[PP-PT-F21] Are We There Yet? "no"

[Reytac 0]

Reytac ducked under one of the outstretched ‘stalks’ of one of the mushrooms, and looked over his shoulder to the silver-plated woman who was walking behind him. ”And you're sure we can just, find these dungeons on nearly any floor?” He got an affirmative, and gave a shrug. Acanthus had convinced him that delving into a dungeon or two would be one of the next steps that he should take in trying to prepare for the front lines – apparently there was equipment, consumable items, that were nearly exclusive to the dungeons scattered throughout the floors. They were currently traipsing through the twenty first floor, after Rey had mentioned that he wanted to check out a cave floor that wasn’t the doom and gloom oppressive tenth floor. 

And he had to admit, this floor was – nice.  Eerily beautiful, even, with glowing lichen and shimmering rocks to serve as the only sources of light. If he didn’t have Night Vision, this floor would be creepy, not beautiful, but with it – the place was glowing with unique light that was near breathtaking. They had just recently crossed over a stream that cut through one of the cavern floors, and he had stopped a moment to just watch the bioluminescent fish that had been darting back and forth in the water. He’d even caught a couple to bring back to Gaius’ restaurant, keeping to his promise to the man to bring back unusual foods. 

”I have to say I am loving this floor. I get so tired of just more and more forests. If it wasn’t for the mental effect on ten, that’s where I would have made my home. So to find another cavernous floor without that, is nice. Oh, hey, watch out.” One thing that Acanthus had warned him about was that the majority of creatures on this floor were some variety of ambush predators. The one that he had just spotted was crouching in a small patch of mushrooms, its head flared out like a mushroom cap itself, but he’d seen it twitch a couple times as they spoke. 

His hammer crashed down into the middle of the head of the creature as it tried to leap out of the mushroom patch it was hiding in. The creature let out a shriek as it shattered, and he shook his head as he hung his hammer back on his belt. Things that relied on stealth, normally, didn’t do well in direct confrontations.

”Right. So now that we’re here, we just need one of those dungeon maps and start hunting it down, or we can spend a lot longer searching without one? Or is the map an absolute requirement to actually find our way?” Rey glanced over his shoulder again to Acanthus as he spoke, but didn’t linger looking at her as he resumed watching around them to make sure there wasn’t another mob trying to sneak up on them. 

<<PT SYSTEM Engage>>

Spoiler

Reytac | HP: 720/720 | EN: 86/86 | DMG: 21 | MIT:66 | ACC:3 | LM: 1 | EVA:2 | BH:7 | LD:3

Skills:

Hammer R5 30

Searching R3 14

Lock Picking R3 15

Light Armor R5 30

Quick Change 8

Straight Sword R5 30

Battle Healing R1 4

Meticulous 4

Night Vision 3

Resolve 6

Combat Mastery: Damage R3 13

TECH Shift 10

 

Keen Sight 3 ranks 15 SP

+6 LD Looting, Gathering, Searching, Detecting,

Discerning 2 Ranks: 20 SP

+2 CD to Crafting, Gathering, Loot

 

Edited Thursday at 04:13 PM by Reytac

[Acanthus 0]

 

Quote

“And you're sure we can just, find these dungeons on nearly any floor?”

“Every floor. Without reservation, as far as I’m aware.” Acanthus checked her system map with silent concern. What she did not want to express was the scarcity of dungeons on the lower levels. Or rather, the scarcity of Dungeons worth revisiting. New dungeons were getting harder to find as the higher-level floors became more accessible. Many of the players that sat between defenseless and boss-fight ready had enough sense to wait until exploring the new floor, leaving the best locations to Acanthus and the others that were equipped to handle the uncertainties. Floor 21, although one of the higher-floors, had long been turned inside out by anybody with entry-level level cap equipment. The weapons from an NPC Vendor on Floor 28 would provide ample protection for a dungeon down here.

“I’m glad you enjoy this floor. Sometimes it’s worth being reminded that there is a floor for everyone. I personally enjoy the forest floors, although I can’t say I dislike this one. As far as caverns go, it does have a peaceful quality.” Luminescent mushrooms bathed the path forward in a calming light, and the steady drip of unseen water marked the passage of time in the absence of the sun. Acanthus preferred sunlight, but her tastes were comparatively simple to Reytacs. A hundred forest floors would be fine with her.

“Good eyes,” Acanthus complimented Reytac as the mushroom disappeared. They had only partied up a handful of times, but his growth had proved meteoric. Whether or not Reytac saw it that way was a question she left unasked. She focused on his next questions instead.

