't move, either of you." He commanded. This wasn't him trying to be cool. This wasn't him trying to be a hero. This was him trying to obliterate mobs in the most efficient way possible. Hopefully, the quest would be done after this.

Hiro put his hands up into the air, and crossed them, as a small blue orb of mana started to form in between his hands. He began to pool his mana into the orb, rapidly. He put his left arm back down, took a side stance, and held the orb above his right hand, as it slowly grew in size. This move he had used against Mayahuel was probably something that Caer remembered. Hiro had used his Monk Energy skill, Aura Dragon Punch, but bent the rules behind it a bit. Instead of using only 10% mana to produce the energy ball, he put in 20%. That was all the mana he had remaining at the time, but now was different. His pool exceeded 20%. Now 30%. 40%. It stopped at 50% mana usage for the orb, as it was a bright glowing mass now just in front of his hand. He brought his hand down, and aimed it ahead at the funneled mobs on their way over to them. Hiro smirked a bit, and looked them in the eyes. Their raging faces meant nothing now, as he leaned forward a bit. Reaching the height of his smirk, Hiro spoke silently. "Kaboom."

The energy was released. It wasn't a ball, or a blast of energy. No, it was a beam of energy. Wide enough to encompass the entire tunnel that he had brought the enemies down. Hiro's mana was now visibly draining on the interface for everybody. It wasn't a rapid drain, but it was still visible. The mobs caught in the beam of energy evaporated under the sheer power of the skill. This kind of an attack had earned a place in Hiro's Last Ditch Effort book, known to him only has Dragon's Breath. He had only used this attack once before with Oxford, but even then it was a minor version of the skill. As the mana depleted, the beam continued to rage. Hiro was using all his mental and physical might to withstand the powerful kick-back from the skill. His smirk turned into a cringe, as the mana pool finally depleted enough to cause the beam to shrink in size. Finally, after a total of ten seconds of absolute power being shot forth from Hiro's hand, the beam was gone. The enemies were disintegrated, and the strength it took to hold the skill for that long finally hit Hiro. He collapsed to one knee, trying to catch his breath. He turned to Tessia and Caer, and asked. "Are you both alright?"

[783 Words]

[Tessia]

Flash.  Flash.  Flash.  That incessant blinking of a low HP bar coupled with the noise it made swam in Tessia's thought's as she tried to wake up.  Still hearing the sounds of battle as her mana bar blinked too, low but not all the way gone yet either.  It was then the strangest thing happened.  She felt a sheaf of protection engulf her being suddenly, as if there were a barrier of sorts that was cast to protect her.  Grinning to herself, she must have looked quite the sight sitting there with her ax too the side, looking all defeated and barely out of level 11.  As opposed too her temporary comrades who certainly seemed to know what they were doing.  

Managing to open her eyes a little, the next thing she saw baffled her too no end as she spied her HP marker.  Yes it still glowed red and blinked to indicate her status of hit points.  But something was off.  She had researched images of buffs in the game and the various icons used to represent them.  Even temporary one's like Caer's that had affected her.  But looking at her bar now she noticed a aura coming off her HP bar itself, not indicated by the iconic marks that usually were seen when normal skills were used.  And just above it, labeled in a dark red text were the words "UNKNOWNPROTECTBARRIER.EXE".  She glanced down at her chest piece and was amazed at what she saw.  Dancing off the surface of the armor were in the exact shape of the parts she used earlier, spectral remnants of the Liner Armor she had created.

The marks on her body now ceased to flicker as what little mana she had left she used right then.  Reaching out too her chest she shaped her remaining amount in her palms and felt all along her armor, memorizing how it felt and how it functioned.  Then without warning she blacked out.  Her mind a ceaseless surge of thought, she could see in her subconscious there, what looked like the core of Soil Golem.  It's core was exposed as the wires began to reform and glow with a hot orange light.  Tessia could only look on as she watched it literally forge mana into it's palms like she had, and reached down into it's own coils and pull forth the very essence of it's core.  There it floated with various magical phrases she could only deduce as Latin, lacing the whole spectral barrier as a complete set of armor that floated of it's own accord.

That was it!  You had to make the cycle then using your own mana, force it outside its physical state and into the armor of your choice!  It was Caer's barrier that had agitated the residue on Tessia's armor that had allowed for the reaction too take place.  She didn't know if she was grinning or what, but she was so happy to finally have a breakthrough that made sense and that could work.  And at least now she knew the theory behind how the game would power her mana shielding armor.  Now, all she had too do was wake up, and hopefully survive this whole thing.  Was she being carried or was it her own imagination?

