Mack

The day had dawned bright and sunny, an unusual occasion on the normally somewhat foggy and droopy eighteenth floor. Hopefully, that would prove to be an auspicious omen. As he stepped down from the portal plaza in the heart of the main settlement on the floor Mack was already opening his inventory and selecting his last remaining damage potion, this one of the plus four variety, and applying it to his axe, Invictus as he rumbled off with all the stealth of an avalanche in the direction of the docks where several sails could be seen peeking up. As he stepped out onto the digital construction of the dock, his eyes peeled for the yellow cursor that would indicate a Quest Non-Player Character a shaggy brown furred form rocketed around the dock, checking everything out and looking for fisherman to cadge a snack from.

Once he spotted @Selina, Mack made his way over to the entirely too cheerful looking viking impersonator vessel. After a brief conversation with the woman, the man who looked like he probably belonged on a viking ship, had been added to the crew. Grunting, he drew the axe that was sheathed at his back and thudded the weapon's haft down onto the dock with a dull thud as he joined @Morgenstern as the only other crew member for the time being. "Trading flying for swimming today," the towering Vice Commander asked the tank, quirking an eyebrow and twitching one corner of his mouth ever so slightly.

The was a loud banging thud as Chewie propelled himself from the dock down onto the ship. The cub scampered around and nosed into everything looking for a treat. He had been promised turtle soup. Or, at least, Mack had said something about turtle soup. The grizzly had no clue what turtle soup was. But soup was food. Everybody knew that. Therefore, turtle soup was food. Therefore he needed to eat it. How was he to know if it was poisonous unless he ate at least three dozen bowls, all at the same time? These were important life questions that needed to be answered.

Finding nothing to eat on the ship Chewie scampered back to the railing and took a flying leap, thudding into @Morgenstern. In considerably fewer seconds than seemed possible the bear had perched himself on the tank's shoulder and was making repeated gestures with one clawed toe pointed in his mouth to indicate that he wanted something to eat.

Stats

Approved.

A small geyser of crumbs erupted from the center of the bread loaf's mass as the small grizzly cub ripped into it with his claws and teeth. In no time at all the gluten filled delight had been utterly obliterated as it found a new home in the bear's stomach. Rolling back to his feet, Chewie shook himself like a wet dog and sent another spray of crumbs in all directions. As the crumbs left contact with his shaggy brown body they exploded into blue pixels. It was a pretty effect, even though there was no practical point to it. That done, chocolate brown eyes began scanning the area for another player to scam out of a treat. After all, odds were good that Damien would not be providing another snack.

"It just takes time to build up a high enough level," the Vice Commander rumbled, shrugging his broad shoulders. "Everyone had to start out somewhere, even Commander Heathcliff." The Vice Commander continued to lean his forearms across the top of the axe for a few more minutes, considering the dark haired player in front of him with a keen, storm grey eye. "What are you up to this morning anyway? Other than feeding the local wildlife, I mean."

ID: 77363
LD: 10 (Nothing)

37/102 EN (+1 Out of Battle)

The burly Vice Commander stood up from where he had been kneeling on the ground and gather materials and col from the fallen soldier ants that he had just vanquished, his right hand wrapped around the haft of the axe Invictus which was, quite likely, taller than either Anemone or Aries. In the hands of a shorter warrior the weapon would have been more akin to a pole arm than an axe. The towering man in the crimson trimmed snow white cloak of the Knights of the Blood Oath leaned his forearms across the dull top of the bladed axe head and squinted at his health gauge as the bar instantly refilled itself. Anemone's doing, no doubt.

"You can drop the sir stuff," the axe man rumbled in a low tone after a moment's thought as he considered Anemone's words. Not that there was much to consider. Of course he would shepherd them around the floor for a bit, it was what a knight did.If they came across a mini-dungeon in the process so much the better. "Only officers care about being called sir," the soldier continued, betraying a bit of his real life experience to the two women. "I'll need a minute to recover the energy bar."

