Yankee

Expedition to Isekai

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When they departed the clearing, Masato's tense shoulders relaxed - by about three millimeters, but it was a start. Yesterday (God, has it only been a day? The hours felt like months) when they'd all woken up after the crash, he'd felt it best to stay put and wait for help. Now, he wanted to get as far away from this place as possible. It was dangerous, tainted with the blood of their friends; same with the area of the forest he'd left Okumura in. He wasn't naive enough to think that the next place they settled in would be devoid of danger, but anywhere had to be better than the ruined, stinking remains of their bus.

He firmly ignored the dour mood that had settled over the students, the grumbling and the tired panting that accompanied their footsteps. He shut it out and focused on moving. Bansen was on his back, the unconscious boy's arms draped over either side of Masato's neck. He didn't feel heavy, and realistically Masato knew that was due to his awakened strength, but that didn't stop an unnerving feeling from taking root in his mind. The blood he coughed up in his sleep didn't help, dirtying Masato's shoulder and bringing with it the coppery smell he was beginning to hate. Bansen would probably be the next to die.

They continued. After much too long their prayers were answered. A lake, water. They could clean themselves, their kill, and maybe even catch some fish. Miraculously, the river led them to something else too.

"How...?" Masato breathed as the other students flowed around him toward their friends and family. He was struck with so many conflicting feelings at once that he'd stopped in place. He was glad, of course. Relieved that the people they'd left to fight the monsters had actually survived despite the odds. Kanamori must have led them to the stream thinking that the rest of them would head there. It was smart thinking of her. The relief was doubly so for Kogen, though that particular feeling came with an edge. Of course Kogen was alive and well. He was a survivor, and fearless, and dependable. A good person, unlike... well.

Okumura, though. Seeing her alive was shocking. Last night she was on the brink of death, bleeding out with no way to save her. So how the hell was she here now? The shit eating expression on Akito's face told him nothing, but he could get the answers out of the boy later. For now, the confusion and the frustration and the dread started to melt away and the knot in his chest loosened.

"Ha... hahaha..." Masato nearly dropped Bansen in his relief. Things hadn't gone the way he expected, but that was okay - he'd made the right choice! He quickly pulled himself together, going back to the more stoic (when he wasn't arguing) Masato they all knew and walking the rest of the way to find a spot to lay down his charge.

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

Still waiting for my copy of Rain Code to ship to me...

@Yankee

Complaining worked

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

Still waiting for my copy of Rain Code to ship to me...

Expedition to Isekai

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Resistant? Masato shrugged Maeda's hand off, though he turned to look at the other boy and consider his words. So all of the monsters had some kind of magic going on, even if it was just a barrier or hard skin or whatever. That sucked, but at least he knew now. And maybe they could make more effective spearheads with some teeth and claws? As for whatever conspiracy theory Maeda was about to bring up... "A gun has to pack way more of a punch than a spear, maybe they can just break through the resistance with force."

He accompanied Maeda, Stewart, and Nakagawa back towards the group. There was still a lot to think about, including the new information he'd just learned, but in regards to the class' next move he was adamant about continuing on from here. Thankfully Nakagawa had done his best to get the others prepared to keep going. The basketball club's captain was a lot more charismatic than the student council president - yet they still ultimately looked toward the latter for leadsership.

Masato opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by the impatient ace of said basketball team.

"No," he said, exasperated. "The stream we found was barely anything. We need cleaner water, so we'll have to follow it for a while before we can think about stopping." And if they were going to keep moving, they might as well not stop at all until they found a safe... or, well. safer place. If they took any more breaks, they might not be able to get some of the students with less stamina moving again. "After that we can think about sending a scout to look around."

Masato couldn't argue the fact that some of their group were slowing the others down, but the decision on whether to leave them or not was much harder than it had been last night. He'd thought about it already, but for one Bansen and Endo were not leaving a bloody trail behind them. Yet. Bansen's lungs must have started filling with blood based on his coughing. He had no idea what was wrong with Endo. They were liabilities, but not an immediate danger to the class like he'd deemed Okumura to be. For now, they could afford to take the injured with them. If there came a time when they couldn't... then they'd have to leave them behind for the good of the group as a whole.

He took a quick, steadying breath. "Quicker we go, the quicker we'll be able to rest, okay? So let's get going. If anyone needs help speak up."

World of Light

^{____________________________________________________}
Level: 8 - Total EXP: 200/80 ------ Level: 6 - Total EXP: 139/60
𝙱𝙿 ●●●●● ---------------------------- 𝙱𝙿 ●●●●●
Word Count: 680 (+1 exp)
Location: The Under

Once the strange man was defeated and whatever spell had been cast on the Seekers lifted, Primrose wasted no time in using her spell of Warmth to heal herself. An invigorating start to the day I suppose, she thought, glad things turned out fine in the end. Barnabee had been right about the mask fragment, so she made sure it was collected and safe with the other pieces the group had so far. She also portioned out the Geo that had fallen while Nadia and Bowser were taking turns swatting Pizza Head, taking her share and (after a moment's deliberation) the diamond. She left the spirits of the other Seekers to use as they saw fit, and so did Therion - though the latter unabashedly claimed the remaining gems and the Eridium for himself along with his own share of the Geo. With everything tucked in his bag under his poncho he confirmed the pizza boxes were alright before joining the others on the edge of the tower.

