[5F - PP - NK] Dungeon of the Shifting Sands (Calrex) [Completed]

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

+54 HP x 4 - Regen, +30 HP - Battle Healing

Action: Howl

ID# 83953 results:

 MOB: 2 + 4 = 6 - Hit! - 240 dmg - 178 mit = 62 dmg x 4 = 248, Thorns - 28 dmg

[H:6] @Calrex: 803/1615 | EN: 88/160 (10 Battle Healing)
[H:9] Shield: 578/880 | EN: 88/88 (4 * (240 DMG+2 DMG - 178 MIT) = 256 DMG)

Sphynx 1: HP: -2/800 | DMG: 240 | ACC: 4 [DEAD]
Sphynx 2: HP: 10/800 | DMG: 240 | ACC: 4
Sphynx 3: HP: 19/800 | DMG: 240 | ACC: 4
Sphynx 4: HP: 19/800 | DMG: 240 | ACC: 4

ID# 83957 results: Loot: 9 + 1 skill = 10, Craft: 5 - 1 Material, 2400 Col

It had not escaped Shield that the four sets of eyes had shifted from the tank to the swordsman, their lips curling back off of their surprisingly sharp teeth, considering that they were human in face. Still, Shield had wounded their egos enough that a riddle should no longer be necessary to wrong-foot them, or so he hoped. Filling his lungs to the brim, he unleashed a <Howl> that tossed their manes wildly in his wind.

"You giving up so soon?" he challenged them, his voice booming through the dancing oil light of the inner courtyard. "Don't tell me you're folding under the pressure of a greater mind!"

While the sphynxes had once been cool and collected enough to see through such hollow insults, they were so incensed from the little game of mental chess that they immediately whirled around and began battering at Shield with their claws extended, scraping along his skin only to have the wounds seemingly melt off of him and appear on their own limbs. The first sphynx shattered into fragments of light from the punishment. The others were now so deep into the red that the slightest damage would do the same to them.

"Check! Calrex? I think you're set up in good position for checkmate!"

Edited May 4, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

ID: 83955
Battle Dice: 5 (Accuracy +3) = 8
Sword Art <<Shadow Explosion>> Activated (18 Energy Used / 1 Recovered / 54 Remaining)

Calrex watched as the sphinxes' attention returned fully back to Shield, the man using his <<Howl>> one last time before the end of this battle. One sphinx fell to his Thorns enhancement, while the others were barely holding on to life. With the setup ready the bluenette gave a smirk as he shifted his stance, turning to center the remaining three in his field of vision.

The Grand Blade II blazed purple once more as <<Shadow Explosion>> surrounded its entirety. As the Sword Art reached maximum strength the bluenette rushed forward, "On it!"

His sword quickly carved through the remaining health that the enemies had, reducing it to zero before they burst into crystals. Ending his assault on the other side of the now destroyed cluster the bluenette flicked his sword to the side before resheathing it into the scabbard resting sideways against the back of his hip, "...and that makes checkmate I believe."

Loot Roll:
ID: 83956
Loot Dice: 17 (Search and Detect +2) = 19
Craft Dice: 4 (x7 Bonus Col)

Loot List:
50400 col (3x (800 * 3) * 7)

[H:6] Calrex: 813/1615 | EN: 54/160 (10 Battle Healing)
[H:9] @Shield: 578/880 | EN: 88/88 (4 * (240 DMG+2 DMG - 178 MIT) = 256 DMG)

Sphynx 1: HP: -2/800 | DMG: 240 | ACC: 4
Sphynx 2: HP: 0/800 | DMG: 240 | ACC: 4 (13+1 DMG * 9 Art = 126 Remaining)
Sphynx 3: HP: 0/800 | DMG: 240 | ACC: 4 (13+1 DMG * 9 Art = 126 Remaining)
Sphynx 4: HP: 0/800 | DMG: 240 | ACC: 4 (13+1 DMG * 9 Art = 126 Remaining)

