Itzal

Finally feeling his body again he didn't hesitate in rolling to his feet and grabbing his weapon. He immediately ran over to help Chase, who got struck by the boss yet again, who was still in a berserking rage. "You've got to be sh***ing me." He watched as Chase crashed into the cliffside, Itzal heard him. While he didn't say anything, he did think to himself: "More like three times. You, then me, then you again. I sure hope he's not returning the favor with four crits." With that on his mind, Itzal dashed to the boss with full speed. He was in no way planning to let this boss gain an advantage when it was so stupidly designed. With no accuracy bonuses it was relying on luck alone for a hit. And their health was high enough that it's rare hits barely dented their overall health. Not to mention that his health was already nearing full once again. However Itzal couldn't get a hit on the boss. The brute was moving too quickly due to his berserk rage. At this point Itzal's primary goal was to be as evasive as he could, parry every blow, to avoid getting another critical hit. If he could do that, then maybe it would be enough to throw the boss off, and bring this all to a normal crawl again.

ID# 187431  BD: 2+3=5  Miss

-1 EN

+1 EN

+97 HP BH

@ChaseR

Itzal spent as much time as he could parrying, deflecting, and dodging blows. To his great shock the boss had shifted it's attention away from Chase, and towards Itzal. And now that it finally got it's first ever blow against them, it was fighting with boosted morale. Itzal parried and dodged, but it was becoming increasingly difficult as the brute started going into a berserking rage. It reached the point where the boss would make two swings where Itzal could only make one. And of course, inevitably, Itzal was struck against the boss and sent flying, hitting the cliffside as Chase had and landing paralyzed. As he landed paralyzed, he could feel the clips of his hood tightening. The armor was designed so that paralysis, which in terms of fluff more often had electrical static covering the victim, would tighten and lock down his hood so that people couldn't just walk up and pull it down. That being said... It didn't make him any happier. "Other than being robbed of movement I'm fine. I don't care about the damage, it's not a concern to me."

+1 EN

+97 HP Battle Healing

@ChaseR

"Not when you take our safety measures into account." Itzal answered Chase. "For example: I assume you have at least one teleport crystal on your person yes?" Then his sword ignited into bright lights for the fourth time in a row. This time Itzal just stopped moving entirely. "...Then again those might not be necessary." He watched as Chase struck the boss and dealt yet another incredible blow... Before the boss itself landed a hit. From what Itzal could tell, the boss decided to stop chasing the players around, and instead hit them when it knew they'd be there: while it was being hit. Itzal watched as Chase crashed into the wall and fell to the ground. The paralyze icon by his health bar. "Well that's cheap. We can't apply anything but he can paralyze us." Sighing, he muttered under his breath: "I f***ing hate paralysis." And with that rushed at the boss to land a blow. The problem with advanced dungeons was that you couldn't escape with a teleport crystal. But in every other scenario, players could use it to stay safe. If the boss was landing far too many blows and knocking their health down too quickly, the wounded player could switch with the other, and then attempt to escape combat. Regenerate their health. Then jump back in and switch with the other player to give them a chance to recover. Rinse and repeat. If for some reason it was proving too much, they simply teleported out. He didn't manage to land a hit but honestly that wasn't his goal at this point. While the boss had it's hate on Chase, he was going to do everything he could to keep the boss from landing a hit on Chase. When paralyzed one's evasion was neutralized, so he was especially vulnerable. Itzal didn't think a second hit would actually do much, given that his evasion would make things run smoothly again once they kicked in.

ID# 187426  BD: 2+3=5  Miss

@ChaseR

"Indeed." Itzal answered. "What would make things interesting were some actually unique abilities. Attacking multiple times, casting illusions, phasing through mitigation, or applying a unique debuff effect. Or an even more dangerous ability where it takes any debuff applied by players, and applying it to the players instead. Or even better, give it the ability to prevent players from escaping combat by any means other than the vanish mod or a teleport crystal." Itzal could have gone on with the possibilities forever since this thing had no real backstory. There wasn't any limit to what he could or couldn't give it as an ability, or stat, and so forth. This thing, as Chase had so elegantly put it: was boring. It wasn't even worth killing for all the skill points. Even the equipment dropped wasn't worth it unless you got the rare drop, which was pretty special... That being said, it may be a better idea for Chase to be the party leader in this case, given that he seems the more lucky of the two. Case and point: Chase's third holy strike in a row. Itzal couldn't help but chuckle. "Your luck is leagues better than my own, heh heh." Rushing up to strike the boss, he could see his paralysis and bleed trying to take effect but failing. "For example: Only actually applying the DoT effects of my sword against a boss immune to everything."

