Calrex

It wasn't long before Calrex watched three people come over to assist him with closing the portal, recognizing one of the faces as they came closer. Baldur, along with two players he had not met before, arrived to help, "Nice to meet the both of you, albeit under such odd circumstances."

As the three arranged themselves in the order that suited them best the bluenette gave a nod before taking the hands of the two people adjacent to him, giving a small breath. Almost immediately the portal vanished in a flash, "Alright that's one down..."

Looking nearby he spotted another down a street, with some creatures already partially spawning, "Looks like there's still more to deal with."

His gauntlets vanished , being replaced by the massive two-handed axe Grand Legionbane. Rushing forward he quickly swung and knocked the creatures aside before planting the axe into the ground near the portal, "Not sure if you guys are feeling this...but I'm sensing some kind of energy block. I can probably only help with this and one more portal at most, but after that I don't believe I've got the willpower needed to close another one."

With more threats incoming Calrex looked towards the gates as he saw a massive group of players, some that he recognized, rush out to meet the incoming archers. A...amount much more than necessary to deal with the threat, "Wait! We don't need that many...and they're already out of earshot..."

"These things are crawling out of the ground! How in the world do we stop them?"

"Great, of course right when a bunch of people went out to deal with the archers..."

Rushing over the bluenette approached the person calling for help, "Where's the source of the creatures? I'll see what I can do."

Given the location he quickly rushed over, his gauntlet-clad arms smashing through the monsters that were in his way, arriving at a circular pool of tar-like material, "So this is one of the sources? Ok...well I'm here, but given the information there's no way I can close this on my own..."

On the signal Calrex heaved upwards with his arms, lifting as much as he could. A brief grunt of exertion escaped his teeth as he worked in unison with the other NPCs working to heave the massive pile of rubble to the side. From what he could tell it might have been something close to a collapsed roof, at least from the size of the piece. However, their efforts were not in vain as he could see a couple of individuals that had been buried beneath were able to emerge successfully. Nodding over to the medical tents that were set up nearby the bluenette made sure that there were no other remaining people beneath. Once that was done he and the other participating people lowered the rubble back down. "Alright, that takes care of that for now. Seems like the sounds of calls for help are starting to die down. Hopefully there's not much more we need to do to sure up before this supposed invasion."

Finally heaving the massive stone piece he was working with the NPcs to place, Calrex gave a small sigh of relief, looking at the other areas around him. It looked like the other sections of the wall were pretty much filled in, which mean it might be a good time to switch duties to whatever was needed next, "Seems like there's an excess of people on medical duty right now, which is good, but I can definitely hear various places where the NPCs are calling for assistance with getting people out from the rubble. Better see about getting that moving."

Sprinting over the bluenette's armored appearance switched back to his casual combat attire as his eyes became visible once again. His forearms became surrounded by the Grand Gauntlets III as he drew closer and closer to one of the collapsed hunks of debris, "Alright, I'm here to help..."

Planting his feet had reached his armored gloves into the gap he could find as he gave a few deep breaths, ready to start lifting when the signal was given.

More and more hunks of stone were passed by and to Calrex as the gap in the wall he was helping to close grew smaller and smaller. Nonetheless, there was still a significant amount left to fill. Looking back at the amount of pieces left in order to fully close the breakthrough area, "There's still more to do, but at least it seems like the other parts of the wall are being sured up with me staying here in the meantime."

Turning around his eyes widened as he noticed the piece that a few NPCs were trying to move as a group. It was much larger in size compared to the other pieces from a few moments ago, ones that were difficult to carry even as a single person. This one was at least five times that and was rather oddly shaped. Quickly moving over he occupied a spot in the perimeter of the rock, looking over at the other NPCs.

Hearing the signal to lift the Ultramarine Knight forced his part of the piece upwards, feeling the virtual weight pull down hard on his shoulders, "Whoo boy...this one is gonna take a bit..."

"Okay, what in the world is going on now?"

Calrex looked left and right as he walked into the chaos that was the grounds of Larissa. He felt a bead of sweat form on the side of his head before an NPC came by and quickly gave the gist of the situation, "A invasion from a dark fortress that just appeared. Dang this is pretty unique from the past events. I guess I have been away for a while. Well, might as well get back to work."

