Level 8 Roland (16/80) - Holding 1 level up. Location: Eseka Word Count: Less than 750.
While Nadia seemed to have lost her appetite for the bloodsport below, It didn't really phase Roland too much. In fact, since there was so much fame and money to be made from the mortal kombat tournament, even though he personally found it detestable, it was a lot more fair and straigthforward than what he had seen and been through. "It would be nice if stuff like this wasn't needed, even if this is at least a fair way of going about it." Roland said with a neutral expression on his face as if this was just Tuesday for him. He was used to violence, he was used to dishing it out, but its not like he liked it or anything. It was just the way things were.
Roland noticed Band and Primrose enter the arena a bit after Nadia and saw her get a bit worried. "Huh... Wonder what the detective is doing here? I'd best go check it out. You do what you need to Nadia, you've got a linkpearl now." Roland said, hopping down silently from his perch next to Nadia and going to meet Big Band. He wasn't going to spoil her 'secret' mission unless she wanted it spoiled, he'd be a massive hypocrite if he did.
Once he got close enough to see what Band and Primrose was doing, he waved at them saying. "Hey, what are you guys doing here? Looking at all the spirits? Or are you into gladiatorial games like this? I didn't take Primrose to be one to be into this sorta stuff." Roland said, getting their attention with his voice since his movement was completely silent.
Level 8 Roland (15/80) - Holding 1 level up. Location: Eseka Word Count: 1697 (+3 rapport)
Finding the mortal kombat arena wasn't too difficult, and as he watched the same match as Nadia finish and wrap up, he could only give a soft chuckle to himself. "I wonder if they got the idea from Angela. I'd say she got the idea from them, but knowing her..." Roland said watching the 'Fatality'. If it wasn't the fact this was to the death, he would very much be at home here. This used to be his 9 to 5 for a very long time as it was anyway, just without all the book hauling and organizing.
Roland saw that as some of the crowd dispersed, Nadia jumped into the water, coming out slightly different. Presumably grabbing the spirit that was dropped. No one stopped her, so apparently this was fine? Well, Roland wouldn't need to go looking for her that hard, and moved his way silently to Nadia. Once he got close to have a conversation, he said from her blind spot. "Got your paws on something good? You should be clawful that doesn't mess ya up too much." opening up with a cat pun.
The sudden confrontation made the feral recoil, bristling in instinctual hostility. Her defensiveness waned the next second as her posture eased upon recognizing Roland, but Nadia did not relax. Admittedly her new outfit didn't really disguise her all that much (she'd been wearing the bare minimum during her brief swim as well), and she knew that her name could be found on any tournament board, and she hadn't been paying attention...but still, getting found and called out irritated her, after dedicating some serious time and effort to her solo act. She narrowed her eyes and scrutinized Roland, clearly wondering why he'd sought her out. Then she just decided to ask him.
"Well, look who the cat dragged in," she snarked, putting her hands on her hips. Had Roland always been this much of a punner? Well, you asked for it. "For your in-fur-mation, I vetted that spirit purr-sonally." As a couple passers-by walked up, she slunk back toward the railing behind her to get out of their way. "And what, pray tell, are you doin' here? Realized you couldn't live without me?" It was a joke, of course, since the two rarely spoke. It might prompt Roland to bring up the events of the night before last, though. If that was why he'd come, better to cut to the chase.
Roland gave her a chuckle, noting her apprehensiveness but deciding to overlook it for now since she was doing her whole pun thing. "Oh. Just checking in. After that night you disappeared, but your still purr-forming in the MK tournaments. Furr-gire I should see how you were doing. Rest of the team has been in relative contact since then." Roland said. While he had some fights he had to do later, so far he'd been finding Tekken had been a great tournament for him to join as it had longer rounds, and thus more time to warm up, than what he had seen in the other tournaments.
Once Roland made it clear that he didn't begrudge her over the events of that night, or seem to care much at all, Nadia let down her guard a little. She adopted a less sassy posture, leaning on the railing as her tail flicked behind her. "Well, I'm fine," she told him. "Three wins and countin'. Just thought I'd grab a li'l extra power while I could. Turns out that if you wanna do fusion in here, you need to do some fission first." She grinned. "Like, fishin', get it? 'Cause I had to go underwater...? And fission's the opposite of...uh, whatever."
She raised an eyebrow at Roland. "So, I hear things ain't goin' so well over in Tekken. Figured you could use some help, so I found us a wrestlin' ringer. Beowulf. He's a good guy, buff as hell, and now he knows about spirits too. If things don't go your way, consider helpin' him along."
Roland gave her a quick thumbs up. "Yeah yeah, I got it. I'm not just a pretty face, I used to work intelligence." Roland said, giving Nadia a bit of a tease himself. "I'll keep that in mind. Granted the tekken tournament is perfect for me. The matches being longer than the other tournaments really lets me get going. Also..." Roland said, getting a more serious look on his face, leaning in to whisper to her. "We found the guy who ordered that attack with the exploding bots and hes in Tekken. I'm sure I'll be running into him eventually, and I've got a plan to deal with him." Roland said.