As they were speaking a small, scruffy form was shimmying backwards down a nearby tree. When the bear cub reached the ground he tucked into a ball and went rolling through the grass. The tall grass rippled and swayed, just like it did in the Jurassic Park movies when the velociraptors were running around. Within a few seconds a brown bowling ball of fur flopped out into a ruff approximation of a rug right between the three players. Chewie then opened his mouth and pointed to it with one clawed toe.

1. I usually just make a garbage e-mail account for my new accounts.

2. For the name change, PM @Shark directly. He can handle that for you.

OOC: @Sey, @Magda, and @Anemone we're going to go ahead and move on. @Alice can catch up when she gets a chance.

Mack nodded as each of the members in the party for tackling the first of the dragon quests introduced themselves. Some of them seemed a bit low leveled and under geared for tackling a series of dragons. Still, all things considered Sey looked like he was quite capable of handling himself in a fight and since the first several quests in the line were bound to be relatively simple there would be ample time for the others to level up to be able to complete the latter portions of the storyline quest in relative safety, especially if Mack handled the tanking for the group.

Chewie, for his part, ignored the introductions with great aplomb. Magda had produced a fishy for him, as he had known she would. Greedily, the cubs chocolate brown eyes followed the path of the fishy until it was offered to him at which point he jumped into the air and caught it before devouring the delicious treat whole in just a few bites. Once the fish was gone the grizzly's black nose began sniffing again. Somebody smelled like food. Somebody very close by. Thumping down on his haunches Chewie closed his eyes and sniffed turning his head in every direction until he found the one where the scent was strongest. Opening his eyes they landed on Anemone and Sey. Making a happy noise, Chewie popped to his feet and set off in Anemone's direction at top speed, skidding to a halt in front of her and pawing at one of her knees before directing a clawed toe down his throat and making hungry noises.

"Well, that should about handle introductions," Mack rumbled, shouldering Invictus, "Let's get a move on, we've got a lot of ground to cover to finish up this quest line." Without any further preamble the hulking Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath started walking in the directions of one of the gates that led from the Town of Beginnings out into the fields and wilderness beyond the town's gates. As he walked the cloaked man swiped a pair of fingers in the air and called up his player menu. With a few quick taps of his finger, as he was walking, the Vice Commander sent a group invitation to each of the group members as he continued through the town.

OOC: Wrapping up and closing this thread. If I missed anyone for weapons and gear, PM me and we'll figure it out.

"You're all welcome," Mack rumbled to the various players still assembled in the tent as many of them offered their thanks for the new weapons and gear. "Make sure you use them well, gain honor for yourselves, and know that the Knights of the Blood Oath are always looking for new players to join our guild," the burly man continued as Shield quelled his familiar and backed out of the tent. As Shield beat a retreat Chewie scampered to the closing tent flap and popped up on his hind paws. He roared a departing challenge at the devious and tricky non-food giving Shield. Then the bear held up just the middle claw on his right front paw at the departing Shield's back. Where the grizzly had learned such a crude gesture was anyone's guess, but he had probably picked it up from his occasionally crude and coarse master.

REWARDS:
+800 Col - Mack
+Various Weapons & Armor from the Smithy (Involved Players)

@Aereth - +2 SP (5 Posts)
@Alice - +1 SP (3 Posts)
@Bhairyuu - +1 SP (1 Post)
@Dominion - +2 SP (5 Posts)
@DrinkingGlass - +1 SP (1 Post)
@Ignavus_veneficus - +2 SP (4 Posts)
@Jazz - +1 SP (1 Post)
@Khrysaor - +1 SP (1 Post)
@Mack - +2 SP (12 Posts)
@Necryptonix - +2 SP (4 Posts)
@Row - +2 SP (6 Posts)
@Shield - +2 SP (5 Posts)
@Shizua - +2 SP (4 Posts)

OOC: If @Macradon isn't already in a group for this fight I would like him in Group 4 with me, please :)

"Finally, an event boss in a place worth going and fighting," Mack rumbled, mostly speaking to himself as he trudged through the snow on fourth floor in the direction of the assembly point for the raid. As he walked along he pulled items from his inventory, one at a time, and began using them. First, a pair of potions that were applied to the massive two-handed axe in his hands. The potions would boost the weapon's damage output in addition to granting the weapon paralysis for the duration of the event combat. After that an enormous steak appeared in the meaty hands of the blacksmith and he munched on it, tearing away great hunks of steak and devouring them.