ID# 186714  BD: 8+3=11  19*11-150=59 dmg.

-11 en

+1 en

Itzal watched with honest surprise as Beat teleported out of the battlefield via teleport crystal. Had the nullification only been a temporary thing? How did he miss that?? Well... It didn't really matter at this point. He watched as the shadow lost the last of it's health, though he didn't sheath his sword. If there was anything he'd learned from other bosses, it was that you should never assume the boss is dead until the big words pop up on your screen telling you it's dead. And even then Itzal would be wary of a trick. Woosh. And there it was. The monsters were still here, as well as the shackles. Then the boss came back, only he was glitching out. At this point the shadow was reminding Itzal of a virus than a boss. Apparently he was going to rely on his minions now. Well, Itzal wasn't very good at dealing damage, but others in his party were... His attention went to the shackle bound on Calrex. He activated the charge skill only to close the distance between them, not as an attack as he didn't need it for this tiny thing, charged up his sword, and thrust it into the shackles, shattering them and freeing Calrex. He would simply nod to his old friend, even though Calrex wouldn't know it was him, before rushing over to Zandra. "Hey, I recommend using your biggest AoE you can to help finish off the rest of these small fry. It seems all that's left is the cleanup."

ID# 186713  BD: 5+5=10.  22*11-50=92 dmg

-11 EN

+5 EN

Now things were just devolving into utter nonsense and chaos. Well, for the Shadow at least. Itzal almost started laughing when he heard the boss's reaction to Macradon's rapping. If this thing truly was the master of shadows, and could see Itzal's face, he'd see the huge smug grin he was expressing. This was the first boss fight where he was actually amused. Not frustrated, not focused, not happy, not enjoying. Just amused. Now that everyone wasn't really in danger they were letting they're fun-side show for real. He wouldn't participate in that himself of course, he had to keep Are's reputation going. It was important after all. All this being said, mentally at least, Orgoth was losing health fast. If they wanted to keep the npc alive, and Itzal kind of did as he wanted to see how it would affect the floor, they needed to step up their game and finish this fight as quickly as they could. Welp. "Bite of the ant" he thought to himself before charging at the monster. As he rushed up and swung however, the shadow became ethereal for a split second, letting his blade pass harmlessly through. Alright, alright. Fair enough. Itzal got lucky getting one of his very few critical hits during this fight. It was only right to assume that his luck would go sour after that. He just had to... Build it up again? It did seem odd though that he was so unlucky when it came to critical hits and applying DoTs while others were not.

ID# 185954  BD: 2+5-2=5  Miss

-1 EN

+5 EN

Itzal was legitimately surprised at the sheer luck this player had on him to trigger Holy twice in a row. No wonder he was able to get his hands on a weapon like that. Itzal was already ahead of Chase upon seeing the light spark to life, moving to bring the big boss between him and Chase, blocking most of the light when he attacked. Again however, cosmetic light wouldn't be enough to blind him outright. It would be an incredibly unfair advantage to any player if their cosmetic fluff could have a mechanical advantage against players... Of course, there were ways to make it work. While the light couldn't outright blind someone's vision, it could make it harder to see. Itzal also noticed the lightning that emitted from his sword, and automatically knew he had paralysis on that weapon as well. Itzal charged in behind the boss as Chase's attack finished. He didn't land a critical, but he still chipped something away. "Kayaba must have been running out of ideas if he made a boss where all you could do against it is deal raw damage." He muttered as he took his ready stance after sliding past it, giving Chase another chance to attack.

