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Lighteria
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Re: Gated Folding Stare; Fighting Through Fire!

Post by Lighteria » Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:36 pm

Oh screw this...

You don't need to be a mind-reader to tell what Lighteria is thinking when another dozen or so monsters pour out of seemingly nowhere. For one glimmering instant, he had thought that the team was done with the bulk of the monsters... but no. No sooner does hope creep its way into the room does reality come crashing back down. Fighting off even a few of the raptors made the twin blade rather exhausted, but now a fresh pair have appeared? REALLY?!? Before he can drop his blades and abandon all hope though, he's quickly knocked off his feet by an earthen shockwave. The HP damage is nothing to write home about, especially since Nighthand had topped off Lighteria's HP. Still, the impact on his fatigued body flings him to the nearby wall. The shock of the impact is felt right down to his bones and the twin blade slumps against the arena wall, desperate for a breath. Now normally the raptors will happily munch on a prone target, but Nighthand once again pulls out another life-saver. A rather warped and powerful darkness attack that damages damn near everything in the room and, even better, draws their attention. Thus, with a moments respite, the twin blade sinks into his mind for his typical ditzy, spaced out inner thought process.

What am I doing? Is this even worth all this effort? I'm nearly killing myself fighting these AI and for what? Because some twisted elites think it's funny to have us jump around like rats in a maze? They've slowed us down so much already... can we even catch them now? I don't know... I just don't know.
...But I have had just about ENOUGH of being toyed with!!


Ignoring the incoming flash mails, the twin blade moves slowly from the wall and lets out a furious scream. Of course, the scream is rather high-pitched and sounds a bit like a twelve year old's tantrum more than it does a battle cry, but hey... it works. Thus enraged, the twin blade, with his still Ap Do enhanced feet, rushes to literally the tail end of the raptor pack as it rushes Nighthand. The timid twin blade reaches one of the beasts he crippled beforehand and makes a quick, flying leap onto its back, daggers held over his head. The beast barely realizes its being pounced upon until the Akatsuki burrows into its back. The monster lets off a furious screech and starts bucking around wildly to get the twin blade off, its blood curdling howl alerting the other three raptors thanks to their pack mentality. Neither of these things particularly bother Lighteria though. He'd dagger-reign rode plenty of larger foes and the raptor wasn't going to simply buck him off... especially not when he's mad. The twin blade's next move is quick and merciless. Using the anchored blades, he launches himself towards the beast's head, getting his legs in a quick wrap around its lengthy neck. The other beasts in the pack don't even have time to reach their friend before the twin blade extracts the Akatsuki, crosses them over the thing's jugular and yanks backwards. The cut runs deep into the beast's neck causing the thing to stumble to the ground and collapse, twitching around furiously in pain, trying to strike the twin blade that has already dismounted. The other three raptors watch as the thing lets out a gurgle and dies on the floor... then slowly lift their heads to stare at Lighteria.

"You're first." Lighteria says rather darkly, pointing towards a raptor with an Ani-singe on its side. The raptors each let out a screech and vanish, the three of them appearing in almost perfect formation in front of the twin blade, ready to lunge. Of course, the one Lighteria had cut on the ankle lags behind the first two so the twin blade takes off in the opposite direction to help exacerbate the distance between them. The two still nimble raptors quickly catch up though and Lighteria nearly gets a chunk taken out of his shoulder again by a teleport and a bite. The attack pattern is clearly starting to repeat itself though. With the bite coming from his right side, Lighteria makes a short dodge to the left... but instead of just leaping the twin blade swipes his blade towards his left side, the second raptor appearing almost right on the blade, its bite attack cut off from the surprise of almost getting slashed. That brief shock causes the two of them to quickly teleport away and try an new tactic. Lighteria looks behind him and glares as the two raptors, rather unaware of how far they're leaving the crippled one behind, line up and make a flying leap towards him. The twin blade can guess what's coming though...

With one quick movement, Lighteria leaps just a little bit into the air and makes a half-spin, turning his body towards the attacking beasts. He slows his momentum with one leg skidding on the arena floor, the other he lets stay bent so he falls to his knees. As expected, the first raptor warps in over his head, its claws on its feet outstretched. The thing sails over his head and lands in front of him but the twin blade pays no attention. With a growl, Lighteria grips one of his blades and plunges it forward into the air in front of him... right where the raptor ports in with the standard follow up attack. Luck is clearly on the twin blade's side though, the beast having chosen to bite instead of leap. The Akatsuki quickly plunges past the creature's maw, the blade burying itself into the back of its throat. There the two of them stay for a few seconds, the raptor making a rather disturbing noise that sounds like the combination of a gag, swallow and a vomit as it twitches at the end of Lighteria's arm, its sharp teeth lightly grazing the player's elbow during its more violent convulsions. Its death rattles eventually wear on the twin blade's enraged patience. With a growl, the player yanks his blade from the thing's throat and cruelly back hands his other blade across the thing's face, sending it harshly to the floor to fade into nothing.

Of course, now he's REALLY ticked them off. The raptor that failed to claw the twin blade screeches in anger for the death of its friend, rushing for Lighteria's back before he gets off the floor. The twin blade has time to only blink in realization and make a quick tuck and roll before the raptors claws dig into the bloody floor where he was standing. Lighteria manages to barely get to his feet though, when the crippled raptor ports in, catching him off guard and taking a nice bite on his side. The twin blade yelps and, out of pure rage, immediately counter attacks with one of his blades, giving the raptor a nice long cut across its side. The two of them both stagger backwards, the raptor quickly porting out of attack range and appearing at the side of the other. Lighteria glares at he watches the raptor charge him again and blink out of view. Lighteria growls, knowing an attack is coming but not knowing where from. Giving up on guessing, the twin blade simply stays in place and swipes his blades in two long arcs in front and behind him. The raptor appears at his front, surprisingly taking a light cut to the face before recovering and blinking away. With even a tricky attack becoming dangerous, the two raptors start circling the twin blade again, intermittently teleporting around to disorient him. Lighteria though, has seen this before and is quite pointedly tired of it. Since there's no way he could confuse the number of monsters this time, the twin blade keeps his eye on the non-crippled one as it ports and circles him, waiting for its opening to attack. Unfortunately for it, the twin blade keeps himself fixated on the raptor as it circles him and lifts one of his blades up in anticipation. The next attack seems to happen instantly. The raptor vanishes from Lighteria's view and the player's arm whips, sending his blade flying into an empty space... right where the raptor ports in. Unable to just port again right away the raptor shrieks and takes the hit, the dagger digging into its side. The twin blade quickly makes a rush for the wounded beast, the shock of the hit leaving it open to another quick gash on its side. The beast screeches and counters with a bite which glances Lighteria on the side... mostly because he's not bothering to dodge at this point. The twin blade relentlessly slashes at the beast's neck and face, executing a quick dodge to the left when he hears the crippled attempting to rush up and bite him again. Lighteria doesn't switch targets though, and the fixated beast quickly finds itself without an opening for an attack through the constant slashing. Realizing it's being nickel and dimed to death, the beast makes a quick step backwards and moves to port itself a safe distance to regroup and counter attack. The step back though, just lets Lighteria get an aggressive step forward which he immediately takes. He lunges straight for the retreating monster and makes two powerful upwards slashes at the thing's neck... Its body ports away. Its neck and head don't. The crippled raptor backs away in shock as its friends head and body hit the floor at different times, both quickly fading... and Lighteria finally turning its gaze to the thing.

"... ...I'm sorry." Lighteria says quietly, letting his anger drain away. A one on one fight with a crippled AI? No need for anger now. The twin blade makes one final rush to the beast, knowing the fight's over for them for now. He side steps the single bite attack it can muster before gripping its neck and plunging the Akatsuki into the back of its head. It fades quickly, it was practically dead already, and Lighteria stumbles weakly forward, the fight just about drained out of him.

Fire Elementals: 0/8 (Merging Ability)
Dire Water Wolves 0/9 (Water Column Attack)
Earthen Sphinxes 1/7 (Conjunction Summon, Severely Abused)
Wooden Mer 2/8 (Poison Thorn Storm, All Injured)
Thunder Raptors 0/10 (Teleport Stalk)
Darkness Shroom Kings 3/9 (Five second paralysis, All Injured)
Lv. 37 Twin Blade (180 SP)
Weapon: Rashou (Thunder Coil- 30, Suvi Lei- 20, Mumyn Lei- 30) (Life Drain)
Armor: Holy Tree Mail (Juk Kruz- 20) - Scarab Earring (La Repth- 20, Rip Maen- 40) - Time Sandals (Ap Do- 15) - Forest Gloves (Juk Kruz- 20)
GP: 14384

Wish list (In order of priority): Angel halo accessory, chibi angel wings, Bone Armor, Professional

Lighteria: "Obsessively updating my profile since Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:10 pm"

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Nighthand
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Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Re: Gated Folding Stare; Fighting Through Fire!

Post by Nighthand » Sat Jul 12, 2008 5:27 pm

Kill all the monsters and then camp the spawns while the others try to figure out the combination, huh? Sounds easy enough.

