Pinball

Pinball couldn't help but crack a nervous half-smile as she drew near. "Wh- no, no," he croaked, looking away and running a hand through the sides of his hair. But she looked interested, starting intently at the plushes pinned and hung up around the back of the stand. Because of this, Pinball resisted the urge to start walking away again. Did she want to try it, maybe-? 

He stumbled over himself for a moment, and then straightened, throwing his thumb to the side towards the river of people walking down the road beside them. There really were a lot of them, and most if not all were heading in the same direction. The event was ending, it seemed, and NPCs and Players alike were filing out of the colorful plaza to get where they needed to be before everything closed up. "I just don't wanna have to wade through that, yet," he mumbled. Weakly, he added, "It looks sorta interesting though, I guess-?"

In truth, Pinball was steadily falling back into a sense of normalcy without quite realizing it. He was different around her, like his old self, flip-flopping rapidly between nervousness, anxiety, guilt, and confidence. It was strange. It was uniquely Pinball,  at least moreso than the cold and stoic dismissal he gave to anyone else that approached him. And the funniest part was that he didn't even realize he was doing it.

And it was at this point that the cheap cosmetics he'd disguised himself with started to fade, not all at once but very, very slowly. The consumables he'd used had a time limit, an unfortunate side effect of cheaping out on items, exchanging their permanence for affordability. Black streaks of hair crawled up to consume the shock white, flecks of blue emerging in the pools of dull grey. Pinball didn't notice it, and gave no indication that he would unless it was pointed out to him. He was completely focused on Mishiro and the ringtoss she seemed engrossed in, and so he took a couple steps forward, expecting her to follow suit. 

"It is a bit pricey..." 

"Yeah," he mumbled in reply, not too sure why he was being thanked. For killing the mobs, maybe-? But that was just why he was here, anyway, wasn't it? Shield had moved towards the NPC, his aim to try and dig her out of the rubble, but for as much as he heaved and panted, he had no such luck. Shield called out to him that it might just be a two player job, inviting him to come and help with the extraction of the drow. 

"Sure," he said, begrudgingly moving to stand beside Shield. The lady trapped under the slabs of stone was strangely still -- less of a person, and more of reflection of her status as a quest goal. A marker, and not anything like the Dark Elf Council. If this NPC possessed hyper-intelligence, she certainly didn't show that in the way she presented herself. There wasn't even complaining, and it made him wonder if she was actually unconscious. 

"One, two, three," he murmured, and at that third count he'd pull the bricks off with Shield's help. With any luck, they wouldn't have trouble removing the worst of it, and Pinball would take a few steps back to let Shield handle the rest of it. He generally gave off the impression that he knew what to expect with this quest, and it wasn't Pinball's job to intrude. As far as he knew, his job was over here. Now he'd just wait for that confirmation. 

Words of sympathy, now? 

It took all he had to not outwardly cringe as she spoke to him, her voice carrying the slightest tones of empathy. She really thought she was being honest, didn't she? Helpful? Pinball rolled his eyes, looking back down towards her with that same frigid expression. Find someone to talk to? Someone to listen to him? Fat chance. He wasn't going to get to rest until he finished doing what he had to do, and even then, he'd make sure he didn't relax long. There was too much out to kill him, too many things he'd done that'd marked him irredeemable. Any killer who thought they could 'get better' were fooling themselves. Take the quest, justify the act with excuses, hate what you did and never do it again -- it didn't matter. It didn't change the fact that you stole a life and had absolutely no right to. It was a hole you dug for yourself, one you couldn't climb back out of. Ever. No matter how far you ran, how hard you tried to hide within the depths of your own crumbling and pathetic mind. That crime would always be there. And there was no changing that. 

"No. I'm not suffering from anything, thanks, and I don't need anyone to listen to me complain about anything."

Then, as sarcastically as he could muster, he added, "But I appreciate the concern." 

Annoying. 

Annoying, annoying, annoying. 

The words were on a constant loop in Pinball's head as he was shaked around by Cerberus like a ragdoll, fiery maw threatening to swallow him whole if it'd just reer its head back. But that window of oppurtunity would close as Pinball smacked the hellhound on the nose, once, twice, three times, wrenching himself free and saving himself from the future where he'd ended up a midday snack for the hellish dog. He fell to the ground nimbly, he still had that much practice left in him, and dashed to the side as another one of the heads took a snap at him. Pinball just barely had the chance to unleash a barrage of spear strikes, shattering the first head, before jumping back twice to dodge the follow up attacks of Inferno's Rage. 