Along for the adventure was a tiny, in comparative terms to Mack, grizzly bear cub. Chewie amused himself by tearing through snow drifts and reducing them to free floating powder. The bigger the mounded snow drift, the more fun it was to destroy. Everyone knew that. The cub also knew better than to try and beg for food from his master. Master was immune to his food begging antics. Everyone knew that, too.

As they came within sight of the assembled mass of players Chewie let out a bellow of greeting and scampered off towards what he viewed as his own, personal, collection of food vending machines. As the pelted in the direction of the players the bear's brown eyes swept around until he spotted a likely food giving target, @Anemone. When he was within about twenty feet of her the cub threw himself down on a patch of ice and went sliding along in the woman's direction until he thumped up against her shins. Letting out a pitiful cry, that was very fake, Chewie pretended that he hadn't gone sliding into her on purpose then opened his mouth and pointed a clawed toe down his throat.

Stats:

I made a status update for this with @Tomas, I'll put a note in here as well.

If you're interested let me know here or in PM.

If you'd like an idea of what this Guild, the Inquisition (working name, may choose something else), will be about you can check out this post here. Linky McLinkface.

ID: 77266
BD: 6 (3+3 Amulet) [Concentration: 3/5]
MD: 10 (9+1)
LD: 12

Trample Act: 3x2x15=90

[H:6]Mack: 922/1030 36/102 (1-12= -11 EN) [111-84=27, 27x4=108 DMG)
Giant Soldier Ants 1-4: 39/515 (-90 DMG)

+4 Mats, +10300 Col

Still focused on the combat with the insects, as he was, Mack paid little to no mind towards Aries and Anemone. He also paid little to no attention to the attacks of the giant soldier ants. Even though the gigantic insects had, at last, succeeded in landing a few hits against his armor. As the pincers of the insects pierced his body at various points the Vice Commander merely snarled and drew back Invictus. With a growl, he exploded forward and slammed his shoulder into the ant directly in front of him. The insect shattered into blue pixels. With a few more sweeps of the colossal axe in his hands the remaining ants were, likewise, reduced to their digital components and Mack set about collecting the crafting materials and col that the beasties had dropped, his grey eyes sweeping the area to take in Anemone and Aries for the first time.

ID# 77265 results:

Battle: 9 (8+1 [Axe])

@Hydra: 355/715 | 46/70 [Concentration 1/5] (-169 DMG) [VICTORY! (Half-HP Duel: 355x2=710, 355 < Half of 715]
Mack: 864/1020 | 60/102 [Concentration: 2/5] (-12+1 EN) (+20 HP, Battle Healing)

[Screw Dimension: 13x1x13 = 169 DMG]

"You need to remain calm," Mack rumbled, batting aside Hydra's incoming strike with the back of his hand and causing the spear's head to sail well wide of it's intended target in his chest. "When you panic, you rush. When you rush, you get sloppy and miss," the Vice Commander continued in the same easy, if low, tone. There was no point in toying with Hydra, especially now that Mack had learned what he had wanted to learn from a duel in the first place. Namely that, for the time being, it was not combat effective to try and use both Martial Arts and Two-Handed Axe skills in the same fight. The fact that he would also be picking up a new weapon for his low-leveled twin was simply a happy bonus.

Inhaling and exhaling slowly, Mack raised the dark two-handed Axe of the Fallen over his head and locked in another high-powered sword art. With a grunt, he released the attack and tomahawked the axe over his head, slamming the weapon into Hydra's right shoulder with enough force to drive the smaller player to his knees. A moment later the haft of the weapon slammed into the ground releasing a small wave of force that launched Hydra from his knees to sprawl on his back once again.