His first target was the last remaining sphinx. While alone it could really do much, it was still an adversary, and if more showed up it would be dangerous. Still, compared to the raptor teleport it was slow, and compared to the merfolk flight it was easy to pin down. So pin it down he did, with his blade.

One of the mer spun around him, flying circles. A moment later, thorns began to appear all around him in the air. Not an attack he wanted to be there for. He batted a dozen of them out of the way and ran through the hole, while the thorns continued to form a dome where he had been. The mer was occupied in casting its spell, leaving it a wide open target.

"Ganz Maxima!" The skill went off and the mer disintegrated, hit points depleted.

Changing targets swiftly, he tracked down the other mer and removed it just as easily from the fray. Truly, the monsters were no challenge once he knew their patterns.

All that remained were the trio of shrooms, all injured somewhat by the preceding battle. They all targeted him, their biggest threat at the moment, and started a cycle of paralysis.

Finding himself unable to move, he did the only thing he could; he waited. Sure enough, before another moment had passed, the trio of kings had been slain. Canti and Phoenix had been more than happy to dispatch them. Finally, the room stood empty for the first time since they had arrived.

Getting a good look around, it was a very simple design. A circular arena, doors on either end, one they had come from, the other they would go through. Their destination was blocked, of course; perhaps it was something on the other side that opened it. He knew about as surely as he knew hackers were here, that there would be some form of boss beyond the door. There would probably be a boss, and a hacker, beyond each of the three doors... which made splitting the party up one of the worst ideas they could have. Of course, that was only if they could get through both doors at the same time. It was fully possible one held the key to the other. In fact, that seemed likely.

Of course, if they hadn't split up, they would have been stumped by this room. The door didn't open when the monsters were killed, and there were no other signs of a puzzle to open it. In fact the only possible way to go once they defeated the monsters was back the way they had come. Had they gone that way from the beginning, who knew how many monsters would have spawned? Ingenious of the hackers to link the two like that. The worse they did on the puzzle side, the harder the fight they would face on the battle side.

He could only hope that they had the power to fight through the bosses at the end.

-----------ooc:
Fire Elementals: 0/8 (Merging Ability)
Dire Water Wolves 0/9 (Water Column Attack)
Earthen Sphinxes 0/7 (Conjunction Summon)
Wooden Mer 0/8 (Poison Thorn Storm, All Injured)
Thunder Raptors 0/10 (Teleport Stalk)
Darkness Shroom Kings 0/9 (Five second paralysis)

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Lighteria
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Re: Gated Folding Stare; Fighting Through Fire!

Post by Lighteria » Wed Jul 16, 2008 7:04 pm

Lighteria's Akatsuki fall to the floor, his grip weak and his breath short. As the final monsters keel over and die, a funny thing happens. There's a moment of silence. It's almost a complete shock when what felt like endless strings of fighting suddenly stop. There's no magic being cast, no vicious roars from bizarre creatures, no screaming, no sword clashing. The sudden sharp decline in the action nearly knocks the twin blade over as much as any of the monsters would have had they been alive at the time. He drops to a sitting position on the arena floor and lets his head fall back, taking a good amount of time to calm his breathing and his heart. As he sits, he decides, what the hell, may as well pop open the flashmails he'd gotten while he was ignoring them in his red combat haze.

Let's see... one from Phoenix. ... Ah, keeping his head during the fight as usual. Where WERE those monsters coming from?
Hm.. better check Dien's... ... ...Oh.


Reading through the flashmail, the twin blade lets out a quiet laugh and stands up to start moving back to the doorway. That huge, furious bout of fighting was pretty much self-inflicted. Oooooh the irony… every random, scratch your head guess turned into a brutal spleen punching fight for the other room. The twin blade shakes his head and sighs as he walks, thinking that at least the team managed to stay pretty much in tact through the whole ordeal. There are, of course, countless cuts and bruises and plenty of repth spells flying around but at least no one got killed. ...At least no one he noticed.

I guess there’s really only one thing left to do…

With a brisk walk, not tending to his jostled hair, clothing and various scrapes, the twin blade makes his way back to the puzzle door lifting his hand to Sheena for just a brief second where he forgets he’s too nervous to say hello to her. So instantly his hand bolts right back to his side and stays as motionless as a glacier as he stares at the frustratingly cryptic puzzle clue.

Doors before? Oh cripes… I only know the first three. Bleh. It’ll have to do. At least I can pick up on some pattern recognition and see if I’m close.

Knowing there’s no way in hell he could do all this in his head, the twin blade opens up a blank flash mail, ignoring the default “To:” and naming it Lighteria’s Thoughtpad.

Let’s see here… Numbers as letters is pretty straight forward. One through twenty-six, right? I’ll just write down the first three answers and see what letters they give me.

… c… j… u…. u… k… d and d.

…huh.
….That spells absolutely NOTHING. So that can’t be it. …Maybe I’m supposed to add the numbers in the answers together? They can’t go over 26 easily.

That’s.. d… s… i. ….Wait. I’d only get a five letter word out of this thing. No way that’d reveal the number. Bah. Maybe it means letters as they appear on a telephone?
… …Gah! One and zero don’t HAVE letters! And that’s half the numbers I have! Scratch that. Maybe if I spell them out.
Three One Zero
Nine Nine One
One Four Four

…UGH. I don’t see any pattern at all! This one’s really got me stumped. I didn’t get anywhere! May as well close the flashmail and step back from this one.


*Send*


Oh dear god I did not just do that.
To: Party
From: Lighteria
Subject: Lighteria's Thoughtpad

310,991,144 <- First three answers

3 10 9 9 11 4 4 (Straight number to letter translation?)
C j I I k d d

4 19 9 (Add up the numbers in each answer?)
d s I

Number Pad? 1 & 0 have no letters!!!

Three One Zero
Nine Nine One
One Four Four (I see no pattern! This really freaking sucks!!!)
Last edited by Lighteria on Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
Lv. 37 Twin Blade (180 SP)
Weapon: Rashou (Thunder Coil- 30, Suvi Lei- 20, Mumyn Lei- 30) (Life Drain)
Armor: Holy Tree Mail (Juk Kruz- 20) - Scarab Earring (La Repth- 20, Rip Maen- 40) - Time Sandals (Ap Do- 15) - Forest Gloves (Juk Kruz- 20)
GP: 14384

Wish list (In order of priority): Angel halo accessory, chibi angel wings, Bone Armor, Professional

Lighteria: "Obsessively updating my profile since Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:10 pm"

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Raven
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Re: Gated Folding Stare; Fighting Through Fire!

Post by Raven » Thu Jul 17, 2008 12:05 am

Raven stood back staring at the riddle that was now before them.

Code: Select all

Numbers as Letters, Counted in Cycle
Doors Before 
Guess.
That was a fairly cryptic riddle, but not something beyond a few wild guesses. Wild guesses were all he had at present though, and he was not willing to try any of them just yet. Dien's flashmail had been fairly straightforward about that. It had stopped him from doing anything just yet, out of fear about what was going to happen if he got it wrong.
To: Freedom Fighters
From: Dien
Re: Of Doors and Monsters
Message:
So with the help of Nighthand, I’ve figured it out. Every time we make a bad guess at the doors, three more monsters will spawn in the next room. At the very least, I’d suggest that we hold off on guessing until we can get the number of monsters down to a more manageable level, and then guess sparingly only when we’re sure that we’ve got the right answer. This should make it easier for everyone involved.

I figure if we have a handful of fighters in the monster room, they can spawnkill the monsters that may appear from bad guesses. That means, though, that we should slow down our guesses, because if they’re wrong, we want to give our clean up crew some time to deal with them.

So in other words, if someone has just taken a swing at it, wait a minute or two before stepping up to the plate so the monsters that erupted can be dealt with.
God damn it, I know I said this was likely to be the consequence for getting an answer wrong, but I was just kidding! Raven thought with a long sigh.

This was going to be harder than he thought, and since it mentioned the doors before this one, he assumed that meant he'd have to remember old answers. What had they been up until now? There had been 5 doors so far before this one, and the codes had been 310, 991, 144, 312, and 861. How did that add up to a 3 digit code that involved numbers representing letters? Another ping in Raven's ear warned of yet another flashmail, seemingly from someone named Lighteria. He didn't quite know which one of them that was, but hey, he couldn't put names to most of the faces in the Freedom Fighters quite yet. Opening up the message, he read it over to find that it was mostly thoughts on the riddle.
To: Party
From: Lighteria
Subject: Lighteria's Thoughtpad

310,991,144 <- First three answers

3 10 9 9 11 4 4 (Straight number to letter translation?)
C j I I k d d

4 19 9 (Add up the numbers in each answer?)
d s I

Number Pad? 1 & 0 have no letters!!!

