PP - F10 Voices From The Darkness <<Wail of the Banshee>> (Ebony, Tristan)

[Calrex 0]

"So I'm back here again..."

Appearing in a flash of light Calrex materialized in the tenth floor settlement of Yomi, giving a small sigh. He had not returned to the floor quite some time, mostly because there was no reason for him to really come here. He had finished the quests for the floor, and Mari's shop Alchemic Contagion was currently closed due to the pink-haired player's absence. However, one reason drew him back. Browsing the requests on the lower floors he saw that a player had made a request for someone to assist her in the <<Wail of the Banshee>> quest, a mission that he and Tristan had undertook some time ago with little effort required in either of the two men's ends. The entire endeavor still brought a smirk to the bluenette's face as he recalled it.

In any case, the request was from a player named Ebony, but what he had noticed was that the redheaded tank had actually accepted the request as well. He had only seen the absolute tank of the Azure Brigade once previous to this, when the two assisted a player named Shizuka in the <<Long Live the Queen>> quest. "Guess we're just a couple of helpful folks. Tristan certainly is one. I'm not sure how Teayre feels about him, but I feel like he's one of those individuals I could trust to have my back no matter what, certainly Spectrum Coalition material."

Swiping on his menu he made sure his gear was all set, opting to wear the Grand Dragoon over the Grand Chariot: Legacy for this trip, "Whelp, all I need to do now is wait."

Edited November 10, 2015 by Calrex

[Ebony 0]

Ebony waited near the teleport on the tenth floor. She had never been so high, and felt more than slightly nervous. She didn't think that she belonged on such a high floor, especially as she had never hunted here. And now she was going to confront a quest boss here. She placed her hand on the pommel of her dagger for comfort, not that it would do much to help with her low ranking sword skills and weak equipment. She didn't even know if anyone was going to come and help out. She watched as a player appeared by the teleport, but she wrote him off as being way too high of a level to be there to help her. Still... Tristan had volunteered. She didn't know much about him, only what she had gleaned from her conversation with Zelrius. Ebony had mentioned that she was thinking about becoming a healer/tank hybrid, and he had said to talk to Tristan. From what she had heard, he was the father of all tanks or something similar. 

That was really the only reason she had kept the request up and decided to go through with it. She was certain that Manta would tell her it was a dumb idea to try to complete this quest, even with help. Manta was busy though, which had led to this. Ebony frowned a bit. Something was going on with Manta lately, but her friend still hadn't opened up to her. Ebony stopped frowning and let out a little chuckle. What if Manta had joined Azure Brigade and was hiding it from everyone? Her chuckles evolved into full fledged laughter, and it took her a few moments to pull back. What a joke. Maybe she should pull a prank like that on Koumori, and tell him that Manta actually had joined up, just for a laugh. No doubt the expression on his face would be priceless.

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan had been wandering along and lately rather busy supporting people with their quests to keep himself busy. For example soon he would be doing Butcher of the Sands with a large group of players, including Ebony who he was helping in this quest for. There was also the boss marathon he was kicking off with the Wasp Queen for Flints to get her stronger as well while he tanked all the damage, something he was all too familiar with and killed way too many Avalanches with new players to get introduced into SAO without the potential of them getting mopped. Now though he felt more confident and for this quest he was going with another strong player, especially one like Calrex who made up his only somewhat strong gear level with his sheer level in statistics.
"So...who wants to kill a ghost?" he said behind Calrex walking behind him.

[Calrex 0]

"Sweet geezes!"

Since he was waiting for a decent amount of time Calrex had lost some of his focus and alertness in the process. Normally he would have been scanning around with <<Reveal>>, but instead he had it deactivated, allowing the redheaded tank to accidentally catch him by surprise, "Well, I guess I was waiting a bit too long. Hey Tristan, yeah let's get to taking down that ghost again. I wonder if it'll be any different than the last time we did it."

Looking over at the person that was wandering around he saw that the name in her status bar was the same as the person that had put in the request. Waving his hand he gave a nod, putting his hands into his jacket pockets, "In any case it'll be hopefully a rinse and repeat."