As Hydra skidded to a stop there was a soft chime that told both players that the duel was over. Above Mack's head the word 'Winner' appeared. As it shimmered out of existence the towering axe man returned the weapon to his inventory and crossed to where Hydra was still on his back, offering one enormous hand to the defeated spearman to haul him to his feet. "I believe you owe me a weapon, I know someone that can use it and it's not me."

OOC: Lead position in Group 4.

ID# 77262 results:
BD: 6 (5+1 ACC [Axe])

@Hydra: 524/715 | 47/70 [Cocentration 2/5] (-182 DMG)
Mack: 844/1020 | 71/102 [Concentration: 3/5] (+20 HP, Battle Healing) (-28+1 EN)

[Explode Catapult (AoE): 7x2x13 = 182 DMG]

Mack adopted a defensive stance as Hydra clambered back to his feet. By the time the Vice Commander had completed the switch out of a new weapon the stun timer had not had enough time remaining to try and land an attack. If Mack had tried to attack in that moment and missed he would have left himself open to a riposting attack from Hydra. It was better to drop back and wait, after all the second in command of the Knights of the Blood Oath wanted the Lyrica's Fang weapon, even though he had no intention of using it for himself.

It was simply a matter of convincing his twin to change her weapon from war hammer to a spear, it would work quite nicely for her.

As Hydra came in to attack again Mack leaned back from the spear thrust and managed to get the heavy head of his axe in the way enough to deflect the blow just enough so that the attack missed his throat and chin. "Shave and a hair cut, Hydra," the Vice Commander asked in a low growl, hubcap sized hands tightening on the haft of the axe. Grunting, Mack scythed the axe back and forth in front of his body as he activated an area attack sword skill. No one else was close enough to get hit, and it was not the most energy efficient way to fight, but it would all but ensure that Hydra got hit with the hammering blows of the two handed weapon, given how close he was standing.

ID: 77224
BD: 6 (3+3 Amulet) [Concentration: 4/5]
MD: 3 (2+1)

Explode Catapult: 2x7x15=210

[H:1]Mack: 1030/1030 47/102 (1-28= -27 EN)
Giant Soldier Ants 1-4: 39/515 (-210 DMG)

Mack, for his part, remained perfectly unaware of the fact that he was being observed by Anemone or that Aries was nearby in the forest. The battle with the giant soldier ants had been joined and that battle was absorbing all of the ginger headed man's attention at the present moment. Of course, given his energy and health levels it wasn't as if the mobs down on the eleventh floor posed all that much of a threat. Still, the Vice Commander wasn't running around down here to practice front line combat. He was after the higher tiered crafting materials that the mobs would drop when they were defeated.

No more, no less.

With a grunt the hulking soldier swung his axe over his head as the cool down timer for Explode Catapult ticked down to zero and he triggered the same sword art again. Invictus lashed out from side to side making very solid contact with each of the gigantic soldier ants that had surrounded him. By the time the attack was through all four of them had dropped down into the red zone. It wouldn't be much of a challenge to finish wiping them out.

As @Shield's familiar, the shelled fish bird turtle, bucked and writhed underneath him Chewie clung to the reptile for dear life. Or, at least, the grizzly cub would have done so if there was any kind of serious life on the movements. Instead, as the trio slowly made their way out onto the dance floor perched upon their pedestal an idea occurred in the mind of the devious little cub. Chewie knew, full well, that the people players seemed to love it when he did something that they perceived as being cute. With the way that the shelled fish bird turtle was bucking and writhing, if he stood on his hind feet on the shelled back it would look like Chewie was dancing. What could possibly be conceived as cuter than just him dancing? Why, if it looked like he was dancing with the purple winged flying lizard chicken that belonged to @Itzal!

THE PLAN WAS BRILLIANT!

FOOD OFFERINGS FOR DAYS!

Besides that, the purple winged flying lizard chicken was purple. That meant it was a girl. Purple was a girl color.

Everyone knew that.

