(PP-F9) Lizard of the Ashes <<Feeding the Enemy>> (Zelrius)

[Amira 0]

Manta stood outside of the ninth floors main settlement, staring down into the shifting, swirling lava below. It was a beautiful sight, but it wasn't the main reason she was there. She had recently accepted the Feeding the Enemy quest, and the familiar she wanted hung around on this floor, and was extremely rare. A blackened lizard, it wasn't the cutest or strongest of mobs, but it was certainly hard to find, and its ability was very helpful as well. According to rumors it was a very good healer, at least when tamed as a familiar. Manta didn't really look forward to quests like these often; they were low level and usually quite easy, but today she was going on this with her commandant, Zelrius. She didn't know much about him, but he had voted for her to join the guild, which made her very curious. Since then they hadn't really talked, the closest they had come to doing so was the War of the Ancients quest. So today wasn't just about finding an elusive familiar, it was about learning more about her commandant as well.

[Zelrius 0]

The golden haired Commandant found himself on his second favorite choice of Floor. The burning lava and extreme lack of low leveled players made this a preferable place compared to most for the Commandant, but other that this, this place was literally hell on Aincrad. He had elected to go on a quest with a Brigadier from his guild, and as such, found himself wandering outside of town to find her. Not long after spotting the figure, Zelrius made his way over, the facade of arrogance chainging his overly serious demeanor to that what seemed like bliss and egotism. "Salutations, Brigadier Manta. I probably need not give you the lengthy introduction I give to most." His arrogant smile cutting into his face as he spoke and gave a slight bow in greeting. "So, What's the goal today? What kind of pet do you want to be stuck with for near life? Whatever it may be, I suggest we get a move onto that. The searing heat is impossible to bare under this cloak and tuxedo." He said as he reached a finger and tugged lightly on his collar, which was closely held together by his bowtie. 

[Amira 0]

Manta's hand shot to the handle of her rapier, the blade making a clicking sound as it was drawn a half inch out of it's sheath. She let go of the handle and allowed the blade to go back to it's original position. She hadn't seen him coming, and had definitely been startled by his speaking. The shapes formed by the glowing lava below had distracted her. It certainly wasn't a good idea to draw a weapon on any of her commandants, let alone Zelrius, the dual wielder. She turned to face him, the arrogant smile already getting on her nerves. She looked him over seriously, wondering what had possessed him to come to the ninth floor in all of those layers of clothing. "I'm looking for a blackened lizard. And if it annoys me i'll kill it, so I wouldn't say near life." She said back, smirking a little. It probably was a terrible idea to antagonize him, but she couldn't help it. His attitude was getting on her nerves today.

[Zelrius 0]

He smirked at the drawn weapon, glancing up to her eye level and narrowing his own, his smirk only increasing in size, as if daring her to draw a weapon on him. He didn't say much, but the look he gave should have sufficed the unspoken words. "Kill it? That's cold. We need more of that in Azure, prehaps you were the right choice when I voted you in." He gave a short chuckle and fiddled with his pendants around his neck, pulling back the black and gold gloves of Midas so that they fit squarely on his hands. He gave a short dust off of his newest cloak, the old one was in possession of Erin as of now, and there was no way in hell he'd ever be able to look her in the eye again. His dark blue eyes simply glanced at the Brigadier, until his smile slowly faded, only for him to catch it and force it back up again. "Lead the way, Lady Manta."

[Amira 0]

Manta took her hand off of the hilt of her rapier, letting it fall to her side. The only way she would ever fight Zelrius would be if she knew she could one shot him, and if he wasn't her commandant. Above all she was loyal to her guild, even if some of the people in it got on her nerves. "You know as well as I do that strength is everything in this game. It takes a cold heart to get stronger." She replied in response to his saying her killing it was cold. She would do anything for more power, besides betraying her friends and guild members. She needed strength to protect the people she cared about, mainly to protect Erin. She pulled out the black diamond that Ebony had loaned to her for this quest, pressing it onto the crossguard of her blade where it stuck. She had to give up the enhancements on her gauntlet for it to work, but this quest wouldn't involve much fighting anyway. At least, she hoped. She started to walk in a random direction, heading away from the city. "When we find it we'll know." She called out to him, even though she didn't actually know exactly what the lizard looked like. She was bound to find out though.

