Calypso

While she would have liked to get her hands on more of the top-tier materials, it seemed her luck was just as abysmal as her first visit to the cavernous floor. At some point she stopped looking as carefully, and as she followed Shield's lead back to Tomoika there seemed to be other, more interesting things to catch her eyes. Her chin tilted upwards as they walked through the massive crystal stucture, a smile stretching wider on her face as she watched the overhead reflection of the two players.

"I suppose." Her lack of enthusiasm was more brought about by stubbornness, as if the childlike wonder she sometimes displayed from the more impressive surroundings had bled into her attitude. Realizing her curtness, Callie took on half a smirk while her gaze was still directed elsewhere in the tunnels. "No, you're right. Although it seems the hard way is my default lately." She paused a few moments, mulling over the words in her head before pushing them out into the air. "I hope I haven't been causing you much trouble. I feel a bit bad for relying on you so much lately, and pulling you away from more important things, I'm sure."

ID#: 92236 | LD: 6 - nothing

Callie sighed, the edges of her mouth turning downward into a frown that was not unlike a pout. The soft glow of his earring caught her attention, and with his search of the immediate area persisting, she concluded that it must function as some sort of item indicator. With her memories lagging, it took her a few moments to remember the light that same earring had provided for them in the darker caverns below after Shield had supplied a crafting material from his inventory.

"Oh," She hadn't realized that there was only a single floor housing the higher-quality components, though if she was recalling correctly in that there was a similar jump between floors ten and eleven, it made perfect sense. Still, the thought of having to compete with all the other higher-leveled players in the game for whatever farming grounds existed on this single floor caused her to frown again. "Makes sense, I hadn't thought about that." Her eyes flickered to the bottom-right of her field of vision, reading off Aincrad's local time in her head. It was still only late afternoon, meaning most players were still awake and many were likely to be grinding for loot, experience, or whatever they could get their hands on. "Bad timing, I guess." Callie thought aloud. She was unsure of how to lift the mood that was turning sour the more time passed while they had little to show for it. She wasn't the type to strain to do so, and even if she was she was still feeling the slightest bit out-of-sorts from the day's events herself.

ID#: 92233 | LD: 5 - only found more salt

"Hmmm," She hummed with a disappointed tone. With how few materials she had found on their last excursion in the winding tunnels and caves of the twenty-first floor, Callie thought herself either unlucky or lacking in whatever stat could make her better at finding higher-level items out in the wild. Shield seemed to be coming up empty-handed as well thus far, leading her to wonder if she should just chalk this up to either of them having an off day.

Though she thought Lilith's new piece of clothing was quite the amusing find, she held her tongue from making comment so as not to provoke the already-frustrated player ahead of her. Instead, she brought a hand behind her ear and pressed her nails flat against her head while lightly tousling the hair between her fingers. "I'm surprised there aren't more monsters just roaming around the tunnels here." She commented. Though it was possible that Shield had been purposefully avoiding the mob-filled areas he was familiar with, she had expected to see a denser population of unfriendly creatures in the closed spaces that the floor allowed them for exploring away from town. "Not that I'm complaining." She added in a mumble.

ID#: 92230 | LD: 4 - nothing

Her head tilted inquisitively to one side at Shield's reaction to the chest's contents, wondering just what it could have held that caused him such exasperation. When he retrieved the serpent from his sleeve equipped a tiny wintry-themed sweater to her, Callie couldn't suppress the laugh that bubbled up from inside of her. "That's...That's possibly both the sillest and cutest thing I've seen in this game." She got out through a chuckle.

All of the commotion from his player caused Danesh's beady eyes to blink open, and once she felt the familiar shift in her arms she lifted them up to one side to guide him back to his perch across her shoulders. His head ducked behind the curtain of cerulean hair as his top half snaked behind her neck.

She contemplated Shield's offer for a few long moments before answering. "I'd like to stick around, if it's not a bother. I'll be sure not to go around touching all the crystals this time." She let out a small huff of breath through her nose in a half-chuckle. "I think I've had my fill of traps for now."