ID# 185825  BD: 4+3=7  19*11-150=59 dmg

-11 en

+1 en

@ChaseR

The rogue/vigilante was about to make his next run in, but stopped when he saw the bright light emitting from his blade, taking the place of every chipped, dulled and damaged part of the sword. The light shone brightly through the area, reflecting a little off of the mist that hung under Itzal's hood, temporarily changing it from shadowy black to white. Chase grinned for the first time since Itzal ran into him, before attacking the boss and dealing far more damage than before. "Oooooooh, so you have the holy enhancement then? Then you're one of the lucky ones." He said. He was content however. Any player with unique enhancements or demonic equipment should be using it to protect others, or progress the frontlines. And Chase was the latter at least, hopefully the former as well. At any rate, with that in hand this fight would go a lot easier. It was no wonder Chase made it clear they shouldn't worry all that much. "Appreciate the gesture." "But it's not necessary." he thought. He did train and teach himself how to fight when blinded by hearing where his enemy was. It wasn't perfect, but still. Add that to the fact that his mist was able to filter some of the light and he was good. If it was a cosmetic effect, it wouldn't be enough to blind him. If it was a crafted item specifically designed to act as a flash bang, which to his knowledge none existed, but whatever. He rushed up behind the boss before he could recover and stabbed him between the ribs before backflipping out of the way to avoid his attack.

ID# 185795  BD: 9  19+1*20-150=70 dmg

-11 en

+1 en

@ChaseR

The rotation strategy. Taking turns hitting the enemy in between it's attacks. Normally the tank would be in the front of the rotation, so that by the time the boss and minions attacked they would be striking him or her, not the dps players. Of course, some bosses were faster than others, meaning that they could keep up with the dps players. This was where the hate factor came into play. As they took their turns, the boss became more and more wild with rage, his swings more wide and random. This made it easier to dodge the boss's attacks as Itzal leaped over one of it's swings and slashed at the boss. Unfortunately while it was easier to dodge the boss when it became more wild, it also became harder to hit. It immediately swung for Chase and as a result Itzal's blade bounced off of the armor of it's shoulder instead of landing a hit. Rolling upon landing on the ground, Itzal circled around letting Chase get a hit in before he struck it again. Itzal had hoped to get his hands on some of the equipment the broker told him about when he got info on the quest, but Chase was the party leader. And from what he could tell, the player didn't trust him whatsoever. So the chances of getting any were slim to none. Therefore, Itzal just decided to focus on getting SP. He didn't gain anything really, so nothing would change except his level perhaps.

@ChaseR

ID# 185721  BD: 2+3=5  Miss.

-1 en

+1 en

When Itzal fought against players, he focused on strategy, technique, surprise attacks, ambushes, reading his enemy, reacting to their strikes, forwarding his own, and so forth. When he fought against a monster, boss or npc generated by the game, his thought process was totally different. He calculated constantly in his head, between health, damage, mitigation, critical hits, health regeneration, DoTs, and so on. Most monsters and bosses didn't have the intelligence to strategize as well as humans, always having a pre-set strategy and/or pattern they followed. The same could be said with this boss. It didn't take long for Itzal to figure out the fighting pattern the 'king' was following. To Chase this was no sweat. However Itzal knew how fickle chance could be in this game. He knew that you couldn't rely on a roll of the dice to get you through. You had to have a back-up plan if something didn't work out. Itzal's plan was for one of them to duck out of the fight if the need arose, recover their energy, and jump back in and switch. He wasn't too concerned about health given their evasion stats, massive health and battle healing, but you couldn't be too careful. Which was where the switch mechanic came into play. Itzal leaped as the king swung at Chase and thrust his blade into it's back before jumping off again.

ID# 185576  BD: 8+3=11  19*11-150=59 dmg

-11 en

+1 en, +1 hate

@ChaseR

Itzal knew that the two handed weapons and their skill provided not only more damage, but stronger sword arts. However, he chose to stay with the one handed straight sword because it was far, far more versatile in a fight against a player or humanoid enemy. When you could use your imagination, and work around the system like Itzal did, a one handed straight sword was perfect. And... While his damage was absolute trash, he made up for it with debuffs, paralysis and stun arts. He wanted to boost his damage as much as he could anyways though, which was one of the reasons he got the hide skill. However he might switch mods for the trickster if he ever got his hands on a weapon with unique DoTs. Not like he expected to actually get anything like that, but he could dream. He prepared his only "strong" sword art and released it against the boss, slashing at both of his legs as he slid underneath, and landed a wide arcing slash against it's chest. Unfortunately his strongest sword art was weaker than a dagger, which made zero sense with any sort of logic. "Good. Cause this is going to be a long fight."