Standing up on his hind paws on the shelled fish bird turtle, the Grizzly raised one front paw and tapped Itzal's familiar with it. When the dragon turned to face the bear Chewie bowed as gracefully as he could. It wasn't, really, much more than a twitchy, weaving movement as if the bear had imbibed too much alcohol. Then the cub made a series of odd woofling growls and held out his front paws for the purple winged flying lizard chicken so that the dragon would know to take them. Then, with the shelled fish bird turtle's help, it would look like they were dancing and EVERYONE would give them food presents.

BRILLIANT FOOD SCHEME ACTIVATE!

@Hydra: 706/715 | 48/70 Energy (STUNNED - Miss turn)
Mack: 824/1020 | 98/102  (+20 HP, Battle Healing) [Concentration: 4/5]

Mack loomed over the fallen form of Hydra for a moment, considering his options. He could deliver another martial arts attack, but the benefits of that would be minimal given that he only had one rank in the bonus skill. It would also be impossible, from a system standpoint, to whittle away Hydra's health gauge to half or less while hitting him for such paltry amounts of damage. Simply put, even with battle healing it wouldn't be possible to last long enough to win the fight using purely martial arts skills and without a few tweaks to the build using fist strikes for attacks wouldn't be useful on the battlefield. Not yet, at least. Shrugging, the hefty axe man called up his at ready inventory and selected the two-handed Axe of the Fallen, a quest reward granting boosts to accuracy and damage. The intimidating ebony weapon shimmered into existence in the soldier's beefy hands and he backed away from Hydra as the stun timer ran out and Hydra began to get back to his feet.

ID: 77135
BD: 6 (3+3 ACC+1 Concentration [5/5])
MD: 1 (STUNNED)

Mack remained silent as Hirru got everyone squared away for the coming combat against a new kind of boss. Given that he and Takao had not been successful in tracking down the labryinth before Hirru and his team got there it was hardly his place to argue with Hirru unless the hunter was doing something painfully inept with his battle plan, which he wasn't. The big soldier shrugged his shoulders as Chewie and Balthazar continued their tussle for dominance nearby with a lot of snarling and growling.

As the combat got underway Mack leaned with one arm on the top of his axe's weapon head and watched as the battle began to unfold. Morgenstern, the lead tank, howled to draw the boss' attention then Beatbox, Hikoru, Sey, and Itzal followed with attacks of their own, driving the shaman creature's health bar down into that little area right between green and yellow. When it was his turn to go, as the tail end charlie in the first group, Mack sprinted forward activating his charge ability. The bruising axe man slammed a shoulder into the shaman and blasted it from its feet as he activated the Screw Dimension sword art. The wicked blade of Invictus flashed high overhead with a flourish before the weapon slammed into the Shaman's chest with a dull thud. Grunting, Mack wrenched the weapon free and moved to clear the path for the next group.

Posting Order & Stats

OOC: No Roll needed, Stunned.

@Hydra: 715/715 | 59/70 Energy | 12 Damage
Mack: 928/1020 (+20 HP [Battle Healing]) Stunned

As Hydra charged in Mack leaned back from the strike and tried to duck under the on-rushing spear, marveling at how much seemingly lighter on his feet he was without the encumbrances of the heavy armor and axe that he was normally sporting. Still, the colossal man presented an equally large target and he wasn't quite able to escape the attack as Hydra jabbed him several times in the chest, delivering a stunning blow to boot. There was nothing to be done for it but to remain standing in a slightly ridiculous, semi-Matrix-like pose, and wait for the stun effect to wear off while pondering an appropriate response to Hydra's refusal to accept the bet.

"Very well then, I'll wager my mats against that weapon you got from the Werewolf Baroness, Lyrica," Mack rumbled, recalling the fight perfectly well since he had gone along to watch it. "It's no longer useful to you, at your current level, but we might have a Knight or two that could make use of it," he continued in an easy tone, watching the stun countdown timer out of the corner of his storm grey eyes. If he could keep Hydra talking long enough it might be possible to run out the stun timer before the spearman could launch another attack. At least, that was the plan.