Swiping on his menu his casual attire vanished, his form being covered in his dark navy blue armor, the Grand Chariot III, "Doesn't seem like I'm well suited for the other tasks at the moment, so might as well help out with the fortification in the meantime."

He could see other players already performing their tasks, hauling the supplies needed for strengthening the city walls. Stretching his shoulders out he gave a small sigh, heading over to a gap in the number of workers, with a larger gap in the wall to match the lack of manpower, "Here to lend a hand."

Reaching down with both of his arms the bluenette wrapped his fingers around the large stone block, giving a quick breath before using his legs to lift the massive chunk of cinder, walking over to the gap and placing it into the best fitting spot he could find.

"You wouldn't be the only one on that part. With the time I'm willing to dedicate to this effort now, my participation in the meetings and actual battles would be my most for now. Ever since Absolute Pin's disbanding I haven't really had the time or energy to try and take on anyone new for training."

Feeling a strong blow connect with him the bluenette gave a small sigh, sticking out a foot as he stepped to the side. While he endured a lighter blow in addition to the critical hit, his foot caused one of the zombies to trip and fall over facefirst into the ground, nearly bowling over another approaching creature in the process. Consuming yet another healing item from his battle ready Calrex tossed it behind him in a casual demeanor.

"The main thing that we can act on, if we want to do anything for the people up and coming to frontlines levels, really boils down to one thing: Keep them from dying. If they really are trying to catch up to us, then those players are most likely pushing themselves towards challenges no matter what anyone says. I don't believe there's anyone sitting around expecting to level up without lifting a finger to improve themselves, and if there are we'll definitely not be seeing them at the raid meetings anytime soon. Given that fact, the best thing us in the higher tiers can provide is some form of safety net should those bettering themselves find themselves in a bind. Allow them to become stronger without holding their hand."

@Baldur

"Yeah, you wouldn't be wrong on that point. There's been more people leaving the frontlines than there have been people remaining or joining. That can be a sign for good or bad reasons, depending on how you decide to spin it. It may be that no one has been as of yet considered ready to safely participate, and being aware of that they are only focusing on growing stronger. The people that do stay are of high enough level and equipment, or for a rare few it may be out of foolishness, but that's about all I can guess."

With a casual sidestep Calrex avoided two zombies while another two scratched their cracked nails against his armor, a brief metallic screech piercing the battlefield. The bluenette pulled out and consumed yet another spider cider, checking what remained in his battle-ready inventory, "Only five left, maybe if I get lucky I can just walk away from this without needing to actually defeat the zombies..."

"At this point, I'd say we're better off playing the waiting game for a while. After all the player base really only has two options: Show up to the raids and help get through the floors, or start making comfy with the fact they'll remain in the game until someone pulls the plug. Not sure how many people have already chosen the latter, but I've got a hunch that there's still more than enough people that still desire to escape this game, and it's those people we can hedge our bets on."

@Baldur

Calrex remained silent out of respect as Baldur voiced his own concerns and frustrations as of the recent events. Even though he had only been the Western samurai's student for a fairly short period of time, they had been comrades and friends for long enough the bluenette could tell an obvious thing: The older man was invested in his efforts and genuinely cared about the people that were voluntary participating in the frontlines. Many experiences to some level had hardened him to the erratic decisions of the other participants, made very apparent during the Dark Elf Council battle. While he had decided to still respect Hirru's wish to protect the youngest of the floor boss group, the Ultramarine Knight nonetheless still pressed the advance on the other remaining enemies. In some ways it was similar to the embodiment of the deep-sea colors he was known for: If you drop a rock into the sea, the waters will flow around it. Just because an obstacle appears didn't mean that one had to stop.

Two more light blows tapped against his armor as the bluenette consumed yet another spider cider, tossing the bottle to the side, "Moving forward is inevitable, no matter what either of us say. As much as we want to keep everyone that participates safe, there is just as strong a desire to move through the floors, no matter what potential risk. Ever since the Azure Brigade was the main raid planners, there's always been the idea that no matter what preparations we make, whatever AI is running this game will eventually find something that will blindside us. We were having it easy in the past with so many unique skill users being in the raids, and we were set back before. From my perspective this is no different."

With a small sigh he crossed his arms, glancing to his sides as the two zombies that missed this round stumbled past him, "If the past is any indicator of what will happen in the future, then for sure we'll regain our pace again. It may take some time, but it is inevitable as long as we have enough of a desire to escape this game. I don't know what others will do, but I do know what I intend to do for sure. I'll keep showing up to take the next step forward, and try to lead by example with my actions more than any words that I say. After all, even a faint beacon in the fog is more welcome than none, right?"

