Pinball

No sooner had he sunk his dagger into the beast's surprisingly soft stone flesh, the Colossus violently shuddered, jerking its body in such an extreme, contortionist fashion that Pinball's blades were practically ripped out of it, leaving him to plummet. Pinball grit his teeth hard -- he noticed Acanthus holding on as he fell, wind whipping past his ears -- and hit the ground harder. He was left momentarily dazed. For a moment, he'd felt as though he'd made some sort of grave error. Like he truly was falling to his death, and leaving important business unfinished. Not quite so. The fall had barely injured him, and only seconds after he hit the ground and scrambled back to his feet, he was already healing off the worst of the damage. He could have sworn reading that falls were especially dangerous to new players, but he couldn't imagine a world where it could be. Maybe the numbers had been adjusted, like so many things on Aincrad were. Pinball kept pace with the Colossus for a moment before hopping back onto it at the earliest opportunity to do so. 

Pinball eyed the last two soldiers, and then glanced between Morningstar and Acanthus. He briefly considered ignoring the kill, and letting one of them finish the job -- what with the competition, and all -- but he got the feeling that that'd somehow come off the wrong way. Pinball instead flipped a pair of daggers into his palms, unceremoniously dispatching only one of the remaining soldiers with two lazy flicks of his wrists. "Whoops. Missed." Totally not on purpose, either. He stared at the two of them, wondering which would jump at it first. Morningstar was at 10. Did that mean Acanthus needed to catch up? 

 Pinball didn't comment on the conversation of his companions, but he definitely took note of it. Did Oscar actually make memory-erasing whiskey? He'd have to check in on that at some point. Pinball's pale gaze again flitted between the two players. If he had something on his mind, however, he didn't say it. Instead, he took comfort in the warmth of his cloak, enjoying a brief respite before the next wave of goons came crashing down around. 

*** 

"Well, that's understandable too," he said. "It's hard to forget that, isn't it?" 

He wondered if the design of their prison was deserving of any admiration. Pinball dropped it. 

"So I've gone against the boss before on my own," he said, "and I think the only thing we've got to worry about is its AOEs." They've gone over this before, several times in fact, but he felt the sudden need to alter the course of their conversation and it served as an incredibly convenient substitute. "We've come prepared for that, of course. I'll take the lead with the DOTs. I'll pop the crystals after." 

Pinball absentmindedly flipped his dagger around. "I think that's it." He wasn't forgetting anything else. At least, he hoped. They were likely to fight a bear, a wolf, or some other run of the mill woodland creature, if the previous floors of the dungeon were any indicators. Pinball slipped the dagger beneath his cloak and pushed himself off the wall. 

"Ready?" 

Somehow, Colossus' rocky form shuddered violently. Pinball grit his teeth and dug his toes into a foothold, holding tight. Acanthus must have struck a weak spot. That meant that he was slacking. Pinball slipped down a bit, risking a rather nasty fall in the process. There wasn't much time left to waste. He saw it, glowing beneath the beast's concrete exterior -- a dull red glow, like a beating heart caged in stone flesh. He wondered only briefly if every weak spot looked like that, and then fixed his attention to the task at hand. He didn't dare lower himself further. Holding on as tight as he could with just one arm and one leg, Pinball hurled the dagger into the chink in its armor with a deadly precision. Again, it shuddered. Pinball held tight, and, again risking his own health, began to climb again. It was obvious that they were making good progress with just their two strikes. The problem was getting to the spots where they could even hurt it. 

*** 

He kept climbing. There was no point in dawdling. The sights were nice, yes, but they weren't worth lingering for. He grabbed the next handhold and continued up the Colossus. Pinball wasn't particularly fond of this boss design, but he could acknowledge the fact that it broke the mold. That was something, at least, as it served to break up the monotony of your typical fetch and kill quests. 

