Calrex

It wasn't exactly a dire situation, but things weren't looking good. Seeing his energy levels almost gone, Calrex knew that meant their group would be losing their constant damage output fairly quickly. Baldur wasn't having any luck at the moment with scoring a hit, and Hestia was also running extremely low on Energy to take actions, "Geeze I haven't seen this situation since I tried to solo large beasts on the twelfth floor..."

Giving a small sigh the bluenette kept his center as he quickly analyzed the situation, as well as what to prioritize. He already knew his Energy was low, only enough for a single attempt with the Grand Legionbane. However, if it was successful that meant he could still potentially have enough for using Martial Arts, allowing them to potentially target another bat. The two that were low on health immediately became his focus. The massive two-headed axe shone bright blue as he readied <<Explode Catapult>>

Before launching he turned to face Baldur, "Focus on the bat with the largest health. I'll see about taking out the two lesser ones in the next few moments."

With that he shot forward, beelining for the first of the remaining bats. His weapon cut true as it smashed into the bat, knocking it bat to allow him space to move towards the second and lowest health bat, "This one needs to go down..."

The axe came around as it smashed into the bat. A few moments after impact Calrex felt the resistance give way as his target burst into crystals. The final strike pulled him upwards as he flipped to try and come down on the third bat, but unfortunately his momentum pulled him too far as the axehead crashed into the rocks behind the creature, "Well it was worth a short. Now..."

Quickly whirling around to keep his attention on the two remaining creatures the Grand Legionbane burst into smaller lights as the Ultramarine Knight activated <<Quick Switch>>, the clusters of luminescence converging on his forearms and solidifying into the Grand Gauntlets III as he switched to single-target attacks, smashing his right fist into his left hand. At the same time he took notice of his dynamic vision now having a slightly easier time tracking the monsters' movements, "Thank goodness I didn't decide to switch off my Precision modifier."

@Baldur:   960/1090   ENG: 80/106   MIT: 79/39 EVA: 3 | DMG 19/36 Bleed | BH: 21 (Miss -2 energy, +1 regen) (Conc: 0/3)
Hestia: 1425/1425   ENG: 47/138   MIT:151/75 DMG: 16 EVA:-1  Regen: 3 on CD:6  BH: heal 57 HP Thorns:54
Calrex: 1676/1765   ENG: 19/172   MIT:72/44 DMG: 16 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 2 | ACH: 0.6 | Thorns: 30 (Battle Healing +89) 

(0/13/11) Cave Bat 2: 75/1250 MIT 75 EVA 3 ACC 1 DMG 175 | 225 + Para | 275 + Para (ignores half mit) (Targeting Hestia)
(0/6/13) Cave Bat 3: 154/1250 MIT 75 EVA 3 ACC 1 DMG 175 | 225 + Para | 275 + Para (ignores half mit) (Targeting Cal)
(0/12/7) Cave Bat 4: 641/1250 MIT 75 EVA 3 ACC 1 DMG 175 | 225 + Para | 275 + Para (ignores half mit) (Targeting Hestia)

While Baldur's previous outburst had grabbed his attention, as the conversation went on Calrex had begun to think that doing so would have begun to waste his mental energy. It was fairly clear to most people that the discussion was devolving and starting to stray away from objective thoughts on the fight, and more into some kind of internal feud. The Ultramarine Knight didn't know what had happened with the scouting of the floor this last time, but whatever did appeared to have created some bad blood between some of the participants, namely Shield and Hestia. He was fairly sure his own mentor was involved in it as well, but without any knowledge of what was going on the bluenette knew better than to start interjecting.

Looking over at @Zuekin he gave a nod to get his attention, speaking low enough to not interrupt the exchanges happening further away, "Not going to lie this is far from what is usually expected to happen in the meetings. At least something usually gets done at this point. I'm probably gonna take my leave soon, but feel free to stick around if you wish."

It was at this moment that he heard a different voice from the previous participants begin to speak, his eyes moving to lock onto Jomei as the ginger-haired rapier user began to voice his own thoughts. It seemed at this point Shield had stepped down from speaking and let the young man go in his stead. He was suggesting to call the meeting at this point to let everyone take a bit of time to cool off, and have a shorter one for finalizing plans. A small smirk crossed Calrex's lips as he pulled down his menu to summon his messaging center, beginning to type as he got up from where he was sitting. Since it was closer to the back the bluenette figured it wouldn't be as disruptive compared to someone at the front taking their leave.

With that he looked over to Zuekin once again, "With that I'm heading out. I'll catch you around."

As he got out of earshot of the meeting area he pressed the button to send a direct message to @Jomei:

Quote

Nice work and best suggestion for the way the meeting was going. I'll see you at the next one.

The message sent he put his hands into his jacket pockets and headed for the teleportation plaza, "In the meantime better get started on my own preparations."

