King Cosmos

One Piece: Foreword Unto Dawn

It always surprised Ricardo just how much paperwork went into running a Marine vessel; the regimented lifestyle, the backbreaking manual labour, the life and death struggles against threats from both pirates and nature itself were all downsides that the average citizen was likely aware of or could easily imagine a marine having to deal with, but few people thought about the sheer amount of paperwork involved. From the general admin such as supply requests, crew payslips and reports written to his superiors, to the large pile of new and updated bounties he had to acquaint himself with, not to mention the personal letters to his family he was expected to pen, Ricardo’s office was always just one gust of wind away from being a blizzard of scattered papers.

At the moment however he found himself with a rare moment of peace. Rather than the scratching of quill on parchment the only sounds that filled his cabin now were the gentle creaking of wood in time with the rocking of the ship and the gentle lapping of wave on the hull; there was of course also the sound of men and women moving about on deck, but he had long since learned to tune that out so long as everything sounded in order. They had arrived in Loguetown the night before and Ricardo had already completed what work he needed to do leaving himself with nothing else urgent to occupy his attention for once; now was usually the time when he would be getting ready to set out again or preparing for a brief stint of leave, but this time he had been ordered to wait until such a time as he was summoned. For what he still didn’t know, but the order had come from those above him and it was his duty to follow, not to ponder why.

A knock at the door interrupted the peace as a moment later a member of Ricardo’s crew poked his head into the officer’s cabin. “Sir; Vice-Admiral Haramitsu has called a meeting on the other Marine vessel at port. He wants all officers to attend.”

“Thank you, private. Was that all?” At a nod from the marine Ricardo stood from his desk, straightening his jacket before following the man out the door and onto the deck of his ship. The cumulative noises of people, both on the ship and on the dock they were moored at, were more apparent now that he was outside; the sounds of footsteps on wooden planks and creaking ropes was joined by a general susurration of voices that could be heard in any town or city.

Stepping down the gangplank, Ricardo made his way towards the other Marine vessel docked alongside his as he thought to himself. Loguetown was no different from any other island in East Blue, aside for two things, and was as lively and active as any other port Ricardo had visited. The two things that set Loguetown apart however were the Marine Headquarters and its proximity to the Grand Line. Give how many travellers passed through this place on their way to the world’s most dangerous ocean, more than a few of which were pirates with lofty goals, it was inevitable that the Marines would set up a base here to keep the peace.

And speaking of keeping the peace… Ricardo boarded the other ship and walked towards the imposing individual that he knew to be the Vice-Admiral Haramitsu. “Captain Ricardo Borja, reporting as ordered Vice-Admiral.”

One Piece: Foreword Unto Dawn

I'm going to try and get a post out today. Sorry it's taken me so long.

Climbing the Tower-TOG RP

Tch, typical dismissive attitude. Why does it have to be the type of line I hate the most? Ha-nul fumed, drawing his needle as he squared his shoulders. “Oh, yeah? Then why not test me, oh great princess? Would it be enough for you if I survived against you till there are only 200? Or shall we bet on me getting in at least one hit, huh?” he shouted at her brashly. He honestly wasn’t as worked up as his volume was making it seem; he was just venting a bit, using it as an outlet to calm his nerves. Maybe it was false confidence, but it was better than nothing.

“Let’s see just how much of your time I can waste!” he called, both hands wrapped around the weapon. He sparked the Shinsoo within him into familiar motions, letting the sharp zing of greater efficiency take hold of him. He then dashed at the Princess, observing her every minute movement, weapon ready to strike. Ha-nul didn’t intend to hold anything back; he was attacking with his life on the line, so he may as well go at it with lethal intent.

"Tsk." Not the answer she expected or wanted. If he was strong she would fight him and if he was weak she would walk away; the last thing she wanted was to waste time with more small fry when she could be out there catching the big fish. Unfortunately she'd underestimated how much these fools could be driven to action by their wounded egos; she'd insulted him by implying he wasn't strong and now his bravado had overridden his initial fear and his pride was pushing him to prove her wrong, even though he knew what she was. Now he wouldn't let her be until he was satisfied or, more likely, dead.

Fine.