Three One Zero
Nine Nine One
One Four Four (I see no pattern! This really freaking sucks!!!)
It was just a random assortment of thoughts, but hey, someone might find it useful in triggering their own thought process. Hell, it was how it had happened more often than not during his time in the EC. Raven would mention his thoughts, and someone else would hear one part, and solve the riddle from that. Sharing thoughts, no matter how trivial may be the key to this. He could see Lighteria's logic, but he didn't know why he was using only the codes for the first three doors. The riddle probably needed all five to be incorporated into the solution. How though? They needed a three digit number, and how could they convert numbers into letters. The same way Lighteria had? That seemed a little simple, and they were talking about skilled hackers here. How else could one represent numbers as letters? There was one other way, but Raven was too unfamiliar with it to be confident about solving the riddle with it himself. With that in mind, he began to compose a flashmail of his own.
To: Freedom Fighters
From: Raven
Subject: Riddle

Lighteria may be on the right track, but I don't think it's quite that simple. He only used the first three door codes, and I think it may require all 5 to be used somehow.

The codes so far, in order, have been 310, 991, 144, 312, and 861.

Also, when it says numbers as letters, I don't think it's quite as simple as Lighteria is making it out to be either. Representing the alphabet as numbers from 1 to 26 is the simple way, but there is another method. ASCII code. Does anyone here have a decent grasp of it? I know enough to know what it is and what it's used for, but not well enough to be able to put it to use to hazard a guess. However, either you find the letter that corresponds to the previous codes and it spells something, or some other method. I leave that up to those who know it better than I do.
With that message sent, Raven leaned back and waited for the discussion to begin. They were going to have to be careful with this one, no one was just going to make a random guess anymore.
Raven
Level 23 Blademaster
2400 Gold
Skills: Rue Kruz, Juk Kruz, Vak Crack, Rai Rom, Gan Crack, Ap Corv | Skill Drain
Items: x30 Health Drinks, x12 Mage Souls, x5 Resurrects, x4 Gale Breaths, x9 Speed Charms, x9 Meteor Swarms, x5 Warrior's Blood, Nightblight, Plasma Storm, Fire Tempest, x4 Ice Floe, Sprite Ocarina, Fairy's Orb, Fortune Wire, Hermit's Bane, x3 Ice Storm, x2 Ice Strike, Cygnus, Matoi, x2 Dark Night

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Phoenix512
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Posts: 304
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2003 10:42 pm

Re: Gated Folding Stare; Fighting Through Fire!

Post by Phoenix512 » Thu Jul 17, 2008 1:35 am

There can be only two possibilities of why the hackers designed this system. One, for people going into the lab and as they input incorrect guesses, they would be surrounded by hacked versions of mid-class monsters. The other possibility which matches the Freedom Fighters is that the lab group would unwillingly destroy the testing ground group. But this possibility is less likely if the lab group didn’t make any errors and got their way through. Then they would have faced a group at full strength. It has to the first possibility.

Kazuma-sama, now is not the time to dwell on the reasoning of the hackers and deal with the current problem.

Suzaku was right but at least they know where the monsters are coming from. As along the other group does not try to solve the door while the number of monsters is still high, the Freedom Fighters should be okay. The group was making great progress in reducing the numbers in the current room and it was time to finish them off for the final time.

Suzaku, let’s deal with the Mushroom Kings first as their paralyzing abilities are a nuisance. Don’t attack until I become paralyzed.

Phoenix began his assault on the Mushroom Kings with a GiGan Zot. The earthen attack pierced the middle one greatly while the other two kings were slightly injured. The kings reacted in the way that the blademaster wanted them to do. Two of them began to paralyze Phoenix by alternating between uses of their powers. Normally it would only last for five seconds but by alternating, the effect becomes continuous.

With the given signal, Suzaku breathe her fire breath at the three kings. The attack managed to kill the one who was greatly injured by the GiGan Zot attack. Suzaku’s attack caused the two remaining kings to stop their continuous paralyzing attack on Phoenix which began his counterattack. He cast a BiVak Rom at the two kings which they were already subjected to fire by Suzaku. The Mushroom Kings were barely alive but no longer as Phoenix slashed the two kings easily.

Once the Kings were out of the picture, there were no more enemies as Nighthand took care of the remaining enemies. For now there was peace in the room but the situation in the lab area was pressing. If the other group could not figure out the code, more enemies will come from this room. If the group was smart, they would wait if they got the code wrong before trying again so the other group could gang up the monsters and defeat them quickly.

Phoenix sheathed the Oberon away as he has been gripping on the sword tightly for quite some time now. He decided to use this break in the fighting to talk to Suzaku who had recently returned to the battlefield. Suzaku, how have you been? I assumed that you found your true self or otherwise you wouldn’t be back here?

Yes I did, Kazuma-sa… The guardian bird stopped herself from saying sama as she promised herself to drop the sama. What’s wrong, Suzaku?

Nothing’s wrong. Before you start asking me questions, let me explain what happened to me. Phoenix knew something was up from Suzaku’s dialogue as she was formal with him. Now she was more informal with him but maybe this was part of her true self. He gave a nod to her to allow her to continue talking.

Thank you. When you install the orb into me, I woke up in the real world but I have no control. I was watching through another person like watching TV. As I was watching through this person, I realized that the person was familiar to me. I realized that the person was actually me. I was watching a past memory but not any random memory.

This memory was you or rather when I heard the news that you became stuck in the World. So after realizing this, I remember everything about who I was. After hearing the news about you, I decided to play the World to find you. I came close to the source but ended up like Shinto. Luckily for me, Miaka found my soul and implanted into Suzaku. She didn’t have time to fully incorporate my memories into it. So she placed my feelings towards you into Suzaku so she will always try her best to protect you.

As for myself, I’m someone related to you in the past. I was another childhood friend like Shinto but we became distant after high school. Kazuma, my true name is Yui.

I know it’s a lot to take in but you have to believe me or the power I acquire won’t work.


Phoenix was absolutely stunned by what Suzaku has told him. For him to believe that his guardian was actually his old childhood friend was a bit farfetched. He dropped to the floor on his knees. He began to slam down on the floor with fists multiple times. The blademaster did not care about the pain as his fists were getting bloodier. Suzaku could not bear to see him like this and let out a loud scream. KAZUMA, STOP THIS NOW!

The blademaster immediately stop pounding on the floor and look at Suzaku. The bird was already crying because of him. I’m sorry, Suzaku or Yui. I don’t even know what to call you. I’ll bet that you are having a hard time in dealing with this as well. I need some to time to take this in.

Before Phoenix could ponder on the revelation, Lighteria and Raven were trying to figure out the last code which he could not help them in the slightest. He redrew the Oberon as he wanted to get ready for any new monsters to appear.

Meanwhile Suzaku was watching from the air and remember something that Miaka told her before she reemerged to this room. Yui, remember this. When you tell Phoenix about your true self, he won’t accept it immediately. Give him time to believe it. I had Miki to tell him to believe in you but he probably won’t remember those words immediately.
Phoenix
Level 48 Blademaster
Equipped Skills: Vak Revolver, Gan Revolver, Dek Vorv, La Repth, Juk Kruz, Rue Kruz, BiVak Rom, GiGan Zot
Other Skills: Rue Kruz, Rip Synk, Rip Saem, Crack Beat, Rue Slash, Ani Slash, Gan Crack, Gan Revolver

Wish List: Phoenix's Fire, Gold Necklace
EX-Spheres: LV 3 - Overdrive, LV 3 - Curative, LV 3 - Elemental Breath

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Nighthand
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Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Re: Gated Folding Stare; Fighting Through Fire!

Post by Nighthand » Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:32 pm

(Short ooc post. I had hoped Dien would have posted by now, but since he hasn't and everyone else seems stumped, I'll toss the clue he's been holding on to out.

"The word "Letters" flickers and morphs into "Words""

How it helps or doesn't help remains to be seen. Also, if this goes too much longer, a solution might be forced.)

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Dien
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Posts: 226
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Class: Blademaster
Location: The "Who's Online List," Stalking People...

Part 8

Post by Dien » Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:52 pm

(OOC: I’m going to post Dien’s attempt and reveal the riddle to him as it had happened in conversation with Nighthand, because the flicker would have changed his guess slightly to something which might have been right…)
To: Freedom Fighters
From: Raven
Subject: Riddle
Message:
Lighteria may be on the right track, but I don’t think it’s quite that simple. He only used the first three door codes, and I think it may require all 5 to be used somehow.

The codes so far, in order, have been 310, 991, 144, 312, and 861.

Also, when it says numbers as letters, I don’t think it’s quite as simple as Lighteria is making it out to be either. Representing the alphabet as numbers from 1 to 26 is the simple way, but there is another method. ASCII code. Does anyone here have a decent grasp of it? I know enough to know what it is and what it’s used for, but not well enough to be able to put it to use to hazard a guess. However, either you find the letter that corresponds to the previous codes and it spells something, or some other method. I leave that up to those who know it better than I do.
He awoke from his stupor at the sound that revealed Raven’s logic at him. Indeed, this (and Lighteria’s) was the logic that comprised his first few guesses, that had ultimately lead him to nothing but more monsters. The puzzle would require additional thought.
To: Freedom Fighters
From: Dien
Subject: Re: Raven; “Riddle”
Message:
As something of an accomplished hacker in my days of yore, I should hope that I know ASCII code well enough to tell you that those numbers don’t mean a thing when translated—that was one of the first places my mind went, along with a few interpretations that extrapolated and way overcomplicated things (which I tend to do anyways, but moving on). Perhaps we’re going about this too mathematically…I’ve got another idea that I’m going to look into, involving counting the letters. With my luck, it really is something that simple.
It was sent before he could have any say in the matter, starting to get too frustrated and exhausted to care, especially considering the daunting task before him: count each and every single letter in all of the puzzles presented. Logic said that he should exclude the last puzzle, as it referenced puzzles before as being all that counted, so he sauntered back to the first puzzle. It was as he began to count that something curious caught his attention. In the next room was a highlight—like there was someone ghosted standing there awaiting resurrection, only there wasn’t actually anything there. So curious was it that his attention was drawn away from the puzzle, and he himself drawn into the next room.

