Enter the World through the Delta Server.

Moderator: Nighthand

Rayo
Exalted Player
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:21 pm

Post by Rayo » Mon Jun 05, 2006 1:13 am

The lightning mage lifted his staff over his head to block the swing from the spear wielding knight that had broken through. Bouncing back and then rolling to the side, the wizard tried to remain closer to both Dien and Zhao, since it seemed like a waste to let off any spells that wouldn’t hit plenty of the enemy. The formation staved off the knights at first, but with so many to their number, obviously just the ten of them wouldn’t cut it. As it was, three of them weren’t in the formation. Hijinx had bounced off, though it’s not as if Rayo had offered a secondary mission once Phoenix was found. The blademaster himself didn’t seem to bother to join in, even though they only left to help him out. At the very least though, it would be pleasant if the administrators and their dogs could be ambushed instead. As for Nighthand, he was still separated from them and that did little to keep their box secure. Neither front was really pushed back, so the party didn’t need to worry about a smaller total surface area as their space. On the flip side, both lines had been broken so the players would most likely get split up and separated, getting taken out in pairs or alone.

Letting loose a GiRai Rom at a trio of heavy blade soldiers that were speeding along past Zan. Only one of them died, but the other two had their own misfortunes, outside of the damages. One knight was flat on his back, looking fairly limp, while the other seemed to resemble a zombie more than she did five seconds ago. Why couldn’t the Knights of War be scared by a bunch of scarecrows and run away? Still, Kamui wouldn’t allow a retreat. She’d probably deal with them personally, and the long arm was probably feared more than some unknown hackers, despite the losses they were taking.

Casting two La Repths, one for the front team and one for the back unit, the sorcerer wondered how long before their resources ran out. Items, SP, HP…all of these were finite unless given time. Even if their only opponents were the knights, nothing should prevent additional knights from logging in to the server, including vanquished warriors. Forgetting the knights as a factor for the moment, their boss, Kamui, could probably take down them all on her own. Add in her buddies hanging out with her and her flunkies, things seemed messy.

A long drawn out battle wouldn’t aid them, they’d lose and either be captured or deleted. Talking it out would also fail them, since Kamui was not one to listen to reason. Rayo wasn’t even familiar with the other two besides Tritoch, but she wasn’t the type to let anyone interfere with the hunt. Yet, one could say his mind was clouded and closed because the wave master focused on the long arm as the deciding factor for leadership. It logically wouldn’t make complete sense to discount the possibility of talking, but little inclined him towards the idea that was worth the beating they’d take find out. That could be their last resort if they were to be captured, or disabled. Everyone was always much more willing to chat it out once they didn’t have a choice in the matter.

Escaping would probably be wise, but to where? The path to the Chaos Gate was blocked off, and even if all of them could reach it intact, the administrators should have Mac Anu closed down to prevent just that sort of escape. A retreat back to the hideout might work. Though, if the admins knew the exact location, as they undoubtedly should with the number of men on hand, cracking whatever protection there was couldn’t take that long. It could be plan B.

With the aid of Nall and his associates, there were probably other ways out of the root town the mage couldn’t know of. Even one method he did, the necklace, was useless without the tool and the knowledge to activate the effect. Still, if they could do such a thing they’d tell them, and their presence couldn’t be controlled. Surely Nighthand had already contacted Nall about this…unless of course he was too busy battling for his life.


<Nall:

If you know of any ways for us to exit Mac Anu outside of the normal Chaos Gate, please tell us. The knights are keeping us busy and we won’t be able to last indefinitely.