Candice turned to face the approaching Regular. She raised a hand to her cheek and rubbed away at it, inadvertently smearing half-dried blood across her face in the process. He was dashing towards her know, moving with surprising speed as he closed the distance between them with his weapon at the ready. Candice approached more slowly, pacing towards him and letting him come to her. Once he was close she started dashing herself, running and them leaping towards him before lashing out with a sweeping kick at head height.

She'd take his head off quickly, get this over and done with, then move on.

Contrary to how his enemy sped up eventually, Ha-nul slowed down a bit once the red-head dashed. She didn’t seem to possess a weapon, which he’d use to his advantage. Let her come at him; he’d do his best to counter and poke her. The sheer power of her motions was impressive, and he watched as his opponent chose to perform a flying kick. He shifted his weapon, and moved to counter. Taking a leaf out of his previous enemy’s book, Ha-nul angled the tip of his hook just-so, expecting it to intersect the Princess’ leg while he ducked to avoid his face getting smashed in. He braced his body for the impact of weapon on flesh, firmly gripping his hook and gazing up at her.

He was faster than expected, and smarter, ducking under her kick and angling his weapon to catch her leg at the same time. Not bad, she would credit him with having more skill and cunning than those she had killed earlier; if his plan worked her own strength would be her downfall as she drove his hook into her flesh by herself. Clever, but a wasted effort here.

It wasn't a bad trick and would probably be enough to catch most Regulars, but she wasn't most Regulars. She could tell something was up the moment he began to slow down and as he moved his weapon into position she had an idea of what he had in mind. Rather than try and halt her kick Candice adjusted the angle instead, her kick carrying on with full force as her leg slipped under the tip of his hook and struck the inside edge of the loop. She did not impale herself as Ha-Nul intended, but instead hooked her foot around his weapon, swinging her leg around and dragging the head of his hook with it as she forced his weapon to the ground with her foot on top of it.

Now standing with her back to her opponent she kicked out with her other leg, turning to look over her shoulder as she drove the foot not pinning his hook in place towards his chest.

His plan backfired completely, as instead of getting caught as he thought she might, the Princess shifted mid-motion, hooked his weapon at the curve – which might be an amusing consideration in other circumstances – and disarmed him. Though Ha-nul had attempted not to let the handle slip from him, her strength was too much; his weapon fell to the ground, where she pinned it with her foot. Moreover, his palms now suffered minor friction burns, and another kick was flying right at where he was half-crouching. Fantastic. No time to be defeatist.

Ha-nul dropped down into a full crouch and rolled sideways under the kick. Just the displacement of air from one of the Princess’ attacks gave him the shivers. Worse, he had to get close to retrieve his weapon. He could probably manage hand-to-hand under a normal Regular, but one of Zahard chosen elites? Tough luck. Still, Ha-nul was determined to get the red-head’s foot off that weapon one was or another. Rang straightened out of his roll, and closed the remaining distance between the pair as swiftly as he could. He needed his hook back, and now. With that in mind, he directed a stomp at the offending Princess’ foot, aiming to catch her off-guard, get the weapon from under her, and back into his hands right after.

Ha-nul slammed his foot down on top of her's, driving his heel into the bridge of her foot hard enough for her to feel it. However the pain she felt was inconsequential next to the limitations in placed on her movements, her foot being pinned in place much as she was pinning down the hook. Her opponent was too close to properly hit at this distance and with him holding her foot down she couldn't create space nor put her all into an attack. She settled for pushing him away instead, giving him a hard shove to give herself some room to breathe.

This was getting annoying.

She would admit that he was stronger than she had expected, stronger than trash; he showed good judgement in abandoning his weapon to save his skull and good agility in managing to avoid her kick. All in all Ha-nul was proving to be a somewhat decent fighter; he was at least someone that she would have to take a little bit more seriously if she wanted to end this cleanly. But he wasn't what she was looking for. That was the problem; he was just tough enough to take up her precious time but not so strong that it was worth her time.

Candice ducked low and rushed towards him, pressing into his personal space as she fired off a couple left jabs at his face before following up with a right hook to his body. Her pace was faster now than it had been before, her steps quicker and her attacks fiercer as she kept up the assault; she would continue to press the attack until he stopped her or he crumpled.