(Calrex Exits the Thread)

"Other guy? Geeze I must have been more zoned out that I thought."

As Calrex's senses became a bit more alert his memory reminded him of seeing Hikoru talking to Zuekin a few moments before he himself had spoke, "Man I really really to get back into the groove of things. It almost feels like I'm going on autopilot now more than ever. Probably not the best thing with the frontlines in the current state that they are in."

His mind was still partially in this tuned out state, but he was able to boil down what was being discussed, as most of it was going to be the division of teams and their composition. Most of the discussion relating to his own spot was being placed alongside Zandra, Hikoru, Jomei, and the seemingly masked person that had joined in as well, "That guy seems fairly familiar, but it's been a while, so even if I did know them maybe they had changed their appearance from when I last saw them. Nonetheless, it looks like the team is going to be composed of regular veterans.."

It was at this point his attention was fully grabbed when he heard a raised voice, from someone he was not expecting. The volume was one that caught him off guard for a second because of how close in proximity it was, as well as who it was coming from. Baldur seemed to snap at whatever the cloaked player had said previously before storming out of the gathering, "That...rather unusual for Baldur. For the man that trained me so much on the idea of mushin, that outburst seemed out in left field. Maybe I'll need to catch up to him later, but right now he probably needs a bit of time to cool off."

His eyes moved over onto the figure once again as the young man, at least from the tone of their voice, clarified what they had said, "Well I guess there was some miscommunication there, at least from what I can gather. Geeze I really need to start paying more attention to these meetings. At least that last thing's got my full attention now."

With that the teams appeared to be laid out for everyone to review and discuss. The last thing Hestia had thrown in was that Jomei was in a bit of a flexible position at the moment, with his team placement being determined by Macradon's capability in participating in the raid. With that the bluenette gave a small sigh as he let his mind think of their composition, "Zandra I know for sure specializes in AoE damage, while Hikoru with his skill can basically be consistently be dealing focused target damage without having to worry about gaining more Hate due to his unique skill. The young man over there seemingly appears to specialize in straight sword, so he would be a bit of a flex role. So the question at that point would be whether I start out with single target to focus the boss as well, or use AoE to potentially gain Hate on multiple enemies that appear. The other question will be if I can get the new Skypiercer commissioned from Oikawa in time, because if so then at least I can start with that before changing out."

After arriving at the location Calrex had decided to take a step back from the main cluster of people that were seemingly sitting closer to interact with the discussion. After spending so much time at so many of these raid meetings, the bluenette decided to take a step back from the conversation, opting to focus on listening to what was said. "Wonder what the boss is going to be this time around. Hopefully nothing that might throw psychological trickery like the last one."

He wasn't alone where he was sitting for long when he head someone address him. Turning to the side he saw it was a young man he had gone on a quest with recently, @Zuekin. It appeared that he was out of his golden armor, opting for more casual attire. It made sense with the fact that they were in the safe zone area. There was no fear of attacks out of nowhere unless you had accidentally fallen asleep. "Oh hey, guess it has been a while since the queen quest hasn't it. Well, guess this is probably the best opportunity for you at this point. This is actually the meeting for the next floor raid. Of course, since I'm one of the regulars for the battle, I received an invite to attend. Seems this time around they didn't have it at an isolated location, so if you want to get an idea of what goes into the floor battles feel free to listen in."

From his further back position the Ultramarine Knight could recognize many familiar faces among the people arriving. In fact, Calrex was only not familiar with one person that had arrived a bit before himself. Everyone else were returning faces. However, one he was not expecting to see after the end of the last battle, the rapier wielding @Jomei, "I thought he and Telrenya had taken a break from the frontlines after the last battle because of what had happened. Guess he's here because the frontlines has taken a large hit to participants, or because he wants to see if we've really bounced back from the end of the last battle."

The second thing was that @Zandra had approached the ginger-haired man, seemingly with different mannerisms from their past interactions. After all they had been through, Calrex was aware of the animosity from their history. But from the body language it seemed they were starting to move past that. A small earnest smile came across his lips for a moment before vanishing back under his indifferent expression, "Guess that's a good thing to see. Hopefully those two get to being on good terms again."

With that he began to focus on what @Hestia was mentioning about what was gathered from the labyrinth trial in order to unlock the boss fight. A lot was mentioned, the environment, as well as some of the lore behind the boss, but that seemed to trigger a memory in the back of his mind, "I do remember back on the eleventh floor that there was a beach where I found a random event that I ended up passing on, but also almost nearby dying as a result. That was a supposed battle with the mythological creature Leviathan. I wonder if Whorleater draws from similar lore. The large 'something-made' holes in the cliffs would probably attest to that, since natural formations wouldn't have such a thing. But the fire and ice doesn't seem to coincide with that. Leviathan was a massive creature of the sea that wields water-based attacks such as geyser breath and summoning tidal waves. This has to be something different."

