[PP/-F9] Testing one's mettle <<The iron guardian>> (Mack)

[Xion 0]

Xion sighed as he walked out of the teleport gate in Vulcan on the ninth floor, the sweltering heat of the volcanic settlement doing little to affect the tank due to his Survivability skill. "So...Iron guardian, looking at the quest stats I can take a hit from almost anything in this quest with little to no concern, although it's probably better that Mack deals with most of the MOBS due to his tier 2 armour" he said to himself as be absent mindedly scrolled through his menu, double checking that everything was in order. 39MIT 14 thorns 2PAR and 4 DMG I total, not bad for a tank of his level. 

 

"Now to wait for the big guy"

[Mack 0]

OOC: @Magda and @Michiko, you two should tag along. Just don't enter combat and we'll power level you two :) PM Xion and me to let us know if you're coming. Provided Xion is ok with it.

"There you are," a deep voice boomed from behind the blonde tank. "Are you ready for Mack and Xion take an extended camping trip," the giant axe man asked, reaching his right hand up to run a finger along the honed bladed head of his bearded axe Invictus. The axe was bearded, the smith was bearded. It was like they were twins. "I know where we're going, completed this one already. If everything is in order, we can get a move on. This is going to take a few days. My sisters might be joining us, let's give them a few minutes to see if they show up. They need to be power leveled and Magda has expressed some desire to be a tank, like you."

[Xion 0]

"Sisters" the word ran through Xion's head over and over again in the few seconds after Mack had said it. 'Mack...has sisters...there's more than one of them... This could either be the best thing to ever happen to Aincrad or its doom' he thought, although the tank held Mack in a VERY, VERY high regard three or more of the Mack clan could be a little too much. 

 

"I didn't know you had sisters...and if One of them wishes to be a tank I'll happily tank her under my wing if both you and your sister are ok with it. We need more tanks, and seeing as I'm not too shabby when it comes to tanking me teaching her may not be a bad idea" he said with a chuckle, befor e thinking for a second. 

"If they come along we're going to have to do some serious babysitting, buuut seeing as I have a certain skill once more that won't be too much trouble with your damage output" the tank said with a laugh

 

(Also if they show up I'm just going to HOWL in their faces for the comedic effect : D ) 

[Magda 0]

If she hated that snow covered backwoods village on the fourth floor, which she obviously did, then she absolutely loved the ninth floor. As the blue light flared suddenly Magda stumbled through. She bore a striking resemblance to Mack though she was much fairer of course and not nearly as tall. She only stood a total of six feed and three inches after all. A teal tunic was fitted to her torso with a black leather belt which cinched it around the waist. She also wore a pair of loose fitted black pants that were tucked into the dark leather boots that came up to just below her knees. The black leather possessed a certain gleam to it one might attribute to being highly polished, though here she hardly had the need to do that. Once she'd regained her composure she stood up and shifted the war-hammer that rested at her hip. She was really ready to start bashing some heads with this hammer. When she first logged in she nearly picked up the Wild Dance weapon since it pretty much suited her life as a fighter, but ultimately she went with the hammer. Primarily because of her belief that a hammer represented strength. Strength she would only day unleash upon this so called Front-line she'd been hearing about and actively work on clearing out the rest of the floors. How else was she going to ensure her siblings made it out safely.

Magda visibly relaxed as she basked in the glorious heat that seemed to flow in from everywhere. Well it was a little too hot for her but she found it so much more bearable than the cold. Her arms were held out wide as she breathed in deeply. The instant her eyes opened she started to look around for Mack. Secretly she wanted to explore around on this floor first since she was already pretty set on this being her favorite and that might have been rather strange to most people so she kept quiet on it. "Soooo, what're we going to go do?" There was a slight bounce in her step which betrayed the eagerness she felt. Even if she'd been instructed not to attack and she was smart enough to listen to advice... well most of the time.

 

[Mack 0]

"You better not mean date when you say take under your wing," Mack rumbled in a low growl in Xion's direction. He liked the kid well enough, but the blonde tank was just that, a kid. Magda and Michiko were both grown women. That and they were both his sisters. Anyone that attempted anything with either one of them would find themselves facing a very angry ginger giant who would put them through a plate glass window to demonstrate his displeasure at the idea of them dating anyone in this game world. There were a few decent guys that he wouldn't mind, too much, seeing his sisters wind up with, but even then everyone would receive a very stern talking to concerning what was, and was not acceptable. Before the conversation could progress much further, Magda announced her presence.