"From what I remember, I think this player Ebony needs to be the one to initiate the party request, that way she can get the rewards while we gain the experience."

[Ebony 0]

Ebony looked up and noticed a player with red hair walking up behind the other player she had seen before. Judging from a description she had heard, the red haired man was almost definitely Tristan. She walked over to them and caught the last bit of what the blue haired player said. So he'd done this before, and was here to help out as well? She didn't recognize him, but that didn't mean much. "Um.. Hello! I'm Ebony, are you two here to help me out with this quest?" She didn't wait for their answer, assuming that they were and sending them each a party invite. If they weren't they could always deny the request. 

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan grinned to Calrex's surprise, saying "Jeez, you're acting like I'm the ghost here or some thing.". He knew he was a large player, but he didn't realise his presence wasn't that large. It was most likely because of his real life fighting experience with spears especially, he learnt footwork and thus walked with a low center of balance. Thus his steps were lighter and not like stomps against the ground. He was then approached by someone with the username Ebony, which was very much so the name of the person who sent the help request. Tristan smiled and said "I am indeed the one asked for to do this quest, much as I assume Calrex is as he is doing the quest too.". He accepted the party invite without second thought and smiled, his equipment ready for the fight. "Well, no time for dawdling, let's get going!". He said that, he was going to let Calrex lead since they were the one with all the searching skills.

[Calrex 0]

"Heh, well you're certainly a very big ghost if that we're true. Plus I might have been dozing off a bit, so it was perfect timing."

Calrex looked over as he saw the player he had waved to walk over, confirming she was the one that had put out the request. Giving a friendly smile and a nod he accepted the party request, "Nice to meet you Ebony, and yes I'll be assisting in this undertaking as well. With the group we have here the Banshee shouldn't pose a problem at all."

With that, as Tristan's positioning indicated, the Ultramarine Knight took point as he activated his <<Night Vision>> and <<Reveal>> skills simultaneously, beginning to check when they entered into the abandoned prison known as Tartarus. The dark blue color of his irises turned a couple shades light with both skills activate as he began to scan around for the location of the field boss' lair.

ID: 38186
Loot Dice: 7 (Search and Detect +2 / Item +1) = 10 (Lair Not Found)

"Still nothing so far guys. We'll probably need to head further down like last time. I have a feeling that the Banshee's lair spawns really close to the area I fought an obsidian dragon last time I came down here on my own."

Edited November 11, 2015 by Calrex

[Ebony 0]

"Awesome. I didn't expect such high level players to turn up." She started to walk, following Tristan's lead and letting Calrex lead the way. She pulled up her hud as they walked and equipped a wooden hair clip in the shape of a rose. Now she was all set to do some healing. She glanced around, not seeing the place they were supposed to be headed for. No doubt Calrex knew what he was doing. She turned to face Tristan as they walked. "Zelrius told me to talk to you about creating a tank/healer hybrid..." She mentioned in passing, trying to start up a conversation. It looked like they would be walking for a while after all.

 ID# 38190 results:

 Loot: 2 (-1)=1 Fail

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan looked around, trying to also find the cave they were on about, after all, he had found it last time. He was suddenly asked a question by Ebony which regarded a mix of healing and tanking, to which Tristan stroked his chin in thought before responding. "I'll say now, it sort of doesn't work. Why? Because a tank focuses on trying to get as much Hate as possible, using Howl and Fighting Spirit with attacks and such that create Hate. A healer on the other hand when doing support generates no Hate at all, which means supporting causes you to gain no Hate. As you can tell, this leads to somewhat of a catch 22. To say, 'I want to be a healer who won't get minced by an AOE' makes sense, but dedicated tanking and healing at the same time kind of...doesn't work to put it simply.". He would of talked more about skill builds, but Tristan spotted the cave they had to go for, much like Tristan did last time he was here with Calrex. Out of the cave ran the undead zombies he was too familiar with, looking eager to attack. Tristan responded with Howl, a loud roar like that of a dragon coming from his mouth.