"Maybe in the end, my main motivation has never been some lofty goal. It's been tackling the challenge in front of me each time, facing them head on and pushing past. If that happens to inspire others to follow in stride, then great, but it wasn't the goal, just a side-effect."

@Baldur

"Newbies...hm...none that I don't believe you're already aware of. The participants of the last fight were people that showed up to the planning meeting, if not regular returning veterans. Interestingly enough Ariel made an appearance at the fight, but for some reason she didn't take any actions after the first few rotations and was ejected from the fight. A few other veterans had the same issue, with Zandra also having the same done to her."

Two minor blows made contact with his form as Calrex consumed another spider cider, his combined healing now far outpacing the incoming damage. His health climbed once again, "Grand Chariot appears to be handling the potential critical hits these creatures are scoring, but normal blows are being reduced to minimal. Hopefully I won't heal all the way back up and be unable to burn through my healing items."

"After all the battle we've been through, I think the main consensus I've always seen has remained the same. I'm sure you've probably heard me say it before as well: The people that participate in these floor raids are doing it for various reasons, as reasonable or as vain as they can be. Even the military spends months to years in training solely on team cohesion, so a handful of us trying to accomplish the same is...well...difficult to put it lightly. Plus with the history of guilds, especially raid-level guilds, being the way they have been in the past, I'm sure some are still averse to the idea. The wiser ones of us will do what we can, trying to keep the others safe, but I think I'm also with you at this point. It's pointless trying to keep speaking to people that don't want to listen, even if it might put their lives in danger."

@Baldur

"From what I know, the search for the next floor boss room is still ongoing. I'm not exactly sure who's running the search this time, but I guess that's not too unusual, given what I've been up to as of late. From what I remember of the past searches though, I wouldn't be too surprised if it'll be discovered shortly. Once that happens, it'll be business as usual up into the actual fight."

With his now armor-clad body, the zombies were no longer able to inflict as serious a series of blows as before. Unusually they might have also hesitated this time around, as three clear missed their marks. One was able to land a critical hit, but with the dark blue chestplate now protecting him alongside the Achilles unique skill the attack dealt even less damage than before. Consuming a cider from his battle-ready pouches, the bluenette could see his health now starting to beat out the damage and climb up further, his expanded health bar giving the amount he still had to go to become fully healed.

@Baldur

A series of heavy blows hit their mark as Calrex watched his health drop once again, further than the combination of items and Battle Healing would be able to compensate for, "Still not too bad, but I'd better start playing it safe now."

Spreading his arms apart to his sides his avatar flashed white for a moment before the familiar dark blue armor of the Grand Chariot III encapsulated his form, his raid level armor now hiding whatever was previously visible beneath. Seeing almost all of his stats rocket up to their usual levels the bluenette gave a small sigh before looking onwards at the four zombies still engaged with striking at him, all the meanwhile listening for when Baldur spoke. This time the western samurai gave only one question, once that gave the Ultramarine Knight pause for a moment. "Floor 50? Geeze looking at it now that's a really long time, heh..."

"Forward on? Guess that's kind of tough to say. I'm not exactly a contributor in the frontlines meetings, as I'm sure you're probably already aware. That's definitely dwindled since I first started participating in the floor raids. With the number of floors we've been through, I guess I've kind of just slipped into a kind of routine. Outside of the battles I'm usually just relaxing at the Amethyst Boutique, occasionally stepping out so I don't go stir-crazy."

"Thinking about it now it might be the only real reason I'm still regularly showing up to the raids is because there's no one else that can bear so much tanking damage as I can, or at least be the most flexible for unexpected situations. Shield and Hestia certainly are ones that can handle dedicated tank roles, but even they don't have a scaling level of defense like Achilles does for me. From what I know there haven't even been any rumors of other skills showing up again. No mention of Dual Blades, Berserker, Battojutsu or even the Darkness Blade. The only people possessing the skills are Hik and I, and should either of us lose ours those things are probably going to remain undiscoverable for quite some time."

"I guess I haven't really given it much thought. I mostly figure that I'll have to be at the raids regardless, so the most I can really do is keep myself prepared for whatever gets thrown at us. What about you?"