"Oho?" Nadia replied. The thought of taking revenge for the attempt on her life appealed to her too, but she remembered just how terrifying Kazuya had been in person in their brief encounter after her theft. "Good luck with that plan of yours! Care to give me any hints?"
Roland gave her a bit of a cold look. "Well... He'll understand why I'm called the Black Silence." With that he pulled away and put back on his casual more cheerful face. "So. How have things been doing with you? I saw the fatality that just happened so I figure you've been winning all your matches. Had to do anything like that yet? And what can you tell me about this Beowulf guy?"
The feral shook her head at Roland's second question, skipping right over the first. Asking multiple questions in one go was a great way to get confusing answers. "Nah, I'm still in Winners, fatalities only happen in Losers. I think." She scratched her chin as she thought about Beowulf. Given how ostentatious tons of people in Esaka tended to look, the wrestler was actually pretty low-key in terms of appearance, if not personality. "Uh. Dark hair and eyes. Hairy arms. Not too tall." She snapped her fingers. "He wears a wolf pelt. And he's got no indoor voice. You'll hear him before ya see him!"
Roland nodded, so she was still in her winners bracket too. "Yeah, I'm still in Winners too. Just beat a guy who could beat you in a single shot with a... frankly antique looking pistol. I kept hearing people calling him a 'tier cheater' but well... He never learned that skilled people can deflect bullets." Roland said, commenting on his own tournament performance. As Nadia then explained Beowulf to him, Roland could only scratch his head in confusion. "He feels like he'd fit right in with the Middle. I'm pretty familiar with those kinda people." Granted that also meant he seemed very indistinct outside of the wolf pelt thing.
"Okay, cool," Nadia remarked, not having any idea what Roland meant. She was starting to remember her prior conversations with him and how they tended to go. Unfortunately, if he meant to provoke her curiosity with obscure references to his past, he would find Nadia pretty incurious about other people's worlds. Unless those people were really, really attractive.
A moment of silence passed between the two of them. "So...guess you've checked off your boxes? I've been, uh, keepin' my distance. Do nyat want anyone else gettin' hurt. So if the others ask, guess you can tell 'em I'm fine, but I don't really wanna pal around with you guys 'til we're through." She raised her eyebrows at him, her implication clear. "Got it?"
Roland gave a bit of an exhale before saying. "Yeah. But if you need help with your problems don't feel afraid to ask. I got a feeling keeping people separated is what this whole 'fighting tournament' is trying to achieve. Needing to take out 4 different people in 4 different locations at the same time? Whoever designed this place really wants to split up people for their own ends. Best not to let them do that." An idea then snapped into Roland's head. "Oh! Do you have a link pearl or did it go missing?"
In her eyes Roland was reading into things too much, but who knows? He could be right for all she knew. "I lost it," Nadia replied after a moment, not elaborating further.
Roland knew what it meant for her to be so blunt, so he wasn't going to push it too hard. "Hmm... Well just keep a way to contact people without people having to seek you out in person. After all, can't have you go into feeline fall when not only that 'demon dude' is looking for ya, but your also in the most dangerous tournament and there is still those... Consuls skulking around." Roland said, trying to insinuate kazyua but not actually mention him by name. "Speaking of the Consuls. I haven't heard much about them, but I'm pretty sure theres gotta be one or two in the city."
That prompted a sigh. "That tracks." Nadia narrowed her eyes at Roland. "Hey, if you want me to be reachable so bad, why not give me your pearl? You can always get a new one from Primrose."
"Yeah true." Roland said, fidgeting to get his linkpearl and hand it to Nadia. He did say before giving it though. "I'll tell everyone your fine. Just give us a call when you've finished what you need to do. I'll call you when that mutual problem is 'dealt with'. Other than that, well... Good luck on whatever your hunting for."
Roland then went to look at the next upcoming match, remembering what Nadia did. "... I should probably stay for a bit to see if any of these spirits are good. Wanna just chill out and watch the matches for a bit?"
"Guess that couldn't hurt," Nadia decided after a moment. The two then watched the upcoming matches for a bit to see if anything caught their eye.
Level 8 Roland (12/80) - Holding 1 level up. Location: Eseka Word Count: Less than 750
Waiting for his next match, Roland looked around to see how the other seekers were doing. Nadia had been separated from the group, but from the looks of it, she was still doing well wherever she was staying. Having a match soon at the Mortal Kombat tournament arena, Roland decided to pay that place a visit to see if he could flag up the feminine feline and maybe get some pun war going with her or something, or at least check in to see whats been going on with her.
Blazermate entered a large, cylindrical room with two tiers, a circular basin on the bottom (with opposing double doors on the east and west sides) and a second-story ring-shaped walkway around it, with similar opposing double doors on the north and south sides. Both walls and floors appeared to be heavy gray stone, carved with geometric patterns that radiated outward from the chamber's center. There, a lighter gray central circle sat in the middle of a web of angular black grooves, in which streaks of baleful crimson light danced constantly. As far as Blazermate could tell, the only way between the ground floor and the second story in here (for a non-flier, anyway) were the cubes that floated in the air, close enough to look like stairs but far enough that it would still take someone with superhuman jumping ability to get up.
