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[b]Word Count:[/b] 1,124
[b]Level 10 Roxas:[/b] 70/100
[b]Exp Gained:[/b] +2
[b]NEW EXP Balance---[/b] 72/100

[h3]Frozen Highland ~ Krat Zoo[/h3][/center]

[color=gold]”And I’m Roxas.”[/color] The Nobody piped up, mirroring Heismay by introducing himself to Mokou, who went on to clarify that she was a lot older than she looked. After that it was Heismay who kept the conversation going by offering to let Mokou accompany them. Roxas had no problem with that, and just nodded his agreement before they set out to rendezvous with the stagecoach.

Along the way, Mokou addressed him briefly about his ability with magic. [color=gold]”Oh, uh, thanks.”[/color] He replied. Roxas was not a mage or wizard by any stretch. Spells just happened to be one of the things he could occasionally draw upon with his Keyblades for extra help in a fight. A Keyblade Wielder that was more dedicatedly focused on magic? That was more Aqua’s wheelhouse than his own. Still, he wasn’t about to snub a compliment.

Roxas found himself returning to the Stagecoach around the same time Mokou did, meaning he caught Edward’s compliment about their good work. [color=gold]”Thanks.”[/color] He told the general, [color=gold]”That thing was no walk in the park, but we dealt with it together.”[/color] Speaking of the monster in question, Roxas was still holding onto its Spirit and gave the tactician a quick glimpse at what it was they were fighting earlier. [color=gold]”Pretty nasty, huh?”[/color]

After that he settled into the stagecoach, in the seat across from where Mokou had sat down briefly. Since he had a moment, he decided to go ahead and do something with the Spirit he was carrying. There was no way Roxas was going to fuse with it, that was for sure. And ever since he learned about the toll having extra strikers meant for one’s time limit? He was kinda antsy about spiritbinding now too. That left one option. [color=gold]”Guess I’m turning you into an item, then. Good riddance.”[/color] He said, with a shudder at the end. He donned the nearby Crown of Avarice onto his head and then clamped his gauntleted hands around the spirit in order to crush it.

[center][hider=Item Obtained][b][url=https://i.imgur.com/pPJfQWR.png]Acidic Curved Greatswprd[/url][/b]
A curved sword blade made by the Alchemists while researching Carcass body fluids. It was designed to spray acidic body fluid over the blade at regular intervals. The Alchemists took notice of the fact that Carcass body fluids had an acidic quality. After extensive research, they devised a weapon that dug into one's body like a viper's fang and inflicted continuous damage. Best wielded with a mix of strength and dexterity. The application and severity of its Decay status effects increase with arcane/advance/luck[/hider][/center]

[color=gold]”Mmph! Geez!”[/color] Roxas groaned when the oversized sword was suddenly crushing his lap. [color=gold]”This thing’s… heavy!”[/color] Roxas managed to wriggle his way out from under the weapon’s weight but it was way too heavy for him to lift. [color=gold]”Well, now what do I do with it? Hmm…”[/color] The Nobody rubbed his chin in thought before he caught sight of Ganondorf passing by the stagecoach.

[color=gold]”Hey!”[/color] Roxas called out to him, trying to flag the warlord down. [color=gold]”You think you could help me with a heavy sword in here?”[/color]

Ganondorf was about to ignore the boy outright. But when the Keyblade Wielder mentioned a large sword, that at least was enough to pique his curiosity. The Gerudo shifted his pace to walk alongside the stagecoach so he could peer in at the weapon in question. [color=797979]”Hm, not bad. You offering it to me or something?”[/color]

[color=gold]”I mean… if you want it, sure.”[/color] Roxas replied, [color=gold]”Mostly I just need help moving it, it’s too heavy for me.”[/color]

Ganondorf grunted a gruff reply but leaned into the stagecoach regardless. Naturally he was able to lift the weapon easily and pulled it outside the coach to get a better look at it. After a few moments he gave a grunt of approval and a nod of acknowledgement to Roxas before he continued on his way.

[color=gold]”Phew, finally.”[/color] Roxas said, relieved to not have the sword burdening him anymore. [color=gold]”At least someone can put it to use.”[/color] Any further thoughts were interrupted when the stagecoach suddenly lurched and rocked about from being attacked. [color=gold]”That’s probably not good.”[/color] He said as he spring from his seat and hopped outside to see what the commotion was.

No, no it was definitely not good. It turned out there was a massive alligator living in the nearby body of icy water. [color=gold]”Geez, who even put these animals in this Zoo, anyway?”[/color] Roxas asked with an exasperated tone of sarcasm. Obviously he wasn’t privy to the bits and pieces of the Zoo’s history that others like Edward and Sandalphon had been discovering.

That just left Roxas with figuring out his plan of attack. A monster that size with those scales would probably not feel his Keyblades or StepSword very much. And definitely not the RockGun either, most likely. What to do… what to do… Roxas snapped his fingers and grabbed one of his Poke Balls. [color=gold]”Looks like another job for you, Turbo!”[/color] He decided, releasing the Revavroom and hopping on to ride closer to the shore of the water the alligator was swimming in. [color=gold]”Use Screech!”[/color]

Upon the command, Turbo began revving her engines until they produced an earplitting screech of a noise. That would sharply lower the alligator’s defense, and maybe make it a bit more susceptible to others’ attacks. Roxas watched some of the others go on the move, and was especially worried when Geralt took a spill. But thankfully Blazermate was able to go in for the rescue. Then he saw the Ace Cadet literally skate on the water toward it and managed to harpoon it with claws attached to a chain. [color=gold]”Careful, Ace!”[/color] He shouted to his fellow Seeker.