Hissing quietly through grit teeth, Pinball's hand found another one of the healing crystals Arabelle had given him. Loathe to use things the retreating girl had given him but even more unprepared to die to this quest boss, Pinball crushed the gem in his palms and savored the relief that came with a rapidly replenishing healthbar.

Action Taken: Sword Art - [Dimension Stampede] [-13 EN/+1 EN] {Well Rested} // [+62 HP] [Fur Elise: Masterpiece - Instant ((+120 HP))] 
Head 1: ID#147685 BD: 5+3= 8 (Hit!) ~ 23*15= 345-75= 270 DMG // 30 THORNS 
Head 2: ID#147686 MD: 3-3= 0 (Miss) 
Head 3: ID#147687 MD: 8-3= 5 (Miss) 

[H: 0] Arabelle: 475/560 HP | 40/56 EN | 14 DMG | 46 MIT | 3 Probiotics | 5 ACC | 2 EVA | Fallen | 2 Recovery | Regen
[H: 2] Pinball: 999/1240 HP | 100/124 EN | 23 DMG | 5 ACC | 6 EVA | 62 BH | 8-10/36 FRZ | Phase | 3 Probiotics [BURN: 2/2] 

«Cerberus, Inferno's Rage»
Head 1: 0/500 HP | 175 DMG | 75 MIT | 1 ACC | 30 Thorns
Head 2: 500/500 HP | 175 DMG | 75 MIT | 3 ACC | 2 EVA | 30 Thorns
Head 3: 500/500 HP | 175 DMG | 75 MIT | 3 ACC | 2 EVA | 30 Thorns

Abilities:

• << Bringing Hell >> : "Cerberus, Inferno's Rage" gains 1 attack for each head alive.
• << One at a Time >> : Players can only target one Head at a time before hitting another. AoE's do not work on this boss.
• << Burning Bite >> : On successful attacks, the player is inflicted with "Burn" dealing 36 unmitigatable damage for 2 turns.
• << Infernal Punishment >> : On a critical attacks, this boss gains additional damage and will phase through 50% of the target's mitigation on all attacks this turn. [9 = 25 | 10 = 75]
•  << Bloodless >> : This boss is immune to all status effects.

She was following him. Again. 

He'd half-expected it to happen, honestly, but living that moment was more annoying than just being prepared for the possibility. What could he even do? Attack her and try to drive her off? No, probably not. That wouldn't sit well on his conscience right now, though he'd absolutely done worse before. Yell at her? Pinball didn't really think he had the energy in him. The way she'd thrown herself in front of the dragon told him that she was either not the brightest player he'd come across, or a tank, and someone who didn't know who he was at that. For someone with a name as notorious as his, he almost had a penchant for attracting the easily killable. 

"You could get a friend to go along with you," he dryly mumbled, "but I'm not sure how long you'd last at the end of the quest line. Make sure to bring potions to help." 

And he kept walking. Trying to shut her out was probably the best course of action here, considering. 

Could he handle one more? 

The beastmen were, for lack of a better term, slippery bastards, it would seem, whirling around and swinging their nasty axes around a rather morbid dance floor. Through a combination of what Pinball would excuse as him being rusty with the spear, and the weird, disjointed way they moved, they were a lot more evasive than they had any right to be. And the whole fight, their attention had been locked onto that dying, soon-to-be-dead NPC trapped under a pile of rublle. 

So golly gee, he sure hoped so. 

But that hesitation would be short lived as his Sword Art obliterated the final monster, its body vanishing with its depleted and shattered healthbar. Pinball gave his weapon a quick twirl, looking back over to Shield -- and mainly, of course, at the NPC who just barely survived the encounter. Pinball didn't make a move for them, though instead, glancing back over at what served as their battlefield thoughtfully. 

Action: Sword Art - [Dimension Stampede] [-14 EN/+1 EN] // [+62 HP] 
Beastman 2: ID#146460 BD: 8 (Hit) ~ 18*15= 270-20= 250 DMG + FREEZE 

[H:4/4/4] Shield - HP: 1850/1850 | EN: 163/176 | DMG: 2 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 169 | BH:92 | HB: 48 | THN: 69 | ENV: 18/4 
[H:1/1/1] Pinball - HP: 1186/1260 | EN: 95/126 | DMG: 18 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | BH: 63 | 8-10/36 FRZ | Phase {QC: 1/3}
[H:1/1/1] Fonsa Hits: 1/3

<<Crazed Beastman 1>> HP: 0/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20
<<Crazed Beastman 2>> HP: 0/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20 
<<Crazed Beastman 3>> HP: 0/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20
<<Crazed Beastman 4>> HP: 0/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20

Some help would have been nice. 