"We, sister mine, are going to go and slay the Iron Guardian," Mack replied, clapping an arm around Xion, who was dwarfed by both of the red heads. "You are going to look down on little Xion here, and pick up some easy experience points so you can level up a few times. Xion needs to find the Broker, the Broker will give us the quest. We will slay the Iron Knights and Iron Guardian. The Broker will betray us and try to take Xion's quest item. We will kill the Broker. We will turn in the quest and get our rewards. Xion will keep his hands and eyes to himself, or I will cut them off or pluck them out... whichever is more applicable."

[Xion 0]

"I mean take under my [censored] wing Mack" the young tank snapped back, huffing with frustration as he looked up at the giant. He knew that he couldn't stand up to the man in any way shape or form, so the most he could do was huff indignantly. 

"And if it'll put your mind at ease Mack I'm not really into girls that much ok" he said as Magda approached, coming out of the closet in the most non chalant way ever. 

"You must be one of Mack's sisters, nice to meet you" he said, extending his open hand before he found the massive arm of his former guildmaster clapped around his shoudler as the red haired giant went through the quest. "You could have left out the whole looking down part, not to mention the removing of my eyes and possibly hands..."

[Mack 0]

"If I could have, I would have," Mack replied, releasing Xion and crossing his arms over his chest. Now that he knew, from the sound of things, that Xion wasn't interested in his sisters and never would be things were much better. Unless Xion started hitting on him. Then they were going to have to have a most unpleasant conversation. "Xion fancies himself a tank, and he can howl. Howling is the tank's natural mating call. They do it to attract other tanks, then they check to see who's howl is bigger." the ginger leader of the Crimson Blades said. Swiping a finger in the air in front of him, he scrolled through his menu and equipped his guild cloak which was crimson with white trim. "Ready whenever you find the broker," Mack said, pulling the deep hood of the cloak up over his head and crossing his arms over his chest once more.

[Magda 0]

"Magda," she said with a slight nod when she was simply identified as one of Mack's sisters. She silently mused over how Michiko would have reacted to that. When he raised his hand to shake she starred to return the gesture before one of Mack's arms dwarfed the man. The comment about looking down wasn't much of much of an understatement considering she was nearly as tall as Mack. She couldn't help but smirk when she saw the two of them and she seemed to perk up at the mention of a quest. As he described what they'd do though her brow furrowed slightly. "So if we know this Broker is going to betray us why can't we get the drop on him first?" Her eyes shifted from Mack to Xion. While she had learned a few things about the game she was still largely new to it all.

She continued to listen when Mack went on to explain that the guy was a tank so that definitely got her attention though the talk about mating calls and comparing size sort of threw her off. She nearly burst out laughing when she thought of all the tanks howling at each other strutting their stuff like giant peacocks displaying a dazzling array of colors in their tails. If she noticed it wasn't an entirely serious statement on Mack's part wasn't really all that obvious. Regardless she patted both of them heavily on their backs and said, "Let's go find us a broker then!'

[Xion 0]

'Great just bloody great two red haired Giants...two people who can use me as a convenient arm rest...why did I agree to this?' The tank thought to  himself as he started to walk in the direction of an area that had been marked on his map, it wasn't too long away, nor was it round the corner. "So Magda...I hear that you want to become a tank..." He said as they walked on, pausing every now and then to check his map. "If so, don't be afraid to ask for advice or help, I'm the only proper tank that the guild has as far as I know. Even if your brother has a better defence rating than me it's because of his armour and even then he's a DPS build, whereas Im focused completely on defence" he said, before looking at his map once more. "Aha! There's the broker" he said before walking off, spending a couple of minutes talking to the broker. A bag of col was offered and a quest was accepted. 

 

"Ok, now to fight some iron Knights" the tank announced as he returned to the group

[Mack 0]

Completely unconcerned, supremely unconcerned with the rudeness of his actions, Mack rested one forearm on Xion's head while the tank spoke to the Broker and accepted the quest. "And when you betray us," Mack said in a low tone to the non-player character that was masquerading as a real player as he drew one finger across his throat. "I killed you once, I can do it again," the gigantic axe man rumbled, crossing his arms over his chest as Xion accepted the quest and then began to lead them fresh out of Vulcan Town. True, it was a bit dangerous for either one of them to be up here on the ninth floor, especially Magda. But, with his superior defense and damage output, the ginger giant was certain he could look out for both of them and help them complete the quest with few problems. As he was speaking, Mack flicked almost lazily through his menu, using the arm that was resting on Xion's head, and swapped out St. Michael's Fingers for Grandmaster's Honor.