Roxas had to think. What did he have that could be of help here? The RockGun was his only projectile weapon, and neither of his Strikers offered much to the current situation either. Then Roxas remembered a particular move one of his Pokemon knew. But would that work here? Well, it was better than doing nothing! [color=gold]”Titan!”[/color] Roxas called as he released his Golett from its Poke Ball. The ghost Pokemon struck a flexing pose in preparation to enter the fray.

[color=gold]”Titan, I need you to use Curse!”[/color] Roxas called, hoping against everything that this would work. Titan obeyed the command and conjured a giant ghostly nail that proceeded to lung back and stab it. It was a hard hit, taking Titan to half health. But if it worked, then the alligator would find itself on a ticking clock to its inevitable downfall. Curse status would reduce the monster’s health by 25% of its total every ten seconds. Roxas just hoped that that the move had worked, and that his friend could last through the countdown if it did.

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[b]Word Count:[/b] 806
[b]Level 8 Ganondorf:[/b] 0/80
[b]Exp Gained:[/b] +2
[b]NEW EXP Balance---[/b] 2/80

[h3]Frozen Highland ~ Krat Zoo[/h3][/center]

When he departed from the stagecoach, Ganondorf looked around at the new area the Seekers were passing through. The first thing that caught his eye was the food court. In all honesty, the warlord hadn’t yet fully regenerated since his earlier tussle with the elephant carcass. If there was any food to be found in that area, then maybe he could eat some of it to top himself off?

When he got closer to the food court, Ganondorf was able to see that most of the food looked old and probably spoiled. He didn’t exactly know if the Gravemind’s spirit distinguished between good food and spoiled food. Judging by what he saw of it in the Qliphoth Tree, though? Ganondorf would probably guess that it didn’t. Still, that also meant the prospect of eating rotten food, which Ganondorf knew very well would still taste like death even if it was safe for him to consume.

In the end, he took two slabs of meat that he found in the staff center, but didn’t eat them. Instead he would hold onto them in case he needed an emergency bit of healing for some reason. He really hoped he wouldn’t need them, though, as the Gerudo could already imagine how terrible they tasted. Unfortunately, Ganondorf didn’t stick around long enough to realize a missing viking was hiding here, but that would end up being Mokou’s discovery later on.

When he was walking near the stagecoach again, Ganondorf was flagged down by Roxas and given a new greatsword. Apparently the boy must have gotten from another spirit. After he pulled away from the stagecoach with the new weapon in hand, Ganondorf gave it a few test swings. Seemed to work well enough. And upon closer inspection the weapon appeared to have some kind of mechanism that let it splash acid with its swings. Well that would certainly make for some rather painful damage to deal against enemies.

Part of him wanted to open another portal back to the Avenger to store one of his greatswords, but Ganondorf found himself unable to decide which one to send back. Litania had a useful enchantment, but the Sword of the Six Sages was a holy weapon that the Gerudo didn’t want in anyone else’s hands but his own. So for the time being, Ganondorf would just have to carry three swords instead of two, and made a mental note that he needed a place to privately store things once he was back aboard the Avenger.

All other thoughts were interrupted when something emerged from the water of the flooded exhibit. A giant alligator of all things. Massive enough to have trees growing on its back, in fact. [color=797979]”Ha! Well, then! Maybe something will be a challenge after all!”[/color] The warlord laughed, brandishing his newly acquired Acidic Crystal Spear.

Of course, the monster was out in the water, and Ganondorf would be a fool to try and battle it there. But he wasn’t about to sit on the sidelines either. First, Ganondorf summoned a squad of Moblin Archers to loose volleys of fire arrows from the safety of the land. He doubted they’d do much damage to the creature, but something was better than nothing. Then, Ganondorf focused his dark magic and summoned the Phantom Steed that he then proceeded to mount.

Ganondorf’s Phantom Steed galloped him through the air and over the water at around the same time the Ace Cadet was making his attack run. There was also a curious rain of flaming feathers as well. Not that Ganondorf had to worry about such a thing thanks to his Ceruledge spirit’s Flash Fire ability. In fact, Ganondorf reached out a hand and deliberately snatched one of the falling feathers and let it ignite on him. But rather than harm him, it instead only made Ganondorf’s body flare up with a fiery aura that indicated that Flash Fire was now active and would be buffing all fire damage he dealt by 50%.

[color=797979]”BURN!”[/color] Ganondorf roared as his Steed loped over the Alligator’s head just before he inhaled a mighty breath. When he exhaled, Ganondorf breathed a powerful gout of fire that swept down over the monster’s face. He knew his steed wouldn’t remain active forever. So Ganondorf planned to keep his horse nearby the monster in the air until it was about to dispel so he could be within Bullet Jump range to make it to the alligator’s back. But for now, he just made a few galloping passes while spewing boosted fire breaths at the massive creature.

What Ganondorf did not know was that those two slabs of meat he picked up from the food court were originally intended for the alligator itself. Which meant that the alligator may very well smell the meat on him now that he was close.