OOC: Looks like the first attack is yours, @Hydra, I rolled a LD 4 a few posts ago. Also remember that the only item equips we're allowed to have are weapons. No armor, no shields, no nothing else :)

Chewie gulped down the offered food from @Shield, every single bit of it that was offered. Then the purple winged flying lizard chicken thing came back with a tray of fish. A tray of fish that it had taken off the table. Taken off the table that Chewie had been forbidden to climb. The bear pondered this for a moment. On the one paw, he had been forbidden from climbing the food table and the winged flying lizard chicken had brought food from the food table. On the other paw, Chewie had not climbed the table and made a scene to get the food. That meant it wasn't Chewie's fault that the food was on the floor. That meant he could eat it without breaking the rules. The bear leaned out and snatched up one of the fish as a very strange looking creature appeared from behind the back of the used to be a non-food giving betrayer who was now a food giving friend.

What kind of creature was this? It didn't look like chicken. Or beef. Or pork. Or fish. But, it had flappers like a fish. But a beak like a bird. And a shell like a turtle. Clearly, it was a shelled fish bird turtle. Turtles were not good to eat, everybody knew that. It was too much work to get through the shell and, besides that, Chewie saw the way it snapped at food. This shelled fish bird turtle would bite. The grizzly devoured his share of the food table bounty provided by the purple winged flying lizard chicken as Shield wandered off leaving Chewie and the purple winged flying lizard chicken alone with the, clearly, ill-tempered shelled fish bird turtle. Chewie eyed the shelled creature for a moment with chocolate eyes. It couldn't possibly be that quick, he had seen it move, and it was big enough to ride on. Scampering in a circle around @Shield's familiar, where it could get at him with the bitey end, Chewie quickly scaled his way onto the turtle's shell and then plopped down to sit on the snapping turtle's back, far away from the bitey end.

Making an imperial gesture with one paw, the bear thumped on the turtle's shell to mush it out onto the dance floor. If @Itzal's familiar wanted to tag along there was more than enough room on the ill-tempered shelled fish bird turtle's back for it to ride too.

Meanwhile, in the dueling area Mack stood like a sentinel and waited for @Hydra to ready himself. The hulking Vice Commander also didn't fail to notice the growing crowd of onlookers. Many of whom seemed to be on Hydra's side of the equation as fans, of course everyone liked an underdog. One corner of the soldier's mouth quirked up ever so slightly. If that was the case there might be a way to turn this little duel to his advantage. "Hydra, it looks like you've got quite the fan club here, still let's make this interesting... a little bet. If you win, I'll give you fifty tier one crafting materials but, if you lose, then you join the Knights of the Blood Oath. I'll even let you have the first attack as part of the bargain," the ginger giant boomed over the distance that separated them.

BREAD! Chewie detached himself from the front of Damien's gear and dropped to the ground with a heavy, whoofing thud. With a mad scrambled of paws the grizzly cub set off at top speed after the food treat. It was only bread, but bread could be eaten, and that was the most important thing about it. The cub took a flying pounce and landed squarely upon the small loaf of bread, clutching it in all four of his paws. Rolling onto his back Chewie flashed some vicious looking sharp teeth and began to tear big hunks out of the food with great gusto, and a little bit of growling.

"It's like watching Nobunaga devour Nippon," the towering Vice Commander remarked in an off-handed sort of tone, gesturing towards Chewie. The ginger headed man then considered both Damien and his request for a moment, deciding on what and how much to answer. Shrugging his shoulders, and leaning on the axe that was planted in the ground, the ginger giant responded. "I'm Mack, Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath," he rumbled, rolling his neck with a small series of popping noises. "And yes, I am a front liner, more or less."

At the scent of the smoked salmon and round, wet, and black nose popped out from around one of Row's legs, sniffing the air curiously. That smelled like fish. Fish that someone had done something to. But, it was still fish. Slowly the nose became a snout, the snout turned into a pair of chocolate eyes, and, at last, an entire fuzzy head with rounded ears appeared from behind @Row. How had the betrayer, the not food giver, known he was hiding behind Row? Magical powers? Base treachery? And why was this person now holding a plate with a fair amount of fish and shrimp on it, some of which was being offered. Why would the not food giver, @Shield, offer food.