Rayo>

ooc:
Number of knights killed: 1
number of knights dead total: 109
Rayo
Lv.47 Archer 745HP/311SP
Bell, the Silver Grunty of Thunder
Skills/Spells-Shocking Arrow of Voltage(30), Arrow of the Burning Stars(10), MeRai Rom(40), Rai Kruz(10), La Repth(20), Rip Maen(40), MeRai Kruz(20), GiVak Kruz(20), MeRai Don(20), Rig Saem(15)
Weapon/Armor/Book-Golden Royal Bow/Thunder Torque, Thunder Cloak, Able Ring, Ivory Greaves/Thunder Magic
Wishlist: YL Fukuoka, Stormlore, Winter Stone, Silver Grunty

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

Post by Dien » Mon Jun 05, 2006 1:23 am

Crimson liquid spilled out behind his blade’s path as it cleaved open the chest of a heavy axeman who’d been unfortunate enough to close in on the blademaster, right when he found his niche in the fight. Chunks of the cobblestone flew up from the ground next to him, and he saw the axe imbedded in the ground, the bulk of his opponent’s strength now given to wrenching it out. Dien smirked, stepping on the blade at just the right time to catch the oh-so-sudden release under-foot and send himself hurdling through the air. It was the closest thing to flight he’d achieved since he’d managed to freakishly manipulate his trench coat to glide at Cypher in their duel so long ago. Granted, that had been a strange encounter to begin with, but as the blademaster flipped, he smirked, knowing well that he’d had a good fight.

His body was perpendicular to the ground, with his head nearest the paved earth and looking down at the heavy axe who’d just launched him skyward. With a smirk, he ripped out his Brave Sword from the sheath, replicating the technique he’d used not so long ago in the basement of the tower and throwing the sword. The resulting crack echoed around the battle scene as the sword flew down through the opponent’s skull and into his spine, sending him to the ground in a seizure-like fit. Each twitch and jar jostled the blade more in its place and the Dien landed, yanking it out and switching to his more powerful Souleater to behead the man.

The blade sped through the air towards the gyrating neck of his opponent, the air around it whistling as it passed. Victory was assured, until the gyrating suddenly stopped – a blue aura wrapping about the man’s cranium as the blade hit the veins and bounced off. Someone had repthed the character, and Dien turned to glare at whatever unfortunate wavemaster was next on his agenda. The heavy axe lay still on the ground, staring into sky while his mind recovered from having been split in half. The hacker-player-captive-to-the-world lingered for a moment, before the body began to glow an odd purple. He had no time to think before a virtual horde of claws shot up from the pavement, stabbing through whatever was in their way, including the blademaster and his still-recovering opponent. Blood flowed from the cold wounds, and Dien collapsed after the spell had passed, barely digging out a health drink before he saw another rune form over him – a stone-element rune.

Ap Ganz!” he managed, switching swords just in time and hastily upping his tolerance of the solid element before it came crashing down on him in bulk. The fluid from his veins poured freely out as the boulder shattered, and its red color began to blink over the world. Don’t have time to die, he thought, frantically ripping the cork out of the alcoholic liquid before pouring it down his throat. The moment of burn cleansed the pain out of his system, methodically curing everything from the top of his skull to the last ends of his toes. Slowly he stood, taking aim at the mage who’d tried to take him out and overconfidently turned away. Souleater rattled along the ground as Dien’s low run kept it in range, and he leapt into the air right as the wavemaster turned back to face him.

Crack Beat!” he shouted, driving the blade downward and draining out his SP in the process for that added punch – which helped to effectively cut the wave-wielder from shoulder to opposite waist, graying his body to death in one hit. A twinblade and another blademaster who’d been with him coordinating before another attack only stared agape before realizing just what had happened to their comrade. Dien rose from the body, staring at the two players with some form of contempt.

Y-you! I order you to c-cease hostilities against the administration in the name of the Knights of War!” Dien approached the low-level twinblade, staring her in the face as she trembled, sweat beading down her face as she stared into his face.

If I were a hacker, why wouldn’t I have used my hacks yet?” he asked, sticking his sword out to one side at the blademaster, halting his slowly growing confidence in order to let the twin blade try to find a good answer.