Edited March 24, 2016 by Mack

[Magda 0]

Magda looked over at Xion as he offered to answer any of her questions in terms of being a tank she nodded briefly. She first became enamored with the idea of being a tank after she'd been instructed in the various roles one might fill within a party. Being able to simply shrug off damage and draw the attention of all those beasties? Well it was certainly fitting for one such as Magda after all. "If that's the case then feel free to tell me everything as we walk." While she knew the concept behind being a tank the revelation that Xion might be the only true tank within the guild was rather surprising. As was the fact that Mack was more DPS than Tank. While the idea of crushing her enemy with one swing of her hammer was appealing, being able to take more damage than others just sold her on the idea. She also figured it'd be nice to see what someone else thought of the role rather than relying solely upon the advice of her siblings. She couldn't help but smile as Mack threatened this Broker guy. Though she was a little confused when he said he'd killed him before. She thought about asking how he could be here if he'd died once already but she opted to remain silent on the matter. No need to demonstrate her lack of gaming knowledge when it wasn't necessary.

[Xion 0]

"Excuse me mack but could you not use me as an armrest" the tank asked, before realising that the request had fallen on deaf ears, there was no way that the tank was going to get the giant of a man to yield with such a small stature. Either way the trio were on their way towards the quest area and the tank had some talking to do, specifically to Magda. 

"Well being a tank is all about defending your party members, while we can't deal as much raw damage we can take a hell of a lot more than DPS builds of a similar level can due to the insane amount of armour that tanks can get once at higher levels. Furthermore, we are quite efficient at drawing aggro or hate as some call it, using abilities like <<Howl>> which instantly draws the aggro of all monsters nearby, or <<fighting spirit>> which passively causes you to generate more aggro as you attack, but the latter is more often than not used by bulky hybrid builds or the more offensive variety of tank. And when it comes to the different varities of tank, I haven't seen many others but I can tell you what I use. Basically I'm focused around a neat little tactic called stun/para locking, which means that I specialise in chaining the paralysis and stun debuffs to keep my opponent locked down and unable to move or attack. This means that my team mates cannot be attack and we can safely attack whatever we are fighting, but in the event that para locking does not work I, like many takes have a high amount of armour and thorns, the latter of which is an enchantment which can be applied to armour, which damages anything and anyone that attacks you, providing that the strike isn't a critical one" 

 

After the long spiel Xion let out a deep sigh, maybe he had talked too much? Nah, there's never such a thing as too much information, well as far as the tank was concerned. He quickly smiled at Magda, it was good to know that there were up and coming tanks, the frontlines had too few of them and too many DPS and support builds for such a small amount of tanks to protect. (Mack could you spawn the mobs just to be safe?)  

[Mack 0]

OOC: I'm spawning them at a higher level so we can get those sweet, sweet mats.

ID: 53044
BD: 7 (5+2 Ring)
LD: 13 (+3 Mats, +1725 Col)

Mack: 131/137 (15/33) [EXPLODE CATAPULT {AOE}: 3x3x16=144 DMG] (-6 Thorns)
Magda: ??
Xion: ??

Iron Knight 1: -1/115 (Mit. 28) [144-28=116 DMG]
Iron Knight 2: -1/115 (Mit. 28) [144-28=116 DMG]
Iron Knight 3: -1/115 (Mit. 28) [144-28=116 DMG]

When Xion started walking out towards where the quest would take them, Mack dropped the act of using the blonde man as an armrest. After all, now there were more important things to be doing. Like dealing with the Iron Knights when they spawned into the quest. Since there were three people in the quest party, Mack was well aware of the fact that there would be three Iron Knights that would need to be dealt with. This wasn't his first time taking this quest.

As they moved across the volcanic landscape, Mack only half listened to what Xion was really saying about being a tank. He'd heard the entire spiel before, on more than one occasion. The ginger giant's dark eyes were focused on his surroundings and, when the Iron Knights made their appearance, Mack called a halt to Xion's speech. "Being a bullet sponge is all well and good," Mack rumbled in a low tone, pointing out the three heavily armored Iron Knights. "But, if you kill them in the first strike then you never get hit. Observe and learn, young pondskipper."

With a bellowed battle cry that was the complete opposite of being sneaky, Mack charged off in the direction of the three knights. Even as their helmed heads were whipping around to face them, Mack was already airborne. Landing in the middle of the trio of knights and generating a powerful shock wave that toppled the three computer generated knights the third in command of the Knights of the Blood Oath proceeded to belt out, at the top of his lungs, 'For He's a Jolly Good Fellow' at the top of his lungs as he used Invictus to smoothly decapitate each of the Iron Knights one at a time.

