[F08 - PP|PT] Emerald Cathedral «Monkey King»

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Florenthia Village hung suspended in the eighth floor’s eternal twilight, a tapestry of rope bridges and treehouse platforms woven into colossal trunks wider than castle keeps. Ariel paused beneath a cathedral of leaves, her blue kimono—dyed the deep indigo of midnight oceans—glistening with perpetual drizzle. The inverted V of her crimson cape pooled like spilled wine down her back, its edges frayed from battles fought in darker floors. At her side, Kimba the lioness pressed close, white fur damp and ears twitching at every rustle in the understory eighty feet below.

The air tasted of wet bark and fear. No children’s laughter echoed here—only the creak of strained timber and the distant rush of hidden rivers. Elven sentries moved like ghosts along the walkways, their ageless faces tight with a vigilance that bordered on paranoia. Ariel’s silver eyes traced the village’s defenses: archers perched in knotted branch-nests, single-rope bridges swaying over vertiginous drops. Chokepoints everywhere, she noted. Escape routes vertical and vulnerable.

A twig snapped behind her. Ariel’s hand drifted to her katana hilt. Shadowflame’s hum vibrated up her arm—not hunger, but a low warning thrum, resonant as a plucked cello string. "Show yourself," she commanded, voice cutting through the green silence.

A figure emerged from ferns taller than a man. Pink hair fell like cotton candy over one yellow eye, stark against the gloom. His bright attire—crimson tunic, violet leggings—clashed violently with the forest, and amethysts winked from his shoulder-cape’s embroidery. A hunting bow was slung across his back. Kimba growled, low and warning.

"Maugre..." Ariel said, recognizing her student instantly. "Explain yourself."

The boy flushed, fingers knotting. "I-I wanted to hunt the Monkey King, Sensei. It’s legendary. And... I knew you’d say no if I asked." His voice wavered between defiance and shame.

Ariel’s gaze swept his military-straight posture—a relic of his parents’ training—and the cruel set of his mouth. "Disobey once," she said coldly, "and I drag you back to the dojo by that pretty hair."

She turned without waiting for his reply, crimson cape swirling. Ahead, and NPC named «Remington» hunched over a sputtering firepit with a quest mark over its head, scribbling in a ledger as smoke wreathed his head like a storm cloud. The zoologist’s shoulders were rigid with sarcastic tension. Ariel approached, moss swallowing her footsteps. Kimba flanked her, a white shadow.

Remington didn’t look up. "Come to gawk at the doomed scholar?" he rasped, quill scratching violently. "Tourist season’s corpse is rotting. Only fools linger now."