The blademaster was inexorably confused. His silent mental cursor rested on nothing but thin air, but clearly suggested that there was a fallen comrade there awaiting recovery. With a sigh, he somewhat hesitantly activated the Resurrect from his inventory, not wanting to spring a trap by one of the hackers.

Senna appeared, looking relieved. She immediately downed a Mage’s soul, then looked in Dien’s direction and shot him a grateful smile. “Hey, thanks.”

Needless to say, he was slightly stunned at the longarm’s sudden appearance. His mind still trying to decide whether or not he’d actually seen a ghost where his friend was now standing, the confusion started to bleed into his face and posture before he opened his mouth. “Did you just...?”

She looked puzzled as well, perhaps at his reaction. “Uh.. well, I died. Fire... nasty stuff.” She shivered. “Better than lightning but-”

“Yeah but,” he began, not sure how to phrase this as his mind finally settled, “there was no ghost. At least, I don’t think there was a ghost...”

She looked blankly at him for a second, then understanding dawned. “Oh. OH! Oh crap. I never even thought...” She shook her head, then addressed Dien directly again. “Sorry about that. It just... happens sometimes.”

What just happens sometimes?” trying as hard as possible not to be stern, Dien found it difficult, especially considering the people she’d been hanging around with. His mind instantly explored the possibilities, and needless to say, it was invigorating.

She looked embarrassed. “It’s just, when I die, I’m still in a version of here, but everyone’s gone. It’s quiet. Empty. Until someone resurrects me and it all comes back.”

“That’s...interesting,” the blademaster said, the confusion starting to fade off his face, being replaced by the visage of his mind turning about itself. “And you said that you don’t have any side effect from the infection yet? Nothing at all?”

Now she really looked uncomfortable. “Nothing much. Just, sometimes, weapon attacks should hit, but they don’t. I try not to let it happen,” she added defensively.

Eyes widened at the statement, not even noticing the discomfort she felt in the face of what she’d just said. Does she really...?! “So wait, you’re saying that the weapons just flow through you? Like, without doing any damage at all?”

“Just sometimes.” The answer was quick, and now decidedly defensive. “I can usually stop it. Except when I’m surprised.”

“...why would you stop it?” he asked, perplexed at her defensiveness, “there’s no getting around the fact that you’re infected and that crazy hacker-ish things are going to happen. I’ve got a feeling that this just might be your so-called ‘power’ starting to show...”

“So my power is the ability to be inherently cowardly.” the edge had gone out of her voice now. “How wonderful to know I can prove everyone right, eh?” She half-smiled.

“Nothing cowardly about it,” he said, “though if that is where it comes from, we can help you with that. Think about it, though; think about the possibilities! If you can phase out like that whenever someone’s going to hit you, it’s almost more useful than if you were able to rampantly destroy.” He paused for a moment, letting her mind begin to wrap around it. “It really isn’t a bad thing - you could go do stuff like reconnaissance, and the fact that you can’t be hurt makes you the ideal white mage for a close-quarters fight.”

She shook her head, clearly unconvinced. “It’s not everything. Not spells. Not all attacks. Just sometimes. And it might be useful, but it’s still cowardly.”

He sighed, “Well things don’t start fast,” he said, thinking back to the beginning of his infection and how utterly useless it was, “maybe this is just the beginning? Still, you should keep your chin up, and stop calling yourself cowardly. It really isn’t going to help you help us...”

She looked like she wanted to make another quick reply, but checked herself before the words formed, and she just nodded in acknowledgement of his point. “Maybe. Though as to helping us... now what? Or we wait for the others to finish in their room?”

“It’s a waiting game until someone decides to try something,” he said, “the puzzle in there had me pretty well stumped, though I’ve got an idea for it. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous or clever, take a crack at it - they should be able to hold things to a dull roar as the monsters appear.”

Wincing, Senna said, “I’m never very clever with anything that isn’t a word puzzle,” she confessed. “And given that these are coders with a hastily erected defense, I’m guessing numbers.”

“Well, considering it’s a number panel, I’d say that’s a safe guess to make,” he said, smiling back to her, “don’t worry, though, I’m sure people will just stick around in here and pull some spawn-killing.”

Chuckling, she replied, “Hey, if I were still in this for the levels, I’d tell ‘em to miss a few more. But we’ve gotta get in there, huh? And fast...”

“Well...” he said, stopping himself before his strategery went off on its own, “...yeah.” The conversation had ended rather awkwardly. It was curious that with all these bad guesses on their tight time frame that the metaphorical shit hadn’t already hit the fan. These hackers were supposedly expecting some pretty powerful company, and pretty soon at that. Right then, about counting things…

He turned about, taking his exeunt from the room with about as much stealth as a buffalo could hope to have achieved. It was then that he set to the more tedious task of counting things. The clue pointed to letters as numbers…so count letters and numbers? With a shrug, he began taking notes, counting each individual clue to produce his guess. The first clue, “Pi Is Exactly/.999... Is Not/Do Not Divide,” had 30 characters. 23 comprised the next two riddles, “Penultimate Prime of Three,” and “Fibonacci's Largest Square.” “2222 In the Fifth,” held 14 characters, while the last clue held another 14, “7//7……………………………….7//7……………………………….7……………………………….7/Together.” Simple arithmetic: the sum was 104. Shrugging as he punched the numbers into the panel, he was aggravated to find nothing happen but the shriek of more monsters spawning in the next room. With a sigh, his fist landed on the wall beside the panel, which coincided coincidentally with a flicker in the graphics. He looked, and as the word came into focus, it became a plural of its own identity. The final puzzle now read,

Code: Select all

Numbers as Words, Counted in Cycle
Doors Before 
Guess.
(OOC:

Attempt made: 104

Monster Count:
Fire Elementals: 0/8 (Merging ability)
Dire Water Wolves 0/9 (Water column attack)
Earthen Sphinxes 0/7 (Conjunction Summon)
Wooden Mer 1/9 (Poison thorn storm)
Thunder Raptors 2/12 (Teleport Stalk)
Darkness Shroom Kings 0/9 (Five second paralysis)
)
Image
Image|||Level 35 Blademaster (+200 EXP)
Wishlist: EXP, Ends of Earth, Armor with Status Effects

User avatar
Lighteria
Well-Oiled Machine
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 12:59 am
Location: :noitacoL

Re: Gated Folding Stare; Fighting Through Fire!

Post by Lighteria » Fri Jul 25, 2008 3:38 pm

Lighteria fidgets nervously in front of the keypad, just sort of staring at the thing. Raven's flashmail helped to quell his stomach ache of embarrassment though. Sending an accidental flashmail like that was, of course, hideously embarrassing for the twin blade since he hadn't actually planned on letting anyone else see the thing. However, as the twin blade reads the response from Raven, the twin blade begins to realize that it might actually have been a boon, After all, since the group is going to need to work together to prevent the monsters in the next room from growing too numerous it's best to share as much information as possible...no sense just randomly guessing and not telling anyone else. Just as quickly, a flashmail from Dien pops up as well. Lighteria takes a moment to read it.

So he has an... idea. ...involving counting the letters? Kind of vague... Oh well.



The twin blade crosses his arms and bites his lip, trying to work on the puzzle silently again.

Ok... numbers as letters. Maybe that means use the answers and count through the letters in the questions that many times? ...Let's see 310 Would be "IL-... and nothing" huh. ...No numbers start out that way. Maybe this is simpler than I'm making it out to be... Could be the number of words in the clue are actually the numbers? That'd make it 621... No, that's TOO easy. Damn it, I'm coming up with nothing!

As he mulls over the possibilities, Dien returns from the other room and punches a combination into the keypad, thus prompting a buzz from the door and a punch from the player. Lighteria only blinks in wonder. Maybe he had a good idea for the door code, but he didn't even discuss it with anyone else... The twin blade lets out a deep sigh and turns away from the door, knowing he's not getting anywhere with this and heck, NOW there's new monsters to kill. Wee.

Mumbling to himself, he walks back into the other room, spying the new creatures along with Senna and Phoenix. As he removes his blades from his belt, Lighteria does a double take when he looks at Phoenix.

Are his fists... bloody? I wonder if he's ok...

For a second, the twin blade considers talking to him about it out of curiosity until his natural timidness reminds him that conversation would be 10% listening and 90% nervous twitch control. Instead he simply shakes his head quickly as though shaking out the thoughts and lifts his hand in the air, refreshing the Ap Do that had worn off while attempting to solve the riddle. The targets in the room are all quite annoying but the Mer is probably the cheapest out of all of them. The twin blade quickly decides that one needs to die before it can use it's frustrating poison attack.