Oh boy, another cliff. Hooray. Therion sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, mentally preparing himself for whatever method he'd use to descend. He could rappel down but it would take a long time. Maybe they could wrangle some of those flying creatures? Even the dandelion seeds looked big enough to float down on, but who knew how reliable that would be. He might have asked Primrose, Jesse, or Sectonia to carry him if he could live through the embarrassment. Fortunately Kamek was generous enough to lend some of his magic into making flying steads. Therion figured the wyverns wouldn't endanger themselves even with someone on their backs, and they seemed tame enough... "I'll... take one of those. Thanks." He told the old Koopa.

While flights were being prepared and views admired, Primrose considered Jesse's musing. Her "until then" was pretty optimistic; the dancer suspected there might never be a real chance for the context Jesse was talking about. But perhaps they could learn a little more about the area's history within the world they were in now. She glanced at the Hive Knight. "You mentioned a calamity took place here? Do you know anything more about it?"

Barnabee looked solemn. "Rumor tells that an ancient king of darkness, defeated and sealed away at great cost long ago, lay dormant for an age. Yet while he slumbered, his malignant influence seeped through stone like tar, poisoning yonder land and its people. I know not how it came to pass, but he evidently reawakened. His raw hatred surged through the land like a plague. The warriors of the Termite Capital vied to fight back, but their weapons rotted away in their hands, and the fetid mire that clogged their streets sapped their very lives. Soon, all that remained of that once-proud kingdom is the hollow, silent husk you see today. As for what became of his despot, I cannot say. Let us hope thy paths do not intertwine."

Therion had been listening in, and he clicked his tongue. Sure, let's hope, but knowing us? At least now the Seekers had a little bit of a heads up of what they might find down there, if anything of from the calamity remained. Primrose murmured an agreement with Barnabee.

When it was time for takeoff Therion clung to the borrowed wyvern, letting it slowly follow its kin and otherwise not directing it. He'd make it to the bottom eventually. Primrose chose to float down while landing on a floating isle or two whenever she needed to let the runes of her scarf recharge. During the trek she floated next to Sectonia, answering the queen's query.

"Well there were three indents in that door we encountered early on," Primrose began. "Judging by the size of the pieces we have, they were broken up into thirds or fourths... so we have about a mask and a half to go."

About five or six pieces. So they'd have to find more strong opponents that might be guarding one. The Seekers had some good luck so far with gathering the fragments, hopefully that luck would continue into today's adventure.

World of Light

Word Count: 587 (+1 exp)
Level: 9 - Total EXP: 225/90
Location: Edinburgh MagicaPolis

Earplugs. It felt like it'd been a while since the Ace Cadet had fought with something that could made a sound that loud, so the first thought he had after the dark beast's scream was a self admonishment. Should have made some! Can't believe I'm this rusty after only a few days.

The Cadet rolled to a stop with his feet underneath him, standing up in order to get right back into the action. In such a short amount of time the situation had already started to spiral, with the the Revenant's blasts and Paarl's thrashing destroying the architecture around them. Probably should have seen that coming. The Cadet rushed in to try and get Paarl's attention and mitigate the damage, but he was met with a vicious swipe that sent him hurdling away once more.

He recovered quickly, though not quick enough to even think about preventing the mage's death. He'd looked away before it'd even happened, while the fireball was being cast.

Big Band was right. But they were in the middle of a city, was there any place they could drag the fight to prevent civilians from getting involved? The man seemed determined to find one as he zipped off through the streets. Taking just a moment to collect himself the Cadet chased after Big Band and the detective's undead pursuers. His rigging was extended to its fullest, the crimson blades on the edge of them slicing through skeletons on the route that weren't already crushed underfoot by Paarl. After a couple of turns and many more seconds it was clear the Cadet was no where near fast enough to keep up, so he took to using a higher path. He displaced snow as she slid to a stop and aimed the slinger up. It caught the lip of a roof and hauled the hunter skyward.

He spotted Lucia and Albedo ahead of him once he was moving over the buildings instead of around them, and he dropped down into the area a couple of beats behind them. He took the liberty of healing the team of the wounds they'd gathered so far, throwing a hand into the air and spreading the lifepowder in it over the group.

The arena Band had found was creepy as hell, but perfect for the situation considering. The Cadet took a steadying breath. All the magic and the walking dead were slowly wearing on him mentally, but so long as he focused he could get through it. They had to find Linkle. Plus he would never be able to live it down if he couldn't even do his job and hunt one large monster. The Vaal Hazak is way nastier than this thing, he thought to himself.

