Ronnel

"Interesting, an alchemist.' Amusing - it was a profession that didn't have a direct real-world equivalent. Maybe Dracul had been a chemist or something in the real world, and was applying those skills here in the game? Or had he just thought that alchemy seemed like it would be interesting? Either way, it seemed like he knew what he was going to be doing with himself in here, which was more than Ronnel could say for himself. the responses to his question though distracted Ron from pursuing that line of thought. It seemed like the Queen could just appear whenever then, from what the two others said. Ronnel blinked and started to ask if there was a particular place where the Queen liked to spawn - Claudia seemed to have access to information on the game, when he froze, staring back behind the woman.

That was a large bee. Ronnel had assumed like maybe it would be the size of a cat, or a small dog. That was decidedly not the case. The wasp that he was staring at was closer to the size of a Great Dane - and flying. It was coming at them, its wicked arms spread wide with the inside edges of its forelimbs serrated, cutting through the air. Ronnel cursed under his breath and raced towards it, darting past Claudia who wasn't looking in the right direction. The man skidded to a halt, planting himself in the path of the mob, intercepting it. He brought Varathra up, the twin blades of the spear flashing in the light as he thrust upwards, stabbing into the Wasp Queen's abdomen. His weapon tore a bloody hole in its carapace, and he watched as a status icon flickered above it. Excellent! Stacking a DOT on this thing could only help. 

The insectoid mob was not pleased about the strike. It retaliated with a strike, one of its serrated limbs catching the spear-user on the shoulder and knocking him about. The Tem Armor held strong though, and he only staggered with a muffled curse as he recovered his stance. 

Ronnel had to suppress a chuckle at the grunt from Dracul - he really did strike me as familiar, just as annoyed by discussions of business during celebrations as the dark-haired man had ever been. It honestly was a bit silly of this stranger to have gone trying to shop at the height of the celebrations - nearly every NPC shop on the floors that Ronnel had traveled through had all been closed. "Well, my gratitude to her then. This promises to be at least an enjoyable evening with familiar faces." This time he did let his chuckle out as he nodded once. 

"Having allies you're comfortable working with seems to be a very good plan in the long term. While I've been able to handle most of the quests that I've undertaken on my own so far, there is no guarantee that that will continue to be the case." While Ronnel did have some people that he'd worked with a time or two, to date he hadn't really worked with anyone more than twice. Having someone he knew and could somewhat rely on for things would be great news. Might even be the best Christmas gift he could have gotten, which made the red-eyed man's lips quirk. The comment from the stranger outside about it being a party made Ronnel blink and raise one eyebrow, and he considered. Making connections was important - and this time of year was meant to be full of good-will. 

"Should we perhaps let this fellow stay around? It is Christmas after all. If he wants to, that is, and it doesn't put a strain on your resources. You are the master of this house after all."

"A pleasure, Darius to make your acquaintance." Ronnel gave a slight bow to the rather stone-faced young man he had just met. He was fairly certain, now, that the siblings and Dracul had known each other before being trapped inside this world. It warmed his heart a bit that they were still together and celebrating the holidays with one another. He gave the young man a pleasant smile then switched his gaze to Dracul as his host gestured deeper inside. 

He doffed his outer coat, revealing the understated red button down with emerald trim that he'd been able to find. It wasn't as festive as the other's attire but he honestly hadn't been expecting to receive any invites so hadn't planned ahead. The dark haired man hung his coat on the rack near the door and smiled with a slight bow to Claudia as he followed Dracul inside to the chairs, folding himself into one and thanking Darius when the serious sibling set a plate of cookies down near us. 

"I - do want to thank you, Dracul, for inviting me." He gave a somewhat stilted smile to the blonde. "I'd not anticipated being able to spend Christmas with anyone, so your invitation was a welcome surprise." Before he could press on, though, a knock sounded at the door - mimicking his, which made the red-eyed man blink and tilt his head to one side. 

"Were you expecting another guest? That sage you mentioned perhaps?" 

@Dracul

Ronnel pulled back from the small tunnel, brushing bits of stone chip and dirt from his clothes as he straightened back up, unfolding from the crouched position he had been in while looking for a chest. He ran his fingers through his hair and pushed more stone flecks from his dark locks as he tromped down the main tunnel towards the light. 