Pinball's cloaked whipped in the wind. He swung from its torso to its arm, and found himself dangling in a way he wasn't completely comfortable with. It didn't last long, though, and he was able to dig his boots into the stone giant's rocky surface once more. He began to descend. The weak point wasn't far now. Easy does it. He slowed down, timing his descent with the backswings of its arms as the creature lumbered endlessly onwards. He flipped a dagger into his palm, and continued to climb with just one hand free. 

*** 

Climbing {2/2} 

He ignored the "Under Construction" notice and slipped inside. He didn't have much left to get identified, but Morningstar had done the work of several people for him getting his horde of equipment sorted, and Pinball didn't want to inconvenience him further. Who did that leave? Nobody that Pinball was aware of. At least not until recently. For a shop that was "Under Construction," the owner sure was doing a lot of work. He felt as though even if the owner decided not to take his order, it was at least worth it to try, even if he ended up losing all the equipment. None of it was especially valuable, anyways. 

Pinball left the gear there with a note explaining the order, and enough col to cover everything. 

***

79,200 Col sent to @3ulogyfor identification costs 

He finished his inventory management and waved the interface away. 

"I guess not," he replied. He'd entered stealth reflexively upon entering the settlement, and they'd left quickly after. "I hadn't really noticed." He looked at her for a moment and immediately felt that little desire in his chest swell once more. He took it gently in both hands and crushed it. Those thoughts, no matter how pleasant they might be, were not meant for him. But believing that-- wasn't it getting a little old? Wasn't it tiring, denying himself those experiences? He thought of all the pain he'd inflicted on others, the horrible things he'd done. He thought of the anguish he'd endured, the loneliness, that horrible period of time between his isolation and his return where he had to learn how to interact with people like a human again. Hadn't he done enough to atone? No, of course not. But maybe just this once... 

His mouth felt dry when he spoke, his throat burned, his voice was barely above a whisper. "Maybe we can check it out." 

Pinball coughed quickly and cleared his throat. "Yes, I think. Pretty, less players around. Talking to people is probably my least favorite thing in the world, so maybe it just works out that way." He trailed off. Those few unspoken words hung in the air between them: "Except you, of course."

*** 

EN RECOVERY: 1/2 

EQUIPPED: Tyrfing -> Hellfire 

"Uh, yeah. You too." Don't die? What? 

Pinball grit his teeth and started free climbing while Acanthus got her gear situated. It was the fastest way out of the conversation if not the easiest. The Colossus had fairly obvious hand and footholds, and sometimes even rocky platforms in odd, disjointed parts of its body. He made quick progress, and only stopped for a moment to admire the scenery before setting his eyes on the right hand. He figured if Acanthus was going for the left, he'd go for the right, and then they could meet in the middle and work their way up. He shook his head. How much HP was this thing going to have? He understood it was sort of an introductory questline, but Pinball had never hunted anything anywhere near this size before. When he began climbing again, that became even more clear. Its stony form seemed to extend for miles. A trick of the eye, surely, but a disheartening one nonetheless. 

He tried to keep an eye on Acanthus, but he figured she'd probably be fine. She had all that gear. If anybody was going to fall, it was far more likely to be him. 

*** 

POST ACTION: CLIMB THE COLOSSUS [1/2] 

It didn't matter to him if it was Morningstar's first time doing the questline or not. He hadn't expected to find the two of them doing it in the first place; if they hadn't been around, Pinball would have very likely started the quests by himself. It wouldn't have been the first time. But there certainly were a lot of soldiers marching on Snowfrost. He wasn't sure he would have been able to handle so many on his own... at least not while defending the townsfolk, anyway. There seemed to be no real end in sight. Acanthus proposed a game. 

"Absolutely not," Pinball replied. He'd just fallen back in line with the two of them, having drawn the attention of a fresh squadron with a few well placed blades. He was not going to try out whatever "the worst thing" was in that dingy ass bar. No disrespect to Oz. The guy was a slimeball, but not a horrible person. Maybe just a little annoying, really. "You guys can do that. I'm good." 