 ID# 38224 results:
Loot: 17, Lair Found

Tristan 149/149 E: 36 H: 4
Calrex 197/197 E: 48 H: 0
Ebony 52/52 E: 20 H: 0

Undead Guardian Zombie 40/40
Undead Guardian Zombie 40/40
Undead Guardian Zombie 40/40
Undead Guardian Zombie 40/40
Undead Guardian Zombie 40/40
Undead Guardian Zombie 40/40
Stats: 30 DMG 15 MIT

[Calrex 0]

ID: 38228
Battle Dice: 10 (Accuracy +3) = 13 (+2 Damage)
Loot Dice: 2 (Search and Detect +2 / Item +1) = 5 (No Materials Found)
Sword Art <<Lightning Fall>> Activated / <<Charge>> Activated (14 Energy Used / 34 Remaining)

Hearing Tristan's roar Calrex gave a smirk and a nod as he rushed forward, ripping the Grand Blade from its sheath as he leapt up into the air, activating his <<Lightning Fall>> Sword Art. As the electric-like aura appeared around his sword he increased his velocity with <<Charge>> as he almost imitated a bolt of lightning. Crashing down in the group of zombies he released the energy, instantly destroying four of the creatures. However, two did manage to get close enough to Tristan that they bit into his armor.

This triggered the giant man's joined abilities of Thorns, Fire Thorns, and his new Achilles power as the reflective damage knocked the two zombies back, growling out of frustration at their lack of damage on the heavily armored player.

HP List
Tristan: 147/149 E: 36 H: 4 (30(2) DMG - 66(2) MIT = 2 Minimum DMG)
Calrex 197/197 E: 34 H: 1
Ebony 52/52 E: 20 H: 0

Enemies:
Undead Guardian Zombie -22/40 (10+1 DMG * 7 Art - 15 MIT = 62 DMG)
Undead Guardian Zombie -22/40 (10+1 DMG * 7 Art - 15 MIT = 62 DMG)
Undead Guardian Zombie -22/40 (10+1 DMG * 7 Art - 15 MIT = 62 DMG)
Undead Guardian Zombie -22/40 (10+1 DMG * 7 Art - 15 MIT = 62 DMG)
Undead Guardian Zombie 33/40 (7 Achilles DMG / 2 Burn Damage 2/2 Turns Remaining)
Undead Guardian Zombie 33/40 (7 Achilles DMG / 2 Burn Damage 2/2 Turns Remaining)
Stats: 30 DMG 15 MIT

Edited November 11, 2015 by Calrex

[Ebony 0]

Ebony watched as Tristan howled, drawing the attention of the group of mobs. So that was how tanks attracted enemy attention. She would remember that. She continued watcing, hanging back a bit, as Calrex sliced four of the six zombies to ribbons. The other two threw themselves at Tristan, slamming into his sheild, falling back for a moment before attacking again. They looked upset at not being able to do too much damage, and Ebony smiled. They were about to get even more upset. Ebony sprinted forwards, a medicine patch in her hand. She placed it gently, but quickly on Tristan's neck, activating her <<First Aid>> skill, before sprinting back to where she had been before. The patch glowed pink for a moment,  and Tristan's health returned to full before the patch burst into blue and green crystals.

 ID# 38233 results:

 Battle: 10 (Not attacking)

 Craft: 9 (Heal Successful) +18 HP (Tristan) (OOC: Haha, better than a health potion!)

 Loot: 10

 MOB: 9 Hit

HP List
Tristan: 149/149 E: 36 H: 4 (31(2) DMG - 66(2) MIT = 2 Minimum DMG) (+18 HP)
Calrex 197/197 E: 34 H: 0
Ebony 52/52 E: 13 H: 0

Enemies:
Undead Guardian Zombie -22/40 (10+1 DMG * 7 Art - 15 MIT = 62 DMG)
Undead Guardian Zombie -22/40 (10+1 DMG * 7 Art - 15 MIT = 62 DMG)
Undead Guardian Zombie -22/40 (10+1 DMG * 7 Art - 15 MIT = 62 DMG)
Undead Guardian Zombie -22/40 (10+1 DMG * 7 Art - 15 MIT = 62 DMG)
Undead Guardian Zombie 24/40 (7 Achilles DMG? 2 Burn Damage 2/2 Turns Remaining) (-9)
Undead Guardian Zombie 24/40 (7 Achilles DMG?, 2 Burn Damage 2/2 Turns Remaining) (-9)
Stats: 30 DMG 15 MIT

(OOC: The medicine patch just looks like a pad of cloth with a light adhesive on it.)