Emerging from the cave actually made him blink and squint his eyes, using one hand to shade against the light beating down on him. The difference between the darkness in the depths of the cave and the simulated sunlight was striking. He winced and rubbed at his eyes as he left them adjust to the change. Despite the momentary discomfort though, being out of the caves was nice. The fresh breeze felt good against his skin and he breathed out a sigh. "Alright. Back to town." Dirt and leaves crunched beneath his feet as he started down the trail on his minimap leading back to city gates. 

Ronnel fidgeted slightly, tugging at the sleeves of his light coat. He felt a bit awkward in the get up - it had been ages since he had last been in one of these monkey suits. It was one of the aspects of his family's life that he had not missed in the slightest when ties were cut. Still, it was something that he was somewhat familiar with, enough to be able to assemble a passable facsimile of a proper outfit. He breathed in, then out slowly as he double checked the address in the message he had been sent. 

As far as he could tell, this was right - though the somewhat imposing edifice ahead of him wasn't what he'd been expecting when Dracul had mentioned that he had a 'somehow successful' shop. He took another deep breath and let it out slowly. This was just a friendly private meet up, not one of the 'events' his family would attend, and host. The dark haired man rolled his shoulders before moving up to the front door. 

"Right. Just a friendly small party, nothing big." Certainly not like the Yuletide celebrations that were happening all around him when he was walking here - while he was handy with social situations, this all was just too much for him. A quiet little party felt far more appropriate right now than those did. He adjusted his shirt and coat one last time, then knocked on the door three times. 

@Dracul

The cave was twisting and turning as Ronnel made his way carefully back through the system. Apparently he had moved further than he’d realized while he was searching for the gem for Hannah - either that, or when he was fighting, but he didn’t think he’d moved that far while he was fighting the bat or the guardian. Either way, the cave was beginning to feel a bit tight and choking as he avoided the stalactites and mites that crept from above and below. 

So it was with a sense of relief that the dark-haired man actually saw light filtering into the cave from up ahead. He saw a small branch off to one side, and frowned in thought. "I wonder…" There was a chance that he'd be able to come out of this with a bit extra. He ducked down into the branch, checking around to see if there was any hidden chests. Sadly for him though, his search turned up fruitless, and the red-eyed man gave a shrug. 

Ronnel slowly dragged himself back upright from his slumped position, leaning heavily onto Varathra as he did so. While that fight had been blessedly shorter than the earlier fight against the lesser bat, the difference in how heavily the Cave Guardian had struck him had shown that he still wasn’t up to a point where he could just ignore the attacks of whatever was coming at him. That was something he wanted to change - but also something that he couldn’t change just yet. He groaned and rubbed his forehead as he wrapped his other arm around his spear to hold himself up. 

“Alright… alright. I got the gem, I killed the guardian - good riddance - now I can leave.” He shook himself once and straightened up, then pushed his weapon back into his inventory. Now for the fun part - finding his way out of the cave in the darkness. He gave a shrug - there wasn’t anything else he could do about it but start going. 

"Ah, I'm a heavy armor user too, so that's not too much a concern." Ronnel chuckled as the little group reached the city gates. "And I suppose to each their own in terms of playstyle - though, to be fair.." He shrugged his shoulders as he waved at the gate guard. "We're in a death game - but it wasn't originally intended or marketed to be that way. Though from what I remember, this wasn't supposed to be heavily marketed towards children, so I'm surprised there are that many are in this thing." He shrugged slightly and then turned one eye towards Dracul as they hit the fields. 

"What is it that you and your assistants do, anyway Dracul? "  They were now out in the fields, so he pulled his spear out of his inventory. He tested the weight of Varathra, spinning the twin-bladed spear around for a moment as he adjusted to it. "I'm curious because I'm still trying to decide what my crafting tree will branch into. I've met a merchant that I know of, and a blacksmith, but I haven't settled on anything for my own skill." Right now all he had was combat skills and while they were necessary they couldn't be everything. "And do either of you know what we need to do to spawn the Wasp Queen - is it like, kill some of the little wasps, or do we just find her?"

@Dracul

@Solei

Ronnel breathed out slowly, glaring into the darkness. He couldn’t let this fight drag on - if this thing really did have a cool down on that power hit, or if it could keep ramping up like he could if it missed, then the longer this went on the worse it would be for him. He tightened his grip on Varathra and breathed out slowly, sliding one foot back as he scanned for the bat. This thing was not going to beat him - he refused to let that happen. From the corner of one eye he saw a flicker of movement, and his head snapped towards it.