Time seemed to pass quickly as many interactions happened with and without his involvement very quickly. As Teayre called to him from the back, also mentioning that someone was there he had previously been on guard, his right first already clenched and ready to unleash a <<Charge>> powered <<All Might>>, but before he could do so suddenly he saw a familiar face storm past and began to verbally assault the Crimson Maiden. His eyes locked onto Macradon, but only after he and his familiar stormed out. It seemed with that most of the previous tension had subsided as he gave a small sigh, swiping on his menu to store away the Grand Chariot III armor, "I should be alright relying on just Achilles at this point."

The timing couldn't have been more perfect as he felt the peck of his wife's lips on his cheek and mouth before stepping past, inviting Macradon and apparently another person outside in to sit. Recognizing Teayre's request the bluenette gave a nod, "Of course, this something that you alone can do. I won't get directly involved if it is not necessary, but if things are appearing to escalate I won't hesitate to step in."

This was reaffirmed with Macradon's request for him to be the his mediator for the upcoming tense conversation. Calrex gave a nod as he spoke, "Of course, if things get to that point I'll be sure to remind and attempt to deescalate. Rest assured that I'll do my best that everyone engaged in this conversation will walk away."

Hestia's entrance brought him a brief bit of relief as well, as having two tank players, with one also being a healer, meant that it would be a little bit easier to make good on his statement. While the others took seats in the areas in the entry room he leaned against the frame leading back into the workshop as he briefly drafted a message to send out should things start to go south, "If I need backup I know at least a handful of people that should be free and able to get here quickly. I'll have this message primed and ready, but I'll really need to be careful about judging this interaction. Hopefully Teayre is aware of this as well."

@Teayre @Macradon @Hestia @Chisono

It was only a matter of time since the meeting of the minds that Calrex had attended that he suspected the next raid meeting would be called to order. As he exited the Amethyst Boutique he gave a small sigh to himself as he glanced back, his eyes lingering on the closed door for a moment before he faced forward once again, "The days really seem to be flowing together seamless now. Never that I'd experience something like that, but I guess that's part of being trapped in a game while your body is on life support."

Within a couple of minutes he came into viewing distance of the teleportation circle for the thirteenth floor as he pulled down his menu to select the location, choosing the Starting City to transport to. Before he pushed the button his finger lingered over it for a moment as his eyes stared at the transparent screen for a moment. Swiping it to the side he pulled up his messaging center to draft a message before his form vanished, reappearing in the plaza of the first floor safe zone. From there it wasn't a far trek to where the other frontliners would supposedly be gathering. Clothed i his casual combat attire he placed his hands in his jacket pockets, "Not far now..."

There was a lot of movement from the bats from his last attack, most of it being a shift in attention. The three remaining were dodging back and forth to avoid Baldur's movements. It seemed that the Western samurai was having trouble tracking their movements. It was only with Roc's help that the bluenette was able to do so well so far.

An opportunity presented itself as Hestia used <<Howl>> to try and get their attention, and that was enough for them to pause and create an opening for Calrex to strike. Before she could speak his greataxe was already burning light blue with the light of <<Explode Catapult>> charged up to attack. His body locking into the grip of the assisted system he was jerked forward towards the first of the remaining creatures, "This time let's get all three of them...one..."

The first of his three strikes hit true, slamming into the bat's abdomen to push it forward as his form arced to guide him over to the second bat, "two..."

The second strike also found its mark as it routed both bats towards the third and final bat as the Ultramarine Knight leapt into the air, weapon overhead, "Three!"

The final strike came down and smashed into all three of the bats, with a red number flying past for the final back to signify the critical hit. With the attack completed Calrex began to feel the effect of his extremely low energy levels as the Grand Legionbane's weight became increasingly more difficult to move through space. He hefted it back to rest against his shoulder as he gave a small exhale, "I've got maybe one more completely successful attack in me before I'm spent...this is certainly going to be a while if we don't capitalize soon."

@Baldur:   939/1090   ENG: 81/106   MIT: 79/39 EVA: 3 | DMG 19/36 Bleed | BH: 21 (Miss -2 energy, +1 regen) (Conc: 0/3)
Hestia: 1425/1425   ENG: 56/138   MIT:151/75 DMG: 16 EVA:-1  Regen: 3 on CD:6  BH: heal 57 HP Thorns:54
Calrex: 1587/1765   ENG: 36/172   MIT:72/44 DMG: 16 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 2 | ACH: 0.6 | Thorns: 30 (Battle Healing +89) 