@Baldur

"In terms of performance..."

As Calrex was about to speak he felt two more blows come down on him, the zombies managing to lay another set of attacks into his back as he gave a small sigh, "Last one of these sodas as least."

Producing the last of the diet sodas he had purchased from the concession stand he popped off the cap and quickly down it, seeing his health climb back up from the healing effects of the item working in tandem with his Battle Healing. He already knew he had healed more than enough for the requirement, leaving the only remaining task to be burning through all of the remaining ciders in his battle ready inventory. After that it was cleanup of this mob and returning back to the tent, "Only problem is that these things don't exactly go down when they're supposed to. That enough was clear from when I was working with Zandra and Morg on another group."

"Oddly enough it wasn't the performance of the players this time around that seemed to be the issue, but more preparedness. I don't remember the details given for the Leviathan fight, but the mechanics that were in play I don't recall being given any form of hint for. Burn and Freeze effects on a water-type boss didn't exactly seem common looking back on it, and those two things on top of the constant damage  quickly wore down the teams, forcing retreats. If this were any other fight I believe we should have been done at much safer point, but the length of the battle made things more dire with each passing moment. A lot of the main damage dealers were also getting constantly getting frozen, for some points in the fight we weren't dealing nearly as much to the most important part of the Leviathan as we could have."

@Baldur

Another day of not much activity passed as Calrex gave a small sigh, giving a small stretch as he leaned against the interior wall of the Amethyst Boutique. Looking back as of late, he hadn't been really active on the floors outside of the occasional seasonal event, or the floor raids. It was a significant change from before, when he was of much lower levels. Back then he chased strength to a much larger degree, one that even others recognized as a surprising jump for such a short period of time. He wasn't exactly sure what changed from back then, but the result was clear: He was stagnating.

"I really probably should reach out to that info broker again and see what new quests have come out and try to take them on, but I guess the first thing I need to address is my drive to pursue them again."

As he glanced upwards a small glint of blue occasionally dotted the light of the moon across the dark landscape. Roc was high up above at a predatory altitude, one that would allow the peregrine falcon to quickly reach hunting swoop speeds while still having significant room to adjust. The two had been partners for a really long time, to which now it seemed the bluenette could understand a lot of the non-verbal cues and gestures the creature made. Their bond as player and familiar was one that the Ultramarine Knight could put his full trust in, although he understood that to be expected, as Roc was an AI after all.

Occasionally a corrupted beast would stumble into viewing range of the shop, but Calrex's significantly higher level warded it off. Because of his presence, and the architected stability of Teayre's store, he could rest easily. It was then that he looked down, recognizing the notification alarm for a message in his inbox. With a few swipes he quickly pulled it up, his eyes widening for a moment at the sender's name. "Huh, I guess he stepped out of the Grand Forge again. Last time Oikawa didn't really step back out into the player spotlight again, I wonder if this time may be different."

"Roc, we're heading out. We're getting to see some old friends again."

Almost in an instant the bird of prey was back down to ground level, gently hovering in front of the bluenette before dematerializing. Ready to depart Calrex lifted up an arm before swinging it to the side, his formerly gauntlet-clad arms being covered in light before the Grand Gauntlets III lost their forms, turning into particles of light that formed together to take the shape of the massive axe-sword, the Grand Legionbane. His trip from the shop to the teleportation plaza in the main settlement was uneventful, the following nigh-instantaneous shift to the 21st floor being just the same.

With that he headed in the direction of the Grand Forge, one hand in his jacket pocket while the other stabilized his battle axe against his shoulder. At this point Roc reappeared overhead in a faint flash of light, soaring ahead to be on lookout as the Ultramarine Knight moved towards Oikawa's smithery at a casual pace.

"Really? Huh, I guess in some ways that makes sense. It's wasn't exactly a high or even middle point for the frontlines, even though we were successful with unlocking the new floor."

As the zombies moved forward once again Calrex gave a small sigh, stepping to the side right as the creatures were about to strike. Since they approached from all sides he intentionally move towards one of the four, catching it by surprise while taking a normal strength blow. The other three stumbled into each other as one was thrown back by the impact, being thrown to the ground. Spinning around to move away from the one undead he had shoved into, the bluenette produced yet another diet soda, his eyes wincing as he quickly downed the fizzy substance within the glass bottle "Ugh...still nasty..."