"Spoils of war," he called, tossing Xion and Magda loot bags which each contained five hundred col and a crafting material. "The extra two-twenty-five is my finders fee. Where to next? Also, did you explain to Mags that a tank's howl doubles as the tank's mating call?"

REWARDS:

Magda:
500 Col
1 Mat

Xion:
500 Col
1 Mat

Mack:
725 Col
1 Mat

Edited March 24, 2016 by Mack

[Magda 0]

Magda smirked when Xion requested her brother to stop using him as an armrest. The crimson-haired woman chuckled in response and figured there wasn’t any chance of that happening. Her boorish brother tended to do as he liked regardless of the situation. Though she had to admit he did have his moments. Her attention was suddenly diverted from her amusing thoughts when Xion started to talk to her about what it was to be a tank. She listened intently to every word he said as her eyes focused mainly on him. When he mentioned that he used a combination of stuns and paralyze effects to lock down his opponents she offered him a wide grin. “That’s what I want to go for too!” She held up her hammer to demonstrate her point. Not only would she be able to take the brunt of the damage for her party but she'd also be able to prevent the enemy from attacking while her allies took them down. It was a great plan in her mind and one that would help a party function in harmony. Well that's what she thought but it didn't seem to be one that Mack shared. She was just about to ask another question but Mack chose that moment to interject. Essentially he felt it was more important to eliminate the opponent well before it had a chance to attack you in the first place. It was sound reasoning. She wouldn't deny that, but what happens when she found an enemy she couldn't kill in one hit? Something like a boss or something. Then he'd be grateful to have a tank there to take the punishment for him. That thought made a smirk tug at the corner of her lips. The thought that she'd one day save his damage dealing butt amused her to no end.

Magda's smirk quickly turned into a frown though as she thought more about her brother’s reasoning. Before she could say anything to him about it he had already rushed off in an attempt to prove his point. Her eyes tracked his progress as he single handedly tore his way through the three knights. She'd been so engrossed in the conversation that she failed to notice their presence which she felt a little ashamed about. When the last one fell to the bite of his axe the sound of her slow and deliberate clapping echoed throughout the area. "Bravo," she said. Despite the pride she felt in her brother's strength her lips were still twisted in a frown as she waited for him to get back but before she could he mentioned something about the Howl skill being the tank’s mating call. Her expression went blank for a moment as she turned to look at Xion. When her gaze returned to Mack she had just enough time to catch the bag of Col before it smacked her in the face. A mischievous grin worked its way onto her face for the sole benefit of her brother. It was the very smile she often donned when she intended to tease him or someone else around them. “Are you asking him to show me his mating call, or are you suggesting we should use it on each other?”

[Xion 0]

Xion sighed as he watched his red headed guild mate charge of with all the zeal of a real axe murderer, tearing into the mobs and obliterating them with a single sword art. "While I don't agree with his methods" the tank said with a chuckle "You can't deny that he gets results...no wonder he's on the front lines..." he said, his tone becoming more solemn and almost depressed sounding. It was true that for a low level player Xion wasn't too bad, but he was still weak. Weaker than Mack, weaker than Opal. "It's funny..." he mumbled "And i thought I could fight on the same level as someone like that..." he mumbled again, becoming lost in his own thoughts before magda's voice brought him back to reality. 

 

“Are you asking him to show me his mating call, or are you suggesting we should use it on each other?”

 

"What?" Xion said, rather surprised about how upfront Magda was, although he suspected that it was to wind Mack up. "Sorry Magda I'm not into girls, your brother on the other hand" he said, looking at him mischievously, he figured that messing with Mack would cheer him up. "Now he's a man that I would like to howl at" 

Xion sighed as he watched his red headed guild mate charge of with all the zeal of a real axe murderer, tearing into the mobs and obliterating them with a single sword art. "While I don't agree with his methods" the tank said with a chuckle "You can't deny that he gets results...no wonder he's on the front lines..." he said, his tone becoming more solemn and almost depressed sounding. It was true that for a low level player Xion wasn't too bad, but he was still weak. Weaker than Mack, weaker than Opal. "It's funny..." he mumbled "And i thought I could fight on the same level as someone like that..." he mumbled again, becoming lost in his own thoughts before magda's voice brought him back to reality. 

 

“Are you asking him to show me his mating call, or are you suggesting we should use it on each other?”

 

"What?" Xion said, rather surprised about how upfront Magda was, although he suspected that it was to wind Mack up. "Sorry Magda I'm not into girls, your brother on the other hand" he said, looking at him mischievously, he figured that messing with Mack would cheer him up. "Now he's a man that I would like to howl at" 

[Mack 0]

OOC: +1 Energy, out of combat.