Uh-uhm…” the player muttered, looking over to her partner, “because you haven’t needed to yet?” She was too timid. If it didn’t have to be done, Dien probably wouldn’t have killed her, but he shook his head, pulling the Souleater across her stomach in a hard line and letting the liquid spill out as she fell.

No,” he said, kneeling down to look her in the eyes, still wary of the blademaster next to him who might yet be dumb enough to try something stupid, “it’s because, like you guys say, hacking a game like this is illegal. Now, seeing as how we see eye to eye on that much, do you honestly think that a hacker like me who believes that hacks of that sort aren’t legal would be associ-” Blood erupted around his right shoulder in a strong cut, running almost down to his solar plexus and bringing his speech to a sudden halt.. He swallowed hard, his mouth going dry as the heavy axe’s weapon was removed.

Some advice for ya, mate,” the man said as Dien collapsed, “never leave an enemy who isn’t dead yet unattended. It’ll come back an’ bite ya right in the arse.” He chuckled before stepping on the blademaster’s back. A weak, agonized gasp escaped his open lips, and he could feel his consciousness fading. All around him, players rushed, leaving him for dead as his mind failed to grasp the fact that his suffering could end at a moment’s notice. Crimson flashes painted Mac Anu around him, and slowly everything began to fade to silence and darkness.
__________

It was hot out that day, particularly so even for the blacktop. Jed sat alone on one side of it, watching the other kids laugh and play while he sucked on the lollipop that he’d gotten from Ms. Kings for whatever reason. He’d known how to rub in his favor with the teacher, and so had driven the other kids away from him for that day during recess out of his induced jealousy. In a few years he’d wish he wasn’t like that, but what did he know of that now? He was young, liked the idea of big things, especially yellow construction equipment like the ginormous Tonka trucks that were making the big skyscraper in the city. For now, all he knew was that there were some metal poles sticking out of the ground, and they were the things that did the actual scraping, and that was the only skyscraper he’d ever seen. Yep, he’d figured it out all by himself, which was impressive for one who’d been into New York at least twice that he could remember.

Some variation of kickball played itself out, and the first grader watched enthusiastically as the kids punted at the ball that went up to their knees, not knowing what they were supposed to do with it after it was kicked, but still kicking it just the same. It was big, red, and had all sorts of little scribbles on it that the bad kids had drawn. They went to the principal’s office, of course, because Ms. Kings had seen them with the eyes she had hidden under her red hair. They were a year or two older than him, but that much didn’t really matter – they were still in the same school and still shared recess.

His gaze shifted to the grassy field off to one side where the tall slides still stood. They were the tallest slides in the whole world, and he’d managed to beat a couple other kids in a race to the top up the slippery part. They didn’t know how to use their low-tops to get stop slipping, and that’s how he’d won, or so he figured.

“Jed! Catch it!” came a shout from nearby, and the kid’s attention was pulled back to the kickball. As it turned out, the big, bouncy red ball was headed straight for him, and his arms shot out to catch it, forgetting completely the lollipop that he’d treasured so much and still held in his hands – that was the safest place to keep it, after all. The ball hit him square in his chest and knocked him back, the collision with the ground and his bum jarring enough. To top it all off, though, he didn’t even catch the ball, and as the shock sank in with the ball bouncing away, he looked to his hand to find the candy missing.

All of the other kids who’d been playing broke out in laughter, and Jed’s gaze looked down to the ground, his face beginning to scrunch up into tears as the horror of what had just happened set in: he’d just lost his lollipop. Not wanting to be accused of girly-ness by the other boys on the playground, he stood and ran to the jungle gym, where he could at least climb underneath the wooden structure to his secret hideout.
There he would be safe from them seeing him cry.

When he got there, though, he was surprised. There, in
his hideout, was a girl. His shock was made complete by the fact that she sat there, in his sanctuary taking up his space – that a girl could find his hideout so easily. Her coodies were permanently there, and now he would have to abandon it forever. Tears welled up in his eyes, and eventually he began a quiet sob. The girl just stared at him, curious and feeling sorry for the boy who showed up and started crying.

