sanquin

Elder Tale. (Sanquin / EveIris)

Alakai had also noticed how fast his hp was going down. Kali of course managed to keep up quite easily. But it still cost her 1/4 of her mana. If they kept going like this, they wouldn't even be through this first cave before she had to regenerate. That wasn't too rare a thing in dungeon, and he had plenty of food with him. But he'd rather not have even the regular enemies be this dangerous. "Guess we'll have to change it up a little bit..." He muttered after their first pair of crabs was dead. "I'm going to focus on dodging more, and do a bit less damage. Everyone be sure to pay close attention to how much damage you do. If someone pulls aggro I'll use my taunt. And if that happens, try doing a bit less damage okay?" Everyone agreed. This was all fairly basic stuff for the more difficult mmo's. Most people were used to just being able to dps as much as they wanted, so it would take a bit of getting used to.

"Okay, guess we're taking a second group. June, since you now have earthen grasp, use it to root that fishman over there. I'll first pull the two crabs he's with, and we'll deal with the fishman once they're dead." Like that, Alakai explained the tactics for each group. Once they got more used to each other and the dungeon these explanations wouldn't be needed any more. But for now this would keep them going at the most efficient pace. Alakai also called out for certain skills to be used at certain times. Like telling Joan to use his taunt on one crab when Kali started getting low on mana. At the same time he told Kali to only heal either of them when they were below half health.

After that final fight a path was finally cleared towards the second area's entrance. Kali was now low on mana, Josie had taken one hit, and both Alakai and Joan had about half their health left. It had taken them half an hour to get this far, but they had made it without anyone getting too injured, so that was definitely good. "Phew...we made it..." Alakai spoke, moving to one side of the entrance and sitting down on a rock. "Let's take a short break. I have green tea for everyone. It just recovers mana, but I think everyone could use a break right?" He took a bottle out of his inventory together with a set of cups, then started pouring tea for everyone.

"And in the mean time, this is also the point where we're going to encounter the first boss." The man spoke, pointing towards the large pool of water right across from the entrance gate that was still closed. "We're going to be fighting a large crab, so let me explain tactics. It's only the first dungeon and first boss so he only has two mechanics. First one is that he sometimes spits acid towards the tank. So I'll be tanking him with his back towards you guys, and will dodge when he spits. Second one is that he summons one of the crabs we've been fighting from that same pool to help him. Joan, at that time I want you to taunt it so it comes to you. You will have to tank those adds whenever they spawn. Hopefully not more than two or three will spawn before the boss dies. Kali, I want you to mostly focus on Joan with healing when he's tanking the add. And of course everyone should focus on the add to kill it first while I keep the boss busy." Joan raised a hand. "Wait, what if the boss acts differently from the game?" Alakai looked down for a moment. It was something he was worrying about as well. "It's possible... If that happens I'll give orders on the spot. Though I think the boss will at least be very similar to the game. Since all enemies have been similar or exactly the same so far."

Fairy Tail (Sanquin / EasilyAmused)

Taunie started leading the way into the machine. Though there were still traps to deal with. A magical turret was mounted on a wall, and immediately started shooting at them when they went around a corner. Luckily Taunie was quick to take a step back, and use her chains to destroy it. It was a bit surprising that that was the only opposition they encountered though. Anzel had expected that there would be some people defending their main weapon, or that there would at least be several times more traps. Maybe the 'monkey brains' comment wasn't just an insult but an observation. As they didn't look to be too smart with their defences.

Finally they reached the large machine. An enormous sphere with a huge barrel attached to it. The barrel going outside through a hatch. Anzel wondered where the mana came from to fire it, but that didn't matter as long as the cannon itself was destroyed. "Smash it." Taunie told him, at which the man grinned widely. "Finally..." He put his first to the floor as a magic circle appeared below it. "I guess they didn't expect someone with my magic to come along. Putting me in a building made mostly of stone is like putting me in an enormous weapon for me to use!" As he pulled back his first again, the rock below it was pulled along. And out of the magic circle came a huge fist mage of stone, with Anzel's own fist as a base. "Time to wreck this gun!" The man ran towards the turret, dragging the huge fist made of stone with him. Then he jumped up, readying his strike to hit right at the center of the giant sphere. "Earth Dragon's two ton crash!" His father could strike with 15 tons if he was serious. Some day, Anzel wanted to be able to do that too.