*** 

"Guess so," he agreed. Pinball's chilly demeanor had made its return in full force. He was thankful for the silence that followed. He stood there watching the woman as she fought the boars, woefully unimpressed with the performance. He didn't let that show, however; at least not until she asked what he planned to do now that their conversation was over. 

"I think I'll watch you struggle to hit a boarlet for a while." He shrugged. "After that I'll have to see." 

The First Few Lessons was a quest taken by beginners, but the lady didn't seem to be a true beginner. Not like he'd originally thought. She took the boarlet's hit easily, which (although it didn't do much damage in the first place) seemed remarkably negligible when compared to the remainder of her HP pool. He let his head tilt lazily to one side. His heart was steady now, relaxed, as it should be. He'd been caught off guard once today, and it certainly would not happen again. 

"Don't apologize," he replied. He'd figured she'd need to, and it didn't bother him at all. Time was not of the essence; he'd much rather have her with him operating at peak strength. He took a momentary breather himself as Mishiro thrust her rapier forward in graceful flashes. The elegant flourishes spelled the end for one of the two timber wolves, but the last one held on with just a sliver of health remaining. It snapped its jaws at empty air. Wildly whipping its head towards him, the last thing it would see was the pointed edge of a dagger hurtling towards its skull. 

And that was the last of them. 

His blades disappeared beneath his cloak, and he immediately made for the stairs of the next room, stopping beside it. He leaned against the wall and swiped open his inventory. 

"I've never actually been to this floor," Pinball admitted. "I would have thought it was another vacation spot by the looks of it." 

But that wasn't to say he didn't like it. 

*** 

There wasn't much more to say about it. He turned his focus to the wolves who'd, since his last attack, managed to regain their footing. Thankfully, they'd managed to get the drop on them, and so the actual danger of the fight was little to none. No, Cerberus had been much more difficult than the first two waves of the dungeon, and the hardest of the day's fights was still ahead of them. Pinball let his daggers fly. He stayed close to Mishiro, baiting the mob's aggression and paying close attention to any shift in their behavior. Though he was playing the roll of tank, Pinball was on the back foot. That's where he preferred to be. "After this we can take a breather if you need to. I've got to swap some equipment around before the boss." His hands disappeared beneath his cloak. Mishiro was already handling finishing the wolves off, and Pinball wasn't close behind regardless. 

*** 

Was this it? Callisto's health was low, and everybody seemed to be gearing up for the final push. All in all, it wasn't too bad, was it? Pinball exhaled. His party -- every party, for that matter -- rushed into the beast's proximity, subjecting it to a veritable light show of sword arts, status effects, and the flashes of item uses. Pinball's strategy, like during the rest of the fight, still remained the same. He hung back, took his knives out, and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike. He did not have to wait long. Pinball capitalized on Jomei's grapple, leaping forward and flipping both blades into the exposed gut of the monstrous bear that'd given them so much trouble. He exhaled sharply. He was too close for comfort, even still. Pinball used the bear's tough hide as a springboard to leap backwards into safety. His cloak flapped in the air behind him. He landed nimbly and quietly and waited to see if that was the end of the boss of Floor 28. 

*** 
ACTION TAKEN: {TRICKSTER} - 195 DMG, DOTS REFRESHED, DELAY 

More of the same. Pinball wasn't forced aside, targeted, or otherwise impeded, so his strategy did not change. He hung around in the back, cloak drawn across his shoulders, moving quietly and quickly, waiting for the most opportune moment to strike. He was dialed in, for lack of better words, and he hadn't missed a moment yet. He was aware that he wasn't contributing a lot of damage to the fight, but it seemed like he was providing decent enough utility to not be complete dead weight; and he'd brought such an array of status effects that'd helped cover the gaps of the other teams. He hadn't needed to pop his own Perpetuate since the beginning of the fight, and so his role was relegated to the occasional attack and the anxious tracking of his team's health bars. His gaze flitted from battlefield to healthbar. Callisto didn't have much left in the tank. Was the fight nearly finished? 