Of course, however, Pinball didn't really expect such kindness from anyone anymore - and that was especially true for his purple-haired companion. Of all people Pinball would have liked to go dungeon delving with, Arabelle was firmly stuck in place at the bottom of the list. And that was saying something. But sometimes, things needed to happen for him to move forward. He had yet to accept that. 

Cerberus lunged towards him, jaws frothing over with liquid fire. Pinball dodged once, twice, rolling and leaping out of the ways of snapping death, before getting caught once more in the side by the third's massive head. He yanked himself free, cursing, crushing another healing crystal between his palm, and then spinning his spear back into both hands. Only single target, and it attacked three times simultaneously? 

This was going to be trickier than he'd imagined. 

Action Taken: Sword Art - [Dimension Stampede] [-1 EN/+1 EN] {Well Rested} // [+62 BH] [Für Elise -T3 Rare Consumable - [x2] HP Recovery | Masterpiece: Instant Effect] ((+120 HP))
Cerberus Head 1: ID#146452 BD: 1 ([censored]) MD: 3-3= 0 (Miss) 
Cerberus Head 2: ID#146453 MD: 6-3= 3 (Miss) 
Cerberus Head 3: ID#146454 MD: 10 (Crit) ~ // 250 DMG + 9 BURN 

[H: 0] Arabelle: 465/560 HP | 39/56 EN | 14 DMG | 46 MIT | 3 Probiotics | 5 ACC | 2 EVA | Fallen | 2 Recovery | Regen
[H: 1] Pinball: 856/1240 HP | 112/124 EN | 23 DMG | 5 ACC | 6 EVA | 62 BH | 8-10/36 FRZ | Phase | 3 Probiotics [BURN: 1/2] 

«Cerberus, Inferno's Rage»
Head 1: 230/500 HP | 175 DMG | 75 MIT | 1 ACC | 30 Thorns
Head 2: 500/500 HP | 175 DMG | 75 MIT | 3 ACC | 2 EVA | 30 Thorns
Head 3: 500/500 HP | 175 DMG | 75 MIT | 3 ACC | 2 EVA | 30 Thorns

Abilities:

• << Bringing Hell >> : "Cerberus, Inferno's Rage" gains 1 attack for each head alive.
• << One at a Time >> : Players can only target one Head at a time before hitting another. AoE's do not work on this boss.
• << Burning Bite >> : On successful attacks, the player is inflicted with "Burn" dealing 36 unmitigatable damage for 2 turns.
• << Infernal Punishment >> : On a critical attacks, this boss gains additional damage and will phase through 50% of the target's mitigation on all attacks this turn. [9 = 25 | 10 = 75]
• << Bloodless >> : This boss is immune to all status effects.

Pinball looked at her for another moment. Something on her face? What was with this girl and her strangely carefree attitude? Did she not understand the situation she was in? Did she not care? She'd been frozen easily, and the dent the tiny dragon had made in her health had shown him her level must have been significantly lower than his. But she seemed unfazed to be hanging around a Player Killer she'd gotten frozen for. 

He sighed. "No, nothing." People were weird. 

The teenager would turn away from her, showing her his back as he scrolled through his inventory. In a flash of light his spear was unequipped, once more replaced by his almost glowing red-orange sword. He sheathed the weapon in a matching crimson scabbard that'd materialized on his waist, then looked back over his shoulder. 

"Thanks for the help." His bland and uninspired voice rang out firmly, but there was the slightest hint of sarcasm in his tone. With a dismissive wave, he started trudging towards the tree-line, placing his hands softly in his jacket pockets. "Be careful on your way back." 

                                                                                                                      
Unequipped: [Demonic 2HAS] Cold Fervor: +2 Freeze, Phase, Cursed 
Equipped: [Demonic OHSS] Jack's Hellfire: Burn, Bleed, Blight, Cursed 

The beastmen were practically on the ropes, but so were Pinball and Shield. If they weren't so inclined to swinging their axes around in almost cartoonish arcs and instead focused on Shield, it wouldn't be much of an issue. In fact, Pinball figured the quest would have been finished relatively quickly. But that wasn't the case, and that wasn't the situation. As their weapons spun out, striking each of them again in turn, Fonsa's health dipped into the red. 

Spurred on by Shield's Sharpen, Pinball threw himself out again, but was very pissed to find that his movements were sloppy. He should have had them all, but one of the mobs danced just barely out of the way of his spear strike as he passed, although his comrades both still succumbed to a particularly frigid demise. Cursing himself, Pinball snapped back into position, readjusting his grip on his weapon. He might not care about the quest, but Shield did, and even though Pinball wasn't a typical burst-DPS at this point, he found himself falling back into his old role, like when he'd alongside Hestia. 