This time, Ha-nul couldn’t avoid the red-head’s attacks as well; he was pushed back and her first jab hit him straight in the face, and he staggered back, slightly dazed and in pain. It felt like that one hit had managed to break his nose; though he couldn’t confirm that, he did feel a trickle of blood running down toward his upper lip. He barely managed to put his hands up in time to block the second jab.

Ow. That’s gonna bruise. That arm already ached, but he kept his defense up. He stepped back, leading the Princess away from the hook, keeping his eyes on her, but peripherally aware of his displaced weapon. When her right hook came, he dashed the short distance past the Princess, avoiding the hit and getting to where his weapon lay. Rang picked it up, stepped firmly forward, and lashed out with it, targeting whichever part of the Princess was closest.

By the time Candice had turned around to resume her attack the hook was already coming her way, leaving little time to react or dodge. Frustrating; Ha-nul had slipped past her, retrieved his weapon and now swung that same weapon at her, all because her first attack hadn't been enough to finish him off. The jab had hit, even drawn blood, but didn't strike deeply enough to be decisive to end the fight or allow for a proper follow up.

Sloppy, on her part. Those same strikes had been enough to kill the other Regular's; she was underestimating this guy still.

Candice stopped the hook with her palm, the shock of the impact rolling up her arm even as she avoiding injuring herself on the sharp, piercing point. She then grabbed the hook with her other hand, turning towards the weapon as she spun her body and stepped towards Ha-nul in the same, smooth motion. Extending her arm as she spun she swung at her opponent with a spinning back fist aimed at his jaw.

Ha-nul was surprised at his adversary's moves, though he really shouldn’t be; but that she’d managed to stop his attack with a palm slap then grabbed the hook to keep him in place was truly a stellar showing. Rang wriggled his weapon, not quite attempting to dislodge it, simply testing how much he could still move it. His time for experimentation was soon over, though, as the Princess was already spinning her body, the back of her fist flying at him. Ha-nul held onto his weapon with all his might, and moved back, leaning into the motion. He craned his whole body to avoid the punch, but that was not all. His hook was also pulled back, its tip neared the Princess' upper back - and injured her.

Ha-nul was surprised at his adversary's moves, though he really shouldn’t be; but that she’d managed to stop his attack with a palm slap then grabbed the hook to keep him in place was truly a stellar showing. Rang wriggled his weapon, not quite attempting to dislodge it, simply testing how much he could still move it. His time for experimentation was soon over, though, as the Princess was already spinning her body, the back of her fist flying at him. Ha-nul held onto his weapon with all his might, and moved back, leaning into the motion. He craned his whole body to avoid the punch, but that was not all. His hook was also pulled back, its tip neared the Princess' upper back - and injured her.

Ha-nul had injured a Princess, which was great. Superb. Excellent. Who’d known she’d go bat shit crazy and get such a power-boost, huh? Freaking…Princess, Rang thought as he was stomped to the ground after his unfortunate fall. He could be ripping into her leg with his hook right then – if it only weren’t for that pesky problem of his lungs getting crushed. He was pretty sure he’d heard at least three ribs crack. “Fu-” he coughed, droplets of blood spouting from his mouth as he did so. The first proper test floor, the first competition against other Regulars, and he was about to die.

"All right regulars the herd has been thinned next test is to team up! But he careful you only have five minutes to team up and they must be teams of threes!" This voice…this was his saviour. Or rather, the follow-up warning about those still fighting getting disqualified was. Though the murderous eyes of that crazed beast of a female weren’t reassuring at all. She did stop, though, after a long moment of consideration. Ha-nul exhaled carefully, and stood up with just as much caution. He patted himself and shook blood off his weapon, not particularly satisfied with the condition his body ended up in. But at least he was alive. He’d take that. “So,” he began, hacking his lungs out. “Wh-” he cleared his throat. “What about that team-up?”

Candice turned around, looking over her shoulder at Ha-nul as he stood up. The anger from before was gone, gone as quickly as it had appeared, though her expression now was still far from reassuring as she stared at him for long seconds with no reply. Team-up? He still wanted to team-up with her in this situation? She vaguely recalled his first words to her, seeking either an alliance or an apprenticeship after he had seen her handiwork in dealing with the other Regulars; now here he was asking again, even after she had tried to kill him.