The light nudge against her shoulder, followed by a few more simple words brought a small smile to her lips, one more genuine than those that normally formed out of habit or when the situation called for them. Her eyes flickered downward to the dragon snoozing in her lap. "I haven't really taken the time to think of anyone as a companion, besides Danesh here. But," Turning back up to Shield, she pulled a hand up and found a section of his arm that wasn't protected by a thorny pauldron, tapping lightly against it to return the gesture. "I don't want you dying, either."

Though her consciousness existed among thousands of others in this death game, she had hardly found herself lingering on the topic of death much more than she would in their other world. It wasn't until recently that she had been looking to gain experience, and for Callie that seemed to go hand-in-hand with looking for trouble. In hindsight, she was both glad that she hadn't gone on such an irresponsible adventure on her own, as well as irked with herself for burdening the man that had agreed to accompany her.

"I didn't mean to come off that way." She spoke up again after a few short seconds of silence. "I started kicking myself a bit in the middle of all that, and I guess it slipped out." She angled her hands in her lap in order to scoop the napping creature up into her arms as rose to her feet. "Thank you, though. I feel like I owe you a lot more than a trade of a quest run." The side of her boot pulled forward and knocked against the side of their impromptu bench. "But first, I wonder if we stumbled on anything good?"

"Yes and no." She had waited until he finished his thoughts before turning to face the bookcases again and answering his initial question. Her chin tilted upwards and she took on a thoughtful expression to find the words she wanted to use. "Not everyone wants to leave, I don't think." She tacked on the last few words to keep the statement from coming out quite so bluntly. She glanced back to the Irishman with a small smile, "I probably best fit into a category like one you described. Spending much of my time on the lower floors, doing my part to work with the crafters and merchants who support the frontliners. But I met someone once who told me he didn't want to leave." She lied, turning herself around and lacing her fingers behind her back as she gazed out of the tall windows where sunlight streamed in from the city outside. "Who said this place was so much better than his old life." Her brows narrowed slightly into a troubled expression. "Said he didn't care if people called him delusional, and would thank Kayaba for this life if he had the chance."

She let out a small sigh after finishing her fabricated story. "Now, I don't think the inaction of one person will make any difference. But I wonder how many people share those sentiments. And how many aren't so...inactive about it." She skirted the topic of those that might directly impede the game's progress. She didn't actually know if such players existed, or even made any progress with such goals, but settlements are where rumors spread best. She would have to be deaf to be unaware of the existing of red players--red guilds, even. Her lips pursed slightly, and she gave a small shake of her head. "Sorry, I suppose that's all a bit much for polite conversation." She looked back to Jomei with a wry smile.

"Oh, I'm Calypso, by the way." Keeping to her formalities, she offered a brief introduction. "Kira." The name she provided was neither her full username or the name by which her companions addressed her, but it would do. Though she didn't seem to be one for conversation, it was Kirana who began speaking again. "I think I've seen you around here. You do a lot of trading in the markets, right?" She asked, casting Callie a sideways glance before turning her attention back to the front. Callie nodded, "I've practically made it into my dayjob." She explained with a small smirk. "Doing quests and leveling up... Well, it's not that it isn't kind of fun, but I feel like I'm of more use supporting the merchants and crafters. A lot of them work hard to supply the frontliners, so I'm just trying to do my part, you know?" She lied back.

"Yeah, I finished that objective ten minutes ago, but I got lost in the caves." She lied. The noirette didn't seem to carry much emotion in her voice or face as it was, so Callie's suspicion wasn't too high despite the lack of embarrassment she displayed after admitting to getting herself lost. With a confirmation that the girl was on the same quest chain, Callie took on her regular polite smile. "Ah, I see. Well, it's a straight shot back to town, but since we're both heading that way I suppose the company doesn't hurt." She spoke with a light chuckle. The words normally wouldn't have been completely truthful, as she would have preferred to make the trip back alone, but the thoughts she was finding herself lost in as of late were still rather unsavory, and so she shrugged it off in the hopes that the interaction might do her some good.