Action: Sword Art - [Weeping Moon] [-9 EN/+1 EN] {Well Rested} // [+63 HP]
Beastman 1: ID#146803 BD: 9 (Crit+1) ~ 21+1= 22*9= 198-10= 188 DMG + FREEZE
Beastman 2: ID#146804 BD: 2+3= 5 (Miss) 
Beastman 4: ID#146805 BD: 3+3= 6 (Hit) ~ 21*9= 189-20= 169 DMG

[H:4/4/4] Shield - HP: 1848/1850 | EN: 162/176 | DMG: 2 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 169 | BH:92 | HB: 48 | THN: 69 | ENV: 18/4 
[H:1/1/1] Pinball - HP: 1186/1260 | EN: 95/126 | DMG: 18+3 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | BH: 63 | 8-10/36 FRZ | Phase {QC: 1/3}
[H:1/1/1] Fonsa Hits: 1/3

<<Crazed Beastman 1>> HP: 0/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20
<<Crazed Beastman 2>> HP: 89/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20 -  [ENV - 18 dmg - 4/4 turns remaining]
<<Crazed Beastman 3>> HP: 0/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20
<<Crazed Beastman 4>> HP: 0/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20

<<Bloodthirst>> Fonsa starts with 1 hate
<<Crazed Swing>> [MD 9+] AoE vs players + Fonsa. [Players take 100 dmg, Fonsa takes 1 hit]

15k Col to Raidou 
10 T3 Mats to Shiina 

thank 

She followed him, but he gave little acknowledgement as to whether or not he noticed. He did, of course, but his eyes remained locked dead ahead. A part of him thought that if he ignored her for long enough, she'd either attack him or stop bothering him and leave. Whichever of the two it turned out to be, it would mean he could get back to doing what he needed to be doing. 

Surprisingly enough, however, Pinball recoiled as the dragon materialized right before him. The teen hadn't been prepared for its sudden appearance, and as he drew his sword, the pink-haired girl ran forward and took the dragon's frosty breath attack in his place. It completely froze her solid, but her HP was still in a good place. The dragon's, though...? 

As Icefyre, the white dragon hatchling flew back into the air, diving towards Pinball, his sword flashed a bright blue as he spun it in his palm. It elongated, thinned out, and became his other weapon, Cold Fervor. Pinball unleashed a quick, devastatingly precise flurry of blows, and the dragonling promptly turned to dust as it succumbed to an onslaught of purple energy, solid ice, and foggy shadow. 

Pinball turned to the girl encased in a thin layer of ice, planting the butt of his polearm into the snow and putting his weight on it. Pitch black miasma swirled around his weapon and ran up his forearm, to where it looked like he was nearly half-covered in an inky, tangible darkness. He tilted his head, looking her up and down. She'd thrown herself into a monster's attack to try and protect a Player Killer? He exhaled, bringing his finger up to her forehead. He was going to regret this, wasn't he? Pinball knew from the Freeze effect on his weapon, that an attack would shatter the ice.

So, after a brief pause, he gave the girl a quick flick. All at once the ice encasing her would shatter, falling to her feet in chunks before immediately fading away. 

Action Taken: Sword Art - [Dimension Stampede] [-13 EN] // Quick Change! 
Icefyre: ID#145971 BD: 10 (Crit+2) ~ 18+2= 20*15= 300-25= 275 DMG + FREEZE 

Yuki - 536/570 | 54/54 | DMG: 4 | EVA: 0 | MIT: 43 | ACC: 3 | Thorns: 18 [FROZEN] 
Pinball: 1260/1260 HP | 113/126 EN | 18 DMG | 3 EVA | 3 ACC | 63 BH | 8-10/36 FRZ | Phase 

Icefyre - 0/250 HP 
MIT: 50 - ACC: 2 - EVA: 1 - DMG: 75
<<Tiny Ice Breath>> : On a roll of 9 - 10 (naturally), this boss will breath ice on your character and immediately be frozen in place for a turn removing your evasion properties.

Someone was ahead of him. Their silhouette grayed by the constant snowfall, Pinball decided before he'd even caught up to the player that he wasn't going to interact with them. And if all went well, they'd take the hint. Encountering an orange player out in the wild, alone, wasn't really the ideal situation for most people. 

Unfortunately for Pinball, it seemed he had a penchant for attracting those who wouldn't be considered most people. 

A young pink-haired girl approached him with a peppy, unusual way of speaking. They seemed friendly enough, but that was more than he could handle. Pinball looked down towards her, cold blue eyes devoid of any similar mirth. "Dragon? No," he lied, and without missing a beat, he kept walking down the path. There was no change of pace, no sudden alterations in the direction he was travelling. It was a flippant dismissal as he blatantly made his way towards where the Fourth Floor's dragon hatchling spawned. 