With what little tactics you can really have for this kind of fight out of the way, Lighteria launches himself at double speed towards the Wooden Mer. It sees the twin blade charging at him of course and quickly pulls its trident back to use its special attack. Instead of taking the hit though, Lighteria makes a quick toss with his left blade at the monster, managing to nail its shoulder just as it starts the trident swing. With the blade plunging into its arm, the monster's attack is halted as it quickly frees one hand from its grip on the trident to extract the blade.... which it does indeed manage to do just as Lighteria reaches him and plants a two-foot kick into its chest. The monster hits the ground hard, its grip on the Akatsuki releasing, letting it fall to the ground for Lighteria to pick up. The twin blade quickly scoops his tossed blade up and rushes for the Mer, getting right into its face as it jumps off the floor. The Mer swings its trident at Lighteria's head. The twin blade ducks almost immediately and thrusts a blade towards its gut, getting a shallow hit. The Mer growls and swings the blunt end quickly towards the player, catching him in the back of his head and sending the twin blade stumbling a little.

Owww! There's only him right now, but I guess I still need a bit of finesse to kill it off.

The Mer takes a mighty swing downwards to strike Lighteria in the back. Fortunately for him, the twin blade is able to jerk his body sideways and let the trident clang on the ground. The monster growls and takes another heavy swing at the dodging twin blade, only to have this new attack sail over Lighteria's head, the player immediately standing up straight and grabbing the Mer's wrist keeping its arm at the tail end of its attack swing. The monster only has time to blink, realizing there's no way to make a weapon swing with Ligheria holding it. Before it can try to shove him away though, the twin blade lifts his left blade and jabs it straight into the beast's face. The Mer roars in pain and staggers backwards, Lighteria twisting its wrist painfully as it moves backwards, forcing the thing to relinquish its grip on the trident. As the Mer stands up straight, wiping blood from its eye it just manages to catch the tail end of Lighteria's swing in its sight. One trident swing nails the back of the monster's leg, sending it onto its back. One more arc-swing sends it over Lighteria's head and down into the ground via the monster's chest. It fades to black and Lighteria lets out a relieved breath.

(OOC:
Monster Count
Fire Elementals: 0/8 (Merging ability)
Dire Water Wolves 0/9 (Water column attack)
Earthen Sphinxes 0/7 (Conjunction Summon)
Wooden Mer 0/9 (Poison thorn storm)
Thunder Raptors 2/12 (Teleport Stalk)
Darkness Shroom Kings 0/9 (Five second paralysis))
Lv. 37 Twin Blade (180 SP)
Weapon: Rashou (Thunder Coil- 30, Suvi Lei- 20, Mumyn Lei- 30) (Life Drain)
Armor: Holy Tree Mail (Juk Kruz- 20) - Scarab Earring (La Repth- 20, Rip Maen- 40) - Time Sandals (Ap Do- 15) - Forest Gloves (Juk Kruz- 20)
GP: 14384

Wish list (In order of priority): Angel halo accessory, chibi angel wings, Bone Armor, Professional

Lighteria: "Obsessively updating my profile since Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:10 pm"

Asgard
Exalted Player
Posts: 285
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 4:28 am
Location: Carmina Gadelica Alleyway

Re: Gated Folding Stare; Fighting Through Fire!

Post by Asgard » Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:06 am

Asgard sat as he gazed over the room’s next puzzle, figuring it to being the dooziest of them all if it were to be the last puzzle.

Code: Select all

Numbers as Letters, Counted in Cycle
Doors Before 
Guess.


*Deet Deet Deet* The game’s artificial tones for the door sounded off.

Bzzt. Denied.

*Deet Deet Deet* The second volley of attacks.

Bzzt. Denied.

A repose entered the room as Dien, the Blademaster left the scene back. He had entered and left just as quickly. It was an oddity. Before the Fist Fighter knew it, the Blademaster was back again, slapping in another set of three digits.

*Deet Deet Deet* The third charge of righteousness.

Bzzt. Denied.

*Beep Beep Beep* An incoming flashmail caught the eye of Asgard’s being.
To: Freedom Fighters
From: Dien
Re: Of Doors and Monsters
Message:
So with the help of Nighthand, I’ve figured it out. Every time we make a bad guess at the doors, three more monsters will spawn in the next room. At the very least, I’d suggest that we hold off on guessing until we can get the number of monsters down to a more manageable level, and then guess sparingly only when we’re sure that we’ve got the right answer. This should make it easier for everyone involved.

I figure if we have a handful of fighters in the monster room, they can spawnkill the monsters that may appear from bad guesses. That means, though, that we should slow down our guesses, because if they’re wrong, we want to give our clean up crew some time to deal with them.

So in other words, if someone has just taken a swing at it, wait a minute or two before stepping up to the plate so the monsters that erupted can be dealt with.
Yikes. If that’s the case, then I’m responsible for some unneeded monsters. I guess it’s time to ramp down the attempts at the door for multi-minute intervals.

Minutes later, Lighteria arrives on the scene. Asgard hoped that his mind could be the one to get the thinktank back on track. But looking over the last five doors, it only led to massive confusion and frustration.

The Fist Fighter could hear him dabbling in the popular art of the flashmail. Surely enough, his ‘Incoming Flashmail’ beep sounded off.
To: Party
From: Lighteria
Subject: Lighteria's Thoughtpad

310,991,144 <- First three answers

3 10 9 9 11 4 4 (Straight number to letter translation?)
C j I I k d d

4 19 9 (Add up the numbers in each answer?)
d s I

Number Pad? 1 & 0 have no letters!!!

Three One Zero
Nine Nine One
One Four Four (I see no pattern! This really freaking sucks!!!)
Raven caught on and began his own thought process, right into another flashmail. *Beep Beep Beep* The Flashmail Button sounded off again.
To: Freedom Fighters
From: Raven
Subject: Riddle

Lighteria may be on the right track, but I don't think it's quite that simple. He only used the first three door codes, and I think it may require all 5 to be used somehow.

The codes so far, in order, have been 310, 991, 144, 312, and 861.

Also, when it says numbers as letters, I don't think it's quite as simple as Lighteria is making it out to be either. Representing the alphabet as numbers from 1 to 26 is the simple way, but there is another method. ASCII code. Does anyone here have a decent grasp of it? I know enough to know what it is and what it's used for, but not well enough to be able to put it to use to hazard a guess. However, either you find the letter that corresponds to the previous codes and it spells something, or some other method. I leave that up to those who know it better than I do.
A minute passed. Another flashmail beeped into existence. Asgard, like the sheep he had become since the last few texts appeared, opened it in suit.
To: Freedom Fighters
From: Dien
Subject: Re: Raven; “Riddle”
Message:
As something of an accomplished hacker in my days of yore, I should hope that I know ASCII code well enough to tell you that those numbers don’t mean a thing when translated—that was one of the first places my mind went, along with a few interpretations that extrapolated and way overcomplicated things (which I tend to do anyways, but moving on). Perhaps we’re going about this too mathematically…I’ve got another idea that I’m going to look into, involving counting the letters. With my luck, it really is something that simple.
Screw these texts. It’s time to start thinking.

He looked at the engraving again, and it changed again, much like the fourth door.

Code: Select all

Numbers as Words, Counted in Cycle
Doors Before 
Guess.
‘Words’…Hold on…The First door…

Code: Select all

Pi Is Exactly 
.999... Is Not 
Do Not Divide
It’s the same format style as this door. This may be a big break.

Asgard began muttering to himself. Numbers as words, counted in a cycle. If you want to count cyclically, then the first number has to be the same as the last number…but then again, all values in the cycle have to be equal to each other as well. But words…this part eludes me.

The Fist Fighter began pacing back and forth from door five to door six. ‘There were five answers, so that means that the second digit would have to be..’ He looked back down the hall to see the closed door that led to the meeting room. ‘It would have to be six.

But the last part…’guess’, seems to unravel that there is an element of chance of about a minimum of one in ten to unlock this door. He wants us to guess the last number…waitaminute…’ He paced back to the puzzle and read to the last letter. There, he saw the one English character that shot his theory dead.

Motherfucking PERIOD. This screws up everything!’ He was getting agitated to the point of trying to breaking the door down with his own bare hands, but realizing that if Sheena had not tried already, there would be no point.

Come on, Asgard. Mull it over for a moment before losing your cool. You make it seem like you’ve been at this thing like your life depends on it. Don’t concern yourself like it does.

Of course I do, this IS a life and death situation. If we don't hurry, the hackers are going to be on our tailcoats looking for Nall and finding us as an intriguing bonus! There is no time to waste on these!

Three Hundred Ten, Nine Hundred Ninety One, One Hundred Forty Four, Three Hundred Twelve, and Eight Hundred Sixty One. Those are the words for the numbers of the doors before. To count in cycle, is to say that the first number in a cycle equals the last one. If I am counting it right, in which I hope, then there’s a total of….’ Asgard winged a quick Flashmail into existence and sent to all senders in the group.
To: Freedom Fighters
From: Asgard
Subject: The Door
Message:
Even though it is a good idea to go off on knowledgeable codes of what could possibly divine the numbers that make up this door, is the fact that at this moment in time, the puzzle does not specifically indicate the use of it. We have to keep it inside the realm that it allows.