*** 

ACTION: 435 DMG + DELAY

"Easier than Cerberus, isn't it?" But maybe he was speaking too soon. After they'd made short work of the coyotes, Pinball led the way and they traveled deeper into the dungeon. Descending down the cracked stone stairs, he noticed that despite moving further and further into the dungeon, the light never dimmed. Mighty roots tore through the stone walls, and wildflowers sprouted from the cracks in the floors. In the next room awaiting their arrival was a pair of wolves. 

He flicked a blade unerringly into each of their russet pelts; he wouldn't give either a chance to attack, if he could help it. They halted, immobilized, low growls emanating from behind twin pairs of bared fangs. Pinball took a step back and flipped a fresh blade into his palm. It was Mishiro's go, and afterwards, he'd see if he couldn't finish the two off before they were able to fully recover. 

*** 
EN Recovery: +4 
BH: +41 HP 
Action Taken: {Well Rested} [TECH-F] [-12 EN]
Timber Wolf 1: ID#238683 BD: 10 (Crit) - 26+3= 29*12= 348-120= 228 DMG 
Timber Wolf 2: ID#238684 BD: 1+8-1 (Hit) - 26*12= 312-120= 192 DMG 

Pinball | HP: 906/989 | EN: 98/122 | DMG: 26 | ABS.ACC | ACC: 8 | EVA: 6 | BH: 41 | LD: 6 | TAUNT
Mishiro | HP: 549/552 | EN: 49/66 | DMG: 22 | MIT: 99 | ACC: 6 | AA | EVA: 3 | FLN: 6 (6-8) | BH: 16 | VO: 10%

Timber Wolf 1: HP: 472/700 | DMG: 280 | MIT: 120 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1 {STUNNED} 
Timber Wolf 2: HP: 508/700 | DMG: 280 | MIT: 120 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 1 {STUNNED} 

"A lot of unidentified equipment coming your way," Pinball said. He'd done the tallies for both the weapons and the armors, and for all of it together he was looking at a fairly steep price. It'd all be worth it, of course. Not for him, but for the man he was going to throw it all at. "If you'll take it, I mean." 

Assuming there was no problems with the transactions, he made the trade. He figured it was going to be a while before Morningstar worked through the pile of equipment, and Pinball wanted nothing more than to give him the space to do so. He briefly lamented his much lighter wallet as he stepped out the door, and vanished. 

*** 

Ideally we use the Junk Sale money to help with the Identification costs; if there's anything wrong with my math that needs to be corrected, let me know! 

Junk Sale: 

Identification: 

They were hit with a new lair effect: this time, they'd find their inventories completely inaccessible. That was troublesome, to say the least. As his team seemed fairly occupied with Callisto, still, as did most of the raid, Pinball continued to stay his distance, dancing around the edges of the room and staying out of range as best as he could. Sometimes he'd dart in for a quick slash, as was the case when Callisto's lair effect made him somewhat invulnerable, but he never stayed long. Such was his situation now, and Pinball didn't bother getting close again when Callisto's attention seemed firmly fixated on the tanks in front of it. Pinball flicked a couple of knives at the beast, his eyes staying locked onto the furry floor boss's form only until he could confirm that his attack had landed. Tough to miss, against a creature of that size. Pinball tightened his grip on his cloak and hurried aside. 

*** 

Action Taken: 435 DMG + DELAY

Callisto made off with half of Jomei's health points and Pinball was finally compelled to a certain sense of urgency. The status effect was something he knew he could counteract fairly easily. He wasted no time in executing that plan. Even though he'd spent most of the fight in the back of the party, Pinball now through himself on the frontlines, getting as close as possible to apply his nullifying effects. He flickered in and out of shadow, vanishing completely before reappearing as he cut across Callisto's flank. He ditched the daggers in the bear's hide and used its mass as a springboard to launch himself back to safety. He landed nimbly and skipped backwards, his hands beneath his cloak, hood up, an aura of shadows coalesced around his form fading with every retreating step. Pinball exhaled; hopefully Delay did some more work in that regard, and hopefully whatever that had just happened would in fact not happen again soon. He flicked a new pair of blades into his hands and returned to that same practiced song and dance he knew so well: stay on the back foot, the retreat, and wait for your opening. 