Only one more of those AoEs? The axe had sliced through Pinball's side unexpectedly, leaving a bright red gash along his torso, and having him reel away from the whirling dirvish of a beastman to avoid any more unfortunate scrapes. However, Shield and the pinned dark elf also took the blows, and there was a much more formidable drop in the NPC's healthbar than there was in the two former frontliners'. 

Wasting no time, Pinball put his faith in Shield as he Quick Changed into Cold Fervor, his sword flashing before extending into the icy polearm in an instant. Lashing out with wicked white-hot energy, Pinball's spear cut through two of the beastmen once more, leaving the pair on death's door. They still looked ready and eager to fight, however, frothing at the mouths and looking wildly between Shield, Pinball, and Fonsa, their original target. The teen took a steadying step backwards, gripping his weapon tightly in both hands. 

Action Taken: Sword Art - [Weeping Moon] [-12 EN/+1 EN] {Well Rested} // {Quick Change} {+63 HP}
Beastman 1: ID#145934 BD: 4+3= 7 (Hit) ~ 18*9= 162-20= 142 DMG 
Beastman 2: ID#145935 BD: 6+3= 9 (Hit) ~ 18*9= 162-20= 142 DMG 
Beastman 4: ID#145936 BD: 2+3= 5 (Miss) 

[H:4/4/4] Shield - HP: 1849/1850 | EN: 172/176 | DMG: 2 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 169 | BH:92 | HB: 48 | THN: 69 | ENV: 18/4 
[H:1/1/1] Pinball - HP: 1223/1260 | EN: 103/126 | DMG: 18 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | BH: 63 | 8-10/36 FRZ | Phase {QC: 0/3}
[H:1/1/1] Fonsa Hits: 2/3

<<Crazed Beastman 1>> HP: 89/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20 - [ENV - 18 dmg - 4/4 turns remaining]
<<Crazed Beastman 2>> HP: 89/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20  
<<Crazed Beastman 3>> HP: 0/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20 [108 DoT: 2/2]
<<Crazed Beastman 4>> HP: 116/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20

<<Bloodthirst>> Fonsa starts with 1 hate
<<Crazed Swing>> [MD 9+] AoE vs players + Fonsa. [Players take 100 dmg, Fonsa takes 1 hit]

He didn't know why he kept coming back to this floor. 

It felt like whenever he did, his presence was the harbinger of something dark and horrible. The biting cold felt familiar on his skin as he trudged through the snow, the collar of his jacket pulled tight around his neck but doing nothing to warm him. Pinball had accepted a quest, again, not knowing how else to spend his spare time -- a quest line he'd long since neglected. But the walk to the spawn area was a daunting one, and he'd ended up with more time to think than to fight and get his mind off things. A straight shot through a forest pass and up one of the smaller mountains, Pinball would likely be there in just under twenty minutes, at his slow pace. 

And maybe he wasn't the harbinger of those horrible things that seemed to happen here. Maybe he was the one who personally brought those things unto others. 

Player Stats: 

House Buffs: 

"Yeah, over in the real world And it did." He confirmed her statement with a small nod, his eyes falling to her pale fingers, wrapped delicately around her mug. Here, though, his memories in the cold weren't so great. But that didn't matter. Nothing did -- when she tilted her head up towards him, a smile blooming on her face, it felt like every little stress and burdened had been alleviated, his chest fluttering, as light as a feather. 

He averted his eyes, and everything was back to the way it should be.

Her story reminded him of himself that day. But it hadn't been the snowflakes that'd drawn his attention. Snowing outside his apartment, he remembered waking up and thinking that everyone had disappeared but him. The world had been completely encapsulated in a fine white blanket, smothered, forgotten, the cars and houses remnants of a civilization that no longer was. It was eerie. It was cold. And it was beautiful. 

"Warmth," he murmured. Pinball pondered that for a moment, rolling his response out on his tongue, before pausing. 

They'd ended up at an intersection of sorts. The many stalls and stands that lined and decorated the plaza square broke off into another street, running horizontally in front of them before continuing in the straight line they'd been travelling. It was too busy to cross, though, swarmed with what felt like an inordinate amount of people walking by. It made him uncomfortable, and so he shuffled to the left, only to stop again - immediately to their left was a stall the likes of which Pinball hadn't seen, or had otherwise chosen not to pay attention to. Where others had sold hot drinks, food, and ornamental baubles, this stand's back wall was jam-packed with plushie after plushie. From pink bears to small white rabbits, they had it. Pinball's gaze dropped slightly downwards, noticing from the instructions plastered along its width that it was some sort of simplistic ring toss game. 