“The maps aren’t an absolute requirement to finding dungeons. But they save an immeasurable amount of time. If you want to find fresh dungeons, you need to have an entire suite of skills specific to finding them. And even then, it can take ages to unearth one. It’s much simpler to find the maps from random monster encounters. They’ll lead you right to them.” Acanthus held up their current active map. “Take this one for example. It dropped from the <<Spider Queen>> event boss in the Chittering Halls.” Acanthus shuddered for a moment. Even without arachnophobia, it had only taken one visit to resolve to never return. “The map points us just outside of Charko. If we’re lucky—”

Acanthus froze in place, motioning for Reytac to do the same. Her searching skill wasn’t picking anything up, but…

“I think I’m hearing something.” She couldn’t really be sure. Acanthus tended to err on the side of paranoia, but she could have sworn she heard faint laughter bouncing off the cavern walls. “Is anyone there?”

 

 NOTE: Custom Skill (Disabuse System) is active. The skill will be considered inactive once any player requests in a subsequent post.

Acanthus | True Tier 11 | Lvl 108 (34/73) | HP: 1000/1000 | EN: 132/132 | LD 24 | CD 11

 

Spoiler

Equipment and Consumables

Spoiler

All enhancements reflected in the stat block unless otherwise specified.

Equipment
Weapon. botan. AA | ACC 3
Trinket. worthless ring  LD 3 | QTY 1
Trinket. empty avarice | PROSP 3 | QTY 1

Consumables
None Taken.

Abilities (Skills, Shifts, Masteries, Add-ons, and Mods)

Spoiler

Combat Mastery and Shift
None Taken

Custom Skill
>run_cmd swap(int *x int *y) (Disabuse System) | Whenever you activate [Assault Mode], instead swap two of your core stats as though you just activated Temporal Distortion (Quest Reward from <<Down the Rabbit Hole>>).
A skill that can only be learned when the truth of the game is confronted: you are lines of code in the same way that your enemies are living, breathing creatures. Did Kayaba foresee the denial of his reality blossoming into its confirmation?

Totem (bold Indicates in use)
Kumatetsu Totem: +1 base DMG.
Yamata no Orochi Totem: +1 LD.
Mōretsuna Totem: +50 Overhealth.
Tanos Totem: +25 MIT.
Mothra Totem: +0.5 * Tier (rounded down, minimum 1) Energy recovery per turn.
Bialas Totem: +1 Taunt.

Skills

None Taken

Playtest Skills

Discerning x10 (100 SP)
Keen Sight x 10 (50 SP)

150 SP spent.

Battle Ready Inventory (7 Slots)
Dimensional Backpack + Item Stash

Spoiler

1. Lama Sabachthani | 236687 | Consumable - Soundtrack | Hypnosis 2 | Lullaby 2 (Instant)
   Pain deeper than words, engraved by a hand that does not know its own heart.
2. Edict's Threnody | 236686 | Consumable - Soundtrack | Perpetuate (Instant)
   If my suffering will not end, then neither will yours.
3. Bear Trap | Consumable - Reusable | As a free action, set target's evasion to 0 for one turn.
4. Meat Hook | Consumable - Reusable | As a free action once per combat, apply a single stack of [Shatter] to one target of your choosing (No roll required).
5. [Empty]
6. [Empty]
7. [Empty]

Housing

Spoiler

House Name: Villa of Coruscating Flowers (The Villa)
Location: Floor 24 - Paradise Islands
Description: See above
Plot Size: Estate - PK Accessible
Rooms: Listed below. All rooms are assigned to Acanthus.

• Master Bedroom
  • Well Rested | -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat.
• Greenhouse
  • Green Thumb | +2 Gathering EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to gathering attempts.
• Extended Workshop: Recording Studio (25,000 col)
  • Hard Working | +2 Crafting EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day.
• Mega Slime Farm
  • Advanced Training | +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.
• Living Room:
  • Relaxed | Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
• Attic (Bedroom)
  • Skylight (Searching) | +1 Expertise to declared utility skill (Searching). 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:
  • Multipurpose | Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll.
• Storage Closet: (10,000 col)
  • Item Stash | +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
• Master Bathroom: (25,000 col)
  • Squeaky Clean | The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
• Basic Kitchen (15,000 col)
  • Filling | 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.

Crafting and Gathering

Spoiler

Performer | Rank 5
Apollo’s Metronome | Crafting Tool | Meticulous: +1 CD when crafting in one’s workshop.

Forager | Rank 5
Demeter's Cornucopia | Gathering Tool | Bountiful: +1 CD to gathering attempts.

 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Acanthus