Elder Tale. (Sanquin / EveIris)

The dungeon was fairly easily found. Alakai already knew where to look after all, and once they were in the area and knew what they were looking for it was easy to find. Once there, Kali wanted to double check if everything and everyone was ready. At which Alakai paused and opened his inventory. "Not ready just yet...I made food that gives us a small stat bonus. +5 to your class' main stat. So intellect for the casters, agility for me, and strength for Joan." He handed everyone a shaved pork meat sandwich with a slight smile. "So, eat up and then we're ready to go." Everyone greedily ate the food. After having only eaten food that tasted like salty crackers for quite a while, they all appreciated proper tasting food all the more. And Alakai's cooking was quite good as well, with a combination of his cooking skill level and his real life cooking skills.

Once everyone was finished it was time to go. "Okay..." Alakai spoke, moving to stand in front. It was the tank's job to go in during fights after all. "We'll take it slow at first, pulling as little enemies as possible at a time. If I feel confident we can take on more I'll say so beforehand." With that he stepped into the cave. And everyone else followed behind him.

Inside they were greeted by a long tunnel that seemed to get wider at the end. Though it went downwards and around a corner so it was hard to tell what was there. However as soon as they arrived at the corner they were greeted by a beautiful sight. A large open cave, with it's ceiling covered in a blueish green moss that glowed a light blue colour. Large stalactites and stalagmites formed partial pillars here and there. And the floor was broken up by mostly shallow, and some deep pools of water, which reflected the light of the ceiling. The walls had patches of green, purple and red plants and also the blue glowing moss. And in the back there was another cave opening with some broken ruins surrounding it. It had probably been some kind of beautifully handcrafted entrance in the past. The scene had quite the fantasy feel to it overall.

Even so, there wasn't too much time to take in the sights. As the cave wasn't empty. Huge crabs just like on the beach scuttled around the area, and they didn't look as friendly as the ones outside. Here and there there was even a fishman looking creature near the deeper pools. They seemed to be directing the crabs in a fairly primitive way. "Time to get moving. Once we've cleared out the this first part we can take it easy and look around a little." With that Alakai moved forwards. After getting a bit closer to two crabs, the man picked up a stone and threw it towards one of them. It hit, which immediately caused both crabs to chitter angrily and scuttle towards the group of adventurers. "Here we go." Alakai mused with a grin. "Focus the one I hit with the rock first." Even though things were getting exciting the monk kept his voice on the softer side, as he was worried that they might pull more crabs if they made their presence known by making too much noise.

Fairy Tail (Sanquin / EasilyAmused)

Apparently Ansel wasn't even allowed going on a rampage. As Taunie grabbed him and immediately started pulling him towards the large robot that was sitting in the water. "H-hey! Wait! I want to beat these guys over here first! Hey!" But the woman wasn't listening, so all he could do was reluctantly follow along with her.

And before Answel fully understood what was going on they already landed on the machine with a thud. "Ugh! There's better ways to get here you know!" He grumbled, sounding a bit annoyed. He could have made a walkway as well. Granted it wouldn't have been as stable, and it would have taken longer. But at least then they didn't have to make such a rough landing.

Taunie quickly explained the plan as best as she could, but the dragonslayer didn't really get what she meant. "Cannon? How're we going to destroy something like that? This sounds complicated and bothersome..." He spoke, scratching his head as he looked at the barrel that stuck out of the machine. "Tell you what, you lead the way and point me in the right direction, and I'll do the smashing things. Sound good?" Ansel worked best when others just told him to go somewhere and beat someone or destroy something. So right now that job was left with Taunie, willing or not. As if it was up to him he'd probably just break through every wall he encountered to find whatever they were looking for, and get lost in the process.

Luckily Taunie was already taking the lead. So Ansel quickly followed behind. Valier in the mean time decided to stay outside. "You two go! I'll watch the entrance and stop anyone that tries to go after you!" The little cat spoke bravely. Whether his bite was as strong as his bark, though, remained to be seen.