“What’s a matter?” she asked.

“You’re a
girl!” he managed, pointing the accusing finger at her.

“Yeah?” she asked, looking down at herself, “well you’re not.” She stuck her tongue out at him, which only made the crying worse. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she watched him cry. Really, why was he crying? It didn’t matter, really. Daddy always gave her candy when she was crying, and it always made her stop – like it was magic or something.

“Here,” she said, pulling a lollipop out of her pocket and putting it in his hand, “my Daddy always gives me this when I’m feeling bad, and it makes me feel better.” She smiled at him as he looked down into his hand, and back at the girl who’d given it to him. Coodies were just a myth anyway.

“Thanks,” he said, wiping the tears off on his sleeve before extending his hand, “I’m Jed.”

“Please to meet you, Jed,” she said, taking his hand and shaking it, “my name is Amy.”

_________

The bleeding had stopped when he came to. He didn’t know how much time he’d been out, or even if he was still alive or in ghost. An attempt to sit up revealed to him that he was still very much alive, and that he was still very much injured. With his left hand he dug out a health drink and smashed the thin glass bottle against the massive wound, the broken flesh closing faster than if he’d ingested it. What was with that memory – why now? He hadn’t thought about the day they met since he’d joined the World, and yet now that he was in the heat of battle, here he was thinking about her again.

Didn’t it end in the tower?” he asked aloud, sitting up and wiping the broken glass from his tattered clothing.

It will never end, Dien,” Danielle said, appearing next to him beyond the view of any of the knights, “what happened in the tower just pushed her out of the front of your mind – freed you from thoughts of her.

Then what the hell was that?

Your subconscious,” she suggested, “but more on that later, you’ve drawn attention.” The blademaster looked up, seeing the twinblade from before walking back toward him, the fabric of her garments torn at the stomach to reveal what would have been an attractive body were it not bent on killing him.

That’s what happens when you cross the Knights of War,” the player said, walking up to him and drawing her blades, “you have been marked for deletion. Unless you want to be killed, you will stop attacking now.

As I was saying before your leader so rudely killed me,” Dien said, rising to his feet and grasping Souleater once again, “these people aren’t the ones you’re after, and attacking them is a waste of time. If you let me help-

Silence, hacker!” she shouted, pointing her blades toward him as he walked toward her. Her blades shook, clattering against one another in the cross-style defensive stance she held them in. “Stop! I’m warning you!” Her shouting caught the attention of her blademaster friend and the heavy axe who apparently lead their squad.

Damn,” he said, pulling his sword back and beginning to run after her, “now I’ve gotta do it quickly! Crack Beat!” The blademaster leapt into the air, the SP being called through his arm by the sword as it activated the skill, propelling itself downward. However, that alone would not be enough to end the player quickly enough – he’d need to compound it.

Gan Slash!” he shouted, in the beginning stages of the Crack Beat’s acceleration, meshing the skills together. The result was an orange slash from the player’s right shoulder to her left waist, followed by a flip from Dien in which the second slash came down with his momentum from her left shoulder to her right waist, forming the letter X in the resilient citrus color across her chest. She stood, leaning back in shock as the element faded into her character, eventually all four pieces of her body falling down independently and leaving her ghost standing there, only to disappear moments later in the Knights’ auto re-login program that would leave her trapped outside with the rest of the riffraff.

Duk Lei!” He heard, and a sudden pain gripped his chest, like he’d eaten too much spiceyness. Dien winced as the HP slowly deteriorated from his being like a large leech had been attached right at his breastbone. If the pain of being poisoned wasn’t distracting enough, his opponents were now running at him in mad form, brandishing their weapons as though to take him out. Weakest first usually works, right? he thought, looking at the blademaster who was gripping the weapon two-handedly, like he couldn’t control it otherwise: pathetic. That would be his first course of action, that and getting out of the heavy axeman’s way.

