Dead Crabs Tell No Tales [Solo | Celestial Arms II Part IV]

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

He felt like he blinked. When he opened his eyes, the accursed Trickster was no longer there, nor was the room he had first entered a year ago. In its place were a dozen or so pathways, each leading off into the darkness to who knows where. Of course, his initial sightings confirmed that everything was pitch black, and it was only after a nightvision potion that he was able to see his surroundings.

He examined the path divider closest to him. Brown dirt. the absence of light meant that he was underground, and the dirt confirmed that he was definitely not in the desert. The temperature was warmer than it was in Avon, so he was unlikely to be in the Trickster's basement, though temperature should be an easy thing to manage if you have the right mobs constantly breathing fire into the tunnels. The Trickster did say that this was the past, though, so he was probably in some sort of alternate reality, here to cause a time paradox. Those things tend to be unstable. He should hurry up and find an exit.

If he had all the time in the world to find his way out of here, he would walk along one path, sticking to the left wall as he explored the area while drawing a rough map and attempting to find treasure and stuff. But there was no time to be had, if he was to complete his task and save Lune. Turning to Skuggi, he asked if the plant could detect any wind draft. As a plant, its appendages were lighter, hence it could pick up wind direction more easily than he could. And wind often only comes from an exit, unless it was a trap set up by someone.

Skuggi pointed in one direction, and so he turned to make haste as the Ripper Jack literally vanished into the shadows ahead. As he did so, he heard the clinking of metal boots and the padding of lighter boots coming from the opposite direction. he immediately tensed up, whirling around with his swords at the ready, contemplating if he should just run or attempt a brave last stand against what is likely to be more than just one person.

From the shadows, three Adventurers emerged. A look of surprise registered on their faces. They were clearly not expecting company. Then again, neither was he.

~

Word count: 400
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 400 x 1.1 = 440
Notes: Post 1 of 3 for part 4 of the Celestial Arms II Questline.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

Skuggi was still in the shadows, so he shifted his right arm backwards, momentarily lifting his four fingers, excluding thumb, in a motion that he hoped passed as a 'wait' command. He should really get some signals going. No telling what things he would need to say with a couple of fingers. He made a mental note to remember to do that, promptly forgetting said notion. Perhaps next time, he would remember at a time where the opportunity to do so was present. Unlikely, though.

Anyway, the three Adventurers before him were, at a glance, mostly of a higher level than him, sporting gear that matched their level, unlike the impoverished him who could barely afford to feed and clothe himself and was still using old gear. He was actually pretty certain he was still using his basic starter weapons while using Ante Up. Not exactly the kind of damaging build you would want while running up against a bunch of potentially malicious Adventurers. Hopefully a painful death would remind him to purchase new gear instead of being way too frugal.

The Adventurers who stood before him were all male, and going by game demographs, would probably also be male in real life, possibly even friends before the apocalypse. One was a knight wielding a heavy tower shield and a large silver mace, another was a Wolf Hair with the gait of an Assassin, and the last was another Wolf Hair wearing Japanese armor and had a curved blade at his side, most definitely a Samurai. So two tanks, one DPS. Would be a solid combination with a Cleric or Druid at the back.

The three Adventurers quickly overcame their shock, and after exchanging uneasy looks with one another, the knight with the mace stepped forward. He then noted that the knight was a Cleric. A melee cleric. Not particularly rare, but that means that this small party had all their bases covered. The Cleric waved a hand in greeting. "Hey there! Are you lost too?"

Lost? He just got here. He explained that he had only arrived where he was not just a minute ago, carefully avoiding how he got here. There was a possibility that they took a different route in, and he was not the type of person to lay all his cards on the table at once. Thankfully, Skuggi chose to hide in the shadows as somehow ordered. If he was to make a hasty retreat, a few bombs with the element of surprise would serve most useful.

He had to admit, though, that the Cleric was a bit invasive, asking questions about all sorts of things on his journey, notably why he was alone. He answered each one evasively, never giving a full answer, but still somehow partially answering the questions directed at him? Why he was alone? He found that a bit difficult to answer, because he himself did not really understand why he chose to be alone. He simply gave the excuse of being in the right place at the wrong time; there was no telling when this event would end, and there may not be enough time to gather people he could trust his back to.

For the Cleric's part, he simply nodded along, as though he were thinking to himself. He was most likely determining if the Swashbuckler was someone they needed to kill, or walk away from. At the very least, they did not attack him outright. That was a good sign, if anything. It also seems like the Cleric was their leader, judging by how they were letting him do the talking and just standing nearby with their hands on their weapons but making no movement to engage in combat. He guessed Skuggi was also prepared to lob bombs into the area at a moment's notice, and made a mental note to move low and towards Skuggi should things get ugly.

The Cleric stroke his chin thoughtfully, then nodded to himself. "You seem okay. You want to come with us? At least till we get out of this place." He cocked his head slightly. Why would they just talk to some random Adventurer they met in a potentially hostile environment, then invite for a party? It was dangerous business, and the danger worked both ways. They would not be able to know if he was part of a PK guild. Likewise, he did not know if this was a trap, that was likely what crossed the other two Adventurer's mind as well, for they tried to speak out, but were silenced by the Cleric. "I consider myself a good judge of character. I know you're worried, but we barely made it out against Brachyura alive even with the strange power the pebble gave us..."

He perked up at the mention of the stone. Pebble?