250 Col a toss? Isn't that expensive? 

Maybe the plushes were supposed to be special?

Pinball turned a thoughtful eye back to the stuffed toys, from the fluffy ones to the squishy ones. They didn't look all that rare, compared to the handouts Wuotan might have been throwing around to players. There was no line or wait to play, either, save for the small NPC girl staring wide-eyed up at it as her mother dragged her past them, back the way Pinball and Mishiro had came. 

And before he could really gather his bearings, Shield's sudden cry ripped his focus from him. Pinball was quicker than the tank, though he wasn't much better off when it came to his knowledge about this person they were supposed to be finding. PInball flew over mounds of rubble and decayed rock, taking in the scene in an instant. There were four mobs with red cursors approaching a figure with a yellow cursor trapped under something heavy. They'd found her. 

In response to their incoherent shouts, Pinball took four wild strikes at the air in front of him, each successive swing of his sword sending rippling waves of crimson energy out towards the hostile creatures. Two of the beams struck true, one handling the slash better than the other. The unluckiest of the Beastmen would find their veins pulsing beneath their skin, an inky blackness that drained their health quicker than any other weapon he'd handled. 

Unfortunately, Pinball's aim had been off, and the other two beastmen evaded, the energized projectiles impacting and sparking against the ground with heavy thuds. For the two whose hate Pinball hadn't drawn, their masked gazes were still locked onto their helpless prey. 

Action Taken: Sword Art - [Shadow Explosion] [-12 EN] {Well Rested} 
Beastman 1: ID#145485 BD: 2+3= 5 (Miss) MD: 4 (Miss) 
Beastman 2: ID#145486 BD: 1 (Critical Miss) MD: 2 (Miss) 
Beastman 3: ID#145487 BD: 9 (Crit+1) MD: 2 (Miss) ~ 15+1= 16*9= 144-20= 124 DMG + 108 DOT 
Beastman 4: ID#145488 BD: 5+3= 8 (Hit) MD: 3 (Miss) ~ 15*9= 135-20= 115 DMG 

[H:0/0/0/0] Shield - HP: 1850/1850 | EN: 172/176 | DMG: 2 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 169 | BH:92 | HB: 48 | THN: 99 | ENV: 18/4 
[H:0/0/2/1] Pinball - HP: 1260/1260 | EN: 114/126 | DMG: 15 | EVA: 3 | ACC: 3 | BH: 63 | BLD: 36/2 | BRN: 36/2 | BLT: 36/2
[H:1/1/1/1] Fonsa Hits: 3/3

<<Crazed Beastman 1>> HP: 300/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20
<<Crazed Beastman 2>> HP: 300/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20  
<<Crazed Beastman 3>> HP: 68/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20 [108 DoT: 1/2]
<<Crazed Beastman 4>> HP: 185/300 | DMG:85 | MIT: 20

<<Bloodthirst>> Fonsa starts with 1 hate
<<Crazed Swing>> [MD 9+] AoE vs players + Fonsa. (players take 100 dmg, Fonsa takes 1 hit)

It was the best chance he was going to get. Shield couldn't kill him. He sure as hell couldn't kill Shield. And the tank didn't seem threatened by him in the slightest, showing no aggressive signs of wanting to turn him in or put him down. An opportunity. And one he didn't want to let slip through his fingers. For once, he had someone to talk to, with no emotional ties to him whatsoever. Of course, he didn't have long. His thought process was often particularly aggravating, especially to Pinball himself. 

"I can sort of agree with that," he admitted. Walking down the path, Pinball knelt beside a fist-sized stone that looked out of place with the surrounding area. His eyes briefly traced his immediate surroundings before falling back to the rock in front of him. "But I also don't like how lightly people seem to treat it these days. Something forgiven so easily, even by the murderer. No thought for the victim, so long as they get their happily ever after. The same thing goes for the PK-Hunters, who like putting down the ones they deem evil without remorse. Like culling animals. And it doesn't faze them. And it's frustrating." 

He flipped the stone over, and under it there was a trampled plant, growing stubbornly from a crack in the floor. What was once a pure white flower now hunched over itself gray and withered, petals flaky and crumbling in the wind. Tentatively, Pinball picked it by its stem, slowly standing at his full height. "I think anyone who kills somebody, no matter the reason: from self defense to doing it for sport..." 

The plant turned to dust in his hand, and its ashes were carried away by an invisible wind. 

"Is uniquely irredeemable." 