(0/10/10) Cave Bat 2: 224/1250 MIT 75 EVA 3 ACC 1 DMG 175 | 225 + Para | 275 + Para (ignores half mit) (Targeting Cal)
(0/3/11) Cave Bat 3: 184/1250 MIT 75 EVA 3 ACC 1 DMG 175 | 225 + Para | 275 + Para (ignores half mit) (Targeting Cal)
(0/9/7) Cave Bat 4: 695/1250 MIT 75 EVA 3 ACC 1 DMG 175 | 225 + Para | 275 + Para (ignores half mit) (Targeting Hestia)

It had only been a short period of time since he had stepped out of the shop, the bluenette's mind already to some level in auto-pilot as he had begun to make his way past the mobs towards the safe zone on the thirteenth floor. After all of his concern the past months that they would be more aggressive and attack the shop, it seemed in the end the combined level of himself and Teayre was more than enough of a deterrent, as there were small scratches at most on the exterior, but nothing more. "How long has it been since she stopped leaving the shop..."

"I've been in and out, but for the most part I haven't seen Tea moving when I've been in. She's been mostly transitioning from one resting place to another. I don't think I've even seen her at her workbench since her unique ability had vanished from her inventory."

As he was about to pass the boundary it was then he swore he had heard a scream from back in the direction he had come from. For the thirteenth floor that wasn't exactly uncommon, but the voice was too familiar to pass on, especially with what he could make out of the wail. He turned around, seeing that the light from the doorway of the Amethyst Boutique had been revealed, something out of the ordinary since he always made sure to keep it closed as he left, "Did someone leave...or go in?"

"I probably shouldn't leave it to chance, not with the way things are right now.[/i]"

He had been originally carrying the massive axe-sword dubbed the Grand Legionbane when he had first stepped out, but with a quick swing to the side it vanished from his hand in brusts of light before seemingly reshaping into a pair of heavy armored gauntlets that surrounded his forearms, the Grand Gauntlets III. Breaking into a sprint he performed another few swipes on his menu as his unarmored self became encapsulated in the dark blue armor of the Grand Chariot III, with the Rebellion of Sapphire landing around his neck. It didn't take long for him to cross the distance as he slowed to a stop, the clanking metal of his footsteps becoming silent as he neared the door.

Peeking inside to make sure no mobs had wandered in he gave a small sigh before stepping in, turning to close the door behind him. Once quick glance could tell that no one was in the front part of the shop before he stepped into the doorway leading to the back, "Tea, are you in here?"

With the field boss eliminated Calrex let his guard lower for a moment as he swiped on his menu, deciding to change out his equipment for his standard array of gear, "The Grand Skypiercer seemed to work for this battle, but that excessive Accuracy bonus is something that's not going to be useful in any more difficult fights. I think I might need to go revisit Oikawa again to get it remade with a different stat in that slot."

The spear and shield vanished in a flash as they were replaced by the Grand Gauntlets III, the deep blue arm protectors surrounding his forearms as the bluenette turned to face his teammate, "Oh no worries, there no need for..."

Before he could completed his response it seemed the young man was already preparing some tea. Something new to the Ultramarine Knight, at least in their current environment. It was also a sight to see someone actively brewing tea in the wake of a battle. A smirk came across Calrex's lips for a moment before he gave a nod, "Well if you're offering then sure I'll be glad to partake in a cup."

As the tea steeped Zuekin seemed to take the moment to meditate. Something out of the ordinary for the current situation as well, but the bluenette was well acquainted with the necessity to do so, "Before when I didn't do so I did feel my emotions be a little more in control of my actions than my mind. Baldur really did ingrain into me the need to make sure that doesn't happen again, but to have my emotions be fuel rather than the guide to my movements."

With the brewing complete he stepped forward with a nod, accepting the cup with both hands before taking a seat, sipping on the tea, "Definitely a well brewed cup, thank you again for this, it is much appreciated."

"Doesn't seem like it's too much farther from here..."

Calrex wasn't sure if there were others that were already responding to Oikawa's message, but from what he could tell he was one of the first to arrive. Taking his forearms out of his jacket pockets the deep blue hue of his gauntlets shone in the light as the polished metal reflected the digital light. As he continued to look around with his eyes, it seemed that his peregrine falcon companion had already locked onto the target as Roc swooped down from his higher hovering altitude, seemingly becoming a blur as he reached hunting speed before pulling up at the last moment to break the acceleration.

The target that had been locked by the familiar was actually King, the falcon's friend that the bird approached with excitement as he gently touched down on the ground next to the cub. The bluenette was not much further behind as he recognized Roc's behavior, coming to a stop as he recognized the now jet black hair that his fellow former Spectrum Coalition member was now sporting. With a calm wave the Ultramarine Knight walked forward, "Guess I'm the first one here."

