[center][abbr=Octopath Travelers][img]https://i.ibb.co/88KWNj5/OTbanner.png[/img][/abbr]
[sup]____________________________________________________[/sup]
[color=FFC6C6][u]Level[/u]: [b]8[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 256/80[/color] [color=2e2c2c]------[/color] [color=BC8DBF][u]Level[/u]: [b]7[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 131/70[/color]
[color=gray]𝙱𝙿[/color] [color=gold]●●[/color][color=white]●●●[/color] [color=2e2c2c]----------------------------[/color] [color=gray]𝙱𝙿[/color] [color=gold]●●[/color][color=white]●●●[/color]
[color=lightgray]Word Count: 1369 (+3 exp)
[b]Location[/b]: The Under[/color][/center]
The Travelers could deal with a lot of things that came their way, and had adapted surprisingly well to all kinds of foreign enemies and technologies. The bombs that the Caretaker produced, however, they were wholly unprepared for. Though warned about what would happen, the fact that the bombs were not launched from the platform the Caretaker but literally teleported to 'drop' on them was something neither Primrose nor Therion could counter. Both of them had to reply on their speed to try and dodge the worst of the explosions. 

It was for that reason that Therion took on his beast form after suffering the fringe of a phase bomb going off. He hoped that literal cat-like reflexes would help him get out of the way more easily. For the most part it worked, which meant Therion didn't have to look out only for himself. He veered toward the Data Vault, where he spotted Tingyun laying. She was practically a sitting duck like that, so he grabbed her with his jaws and flipped her onto his back before setting off, dashing away from any explosions.

It was with great relief that the bombing came to an end. The Caretaker's final phase was heralded by Nadia's own explosive blast of water. Yet more machines poured into the room... and more, and more, and more. It was so much more than the earlier reinforcements, but as dicey as things were getting for Primrose and her dwindling mana, she'd rather face this than another round of bombs. A spider-legged robot turned it's gun on her, until she turned it away by snapping the whip of her Devout Beads around it and yanking it hard enough to swivel the weapon. She stabbed at the Hot Rod with her lance until it crumpled, all the while more machines were attacking. It was at that point that one of the Seekers' newer recruits, the knight Artorias, stepped in to help her.

His assistance was unexpected, and his gruff voice made his warning come off almost condescending, but luckily Artorias saved himself a woman's scorn with his follow up.

[color=D34C25]"You've got that right,"[/color] she said with a wink, twirling her Ice Lance and using it to completely skewer a Drillscrew robot as it burrowed up from the ground nearby. Raising one arm she summoned another boulder, smashing it pieces and plugging up the hole underneath it.

When the dirt wall exploded and revealed Kanna joining the fray, Primrose was taken aback. Now they had to worry about the random effects again too? 

Her fellow Traveler felt much the same, though he wasn't nearby. The mighty roar he'd just let out while still in his beast form stopped a Smallfry from attacking himself and Tingyun, but then it turned into a [i][color=BC8DBF]Mrrowr?[/color][/i] at Kanna's sudden appearance. In quick succession he dropped Tingyun off from his back, leapt up to disable the humanoid robot with the specially made blade fitting his beast form, then shifted back into his human form in order to deal with whatever crazy thing was about to happen to them. 

The gold veins forming on the cavern walls, glittering on the edge of the firefight, was enough of a distraction that he was hit with the first of many power-ups that fell from the ceiling. [i]For the love of-[/i] he started to curse inwardly, wondering what kind of change he'd go through, but surprisingly he only felt one familiar thing.

Both his mana and his BP were at maximum, he could feel it. He poured three boosts into the next attack with his short sword, striking with four times more power than normal straight through one of the robots, and it fell over while emitting a heap of sparks. Lo and behold when he touched another one of the power-ups, the only kind that was currently falling, his Battle Points went right back up to full. 

He had to hand it to Kanna, this was better. And it would make things a whole lot easier. 

He started to cross the cavern, heading towards his fellow Orsterran and this time intentionally picking up the fruits of Kanna's intervention. In a normal fight there was no way he'd be able to battle boost so much, so he took advantage of the phenomenon now. His sword arm was at its most deadly, now able to cleave through the metal chassis of their opposition. And though moments when his allies weren't in his line of sight were few and far between, whenever he had a clear shot he conjured Aeber's Reckoning to set a hail of daggers upon the area, ripping through machines and peppering the Caretaker as it spun. All the while Therion's body glowed with a whitish blue aura.

When he got closer to Primrose it was clear that she'd realized what the power-ups could do as well, given she was aglow with the same aura. Unlike Therion who was boosting his physical prowess, Primrose was putting her replenishing mana to use alongside her BP. Her spells were larger, stronger. They covered wide areas in wreathes of black flames, only to follow it up with explosive moonlight. She was wreaking so much havoc that it was almost a shame to ask her to stop.

[color=BC8DBF]"Primrose, a dance?"[/color] Therion said, figuring she could do it now while she had some extra defense in the form of Artorias. [color=BC8DBF]"Sealticge's."[/color]

Her eyes flickered over to him. She pivoted, twirling around one side of Artorias to but him between herself and the bulk of the robots. He began her dance with no questions asked, save one. [color=D34C25]"Have something in mind?"[/color]

[color=BC8DBF]"Yeah,"[/color] was all he said in reply. Primrose performed the final step in Sealticge's Seduction, the glow of her body making the spectacle even more entrancing for any that happened to see it during the chaos. With a slight grin and nod of his head in thanks, the thief was off again.

With dance completed, Primrose used her lance to swipe at a Chopper that had gotten too close before rejoining the battle proper. She gingerly touched a hand wreathed in the flame of Warmth to Artoria's armor to shore up his health, reached up to snap a power-up as it fell from the ceiling, and then switched from her healing spell to an offensive one. She gestured for the knight to go on without her, indicating he take the fight to the Caretaker now that the Koopas had put it on ice. Once she was on her own again relatively speaking, she smirked and let loose on all the other summoned robots, watching their weak spots implode whenever she struck them. [color=D34C25]"Time to really put on a show."[/color]

Meanwhile, Therion enacted his plan. It was a simple, but also something that would nearly trivialize the swarm temporarily. Sealticge's Seduction would let him spread the effects of his skills to every enemy currently in the area - each of them, large or small, no matter how many there were. With Primrose's battle boost the dance's effect would last longer, much longer with three boosts. Now all Therion had to do was use his own battle boost, increasing the effect of his own skill, then grab another one of those power-ups and repeat until the Seduction wore off. His target was one of the Caretaker's long robotic arms, given it was stationary enough. Seemingly sensing his intent the limb swiveled around to take aim at him, but dodging its fire only delayed Therion for but a moment. He leapt onto it, not too far from it's base where if couldn't target him and it's thrashing wouldn't be too much of an issue. With his body blazing with his battle boost aura, he used [i]Shackle Foe[/i] - heavily lowering it's attack power, along with every other robot in the cavern. A few more uses of that would catch any new arrivals and stack on top of the ones already debuffed, turning heavy hitting turrets into softballs and the weaker robos into harmless nuisances. The threat would be all but nullified for a little while, letting the whole team regroup and refocus. It was a scheme that was only possible thanks to the Wonder Effect.