---

Ariel | HP: 960/960 | EN: 114/114 | DMG: 34| MIT: 0 | ACC:7 | AA  | PHASE | HB: 42 | REC: 8 | RISK: 8 | FLN: 16

Spoiler

Name: Ariel True Tier: 11 Level: 34 Paragon Level: 71 HP: 960/960 EN: 114/114 Stats: Damage: 24 Accuracy: 7 Stealth Rating: 5 AA PHASEHB: 42 REC: 8 RISK: 8 FLN: 16 Equipped Gear: Weapon/Armor/Trinket: - ≪Nihilim’s Wrath#187490≫ T4: AA / Phase / Fallen / Fallen Armor/Trinket: - ≪Leonidas' Strength#151568≫ T4: HB / HB / RSKY / RSKY Shield/Armor/Trinket: - ≪Kurokō no Tamashii (黒鋼の魂)#190961≫ T4: Acc. / Acc. / Rec. / Rec. Combat Mastery: - Combat Mastery: Damage R3 Combat Shift: - ST Shift Familiar Skill: - Custom Skill: - Kaiso no Waza: Meikyo Shisui Skills: - Cloth Armor R3 - Katana R5 Extra Skills: - Hiding R5 - Concentration - Survival - Forgotten King's Authority Inactive Extra Skills: Addons: - Ferocity - Precision - Stamina Mods: - Athletics - Surprise Attack: Assassin - Untraceable - Vanish Inactive Mods: Battle Ready Inventory: - "≪Chocolate Truffles# [Dessert]≫ VITALITY II (+12 EN) IDs# 144486 / 144486-1 / 144486-2 / 144486-3 / 144770 " x5 - "≪Crystal of the Blood Dragon Horde[Crystal]: Mass HP recovery 10% IDs# 223185-1 / 223185-2 / 223183 / 223183-1 / 223181" x5 - "≪Flash of Rejuvenation# [Crystal]≫ Mass HP recovery 10% IDs# 144486 / 144486-1 / 144486-2 / 144486-3 / 144770 " x5 - "≪popcorn. [Snack]≫ VITALITY II (+16 EN) IDs# 144486 / 144486-1 / 144486-2 / 144486-3 / 144770 " x5 - ≪Glowstone≫ x - ≪Teleport [Crystal]≫ x2 Housing Buffs: - Basic Kitchen: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps. Ex: A perfect T2 MIT food gives 35 MIT instead of 30. - Storage Closet: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot - Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts. - Attic (Storage): +5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests - Attic (Bedroom): +1 Expertise to declared utility skill. Cannot boost a skill without ranks, or increase a skill past its maximum rank. Cannot boost a skill the user has not learned yet. Ranks obtained using this buff will make the mods of that rank available for purchase. Mods obtained this way are unusable if this buff is removed until the skill is returned to the appropriate rank by way of SP purchase. - Basement: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll - Guest Room: Players can have one «Amenity» in a «Guest Room» and the «Amenity» cannot be recovered. Players are allowed to change which «Amenity» is in the «Guest Room». Multiple instances of the same «Amenity» do not stack. This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members. - Master Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat - Master Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down) - Extended Workshop: +2 Crafting EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day - Ornate Fishing Pond: +2 Fishing EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts. - Dining Hall: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed. Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread. - Mega Slime Farm: +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post. Guild Hall Buffs: - Guild R5: Guild Rank 5: +5% Final Experience Gain, +5% Final Col Gain - Treasury: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests. Scents of the Wild Totem: - Kumatetsu Wedding Ring: Crafting Profession: - Tailoring[3696exp] R9 Gathering Profession: - Fishing[191exp] R3

Foods:

• ≪crème brûlée. [Dessert]≫ T1: Accuracy | Accuracy - Consumed [Filled]

PT Skills: (240 SP Available / 137 Used / 100 PT Skills)

• 5x ► Biting (+2 Base DMG)

 

Edited 7 hours ago by Ariel - The Crowned Lion

[Dracul 0]

Rain kissed my cheekplate, cold and constant. Florenthia’s mossy edge yawned before me, the village’s rope bridges swaying like drunken ghosts in the gloom. Guardian’s Oath pulsed against my forearm—a low, warm thrum that echoed the forest’s own heartbeat beneath my boots. Roots listen here, Ariel had said. I felt them now, coiled and watchful in the wet earth.

A sharp crack of snapping twigs. I whirled, shield rising.

A boy emerged from ferns tall as spears. Pink hair curtained one yellow eye, absurd against the forest’s weeping greens. Amethysts glinted on his too-bright cape. Kimba growled, a rumble against the drumming rain.

Maugre. Ariel’s voice cut through the drizzle, sharp as her blade. The boy flinched at her reproach. Another life tethered to mine. Memory flashed—Bialas’ lightning tearing through my shield, Suterusu’s laughter ringing as I fell. The phantom sting of ozone burned my throat.

"Nobility does not flinch," I told myself. But nobles didn’t shepherd children through graveyard woods.

I watched him shuffle behind Ariel, shoulders tight with military stiffness beneath that ridiculous cape. Pride warred in my chest: Let him taste real fear. Let him learn. But Ariel’s calm—steady as stone—anchored me. Without it, this dripping vault of leaves felt like a tomb. I breathed in decay and wet bark.

Guardian’s Oath flared, painting moss in defiant emerald. Let the roots listen. Let the King come. My thorns prickled, hungry.