The blocks weren't the only strange objects that floated in this chamber, though. Above the room's ritualistic center floated a huge die in a spiky black wrought-iron frame, each side a couple feet wide. Demonic energy surrounded it, best represented in the thirteen demonic glyphs that orbited the die like asteroids. It was a perplexing and intensely supernatural sight, but less overtly dangerous than the two locations the Medabot had visited already.
Being someone who couldn't really use magic outside of what her spirits gave her, nor able to scan it, Blazermate wasn't sure what was going on. She figured it was some kind of puzzle or something, but the exit door wasn't closed... Maybe she could take a look? The dice looked like they were part of it too, but they seemed too big for Blazermate to move. As she looked around the room, a strange feeling overcame her to move to the center and stay there, almost like the feeling with the holes in the previous room but not as strong. Maybe these were connected? Thinking about it, she should go find Sectonia or Edward to figure out this magic stuff. As such, she decided to leave the room.
The Classroom
To Blazermate's astonishment, the next room actually turned out to be something that someone might expect to be in a college: an ordinary medieval classroom, albeit one of prestigious quality and uncommon size. It featured a lush green carpet, tall red draped, an ornate chandelier, and plenty of light streaming in through the windows--more than Blazermate or any Seeker had seen since reaching the Frozen Highlands. At the far end, in front of a giant map of the World of Light drawn in fanciful style, stood the instructor: a lady tactician with shoulder-length, dark turquoise hair, a long flowing black coat, an black lace leggings. As for the students, Blazermate identified a bald, bearded man in the navy blue robes of a sorcerer, and a redheaded cleric in the garb of a battle nun, half armor and half habit.
Entering the classroom, the teacher stopped her lecture on what she was talking about to acknowledge Blazermate as a late arrival student. It had been a long time since she had been in a classroom, and while Medabots often weren't the students of classrooms but the helpers she instinctualy started to organize the outer parts of the room before realizing what she had been doing. "Oh... I'm... uh. What are you teaching here anyway? This is the first familiar room I've seen."
The teacher spoke in the dull tone of a seasoned teacher that Blazermate was familiar with. "I'm teaching Reason magic. Surely it was on the door?" Blazermate shrugged, then asked what that was. With another sigh, the teacher explained how it was magic based on logic math and 'reason', instead of incantations and faith. Now, if Blazermate was good at math this might be a kind of magic she could use maybe? But as far as she knew she couldn't use magic outside of her fused spirits. "Got like a starter spell or something I could look at? I don't know if I can even cast magic spells like that."
With another eye roll, the Teacher pointed at a desk with a book and told Blazermate to start at chapter 1. Blazermate did so, but soon found that, besides the math and such being a pain to work through, that even when she figured out the problem and tried to use it nothing happened. she tried a few other things, and she found time slipped away a bit but she was unable to learn any kind of magic. "... Aw, I was hoping this would work but I guess not. Guess its only healing magic for me." Blazermate said, throwing out a divine star to show her light based faith healing magic and decided to leave the room, the teacher shaking their head and continuing the lesson.
Ace - Level: 9 - Total EXP: 516/90 Level 7 Heismay (64/70) Sectonia & Mokou Word Count: 2086 (+3)
Predictably, the warped metal of Heismay’s sword meant that he could no longer sheath the weapon properly. He was tempted to ditch it, knowing he’d look ridiculous carrying the thing around. He doubted that this labyrinth had a blacksmith, and he couldn’t depend on finding a new sword before one turned up. As strong as the scythe had been against an unguarded large target, it simply wasn’t a weapon for actual dueling, as its top-heavy design would throw him off balance with every swing.
Holding the longsaber by the blade in a reverse grip, the eugief took one last look at the lava-littered, rot-spattered nexus chamber and ambled wearily toward the lone exit. “I’ve had more than my fill of occult rituals,” he confessed. “Twould be nice to stumble upon a pleasant bathhouse or well-supplied bar, for once.” He pressed his shoulder against the dor and pushed with a grunt, heaving the oaken slab open to reveal another room.
Potion Garden
Beyond the doorway lay a fairly small, naturalistic room. A thick canopy of leaves from different trees formed the domed ceiling overhead. Hanging vines with berries that glowed warmly like Christmas lights provided light, while rows of bulbous, deep red fungi grew from rich, sandy planters along the walls. Shelves offered books on potioncraft as well as collections of botanical and mycological research, while picture frames provided a look at common potion ingredients, carefully dried and preserved. The floor looked like a mix between mossy stone brick and dirt, and while Heismay could see a couple green jellies oozing along the floor, he couldn’t identify any immediate threats. It was a welcome change, and after a moment he let down his guard. “Tis another dead end,” he observed, “But at least our lives are not in peril.”
Ace reached down to pat Heismay on the shoulder, a sense of relief in his voice when he said, "I'll take it."
The garden seemed pretty cozy, with a warmer atmosphere than any of the rooms they'd been in so far. Maybe this one would actually be fun to explore? The Cadet really hoped so. As his eyes trailed over the various plants, reading material, and everything else, eventually he looked back towards the group of Seekers and gave them all a resolute nod. First things first.