He glanced at Big Band and the others and gave them a nod. "To right back where they came from, into the ground!"

Once more he moved to engage Darkbeast Paarl. He separated from his allies and banged obnoxiously on his shield a few times to draw its ire. As he got closer the mini cannon batteries on his rigging swiveled forward to start unloading on the monster. He braced himself for lightning, trusting his shield to withstand its claws so long as he had it raised. His intent was to give his fellow Seekers enough time and space to ready themselves for battle or else deal with the Revenant. And as soon as he had an opening himself, Paarl would be feeling the full force of the Shoryugeki shield uppercut.

It Came From The Void

Welcome to RPG!

What Are You Listening To?

Ribbit.

Welcome to RPG!

World of Light

^{____________________________________________________}
Level: 8 - Total EXP: 186/80 ------ Level: 6 - Total EXP: 125/60
𝙱𝙿 ●●●●● ---------------------------- 𝙱𝙿 ●●●●●
Word Count: 820 (+2 exp)
Location: The Under

It wasn't much of a surprise that Pizza Face went down so quickly. The Seekers had many powerful people gathered in one place, with the current singular goal of defeating it so they could grab its mask fragment and move on. Maybe the universe in its infinite wisdom thought it was even a little too easy, because moments after Pizza Face fell to the ground it opened up as if on a hinge, revealing a pizza headed man inside. On the outside he seemed rather silly, but no one was under the illusion that he didn't have something nefarious up his sleeve. The area itself started to morph and change once he stepped out of his machine, and a mysterious phenomenon conjured eight images over everyone in the arena, including the boss of the tower himself.

Above Therion was two rows of identical daggers, and above Primrose eight paper fans tied with ribbon. Both of them were immediately on edge, especially after the Koopa Prince's panicked shout about what he thought the eight images meant. If he was right, then even despite their firepower they were in a dangerous situation.

Primrose took a step forward while considering a dance - defense probably wouldn't be of use, so maybe additional speed? Her intentions immediately changed when Pizza Head pulled a large ugly creature from nowhere and introduced it to the battle. It wasn't the only one he pulled out, but the first one caught Primrose's attention from the bright orange pustules on its body. That was the "Infection" that Barnabee had warned them about, wasn't it? In that case, the monster should be cleansed in fire.

The Brooding Mawlek began to spit up orange blobs as soon as it got its bearings, and the dancer met them with casts of her Fire Orb. It melted the infection before it could splatter onto any Seekers. Primrose and Mawlek didn't continue throwing blobs and magic overhead above the arena for very long. When an opening presented itself the dancer dropped to one knee and conjuring the Black Serpent to twist over the ground towards the Mawlek. Before it struck the monster leaped into the air, smashing down onto Primrose's location. Driven back by the impact Primrose happened to catch that the images above her had decreased to seven. It didn't bode well.

The Mawlek reared back and then lashed out with its arms, only slicing through the air where the dancer was a moment before. "Not so fast~" she said, reappearing behind the creature with Ravaging Confession and slashing her dagger across its body. On the second pass she noted that its body lit up briefly, and if the icons above its own head were anything to go by her follow up hadn't dealt it any damage.

A dangerous situation indeed, she thought. but not one she couldn't handle.

Meanwhile, Therion had started toward Pizza Head. He was of similar thought to Primrose in that he suspected his debuffing wouldn't be effective, so his target was the boss himself. Of course he wasn't the only Seeker with that plan either. Artorias and Ganondorf practically forced their way through the arena, though the former was impeded along the way, while Sectonia and Jesse took a different approach. Throwing daggers wouldn't be enough this time, seeing as Pizza Head was not only fast, but whenever he was momentarily staggered by someone else's strike he blinked and didn't take any damage for a few seconds afterward - making capitalizing on his allies' hits impossible for the thief. Getting real sick of this, Therion thought as he weaved through the battlefield, careful to avoid any stray attacks from other people's fights.

Eventually he'd made a full loop around the arena and broke off from the those chasing Pizza Head, rejoining his fellow Orsterran where she danced in and out of her opponent's range. Her gaze flickered to him briefly as he got closer, tagging her to donate some of his mana towards her reserves.

"Need a hand?"

"No," she answered honestly, a smirk curling her lips. "But since you're here anyway."

The images above her head showed six, while above the Mawlek was four. It backed up to put some space between the Travelers and lurched into vomiting out a whole group of infectious blobs at once. Primrose summoned the Flame Fan and used a battle boost to increase its size enough to swipe the globs in fire while Therion dashed in and stabbed the Mawlek. He darted to one side to avoid its claw and as soon as its body stopped flashing he stabbed it again.

The Mawlek rumbled while trying to skitter away. Primrose twirled into its path, flourishing the Flame Fan to burn its body. The final hit was struck with Therion's Wildfire, lighting up the dreary orange space with a blast of fire magic. The monster flailed and crumbled, one less obstacle on the battlefield.