---

Dracul | HP: 740/740 | EN: 86/86 | DMG: 1 | MIT:127 | ACC:1 | TAUNT | THORNS:242 | BH:41 | REC: 4 | HLY: 6 | PARA

Spoiler

Name: Dracul True Tier: 4 Level: 34 Paragon Level: 3 HP: 740/740 EN: 86/86 Stats: Damage: 1 Mitigation: 127 Accuracy: 1 Battle Healing: 41 Stealth Rating: -5 TAUNT REC: 4 HLY: 6 PARA Equipped Gear: Weapon/Armor/Trinket: - ≪Guardian's Oath#134013≫ T3: Holy | Paralyze | ACC Armor/Trinket: - ≪Azure Chevalier Armor#58994≫ T1: Mitigation | Thorns | Thorns Shield/Armor/Trinket: - ≪Memory Fragment#134713-2≫ T2: Recovery | Recovery | Taunt Combat Mastery: - Combat Mastery: Mitigation R3 Combat Shift: - Familiar Skill: - Custom Skill: - Skills: - Battle Healing R5 - Heavy Armor R5 - Howl Extra Skills: - Parry - Survival Inactive Extra Skills: Addons: - Focused Howl - Iron Skin Mods: Inactive Mods: Battle Ready Inventory: - ≪Glowstone≫ x 2 - ≪Teleport [Crystal]≫ x 1 Housing Buffs: Guild Hall Buffs: - Guild R5: +5% Final Experience Gain, +5% Final Col Gain - Treasury: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests. Scents of the Wild Totem: Wedding Ring: Crafting Profession: - Alchemist[857exp] R7 Gathering Profession: - Forager[0exp] R1

PT Skills: (185 SP Available / 104 Used / 81 PT Skills)

• 8x Reflective (Enemies take +7*Tier Thorns Damage on successful non-critical attacks made against you.)

 

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

The damp air clung to Ariel's indigo kimono as she approached Remington's firepit. The zoologist hunched over his sketches, pipe smoke coiling around his head like a shroud. At her side, Kimba's white fur bristled at the scent of fear-sweat and damp parchment.

"Here to interrogate the coward?" Remington rasped, not looking up. His quill stabbed at a rendering of simian musculature, ink bleeding like old wounds.

"The Monkey King's patterns," Ariel stated. Moss muffled her footsteps, but the inverted V of her crimson cape caught the dim light like a warning flag.

A bitter laugh. "Patterns? It erases patterns." His trembling finger traced craters on a map. "Distance evaporates. Speed becomes meaningless." When Ariel's silence pressed, he added, "Ask Sewallus for heroic lies. I only know it owns this forest."

Ariel turned toward the rope bridge where the guardsman stood vigil, his battleaxe reflecting the perpetual twilight. Sewallus met her gaze, oak-solid and weary. "I failed them once," he said, knuckles whitening on his weapon's haft. "Let me stand with you."

A single nod. "Stay behind Dracul. Strike at my signal."

Her gaze swept the party: Dracul's emerald armor radiating quiet defiance, Maugre adjusting his amethyst-trimmed cape with military precision, Sewallus breathing like a bellows. The forest waited beyond the village - a dripping cathedral of terror.

"Dracul takes point," she ordered. "Maugre watches the rear canopy. Move now."

Fingers brushed her katana's saya. Shadowflame's hunger surged through her veins, but she wrestled it down. Like ink dissolving in water, Ariel melted into the ferns, Kimba vanishing beside her. Only the trembling of a rain-slicked leaf marked their passage.

---

• Rec. ID# XXXX | CD: X | +0 EN | +0 EN 
• Post Action: Stealth ✔️ | ID# 247965 | LD: 16+5+1 > 9
• Free action: N/A 

Edited 8 hours ago by Ariel - The Crowned Lion

[Dracul 0]

The forest’s breath felt heavy as wet wool against my skin. Sewallus walked at my shoulder, his battleaxe scraping against moss-covered roots with every step. Maugre trailed behind us, his bright cape snagging on ferns like a clumsy afterthought. The boy’s earlier swagger had dissolved into nervous silence. I could almost taste his fear—sharp as unripe berries.