Pinball tilted his head, a cold blue gaze lingering on his hand for a moment. And then he brushed his palm against his pants, and buried his fists into his jacket pockets. The teenager shook his head and started walking again, deciding that there was nothing else of interest in the area. For a certain amount of time, he was silent, pondering something. Finally, he gave it to him straight. "I killed four people because I thought it was the right thing to do. But it wasn't. I'd just been telling myself that. Every single person I've killed hadn't deserved it. They weren't even guilty of the things I'd accused them of. So it was for nothing. And it's true, what they say -- that it gets easier every time. But I still don't get it. It's not fair. It pisses me off.

"Because no matter how hard I try to forget and move on, I still see them in my sleep."

Searching Post: 4/4

He remembered the drama from back then. It'd been part of the reason. 

"I see." 

Pinball's eyes were locked ahead now as the two made good distance, walking up the staircase that led to the floor's beyond. The roof seemed to get larger and nearer with each step they took, and Pinball would have let himself fall into another silence if Shield hadn't further pressed his quetion. It was the orange cursor -- he knew it was, but a part of him was avoiding it. Pinball was trying and failing to lull himself into the idea that he could have a normal conversation with someone, like he'd used to, knowing full well it wouldn't be possible. Knowing full well that he didn't deserve it, and knowing full well that when he'd been overly awkward and shy, in the past, he'd been taking his life for granted. But that was heavier. 

It took him a moment to reply, and he was quiet as they broke out of the darkness, leaving them surrounded by ruins. He would help him search, for a moment, scanning the rubble for any signs of recent traffic, though all the while he was formulating a response. 

In the end, all he could come up with was to first match Shield's question with a question. 

"What do you think about player killers?"

Searching Post: 2/4

No visible reaction. That could mean a couple of things, couldn't it? He tried not to read too much into it, but his mind still lingered. 

"Right," was all he offered by way of response, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets as he trailed the tank. Still, his eyes darted from dark alleyway to open corridor, ready to spring at a moment's notice. Getting tangled with the guards before they'd even started a quest would just impede Shield's progress -- and he wanted to avoid that. While Pinball himself didn't care too much about the quest's completion, he could do that much. 

Shield breezed through the dialogue, and Pinball kept his distance, turning away when Shield made his way back to him. "I'm familiar with it," he murmured, having employed exactly that strategy to get through the Arabian Nights quests. Pinball followed along, constantly looking over his shoulder. It was like his head was on a swivel, and whether that came naturally to him or was a habit he picked up during his self-inflicted exile, he couldn't remember. Soon enough, though, the city would all but disappear behind them, and Pinball relaxed. As much as he could, anyway. 

"I guess so," he replied, "though I'm not really sure where to start." 

He quieted himself down, thinking, before breaking what was only a momentary silence. "Where have you been?"

"Right," he spat. That soured his mood, and he wasn't too keen on answering anything after that. She'd give him some advice about using the healing crystals, which he noted, and offered him his choice of vanity music crystals after the quest, which he'd ignored. The boss was only a handful of meters away from them, and when Arabelle said she'd go first, Pinball was hesitant. Still, he didn't refuse her, and trailed behind the smaller girl with an anxious death grip on his Cold Fervor.

Magma erupted beside them with every step they took down the blackened path, which soon rounded at into a sort of platform that Cerberus, Inferno's Rage stood upon. The giant hell hound looked down at their approach with fiery eyes, red-hot veins shining through thick black, matted fur, lava dribbling from the sides of its mouth and sending up sparks as it struck the ground. All three of its monstrous heads reered back, and a powerful howl echoed throughout the cavern, shaking the very foundation of the subterranean cave. 

Pinball wasted no time throwing himself towards it, spinning past Arabelle as he charged. Pulling a trick from his old frontline style of fighting, he jabbed the butt of his spear into the ground and used it to launch himself into the air, spinning the polearm back into his arms as he flew at it. All three of the heads turned to him as he rained a flurry of stabs towards the beast, noticing very quickly that the system was pulling him towards one head. They each had their own healthbars-? 

He wouldn't have much time to think about it as two of the heads lashed out, snapping into his leg and torso respectively, ripping out vibrant red chunks of 3D mesh. The teen pulled himself away, landing heavy on the ground, grimacing as he crushed one of Arabelle's healing crystals in his palm. His health rose as a faint melody played around him, drowned out entirely by Cerberus' thunderous foot falls. 