@ChaseR

ID# 185574  BD: 5+3=8  19*11-150=59 dmg

-11 en

+1 en

Watching as another player struck down the blood shackle bound on another player, the boss apparently gave what he could only describe as both a fearful and hateful reaction. Looking between the shackle, and the boss. Itzal couldn't help but think to himself. '...No... Nooooo, it couldn't be this easy. This is it's ace in the hole?' At this point Itzal's respect for this boss was lost. It never posed them any actual threat during it's final phase. Itzal had barely been scratched let alone put in the red this entire fight. The boss was primarily attacking Orgoth and those who were shackled. The minions couldn't seem to hit very well, and they didn't do much damage anyway. True, the shackles allowed the boss to attack players, but at that point it would be considered a normal boss fight where the healers step in and restore hp. And even then it really wasn't needed that much for this fight. "All that worrying and anxiety for nothing... What a let down." He thought as he prepared to strike. Rushing forward with all due haste and speed he drove his black blade deep into wherever the boss's heart might have been had he been an actual human and twisted the blade once inside for good measure. He could see the green toxin spreading throughout the shadow, as well as a black ooze spill out from his wound. Well how about that? "Are parlor tricks all you got? All that boasting and you're no better than an HP sponge." With that he ripped his blade out at a diagonal angle and leaped backwards to stand beside @Zandra. "Wanna go somewhere nice after this little battle? I'm thinking a mountainside beside a like. Somewhere with a great view." He said softly, so that only she could hear him.

ID# 185550 BD: 10  22+2*11-150=114  Paralysis, Toxic Venom & Bleed applied.

-11 EN

+1 EN

Itzal watched as Chase leaped from the shadows and assaulted the king in the center of the field, who roared and swung his weapon like he was trying to swat a fly. The field boss's attacks seemed as comical as his background information. Overkill health, immune to DoTs, status effects, stuns and the like. Not a single trace of interesting backstory. Cliche appearance and comical attacks. This is by far one of the worst bosses Itzal had ever encountered in his life. He watched as Chase landed his first hit, dealing around two hundred and fifty points of damage. That wasn't good news. They needed to get another damage dealing player in her if they could help it, or else this was going to be a very, very long fight. When he called out to Itzal, he couldn't help but think: Kind of already know your name since we're in the same party, but ok. With that He leaped from the shadows and aimed his swing. The boss didn't even see him as he activated charge from behind and stabbed the 'king' in the back. With the surprise attack mod and charge skill combined, Itzal had managed to deal a considerable amount of damage, considering the weapon's highest multiplier was only an eleven. However he wasn't able to land a critical hit, which would have been ideal. "Well, that's the best I'm going to be doing then. Chase, if your health ever gets too low we switch, got it?"

ID# 185374  BD: 5+3-1=8  DMG: 19+1+5=25*11-150=125 damage  -11 EN
ID# 185375  LD: 6+5=11

+1 EN

@ChaseR

He wasn't sure if he was happy to hear his fiance rooting for him, or nervous that she was calling out to him as her love in the middle of players... He hoped they forgot about all this when they invited people to the wedding. Even still... It was motivation enough for him to put enough effort in to land an actual hit. 'Zandra my love. I don't think I could do the frontlines much longer without you by my side.' With that he rushed forward and finally landed a hit. He didn't apply the DoT effects, but at this point he'd settle for anything. Even if his damage was sh*t. Itzal watched as the boss lashed out at players, striking Zandra and slapping the bloodlust shackle onto her. His eyes flicked to the status screen and noted that both Calrex and Zandra had the same number of hate in regards to the boss. He watched as Zandra's health went down, but barely enough for him to be worried over. If anything it would probably get her a bit stoked. Regarding the boss and it's minions however... Itzal was incredibly disappointed. Yeah, it was great to have Orgoth act as a meat shield for them all, but. They went through half of it's health with no returning hits that actually threatened them in any shape or form.