Enemies Remaining: 0/15

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

Swapping gear:
- Pain Drinker (-54 Regen), -1 Bloody Hell (-2 dmg, -24 bleed), + Finder's Keeper (+1 skill rank: search & detect), +Seeking Aura (+3 LD)

ID# 83958 results: Loot: 8 + 5 = 13 - No materials (7 total)

+54 HP x 4 - Regen, +20 HP - Survival = 814/880 HP

"That it would," he replied, letting his shoulders fall to a more relaxed position as he opened his inventory to trade out his seeking gear to replace his combat set. "Not much left now," he said, tallying up the events so far in his head. "That's four mummies, four aspects of Anubis, four scarabs, and four sphyxes. The most you typically encounter in a dungeon as far as serious monsters is about fifteen, so that means we're up against the boss next."

He glanced around the inner courtyard, but much as he suspected, the area was about as bare as it first appeared, or at least the spot where they currently stood. Aside from some ornate hieroglyphics that seemed to plaster about every significant surface they passed, the only thing decorating the area were the burning sconces that cast the dim, dancing light over the subterranean temple.

"Fortunately, I don't believe bosses scale to player level like typical monsters do, so this shouldn't be as over-leveled for me as some of these fights have been."

@Calrex

Edited May 4, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

(1/3 Turns Out of Combat, 1 Energy Recovered, 20 HP Recovered)

"Well that's good to hear. I think by the time we get out of here we'll have earned degrees in Egyptian mythology or something, heh."

Watching as his health and energy began out of combat recovery, Calrex gave a small sigh of relief as his health climbed past half. At that point he was definitely "out of the woods" in terms of his health. Energy never became an issue in this dungeon, as he still had more than a sufficient amount to continue using his Sword Art at least a few more times before he was spent. Plus they were taking breaks after each battle, which always made sure it was topped off.

"If the boss' stats still hold true that'll be really good. I'll likely switch to Martial Arts from here on out then, since we're only dealing with a single target."

Swiping on his menu the bluenette sent the Grand Guard II and Grand Blade II back into his inventory, changing them out for the Tide Pendant and Grand Gauntlets II respectively. He felt his speed and evasiveness return as a lightness to his form, giving him a sigh of relief.

Grand Blade II > Grand Gauntlets II
Grand Guard II > Tide Pendant

DMG: 13 > 15
ACC: 3 > 4
MIT: 116 > 30
Heavy Momentum: 2 > 0
Loot Dice: 0 > 1

Calrex: 833/1615 | EN: 55/160

@Shield

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 83960 results: Loot: 9 + 5 = 14 - No materials (7 total)

+20 HP - Survival = 834/880 HP

Shield nodded, acknowledging the other player's reasoning. He had seen first-hand what All Might could do, even without a completed Charge skill tree. Slowly, he began to probe further into the courtyard, finally able to take stock of the location rather than focusing on puzzling over puzzles. There seemed to be a smaller building up ahead, though it still took up a majority of the height of the inner temple itself. If he had to guess, that was where their final opponent lay in wait, so they could safely explore at least that far. He hoped.

"It's odd," he thought aloud. "I've done countless quests at this point, but actual dungeons have been more or less untouched by my hand. I've found plenty, but until I can start focusing on damage, they're a bit of a pipe dream."

He traced his skills and their various trees in his head. If he wanted to maximize the Parry tree, he still had a bit of a road ahead of him. He had come more than half way by now, but that progress slowed as fewer and fewer quests were available to him.

@Calrex

Edited May 4, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

(2/3 Turns Out of Combat, 1 Energy Recovered, 20 HP Recovered)

"Yeah, dungeons are certainly something I would recommend taking with at least one other person, especially if you don't have an all rounder build or something that can deal decent damage. When they were first discovered I was able to take them on by myself, but I think if our third battle was any indicator of how they've changed that might not be as viable an endeavor anymore."

"Certainly something felt off when Achilles triggered. It first didn't feel like any damage was dealt back. The second was that it didn't absorb as much damage as I had grown accustomed to in the past. My guess is that some patch happened or something that took away the reflect effect and lowered the maximum on the absorption. Not like that's going to be a serious issue, but I'll definitely need to re-evaluate my equipment from now on. Vanity armor alone just might not cut it now."