A few sentences later, it was quickly established that they both had identical pebbles called the Pebble of Philosophy, raising questions about what it is. He soon quickly found out that they met the Trickster as well, though they definitely were not present last year, and he naturally omitted that part. It was clear, though, that there were some differences in the two's adventure. Their stick did not go shining bright like a diamond, according to them. And it sounded like they had a tough fight with Brachyura.

"Good thing I ran away with Call of Home then."

"But do you think it might attempt to follow you?" He kept silent at that. He had never really thought about it that way. Would it?

As if to answer the question, the wall furthest from the group burst open, revealing an enraged Brachyura with legs all clicky and arms all grabby. The glowing eyes focused on him, and the crab groaned for the pebble.

"Well, I guess we have an answer. I think I'll take you up on that group offer. Hope you don't regret it."

~

Word count: 990
Total word count (Swashbuckler): ( 400 + 990 ) x 1.1 = 1529
Notes: Post 2 of 3 for part 4 of the Celestial Arms II Questline.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

Brachyura roared a sea creature's roar, locking eyes with the Swashbuckler for a brief moment, then looking at the other Adventurers, noticably staring at the Cleric known as Pisapio in confusion. "Pebble... Pebble...? Two...?"

The Swashbuckler grinned a little. "Seems like the crab is confused by multiple versions of the Pebble. Perhaps we can use this to our advantage." For the Cleric's part, he seemed to have not moved from his spot, nor did the other two. It was as if they were debating whether they should help him, turn tail and leave him, or kill him where he stood.

"Ah, heck. It should be easier to fight with more people. Jeraun! Frigo!" At the Cleric's command, the two Adventurers swung into motion, the Samurai lunging past Icyferno as [Bushi Chousen] was fired off. It was a good choice. As a tank, drawing aggro early would allow the DPS to hit away, while the support ensured everyone stayed alive.

As Jeraun flew past, he heard him mutter, "I don't trust you..." He doubted it was his imagination.

Brachyura growled in response to the taunt, flinging one of its arms to connect with Jeraun's blade in a burst of sound. At the same time, Icyferno's stone suddenly felt warm within his Satchel, and all four of them, probably Skuggi included, were bathed in a warm light as the empowering effect of the stone fell upon all of them. The punch from Brachyura, which should have sheared off at least a fifth of the Samurai's HP due to the massive level and stat difference, was reduced to a small line of damage on Jeraun's health. Seems like the stone still wants him to end this fight, which was good. He would not know what to do if it had not activated. Most likely, they would have been annihilated. That would probably end with a "So much for joining up..." and three spiteful Adventurers.

Without missing a beat, the Cleric acted as the apparent de facto leader of the group, shouting out commands to take down Brachyura. As Pisapio was not too familiar with Icyferno's skills, he was mostly regulated to things like, "Raise your damage output!" and "Switch!". The poor guy probably did not have much experience with Swashbucklers. Anyway, he did his thing, following instructions of the one right next to him, bashing in the crab shell with a crushing mace probably more suited for the job than his pointy swords. He did not use [Ante Up] during the fight, mostly because he was kind of worried they might notice the appearance of the Starter Sword. And they probably would, given the lacklustre appearance of the weapon in question.

With 4 Adventurers, the level 90 Genius went down in no time at all, probably because of everyone feeding off the Stone's lust for battle. He did not even need to call in Skuggi, who he ordered to look out for any incoming enemies and intercept them if possible so that they could focus on the fight. Might not have been needed at all, given how sound a thrashing they gave Brachyura.

At the end of the battle, the other three Adventurers could be seen with a confused expression on their face. "I don't remember Brachyura being that easy to take down..." Frigo said aloud, which the other two confirmed. Perhaps it was due to the Brachyura only being prepared to take him down one on one, Icyferno suggested. They shrugged, seeming to accept that reason. What matters was that Brachyura was dead again, anyway.

With the situation of sudden crabs now over, the other three discussed how to get out of the underground maze. Icyferno suggested they follow the wind currents out, to which the other three agreed, but also wanted to know how he would know where to follow the current.

Well, they were his team for now, so he should share what he had. In as few sentences as possible, he explained that he was an Animal Trainer, and his tamed beast could track the wind current and was currently ahead of their position. It was true, at least. Jeraun demanded to see this tamed beast, probably due to aforementioned mistrust which may not be misplaced, considering he could totally lead them into a trap that way.

He nodded, then called Skuggi to return. A few moments later, a shadow came bounding out of the darkness like a bullet, stopping just a meter from the [Magic Light] conjured by Pisapio.

"How can that thing even track the wind?" Jeraun argued, earing himself a snarl from Skuggi.

"Easy, leaves are light: A light draft is all you need to rustle them. Following the opposite direction the leaves rustle in, we should be able to find an exit, or at least a place where the wind blows." It was a fairly solid plan and all of them probably knew it. A few raised objections were shut down, and they proceeded forth, Skuggi constantly ahead of them.

A light pierced through the darkness at the far side of the tunnel they were currently on, one which was not a [Magic Light]. As the party moved forward, the light seemed to jump out and catch all of them in its embrace.

Then everything went white. On the... bright side, it was a nice change from all of the 'fade to black' scenes earlier.

~

Word count: 900
Total word count (Swashbuckler): ( 400 + 990 + 900 ) x 1.1 = 2519
Notes: Post 3 of 3 for part 4 of the Celestial Arms II Questline.