A quick antidote used, and the Duk Lei was gone, leaving the heavy axeman right on top of him, slamming his axe down in yet another attack that Dien jumped to the right of – right into the path of the charging blademaster. He called out his Crack Beat, and Dien merely stepped to the right of that, letting the player’s arm fall down to the side while his neck punctually arrived at its 12:00 appointment with the end of the Souleater. Blood shot out, coating the back of the troop-leader before he could get his axe out of the ground, and the just-killed Knight toppled, his ghost appearing before he hit.

That leaves just you and me then,” Dien said, looking at the axeman who pointed the axe at him in the same moment.

Don’t think I’ll go easy on ya, mate,” he said, beginning to walk towards Dien, “you went and killed my ‘ole squad. Now that’s not somethin’ I can forgive. Rue Tornado!” Dien’s eyes widened as the skill activated, pulling the fighter around in three circles, each one sending out a line of water energy that caught the blademaster right in the chest. What was worse was that he couldn’t move – the game had finally started acting normal, and as each frozen lash dug itself into his torso, he could feel his energy leaving him. Finally, when the attack was over, his body went flying backward, the impacts having waited to take effect for three whole revolutions of the skill’s caster.

When he finally stopped, Dien looked up to see the axeman walking toward him again as blood dripped from the new wounds. His breathing was more of a wheeze at this point, and he pushed himself up, realizing that in order to combat this he’d need a weapon of fire – Corpseblade. The attacker continued, and the blademaster equipped his choice in weaponry, standing as he called out his La Repth to cure the gashes in his chest. At this point, what was left of his shirt was tattered and torn almost beyond recognition, bearing beneath it the virtual chest of the fighter who broke out into a charge at the massive figure who responded in the same manner.

Vak Slash!

Rue Break!

The two forces met in a dizzying collision, the heat of one canceling out the cool of the other as the two collided midair. The resulting ping echoed down both players’ arms and into their torsos, tearing muscles and tendons and rattling bones numb. Neither attack could finish, the weapons remaining locked overhead for a seeming eternity – both players standing shocked at the collision’s effect.

Well, this is quite the draw then,” the heavy axe said, breathing heavily as his weapon limply leaned on that of Dien, “but I don’t think you have the strength to beat me yet. Rue Basher!

Vak Slash!” Once again, the two fighters were strained as their weapons cancelled one another out, locked overhead in their struggle. A cough shot crimson out of Dien’s mouth to the ground, and he muttered the healing spell, relieving his pain, but not his exhaustion. How much more of this could he put up with?

I may be at my limit,” he said, looking up to the heavy axeman, “but I can’t just stand aside and let you beat these guys, can I? As long as our blades are stuck here, I’m not letting you move.” His opponent coughed up blood, an attempt at laughing gone south.

See, you have an advantage here, though,” he said, his breathing getting heavier and heavier, “you’ve got a healing spell – something I lack, but very much need at the moment.” At that, the man collapsed, the pain in his arms, chest, and neck too much to bear. His body began to blink red, and he looked to Dien. “Do me a favor, mate?” he asked, the pain in his face enough indication as to just what that favor was. The blademaster nodded, sheathing his sword and doing his best to pick up the monstrosity of an axe. It would be a cleaner cut, in any case.

It was good fighting you,” he said before going into a coughing fit.

You too,” Dien said, and at that the axe’s blade fell through the neck of its owner, quickly ending his in-game life.

OOC:

KILL COUNT!!! :D
Before Post: 109
During Post: 4 (1 n00b wavemaster, 1 n00b twinblade, 1 n00b blademaster, 1 high-level heavy axe)
After Post: 113
Image
Image|||Level 35 Blademaster (+200 EXP)
Wishlist: EXP, Ends of Earth, Armor with Status Effects

User avatar
Cypher
Exalted Player
Posts: 235
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2004 11:01 pm
Location: Who am I...?
Contact:

Post by Cypher » Mon Jun 05, 2006 1:43 am

Shit!