After seeing his health and energy climb further Calrex redirected his attention forward to where Shield was looking, "Final stage I guess. Any guesses on what Egyptian god we're going to be dealing with next?"

Calrex: 853/1615 | EN: 56/160

@Shield

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 83965 results: Loot: 15 + 3 item + 1 skill + 1 skill item = 20 - +1 Material (8 total)

Swapping gear:
- Finder's Keeper (- 1 skill rank: search & detect), -Seeking Aura (- 3 LD), + Pain Drinker (+ 54 Regen), + 1 Bloody Hell (+ 2 dmg, + 24 bleed)

+20 HP - Survival = 854/880 HP

As they drew nearer, Shield spotted the familiar golden glow on his shoulder that told him his earring had lit in the presence of something valuable. Stepping around the nearest column, he noticed a chunk of something that had fallen from the top of the pillar or ceiling. It appeared to be alabaster, or some other similar white stone. He recovered the material and stored it away, straightening back up to properly address the question.

"It's difficult to say," he said slowly, trying to see if there was a pattern so far to what they had seen. "It appears so far to be merely a jumble of Egyptian-themed elements in a setting that's reminiscent of the aesthetic of such things."

They were nearly upon the central chamber now, and as they approached, he opened his menus once again to trade out for the gear he would need to defend himself. It was exciting to be so near to the end now. He almost wanted to run in just to see what was waiting for them, but he needed to be patient just a little longer. Besides, as much as his inner child was curious, his outer adult knew better than to take such risks.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

(3/3 Turns Out of Combat, All Energy Recovered, 20 HP Recovered)

"Well, so far we've covered Anubis and Ra, although I wouldn't be sure what those sphinxes counted as. So just from what I can tell, if we are following any kind of pattern, we might be up against Osiris next. But that's a real wild guess, since this is a dungeon with Egyptian elements at best."

Loosening his shoulders up Calrex prepared his limbs for usage of Martial Arts as he watched his energy give a final white flash before being fully restored. His health was still slowly making its way up, but at the least it was past half and climbing back to full, "Looks like I'm back to full energy, so whenever you're ready lets take this thing down and get out of here. I think if this keeps up I'm probably going to end up with another faceful of sand like at the start. Feel like my virtual teeth are getting a gritty polish or something."

"At least it's still just a single target. I think what also made me lose health so fast was the fact that there were so many enemies attacking at once. A single powerful attack can be dangerous, but multiplying that by two or more can make it even more deadly."

Calrex: 873/1615 | EN: 56/160

@Shield

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

+30 HP - Battle Healing

Action: Focused Howl

ID# 83972 results:

 MOB: 4 - Miss

[H:0] @Calrex: 873/1615 | EN: 54/160 (10 Battle Healing)
[H:6] Shield: 880/880 | EN: 88/88

High Priest - HP 500/500 | DMG: 100 | MIT: 15

Shield gave Calrex one last nod before stepping through the doorway to the holy place of the temple. Inside, there was an altar, in front of which there kneeled a bald man covered head to toe in golden body paint as well as a flowing set of priestly garb that covered his shoulders, forearms and below his waist. Archaic and arcane heiroglyphs decorated his body, following the contours of his limbs and spine up onto his head.

"You cannot be here!" growled the gravely voice. The man turned to them, brandishing a curved khopesh and a sickle. "You must be cleaned from the temple!"

Shield held out his axe, pointing at what he assumed to be the priest.

"Do your worst!" he howled with the force of his lungs. The man stumbled under the gale. Quirking an eyebrow, he watched as the man charged in, swinging both weapons and missing him altogether. "What the... are you... are you serious? This is our final boss?"

Edited May 4, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

ID: 83974
Battle Dice: 10 (Accuracy +4) = 14 (+2 Damage)
Sword Art <<All Might>> Activated / <<Charge>> Activated (17 Energy Used / 143 Remaining)

As the battle started Calrex felt some excitement build for a moment, but as he remembered from other encounters like this, SAO didn't really seem to deliver on the buildup going through the dungeon. There was only a few times where it felt like things had built to a successful conclusion to an adventure, and this was not one of them.