"Wait, hold on!" The stranger's voice called after Callie before she had put much distance between them. With a small sense of unease and wondering what it was this girl wanted from her, Callie stopped and cast her strained gaze over her shoulder. Kirana had turned and jogged back to stand beside the woman, bringing a hand up to slide behind her cloth hood and graze against the nape of her neck. "If you're going back to town, can I tag along?" She asked in a plain tone. The request caused Callie to blink in surprise, but without a specific reason to deny it, she gave a nod after a short pause. "Uhh, sure. Did you get lost?" She questioned, legs moving forward again so as not to linger in the dark tunnels. The two navigated back to the exit, Callie blinking with the bright light that greeted them while the glow of Kirana's eyes faded away.

"Oh, sorry!" She offered, hurrying to sheathe her weapon at her back. The stranger's dimly-glowing eyes were still a bit off-putting, and something that had made her jump to the association of another monster, but her reaction seemed to be a peaceful one. The green cursor circling above her head also prevented any alarms from going off in her head. If this person was in this specific cave on the first floor, she could very well be doing the same low-level quests. Kirana's hands slowly lowered back to her sides, and in the dim light Callie couldn't see the inspecting stare being cast upon her. A short silence hung in the air before the cerulean-haired woman hesitantly moved forward and to the left so as to walk past the player standing in the path ahead of her. "Well, excuse me." She said with a simple politeness, keeping her eyes forward to avoid the awkward air between the two.

"You would nap in that tree all day if I didn't make you get up, huh?" Callie called over her shoulder. Sitting cross-legged atop a grassy hill a short distance from Nimbus, she surveyed the mountain ranges that stretched into the distance. She had returned to the place where she had first met her familiar, Danesh. The small, wingless dragon hybrid lay curled atop the bare branches of a single large tree that decorated the hilltop, paying no mind to his companion's teasing words.

Her defenses were still lacking, but now that she had a few levels under her belt she made the effort to travel past the safe zone every now and again, if only to enjoy the fresh breeze that carried through the seventh floor during the day. The call of adventure was a tempting one, her golden eyes having spotted what looked like the entrances to a cavern or two sitting at the base of the nearest mountains. After recent events and her track record when it came to wandering blindly into cave tunnels, however, she was able to resist the temptation rather easily. Shield wasn't here to bail her out if she stumbled into more trouble, and she had already been relying on the tank man than she had originally intended.

@Crozeph

She supposed that she deserved a bit of a scolding. A twinge of guilt flared up in her chest at the truth that carried through his last statement. Her gaze fell to the floor, and she mulled over his words while carefully thinking of her own. "If something like this happened again, a trap just like this one... I want to say I could keep my cool, but really I have no idea." She admitted with a dry embarrassment. "It's not really a surprise after thinking about it a while." The words mixed with a breathy sigh as she picked her chin up to look towards the white glow of the lanterns overhead. "This machine connected to our brains, replicating sensations. Of course it can take them away when it wants to, just like how it's harder to see at night or in a dark cave."

She was skirting around the topic, and she knew it. She still hadn't decided how to address it directly, but Callie knew the least she had to give was it her best shot. "Monsters here don't scare me. And it took a bit to get used to, but getting hit or taking damage doesn't really bother me, either. It's usually easy to shake off. I don't like heights, but that hasn't stopped me from exploring the tall mountains on the second floor."

"As for this..." She finally returned to the cause of her earlier panic attack. Her face fell again to check on Danesh, still content in her lap with the gentle strokes she ran across his skull and along his spine. She then turned her gaze on Shield. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not talk about the 'why'. Or, at the very least, save it for another time. What I will say, is that my voice is my most precious treasure. So having that taken away from me is something that would likely shake me up in the future, yeah."