ID# 185058  BD: 3+5-2=6   22*11-150=92 dmg

-11 EN

+1 EN

"I selected the one handed straight sword as my primary weapon." He explained to ChaseR. He wasn't going to bother with explaining why he'd chosen that weapon over the others, primarily because they had just formally... Met? Introduced each other? Either way they weren't exactly friends at the current moment, and he didn't exactly look 'friendly' in his rogue disguise.

"I only use paralysis and stun against player killers. Makes it easier to bind their hands and throw them through the corridor crystal. When facing against monsters and bosses I typically approach with a DoT effect such as the bleed enhancement... You do know what DoT stands for correct?" If he didn't, Itzal was going to feel a little bad for assuming... Actually he was already starting to feel bad. Not to the point where he'd start kicking himself, but still. Standing straight now, Aldion cawed and took to the sky in preparation. "That's the plan. With this particular pain at least." This was the worst for him. He felt worthless half of the time, and now this? It was the absolute worst... Oh well, maybe there wouldn't be any more bosses that were... Immune to anything that made any non-dps player matter.

"Before we start. You can call me Are." He said before opening his skills menu and activating the hiding skill.

ID# 185047  LD: 17+5=22  Stealth Rating
Itzal: HP: 1,710/1710 | EN: 168/168 | DMG: 19 | 25 MIT | 6 EVA | 3 ACC | 2 BLD | 1 PLZ | BH: 97

Was popping up behind a player a cliche move to make? Yes it was. And the player's response was expected, and wise as well. However at the end of the day, Itzal used this cliche to test his stealth skill. If he managed to surprise them or take them off guard, then it was a success. If not. Then he'd need to be more stealthy the next time, as well as unpredictable. This trick didn't work on everyone. The player responded by muttering how they'd already done it once before, and then proceeded to send a party invite Itzal's way. Itzal pressed the button so fast it barely had time to appear in front of him. However his name slot would be blank whenever ChaseR tried to view it. That, plus his dark appearance and the black shadowy mist that constantly generated over his face under the cowl, probably kept ChaseR from being open or polite. That was fine. Itzal couldn't make too many friends as Are. Allies yes, friends no.

"Glad you're open enough to join forces." He said calmly before catching the meal in his hands. "It's very much appreciated." Very appreciated, given that without... ChaseR was it? Oh right, they fought in that dungeon before. Without this guy he'd probably spend all day trying to kill the d*mn boss. He'd probably have to pull out of the fight, recover some health, then jump back in and beat it with hit and run tactics. He opened up the wrap and saw chicken nuggets with honey and rice. It wasn't a combination he'd ever thought of, but it was good... Though he didn't show it. Ever since he'd trained in this world, he rarely shifted from a 'battle ready' body posture unless he was with someone he loved, or was enjoying a swim in a lake. So most of his emotions were portrayed by his expressions, which were currently hidden from view.

When ChaseR asked about level, showing the vigilante his own stats, Itzal nodded. "Ha. Ironically just one level above you actually. Though I am close to gaining one more. That's why I'm taking this quest. It's about time I focus on capping my level quickly." While he wasn't surprised that this player was a level eighty three, it did make him happy knowing that players were working hard to catch up to the front liners. Itzal hadn't heard of this guy until the dungeon and raid, yet he'd made it so far. 'Takes me back to when all I did was grind...' "Before we charge in to fight the boss, you should know that you'll probably doing the heavy lifting unfortunately. Most of my damage is in DoTs, and since that thing is immune to everything but raw damage, that gets rid of most of my potential. Doesn't mean I'll do everything I can to help though. I can at least attempt to get a surprise attack hit on him though."

Consumed EVA 2 Feast

Itzal: HP: 1,710/1710 | EN: 168/168 | DMG: 19 | 25 MIT | 6 EVA | 3 ACC | 2 BLD | 1 PLZ | BH: 97

@ChaseR

OOC: Taking 1 Minor potion of sharp dragon-fang from inventory & Using it.  +2 DMG.