Tessia snapped awake to spot her HP bar once again, the mysterious protection erased as she looked at her armor.  Engraved into the surface were varying phrases that meant "Protect" and "Guard" burned into the surface of her leather armor.  She knew the phrases as she took Latin as a minor back in collage in Germany.  They were superficial in nature a lot like the marks on her skin that glowed when exposed too mana or when she used her own.  She sat with her back too a wall, noticing now that Caer and her had been put aside and Hirosame began to charge a massive amount of energy.  The attack he launched surprised even her, as he practically beamed raw mana force into the remaining Kobold's, obliterating them and quite a bit of the area they were just in.  

She turned to regard Caer and too thank her mainly for her help.  There was no doubt they both had saw that error and would have questions.  turning towards Caer, and glad again for her face mask hiding her stupid blush and grin she said, "Ah well thanks for your help.  I am Tessia by the way.  Though I am sure you know that.  It's nice too meet you both.  Caerbannog right?"  She hoped they didn't think her a cheater or a freak or anything after that rather obvious error code that had appeared next too her HP bar.  She reached up and began to undo her face mask, better to let them know even if subconsciously, that she would be truthful with them.  Even if she didn't quite get how it all worked in the first place.

[Deleted]

	HP 100% Regen 5HP every 5s MP 100% Regen 3MP every 5s	Caerbannog :: Level 89 :: Samurai :: Aeryn Armor: Charcoal Ooyoroi with Pitch-black Yukata masked with Zankapfel Main Weapon: Nóttúlfr (Night Wolf) with Mitsuho and Black Star Left Forearm: Nótthöggr (Night Striker) Quick Slot: Nótthrafn (Night Raven)
WC: 365	Tags: Hirosame Tessia	Skills: ---

Caerbannog was taken along for a rollercoaster ride, one that she enjoyed quite a bit, along with the nearly-dying Tessia. The monk was impressively fast and was able to draw the aggressiveness of the groups of kobold to himself without being caught in their attacks. The samurai wondered what was up but she stayed where she was as she calmly enjoyed the ride. At some point, she noticed something going on with Tessia’s armor, which looked different from the usual garments of leather, metal or cloth, but she wasn’t one to poke her nose into other people’s business. The assassin was able to hold her own and would have done better if there wasn’t a whole army of kobolds there, so her business was hers alone apart from whatever she did with the group.

After the assassin and the samurai was tucked safely into one corner of the area, Hirosame started up what Caerbannog could only recall as a Maya-chwan Beam. Was the monk part-plant? Who knows. As the wolf-hair watched curious skill, she began to focus on the sparkly light that formed and let out a sigh of awe when Hirosame destroyed the incoming creatures. The skill continued for a few seconds, and Caer deemed it the Continuous Maya-chwan Beam. Once the ordeal was over, the area was devoid of life save for the three adventurers.

“More than okay!” Caer screamed at Hiro’s face, still exhilarated by the display of the Maya-chwan Beam.

So as not to sound redundant, the samurai stood up and threw a thumbs up sign at Tessia when the assassin spoke up. Caer was going to give her fair share of the conversation of course- in the form of sweets. She took out an Apple Discordant, wrapped in a table napkin, and held it in her right hand for Hirosame to take as she said ‘sweet and sour’, indicating the food item’s main flavor and also alluding to its effect since most sweet items regenerated magic points. Caer then took out a Hamburoll, also wrapped in a napkin, and held it in her left hand so that the assassin who needed to regain some hit points could take it as she said ‘burger’.

Apple Discordant: Level 20. An apple that was hollowed out and filled with crushed meringue and lemon juice; a Trojan horse of flavour. May contain custard or caramel. It restores a slight amount of MP.

Hamburolls: Level 20. Hamburger meat and seasonings stuffed inside a dinner roll, sprinkled with fragrant sesame seeds and baked to a golden colour. Served with potato ridges and sweet or hot tomato ketchup. It restores a slight amount of HP.

[Hirosame]

After having received no amount of a thank you from Tessia, it was rather refreshing to hear the reaction Hiro had gotten from @dindeen. Although she had shouted her state-of-being, nearly deafening the monk, he still smiled and nodded. "I'm glad you both are alright." He said, before flopping onto his back, arms spread out wide. He closed his eyes and began to pant a bit, letting his breath flow through his mouth with ease. He wanted to jump right up and shout about how cool he felt after delivering an attack such as that. While it was written in the skill description that Aura Dragon Punch used 10% of the total mana of the user, it never said anything about over-charging to create an even more powerful skill. He wondered if anybody else had thought about that kind of thing, and if he was actually being original or not. He forgot about thinking about that for now, and only focused on the rest of the mission.