Callie had enough awareness to follow Shield's guidance without difficulty, but lacked the composure to form any kind of explanation for her more extreme reaction. She took the seat that Shield offered her, placing her hands in her lap as she focused on her breathing. A deep inhale through her nose, a short pause, and a steady exhale through her mouth. She repeated the cycle several times while her pulse gradually decelerated.

Danesh, who had provided little support in their battle against the small goblin horde, snaked over to his companion. Rather than take his standard perch atop her shoulders, he lowered himself onto her lap, waiting patiently until her hands lifted so that he might curl himself up. As the little familiar did so, Callie scooted herself over for Shield to take a seat beside her.

Though she was feeling better now, and was grateful for the time he had allowed her to regain herself, she wasn't sure what to say. Her head dipped forward in a single nod of acknowledgement, and her fingers began to run along the short, curled fur that covered Danesh's long body. She thought about apologizing, whether for her inaction or for leading them straight into a trap, but decided against the sentiment. 'Sorry' was unnecessary here. "It's, uhm... A fear I have." She was still figuring out the best way to word her thoughts as she spoke up. Her eyes were pointed off in the distance, looking over to the dim tunnel that they had entered from. "Losing my voice, I mean." She offered more clarity. Though she wasn't offering the full truth, what little she offered thus far wasn't a lie. "I didn't think it would freak me out so badly, though." She admitted, the corner of her mouth twitching upwards in the smallest of wry smiles.

Her hands latched almost tightly enough on the leather-bound hilt of her weapon for her knuckles to go white. The goblins' numbers had thinned until there was only one shambling across from her, though Callie focused so intently on her immediate surroundings that she wouldn't have known if there were even more creatures, threats, or other such obstacles waiting outside of her field of attention.

She took an unsteady step backwards to avoid the tip of the goblin's rusty dagger as it slid haphazardly through the air. Hurrying herself to retaliate, she was lucky that the creatures had very little to their name in terms of defensive stats. A single slice of her broadsword was enough to drain its health bar and cause the final ambusher to soundlessly shatter.

The air remained still for a second longer until suddenly the lights overhead returned to their unthreatening white tint. The eerie quiet was dispersed as the trap room was cleared, and two sounds immediately filled the air: the rumbling of the stone slab that blocked their entrance and exit lifting away into the wall above it, and Callie's short, ragged breaths. As the players' sense of hearing was freed from the oppressive silence, a clang of steel rang out from her lowered sword hitting the ground. Her now free hand found the base of her throat again and her mouth opened, grasping for a sound before her brain had thought of words to go with it. "Aah, I--" Callie's volume immediately dropped as a small wave of relief washed over her. "O-okay, alright..." Still shaken, she mumbled to herself with a few more soft words of reassurance.

Her fingers pressed against the top of her collarbone and her mind was blank, unable to make sense of the situation. It was as if she had forgotten that she was in the middle of a dungeon. Forgotten that she was in Aincrad, even. That is, until she felt something pulling her up by the collar of her leather armor. Danesh hurriedly jumped from the woman's shoulders, snaking through the air to follow after her as Shield moved her to the safest position he could manage. The next thing Callie knew was the shock of crashing into the ground, her frame tumbling a short distance over the smooth stone. She winced in discomfort, light-headed and slightly dizzy while she pressed her forearm against the ground to prop herself up as she managed to register a bit of the scene playing out in front of her.

The red tint of the lanterns above matched the glow of several sets of eyes from the mass of green-skinned foes that greedily charged at the players. Callie instinctively recoiled when she felt the pricks of daggers and broken shortswords creating small red gashes on her legs. With the few precious seconds she used to take in her surroundings, something began to click into place. She watched the bits of metal that scraped against Shield's defenses, and the occasional goblin that would shatter when it made contact with the man's threatening armor. Was it her voice that was failing her, or her ears?