[Zelrius 0]

"Strength is everything, you're absolutely correct there, Brigadier." Though the boy often said this, until recently, he didn't believe it. Zelrius had found friends and companionship important. Had was the key word there. With Tristan getting Married, Erin leaving him alone in that Inn room, and anyone else the golden haired Commandant had called friend or tried to get close to was gone. Even though the likes of Celesmeh, Lessa, and Ssendom still attempted as they did to make friends with him, it was too late. Zelrius had been pushed to the edge of trust and only found moderate content with his life when he was purely alone, lost in his own world. The thought of it stung his eyes with tears forming, of which he quickly tried to force back down whilst avoiding looking in Manta's direction, should see turn around and see him. His voice was unwavering however, no difference from that of his usual facade. "Very well, I have no qualms. Brigadier, all I ask is that we are able to fight any monsters we come across along the way, if you don't mind?"

[Amira 0]

Manta felt like she may have said the wrong thing as Zelrius avoided making eye contact with her. She wasn't about to correct herself though. She believed what she had said, regardless of what he thought. Even though he had agreed with her it could just be that he didn't want to conflict with her beliefs. That didn't sound like something Zelrius would do though. She thought back to when she and Erin had started their relationship. She had mentioned Zelrius, leaving Manta to wonder what the story was behind that. She unsheathed her darkened rapier and held it at her side. "I'm fine with that. It will be a while before we find one, so we might as well do something productive with that time."

[Zelrius 0]

"Very well," The welling liquid in his eyes had subsided as he had pushed away those thoughts of previous mention, only reminding himself in his mind I am all that matters. This is my chance at adventure, and I will be damned if I am going to let others ruin it for me. Those words, though he often told himself them, he couldn't quite grasp them, simply because that's not how he wanted to go through life with things. Nonetheless, The golden haired boy switched his attention to monsters not far off in the distance. Drawing one of his blades, the boy went over and dealt with them with great ease. The added "Disguise" Skill to lower their evasion and Blood Rage Crystal for damage made it all the much easier.  He looked at the loot and glanced over to Manta. "I feel obligated to give a Lady like you the col. However, I would like to request you let me keep the Materials farmed from these?" He had no clue why he was asking, prehaps it was just second nature to be polite most of the time, though he knew he was more than capable of demanding the mats from her and would probably face little to no argument for one reason or another. 

ID: 40867 BD 3+2 from Swerd = 5+2 from AC Pendant = 7 Hit. MD 20+3 from S&D, x10 COL + 7 from Tainted Shoulders = x17

Zelrius 192/192 E: 26/48

4 165 HP Mobs, 42 MIT, 27 Damage dead.

8 Materials

11,220 Col.

 

 

[Amira 0]

Manta watched, her own blade drawn, as Zelrius charged in, attacking a group of extremely powerful mobs. She wasn't worried, having seen what he could do in the War of the Ancients event quest. As expected, he had no trouble with the group, moving in and slicing the mobs to ribbons. The way his swords moved truly was beautiful. Manta couldn't help wanting a unique skill herself, one that would allow her to move with that sort of grace and fluidity. She glanced over the loot, surprised by the sheer amount of col there was. There was a good number of materials, but the col was more impressive. She glanced over at Zelrius as he spoke, offering her the col. It was a lot of col, enough to push her along in her goal of buying a house for her and Erin. "I'll gladly accept." She wasn't quite sure exactly why he asked though. He was already being extremely generous with giving her the col.

[Zelrius 0]

With another quick swipe of his sword a few times, Zelrius had diced the next group of monsters to smithereens with complete and utter easy. The loot once more appeared, but wasn't quite as much as before. With a sigh, He turned to send her the next batch but then glanced up at her, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Before I give you any more. I am a rather selfish person, tell me what I stand to gain from giving you this, exactly?" He had no idea what he was expecting for the answer, and honestly, his hopes were low. She was a Brigadier, and he would give it to her simply for that reason, but Zelrius was just curious to see if Manta had anything to say about that. 

ID 40872 BD 7. LD 10+3 = 13.

7+4 = 11+3 Bloodrage Crystal = 14+5 Charge = 19

4 165 HP, 41 Mitigation, 27 Damage Monsters, DEAD

12 Materials

19,140 Col.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Zelrius

[Amira 0]

That dual wield skill was great for taking out monsters. Zelrius cleared his way through another batch. And then Zelrius posed a very hard question. What would he gain from giving her that? Her own happiness and gratefulness to him? She felt like that wasn't what he wanted though. Still, what would he get from this that he would want? "You gain my gratefulness to you?" She said more than a little questioningly. She let her rapier fall to her side, more than certain that she wouldn't be doing much fighting on this venture. "You don't get much to tell the truth."