Which he assumed to be over, by this point. He couldn't imagine that there were any more monsters nearby, since he literally obliterated the ones they were fighting by the entrance. Having felt like an EXP-hog, he did feel kind of bad about it. But, Tessia's health was far too low for him to ignore, and Caer's aggro was far too high. He couldn't let them tank all the damage while he just stayed there, spinning around like a top. Sure, he was dealing damage, but he could do so much more using his speed and evasiveness. Which is why he did what he did. He looked over at the ladies, and saw that they were both doing alright. Caer was giving a childish thumbs up to Tessia, who seemed to be bashful, for some reason. He didn't want to ask about it, and basically ignored it. He smiled and lay on his back for a while longer. He still felt kinda tired after the skill, having taken a lot out of him in a short period of time. That stuff's taxing, yo.

He sat back up, his breath having returned, just in time to see the food that Caer was offering him with her right hand. He gladly took the food, and nodded to the samurai. "Thanks, Caer." Hiro took a small bite out of the food, and his eyes widened. "Delicious!" He exclaimed, immediately beginning to scarf down the object in his hand. He heard that making something by hand was the only way to make food in this game, and that if it was made by a master chef, it was the most delicious thing one could have in this world. Not even taking a moment to savor the flavor of the item, he noticed that it was actually replenishing his mana with each consecutive bite. He'd mention something about it after he was done eating. Hiro hadn't eaten much, aside from the egg that Saeko attempted to make this morning, which was honestly sub-par. She wasn't a cook, nor was she going to try to be. The only thing that she'd be good for is being a brewer- Oh shit.

Hiro remembered that Saeko had sent him a message a while ago, that he never replied to. "Hey, Caer?" Hiro began. "So, what I was saying earlier: Would you like to grab a drink or two with Saeko and I after this is done?" An immediate loud noise started to ring in his ear, as the telepathy mechanic started to initiate a call between him and someone else. He answered it, and his ear exploded.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN, YOU LAZY BASTARD!?!"

It was Saeko. Hiro held his ears as the assault began. Suddenly, she got very quiet, and he could hear the anger and frustration from her side of the call. "H-Hey, Saeko!" He began, cheerily. "W-Well, I'm here with Caer and another person named Tessia, and we've come down here to the Underground to kill some stuff. I was just asking Caer if she wanted to go grab drinks with us after this is done." He chuckled shyly, a cold bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head. Nothing from the other side. She didn't say a word. Hiro wondered if his ass was grass or not. Just then, he heard a slight "Hmph." Saeko made a noise. "Fine, you can invite her." Hiro couldn't see, but Saeko was looking away from the interface, angrily. Hiro looked over to Caer, and waited for her reply.

[762 Words]

[Tessia]

Realizing that she had been lost in conversing with Caer, that Hirosame had finished off the Kobold's.  Caerbannog was rather vocal about how fun it was.  Seeing Hirosame plop down and take the apple from Caer, Tessia said "That was some assault you launched there.  Thank you too for your swift rescue.  I'd probably be back at the Catherdral by now if it hadn't been for you Hirosame."  With her face revealed she managed a weary smile at Hirosame as Caer walked up and offered her a burger.  It was one thing for her to see another girl, let alone a beautiful one like Caer, and quite another for that same girl to be offering her food.

She was sure her cheeks must have been a dark red as she reached up and took the burger, a thankful peep came from her lips which she soon forced into a proper phrase. "Thanks a lot Carbannog.  It looks so good." At first she was too lost in her dreamy state to recognize the taste, then it promptly reasserted itself with her second bite.  This.  Was.  Amazing.  She began to eat at it a bit faster as her HP bar zoomed back up into just above yellow and turned green.  Her low health thanks too being a Ritual was showing here but thankfully there was no sign of that odd barrier error.  

Biting at her food, she heard a sudden commotion as Hirosame got a rather loud telepathic call from someone.  She sounded really angry as Hirosame seemed to be arranging another get together.  Eating down the rest of her food she stood and stretched a bit, looking about for her battle ax.  Spotting it nearby she moves over too it and hoists it atop her shoulder and turns towards the other two.  "Hey, It isn't much but if i manage to succeed in my experiment, you two will be the first too know about it.  Thank you both very much for having me along.  I hoped to be of some use at least.  Here is my info so we can keep in touch."  She taps the menu and sends her friend request too both Caerbannog and Hirosame.  "Fell free to contact me anytime."