The priest that attempted to attack Shield gave a lackluster attempt, both blades missing. The bluenette was expecting something that matched a bit more, like some giant monster that embodied an Egyptian god, or was a living puppet of one. Instead they got a borderline malnourished NPC with less health than the monsters they had faced in this labyrinth.

"Guess they were going for a more realistic depiction? A priest doesn't usually have much ability to defend themselves. That's what the guardians outside are for. Still..."

Triggering <<Charge>>, Calrex rushed forward with his right arm pulled back. The light blue glow of <<All Might>> surrounded his fist as he rocketed from where he was to inches away from the priest. With a single punch he knocked the dungeon boss far back, seeing its health fall at a very fast rate, down far past half. Feeling a bead of sweat form on the side of his head the bluenette relaxed his stance, "Geezes I had hoped at least they made him a little more durable."

[H:2] Calrex: 883/1615 | EN: 148/160 (10 Battle Healing)
[H:6] @Shield: 880/880 | EN: 88/88

High Priest - HP 185/500 | DMG: 100 | MIT: 15 (15+5+2 DMG * 15 Art -15 MIT = 315 DMG / Stunned Until Next Turn)

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 83975 results:

 Battle: 9 - Hit! - 3 dmg + 1 = 4 dmg - 15 mit = 1 dmg, Bleed - 24 dmg / 2 turns

 MOB: Stunned!

[H:2] @Calrex: 873/1615 | EN: 148/160 (10 Battle Healing)
[H:6] Shield: 880/880 | EN: 88/88

High Priest - HP 160/500 | DMG: 100 | MIT: 15

Shield shrugged. It was true that this fight seemed like a bit of a joke, but in the end, they had fought their way through over a dozen powerful foes. Having a nice little break at the end seemed like a fair trade. With the priest groaning and immobile on the ground, he was easily able to step up to him and plunge his axe deep into the man's spinal column. Red particles issued from around the wound, and the man's remaining health began to drop even lower.

"Dang," he grumbled. "Didn't even get him into the red with that. Oh well," he sighed, turning his back on the NPC foe and taking a seat on the altar. "Kick his teeth in, man."

Part of him had hoped to steal some bragging rights, but in a dungeon like this, he had been fortunate to make it this far in one piece. A non-level-scaled end boss made for an interesting conclusion, but it would be an interesting tale to tell Beat if nothing else once he finally got home.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

ID: 83976
Battle Dice: 5 (Accuracy +4) = 9
Sword Art <<All Might>> Activated (17 Energy Used / 1 Recovered / 132 Remaining)

With Shield managing to take a stab at the priest Calrex gave a small sigh as the enemy in front of them was already on his last legs after a single rotation. Walking over to the dungeon boss the bluenette gave a calming exhale, "No need for that. Besides there's no curbs nearby to do so."

Closing his right hand back into a fist the light of <<All Might>> surrounded his arm, quickly building up to maximum strength, "Let's get this over with."

Quickly bringing his arm back the bluenette bent his knees to add to the force as he punched straight at the boss' face, connecting square in the avatar's nose. Almost instantly the priest's health dropped to zero and burst into crystals, Calrex's fist connecting with the sandstone floor beneath with a resounding thud.

Standing up straight he gave a stretch of his arms, "Well that was certainly easy, although I wouldn't say it was a fitting end to this dungeon after all of the other creatures we had to go through. Either way, time to find the exit right?"

"From what I remember, the exit should be nearby. Either that or we're going to be forcefully ejected back to the field zone area by some flashy mechanism."