"Have either of you found any clues about getting out of this place?" he asked Sectonia and Mokou. "Me and Heismay met up pretty quick, but since we kept getting the short end of the stick I dunno if we're any closer to figuring out how to leave."
He looked at Heismay and shrugged. Lack of progress was hardly their fault after all, since they couldn't control at all where they ended up. After a moment Ace started to rummage around in his bag. "This is about all I found so far..."
Bottle of assorted pills Scrap metal and springs Dog treats Air-purifying sleep mask Frog toy Frisbee Voodoo doll
Ace paused when he produced the last item, surprised that he had it with him. He must have just shoved it in with the rest of the items without thinking about it. Regardless it was part of the pile, and though he couldn't determine if any of them had much use, maybe one of the others had seen something that they could be used with. There was also the Tormentor’s spirit too.
”Ace, did you forget about the ‘hat’ that makes what spirits drop more valuable?” Sectonia said producing the hat of avarice, although she refused to look at it directly she had to concede that its power was incredibly useful. Of course, Ace wanted nothing to do with the grotesque magical artifact, but after a little cajoling from the queen Heismay was convinced to give it a try.
“Ack,” the eugief muttered. He needed one hand to help steady the weighty thing on his head, and that wasn’t all that made it unwieldy. “This accursed hat is hurting me. Quick, hand me the spirit. I want this blasted thing gone.” The moment after he crushed the Tormentor spirit, the Symbol of Avarice clattered to the floor behind him. His displeased look told Sectonia everything she needed to know about the experience. Sectonia knew the hat did this however, and offered a death pulse to at least heal the physical damage. The mental scarring though, remained.
Fists of Elhazar A set of gauntlets forged of demonic materials. One of a handful of exceptional warriors from the Kingdom of Men, Elhazar fought his way through many levels of the Crucible bearing these weapons. The wearer’s heavy attacks deal greater stagger, and upon achieving a ten-hit combo subsequent attacks are always critical until the combo is lost.
Heismay examined the gauntlets carefully. “Sinister, certainly, yet they seem to be high quality.” He glanced around at the others. Since he braved the cursed hat in order to obtain these, did that mean that he had first claim…? That did seem to be the case, as though Ace eyed the armor pieces appreciatively he did not make any attempt to separate them from the eugief.
And as for the topic of escaping… ”No idea. We encountered a room that shut off all magic besides its own, which gave me this potent magical item.” Sectonia said, showing the others the Last Prism. ”At first I figured you would need these items to even use magic in this place, but no, it was just that room. And I feel like there was an unintended side effect from this item, but I could not tell when I grabbed it. Has anyone noticed anything?”
“From my point of view, it seems like you’ve been rather… Aggressive. Smashing whatever it is that’s in front of you even after a fight. Perhaps you’ve been cursed with a bit of rage” Mokou comments from her side of the room, picking up a book of potioncraft and flipping through a few pages, “I haven’t figured out a methodology to this place yet myself. But I imagine there *has* to be a path out.”
Adding onto Mokou’s first comment, Ace looked at the queen and said, "yeah, during that battle you went a little kut-kurazy and were bashing everything around you for a sec there, including me!"
For what it was worth the hunter did not seem upset about that fact, he just briefly rubbed at the spot on his side where he'd been struck and gave Sectonia a friendly nod. "It's Ya-cool though, no hard feelings."
”Hmm…. I see… I will need to rectify this. Anger used in such an ugly way will not do.” Sectonia said, closing the matter in a matter of fact voice.
Heismay padded around as began to give the room a more thorough search. It looked like this chamber would be ideal for brewing potions, but that was no craft of his, so he hoped to find anything else that might be of use. “I can only hope that one of the rituals we dispelled would have otherwise impeded our escape.”
Approaching a counter, he found a couple scribbled notes along with a large key. It looked rather like it would fit the keyhole in one of the labyrinth doorways, although none of them had been locked so far. A tag on the key’s loop read ‘Sylvia’. “Hm,” he grunted, then put the key away in order to glance over the notes. Recipes, ratios, ingredient costs…nothing that really concerned him. When he tried a nearby chest, he found it locked, but instead of a conventional lock it featured some kind of liquid receptacle with an eye on it. “Curious…”
With no leads that they could see to chase, the other Seekers followed Heismay's example and fanned out to take advantage of the more relaxed atmosphere and see what they could turn up. Ace had turned his attention to the ingredients growing around the chamber, releasing the humbee to fly up and investigate the higher growing fruit (and nibble of course). The Cadet moved back and forth to match up the plants and mushrooms with their descriptions to see what was edible and what probably wasn't, though he regardless of what they were used for he did take samples of pretty much everything. Examining one of the slimes revealed that while they were content to just crawl along and clean up the walls and floor they did not like people getting too close to them. Thankfully its jump at the Cadet was telegraphed, and the creature itself was not very formidable, though it did yield green chu jelly. As Ace continued harvesting, he turned to look over his shoulder to see what Heismay was curious about.
"Wanna try opening it?" he asked. Since the whole room was potion focused, they could probably make whatever concoction needed from the ingredients growing around the area.