[Zelrius 0]

He grinned, only looking to her, giving a quick glance up and down. He fought the urge to ask for his own lustful desire, despite how much he felt he needed and deserved it. "I figured I wouldn't get anything, Nonetheless, It is okay. I am more than okay with helping a fellow player and Brigadier with getting a house for herself and whomever her significant other may be. I only assume you have one, otherwise we have plenty of room in the Guild hall for you." He smiled a bit mischeviously, no actually curious to find out whom Manta had interest in. Though he didn't know, Zelrius would regret asking the simple question: "So tell me, Lady and Brigadier, is there anyone you have your eyes on?" 

[Amira 0]

Manta didn't notice anything wrong when Zelrius answered her. She was just glad to be able to get some help with getting a house. It was apparent that Zelrius was very perceptive, guessing right away that that was her goal. It did make sense though. What else would a player need such abundant amounts of col for besides that? She smiled as he asked if there was anyone she had her eyes on. Erin and her had made it past the eyeing part already, but that wasn't all that relevant. She doubted that he would really care about her answer anyway, he just didn't seem to be a romantic in any sense of the word. It could just be the experiences he had been through though. "Well, I'm with another adorable young woman right now. She's amazing." Manta made sure not to mention any names. Erin had most definitely mentioned doing something to Zelrius, something that she regretted. Having no clue what that was she didn't want to accidentally start something. For all she knew he could be her ex.

[Zelrius 0]

(Whoopsie, completely broke fourth wall with the knowledge on the house bit, sorry xD. Twas accident, I swear)

He grinned, quite surprised at her choice of gender. "An adorable young woman. Hm, I suppose that makes two of you. I do hope that you speak the truth when say she is amazing. I am glad a guildmate was able to find someone that makes them happy." He ended with that comment, noting that Manta was quite clearly withholding information on the subject. He withdrew that statement, unsure how-else to proceed without coming across as rude. His grin shifted into a flat line of thought as he got lost in his own motions and wonderings. The facade slowly faded as his brows creased up, causing him to look in a single direction, spacing out and only thinking about various things, most of which would be incomprehensible if anyone were able to hear it.

 

[Amira 0]

"Thank you." Manta replied in response to Zelrius's comment about being happy that she had found someone. It was certainly true, even if Erin's constant shyness and submissiveness sometimes got on her nerves. She had taken it on as her mission to build up Erin's confidence, and she was determined not to fail. In the lava nearby. bubbles started to pop up, and Manta walked over to the little stream. She had heard that the lizards themselves slept inside the boiling hot lava. She braced herself and stuck her hand in, grasping something that felt like a tail between her two fingers before pulling her hand out, her health bar decreasing the whole while. She dropped the creature on the ground, shaking her hand in the air to get the last remnants of lava off of it. It was a good thing that you didn't feel pain in this game, at least, not in the normal sense. The little black lizard stared up at her from where she had dropped it before letting out a loud hiss and scurrying back into the lava. It was quite obvious that it wasnt interested in anything but napping in lava.

ID# 41185 results:

Loot: 6+2= 8 Fail

[Zelrius 0]

As he watched Manta dip her figners into the lava and withdraw a squirming creature, all the while her HP dropped slowly. He went through his inventory for a quick moment and held out a red crystal to her, Commanding the crystal to heal his guildmate. "A Dud?" Zelrius asked, wondering if that little effort Manta had just put in had just gone to waste as the Lizard scurried away in quick speed. He gave a short laugh at how quickly the small creature disappeared, almost as quickly as it had appeared in the Girl's hands. He spoke up again, a bit of concern ringing in his voice. "Keep dipping your hand in molten rock like that, and I will run out of Crystals to heal you with. Then you'll die, and I will have paperwork to fill out." That was his passive aggressive way to ask her to be careful, though he would dare never actually say that. While it was true he would run out of crystals, there was no actual paperwork that would be needed should she die. No, but the event of which would weigh on the golden haired boy's mind more heavily as time passed.

[Amira 0]

Manta hadn't even known that there was paperwork in this game. Being a commandant was starting to sound like a sucky position. "Thank you." She said to Zel when he pulled out a crystal and healed her. "You don't need to heal me though. By the time we find another one of them my health would have regenerated completely." She explained before letting out a long sigh. This was probably going to take forever, at least at the rate that they were going. "Might as well keep going. I doubt one will pop up in the same place again." She commented, unsheathing her rapier. She might as well try and do some col gathering of her own while they were walking around out here. Even if she couldn't match the amount that Zel was getting she could still get some.