Loot Roll:
ID: 83978
(Edit: Invalid since it's below loot requirements Q_Q)

[H:3] Calrex: 893/1615 | EN: 132/160 (10 Battle Healing)
[H:6] @Shield: 880/880 | EN: 88/88

High Priest - HP 0/500 | DMG: 100 | MIT: 15 (15 DMG * 15 Art - 15 MIT = 210 DMG)

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

Swapping gear:
- Pain Drinker (-54 Regen), -1 Bloody Hell (-2 dmg, -24 bleed), + Finder's Keeper (+1 skill rank: search & detect), +Seeking Aura (+3 LD)

ID# 83979 results: Loot: 10 + 3 item + 1 skill + 1 skill item = 15 - +1 Material (9 total)

As Shield was opening his mouth to reply, the veil that separated the holy place from the holy of holies burst into flames and was consumed, leaving only a line of cinders to separate the areas from one another. At the back of the chamber, there seemed to be a stairway leading out and up.

"You know, traditionally, only the high priest and the pharoh would be permitted beyond this point," he said, sliding his backside off of the altar before stepping across the blackened remains of the veil. "Guess we've earned our place as VIP's though." 

He walked through the doorway and began to climb the stairs, swapping his inventory out for his seeking gear. They were simple, wide steps, leading up into the inky black of the passage upward. Along the wall, a sheet of papyrus hung depicting the layout of the temple. His earring reacted to it, shining brightly to indicate its value. With a shrug, he picked up the item and stashed it away in his inventory.

@Calrex

Edited May 4, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

(1/3 Turns Out of Combat, 1 Energy Recovered, 20 HP Recovered)

As the back stairway opened up, Calrex gave a nod as he followed Shield up through the darkening ascent, "Well if that's what is required to become VIPs I don't think we're going to be VIPs for many places anytime soon, heh. Either way, at least we're done with this dungeon."

Returning his hands to his jacket pockets the bluenette observed as their surroundings began to become less and less visible due to the light fading, "I guess in terms of theme this place hasn't been accessed in quite some time. They didn't even bother to light the torches. Guess we'll just have to be careful not to miss a step, or else it'll be a...surprisingly painless fall back down. Guess that's one of the good things about the pain dampeners they implemented in SAO."

The passage continued to grow darker, and as Calrex tried to see further up ahead he couldn't make out a doorway of any kind at the top, "There might be a hallway at the top of this staircase. Course the further up we go the harder it is to make out anything a few feet in front of you. Let's just hope there's not some kind of final joke to this place."

Calrex: 913/1615 | EN: 133/160

@Shield

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 83981 results: Loot: 8 + 3 item + 1 skill + 1 skill item = 13 - No Materials (9 total)

"You mean other than the boss?" Shield said, with a slight snort in the dark. He tried to keep his eyes peeled for items of interest, but without the light they had enjoyed so far along the path, that task became rather difficult.

Then again, if there is a material, my earring will light up for us. I keep forgetting that that's been quite a life saver in previous ventures into the dark.

The darkness pressed in around them, and aside from the cool, damp air, his feet on the steps, and the hand that slid along the wall to his right, the only thing that Shield could perceive around him was the sounds of their echoing footsteps along the passage.

"If this is how they treat VIP's around here, then I hate to image how they treat the not so important P's."

He squinted ahead into the darkness, but he could make out nothing but inky blackness ahead of him.

@Calrex

Edited May 4, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

(2/3 Turns Out of Combat, 1 Energy Recovered, 20 HP Recovered)

Hearing Shield's response Calrex gave a laugh, "Okay, a joke on the final joke in this case, heh. But yeah, if this is how we get treated, I can see why the only things we encountered down here were guards and one priest. Of course, if there's only one, then I think I would think of them more as a fanatic."

As the darkness continued to envelope where they stood the bluenette continued to try and scan the surroundings. He occasionally placed his hand against the wall to keep his bearings, carefully lifting each foot and setting it down without shifting his weight beforehand as to avoid throwing himself off balance. It wasn't like they were completely unable to see what was around them, but the limited range of their vision was only going to become less and less, meaning that if things got to the point where they couldn't even make out their hand inches away from their face, it was best to get his body accustomed to the motion quickly, rather than having to do so while fumbling about.

"Think that there's an end to this tunnel? Or are we doing something like ascending a staircase to the realm of the gods, which is equivalent to the altitude of Mount Olympus?"