"There was a lot happening in the fight, but the Leviathan itself had some mechanics that were problematic when things didn't go in our favor. The first itself was that we couldn't attack the actual main body of the creature until one of its three segments was temporarily destroyed. When that happened we had a few moments where the head was targetable until it moved back out of range once again. The segment itself would regenerate and become temporarily incapable of being damaged until the newly spawned mobs were eliminated. Since there were three parties, there were three segments, which ideally should have worked in our favor."

Weaving to the side again as a zombie charged forward Calrex continued, "Unfortunately there were more things to manage and deal with. During most of the fight the environment itself also worked against us, dealing increasingly more damage up to a point while also reducing our accuracy and evasion. At the same time, the boss would regularly fire one of two attacks across the field, one unleashing scalding hot sea water that inflicted Burn and another freezing blast that inflicted Freeze. All of this over time eventually forced the tier two team to escape. Al well some tier three players were also forcefully ejected from the battle, forcing the originally three team raid group down to a slightly larger single party. To add to that..."

He felt a bead of sweat form on the side of his head as he continued, "I discovered that apparently at some point between my last training and the boss battle, Cardinal had decided to add a weakness to Achilles that Leviathan's two status infliction attacks could exploit. I think at least half of the time I was frozen was refreshed due to the Freeze effect wearing off right as the boss unleashed the attack again. It felt like it had listened in on all of Mack's old talk of paralocking and applied it."

@Baldur

The zombies seemingly got back into formation, lunging at Calrex once again. This time appeared to be an exception compared to the two previous attempts. One of the zombie actually managed to grab onto Calrex's arm, simulating a bite as the bluenette glanced down, shoving the creature off with a kick to the torso. At the same time two more scratched at him from behind, while the final zombie missed once again. It stumbled past the unarmored player as he reached down and pulled out a diet soda, popping the cap off and guzzling it down, "Ugh...if it weren't for the carbonation this would have been a nasty thing to drink. The artificial sugar flavor was certainly on point with it..."

Tossing the spent glass bottle to the side it vanished into particles as the Ultramarine Knight glanced at his health bar. It was certainly a noticeable chunk that had vanished and was not fully replenished by his combined healing and passive recovery efforts, at least this time around, "If need be I can always don my armor. The massive mitigation boost should shrug off their blows, and Achilles will only help to aid in that."

"Don't feel too bad about missing the last fight. It would have been a rather difficult one regardless of your presence there. I'm sure others have probably already given you new of what happened, but the only remaining players that were present at the end were all of tier three, and even so it felt like there was the chance of losing if the battle pressed on any further. Plus I...well...unfortunately discovered something new that I guess the Cardinal system decided to patch into Achilles in that fight. In fact...I guess you could say that might be part of the reason I'm actually out here, heh."

@Baldur

The familiar voice of his mentor filled his ears for a moment, snapping Calrex out of the focus he was having on the current fight. He glanced over just in time to see Baldur knock away another zombie, one that from the looks of it was not finished off, likely due to their special ability which seemingly keeps them alive even at a single sliver of health, "Nice seeing you too! I don't really come out to the event as much as of late, but I happened to pass an announcement board after doing some training and figured I'd check it out. It's probably more surprising that you're out here."

He put a single arm into his jacket pocket as he pulled a bottle of the event healing cider from his inventory, seemingly not even phased by the two zombies that had swiped at his back while it was turned towards them. The other two that tried to do so narrowly missed, their decayed fingers swiping and only moving some of the ends of his jacket around before stumbling to the ground. Tilting his head back the bluenette quickly downed the carbonated beverage, his health climbing back up to a few points higher than it was a brief moment ago.

"Teayre's been doing alright, but she's kind of been a recluse as of late. I guess she's trying to keep her public presence to a minimum, especially after we found out she has lost Battojutsu. Looks like you're still putting her blade to good use through. How's things been with you?"

@Baldur

"Let's hope this works."

Stepping out once more onto the battlefield Calrex looked outwards at the zombie horde, giving a small sigh as he kept his hands in his jacket pockets. In some ways it felt weird that he was going into battle not fully geared up, but granted the last few battles he had participated in were all floor raids: If he wasn't bringing his best it would most likely be a death wish. This almost seemed like a trifle by comparison, especially since the foes they were facing did not exploit any of the detriments he had discovered related to Achilles. That fact was made more then prominent in the Leivathan battle where he spent a significant amount of time frozen.