*** 
Action Taken: {Sneak Attack} 218 DMG, DoTs Applied, DELAY Applied 

There was a change in the attack patterns. Lair actions? It wasn't an impossibility, and it looked like a lot of different things started to happen at once. A quick glance around confirmed his suspicions: every other party was dealing with something very similar to them. Pinball retrieved his blades and began to turn his attention to the snares all around them, impeding their progress... but the others were a little quicker to react, given their proximity, and so Pinball returned to doing what he did best. He threw the pair of blades back at Callisto, once again looking to apply the status effect he'd been applying since the beginning of their fight. Pinball remained in the back of the party, dancing around the field, staying close to his party but a decent ways away from the rampaging bear in the center of the arena. Callisto wasn't very high above half health. It hopefully wouldn't last much longer. 

***

-> Post Action: 499 DMG + DELAY to Callisto

His damage was buffed. He was quick to throw another attack. He had settled into his role now; the other teams seemed to be on top of popping Perpetuate crystals, so that meant he could take a less active approach to the boss fight and instead focus on helping his party in the best way he could. Delay seemed to be an important effect to try and keep active. He wasn't sure how much it helped, really, but if it could help at all then it was probably something worth doing. The last thing they wanted to do was to face tank another party wide AOE. Watching his health drop down to less than half was something he had gotten used to over the years, but it also wasn't something he was really thrilled to see regardless. Pinball hung back, away from the groups, and flung his knives. His team was doing a good job at keeping the DPS up, and Jomei and Bahr were doing well at keeping Callisto's ire at bay. He didn't have to think about retreat. Not yet, anyways. Callisto's health had nearly fallen below half, and that was usually the point where things got a little more dangerous. 

***

+4 EN
ACTION TAKEN: [TECH-B] [-14 EN] -> 499 DMG, DELAY APPLIED 
Callisto: ID#237730 BD: 5+7 (Hit) - 25+4= 29*16= 464-45+80= 499 DMG + Delay 

He was mostly unfamiliar with what lighting the lamps would entail. But he didn’t need to. Mishiro was always quick to fill him in on such things. He was not surprised to find that it involved airing out incredibly personal information, but he wasn’t too happy about it either. Pinball tried not to let that show. “You can,” he said. "I'll listen." Pinball got quiet. He let her speak. She had parents. Or did she? Her form lost clarity in the shadows, not entirely unlike the past she couldn’t quite seem to grasp. Pinball watched her struggle with the memories. The disconnect was not lost on him, though if he had something to say about it, he kept it to himself. 

“It’s alright,” he said. He wasn't sure if it was. He should be worried -- but it was a lot easier to brush it off and try to pretend as though everything was alright. He was good at that, wasn’t he? He didn’t like to see her struggle. He didn't like to press her, either. Pinball held his lantern aloft. 

| “to our parents who guide our journey, we grant of you this blessing.” 

It occurred to him rather quickly that despite everything he had gone through, he had never really stopped to consider how his parents might be doing on the outside. Why was that? 

“I didn’t have much of a relationship with them,” he murmured. “They weren’t around a lot -- or no, actually, I just kept to myself. We didn't talk much.” 

The idea of it sounded so strange to him, now that he was saying it out loud. They lived together. How could he possibly not have much of a relationship with them? It sounded crazy. Most of his memories involved him playing games or reading alone in his room. He’d bounced around houses and schools for most of his life. He’d grown to love solitude. Wasn’t it all he had? Why didn’t they push him to be more social? Why didn’t they try to foster a connection with him? Had they? Were they disconnected, or had he pushed them away? He couldn’t remember. It had been much too long. 