Calrex: 923/1615 | EN: 134/160

@Shield

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

ID# 83982 results: Loot: 2 + 3 item + 1 skill + 1 skill item = 13 - No Materials (9 total)

"Judging by the height of that ceiling while we were in the city, we're likely just climbing back up to ground level," he said, turning his head to project his voice behind him a little more clearly to combat the chaotic echoes. "We've come a considerable way though, so I can't imagine we're far from- AGH!"

There came a heavy thud of something hard on wood, and he instinctively clutched the spot on his head where he had hit it. Groping with his hands, he found a handle to what must have been a great door. He pulled, which gave no noticeable results. He tried pushing instead, and a blinding white crack formed in front of him, spanning the entirety of the height of the passageway as the great double doors in front of him slowly swung outward.

"Christ! My eyes!" he cried out, clapping his hands over his eyes as they forced themselves to adjust to the severe light in front of them. As the world slowly came into focus, he made out in front of him what looked like a short stretch of passage carved straight through a sand dune to the outside world. "We might need to move quickly. That looks like it's designed to collapse around us as soon as we're by the exit."

@Calrex

Edited May 4, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

(3/3 Turns Out of Combat, All Energy Recovered, 20 HP Recovered)

At the first sign of light cutting through the darkness Calrex reflexively closed one eye to allow him to adjust to the new source of light. It was still blinding for a moment, but as the passageway behind came into view the bluenette slowly opened his other eye, listening to Shield speak, "Alright, I guess we'd better not waste time then, or else we'll be spending the next two days having to dig our way out, or was a teleport crystal to get back to the safe zone."

Glancing back at the staircase behind them for a moment the Ultramarine Knight gave a small sigh before looking forward, glancing upwards for a second to see a small cascade of sand coming down in front of them, "Better get moving now!"

Quickly lowering his body forward he began to execute a quick sprint. His shoes touched the sand below, giving way slightly due to the unstable surface below. It certainly wasn't making things easy in terms of maintaining his pace, "Careful out here. I don't think the passageway is paved, so slipping and falling would be a really bad situation right now."

"Just as long as we don't end up being dunked by a sand dune things should be ok...hopefully."

Quickly looking over his shoulder to see if Shield was keeping up, the bluenette continued his advance towards the exit.

Calrex: 943/1615 | EN: 160/160

@Shield

[Shield 0]

Spoiler

 ID# 83985 results: Loot: 12 + 3 item + 1 skill + 1 skill item = 17 - +1 Material (10 total)

Shield followed in hot pursuit, the turtle on his back complaining at the rough handling as his bulk was jostled up and down on the player's back.

"Pipe down!" he grunted, pushing against the sandy ground as hard as he could. "You're going to like it a lot less if I don't do this quickly, I promise you that!"

He pumped his arms and legs as hard as he could, watching the end of the tunnel draw ever closer. The further he ran, the more streams of sand began to trickle down in front of them. Something banged onto the top of his head and dribbled in front of him. His hands jumbled the rocky something until he realized that a piece of ore had struck him and basically landed in his hand. He clung to it tightly as he just managed to clear the end of the tunnel. He could hear the rushing of sand behind him as more of the runnel began to give way.

@Calrex

Edited May 5, 2017 by Shield

[Calrex 0]

Hearing Shield yell at what he had previously thought was him, Calrex looked back again, seeing and being reminded of the fact that the man carried his familiar in his backpack. The bluenetted guessed that the snapping turtle wasn't really appreciating the running the two had to perform, as it was causing his original resting spot to become jostled with each bounce that occurred as the result of a step.

More and more sand continued to pour down like small waterfalls around them, the now loose sand adding to the parts below like some kind of hourglass. Calrex quickly weaved to the left, barely avoiding a large pillar-like cascade of sand that had begun pouring down feet in front of him. Seeing the end of the dune coming closer and closer he quickly gave one last sprint, pushing his simulated body to as fast as he could muster. Exiting out of the passageway he gave a small sigh of relief before glancing back to make sure that his teammate had also made it out. "I think...at this point...we can call that the final joke."

@Shield