"If I can get rid of at least some of these new weaknesses it might help. However this is really going to come down to luck at best. If I can get a hold of one of those stickers...well we'll see..."

Slamming his fists together the light blue swirling aura of his <<Howl>> skill quickly echoed across the dark landscape as immediately four of the more powerful zombies rushed forward. His opening action complete Calrex looked outwards, the creatures closing in as he gave a small sigh. In a way this reminded him of his action during the last Halloween fight he could remember, when his teammates were all being held in the opening of the battle, seemingly saved from potential death from the bluenette's own act of using his tank skill to draw the mobs to him. However, he hadn't expected the mobs to shred through his defenses and his health so quickly back then. At that point Tristan was the main tank and wielder of Achilles, and his "unique ability", if it could be that, was his significant level difference. If it weren't for his massive health pool, he would have likely been dead far sooner than now.

Now, with Tristan's departure and him becoming the second bearer of Achilles, this felt significantly different. Even without any armor he could tell he would most likely survive this opening onslaught, and it was part of his plan, "Alright then, bring it on."

Three of the zombies managed to strike his unmoving form, although one had nearly missed. The fourth somehow managed to miss, stumbling to the ground past him as Calrex kept a stoic face, glancing at his health bar as it dropped. He already knew that his Battle Healing would be kicking in fairly soon, but that wouldn't be what he was after. "I need to consume items and heal up, that's the requirements. Let's see if I can knock this out with one mob..."

Moving back to the concession stand Calrex gave a small sigh as he stretched his arms, "Alright, guess I'd better at least get this done. Hopefully I'll get lucky with this."

"Maybe I might even be able to relieve some of the new weaknesses that got put on Achilles..."

Looking at the requirements for various things his mind immediately began to put together the scenario that was necessary for him to at least get a sticker, Making the purchases needed to accomplish the task he swiped some more on his menu, his armor and weaponry vanishing as he was left with his regular attire, "Better make this quick...at least I hope it's quick..."

With his items purchased he exited back out into the fray.

"Geeze that was quick."

It felt like only a few moments ago that Calrex was conversing with Macradon that he got a notification that his weapon was ready. Clothed in his casual attire he entered into the shop, giving a wave to the young blacksmith as his blue peregrine falcon familiar flew to perch on a nearby shelf, "Hey Mac, got your message. Looks like you're busy so I'll make it quick."

"I was probably just going to use it on my current version of the weapon anyway. Hopefully it gets put to good use."

With a few swipes on his menu the Leviathan Scale he had obtained from the most recent boss raid appeared in his hand as he placed it on the counter, retrieving the Grand Skypiercer II and adding it to his inventory, "Thanks again for the quick exchange. Best get moving, so I'll catch you around."

The long one-handed spear vanished into space as he gave a wave before exiting back out, Roc swooping over to land on his shoulder while the Ultramarine Knight took his exit.

"Guess since we're just clearing these things out for the night..."

His axe head glowed with shining blue energy as his armored avatar shot forward, powered by the combined strength of his Sword Art and Charge skills. If Zandra and Morgenstern glanced overhead, they could see a small blue glint soaring over the two remaining zombies of the mob they were targeting before a dark blue blur shot past. Calrex's form solidified in front of the first of the two remaining zombies, the Grand Legionbane coming down, unfortunately merely smashing into the ground and clearing a large scratch in the ground before the battle axe came around, slamming into the second zombie with destructive force, sending it flying backward along the ground.

"Sorry for cutting in. If you don't mind another person tagging along maybe I can help you clear these things out even faster and buy a little more breathing room."

The Ultramarine Knight straightened his posture before hefting his weapon to rest against his shoulder, looking over at the zombie he had struck. Unfortunately, its bent back form slowly adjusted itself until the upper torso was upright once again, unmoving momentarily as a result of his Bullrush modifier.. The bluenette cursed under his teeth, "Looks like I'm not getting so lucky on these hits tonight however..."