”I will leave you to it. Potion creation is not in my skillset. If you want to know what an ingredient does magically, I can identify that. But you would have as much luck as I with making the correct potion.” Sectonia said, giving a rare instance of stating something she couldn’t do. To be honest, potion craft was pretty rare on Popstar in general and no one in Foralia was good at it. But at the same time, it often seemed to offer less power than simple sorcery.
“You think a certain potion would open it?” That made sense thematically at least, although it struck Heismay as a little kooky. He peered around at all the potion ingredients and instructions cluelessly, not sure where to begin. After a quick look at the eye symbol on the potion lock for confirmation, he made his way around the room again, skimming the various recipes. “Potions…health, mana, stamina…tonics…enhancers…ah, perhaps this is it? I see a recipe for a ‘sight enhancer’ with an eye symbol. But this recipe…it reads ‘three parts A, four parts B, three parts C.’ I haven’t the foggiest what those mean, however.”
At this point Ace had approached to get a better look at the chest and lock, concurring that yes, it probably did need a potion of some kind to open. If he had to guess how the contraption determined what liquid was in the container, it would most likely be some sort of mystical ability embedded into it. Normally that would make the hunter less inclined to mess around with it, but compared to what they'd just been through in the last room, and the one before it, this wasn't that bad at all.
"Huh. Maybe it's as easy as the name of what goes in it?" Ace guessed, holding up one of the plant ingredients to let it dangle by the leaves. "Bog Beet for B?"
Though he went over to one of the mixing stations in the room, he did not throw the beet in yet. He'd hate to end up with a failed combo after all. "I don't mind taking a shot at making it though, I've made tons of potions before," he said, though it would be his first time using anything that had magical properties to make them.
Sectonia grabbed one of the potion lists that seemed to say ‘this is A, this is B’ sorta stuff. She then looked at the potions that were unlabeled then the list again. ”No, I think it has to be based on its magical element. For example, this one you guys found is D, or water element. Not useful for making that potion, but I have a list here of what element is which letter. If someone could find more ingredients, I can tell you what magimins they have.” Sectonia said.
Level 8 Roland (11/80) - Holding 1 level up. Location: Eseka Word Count: 954
As time went on and everyone shared their stores and ate their food, eventually the day had to start and Roland had a match to get to. As Roland approached the match site, he heard rumblings from the various yokai about how Roland was about to fight 'the tier robber', or 'the fake top tier', or 'the cheater'. Apparently he wasn't very well liked by these fighting efficinatos, and since Roland heard about him being a one shot wonder, maybe that was part of it?
Once he got to the arena, he learned the name of the guy he was fighting. Schuvaltz Katze, a mostly unassuming guy in another whacky outfit but this being more... District M or T based? Regardless looking him over all Roland saw for a weapon on him was a simple pistol. This was the tier robber? A oneshot wonder? He wouldn't last more than a few minutes in the city against competent opponents if he relied on his firearm! But maybe that old looking gun fired black holes or something weird so Roland kept himself on guard.
As the round started, Katze seemed to do some sort of... taunt? Introduction? for his first move. Either from cockiness or for honor Roland didn't know, but knowing what he did, it was probably the former. Well, regardless for Roland he rolled the floor of philosophy, almost apropos for what was going on with his opponent's introduction. Once he was done with Roland drawing his sword from wheels industry, Katze fired a marksman shot at Roland's head, of which Roland deflected without much issue with his massive sword. Seeing this, Ktaze let out a couple more shots in a combo with Roland deflecting the bullets before finding an opening and rushing in to smash him with it, causing him to move in a sluggish motion as his body was... not looking good. But even in close range, he was skilled with that gun and fired another shot which, if Roland didn't have his passive ability to counter after attacking once, would've been a headshot. But Roland did, and with a swift counter and a second hit, Katze was down with Roland... winning round 1?
Soon Round 2 started, with both fighters being set back to their default positions and Katze reloading his gun. Having only done a single clash, Roland was only at emotion level one, getting Big Eyes and while the fight was starting, a storycard appeared displayed to everyone watching the fight ant Katze telling the story of three birds that lived in the Black Forest, then how Big Bird and his many eyes kept watch of the forest, the words of Big Bird echoing from Roland "The bright light is trapped.". Although Roland would find that there was no chance for him to get to emotion level 5 in this kind of fight as the fight started with Katze, slightly unnerved by seeing a drawn story frame enter his brain, unloaded a 3 shot combo on Roland. Roland retaliating with his hammer, deflecting one shot but finding trying to 'block' these bullets did nothing, getting hit by the second shot. He would learn very quickly why Katze was the one shot king however, as one shot was all he needed to end round 2 with his win and start round 3 to Roland's confusion, but also Roland's attention.
"So thats how it works..." Roland thought to himself, noting he would need to make sure a single bullet didn't even graze him. As round 3 started with Katze reloading again, Roland didn't waste any time closing the gap with his lance. Katze didn't have enough time to get his gun ready, instead deflecting the first lance hit but not the second side swipe with it, damaging his legs and causing him to fall down on his butt. Roland then kept himself on guard, ready for a retaliation and waited... and waited... and... waited... and nothing happened. Katze just held his injured leg, his gun dropped and off to his side. What... was going on here? Was this a trick or...? Roland approached him, getting Emotion level 2 and Small Flutters, the chirpy voice of small bird saying "My flutters might be what it takes to change the world!" as Roland struck Katze with his dagger putting an end to the round.