The answer was obvious, the not food giver had seen the error of his ways.

Well, now, that was more like it.

Rumbling a greeting, Chewie scooted out from behind Row and plopped down in the middle of the small knot of players. What did he care if he was in the way? If he was highly visible, then there would be a greater likelihood of more food offerings being forthcoming. Settling back on his haunches, Chewie greedily turned his face up towards @Shield, opened his mouth to display a great many sharp teeth that, seconds ago, had been buried in Shield's ankle, and then he pointed one clawed toe down his throat.

But, before Shield could complete the action of giving Chewie the food the bear's attention was drawn by the thud of a landing something next to him. Chewie cocked his head to one side and considered the interloper for a moment. It was a winged flying lizard chicken that belonged to @Itzal. A purple one at that. Where did purple winged flying lizard chickens come from? More importantly, did they taste like chicken? Chewie wasn't sure what lizard chickens tasted like, he'd never been able to catch the one that Takao kept around in order to find out. The cub gave the dragon a pensive look for a moment, then he pointed a clawed toe at @Shield, and turned his attention back to man to get all of the food that was on the plate that was being held, most uncharitably, out of reach.

There would be time to try and take a bite of the purple winged flying lizard chicken, to figure out if it was food or not, later. Right now there was fish. Fish was greater than chicken. Everyone knew that.

ID: 76959
BD: 6 (2+3 Amulet+1 Concentration) [Concentration: 5/5]
MD: 4 (3+1)

Explode Catapult: 2x7x19=266

[H:1]Mack: 1030/1030 74/102
Giant Soldier Ants 1-4: 249/515 (-266 DMG)

Having made his way up to the eleventh floor from the fourth floor earlier in the day after he had completed his daily smithing chores and closed down the Wandering Forge for the time being Mack had dropped off his familiar, Chewie, at the small guild hall that the Knights of the Blood Oath maintained in the town of Taft. There wasn't too much trouble that the little bear cub could get into within the confines of the hall, even if it did leave the grizzly a bit bored. Ordinarily, Mack might have dropped off the beastie with Piera, but he hadn't heard from the potioneer for some time and he knew that others, like Takao, had enough to be getting on with and didn't need the added burden of the rambunctious bear.

Once he was out of the town Mack set off at a good clip, and before long the bearded man found himself in a wooded area. Unsheathing Invictus and slinging the weapon up on one shoulder Mack strode forward without a care in the world. Down here on this floor, far removed from the front lines, there was little reason to think that he might encounter anything that could be truly dangerous. It did not take the cloaked giant long to find a quartet of giant ants. Holding the massive axe free and easy in his hands, Mack charged forward into the midst of the ants and delivered a series of punishing blows to the insects with several wide, sweeping strokes that reduced their health bars by just over half.

As Mack made his way in the direction of the designated meeting place on the twentieth floor for tackling some hitherto unseen kind of boss that was guarding the way into the labyrinth Chewie, the bear, gamboled about around the path. Mack knew it was only typical to assume that, as they were nearing the twenty percent completion point for the tower of Aincrad that there would be new wrinkles introduced into the game play. Not that such thoughts troubled his familiar at all. With a roaring war cry, Chewie charged down a dangerous looking buttercup and chomped down on the flower. Shaking his head savagely from side to side, the tiny grizzly decimated it before continuing his flower based campaign of carnage.

When they eventually reached the camp site Mack nodded politely to the many familiar faces that were already gathered and assembled there. For his part, however, Chewie surveyed the entire area and his beady brown eyes quickly settled on Balthazar, the owl bear. The thing was part chicken and part bear, a meal you could fight with before you ate it! Roaring a tiny bearish challenge, Chewie charged down on Macradon's familiar and slammed into it. Did the strange chicken bear taste like a pork chop? There was only one way to find out!

Stats in Spoiler