[Tristan Delaney 0]

ID: 38264
Battle Dice: 5 (-1 darkness) = 4 Miss

Tristan found this fight to be one of the more effortless ones, the enemies that were there mostly wiped out by Calrex with their damage potential. And those enemies that even had their lives remaining to attack? They made a bee sting look bad with how badly they suffered. Plus the repercussion the mobs suffered for attacking Tristan was severe, being multiple times worse than what Tristan received. Tristan sighed at the pitiful state of the enemies, then took a glance at Ebony for doing a rather odd move. Even though he was going to be healed by his own powers anyway, he was still healed with First Aid. He gave a gentle smile to Ebony and said "Thank you.". The time spent thanking Ebony also meant he may have sort of forgotten to attack, even if he wasn't concerned with his low damage value.

HP List
Tristan: 149/149 E: 36 H: 4
Calrex 197/197 E: 34 H: 2
Ebony 52/52 E: 20 H: 0

Enemies:
Undead Guardian Zombie 33/40 (7 Achilles DMG / 2 Burn Damage 2/2 Turns Remaining)
Undead Guardian Zombie 33/40 (7 Achilles DMG / 2 Burn Damage 2/2 Turns Remaining)
Stats: 30 DMG 15 MIT

[Calrex 0]

ID: 38275
Battle Dice: 2 (Accuracy +3 / Disguise +1) = 6
Mob Dice: 5
Loot Dice: 10 (Search and Detect +2 / Item +1) = 13 (No Materials Found)
Sword Art <<Sharp Nail>> Activated / <<Disguise>> Activated (12 Energy Used / 1 Recovered / 23 Remaining)

Calrex gave a nod as he saw Ebony run over and heal Tristan. He was aware that the redhead had Battle Healing which would have likely fixed whatever damage he had taken right up, but in this case it seemed that the two were functioning as a single unit, with the Ultramarine Knight serving as the main striker of the group, "A striker/bruiser, tank, and healer. Sounds like a very basic dungeoning party. All we need is the wizard or rogue and we'd be good to go, heh."

Turning to face the two he was unable to eliminate the first round he activated his <<Sharp Nail>> Sword Art, seeing that the two were preparing to dodge. Furrowing his brows he gritted his teeth as he activated his <<Disguise>> skill. As his body shot forward suddenly it morphed into someone that was most certainly not him. As another blade appeared in his other hand his hair turned blonde, with a suit appearing in place of his armor.

As the two zombies were caught off guard, confused as to how to avoid two swords at once, Calrex's attack completed as he forcefully pieced the two creatures, completing his attack as the two burst into crystals. It wasn't long after that he saw the illusion fade out, the second sword vanishing from his left hand. Looking at it he gave a smirk with a small sigh before looking at his two teammates, "Alright, last thing to take out is the banshee."

"I've still got enough for two Meteor Breaks, so we should be alright."

HP List
Tristan: 149/149 E: 36 H: 4
Calrex 197/197 E: 23 H: 2
Ebony 52/52 E: 20 H: 0

Enemies:
Undead Guardian Zombie -14/40 (10 DMG * 6 Art - 15 MIT = 45 DMG / 2 Burn DMG)
Undead Guardian Zombie -14/40 (10 DMG * 6 Art - 15 MIT = 45 DMG / 2 Burn DMG)
Stats: 30 DMG 15 MIT

Edited November 12, 2015 by Calrex

[Ebony 0]

Wow,that quest had certainly been easy. "That's it, right?" She asked, just as Calrex mentioned them needing to defeat the banshee. Right, the banshee. Ebony prepared to get her eardrums blown out. "Sorry i'm not being more of a help." She said a bit sadly. It seemed like everyone had health regeneration or dodged everything lately. Maybe someday she would meet someone who actually needed her skills. At least Tristan had said thank you. She doubted he needed her help though. 