He could see the brute. Honestly he didn't look very impressive either. He just looked like a big, bulky zombie with a skull face and crown. Even still, the warning given to him by the info brokers was real enough. He supposed he should take precautions. Reaching into his inventory, he took out one of the rare potions from Zandra's inventory. Or rather, their inventory. He was still getting used to the shared inventory thing. He made sure to ask her if he had permission to do things like this of course, and she did. She also told him to stop worrying and that his life was more important than permission. Even if he did take something without permission, it would be better to get chewed out than die and never see her again. Which was something he could wholeheartedly agree with. At any rate he brought the potion up and downed it in one go. The funny thing was, most players expected potions to taste terrible. But not Zandra's. Her potions were pretty good actually. "Or maybe it's just that I've had my own cooking for so long that anything will taste amazing. I don't know."

With the potion consumed he was getting ready to attack when Aldion hopped on his shoulder with an anxious like energy. "What is it?" Caw! Caw! He was flapping his wings rapidly and looking in a specific direction. Itzal turned and enhanced his vision with his search skill and mods. It also helped he had night vision. "Another player huh?... I've seen him at the front lines before. I didn't catch his name though." Even though he didn't know the guy, he could tell he wasn't a dangerous individual. And that was just enough for Itzal to try and team up with him to take this boss down. Despite Itzal taking on challenges alone, his damage output usually required someone else to help him deal damage. Even some players focusing solely on tanks could deal more than him. And as such, he put off his ambush on the boss and instead ran silently across the rocks and boulders towards the player's location.

As he reached the player, he scaled down the rough cliffside in two jumps, landing on large solid rocks each time before pushing off towards the second rock, and then solid ground. Aldion had jumped off and glided before landing back onto his shoulder again. Unless the player was extremely observant, he likely wouldn't have heard him approach, so when he greeted the player he made sure to be a good ten feet away. It also didn't help that Itzal looked shady as hell. "I take it you're taking the same quest?"

@ChaseR

Stats

+2 SP (slime farm)

It had been a very long time, far too long in fact, since Itzal had taken a quest of any sort. Although he would argue that such a thing wasn't an entirely bad concept, especially when he devoted most of his time to hunting down player killers and sending them to prison with corridor crystals nowadays. Also because most of the quests he encountered, weren't very imaginable. As he was reading up on <<Betrayal of the King>>, he couldn't help but scoff at the utter lack of information and lore this quest was providing. All he knew about this 'king' was that he was "great", betrayed his people and went missing. Now he was supposed to just pop up somewhere random to fight the player. Why did he betray his people? How is he still alive, or undead if that's the case? Why is he attacking random players as a result? And why did Kayaba feel the need to be redundant in his description. A 'great king' implies he was powerful, brilliant and daring. You don't get those things for being a mediocre king. They were focusing on all the wrong details.

"I'm fighting a field boss." he thought to himself. No matter. At some point the boss would pop up again and he'd get some more SP. He was nearing the point of capping out level wise, but that wasn't his goal. His intention was to cap his skills as quickly as possible. He wanted to max out stealth, get more mods, get more skills and extra skills if he could help it. Anything he could do to become more useful on the frontlines. With each soft step he made across the cavernous system he came closer to gaining a little more SP. Dressed in his dark cloth and leather garbs, his cowl hung over with a misty darkness shrouding his face from onlookers, he paused to survey the area. While he may have taken up the identify of Are to get away from the front lines for a bit, he now wore it to keep his enemies from knowing who he cared about, and tried to distance himself from most players whenever he took up the disguise. He had even perfected his American accent just to ensure no one he knew discovered his identity. And thanks to the untraceable mod, even members of his party couldn't see his name. It just came up as <<Blank>>.

His attention was diverted when Aldion, his black raven familiar, flew down and landed on his shoulder. "Well? Which way?" Aldion cawed and nodded his head towards the north-north-east. "So that's where he is? Must be that small stone valley then. Well he is a field boss like enemy, so that fits. Come one. Time to stealth." Itzal activated the hide skill and slipped into the shadows in order to activate the surprise attack mod against the king.