That being said, I think there's one thing that I can discern from this question. That thing is that it is in the same format of the first question: Three lines of questioning, along with a digit per line. I have figured that the middle digit is 6, due to the fact that there were five doors before the one where I currently stand, along with the first door into the conference room. The first digit eludes me completely for now, with 'Numbers as Words, Counted in Cycle' but the bigger problem is that there is no mathematical way of calculating the last digit.

'Guess', which implies, in my point of view, that we have to figure the first digit out, and then take a one in ten chance of getting the last digit right, or until the puzzle decides to clue us into its identity.

Anyways, I'm putting in a new entry. It is completely against my above stated theory, but it is the only thing that could prove to me that the format was unlike the first question. I am aware of the fact that monsters spawn in the testing chambers for every wrong answer. But we don't have all the time in the world anymore. Every five minutes, I'm going to put in a new answer, or unless anyone from the testing grounds says it is alright to go ahead. If you need any help subduing the monsters, I will hurry to the Testing Area.

- Asgard
The Fist Fighter tapped the send button and closed the flashmail. Asgard stood before the imposing keypad, the ruler of players' fates. Tapping the zero key twice, with one long push of the seven key, the system entered the numbers, and returned the ever loving BZZT that he had come to expect.

The Fist Fighter sighed. Whoever was on the other side of the door was going to get a severely large beating, courtesy of the house.

One....Two...Three...Four...Five...

OOC: Test code 007 (failed)
Last edited by Asgard on Sun Jul 27, 2008 5:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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In General: LEVELS
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Senna
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Re: Gated Folding Stare; Fighting Through Fire!

Post by Senna » Sun Jul 27, 2008 3:31 pm

So, her secret was out. She trusted it fairly well in Dien’s hands, but if she did again what she’d just done, how long before others could HELP but notice?

It seemed she’d missed some things. The lineup in the rooms had changed somewhat, and there were monsters again, but thankfully, no more of the Fire Elementals. Downing a Speed Charm, she targeted the pair of Thunder Raptors. She’d barely seen what they’d done earlier, so resolved to simply be ready for anything they might throw at her. Charging in at them with her enhanced speed, she intoned, “Juk Repulse.

The skill danced to light in an unfurling of green light, splitting the air with the glow – but only cutting into one of the two raptors. The other seemed to blur and disappear as her lance approached it. Well, that explained THAT.

The repulse part of the skill worked well enough, knocking the remaining Raptor back from her. She took the respite not to go after it, but to turn to the right, looking for where the other-

A piercing pain in her left shoulder informed her of exactly where her adversary had gone to. Leaving her weapon hooked limply in the fingers, she turned to place her right palm on the creature’s head. “Juk Rom.” The palm on the creature was not needed, but there was something that felt quite right about doing it. The spell flared to life around the pair of them, the air once again going slightly green.

Whether it was the spell or the fact that she’d laid a hand on it and it didn’t know what she might have to do next with it, the Raptor seemed startled and bolted, using its trademark move. The teleport didn’t get it all the way to the edge of the spell, but it was enough for Senna to lose sight of it. Suddenly finding herself unable to strike out again, she cursed her own spell and then went after it, casting a La Repth as she did so.

The Raptor emerged from the spell at a dash, and a moment later, Senna did the same, only slightly to the left. The two caught sight of one another almost immediately, and Senna moved to close the gap. It still seemed not prepared for her quick attack, thanks to the Speed Charm, and just teleported before her spear sliced through where the thickest part of its body had been.

Undeterred, she let the momentum of her swing turn her, until she was facing back the other way. True to prediction, the Raptor appeared there, ready to strike.

The words “Life Drain” just added insult to injury as her next strike drove through the thing’s open mouth and into the back of its head. Both combatants drew back, then clashed again, but this time the Raptor ducked her swing and clamped its teeth into her side. Senna made a sound of anger and pain as she brought her elbow down on the thing once, twice, thrice, then choked up and used her spear the fourth time. It was enough, apparently. The thing let go, stumbling backward and shaking its head as though dizzy. Another Juk Repulse took care of the thing.

Heaving a sigh of mock-exhaustion, she looked around. There were more Flashmails, but each on contained enormous amounts of text. Who had time to be writing these novels when time was of the essence, much less who expected those in battle to be reading them? It was one irritation she feared would never be addressed.

Shout if you need a heal!” she called out over the room. Then she turned to look for the next target.

(OOC:
Monster Count
Fire Elementals: 0/8 (Merging ability)
Dire Water Wolves 0/9 (Water column attack)
Earthen Sphinxes 0/7 (Conjunction Summon)
Wooden Mer 0/9 (Poison thorn storm)
Thunder Raptors 1/12 (1 injured) (Teleport Stalk)
Darkness Shroom Kings 0/9 (Five second paralysis))
Senna, level 33 Long Arm (710 HP/180 SP)
Most common kit: Ichigou, Racoon Earcaps, Air Bracer, Snow Panther, Winter Coat, Graceful Book
Spells/Skills: (Critical Hit/Death) Repulse Cage, Ap Corv, Ap Vorv, Rai Rom, Rue Zot, La Repth
Click for full equipment and items
14300 (1/23)

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Nighthand
Master of Games
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:23 pm
Class: Bladesmage
Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Re: Gated Folding Stare; Fighting Through Fire!

Post by Nighthand » Sun Jul 27, 2008 11:32 pm

(OOC: This should be the last week to work on this puzzle. If it isn't solved soon I'm going to force the solution and move us on to the room beyond.)

Asgard's failed guess once again caused the door to change. Another hint, across two fronts.

Code: Select all

Numbers spelled, counted in cycle
Doors before
Guess. 5
Meanwhile in the battle room, a single lone fire elemental appeared on one side, while a wolf and a shroom appeared on the other. It was swiftly becoming tiresome, all of the wrong answers, but Nighthand could hardly complain. He wasn't one for guessing anyways, that was more Silverblade's specialty. Which made him think... why wasn't he in the other room, lending what expertise he could?

Nearly being struck by a blast of water, he realized why.

(OOC:
Monster Count
Fire Elementals: 1/9 (Merging ability)
Dire Water Wolves 1/10 (Water column attack)
Earthen Sphinxes 0/7 (Conjunction Summon)
Wooden Mer 0/9 (Poison thorn storm)
Thunder Raptors 1/12 (1 injured) (Teleport Stalk)
Darkness Shroom Kings 1/10 (Five second paralysis)

Next weekend I'm moving, and the house I'll be moving to doesn't have internet yet. It doesn't have much of anything for that matter. So, not sure exactly when my next post will be. If nothing else, I have class on Tuesday and can do it then, but hopefully saturday or sunday. )

Phoenix512
Exalted Player
Posts: 304
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2003 10:42 pm

Re: Gated Folding Stare; Fighting Through Fire!

Post by Phoenix512 » Fri Aug 01, 2008 2:08 am

Looks like Dien and Asgard’s attempts were incorrect as more monsters have come out from nothing. At least they were not trying multiple attempts or the other group would have been overwhelmed by these monsters by now. Lighteria and Senna managed to kill off a couple of them but there was only four monsters left with no duplicates. The blademaster did not even bother with using Repth to heal his bloody hands as he immediately charges into the Mushroom King. The blood from his hands was dripping onto the floor as he did multiple slashes at the King. He did not allow the King to even get a chance to attack as it was chopped into pieces.

Phoenix was still on the warpath as a Thunder Raptor suddenly appeared in front of him. Luckily for him, Suzaku was there to target the raptor with her fire breath. The breath hit the raptor’s back directly which allow Phoenix to brutalize the raptor very quickly. Suzaku, I don’t need your help with this. I’m fine.

The blademaster continue to attack the monsters with a Wind Blade at the fire elemental but a column of water blocked the attack. Another column of water directly impacted on Phoenix and sent him flying backwards to a wall. The fire elemental was charging towards the blademaster and began to punch him with its fiery fists. The dire wolf was being occupied by Suzaku as she used her fire breath to contain it.

Meanwhile, Phoenix used his Rue Kruz spell to injure the fire elemental and managed to score an elemental critical. The attack did not allow Phoenix to break free but Suzaku’s plan will help the blademaster regardless if he likes or not. She proceeded to annoy the wolf into firing a water column attack which was position in front of the fire elemental. After countless flying back and forth in front of the wolf’s face, the bird finally got the wolf to do what she wanted it to do in the first place. The wolf’s water column attack was easily avoided by Suzaku who glided to the left. The column of water pierced though the fiery circle and directly hit the fire elemental. The elemental was no more as the water column scored an elemental critical.

The fire elemental became steam after its death which allows Phoenix to fire off a Wind Blade attack through the steam. The wolf did not have time to avoid the attack as Suzaku was still distracting it. The blade cut through the wolf’s midsection which made the wolf to stop its attack. Suzaku blasted another fire breath at the wolf and burned it to a crisp.