With the examples around her not enough to convince her hysteric mind, Callie pulled a hand to her ear, giving a couple sharp snaps of her fingers. When she concluded that the sound wouldn't register, she hurriedly pushed herself into a crouched position that served to make her a more difficult target, if nothing else. The concept of being deafened rather than muted was no more comforting, but at least it didn't hit quite so close to home--or at least, that's what Callie was trying to tell herself. Her eyes shot up towards her health bar. Its color was still green, but the gap between its current level and her maximum hit points was another cause for concern. Her heart was still pounding, but she took in a deep breath, holding the air in her lungs for a couple of seconds before it dispersed in a weak attempt to steady her breathing while she reached a hand up to grab at the hilt of her claymore.

Callie contributed little overall, but by the time half of the original number of enemies were remaining she had at least managed to pull herself together just enough to keep from staying a defenseless mass of pixels. She played carefully, now fighting against both the goblins that continued to throw themselves at the pair of players as well as the lingering anxiety that tightened painfully in her chest.

Finally, that opening presented itself. With her body low to the ground, Callie dashed in towards the golem, taking her sword in both hands and driving the tip through the monster's massive body. Her one attack was enough to fell the guardian, dropping its health to zero while it faltered. The earthen creature glowed a bright white and promptly shattered into pixels. Callie let out a small sigh of relief as the threat vanished, but her shoulders stiffened and she brought her sword back to the ready in front of her as soon as she spotted another figure in the darkness beyond where her previous foe stood. "Gah!" Kirana let out a low, short yell of surprise, her hands clad in fingerless leather gloves flying up in front of her with palms facing outward. Once she registered that it was a player standing across from her, Callie's claymore quickly lowered and she dropped her aggressive stance.

ID#: 92157 | BD: 8 (-1 ACC) = 7 - Hit! | MD: 10 - Dead

Calypso: HP: 160/160 | 9/16 EN | 9 DMG | 9 MIT
Cave Guardian: HP: 0/20 | 5 DMG - Dead

"I swear, I get the worst jobs..." Kirana mumbled under her breath as she trekked through the dark caves. Her dull, violet eyes flickered with a soft golden glow when she had felt the darkness affecting her accuracy and limiting her sight. With the Night Vision skill activated, she didn't have to aimlessly wander for long before she heard the crashing of the stone golem's noisy attacks wreaking havoc on the cave's interior. While she picked up the pace, Callie was doing just well enough to avoid the guardian's attacks, but not well enough to land a hit of her own. The steel blade of her claymore scraped along the rocky ground as she dodged another wide strike, and despite the absence of a mouth--or any facial features, for that matter--the golem promptly let out a guttural roar of frustration towards his slippery target. Callie let out a breath that she angled upwards, ruffling her cerulean bangs while she worked to find an opening.

ID#: 92156 | BD: 2 (-1 ACC) = 1 - Fail! | MD: 5 - Miss!

Calypso: HP: 160/160 | 11/16 EN | 9 DMG | 9 MIT
Cave Guardian: HP: 20/20 | 5 DMG

"Ehh? Why me?" Kirana's expression had contorted into a grimace when her blonde companion nudged her shoulder to push the girl closer to the cave's entrance. "Who else? You complain about me so much, y'think her and I would just be best buds?" The man replied with a light scoff. The noirette standing at the front of the trio of players grumbled, but did not protest further as she entered the dark cave. Farther into the network of tunnels, Callie's eyes continued to strain against the low light. "Is this seriously affecting my accuracy stat?" She complained as the sharpened steel of her double-edged blade flew past the stone golem's body. The creature's rocky fist pulled to the side across it and hurled itself back the other way towards the cerulean player. Callie quickly dropped herself lower, ducking below the heavy boulder that whizzed past the top of her head.

ID#: 92155 | BD: 3 (-1 ACC) = 2 - Fail! | MD: 4 - Miss!