As the conversation continued Calrex felt his mind trail off while staring into the empty bottom of his cup. He wasn't strategizing, or thinking of the current conversation, merely letting his mind wander for a moment. When he snapped back his eyes immediately picked up the dark green basin in front of him as he gave a small shake of his head before requesting a refill. As his cup was being filled up with tea he was able to focus on the conversation once again. It seemed now the main concern was filling the frontlines with more of the roles that had less representation, namely tanks and to some level healers. It kind of made him chuckle that DPS was not as big an issue, "Guess that's just the way a lot of people tend to think. Everyone thinks more about how to kill the opponent faster than how to keep others alive."

"Unfortunately I've got no one that really comes to mind that might be close to serving as a tank. Even though I'm consistently at the raids, outside of that my usual exploration and training has been basically non-existent a the moment. So far the group dungeon explorations for power leveling those on the borderline sounds like a good idea. Outside of that I think any ideas that I can think of have already been said."

"Hm? Oh it's nothing too out of the ordinary. It's still the Thorns enhancement, maybe with some small visual changes. However the damage is because my equipment is tier three items. Nonetheless, nice work playing a DPS role, let's wrap this up."

"Either way, if the queen got another hit on me this battle would be over anyway. Might as well get an attack off with the Skypiercer before it's over, and it might as well be the strongest one."

With a small breath to center his senses Calrex lowered himself, spear drawn back as the entirety of the weapon began to shine with bright blue light. As he pulled it further and further back his front arm moved further forward, the Grand Guard III obscuring more and more of his form behind the massive tower shield. The Wasp Queen flew forward after recovering from Zuekin's attack, targeting the bluenette one more as he raised a claw.

However, as the system seemed to change the AI of the monster's attack the striking limb changed as instead of the front claw it thrust forward with the massive stinger on its abdomen. The tip hit against Calrex's shield, which once again triggered Thorns right at the same time as the Ultramarine Knight unleashed <<Merciless Fury>>. While the field boss was reeling and starting to break apart into crystals the Grand Skypiercer shot forward in a blurringly fast series of blows that stuck at different points, blowing away parts of the monster's form before the final strike propelled him through, the boss bursting entirely into crystals.

With that Calrex let the tip of the spear rest against his shoulder before separating his shield back into two halves to attack against both of his forearms once again, "I think that should about do it."

Soon after he had finished his quest with Zuekin, Calrex had made his way back to the second floor teleportation plaza, sitting down on a nearby bench, "Guess I can rest for a..."

Before he could let his mind relax suddenly his HUD notified him of a message. With a few familiar swipes after performing it so many times, the bluenette arrived at his inbox to see that Oikawa was the sender of the message, seemingly to request his assistance. "That's definitely not unusual. Maybe he's finally gotten time to get out of the shop. Too bad Teayre's still not wanting to leave the Amethyst Boutique. I'm sure she would be happy to see him as well."

Preventing his mind from getting nostalgic the bluenette gave a quick shake of his head before getting to his feet, "Alright let's get moving."

Entering the destination floor his avatar vanished from the second floor to rematerialize on the twenty-first. Glancing down at his current armament he gave a small smirk before swinging the Grand Skypiercer to the side as both the one-handed spear and shield vanished in a series of lights before reforming as the Grand Gauntlets III around his forearms. In the meantime he refrained from equipping his armor, keeping the Rebellion of Sapphire attached around his neck, "Back to his mansion workshop then."

Putting his gauntlet-covered hands into the jacket pockets of his casual combat clothing the Ultramarine Knight made his way to The Faint's location.

As the young man charged forward and sent a strong punch into the Wasp Queen the bluenette quietly observed. Not so much on form of the like, but on the effect of the attack. "Well, he did say that he only had the gauntlets for a boost to accuracy, but he deals all of his damage through his Thorns."

"It's a good start. Once you start picking up the Sword Arts that damage is going to skyrocket. Keep up the pace for now."

The field boss quickly recovered from the blow as it detached rom the crater in the cavern wall, its eyes already locked onto the Ultramarine Knight once again. As he started hovering towards him Calrex gave a nod, "I'd better get more of a lead in aggro just to be safe."

His spear glowed with light blue energy one again as he slammed his shield against it, unleashing <<Howl>>. This time the sound seemed to echo even further, albeit at a lower volume. Unlike the focused version he had used moments ago, this one was designed for hitting multiple targets for a lesser value. In response the Wasp Queen flew faster at him before raising a front limb to pierce down at him.

This time the attack hit its mark as it came down on Calrex, who raised his shield just in time to connect with it. With his defenses at such a high number, the attack only did the minimal damage possible in the game as his health dropped only by a single number. Unfortunately for the queen his Thorns also triggered as a blast of energy emanated out from his shield, with more than half of its remaining health vanishing in an instant.

"Guess it got a rather unlucky hit."

As the bluenette expected, after the quest was picked up finding the entrance to the field boss' lair was fairly straightforward. It was a quest designed for fairly new players to take on, which meant it was straightforward without much need for special stats or the like. At the same time Calrex also knew it was one of the quests that gave a good amount of skill points, meaning that completing this for the first time would give Zuekin a good boost to hopefully help the new player along in his farming.