Stealth Roll:
ID# 184817  LD: 17

Detected at LD 18+

@ChaseR

While nearly all of the players in the field were avoiding damage, it was primarily due to Orgoth taking all the hits for them. Though the bloodlust shackles were annoying to say the least. Even still, Itzal wanted to prevent Orgoth from dying if he could help it. Partly because it would mean they were next, and partly because he wanted as much lore to be salvaged from this event. Maybe it was paying homage to Hestia he thought, as she loved doing that sort of thing before she vanished without a trace... Itzal watched as one of the monstrosities, if you could call it that, attacked Zandra but failed to land a blow. He wasn't too concerned for her. She was too strong to be taken down by anything but the strongest boss. And so far, Itzal didn't think this boss was that. "Maybe he'll stop mouthing off when his health hits the second to last or final bar." He muttered to his party before charging forward. The good news was he landed a hit this time. The bad news was that he failed to apply any of his DoT enhancements, which meant that he wasted eleven points of energy. Given that his damage output was a measly ninety two. That was ok though, the rest of the party were much stronger in damage dealing anyway. He was mainly here for support... Though his debuffs did backfire on all of them admittedly...

ID# 184489  BD: 5+5-2=8  22*11-150=92 dmg  -11 EN

+1 EN  (natural regen)

The fight continued on. With everyone activating their charge abilities and attacking the boss, they dealt a huge chunk from his first health bar. So far they were all doing well, but he'd likely reveal more abilities as the fight went on. As of right now though it felt more like a health sponge boss. That is, until Itzal watched as his debuff not only failed to apply to the boss entirely, but that the boss took the debuff as it's own ability. To this he took a moment to pause. "Huh... That's a new one. Admittedly I hadn't taken that into account." Well that's bad. If the boss can use my debuff against us, then that just makes the situation worse. Rushing forward he hoped to land a hit on the boss this time, as he desperately wished to help his friends. However like before he failed to make physical contact with the boss, and thus failed to deal any damage. The shadow horrors by themselves didn't seem very dangerous... However, Itzal wondered if the shadow would summon more and more of them over time. If that was the case, then this could get ugly very fast...

ID# 183802  BD: 2+5-2=5  Miss  -1 EN
+1 EN

So the shadow actually attacked someone now. If he had dealt a serious blow to a player and not an NPC, it might have actually been a bit intimidating. But as it stood, he was basically 'redefeating' the same dude, and not even that well either. "You sure are a master of disappointment." Itzal commented. With two quick swipes of his wrist he opened his battle inventory and pulled out one of the songs he'd crafted for this specific moment. Taking the song he simply titled 'Shielding III', he poised his body to throw it as if it were a baseball and launched it at the Shadow. A neat function he was able to do with the song crystals he crafted was set it so that it could either replace a song with his own, or loop another song so that it would last for the entire battle. He chose the latter in this case, and so the song that started this boss fight would continue to play. Then he took his battle stance before activating the charge skill. With two leaps he maneuvered around Orgoth before making a third jump upwards, stabbing his blade into the Shadow before landing on his feet behind the boss and circling back towards his party. Once he reached them he took his stance again. "Didn't manage to land any DoTs this time around, but hopefully my luck changes soon."

ID# 183125  BD: 3+5-2=6  Hit!  22+5*11-150=147 damage  -11 EN

Using Instant Misperception (The Shadow deals 10% less after mitigation in damage)

Itzal smiled before standing up. "Don't forget that there are many others out there who are lost and alone. Just because you know who you will become, does not change anything. It's up to us to protect those who need protection, and guide those who need guidance. Always remember that." Turning to Grimm's odd familiar he tossed it a small leftover from their dinner, hoping it at least knew to catch it. "It's time to turn in. We'll be rising at the break of dawn. Once we've woken up training begins alright? So try to get some sleep." With that Itzal put his glowstone away. Grimm would have to navigate the dark to reach his tent. If he didn't have a glowstone or night vision like Itzal did, then this would be considered training as well. At any rate, he and Aldion walked over to their tent and stepped inside before lying down. When he did he pulled off his hood and gave a quiet sigh as Aldion landed on his little perch before getting ready for sleep. He forgot how much work being a mentor was... And how much fun it was.