"Sewallus," I said, my voice cutting through the drumming rain. "When the Monkey King came for you—did it speak?"

He stiffened. "Speak? No. It screamed." His knuckles whitened on his axe haft. "Like metal tearing. And its eyes... they didn’t just see you. They dug into you."

Maugre piped up, voice thin: "Did it bleed?"

Sewallus snorted. "When my axe bit its arm? Yes. Black as tar and thick as syrup. But it laughed." He shuddered. "A sound like rocks grinding in a landslide."

Laughing. My stomach tightened. Suterusu had laughed too when Bialas’ lightning shattered my shield. I forced the memory down. "Weaknesses?"

"Speed," Sewallus breathed. "It’s fast when charging—but after a lunge, it hesitates. Like a bear resetting its weight."

A branch cracked overhead.

«Monkey King»

It dropped from the canopy in a hail of splinters and rainwater—ten feet of corded muscle, fur matted with filth. Those scarlet eyes fixed on me first, burning with primal hunger.

Now.
I planted my feet, shield high. "BY ROSE AND STEEL!" The Focused Howl tore from my throat, emerald light blazing from my armor. The beast snarled, claws digging into the earth as my challenge hooked its rage.

But Sewallus roared beside me, axe raised high: "FOR FLORENTHIA!" His Florenthian Howl crashed against mine—two tidal waves colliding. The Monkey King froze, head snapping between us, torn between twin provocations. Its confusion was a living thing—raw and beautiful.

"Maugre! Loose!" I barked.

An arrow whistled past the beast’s ear, vanishing into ferns. Maugre cursed, fumbling for another. The Monkey King didn’t even flinch.

In the shadows, I felt Ariel’s presence—a coiled stillness. Waiting.

---

• Rec. ID# XXXXX  | CD:0 | +0 EN | +0 EN
• Post Action Dracul: Focused Howl > «Monkey King» 
  • -(4) EN
  • Focused Howl 4/4 CD
• Post Action Sewallus: Florenthian Howl > «Monkey King» 
  Spoiler

  • Florenthian Howl | Grants Sewallus +5 Hate against the Monkey King. Requires a Post Action. Sewallus will use this ability on his first turn, and every second post thereafter.
  • Shatter | Upon a successful attack, reduce target's Mitigation by 15 before damage is calculated. This effect can stack up to three times. Shatter from outside sources will not increase the stack count, but will refresh the duration. Effect lasts three turns.

   

• [5]Dracul | HP: 740/740 | EN: 82/86 | DMG: 1 | MIT:127 | ACC:1 | TAUNT | THORNS:242 | BH:41 | REC: 4 | HLY: 6 | PARA
• [5]Sewallus | HP: 400/400 | DMG: 75 (100 on crit) | MIT: 50 | EVA: -1
• [0]Ariel | HP: 1075/1075 | EN: 134/134 | DMG: 35 | MIT:0 | ACC:6 | AA  | PHASE | EVA:2 | BH:24 | HB: 47 | REC: 8 | RISK: 8 | FLN: 16 | LD:3 | PROSP:3
   
• «Monkey King» | HP: 650/650 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 60 | ACC: 2
  Spoiler

  If a Tree Falls | On MD rolls of 9 or 10, the Monkey King will pick up a large tree and throw it at the party.  This replaces the Monkey King's normal attack, automatically dealing 120 unmitigatable damage and inflicting stun to each target.

   

Edited 7 hours ago by Dracul

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

Ariel watched from a curtain of hanging moss, motionless as the stones beneath the forest floor. Dracul and Sewallus stood locked in their duel of wills, their howls tangling in the rain-soaked air. The Monkey King’s hesitation was a frayed thread. She would cut it.

She moved.

Not with Shadowflame’s hunger—not yet—but with Shirajishi-ryū’s lethal grace. Her blade slid from the saya without sound, a sliver of darkness against the gloom. She struck low and deep, aiming for the tendon behind the beast’s knee.

Shink.
Black blood sprayed. The beast howled, buckling. Not enough.