"Nice work, alright then might as well get this battle going."

With a small sigh the Ultramarine Knight walked forward, descending down into the cave as he kept his eyes on the Wasp Queen. Since they had not engaged in combat yet, the boss was merely hovering around on the ground, neglecting to take the initiative to strike. This served perfectly as Calrex brought his forearms together, the two pieces of the Grand Guard III shield forming together in front of him. As the parts snapped together he pulled his weapon arm away, the part attached to it detaching and remaining formed together on his off-hand. Now prepared the spearhead of the Grand Skypiercer resonated and glowed bright blue in tandem with his formed tower shield.

Slamming his spear against the shield a massive roar-like sound wave shot out from his avatar, washing over the queen as the monster's eyes flashed red and locked onto him. Now with combat initiated the giant wasp flew towards him, aiming to swipe at him with her massive front claws. However, even with his more tank-like configuration, it seemed the creature was unable to keep up, even missing so much as to temporarily get stuck hooked around a stalactite before it was able to pull free.

"Alright, you're up!"

Listening to Zuekin as he explained his current method of fighting monsters Calrex gave a nod, "So at his current level and build he seems to be following Tristan, a walking cactus. Guess that would be the second or third person to do so, although he might be the first to do so from level one. Since there's no real room for building his skills yet it's a good thing that it's effective."

"If that is the case, then at the least this will get you familiarized with the duties of the role. Sometimes playing different parts can can expand your perspective, especially since you haven't gotten enough skill points to build just yet. It's wiser to be informed of the possibilities, than to do so reactively to the things you face. Your confidence in your defenses is good, but it would be too risky for my own personal preference, and I'm not going to put a person at risk while they're under my charge."

Turning to scan the area the bluenette listened as his quest companion responded to him, giving a small smirk in response, "We'll have to see if that has been preserved once he gets to the frontline levels. I hope it does, even if he isn't able to completely pull it off."

"In any case, we'd best get moving. Since you accepted the quest, it's most likely that you'll be able to spot the cavern now. It should be fairly obvious against our current environment. Once we do I'll go in first and draw the monster's attention, and we can take it from there."

@Zuekin

As the Zuekin took his time to listen to the bluenette's suggestions Calrex waited as the young man responded, even going so far as to ask for his help to get leveled up to join the frontlines. He couldn't help but give a smirk at his desire to save everyone by surpassing the Ultramarine Knight, as well as everyone close to his level. It was an honorable wish, and one that Calrex himself had shared in the past, but after his many quests, raids, and other battles the bluenette had grown to be a bit disillusioned with the idea. "Nonetheless, it's not like the frontlines are at excess in participants..."

Giving a small sigh to himself Calrex responded, "Don't worry about compensation. I've assisted many players in the past with this exact quest, so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for me to help you with it."

"It might even be a good first test of my new armament."

"However, if you do wish to hold your own, then we'll approach this differently. I'll serve as tank for this endeavor, where you focus on dps. Going from the wraps on your arms, I'm guessing that means you've got some form of damage dealing. That way we can at least have you get a feel for combat without coming under threat."

With that the bluenette brought his spear upwards before resting it against his shoulder, giving a brief scan of the environment to see if the cave had spawned nearby, "I'd be more careful with that wish of yours though. Many people have tried to do the same, I being one of them. However, carrying the wish of thousands to escape this game is not something any one person can bear."

@Zuekin

As Zuekin described his level, as well as his current stats because of his equipment Calrex gave a nod as he let the numbers run through his mind for a moment, "Level one...geeze then his health is pretty much one shot away from death against most mobs. It's probably smart that he decided to purchase armor first and foremost, but I'm not sure if that would be enough."

"Hm...well I won't doubt that your current gear must be serving you fairly well if you've taken on four monsters at once and came out alive. That's something not many players get to say. I've heard of more than a handful of players that decided to go out of the safe zone and take on a simple boar alone, only to not return alive. However, a field monster and a field boss are two completely different beasts. From what I can recall this particular creature is at a strength level that groups of players at least four to five players higher than you can partake in it, and usually that means it's health and damage are set for that. If anything, the amount of damage it deals on a single attack will still outpace the amount you heal by."

With that he listened to the followup question, which the bluenette gave a small breath before continuing, "You would be correct to guess that. I've been a tier three player for a fairly long time. Last I recall I think I might be one of the highest leveled known players. As for the frontlines, I've been a member of the raiding groups from floor eleven I believe, and have participated in all of them up to the current floor. The frontlines is a completely different environment than what most of the players usually go through, and usually the thing that changes the most is the dynamics among the players rather than the floor bosses we fight. I guess you could say at times it's probably the most intense thing that people volunteer to do, enough that I've seen numerous players participate and then need to stop and take a break for an extended period of time before thinking of participating again. I think I'm probably one of the few that have actually continued to do so continuously for the past floors till now."