Overlords. (Sarpedon/Sanquin)

Damn, that really sucks... =x But real life is always more important. I'll probably still be here when you come back. :)

Overlords. (Sarpedon/Sanquin)

Already been over a week again... ^^;;

Elder Tale. (Sanquin / EveIris)

Joan was surprised at how the two of them didn't seem to mind being in this world. At least for Alakai that was definitely true. In fact, he liked being here. Dying from something dangerous didn't seem to be a problem, the world was beautiful with plenty to explore, and if you did what he had been doing for years in mmorpg's, you could become a powerful hero as well. What was there not to like? Plus, there was another reason. "I guess for me it's partially because I didn't leave much of a life behind in the real world. I didn't have any real life friends, and I guess my mother might be worried if she knows. But I hadn't talked to her in a year or so after I moved to a different city. So she might not even realise I'm gone." Alakai mused softly. While he had felt content enough in the real world, thinking back on it now he probably was a bit miserable. Playing games was pretty much all he had. And he wondered if any of that would change if he ever returned there.

"Anyway, grinding might take long yea. But in the end it will be worth it! And you'll only have to do it once after all." Unlike a real life job which you had to keep on doing year after year to keep up, your level was permanent. And earning enough money to buy a house and live comfortably would be easy once you were level 50 or higher. Grinding monsters one day per week would already be plenty to cover the upkeep of a small villa.

The group arrived in town when it was still quite early. There were a few other players going about their business as well, having probably gone to the inn for the night, rather than returning to Malystare. Judging by their gear they weren't quite as high as their group yet, but it wouldn't take more than another few days for them to reach level 25 as well. Their group, however, would probably be jumping ahead quite a bit now. Dungeons gave tons of exp if you could run them quickly. And the more they learned to work together and the higher their level, the easier and faster the dungeon would become. "Let's go to the dungeon right away. With any luck we can run it at least twice today." He spoke, spurring on his tiger to run to the beach.

Overlords. (Sarpedon/Sanquin)

Heh, time can sometimes go really fast. Hope you will/can post soon. :)

Fairy Tail (Sanquin / EasilyAmused)

Taunie was too focused on the paper she was holding to hold any kind of conversation, so Ansel just occupied himself with the scenery outside of the window. Which is why he didn't notice the concerned expression on her face as she read what was on said paper. Once they arrived the man turned to the woman again, wondering if she was done yet. "So, you able to talk again or--" But before he could finish Taunie stood and hurriedly told him to go to her house. "Wha-? Hey wait! What's going on!" He called after her, but she was already gone. The dragonslayer grumbled a little, pondering for a brief moment about what to do. But Taunie had mentioned a fight, so there really was only one option to go with wasn't there? "Ah damn it..." He muttered, starting to run back towards the guild, as he was sure she'd be going there.

Once there Ansel could hardly believe what was happening in front of him. Some kind of giant robot thing was standing in the water just outside of the guild, and some group using magic was coming out of it, attacking the guild. "The hell is this!" He growled, rushing towards the action without hesitation. And just as he arrived, he saw Taunie getting hit by a magical bullet.

"Are you stupid?!" He yelled as he rushed towards her. "You guys want me to join the guild, yet you didn't even think to ask me?!" He scolded her angrily as he moved himself in front of her. "You really think I'm the kind of guy who'd just sit by and watch while shit like this is happening?!"

The man took a deep breath, turning his focus on the enemies now in front of him. Two of them were coming right at him and Taunie, and it looked like she was unable to defend herself for a little bit. "This is such a pain, but I guess I'll get a little serious for a while..." He grinned as he grabbed the goggles on his head, and put them over his eyes. They weren't some kind of fashion statement. In truth, his own magic affected him a little bit as well. Throwing around large amounts of rock and sand had the nasty side effect of getting sand in your eyes if you got too close. So when he had to fight seriously, he covered his to prevent that.

Once again the man inhaled deeply. "Earth dragon's-" A green magic circle formed in front of his mouth just before he breathed out again. "-Roar!" A storm of rocks and sand shot forth, towards the two oncoming attackers. And as if they were leaves blowing in the wind, both were blown backwards and into the water behind them.

Fairy Tail (Sanquin / EasilyAmused)

Question, are either gajeel or natsu there as well or are they on a mission? If they're on a mission Ansel can be all like "You've still got me, a dragon slayer!!" :P