Calypso: HP: 160/160 | 12/16 EN | 9 DMG | 9 MIT
Cave Guardian: HP: 20/20 | 5 DMG

Just seconds after she stepped back from the cave wall with the quest objective in hand, a slight rumbling caused Callie to spin around. She quickly pocketed the item to deposit it safely into her inventory while she watched the earth in front of her rip and tear. Heavy boulders lifted from the dirt, forming a bulky figure of something like a stone golem that crawled from the cave floor. It towered before her, only a foot of space between the golem's 'head' and the jagged cave ceiling. Wasting little time, the monster simply labeled as a Cave Guardian raised its arm, fist crashing into the ceiling before it was brought down on the player. Callie's legs weren't able to carry her out of the way of the golem's strike in time, and the boulder crashed down on the flinching player's back. The indication of pain was absent however, and as Callie's arms pushed against the ground to lift herself up, her eyes glanced to her health bar to note that the effect of the potion she had consumed had vanished.

ID#: 92154 | BD: 4 (-1 ACC) = 3 - Fail! | MD: 5 - Miss!

Calypso: HP: 160/160 | 13/16 EN | 9 DMG | 9 MIT
Cave Guardian: HP: 20/20 | 5 DMG

"Interesting." She repeated, taking a few steps towards the center of the room while she hoped the orange-haired man didn't mind her bit of exploration. Her eyes trailed over the various instruments before moving to the sheet music that rested atop the piano's stand, and then continued on the crystals lining the shelves. "Ahh, I probably won't be making any purchases, at least not today." She spoke up with an apologetic smile after a bit a silence. Her gaze was still running over the various items the workshop housed as she continued. "But I'd like to keep your shop in mind, so you might see me around once I have more spending money." She paired the thought with a light chuckle.

She still hadn't turned her gaze back on the man. There was something that had been nagging at her, nudging at her conscience at the back of her mind, and the more days that passed and the more levels she acquired, it seemed to grow more and more bothersome. Perhaps the opinion of a more experienced stranger might provide her with the insight she needed. Perhaps not.

"If you'll humor me," She started, suddenly aware that her shift in topic would be completely out of the blue, "The players who stay on the lower floors. Maybe not the ones who aren't able, but those who refuse to work with others to beat this game," Her eyes finally drifted to her left and she met Jomei's olive orbs with her golden with an impassive gaze. "What's your opinion on those kinds of people?"

Perhaps if their last excursion hadn't ended so peacefully, Shield might have been less inclined to let her lead the way. But, with no such objections, Callie took on an ambitious smile. "Alright, then! I'll do my best not to fall into anything this time." She had reached the point of joking about her previous mishaps.

She chose the left path, and the journey continued rather uneventfully for a while. Without any side rooms to investigate and very few other paths to choose from, it was almost as if the area was set-up to be a rather simple one. After turning another corner, Callie let out a sigh of relief to finally spot what looked like a well-lit chamber at the end of their path."I wonder if just being hidden and boring was all they were going for." She said with a hint of impatience.

As they drew closer to the room's entrance, she blinked against the light that poured from the many identical lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Much like the floor beneath their feet, the entire chamber featured a smooth stone of a dull bronze color. Aside from the light sources dangling overhead, the only thing of note inside of the room was a single chest placed neatly in the center. She paused for a moment, taking in the obvious possibility of a trap that might be sprung on them, but running with the assumption that she and Shield were more than capable of taking on the level of monsters that would populate the floor, she pressed on.

As soon as she had stepped through the entryway, an eerie silence seemed to hang over them. It wasn't like the earlier tunnels had been noisy, but there was something unsettling about how still the air in the room felt. Callie opened her mouth to make comment, if only to try and settle her nerves, but after her lips had formed the first few words, she stopped in her tracks. Golden eyes went wide, and her right hand moved to the base of her throat. Why wasn't any sound coming out?

She tried again. And when the result was the same, her silent breaths grew shorter and her heartbeat quickened inside of her chest. She was falling into a panic, unable to register the red tint that the lanterns above them had taken on. Even if the sound it produced would have reached her ears, she was oblivious to the door that slammed down over the entrance to prevent their escape. Not even the shapes of the monsters that spawned around them--at least a dozen goblins wielding rusted daggers and hatchets--drew her attention.