Morgenstern 1430/1430 HP | 94/134 EN | 22 DMG | 156 MIT | 4 ACC | -1 EVA |  42 Thorns | 69 BH | 3 HM | 25% DoT Reduction
Zandra: 1685/1685 HP | 164/164 EN | 22 DMG | 128 MIT | 3 ACC |  30 Thorns(flame aura) | 84 BH | 12(6-8) FLN | 36(8-10) BRN
Calrex: 1850/1850 HP | 160/176 EN | 21 DMG | 126 MIT | 3 ACC |  2 EVA | 93 BH | 0.6 ACH | 25% DoT Reduction

Zombie 7 139/400 
Zombie 8 1/400 | Stunned

"Figured as much, at least it's not a spontaneous event boss fight this time around..."

As Calrex watched the other players begin to take their leave he gave a small sigh, purchasing some funnel cakes from the concession stand before looking over at Roc still perched on his shoulder, "Guess it's time to go to work. Ready?"

The blue peregrine falcon did a couple of flaps to become airborne as he began to hover close to the top of the tent, circling overhead as his eyes. The Ultramarine Knight gave a small sigh as he took his forearms out of his pockets. Taking a quick swing to the side his gauntlets vanished and were replaced by his massive two-handed battle axe, the Grand Legionbane appearing in a flash of light. Resting it against his shoulder the bluenette gave a small sigh and leapt into the fray.

The Ultramarine Knight gave a small exhale as he awoke, giving a stretch to the entirety of his virtual body before his eyes opened, looking out at the dark desolate landscape of the thirteenth floor. He gave a small sigh before getting to his feet, a quick swipe on his menu robing his avatar in his casual combat attire. In this case he opted to go light for the start of the day, equipping the Grand Dragoon, the barebones set of heavy armor attaching over his attire before the Grand Gauntlets III covered his forearms.

Glancing back briefly at the bed he gave a small smile before quietly exiting the Amethyst Boutique, making his way to the main settlement of the floor. As he passed a board his eyes locked onto what appeared to be a new event that had popped up on an upper floor, one that seemed to be interesting enough to grab his attention, "This might be worth checking out."

Time passed as he made his way to the entrance to the circus as he dropped the admittance fee into the box, putting his hands into his jacket pockets as he made his way inside, looking skyward before he entered coupled with a quick hand gesture. Roc descended from the sky like a bullet before breaking his descent in an instant, gently perching on Calrex's shoulder as the bluenette entered inside.

Within the tent itself there appeared to be only a couple of patrons so far, but rather than rush to get a good spot for viewing the upcoming performance he opted to stand to the side for now, finding a sturdy wall to lean against. "I can wait until more people arrive, I'm not exactly in a rush to grab the most optimal spot for seeing this."

He kept his equipment on his avatar, mainly out of caution then paranoia. He had participated in Halloween events in the past. In fact, he was very close to being eliminated in one, and he didn't want to take his chances with getting caught unprepared. While he wasn't clad in his raid armor, his attack was still at its best in his current form, and in the meantime he would be banking on Achilles to at least cushion a potential surprise attack.

"Wonder what's in store once enough people get here..."

As the main body was exposed for attack Calrex's eyes watched as the others that could still move took the opportunity to attack, placing a good amount of damage onto the boss. At the same time more of the minions spawned to populate the field once again, the bluenette cursing in his thoughts, "It's really one thing after another with this boss..."

He could feel warmth flowing back into his limbs as the Frostbite effect began to wear off, although it was likely he wasn't going to be able to act for a little while longer. Most likely he wasn't going to be able to attack the main body until their opening was already used up. "I guess at least I may be able to attack the sahagin once I get out, since I didn't have the opportunity to switch to Martial Arts this time around. However that freezing attack will likely be cast again once I get free...let's just hope I get lucky next time around." 

It appeared the AI of the floor boss had an accurate reaction to its impending protection being destroyed. As Calrex was preparing to switch to Martial Arts suddenly he glanced to see a single frosted snowflake touch his armor, "Oh crud..."

Almost immediately the Grand Chariot III became frosted over with a layer of ice, a single screech of metal on metal as the bluenette tried to move before it happened, but the vain attempt was met with failure as the Frostbite skill took effect on him again. Frozen solid a single fogged breath escaped his helm as he gave a small sigh, "First the health crystal, next the frostbite. This would be great if I had strong burst damage, but my build is more oriented towards constant damage output, like a baseline for other DPS to spike over. Unfortunately this attack seems very well designed to be reducing that to minimal levels. Hopefully the others can take it down, but unfortunately once I'm free unless someone potentially stuns or paralyzes the head I won't be able to hit it."