Round 4 then started, Katze starting with backflips to make more distance to shoot Roland. Roland decided to use this time to surprise Katze with his own set of guns, finding that his backflips let him dodge bullets and making all of Roland's shots miss. But Roland knew of his gunplay now, and followed it up with his two handed sword, making sure to focus on deflecting the shots coming his way. Katze wasn't messing around now, making sure he kept distance from Roland with his fast invincible backflips and using his pistol to parry Roland's sword strikes whenever he got close to make more distance. However Roland countered him by deflecting or thanks to small flutters and his slow start having ended, dodging the bullets with side steps. After 10 shots... the fight was over. Once Katze heard the 'click click' of his empty gun... he knew it was over. But he wouldn't let his watching opponents that was his true weakness, and continued to parry Roland until he backflipped off the stage on purpose in an 'attempt' to get distance.
The screen then announced "Roland is the winner!" with many of the observing Yokai actually cheering for him, with cries of "You beat the cheater!" "I told you he was weak!" "Wait, you can deflect the bullets? Why didn't anyone else think of this?"
Location Frozen highlands Word Count: Less than 750
For the whole time Blazermate had been fighting against the silk-strung bug husks, the little pilgrim Sherma continued to cower in his hiding spot. Even as his voice wavered, though, he continued to sing and ring his little bell, a brave prayer for deliverance for himself and his mysterious mechanical benefactor.
"F-fa ri doo...la see ma net. Do...d-do ni pwa nah...v-vo li net..."
Only when Armstrong felled the final few bugs did Sherma look fearfully around the gloomy surgical ward and find no more nightmarish puppets. Still trembling, he looked up at Blazermate and gave a tentative nod. "Oh blue maiden, sorry to have lured you into such danger!" he squeaked in a small voice, though Blazermate could tell Sherma was trying to be brave. "And those poor bugs, bewitched by the thread. No sin could possibly warrant such a fate..."
He took a deep breath, and with the medabot's help began to climb out of the junk pile into the open, careful not to leave his hat behind. "This is...some kind of hospital? I wandered a time before I could find it, and now I should get these healing supplies back to the chapel." Tentatively he looked between the operating theater's doorways. "There's no telling where the doors in here lead, but with enough patience and faith, I'll surely find the chapel again. What's another pilgrimage, eh? Ha ha!" Still not quite steady, he donned his knapsack and began to patter toward one of the doors, one little bug against the world.
Blazermate waved him goodbye. She wasn't entirely sure if she should escourt him as he left the room. But as she decided to at least make sure he reached the next room and left the room herself, Blazermate found that Sherma had just disappeared. Perhaps he entered a different room or something as Blazermate found herself in a new room.
The Shattered Gallery
A once-grand hall in an ornate, almost reverential style, fallen to ruin in a strange fashion. The color itself seems to have drained from the room as mounds of dust and cave-like formations took over. One of the walls is almost entirely bare rock, and a number of curious holes exist on its surface, shaped like people and weirdly familiar. Near the grim fae statues that loom over the desolate chamber with crossed arms, a nightmarish being kneels, praying. Magister Dullain is a twisted being, a pale humanoid with a claylike face and a torso hollowed out into a gaping maw lined with teeth and tusks, wielding a staff of bone and a seastone lantern.
Blazermate saw the creature in the new area and wondered if it was hostile or not. If it wasn't for a few of the people in the previous towns she had met before being also weird and monster like, she would be much more gung ho on attacking this guy, but for now she'd be more cautious. Although something about this monster seemed... familiar and not in a good way.
She then had a bit of a shiver go through her frame as she was reminded of the Maw, and decided to get out of the room. Although going through the door she just came out of wouldn't work right? So she looked around and found a wall with holes. One that was suspiciously Blazermate shaped. Looking at it, she soon found that the hole was getting closer, and getting darker... And as she got closer to investigate the hole, the darker things got. And darker, and darker and....
Blazermate's fear of darkness activated. And wanting to get away from the hole as fast as possible, Blazermate summoned her Armstrong Striker who subsequently moved Blazermate away from the hole... Violently by punting the medabot like a football through the room, making a commotion as she crashed through the room's entrance. She didn't get away from the hypnotic hole unscathed, Armstrong was not gentle, but she did find herself in a new room.
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Roland
Level 8 Roland (9/80) - Holding 1 level up. Location: Eseka Word Count: less than 750
Roland listened to the stories of the other seekers. He had seen some of this stuff in the reports on the Avenger, but it was nice hearing it from the others discussing them. "I suppose I'm up. I joined fairly recently. I helped take down the guardian in Midgar. They had this problem called the Ever Crisis, caused by the power players in the city itself. I was one of President Shinra's personal assassins. Well, before I got freed. Funny enough, Shinra did end up winning in the end with one of the seekers turning his opponent, Armstrong, into a striker. But of course there was problems with the thing providing power to Midgar being some giant robot that was the guardian that people had to take out. At least Binah helped with restoring the city... I think. Sakura stayed back so she should have more information on it."