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan laughed as they spoke and shook his head, saying "There is still the banshee to go at, but that shouldn't be a problem I bet. Don't worry though about feeling like you're not a help. All in all I don't mind at all as I love to support people in my own way and for you, you can see it as practice in an environment that keeps you safe. Or something along those lines..." Tristan's mind was on a tangent, but then recovered to the matter at hand, then remembering there was indeed still the banshee go. And true enough, the banshee appeared to face them. With a nod, Tristan used Howl and roared, challenging the Banshees own scream with his own roar, almost as if they were having a shouting competition of sorts. Shouting aside, it got the attention on Tristan.

HP List
Tristan: 149/149 E: 36 H: 4
Calrex 197/197 E: 23 H: 0
Ebony 52/52 E: 20 H: 0

Enemies:
Banshee 250/250
Stats: 60 DMG, 2 evasion. On a critical ignores mitigation. On a 10 they paralyse all players for 1 turn, giving the Banshee an extra move.

[Calrex 0]

ID: 38301
Battle Dice: 6 (Accuracy +3 / Evasion +1) = 7
Mob Dice: 8 (All Retaliation Effects Activated)
Sword Art <<Nova Ascension>> Activated / <<Charge>> Activated (12 Energy Used / 1 Recovered / 12 Remaining)

As Calrex turned he saw Tristan unleash his <<Howl>> skill, turning to see that familiar face of the banshee as he gave a smirk, "Don't worry about it Ebony. Keeping us alive is still important. Having you fighting alongside us is reassurance in itself. Now let's take this thing out."

Unleashing <<Nova Ascension>> he rushed forward as the Grand Blade lit alight with a light blue hue, releasing a barrage of slashes that seemed like a blended combination of his old Swallow Return and Plum Blossom Flourish combined. As the slashes ended he did a quick 360 rotation, jamming the hilt of his sword into the creature's gut before leaping back.

Confirming the banshee was stunned he gave a nod to Ebony and Tristan, "I've got enough energy for only a couple more strikes, but it should be enough to take this thing out."

HP List
Tristan: 148/149 E: 36 H: 4 (60 DMG - 66 MIT = 1 Minimum DMG)
Calrex 197/197 E: 23 H: 0
Ebony 52/52 E: 20 H: 0

Enemies:
Banshee 138/250 (10+1 DMG * 9 Art = 99 DMG, Stunned Until Next Turn / 13 Total Retaliation DMG)
Stats: 60 DMG, 2 evasion. On a critical ignores mitigation. On a 10 they paralyse all players for 1 turn, giving the Banshee an extra move.

Edited November 12, 2015 by Calrex

[Ebony 0]

Ebony felt extremely relived both by what Tristan and Calrex had said. What Tristan had said made her feel like she was still doing good as a healer, while what Calrex said made her feel emotionally better, as though she was important to the group. She knew that they could do this easily by themselves, but what he had said still struck a chord with her, making her feel much better. "All right. I'll keep healing Tristan. Even though I doubt he needs it.: She said in reply to Calrex's comment about only needing a hit or two to beat it. It was probably best if she stayed out of the way.

 ID# 38320 results:

 Battle: 1

 Craft: 4 (Fail)

 Loot: 18

 MOB: 2 Stunned

HP List
Tristan: 148/149 E: 36 H: 4 
Calrex 197/197 E: 23 H: 0
Ebony 52/52 E: 13 H: 0

Enemies:
Banshee 142/250 (2 Burn DMG 1/2 Turns Remaining) Stun= Over
Stats: 60 DMG, 2 evasion. On a critical ignores mitigation. On a 10 they paralyse all players for 1 turn, giving the Banshee an extra move.