He was persistent, she'd give him that. Or maybe just a fool. One way or another though, it looked like he was going to get his wish after all; a team of three was required to pass this next test from the sounds of it and as much as Candice would rather avoid dealing with this man ever again, she couldn't take the risk of refusing him now and then being unable to find another two people before the time limit ran out. It would be a humiliating end to her journey if she were to fail for a reason like that.

"Fine." She had no choice but to agree with this for now. But if a better option came along, she would take it.

"Great," he replied, not nearly as cheerfully as he was hoping to. His grin was weak and watery too, and Ha-nul groaned. "I hope we get free healing on the next floor," he muttered. "By the way, I'm Ha-nul Rang," he introduced himself as he sheathed his hook. Rang gingerly poked at his chest, wincing at some especially sore and bruised points. "Shall we go find that third person, Princess?" he asked, though it was more of a gently nudging suggestion to get going. He only hoped he'd be able to keep up, injured as he was.

It was several long seconds before Candice acknowledged that Ha-nul had spoken, even ignoring his greeting as she waited for him to get moving. She stubbornly tried to ignore his existence altogether, as if that would change the fact that she had already agreed to be his teammate or let her forget recent events. It was futile however and her own silence just made her feel petulant; a Princess should at least be able to give a proper greeting, after all.

"Candice... Candice Rose Zahard." Her voice was curt as she spoke, words short and to the point. "I wouldn't count on healing; they won't coddle us just because we're Regular's now. Let's get moving."

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

Oberon deflated a little, letting out a sigh as he saw the pebble begin to move in fits and starts; it was progress, at least, and rather fast progress at that, but Oberon was hoping that adding more Mana alone would be enough. It seemed like there was still something more that was needed to complete the skill, however. Adding yet more power was the only thing he could think to do. The Sprite poured even more Mana into the attempt, trying to bolster the invisible hand wrapped around it even further. At the same time he reached out with his physical hand and focused on pulling the stone towards him; he envisioned the pebble flying from its current spot and into his waiting palm.

Whether or not he was successful, Oberon would soon find himself distracted by the arrival of the newly evolved and transformed Ash. At least, that’s who he assumed the tall, bipedal lizard walking out of their hideout to be. Her appearance was drastically different from before; still reptilian, still with wings, but clearly a different creature altogether with strange and familiar marking etched across her body. Intrigued, the Sprite examined the Winged Kobold with both Magic and Monster Analysis, then Magic Analysis again to get the additional information. "Just trying to learn telekinesis. Learning a couple more skills should get me to the point I can evolve as well."

Action Report

Add more power and intent to "Lesser Force" attempt #3
Used "Magic Analysis IV" on Winged Kobold (Ash)
Used "Monster Analysis II" on Winged Kobold (Ash)
Used "Magic Analysis IV" again on Winged Kobold (Ash)

@Zeroth@Rune_Alchemist

Climbing the Tower-TOG RP

What was it about today that caused everyone she met to want to try and vex her? Trash forgetting their place in the world and attacking her, thinking things might be different now that they had been chosen to come here and had passed the first test, only to pay the price for their hubris; even the rabbit on the first floor had taunted her and now this fool was here trying to waste her time as well. Apprentice? Teaming up? What nonsense was that?

Candice ignored the voice at first, continuing on her way and hoping the man either lost her trail or suddenly rediscovered his common sense and left her alone, but as he caught up to her she was forced to stop and deal with him. She kept her back to him, turning her head to look at him over her shoulder as her eyes looked him up and down.

“Are you strong?”

No, he wasn’t. He had a weapon at his hip and even from here she could see the blood on it, he was a killer, but the unconscious step back just from meeting her eyes was all the answer she needed. Candice looked at the Pocket again, the number of remaining Regulars now appreciably lower than before; no time. “I’m not going to waste my time on you if you aren’t strong.”

@SilverPaw

Climbing the Tower-TOG RP

“Pl-please… let me go. Forgive me.”

The Princess watched dispassionately as the young man squirmed in her grip, his hands grasping desperately at her arm and wrist as he tried to free himself from her clutches.