There - it wasn’t much, but there was a patch of shadows that were just slightly discolored, brighter in the darkness. Red data leaking from the wound he’d landed earlier on the Cave Guardian. That was all he needed, a reference point. The man squeezed down on his weapon, then let out a cry as he moved, darting forward. His feet beat against the cold stone of the cavern floor, and the twin blades of his spear split the darkness. There was a moment of silence, then an explosion of red data that drifted down around him as Ronnel slumped slightly, chest heaving.
“Take that you airborne vermin.” 

Ronnel bit his tongue to focus himself as his eyes shot to his health bar, then went wide. That was the first considerable amount of damage that he’d actually taken since he started venturing out into the world of this death game. In fact - the first time he’d faced bats, that kind of damage would have wiped him out. And that was after his mitigation reduced that blow. His red eyes snapped back to the spot where the Cave Guardian had pulled back into the shadows, and his lips pulled into a snarl.

“Now I really don’t like you.” His hands tightened on the haft of Varahtra. He thought he saw it coming in again, and lashed out, blade whistling through the shadows, and striking nothing. “Oh you over-” Ronnel stumbled backwards as the bat slammed into his torso, shoving him back a step. His chest stung slightly, but it was enough to show him - whatever had been the deal with that damaging blow, it was a one off. Or, on a cool-down before it would be usable again. Fine. He could work with that. 

Ronnel cursed as the cave guardian avoided his strike, his eyes trying to pierce the darkness as he looked around. “I am really starting to hate bats right now.” He hissed under his breath. He tightened his grip on Varathra as he prepared himself. This was still not as bad as the boar pups though - at least now, even in the darkness, he was able to connect with his strikes. He heard the sound of wingbeats again and grit his teeth. One beat, then two - and he stabbed upwards. 

Metal met flesh, and the two battled for a moment. Inevitably, flesh lost that fight, and the cave guardian let out a terrible shriek as Ronnel’s spear pierced its body. It pulled itself back, and the player heard a wet, sucking sound as the monster pulled itself free from his spear. Then before he could react, it drove itself forward, slamming its head against his with a heavy crash. Ronnel stumbled backwards, and his vision swam. 

Ronnel growled under his breath as he stared up at this thing. He wanted to finish this quickly but if this thing was going to hide back, out of range, then it was going to take longer than he wanted it to. He spun Varathra end over end as his eyes scanned the shadows. It was times like these, trapped in the darkness of these caves, that he was regretting not focusing more on support skills - Night Vision would have been fantastic down in here against these things. As it was - well, he’d have to tough it out and strike well.

There was a sound of wind rushing, and Ronnel darted forward, twin-bladed spear lunging upwards again, trying to repeat his strike from last time. It seemed that the bat-creature was expecting it though, and it pulled upwards, avoiding the attack - but also, thankfully, not attacking him in return. The monster chittered angrily as its dark wings beat against the inky black air. 

Ronnel growled under his breath and shifted his grip on his spear, actually bringing both hands around to hold it properly as his eyes scanned through the darkness. He knew that this thing was the last thing standing between him and leaving these caves, and once he had done that he was home free for finishing this quest and moving on with his life in the game. “Alright you - you and I are gonna dance and I don’t think it’ll end well for you. Come on then!” His only answer was a loud shriek and the sound of wings beating in the darkness.

Then there was the sound of rushing, and he knew the bat was coming at him. Ronnel slid backwards and hefted his spear up, waiting one heartbeat, then another - then thrust upwards. There was a cry of pain from the Cave Guardian, which immediately flew backwards, preventing a second strike from the player. “Come get some then you airborne rodent!”

"People like that..." He chuckled and shook his head. They were exactly the kind of people who needed someone to worry about them, because they didn't worry about themselves. He knew the kind, to isolate themselves and not let others see what was going on. But for now - it was not his place to worry about the woman. He ignored Ceres' first question though, not answering that one - he was nowhere near close enough to her to talk about that.

"Probably look around, see if I can level up some of my skills. Figure out what I want to do - rest a bit maybe? I need to get my own partner, or at least try, but who knows what my luck will be like." He chuckled and ran one hand through his hair. "Or I may try to hunt down the fourth part of that quest chain. I still have to finish that after all. Or - maybe try to figure out how I can actually be useful to other people instead of just another meatshield." Red eyes crinkled up as he grinned at the redhead.

"What about you, Firecracker?"