STATS

Action: Sword Art - [Dimension Stampede] [-13 EN/+1 EN] {Well Rested} {+62 HP} // Consumed: Lacrimosa: +180 HP (Instant Effect)

Cerberus Head 1: ID#144980 BD: 5+3= 8 (Hit!) MD: 9 (Crit) ~ 23*15= 345-75= 270 DMG // 200 DMG + 9 BURN + 30 Thorns to Pinball
Cerberus Head 2: ID#144981 MD: 1 (Miss) 
Cerberus Head 3: ID#144982 MD: 10 (Crit) ~ 250 DMG + 9 BURN to Pinball 

[H: 0] Arabelle: 455/560 HP | 38/56 EN | 14 DMG | 46 MIT | 3 Probiotics | 5 ACC | 2 EVA | Fallen | 2 Recovery | Regen
[H: 1] Pinball: 933/1240 HP | 112/124 EN | 23 DMG | 5 ACC | 6 EVA | 62 BH | 8-10/36 FRZ | Phase | 3 Probiotics [BURN: 1/2] 

«Cerberus, Inferno's Rage»
Head 1: 230/500 HP | 175 DMG | 75 MIT | 1 ACC | 30 Thorns
Head 2: 500/500 HP | 175 DMG | 75 MIT | 3 ACC | 2 EVA | 30 Thorns
Head 3: 500/500 HP | 175 DMG | 75 MIT | 3 ACC | 2 EVA | 30 Thorns

Abilities:

• << Bringing Hell >> : "Cerberus, Inferno's Rage" gains 1 attack for each head alive.
• << One at a Time >> : Players can only target one Head at a time before hitting another. AoE's do not work on this boss.
• << Burning Bite >> : On successful attacks, the player is inflicted with "Burn" dealing 36 unmitigatable damage for 2 turns.
• << Infernal Punishment >> : On a critical attacks, this boss gains additional damage and will phase through 50% of the target's mitigation on all attacks this turn. [9 = 25 | 10 = 75]
• << Bloodless >> : This boss is immune to all status effects.

The busy hubbub of the crowd faded away into nothing more than slurred murmurs as Pinball trained his eyes on the bulletin board. 

He hadn't heard about Shield in a long time -- which wouldn't be weird, considering Pinball's general situation, but there'd been a distinct lack of news about the frontliner for what felt like an unusual length of time. There'd been a certain immovable tank missing at the last boss fight, as well. Had he taken a break? How well connected was he with current events? Would he know about him? Did it matter? Pinball was alone. And sometimes contact with people that hated you felt better than no contact with anyone at all. 

So call it a morbid curiosity. Normally, Pinball would never take up a request like that. But something else drove him as he snatched the paper from the board, whether it was curiosity, murderous intent, loneliness, or a cry for help. There was no making sense of his emotions. They stayed a tangled mess, a dark and dirty ball he rolled into the corner and tried to forget about. Pinball gave a small tug to the hood of his cloak, pulling it lower over his face. The route to Taft's teleporter was an easy dash through the city, and Pinball had the path memorized. 

The Underdark was as gloomy as he remembered. It was filled with the snobbish dark elves, quietly whispering to each other as they shared their disgusted glances, all but double taking as the Player Killer brushed past them. He didn't have much time left in the Safe Zone. Pinball walked with a purpose, sticking close to the walls and always double checking for guards. 

And there was no time for Pinball to prepare himself. No time for him to tidy up his messy hair or wipe the uncomfortably tired look from his eyes. With a gleaming red-orange sword at his belt and an orange cursor hovering lazily over his head, Pinball once again found himself standing face to face with Shield, one of Aincrad's top tanks, under unimaginably different circumstances than since they'd last spoken. 

Player Stats: 

House Buffs: 

Skill(s) Being Dropped: Fishing
Mod(s) Being Dropped: None
SP Refunded: 10
Cost: 10,000 Col 

i really dont know why i thought i would keep this past the event 
Im booboo the fool 

Despite his best intentions, Pinball would find himself hurrying into the tent only a few days before the event actually ended. He didn't like the idea of the shop - he thought it was monotonous, for one (or maybe that was just him), and there was a certain behavior it inspired in the game's playerbase that Pinball didn't quite appreciate. They became fanatics, grinding machines overly-obsessed with their stats and equipment, to the point where it felt like they were dropping all frontline presense to participate. And with Pinball himself participating, it felt like he was enabling them, in a way. 

Although, why should he care? It was none of his business anymore. He didn't have much of the eggs left to trade in, but he could pick up the last two Reroll Tickets for good measure. If not for him, then for someone else who might need it in the future. Someone that actually interacted with him, despite the things he's done and the things he continues to do. 

But being optimistic always left a bad taste on his tongue. 

51 Eggs in Inventory (thanks Raidou, Arabelle) 
Purchasing x2 Reroll Ticket [-50 Eggs] 
1 Eggs left 

accepting 

thank uwu 

accepting 

thank