The battle was over but Phoenix was troubled by Suzaku. The blood was still dripping on the floor from his bloody hands. Kazuma, please heal yourself. Your hands have been bleeding.

NO! You don’t tell me what to do. You’re my pet. My guardian. You follow my orders. I didn’t tell you to attack those monsters. I didn’t need your help.

DAMNIT, Kazuma. With your mindset, you would have die without my intervention. I’m your guardian. I don’t need orders to help you. Why can’t you accept that I’m someone else?

Because you’re not my Suzaku. She was so gentle but you are aggressive. She would wait for me to give an order because she was so patient and care about me. You’re not her and I refuse to believe otherwise.

BAKA! You’re an idiot to believe that. She’s a part of me. She got that from me. If you don’t want me around, then fine. I’ll wait in my pendant form until you summon me, master.

Suzaku immediately transform into a streak of light and form a pendant around Phoenix’s neck. Phoenix sheathed the Oberon and proceeds out of the Testing Ground. He headed into the meeting room. He did not head to the Lab area yet as he was not ready to head there yet. The blademaster was not going to help with the code and now he managed to piss off Suzaku, she will not helping him any time soon. He could not realize that he was being an idiot to her. He thought that she would come back the same but more powerful. He never thought that she would change her entire being though. It was too much to bear. Maybe that’s why Miki told him to believe in her but he cannot believe in her. She has change too much. Even if she was telling the truth, he had no way of confirming that.

In a drastic move, Phoenix took off the pendant and laid it on the table. He began to walk away from the meeting room and enter the long hallway to the final door. His hands were still bleeding but he did not care. Anyone who tries to heal them would hear it from him. Phoenix did not want to be healed at all. He wants the pain to remain with him as it will fuel his power. He went from the calm wind to a raging hurricane. The only thing that can stop him is himself.

Suzaku revert back to her bird form and wonder what to do from here. She receives a message from Miki. Yui, it’s Miki. You must not abandon Phoenix now. I don’t think any of us expect this reaction from him. We knew that was going to be some doubt from him but abandoning you was quite unexpected. Don’t give up. Continue to be with him. A moment later, Suzaku does not hear Miki's voice anymore.

I know, Miki. I wasn’t planning on giving up.

Suzaku flew back to the Training Grounds and found Lighteria as she has spoken to him before. Lighteria-kun, I need a favor from you. I need you to carry me around. I rather not explain why I am not with Phoenix at the moment. Also it is rather personal between us. I respect that you will not pry into this. You need to do is wear me around your neck. So will you grant me my request?

OOC: All monsters currently dead.
Phoenix
Level 48 Blademaster
Equipped Skills: Vak Revolver, Gan Revolver, Dek Vorv, La Repth, Juk Kruz, Rue Kruz, BiVak Rom, GiGan Zot
Other Skills: Rue Kruz, Rip Synk, Rip Saem, Crack Beat, Rue Slash, Ani Slash, Gan Crack, Gan Revolver

Wish List: Phoenix's Fire, Gold Necklace
EX-Spheres: LV 3 - Overdrive, LV 3 - Curative, LV 3 - Elemental Breath

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Dien
Exalted Player
Posts: 226
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 1:59 am
Class: Blademaster
Location: The "Who's Online List," Stalking People...

Part 9

Post by Dien » Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:33 am

It flickered again.

At least, he thought he saw it flicker. In the state his wracked and frustrated mind was in, it very easily could have been a cruel trick played by some deep subconscious stream. The very thought caused him to double-take and have another look at it. Indeed, it had flickered, and now read something slightly differently.

Code: Select all

Numbers spelled, counted in cycle
Doors before
Guess. 5
While it baffled him that the hackers so desperately attempting to lock them out would leave them with clues that progressively got easier as time went on, thereby guaranteeing their own failure, it just meant that he had more to work with, and more materials to guess by. Granted, it wasn’t much, but having an analytical mind helped him out. There were three lines to the riddle, as he was sure someone had alluded to in a previous message, which probably meant that one line represented one digit in the code. It was just simple enough to work, and had probably been staring them in the face the whole time and laughing as they missed it. Oh well.

Numbers spelled, counted in cycle…the hell? Only one number from the last few puzzles is spelled out: the number ‘three.’ ‘Fifth,’ ‘pi,’ and ‘square’ could also count, but not as nicely as three… His musings drifted, running circles around themselves for a solid minute before settling back where he’d started: damn close to nowhere. But wait, why only think about the numbers in the puzzles spelled out? The puzzle didn’t say that: the second line only said, “doors before,” which most likely pointed to its answer as 5, as that was precisely how many numbers there had been before. The last digit was most likely 5 as well, because this was the number that appeared on the third line of the clue. That left the first number.

Numbers spelled…he needed a pen and some paper. While there wasn’t much logic to it, something told him that he might be able to find it if he analyzed the words that represented the individual—of course!!!

“Four is cosmic!” he shouted aloud, in much the same enthusiasm that drove Archimedes down the street in his birthday suit. Why it hadn’t hit him sooner was beyond him. It was a riddle that his younger brother had given to him, the one riddle that had baffled him for days on end. Four is cosmic, it began, then the query to say any number. That number would then be silently spelled out, the letters comprising the word counted, and that number recited as the next in the sequence. Invariably, this process ultimately led to the number 4. It was a quirk of the English language, to be sure, as no other languages could be traced in quite the same way.

That left him with a first code to try out: 455. Very quickly the numbers were punched, and very quickly nothing happened. It didn’t take long for the sounds of battle in the next room to grace his ears, and he winced. So the last digit wasn’t five after all, but neither would the hackers actually give the answer he required. This left him to try and seek out the final digit, which the puzzle said to guess at. While there were only nine more options, he preferred to not have to spawn twenty four more monsters before arriving at the right solution. It would be an educated guess.

More likely than not, the final digit would be something that held significance or meaning to the people using it, so it would be easier to remember. This was the primary rule of password cracking: that the code was significant to the user somehow. It usually required some knowledge of the person who owned the account, which put a real damper on things. Next to nothing was known about the people who had evidently so hastily erected these defenses, but he could work with what little they had. For one, the hackers had gone to fetch the Elites, which meant some reverence for them. To the blademaster’s limited knowledge, there were eight of these powerhouses running around, so maybe that was it…?

“Hell, worth a shot anyway. Not like I’ve got anything else to go by…” With that he punched the code 458, and much to his surprise, the door actually rose.

And another one bites the dust-ah!

(OOC:
Codes attempted:
- 455
- 458 (success!)

Monster Count:
Fire Elementals: 0/9 (Merging ability)
Dire Water Wolves 0/10 (Water column attack)
Earthen Sphinxes 2/9 (Conjunction Summon)
Wooden Mer 1/10 (Poison thorn storm)
Thunder Raptors 0/12 (1 injured) (Teleport Stalk)
Darkness Shroom Kings 0/10 (Five second paralysis)
)
Image
Image|||Level 35 Blademaster (+200 EXP)
Wishlist: EXP, Ends of Earth, Armor with Status Effects

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Lighteria
Well-Oiled Machine
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 12:59 am
Location: :noitacoL

Re: Gated Folding Stare; Fighting Through Fire!

Post by Lighteria » Sun Aug 03, 2008 3:07 pm

Lighteria takes just a moment to watch Phoenix's battle. During the estimated two minutes the twin blade was standing triumphantly over the fading corpse of the twisted Merman, it seemed like some kind of Kill switch was flipped in Phoenix's head.. and not the kind of kill switch that shuts off a computer in case of emergency, more like a literal switch in his head that is clearly marked in bold red letters KILL. It was a rather interesting spectacle watching that kind of fury. Luckily for the twin blade, it means he can grab a quick breather before something else happens in this forsaken lab. One quick repth to top himself off and Lighteria sits on the floor with a long, eased breath, passing the time between gradual SP regen ticks with the brain teaser of the door.

I'm thinking about this clue as all-inclusive... Like the one hint will reveal the entire code. Maybe I just need to step back and take it in sections. ...Or maybe I should nurse this head ache that I'm getting. That'd REALLY help out. I'd hate to jump into a boss fight with an eight-drum orchestra pounding in my frontal lobe. Oh that's what's developing alright... I can feel them warming up. All they need is a pitch pipe. ...Wait... drums don't need to get in tune. ...Do they? How would you tune them? Would you like, tighten the cover? Wouldn't that stretch it too much? What if you break it? Oh that'd be hilarious to watch if some guy was zealously doing a drum solo and suddenly-

Lighteria-kun The twin blade nearly falls over, having been on a really, really good digression there. Recognition is quick though as Lighteria looks up at the talking bird. Lighteria's very nearly interjects with a "Oh hey, we talked the other day, what's up?" but luckily for all parties involved his voice cracks at "O" and Suzaku quickly continues on with her request. Though the question of WHY exactly Phoenix's companion is in sudden need of what is essentially a taxi service piques Lighteria's curiosity, the twin blade happily pushes all questions out of his mind since asking about it would require conversation which would require Lighteria to quell the giant nervous tremors that would inevitably rip through his stomach. His thoughts clear up as she finishes talking and the twin blade gets to his feet with a light nod.