@Zuekin

"Well, yeah, I guess it has been a long time since I was in the tier two level range, heh."

Scratching the back of his head Calrex watched as the young man spoke about wanting to duel him, but delaying the challenge as it would be a very one-sided battle. With that Zuekin seemed to start heading away before turning back around to ask him where the quest NPC would be located. Giving a nod the bluenette pointed in the direction of the main settlement, "If I remember correctly the NPC was located close to the exit leading out to the field zones, so I think if you were to head back through the gates they should be fairly easy to find. If not, then I think the info brokers would have the information just a little further inside. It's been a while since I went on the quest, so my memory on all of the steps is a little fuzzy unfortunately."

Before he continued speaking, the Ultramarine Knight gave a brief pause before continuing, "...just out of curiosity may I ask what level you happen to be? You certainly seem to have some good starting armor, but the main concern is if you'd have enough health points to survive a few clashes with the field boss safely."

@Zuekin

As the man responded to him Calrex gave a nod, taking a minute to think of the two things he had mentioned, "Oh, then you must be looking for the spawning area for the Wasp Queen for the <<Long Live the Queen>> quest. I believe it should be fairly close to here, but if I recall the cave that she appears in moves around and only shows up once you've accepted the quest from the NPC. As for the level to fend off field mobs, I think for this floor it does tend to be around Tier 2 levels that it starts to happen, although it might not be to the extent like now."

"If I was being honest I'm not 100% sure about that, since I didn't really notice that it was happening until I actually took a moment to look around. I guess with all the times that mobs decided to suddenly pop out of nowhere and attack when I'm in a group I guess I went with the assumption that they will attack no matter what the level gap was between the monster and the player."

With that the other player introduced themselves as Zuekin, which prompted the bluenette to return in kind, shaking his hand, "It's nice to meet you Zuekin. I'm Calrex."

@Zuekin

"What was I doing out here in the fields again? Guess I was lost in my thoughts again. Not like I'm doing any material gathering out here nowadays anyway."

As the bluenette made his way across the plains outside of the second floor's main safe zone he gave a small sigh. Garbed in his casual combat attire, he didn't really have a need for equipping his actual battle gear for the most part. With his current stats, none of the monsters were going to be provoked to engage him in combat. However, the Ultramarine Knight was sporting slightly different weapons from before. Instead of his usual gauntlets or two-handed axe of his usual gear, instead he was walking with the Grand Guard III and a single-handed spear. Recently crafted by his old friend Oikawa, the Grand Skypiercer shone a dark navy blue.

As he heard someone call over to him Calrex turned around to look at the young man approaching him. Going from his equipment, the person seemed to still be of lower levels, although that didn't seem to keep him from picking a very standout design for his armor. The golden appearance reminded him of when Oikawa had also worn a similar scheme before isolating himself for an extended period of time, and before him Daeron did so as well.

"Ran off to? I guess they might be avoiding this general area at the moment because of my presence. Sorry about that, at least if you were looking to do some farming off of them."

@Zuekin

As Baldur continued the conversation to the next topic Calrex gave a small sigh to himself before letting his ears remain open to what was being discussed next. It seemed now the western samurai was thinking of how to prepare the next in line outside of the immediate picks for different teams, players that were up and coming but not at the maximum tier just yet. Unfortunately for the bluenette, he hadn't been keeping touch with the players in the frontlines. Outside of participating in the occasional events or raids, the Ultramarine Knight had basically become a hermit, only leaving the Amethyst Boutique when something important needed to be done.

Upon hearing his name mentioned, his eyes focused on the man as he heard mention of their previous guild, the Spectrum Coalition. From what he could remember, only he and Oikawa had been given possession of what was in the vault in the past, "Too bad Takao isn't active anymore. It does feel kind of bad that he donated so much to the guild, only for the thing the dissolve later on."

"I'm not exactly sure what remains in terms of actual items from the coalitions vault. The only things I know I received off the top of my head are col and materials, but that's about it. So at best we could use some for crafting new items."

"Geeze this battle really is dragging on..."

Checking his energy levels Calrex saw that his energy was dropping to a very low level. From what he could tell, he probably only had a handful of his strongest AoE Sword Art left before he had to recover. Giving a small sigh the bluenette let the thought pass before locking onto the cluster of bats once again. Heeding Baldur's advice he lowered his arms into the position to trigger <<Explode Catapult>> once again, but didn't trigger it immediately. His eyes followd the flight path of the creatures as they slowly seemed to start to cluster closer together, "Best chance...now!"

The Grand Legionbane blazed alight before he shot forward, his first two swings cleaving into two of the remaining bats. Unfortunately, his last overhead swing missed the third bat. Nonetheless, it was still another step in the right direction. Giving a calming exhale the Ultramarine Knight kicked his massive axe onto his shoulder, "Almost there..."