@Ceres

"Well now. Time to store this away and get ou-" Ronnel felt his hair ruffle. That was odd, he was deep enough in the caves that there wasn't any breeze - his hair moved again, and this time his skin felt warm and damp as it moved. He swallowed. Right. He had forgotten Heather's warning. Slowly, carefully, he placed the gem into his inventory - the thing that was breathing behind him gave him the courtesy of that, at least. 

The man threw himself to the ground just in time to avoid the strike from the thing behind him. He rolled and came back up to his feet, pulling Varathra back out of his inventory and trying to strike out at the creature. Massive wings beat in the dark, shadows moving against shadows - and Ronnel's strike went wide, missing by a large margin. He cursed under his breath and scrambled to his feet. "Another freaking bat??" It chittered angrily at him, and he could see the monster’s eyes gleaming in the darkness.  

He had seen it. There, tucked almost out of sight was a small opening in one of the cave walls. Ronnel stashed Varathra into his inventory again and moved over to it. There was a faint ray of sunlight shining down through the caves, and what had caught his eye was a very soft, gleaming green light. 

"There you are." Ronnel squirmed his arm into the opening - it was just larger than his forearm and bicep were - and worked his way in. His fingers felt the change in texture, from the rough rock to something that was almost glass like, smooth but with edges that his fingertips caught on. With a grunt of effort he started working the different piece under his fingers, rocking it back and forth and back and forth until - he heard an odd crumbling, cracking sound. The dark-haired man dragged the thing out, and felt the corner of his lips tug upwards. 

Nestled in his palm was a softly glinting green stone. 

(3/3 non combat posts, HP/EN recovered) 

Ronnel started making his way through the caverns as he pondered. One thing he would need to improve on, was his armor. The greaves he had on were decent enough, but they really didn't hold a candle to the quality that Varathra or the Tem Armor that the merchant Ceres had sold him had. The man ducked under a stalactite, flinching slightly as a cold drop of simulated water fell against the back of his neck. 

Rubbing the spot the water had landed on he pressed onwards, grumbling internally. The problem with trying to purchase armor for now was - there was only so long this armor would be effective. Once he got to a place where he was hunting on the higher levels, he would have to go and repurchase all over again. Or - hunt down monsters or chests, or make things himself. And he already knew he didn't have the skill to be making armor or weapons, not yet. It was another thing he still had to decide - the man paused when he caught a flash of something from the corner of one eye.

Ronnel groaned and stretched out his back as he shook himself. That fight had - dragged on much longer than he would have liked. He needed to improve if he wanted to be any kind of reliable in this cruel death game they were all trapped in. He glanced down at Varathra, the twin bladed spear gleaming softly in the light of the caverns. His equipment was good enough - the spear had handled well. It was he who was lacking, his skills not up to snuff yet. He clenched his hand and breathed out slowly. 

"Alright. Once I finish this, I work on ranking on my skills. I can't slack just because I was able to kill a couple things. I need to keep improving." His voice echoed in the cave as he nodded to himself. There were a few ways he could see to improve, it was just a matter of actually applying himself to one of them before he would see any progress. 

"To be fair I haven't really had a chance to talk to her recently. When we first, and last, met, I was - working through some issues." That was as polite and discreet a way of putting his crippling fears as Ronnel could think to put it. "And I don't have any issues with her thank you very much - more like I think she was completely exasperated with me." He chuckled as he remembered her disbelief and near-rage when he'd tossed a food bar at her. 

"And I know she probably wouldn't have any issues with them - but I'm a worrier. So I'll try to keep an eye out on it all." He shrugged. "Anyway - I'm glad you were able to find Peako, it looks like the two of you are going to be a good match." The little squirrel on her shoulders had puffed up slightly while she was telling him off over his worry, and he couldn't blame either of them. It was pretty silly of him to be worrying about the orange player. 

"You've already run out of tier one- wait hold up." Ronnel blinked and paused, turning slightly to look at the small redhead next to him. He felt a tremor of a slight headache run through his head and he pinched his nose to stave it off. "Ok, Ceres - Firecracker, I know you're a bit oblivious at times and it's kind of endearing, but be careful who you mention Mari around, alright?" He shook his head with a slightly crooked smile. 