“Tsk. Don’t beg, it’s annoying. At least take this like a man.”

Her grip on his throat was unassailable; against her strength a normal Regular had a better chance of moving mountains than they did overpowering her, even with her fingers slick with the blood of his friends her hold on him was unbreakable. He seemed to come to the same the conclusion himself, as his struggles continued for a only a few seconds more before he seemed to settle for just holding on to her arm as either lack of oxygen or hopelessness set in.

“You idiots are the ones who attacked a Princess. What did you think would happen?”

Almost as soon as she had reached this floor, before she’d even fully digested the test they had been given, she had been ambushed by a group of men and women looking to take her out. Fools. How did that end for them? The bodies scattered on the ground around her and the fresh blood coating her boots and covering her arms up to the elbow were the only answer she’d get now; even the Regular in her grip wasn’t talking anymore. She looked to her Pocket instead, the little floating orb showing the number of participants remaining, the number steadily ticking down as the Regulars in this test cut each other apart.

“Plea… Princess, I swear myself to-to you. M-my loyalty. Let me live; I can be useful. Let me li-.” The pleading cut off with a wet crunch as Candice’s fingers crushed the neck in her grip like a twig. She didn’t have time to deal with small fry like this right now; she’d wasted precious moments dealing with this trash and now she’d have to hurry to find what she was looking for. She released the Regular she was holding, letting his limp body fall to the ground as she walked away from the grisly scene.

Night of the Hunt - a Bloodborne RP

The nightmarish creature that emerged from the black, inky pool occupied all of Joseph’s attention; neither the continuing struggle by the door, the shouting of the other men in the room nor the thrashing of the beast outside could pull him away from those white eyes. As far as he was concerned it was only him and the foul creature in the room alone.

It almost resembled a rotting corpse, aside from the fact that Joseph doubted this thing had ever been human to begin with. It was too tall, too scraggly and thin, like a scarecrow brought to life and filled with vehement rage; rage that it now unleashed in a high pitched howl that sent shivered down his spine. Joseph gripped his spear harder, knuckles turning white with the intensity of it, as he contemplated driving the weapon through the things chest. With its mutilated body however, covered in the scars of previous injuries and battles, there was no guarantee that his modest spear would even be able to kill the thing.

The shout from the person next to him made Joseph jump, the sudden and authoritative roar breaking through his haze of fear and bringing him back to reality. Yes, they had to kill this thing; there was no other choice if they wanted to survive this night. Mustering his courage Joseph lunged forward, dashing past Arcturus to close the meagre distance between himself and the creature before thrusting his short spear towards its chest. If the thing had a heart then the attack might kill it and if it didn’t then hopefully he would at least push the monstrosity back and off balance.

Climbing the Tower-TOG RP

I'd say Khun manages to shine in the Light Bearer role. It does seem like there haven't been a lot of team fights recently, which is where those other roles do tend to shine; if everyone's just fighting one-on-one then everyone tends to look like a Fisherman.

Climbing the Tower-TOG RP

I mean Ran exists for one. And that guy fights as the main guy.

@ColourlessKing

Ran is both a Fisherman and a Spear Bearer, however. I don't know which was his first position, but he fills both roles as does Novick; usually it's Novick as the Scout and Ran as the Fisherman but if they need to they switch to Novick being the Fisherman and Ran being the Spear Bearer.

Again, positions aren't set roles; they only matter in team fights and only apply to what roles you are currently filling. If someone was capable of filling multiple roles then they would probably fill whatever gap needed to be filled, such as Ran filling in for a Spear Bearer because a team needs one even if it's not his best position. Generally the Fisherman is the strongest position because their role on the team is to be the one that does the fighting, with the other positions supporting that. That doesn't always mean the Fisherman on the team is the strongest member, but it does mean that it's the position with the strongest members on average.

Climbing the Tower-TOG RP

The problem with that is "more Shinsoo Resistance, Techniques, and are overall more skilled and powerful" usually means Fisherman; it's the main combatant role so logically they are the strongest members of the team. It's probably more accurate to say that the stronger you become the less things like position matters as you begin to be able to fill any role.