@Baldur:   918/1090  ENG: 82/106    MIT: 79/39 EVA: 3 | DMG 19/36 Bleed | BH: 21 (Miss -2 energy, +1 regen)
Hestia: 1381/1425  ENG: 66/138  MIT:151/75 DMG: 16 EVA:-1  Regen: 3 on CD:6  BH: heal 57 HP Thorns:54
Calrex: 1576/1765  ENG: 55/172  MIT:72/44 DMG: 16 | ACC: 3 | EVA: 2 | ACH: 0.6 | Thorns: 30 (Battle Healing +89) 

(0/7/9) Cave Bat 2: 373/1250 MIT 75 EVA 3 ACC 1 DMG 175 | 225 + Para | 275 + Para (ignores half mit)
(0/0/10) Cave Bat 3: 363/1250 MIT 75 EVA 3 ACC 1 DMG 175 | 225 + Para | 275 + Para (ignores half mit)
(0/6/5) Cave Bat 4: 872/1250 MIT 75 EVA 3 ACC 1 DMG 175 | 225 + Para | 275 + Para (ignores half mit)

As the conversation continued Calrex listened as Macradon chimed in, pointing out that his previous statement was only half-true. There were, in-fact, multiple quests and other events that had happened in the past where the players had to fight humanoid NPCs, although he did point out that the last raid was the first time that the participants had decided to interact with their opponents rather than merely focusing on taking them down, "You're right, thanks for the correction Mac."

With that it returned once again to the idea of a training bootcamp. The bluenette listened to both Hestia and Shield as they continued going back and forth for a brief time. However, he made sure to extrapolate the object things that were being put forth, and when the two finished he gave a small breath before speaking, "There is an old saying, that the definition of insanity is doing the exact same thing over and over and expecting something different to happen. I think that to some level describes what we have been doing for the past few raids. To some level, we have come far from before, but I guess now we're finally seeing how our old mentality is no longer holding up, especially with so much changing of the guard."

Giving a small stretch he continued, "The people here are in some ways the most essential part of any raid battle, so it is important we are all on the same page to some extent, maybe not 100%, but at least 85-90%. To stay on subject, whether or not we all think a raid training retreat or bootcamp is a good, I would guess that we all at least agree that something needs to be done to start some form of change among the frontline players."

With that his gaze shifted from wide view to address the whole group to between Shield and Hestia as if he was talking to them both in a mire direct manner, "I've seen many discussions in the past, so let me chime in a bit that I see we can potentially be going down a rabbit hole. I'm sure there's more than enough time in the day for everyone to give their thoughts on why the current idea is good or bad, effective or ineffective, so let's change perspective."

With that his eyes shifted over towards Hestia, "As it stands Hestia, you do seem to have a lot of reservations on the training retreat idea, at least in terms of it being an effective solution. If that is the case is there potentially something you might have in mind that might help us better adapt or prepare for this potential type of scenario should it happen again? Even if it's a rough idea, better to have all of our thoughts out on the table so that we can better understand where everyone stands before we all come to a decision."

The conversation continued on after the Ultramarine Knight had said his piece, and it did seem to be taken as good advice, "I guess it does reveal the supposed chink in my armor, but better for it to be brought to light this way than suddenly discovered in the middle of a battle. If anything I might need to start looking more into ways to make up for that weakness."

With that Calrex continued listen as the conversation came back around to the discussion of the effectiveness of a "bootcamp." As Hestia had pointed out, the way things turned out in the raid may have not likely been solved with training, with the three others giving their own thoughts on the matter, most being that even if it wouldn't prevent it from happening again, it would at least be some form of failsafe for players to fall back on.

"I should probably point out that while this might not be the first time players have turned on each other mid-fight, Hesita does make a good point that this is actually the first time that we have encountered supposedly sympathetic NPCs, ones that were treated as more than just opponents to strike down. Even if this is the first time, it most certainly won't be the last. It is a given that we probably won't be able to stop everyone from losing that sympathetic emotion for human-like NPCs, as while it could make things easier it also is a risky thing to train people to have. However, I also agree that a bootcamp may be useful to at least maintain some form of communication and chain of command among us. Whenever something has gone wrong in the past, it was more common for communication to break down first and for people to start acting of their own accord, for better or worse overall, which is something that is potentially preventable with some semblance of basic training."

Taking a sip from his tea the bluenette glanced down for a moment as he noticed that he had drank his cup dry before clearing his throat, "As Baldur said, with that's happened in the past few battles will likely result in a drop in morale amongst the returning raid veterans, so it's more than likely we'll have a smaller pool of players to work with in the upcoming fight. That means it is more essential that we are a cohesive raid group, because we'll have even less room for things to go wrong."