"O-of course." He speaks quietly, managing to look Suzaku in the eye. "I'm happy to help... and I promise n-not to be so reckless." He smiles, intending the last part to be a bit of awkward humor. His attention quickly gets shifted from reactions to his speech to a rumbling roar, three brand new monsters forming in the arena signaling yet another wrong guess. The twin blade lets out a brief sigh and tightens his fist, eyeing the brand new Sphinxes. Seeing them unleash a summon before was bad and despite the Mer's ultra, super cheap thorn ability, the size of the spell makes them top priority in his eyes. Pausing for only a few seconds to allow Suzaku to take the form of pendant around his neck, Lighteria rushes his still Ap-Do enhanced self towards the first of the man-lions.

No time for screwing around this fight. Gotta take these suckers out so we can get in another guess. We've wasted ages on these doors.

With an extremely precise leap, the twin blade plants himself on the back of the first Sphinx, his hand reaching out for its mane. The beast roars out and tries to shake him off of course, but the twin blade has none of it. Within the first second of struggle the twin blade heaves his weight backwards, tugging on the beast's back hairs and making it rear backwards so its fur doesn't simply rip from its skin. The forced move exposes the beast's neck quite nicely which Lighteria quickly takes advantage of, slipping a blade into his free hand and giving the beast's vitals a good downward chop. The blade lands in its neck which causes it to roar out in pain, taking a good chunk of health but not enough to kill it, which is kind of what Lighteria was hoping for. Seeing it still alive, he curses and lets himself off the thing's back before its cousin can jump in. ...Which it quickly does. Now over the shock of how fast the attack came, the second sphinx leaps at the Twin blade as he touches the ground, its swipe nearly catching Lighteria in the leg if not for a quick foot shuffle. With the first one stunned for the moment, Lighteria quickly swipes his blade at the beast's side making a solid hit. It roars and shuffles quickly to face him again, intent on pouncing this time. It coils nearly instantly and launches itself towards the player, sailing in the air and ready to claw Lighteria's face off. The twin blade just glares though, there's simply no time for playing around, he decides to focus on a good, quick kill. As the pounce executes, Lighteria quickly retrieves his other blade and thrusts his hands forward into the pounce. The sphinx quickly gets its paws full of dagger as it topples the twin blade over, landing on top of him with its paws impaled on Lighteria's weapons. The twin blade grunts in pain, the beast is definitely heavy but it's not going to claw his face after THAT. With a quick movement, the twin blade pulls the blades out of the beast's paws and thrusts them both into its face... which happens to be close by when you're being pinned down like that. The monster takes direct hit in the side of its face and its eye, roaring out in pain as Lighteria furiously stabs whatever squishy soft spot is most conveniently located. The beast doesn't have time to get off the floor, it dies still pinning the twin blade only relieving him by fading into black.

With that one dead, Lighteria quickly makes it to his feet in time to see a giant paw smacking him across the face. He spins from the force and staggers backwards, three bloody claw marks going across his cheek. Despite the pain and the growling, Lighteria manages to back step the next swipe before it connects, letting him get in a lighter strike with his blade in the same spot. The sphinx barely blinks from the damage and moves to swipe again, Lighteria forced to back away from each blow, returning maybe a scratch or two in return. They shuffle backwards like this for a good twenty feet before the twin blade is fed up with it. His dodging pays off, finally coaxing the beast to try a low swipe. The twin blade leaps his attack and plants his foot into the beast's face as it lunges forward, getting a good solid strike on the monster. Its stunned by the blow just enough for Lighteria to land practically body slam the thing, his left hand getting a tight grip on the beast's mane and his other pulling his blade back. "Just no time-..." He manages to say before driving his whole body towards the monster's face, his blade driving into its neck as his other hand holds its head steady. The beast tries to pull back from the attack but Lighteria's grip is firm enough that the retreat only amounts to another few stabs to the neck, the vital wounds shaving its health down to nothing in a big big hurry.

Monster Count:
Earthen Sphinxes 0/9 (Conjunction Summon)
Wooden Mer 1/10 (Poison thorn storm)
Lv. 37 Twin Blade (180 SP)
Weapon: Rashou (Thunder Coil- 30, Suvi Lei- 20, Mumyn Lei- 30) (Life Drain)
Armor: Holy Tree Mail (Juk Kruz- 20) - Scarab Earring (La Repth- 20, Rip Maen- 40) - Time Sandals (Ap Do- 15) - Forest Gloves (Juk Kruz- 20)
GP: 14384

Wish list (In order of priority): Angel halo accessory, chibi angel wings, Bone Armor, Professional

Lighteria: "Obsessively updating my profile since Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:10 pm"

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Nighthand
Master of Games
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:23 pm
Class: Bladesmage
Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Re: Gated Folding Stare; Fighting Through Fire!

Post by Nighthand » Sun Aug 03, 2008 9:09 pm

Sheena's study of the Twilight infecting the building was coming to naught but the same information the others had reasoned out through trial and error. A set of three numbers turned into a pulse that either opened the door or shot beyond them to spawn more monsters. This last one managed to open the door, and they were through to the next section of the wing.

Laboratory finally revealed. What lay beyond their final obstacle was much more spacious than the other few labs the group had been to in their time. It seemed more like a chemistry classroom than a sterile environment, but that was only half of the story. To their left as they entered, lay a dozen desks covered with a huge number of glass and metal instruments, containers, and tubes. Up against the back wall was a large supply closet, or something similar, with yet another number pad on it. Just like the doors that had gotten them there.

In the middle of he room, across from them, was an unmarked door. The way Sheena looked at it, it was clear their goal was through there. The fight they would no doubt have. That, and the Titan's Armor, so hard-won from Jett and somehow removed from Nall.

To their right, larger, more open areas, and a number of heavy-duty tools. A couple of the instruments looked dangerous, and not even the most scientifically inclined among them had a clue what they were meant for. That is, except for Sheena, whose gasp filled the silence.

"So that's how they did it... I had no idea such a thing could be made!" She made a bee line to the most evil-looking tool in the room.

It looked like a cross between a jack hammer and a flame thrower, with numerous blades sticking out of the business end. Several handles and switches studded the thicker back end, and a trio of braided cabled connected it to an ungainly black backpack made of heavy metal. Sheena stopped just before it, hesitant to touch it. She paused for a moment, and a flashmail pinged everyone a moment later.
flashmail wrote: We've opened the door to the Lab, and there's something you all need to see. Kill what monsters remain and, if no more doors open (which I suspect they won't) come join us.
-Sheena
-----------------

In the other room, only a single monster remained. One mer, floating high up and circling, looking for a target to attack. Little did it know, however, that so high in the air it was a perfect target for spells.

"Ani Kruz, Ani Kruz, Ani Kruz." The three spells cast one after another were untouched by his manipulation abilities, and they were only level one. Even so, Nighthand couldn't help but smile slightly as the mer was struck by one after the next, tumbling out of the air and disappearing.

Not a moment later, the flashmail from Sheena arrived. The heavyblade looked around, but the door on the far side remained closed. Figures. They expected us to go one way or the other first, not both. This room, by the end of the other hallways, would have been packed full of more monsters than we could deal with. No doubt they have some sort of purging system in place for themselves. Shrugging, he turned and headed for the lab.

------------------

"So, what is it, Sheena?" Nighthand said, looking at the huge gun on the table. The party had reunited swiftly enough.

"I don't have a name for it, but you won't believe what it does! It pulses and changes constantly, something inside this backpack gives it power! It's not subtle, but it's very powerful!"

"That's all well and good, but what does it DO?"

"It rips equipment off of a character!"

"Oh. That doesn't seem too special. Why can't it be some sort of raygun that kills unkillable monsters? We fight a lot more of those than we do players."

"You don't get it! It's power comes from Twilight! The more the item is infected, the more easily removed it is!"

"Goodie? So we can ruin the epics equipment of long-time players, wonderful."

"No, you moron! Think! What equipment out of everything you've ever seen has the highest concentration of Twilight in it? A Twilight Item! This is how they removed the armor from Nall!"

Nighthand stared at the weapon, looking at it in a whole new light. It certainly looked like something that would do what Sheena said it could. He hadn't known her to be wrong before, either. On top of that, the Titan's Armor and the Cape had somehow been removed from Nall. Evidence suggested it was true.

They just had to put it to use. That, and wonder why it was left out in the open, when the hackers knew they were coming.

-----------------ooc
Three things. The gun, the closet, and the door. Up to you guys what to do, though I recommend you not rush into the boss room until everyone is ready.

Feel free to try the closet. A quick check will reveal that a wrong code doesn't spawn monsters, but, neither are there clues on the door. It's still a three-digit code though.

The gun is powered down, and Sheena is reluctant to touch it. Feel free to IM me for scripting about it, if I'm around. It'll be a bit hectic with house stuff still, but I'm mostly moved, just helping roommates and whatnot.

Feel free to look around the lab and see if you can find other interesting things too. Who knows what helpful items, or dangerous contraptions, you might find.

Locked