As she was taught, she did a polite curtsy to them both even though she was minus a skirt to move.  Without another word and a simple smile on her face, Tessia departed back to were she came from.  Deciding to hit upon Silent Move and make it back too her inn room quietly, she hoped that surely she would see those two again.  It would definitely be a reunion she would look forward too.  she hasted along as fast as her skill would allow, eager to attempt again at her mana barrier armor.  She was sure too get it right this time.

[Deleted]

	HP 100% Regen 5HP every 5s MP 100% Regen 3MP every 5s	Caerbannog :: Level 89 :: Samurai :: Aeryn Armor: Charcoal Ooyoroi with Pitch-black Yukata masked with Zankapfel Main Weapon: Nóttúlfr (Night Wolf) with Mitsuho and Black Star Left Forearm: Nótthöggr (Night Striker) Quick Slot: Nótthrafn (Night Raven)
WC: 250	Tags: Hirosame Tessia	Skills: ---

Caerbannog clapped enthusiastically when both adventurers were pleased with her cooking. Hirosame’s invitation was a surprise and any other day, the samurai would have been much obliged to join the monk. But recently, she’s had quite a scolding from Kumori and so the girl thought twice about accepting the invitation. Tessia’s friend request came at the right time and distracted the samurai momentarily; Caer accepted the request and bowed respectfully when the assassin bade them farewell. She then noticed that Hiro was somewhat distressed... was it because she had not given a reply yet?

“I... would...” was her slow response, but then the wolf-hair’s eyes suddenly lit up as she threw her hands up, “ - ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO!”

No one could stop her, not even Kumori! Well, maybe he could if he was there, but he wasn’t so HA! Caerbannog eagerly led the way out of the tunnel and then when they were almost outside, she waved to the monk.

“Let’s go, let’s go get wasted!” Caer said and she would let him lead the way, “I haven’t gotten drunk in forever!”

She did not even stop to think and consider the implications of going out to drink with people that she barely knew. Kumori really had reason to be worried about the samurai, but he wasn’t around to scold her so she was fortunate that the monk and the other samurai were possibly rather decent people. Who knows what anyone else would do with a drunk schoolgirl samurai?

[Hirosame]

Hiro gladly accepted the friend invitation from Tessia as she left, and nodded to her in parting. At that moment, he heard another grunt from the other side of the telepathic conversation. Saeko didn't seem at all happy. "So, what were you doing with two girls, Hiro?" She asked, violently. Hiro only chuckled a bit, and said that he would explain later. Returning to her silent state, Saeko waited. It was about at this time that @dindeen seemed to be all for going to get a drink with the two, which Saeko was slightly overjoyed about. "Great, I'll meet you two there. Hiro, you know the place." With that, Saeko cut communication with the monk, leaving him with nothing but a command to take the female samurai to the place where they normally would go for drinks. As Caer started to merrily skip over towards the entrance, Hiro couldn't help but laugh a little bit at how childish she was. Maybe her and Saeko would get along just fine.

Upon reaching the entrance, Hiro put his hands in his pockets, and started to walk beside Caer. "Y'know, I appreciate you coming along for this." Turning to give her a smile, he continued. "Saeko's really overjoyed that she's got another friend here, which I'm grateful for." Turning back to face the way out, Hiro turned his chin up, looking at the sun from underground. "Saeko would never say this herself, but... Thanks, Caer." He meant that truthfully. Saeko was a handful, sure, but having another person to be there for her is something that Hiro was truly happy about. And since it was Caer, who was unbelievably strong, it only helped out even more so. Samurai have to stick together, right? Maybe this will help Saeko relax a bit more. Maybe he'll get to see a side of the swordswoman that he'd never seen before. Sure, she was cute, but he'd do just about anything to see her smile a little bit more. That's what friends are for, right? Making each other smile and laugh. With Caer there, there would be a bit more laughing and smiling. Of course, that means he'll have to carry two drunken women on his back later in the evening, but whatever. So long as everybody was happy, he would deal with it. Ten out of Ten, totally worth it.

[394 Words]

((OOC: If you'd like to actually RP this out, I'd be more than happy to. Kumori could join, too, acting as if he had caught you in the act. I think it'd be kinda funny, really. But, it's all up to you~ Throw me a PM if you're interested!))