[Tristan Delaney 0]

ID: 38329
Battle Dice: 8-2=6
Mob Dice: 2 Miss
CD: 1 No regen or battle healing
Sword Art <<Triple Barrage>> Activated (3 Energy Used / 1 Recovered)
Holy Blessing activated, 12 HP healed

Tristan was happy to see that she wasn't downtrodden. He could understand that they were just sheerly that overlevelled, meaning that Ebony in terms of actual healing support wasn't greatly necessary at current. Although if the enemy stopped being tossed about like a wet paper towel and actually could hit with their critical effect, Tristan could see where healing him may be useful, even if his Achilles still halved what he received. He took a deep breath as the Banshee seemed still too dazed to attack, then dashed forward with an attack and slammed his spear into the enemy. He also said to Ebony "Don't be afraid to attack. My hate is so high you basically don't exist to it, so every little helps with these. Since as you can see, I have quite the appalling offensive skills too!". he chuckled to what he said last.

HP List
Tristan: 149/149 E: 34 H: 6
Calrex 197/197 E: 12 H: 1
Ebony 52/52 E: 20 H: 1

Enemies:
Banshee 120/250 (4 DMG * 3 Art = 16 DMG)
Stats: 60 DMG, 2 evasion. On a critical ignores mitigation. On a 10 they paralyse all players for 1 turn, giving the Banshee an extra move.

[Calrex 0]

ID: 38330
Battle Dice: 6 (Accuracy +3 / Evasion +2) = 7
Mob Dice: 9 (Critical Retaliation)
Sword Art <<Meteor Break>> Activated (11 Energy Used / 1 Recovered / 2 Remaining)

Calrex gave a nod as Tristan opted to do a simple spear strike to add to the damage the Ultramarine Knight had already inflected on the creature. Giving a smirk the Grand Blade lit up with a golden aura as he activated his currently most powerful Sword Art, <<Meteor Break>>. Guided by the assisted system he flew forward, unleashing a barrage of attacks that were first started with a shoulder tackle. Another tackle came after about eight strikes before he finished the combo with a jumping down slash, leaving numerous golden cuts across the creature's body.

However, this didn't stop the banshee from rushing over and striking Tristan. Calrex's eyes widened for a second as he saw the ghastly woman's claws seem to bypass all of Tristan's defenses, scratching a deep mark on him, "That's even more powerful than the Snow Beast. That bypassed all of the mitigation Tristan has. We'd better finish t..."

Before the bluenette could finish his thought the redhead's retaliatory enhancements activated, blasting the banshee instantly into crystals. As he looked back he saw that whatever damage the creature could have done was actually halved, "But...he didn't use Parr...so that must be his unique skill. Heh, it suits him."

Sheathing the Grand Blade Calrex gave a small sigh, walking over with a friendly smile, "Nice work Tristan. Geezes all of you players with uniques are kinda making me jealous. I'll need to try and get my hands on one of those...if there's even any more in existence in SAO."

HP List
Tristan: 119/149 E: 34 H: 6 (60+1 DMG / 2 Achilles = 30 Minimum DMG)
Calrex 197/197 E: 2 H: 2
Ebony 52/52 E: 20 H: 1

Enemies:
Banshee -27/250 (10 DMG * 11 Art = 110 DMG, Stun End / 37 Retaliatory DMG, 2 Burn DMG 2/2 Turns)
Stats: 60 DMG, 2 evasion. On a critical ignores mitigation. On a 10 they paralyse all players for 1 turn, giving the Banshee an extra move.

Edited November 12, 2015 by Calrex

[Ebony 0]

Ebony just let the two of them do their thing. She wasn't about to interfere and attack, not while Calrex and Tristan already were. Ebony looked at Tristan, who had just proved that the best offense was a good defense by defeating the boss by doing nothing but being sliced by the Banshee's claws. According to Calrex this had something to do with a unique skill. Ebony's face took on a determined expression. "If there's a unique skill for healers, I'm going to find it. I wont be beaten out by someone else in regards to healing." She exclaimed passionately. She had chosen to be a healer, and that meant being the best there was. She wondered for a moment who had gotten the potion drop. Calrex didn't appear to have it, and she certainly didnt. That meant Tristan had probably gotten it. It made sense as he had dealt the killing blow. If you could call that a blow. 

"And I'll do my best to catch up to you guys. I'll be up there on the front lines with you two in no time." She promised sincerely.