"I'm fine with her - met her, and am trying to work on becoming her friend but lordie that's a slow process," the dark-haired man chuckled, "but a lot of other people aren't. She's got an infamous reputation, and whether or not it's deserved - I've been seeing people plotting about attacking her. I've tried warning her but - anyway, off topic. You need to be careful because you don't want people to start ostracizing you too - though, honestly..." He frowned and rubbed his cheek, studying the small redhead. "Honestly now that I think about it, that's kind of bullarky anyway. Hmm." Though to be honest the PKer would probably call them both idiots if she found out they were causing themselves trouble over her. Which in his mind just reinforced that at least some of how she'd gotten her reputation was erroneous. 

@Ceres

Ronnel paused for a moment, tilting his head to one side as he looked at the petite redhead. If she was able to keep herself entirely content alone, that was admirable - he knew that it had been wearing on him for a while. Instead he gave her a wry smile. “As for the wrong idea - don’t worry about it.” It seemed he had learned other things than she had growing up, and he didn’t know if he wanted to despoil the innocence she had - or at least, what she portrayed.

“Mmm. You really shouldn’t do that. I understand wanting to help people - I feel the same way, even if it’s a bit harder for me to put myself out there to do that - but if you burn yourself out doing that, well then you won’t be able to help anyone.” He looked around, frowning for a moment before pulling up his map. “I got a bit turned around, give me a moment here...ah.” Thankfully, the map showed the general direction back towards the city.

Ronnel recentered his spear as his chest heaved. This fight was almost over - he could feel it. The monster was flagging hard, struggling to recover from the hit it just endured. The red-eyed man spun his weapon end over end and gripped the haft tightly. "Come on then - one last dance you airborne rodent!" 

The bat chittered angrily and flared its wings. It started to swoop down, intent on striking the player - but that intent didn't come to pass. Ronnel lashed out, the twin blades of Varathra burying themselves into digital flesh. There was a momentary pause then the bat exploded into a shower of red data as it died. Ronnel stumbled slightly and let out a long breath. 

"Hoo. Right. Ok." He planted the butt of his spear on the ground and leaned on it. "Next stop. Search for the gem, then fight whatever the guardian is. I got this."

Ronnel scrambled back to his feet and glared. He knew that the fall hadn’t been the bat’s fault - it hadn’t even shrieked - but he still blamed it. “Alright - we’ll have a redo on that one.” The bat almost seemed to nod and backed up, its wings beating in the air as it chittered loudly.   The two of them faced off, and Ronnel glared harder as the bat shrieked. It was a challenge and he was going to accept it gladly. 

“Alright you flying rat come get some!” Ronnel spat out and dropped his spear to the ground. Varathra’s blade began to gleam with bright light as he started the path of following his favored art. The bat pulled back towards the cavern roof - then shot down towards him, chittering angrily. <Heft> triggered as the spear-wielder brought his blade up, ripping into the chest of the bat as it hurtled towards him. The bat was knocked away, hitting against one of the stalagmites as it spun away from the strike. 

The two attacks clashed against each other, and both of them came off worse from it. Ronnel’s head was throbbing where the monster had struck it, a small red mark forming there from the headbutt. The bat on the other hand, had a new weeping gash on its side, and its body was now clearly flagging as its wings flapped slower, barely keeping it up in the air. Ronnel breathed out slowly, glaring. This was - more enjoyable than the fights against the blasted boar pups had been Here he was actually able to fight and hit the thing. 

“Alright you overgrown rat with wings. You’re going down.” Ronnel and the bat circled each other for a moment, closed in the cave. He started to stab at the bat just as the monster swooped in for another attack - only for Ronnel to trip over a rock as he was moving, and fall to the floor. Both attacks missed by wide margins as he hit the ground. 

Ronnel pulled out of the stagger and glared at the bat that was circling in the air above him. The creature was looking damaged, blood matting its fur as its wings beat in the air. But at this rate he knew that he was going to win the fight, no matter how long it ended up actually taking him - yes, it would be a grind, and it wasn’t going to be a swift grind at that, but it was all but guaranteed at this point. He would have to get absolutely terrible, horrendous luck to lose this fight, and if things started getting that bad off he was just going to book it out of the caverns to recover. This wasn’t the cave guardian, he didn’t need the victory for the quest. But - he wanted it. He wanted to beat this bat.

The red-eyed man tightened his grip on his weapon. At least he wasn’t trying to fight this thing with his old spear - this new one was much better suited to him. He swept one foot back, bracing himself as the bat came in again. He struck out, spear digging into the flank of the monster, as it slammed its head against his forehead.