Thread Complete!

Rewards: Both players receive 3 sp (event) and 400 col

@Grimm Reaper

Not bad or good, just is. Not always bad. Not entirely bad. Three different answers for one question. He couldn't help but smiling before he started putting their cooking supplies away... By throwing them into the inventory via menu. "Our being trapped in this game, in my opinion, isn't bad at all. It's just a fact. The act of enforcing us to be trapped here is what was evil. While in this world, whether it's bad or good is what we make of it. A matter of perspective. For example, one can break down and commit suicide. Others can embrace this new world and live it to their fullest as they would exploring the real world. Some take advantage of the laws here and abuse it for their own selfish reasons. And others see it as nothing but a prison and seek to escape it. In other words: It's no different than real life, when you think about it." And with that, the last of the supplies were put away and he gestured for Aldion to fly over. "There are certainly major differences with the game mechanics allowing us to do things we normally couldn't, but people find their ways around that all the time. Just like in real life. The frontlines are nothing but politics half the time. Sometimes they run smoothly, sometimes they do nothing but argue and bicker. In the end, the similarities outweigh the differences." This time Itzal looked directly at Grimm's eyes. Or where they would be on his mask. "What I believe is so different about this world, is it forces you to acknowledge who you really are. Are you the type of person who will crumble under the pressure? Will you seek to be a hero and save everyone around you? Will you play the villain and take advantage of the situation and everyone in it? Or will you be somewhere in the middle and make your own rules? There's a status quo now, but it's not like back home. Not because it's a video game. But because you can't hide who you are anymore. And you have to either accept it, or succumb to it."

@Grimm Reaper

Itzal smiled back at her, tears threatening to form in his eyes. "And thank you."

"I hereby declare these two, husband and wife!" The priest declared. "You may now, kiss the bride." Itzal stepped forward, his hands holding onto Zandra's, and kissed his wife. If there was any cheering, he didn't hear it. The world was frozen in time as he and Zandra made their lives, their destinies and fates, one and the same. From this point on, they would never act as separate individuals, but as one person. They would carry and share each other's hopes, dreams, joys, sorrows, fears, regrets, pride, weaknesses and strengths. And as they finished their long lasting kiss, Itzal simply stared into her eyes, knowing that he was the luckiest man, and would forever be the happiest, in the entire world. He could do it. He could take on all of Aincrad. Every monster, every boss, every player killer. Even Kayaba himself. Because he didn't just have his family to return home to. He had his wife to be with. To protect, to love, and to live with. And he couldn't wait to see her in the real world as well. He wondered how his family would feel about him having married someone in the video game.

But that was a thought process for later. He turned to the players who had arrived to watch the wedding and smiled. "Alright. How about we start the reception already?"

Thread Completed. Itzal and Zandra Married!~

+Shared inventory.

+Wedding Rings (Itzal's: Strong Will. Zandra's: Driven)

@Zandra : +3 SP (1 Thread Length, 1 Event Bonus, 1 Quest Reward) & 200 Col (400/2)
Itzal : +3 SP (1 Thread Length, 1 Event Bonus, 1 Quest Reward) & 200 Col (400/2)

Itzal smiled under his hood as he thought of all the sights he'd seen up to this point. All of the wonderful and marvelous creatures he'd met, played with and fought. All of the crazy adventure's he'd been on. Soloing the lower floors to gain strength. Meeting all of his friends. Meeting Velnia. His adventures with Ulises. Jonathan and his adventures as they sought out the dwarves. His misadventures with the inhabitants of the sixth floor. His journey with his guild, the Celestial Ascendants. All the many bosses and quests he'd taken on. All the countless dungeons. He couldn't explain it, but somehow it felt like all of that would be changing soon. The only question was, for better or for worse? "Speaking of combat, we should probably take on some quests together as well, and some dungeons, just to get you trained up more quickly." He was silent for a moment before asking another philosophical question. "Do you think us being trapped in this digital world is an entirely bad thing?" He kept his voice flat and monotone to keep his own personal opinion from showing, as he wanted to see how Grimm would respond, and how he would process the concept.

@Grimm Reaper