"He can show you his mating call all he likes," Mack rumbled easily, tossing Invictus over one shoulder as he waited for Xion to lead the way to where the Iron Guardian would be waiting. "Xion prefers the men and, you can prefer me all you like, but I definitely prefer the ladies. Present company excepted and, of course, no judgement. Let each live their lives, in that regard, as they see fit," the hulking blacksmith rumbled. Then something else occurred to him that he probably needed to be asking. "Am I getting paid for babysitting you two tanks?" It seemed to be a perfectly valid question since, so far, neither the blonde man nor his twin had done anything to really help out. Not that there had been much actual work that had needed to get done.

[Magda 0]

"Oh?" Her eyes widened as she looked between Xion and Mack. That was an interesting revelation. Xion had feelings towards Mack? The sad part was it seemed like Xion's feelings weren't returned by her brother. "Then maybe I should tell you more about him sometime," she offered with a grin. Her brother started to speak but he didn't garner her attention until he asked if he was being paid for "babysitting" them. "What?" She stared at him for a few moments to make sure he was being serious. Of course he was being serious. Magda sighed as she patted Xion on the back. "Of course you'll be able to fight on that level one day. We both will." She offered her fellow tank a wide grin before she looked back at Mack and frowned. "Well if you really want to get paid for this I can pay you in old soggy boots. I've certainly caught enough of them to stock Michiko's closet ten times over." With her hammer resting back against her right shoulder she looked around. "So what's next?" 

[Xion 0]

Xion chuckled at Mack's response, while it lacked obvious comedic effect he still found it rather amusing. "I've been told I look like a girl before, damn hair" he said with a smile before he heard a surprised "Oh" from Magda, who then offered to tell the blonde more about her brother. "No..." he said, shaking his head with a smile. "I don't actually like your brother in that way, he's not my type. Too gruff and whatnot" he said. 

Mack then went on about being paid "I don't know....how about the next time I ask you to craft something I actually pay for it?" he suggested, maybe mack could take the rest of the loot, who knew. He turned as Magda patted him on the back, encouraging him and reassuring him that both of them will fight at a front line level one day "I'm getting there Magda, and I'm sure you'll be just fine" he said with a nod, before the red head asked what was next. 

 

"Well I guess all that's left is to kill the boss itself"

[Mack 0]

OOC: I'll take that as my cue to spawn the Guardian, also this thread clearly takes place PRIOR to the Boss Raid Meeting, so I still have my +2 ACC, +1 EVA Ring since it hasn't been given to Lowenthal yet.

ID: 53977
BD: 12 (10+2 Ring)
MD: 0 (1-1)

[H: 3] Mack: 132/137 (5/33) [Dynamic Violence: 4x3x18=216 DMG] (-4 Thorns)
Magda: ??
Xion: ??

Iron Guardian: 9/225 [216 DMG]

"Well, really, if you'd just trim your hair into a proper style... you know like mine and..." Mack trailed off and abandoned his line of teasing Xion as the Iron Guardian spawned about thirty meters in front of them. "This thing hits hard enough to give you problems, now, if you'll excuse me," Mack rumbled and, without waiting on the blonde man's input, the ginger giant charged off towards the Iron Guardian. The bladed head of Invictus slammed into the Boss from several angles time and time again, the final tomahawking strike in the monster's back being driving home with enough force to slam the creature face first into the ground and leave it with less than ten health points remaining. "Oh children..." Mack called back to his two companions in a sing-song tone. "You can come out to play now!"

[Xion 0]

ID: 54001

BD: 6 (hit) 

 

"I'm fine with the messy look to be honest" xion said in response to Mack's comment before the red headed axe wielder spotted the hulking <Iron guardian>> field boss, the man  casually running up o the creature and assaulting it with a series of devastating blows, his axe cleaving into the boss, leaving it with a measly amount of HP. 

 

When he announced that the two 'children' could join the fight Xion rushed (well as close as the tank could get to rushed) up to the weakened boss, his spear glowing a brilliant yellow before he actiavted his <<Maiming blow>> sword art, driving his spear into the monster's knees, stunning it and leaving it with one HP. If the tank had one more point in his weapon skill or athletics he would have killed the boss, but it mattered not as it meant that Magda could have the honour of slaying the beast. 

"Magda, You shall have the final blow" he said with a grin. 

Mack: 132/137 (5/33) [HATE: 3] 
Magda: ??
Xion: 68/72 (15/18) (-4 thorns) (using updated stats) [HATE: 1] 

Iron Guardian: 1/225 [Maiming blow: 2x1 2*4=8 DMG] [Stunned]