As Ariel twisted back toward the shadows, the Monkey King whirled. Rage burned in its eyes. With a guttural roar, it ripped an old oak from the earth—roots screaming—and hurled it.

The world exploded.

Wood shattered against Dracul’s shield, the impact echoing like a bell. Splinters rained down. Dracul, Sewallus, and Maugre crumpled, stunned and pinned beneath debris. Ariel’s vision blurred as the stun’s paralysis gripped her—a cold vise on her limbs.

Then—movement.
Dracul’s thorns lashed out from his armor, striking the beast’s wounded leg. Once. Twice. Serrated edges found flesh.

The Monkey King staggered, a final wet gasp escaping its jaws. It fell, shaking the earth one last time.

«Forgotten King’s Authority»
Ariel’s will ignited—not as a mere skill, but as defiance incernate. The stun shattered like glass. She surged forward, boots crushing splinters as she hauled Dracul upright. "Awake!" she snapped, already turning to Sewallus. Her hands yanked him free of the wreckage, then Maugre. The boy’s pink hair was matted with mud, eyes wide with dazed terror.

Silence settled, broken only by rain pattering on dead fur. Ariel wiped black blood from her blade with a fern. "Florenthia’s debt is paid," she said quietly.

Kimba emerged from the shadows, nudging Maugre’s trembling hand with her muzzle. The forest exhaled.

---

• Rec. ID# xxxx | CD: X | +0 EN | +0 EN 
• Post Action: [SIN]ST-I > «Monkey King»
• Free action: Vanish ✔️ | ID# 247967 | LD: 9+5+1 > 9

1. ID# 247966 | BD: 9 (9, CritHit!) | CD: 11 | [x12+3] (34+4 +1) = 585 -(60/2) MIT =555 DMG > «Mother Nature»
   • ST-II available!
   • ST-B available!
   • Phase proc!
   • -(14 -2-1) EN | WELL-RESTED: 2/3 
   • Vanish 3/3 CD
      
2. ID# 247968 | MD: 9 (7+2+1, Hit!) | 0 dmg > Sewallus

• If a Tree Falls proc. 
• [STUNNED] > Ariel & Dracul & Sewallus
• -120 HP > Ariel & Dracul & Sewallus
• -242 HP | Dracu's Thorns 

 

• [5]Dracul [STUNNED] | HP: 620/740 | EN: 82/86 | DMG: 1 | MIT:127 | ACC:1 | TAUNT | THORNS:242 | BH:41 | REC: 4 | HLY: 6 | PARA
• [5]Sewallus [STUNNED] | HP: 280/400 | DMG: 75 (100 on crit) | MIT: 50 | EVA: -1
• [0]Ariel [STUNNED] | HP: 840/960 | EN: 114/114 | DMG: 34| MIT: 0 | ACC:7 | AA  | PHASE | HB: 42 | REC: 8 | RISK: 8 | FLN: 16
   
• «Monkey King» | HP: 95/650 | DMG: 150 | MIT: 60 | ACC: 2

---

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Final rewards:

• Ariel
  • EXP: 8832 [Total]| 1551/5 *11 +5000 (Quest) +5% (Firm Anima R5)
  • Col: 1324 [Total]| 1324 (para lv. 5) +5% (Firm Anima R5)
  • 2x Guild Token [Total] | 1 transferred from Dracul
  • 1 Mon
  • Unlocked «TECH-D» collected sword art.
  • Monkey Agility (Uncommon Consumable [potion]): A strange potion that boosts the user's Evasion by 1. Lasts for one thread. This item does not stack with existing Evasion Consumables.
• Dracul
  • EXP: 6552 [Total]| 1551/5 *4 +5000 (Quest) +5% (Firm Anima R5)
  • Col: 0 [Total]| 
  • 1 Mon
  • Unlocked «TECH-D» collected sword art.
  • Monkey Agility (Uncommon Consumable [potion]): A strange potion that boosts the user's Evasion by 1. Lasts for one thread. This item does not stack with existing Evasion Consumables.

Edited 7 hours ago by Ariel - The Crowned Lion