“I don’t know.” The inscription on his lantern burned away. He suddenly felt embarrassed. He peered down at the lantern’s altered appearance. His next thoughts were mumbled out loud. “Okay. Guess that counts.” 

He was done talking about it anyway. 

He let the others talk. His health was back to full -- like they'd planned for them to, the crystals did their work. Lessa had respecced into a Support role at some point, too, and she played a big part in the restoration of their party. He could breathe easy, for now. They hadn't yet reached half health, which is when there usually was some updated mechanics, but if they could keep the pace without crashing and burning. Callisto showed no real sign of letting up, but neither did the frontlines. It didn't seem as though anybody was in trouble yet. They'd keep fighting for as long as they could. Pinball flipped a knife into his palm and hurled it at the bear. He'd keep Delay on it, if nobody else would. Hopefully it helped prevent another giant AOE. The last thing they needed was to get smacked down to quarter health amounts while the boss shifted into a second phase. Pinball huffed. Bad news bears. 

***

EN: +4
ACTION TAKEN: [TECH-B] {Well Rested} [-12 EN] -> 435 DMG, DELAY APPLIED 
Callisto: ID#237456 BD: 5+7 (Hit) - 25*16= 400+80-45= 435 DMG, Delay (Removed Rested from statblock) 

She seemed surprised to see him here. A part of him was surprised, too. Unstealthed in the thick of a festive crowd, it made him feel naked, exposed; it went against his very nature. He focused on her. It grounded him. Made it just a little more bearable. His response was automatic, reflexive, though no less genuine for it: “Of course.” 

The NPC was hesitant, understandably, but Sibyl offered him his lantern. Pinball nodded, quiet. It had been a long time, and there was nothing he felt he could have said to appropriately fill the silence that followed. 

They hadn’t talked in weeks. He didn’t like how that made him feel. He held the lantern with one hand. He was grateful for the cloak around his shoulders. Pinball turned his attention to Mishiro. His voice was soft, a murmur. “Are you ready?”
 

The bear flew into a frenzy, hitting the entire party for absolutely massive amounts of damage. Pinball's heart skipped a beat as he watched his health drop to nearly a quarter of what it was -- and then he steadied himself. He couldn't afford to freak out. It was a good thing he couldn't remember the last time that he did freak out. Pinball swiped his inventory open with haste -- Jomei and Bahr were quick with the crystals, and he knew Lessa probably wasn't going to let the AOE slide without healing them back up too. That gave him the time that he needed to redo his antidote. Pinball chugged it as fast as he possibly could and tossed the empty bottle aside. His Vanish was just about ready. Members of the other parties were taking care of the Perpetuates. He had time. Pinball analyzed the situation as best he could and hung back, still, waiting for his opportunity to attack. 

***

BH+HB: +118 HP 
EN: +4 
Action Taken: [Consuming x1 Congealing Ale] (3 Remain in BRI) 

He didn’t mesh well with festivals of any kind, really. Too many people. Too many bad memories. Staying home was usually preferable. Usually. He was on the 27th Floor, walking beneath Ronbaru’s perpetual night, and he followed the lights. 

Pinball walked through the festival in stealth, slipping through the crowds of players and NPCs, taking little notice of the stalls lining the streets. Food, trinkets, clothes -- a colorful assortment of vanity items to clog the inventory of those who were interested in such things. There were games, which seemed to occupy the attention of most of the players in attendance, but he wasn’t there for that, either. He found her by the lamplighter, with someone else. 

“For me as well, please,” Pinball said, his tone more solemn than he’d meant it to be. He emerged from stealth mid-stride, as Mishiro was receiving her lights. He didn’t waste time attempting to dissect the flurry of emotions in his chest. No point in it. He kept his cloak pulled tightly around his shoulders as he retrieved his. 

>> diya lighting: receiving the lights