Eating some of his food, grabbing a carb loaded sandwich with lots of toppings instead of the rice or sausages the others had grabbed, Roland continued. "Then we played some 'minigames' as they're called. Speaking of, I still have a spirit I feel Jr. could use better than I could if I can find a replacement that fits me better."
Roland then continued saying a few more recent things that happened, one that Therion had been at with the foodsnax cultists and everything, but unlike the others outside of talking about the Ever crisis in Midgar he didn't have a whole lot to discuss.
Location Frozen highlands Word Count: Less than 750
Well, Sectonia did want to get out of the winter air, but finding herself with only Mokou was... Well, teleporting magic could break if used improperly. It was a reason she didn't just use her own portals willy nilly without an anchor so this sort of thing wouldn't happen. But... well, best to figure out what was going on now.
And the room she found herself in with Mokou was... well from the looks of it a magical armory! This would be of great use for their crusade against Galeem, assuming it was all real. But as Sectonia grabbed an item that seemed to radiate insane magic, a prism, and attempted to open the portal to send it to the Avenger, she found that spell didn't work. In fact most of her magic didn't seem to work in this area which was... odd. She could still fly, but she couldn't use things that would get her out of the room.
Granted whoever or whatever ran this armory wouldn't like their stuff being stolen, there were much bigger things at play and Sectonia could deal with whatever ran this place if it came up. Hopefully Mokou was in the same thoughtspace as her with grabbing items, although, she might regret grabbing the item she sensed had insane power.
"I am sure we can make more use out of these weapons and armor than the current occupant just leaving them here. A bit fortunate we got teleported here though, we might get ambushed later." Sectonia said to Mokou, her and her new item in hand. "We had best figure out where we are."
Testing her new item, she found that since it was from inside the armory, it worked unlike her own magic. But once it was used, she found it was cursed.
Last Prism (Cursed) - a remnant of the Moon Lord that can emanate multicolored beams of light that quickly converge into a single beam dealing egregious magic damage at the cost of a high constant magic drain. This item is cursed, and equipping it inflicts the Disorder VIOLENT OUTBURSTS. At some point in every post, the sufferer is compelled to dash in a random direction and execute a reckless melee attack strong enough to knock victims away, and deal recoil damage
Although she wouldn't discover the curse until they entered the next room, only assuming her current swing at a dummy wearing some cultist robes was her own anger at the item draining her mana at quite the insane rate.
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Blazermate meanwhile found herself in quite the spooky area covered in what she assumed was cobwebs. Apt, but not exactly what was in the area. And there was some sort of bug in a more ancestral outfit ringing a bell trying to keep their spirits up. Blazermate found out this guy was completely harmless, but that didn't mean things weren't hostile here as she approached the pilgrim, they warned her about the monsters in the silk and almost on que, the door behind her slammed shut and many mutated monsters covered in the same cobwebs and more... machined cobwebs which she'd find out was silk jumped out to attack her with the pilgrim, Sherma, hiding behind the makeshift shelter he had made clearly not a fighter.
Well... Blazermate didn't like to fight by herself, but she was known on the battlefield as the combat medic for a reason. She'd start by summoning her engineering striker to protect Sherma with his sentry base and provide cover fire as Blazermate, being much faster than any of the silk zombies, moved around with hit and run tactics. And since she was the only one here, she'd be able to use her gained uber for medaforce blasts to keep herself up for when she eventually got hit.
Although her hit and run tactics seemed to be something that these creatures were weak to. with a lack of ranged attacks and a period where they had to rest between attacks, it was almost like whatever world these were from the hero, or... villain? People? were either very fast or very slow to deal with these things since when they hit, boy did they hit with zombie strength.
While her initial divine stars and ubersaw hits didn't do all that much damage, her purgatory ghosts and eventual medaforce beams did quite the large amount of damage clearing out a zombie or two each use as the sentry slowly plunked away at the closest zombie. While sometimes she'd get the wrong timing down and get hit, those are times where she'd use her medaforce beam to heal herself back up much like if she was in a robattle. Seeing these were zombies, at one point she tried using her shield to control them, but when she did that, the silk that animated them seemed to pull tighter forcing them to attack her instead of follow her commands.
Clearing out the last few zombies with a summon of Armstrong to blow them all away, the man far stronger than any of them and his fiery explosion causing even more damage than normal due to their silky insides, eventually the waves were cleared out and the door that had locked behind her opened signifying she could leave.
"Are you ok?" Blazermate asked Sherma once the whole thing was clear. "Do you know where we are or a way out or something?"
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Roland
Level 8 Roland (8/80) - Holding 1 level up. Location: Eseka Word Count: less than 750
Unlike some of the others, Roland had a less than eventful stay at the Casino, more afraid to gamble than anything. Although helping out another girl with dealing with her stalkers and surviving in the City, even though the high tier was quite posh and far, far different from the backstreets did highlight his night. The backstreets taught you many things and many ways to survive and deal with those coming after you, and those lessons should work even in a place that Roland assumed was more like a Nest. Although with the others finishing their gambling and the night drawing on, it was time to leave and he'd have to check in to see how things went tomorrow. Tonight he had to sleep for his tournament matches tomorrow.