"Hmm," She let out a thoughtful hum. "Yeah, it's certainly different from the caves on the twenty-first." She commented, staring at the different giveaways as they walked. For a short while, the path continued down with the same lanterns lighting the walls and the same marble floor beneath their feet. Callie's interest was sparked once more at the sight of a fork in their path, and when they'd drawn closer she stopped to survey a large tapestry that hung from the cave wall.

Her head cocked to the side, inspecting the illustration that depicted a large snowflake--or at least, something that was shaped like a snowflake--nestled away in the center of a snow-topped mountain. Without taking her eyes off the picture, her chin turned towards Shield. "Think that's the prize inside?" She asked with a slightly amused tone. "Problem is," Her hands found her hips and she finally pulled her gaze away from the tapestry. "I'm awful with puzzles, and mazes." Callie frowned as her head turned from side to side to look down each identical path to either side of them.

"Yikes." She frowned at his description of the last encounter with the icy field boss. She felt a small, fleeting sense of pride that she could at least contribute, even if she didn't hold the confidence to be going out and soloing these types of encounters.

Her sympathetic expression faded and she took on a satisfied smile when Shield agreed on a bit of exploration before they would head back to town. She nodded, turning on her heel as she started off in the direction they had come, veering a bit to the right towards the snow-covered mountains she had been referring to.

She hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but sure enough they came across a cluster of tightly-packed trees standing very close to the base of the mountain's edge that looked a bit out-of-place compared to how the rest of the flora was spread out around them. Callie took the lead, slipping past the bark and branches and entering into a tunnel that seemed to be carved out of the surrounding rock. "Some more caves, huh?" She thought aloud, continuing on into the dim, empty passage. The walls looked jagged and natural, but the floor beneath them was smooth and almost patterned. Besides the light that spilled in from behind them, Callie's eyes were drawn to the small fixtures that stuck out at an angle towards the bottom of the walls, providing a soft light from something that looked like small lanterns hung from stakes that had been driven into the rock.

Callie let out a huff of air that bounced off of her lip and ruffled her cerulean bangs. They fell back into place while she brought the tip of her broadsword back to its sheathe, her fingers then working to loosen the clumps of snow from her hair and pat them away from her clothes. Trudging through the white-topped ground towards Shield, she tucked some loose strands behind her ear with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, that one was a bit of a pain." She chuckled lightly. From her perspective, the fight hadn't gone half-bad, and if she had known just how clumsy the monster would have been she almost wanted to say that she could have faced it on her own, despite her lack of defensive stats.

With the quest completed, Callie looked over her shoulder. "Well, not sure if there's anything else out here worth your while. Although," A curious smile crawled across her lips as she turned back to Shield. "I think I saw something like a passageway hiding behind some trees at the base of that mountain we passed."

Navigating the darkened tunnels as well as she could, Callie kept a hand skimming along the craggy surface of the right wall to keep herself on track. "I don't suppose you have night vision or something, huh Dani?" She questioned the ermine on her shoulder. Knowing better than to expect a response from the familiar, she continued on, hugging the right wall as she moved down the passageway. She had only barely remembered about the item she had received alongside the piece of equipment during the completion of the last quest, and as she read over the potion's effect she grimaced, realizing there was sure to be more combat along the way. Quaffing the potion in a single motion, the empty glass vial rested in her fingers a moment before shattering completely. A few minutes later and her eyes managed to spot a softly-glowing gemstone protruding from the cave wall ahead. "Here goes." She breathed out, taking the amethyst in her hands as she pulled the material free.

ID#: 92087 | BD: 3 (-1 ACC) = 2 - Fail! | MD: 6 - Hit!
Safeguard broken!

Calypso: HP: 160/160 | 14/16 EN | 9 DMG | 9 MIT
Cave Guardian: HP: 20/20 | 5 DMG