Waking up at his stay in the low tier with an uneven step and in need of coffee, Roland wasn't super eager for his matches to come but regardless he went to go find where Band and the others were staying to see how things were going for them and their plans. It seemed that this fighting city made it difficult for people to keep their goals in sight as many things seemed to creep up and stab those that were focused. But maybe Band and the others had plans outside of just doing more matches.
Answering Band's call for a meeting spot, Roland chimed in. "I found a cafe down here in the lower tiers I was running some food for. Its mostly packed with carbs but they have some good rice and noodle dishes. I'll send you the address."
In all honesty, Roland was a bit worried about his match today with what was supposed to be a top tier. Not only a top tier, but a creme of the crop top tier that was known as a "one shot one kill" wonder. And he voiced as such when talking with the other seekers once they all got together. Or those that took him up on his offer.
Location Frozen highlands Word Count: Less than 750
An equippable item that will double outgoing heals for the wearer but increase casting time substantially. For regens this also doubles the regen amount but halves the tick rate
Fumbling around with the charm Sectonia had found, she wondered if it would be of any use to anyone or if she should just give it to Edward for him to make something of greater use for. It was full of strong magic, but it seemed to be fairly particular in how it functioned. Blazermate might be able to make use of it and her to a small extent, but its ability to store and release that healing energy might cause problems with how delayed it was. She'd leave it up to the healer if she'd want to use it or not.
Coming to their next stop at the end of the long drilldozer tunnel, Sectonia was relieved and soon after frustrated at what would now be a treck through a winterland full of chilling winds and chillier snow. Blazermate, being a robot, wasn't really affected by the cold but to show solidarity with the others made comments about it being "Cold" and "Windy". Sectonia meanwhile summoned some Red antlers to help with keeping people warm in the cold air as she observed the fractured stone bridge held together, or lit up by, what seemed like magic.
"The castle itself also seems to radiate magic. I wonder if anything within could be of use?" Sectonia said, more so thinking of ways to protect from the cold if anything. Although what they'd find inside could be anyone's guess.
Blazermate meanwhile, was deciding on what to do with the Deep Focus gem thing Sectonia gave her. Much like Sectonia thought, the additional casting time on a lot of her abilities was significant, and she'd mull it over a little bit before taking her suggestion of having Edward use it to craft.
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Roland
Level 8 Roland (7/80) - Holding 1 level up. Location: Eseka Word Count: less than 750
While Roland was more or less taking in the sights of the casino, A woman came up to, more or less, whisk him away. While at first this sorta had him worried, a glimpse of the woman and registering what he said made him relax a little. Granted he'd be more on edge than normal in this place, so he was looking at the woman with a critical, but relaxed eye. He wasn't going to show any suspicion of fear and would, while keeping his guard up, see exactly where this was going.
To be fair, this wasn't going much of anywhere bad. Although he wasn't happy about being asked to buy a drink for someone he had never seen before, with a glance he saw a guy looking at him and the especially the woman with quite the glare. With how suddenly this was all happening Roland put two and two together and decided to play along a little bit with what looked like a lovers quarrel.
"Lead the way to the bar." Roland said, getting to a more natural place to make whisper talking not suspicious. ONce there however, he changed tacts pretty quickly. "Are you trying to make that one man over there jealous or something? If so, I'm fine with playing along but your ordering the drinks. Maybe some gossip as well couldn't hurt. I can be quite the actor."
Once she had him all to herself, as well as some distance between herself and the serious-looking man, Marilyn allowed her sultry smile to slide into something a little more sardonic. "Such a gentleman." She seated herself at the bar, gave a curt nod to the tender to galvanize her into action, and bent over to lean on an arm propped up by her elbow. "No, not jealous. Just wanted him off my back. He's been hounding me quite incessantly." Discreetly she cast her glimpse in her alleged pursuer's direction, but the man had faded into the casino's crowd for now.
With a twinkle in her eye she turned her attention back to Roland. "Gossip, hm? Well, how about a word to the wise about the guy you gallantly saved me from? His name is Akatsuki, and he's a technical engineer turned super soldier. He himself is a relic of World War II, aligned with Imperial Japan and thus the Axis powers. An incredibly dangerous individual, especially with that Blitz Engine of his." Marilyn sighed, massaging her eyes. "To be honest, now that he's set his sights on me, I don't know if I'll make it..."
"Oh, so hes just an augmented human thats creeping on you, not a boyfriend that your trying to make jealous, a lot more understandable. Although, 'make it', is he also trying to fight you or something in the tournaments as well?" Roland said, a lot less intimidated by his augmented nature. Where he came from, that was not only par for the course, but extremely expected. He himself had quite a few superhuman augments, good ones, but they were so common as to not even have any crazy names or anything. It was just everyday life and completely unnoteworthy.
Marilyn smiled at Roland like one might a toddler. "I mean survive. He's out to get m, and not for anything tournament-related. Life's a bitch, huh?"
"Oh, City life. Well, I can give you some advice on that then." Roland said, and started to give good advice on surviving and dealing with people like the guy that was chasing her.
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