Several waves of energy came flying at him all at once, taking the shape of almost-invisible balls, crashing all around him. Each crash into the earth caused a massive, unstable shockwave to wreak havoc, often causing Cypher to loose his balance. Several curses were emitted underneath his breath as he attempted to gain some sort of edge on his opponent. However, each attempt was futile, ending in a blast that would only force him to re-assemble.

“That’s some glove…can I have it?”

Following the witty comment came a snide smile, which led to a charge on Cypher’s behalf. In reality, the fight didn’t seem as difficult as he made it out to be, and could easily end in one shot. However, such an attack wasn’t available quite often, especially since he had just recently come back, therefore loosing his mastery of the attack. Regardless, too much attention would be brought forth by this fight if it continued, and the last thing he wanted was for the authorities to seize him right away.

His target was a lowly hacker, but rumor had it he contained some useful information regarding recent events surrounding his clan. Unfortunately for Cypher, it proved false: he had not lived up to his legacy. The field on which the two fought was nothing special nor out of the ordinary for a regular hacker, containing a set amount of fiends with the standard altered attacks. Much disappointment filled Cypher as he no longer wished to fight, and found the only way to quickly end the fight was by resorting to that.

“I’m sorry but I have to go…please, get legit”

With a high raised hand, Cypher gave two clicks in his control panel, regretted the waste of the skill, and watched his opponent be demolished. Many screams came from the subsequent attack, but Cypher turned a deaf ear, closing his eyes and raising the music up, hoping to block out the pain his target suffered. When there was no more “life” left in the hacker, Cypher ended it.

Simultaneous with the ceasing of the attack was a large sense of energy loss, which led to an excruciating pain, originating itself at his arm, but quickly spreading all over his body. Such was the hurt that Cypher could bare no more, allowing the weight to overcome him; within seconds, he found himself laying on the ground, tears streaming down his face and cheeks.

Amazing how much it really hurt…how long was it? The pain factor was something he had forgotten since his long absence from “The World,” yet he was now clearly reminded of the game’s power. It took him a full five minutes before he could afford some small movement, and even that only increased the pain. Albeit the attack should not have been used with so little time spent in the game again, it was a necessity, one that he would gladly take again and again.

Finally, after most of the pain subsided, he rose, preparing himself to continue his hunt until a favorable target was found, one which would provide him the information needed for him to properly continue his quest. The voice of reason inside him alerted him to the fact he was now weak, and that further battle could result in an unfavorable ending.

Also, he was reminded of the fact he lost everything, from his special weapons to his ‘spiritual force’ which resided in his sword. He was now reduced to a mere player, although he still retained some of his admin abilities, albeit the only real useful one had a strong limitation to it. Regardless, the strength of his will was strong, and the desire to keep those whom he considered friends, as well as his strong sense of justice, would allow him the fuel needed to progress.

Just as he began to cycle through the different targets set out earlier, several bursts of light appeared at the corner of his eye. At first he thought little of it, disregarding it as nothing more than a flashy, useless special effect resulting from amateur field manipulation. However, after much persistence, Cypher ceased his searching for a second in order to address the situation.

As he turned he saw the origin of the light spectacle, and was rather surprised at what he saw. Where the hacker he just defeated once stood was now many pieces of equipment floating around, as if gravity did not affect that small area. Covering it were many small white dots, all floating around the items, as well as over them. The area itself was outlined by a faint white line, which revealed a small white hue surrounding the area, as if it was some sort of invisible wall protecting everything inside.

Filled with curiosity, Cypher shuffled towards his findings, interested in what the items were. Hesitantly he allowed his hand to descend towards the items. At first he paused, wondering whether there actually was a barrier there. When he could hold back no longer, he jolted his hand forward, and found it surprising that no force offered resistance when his hand traversed the white wall.

As each item was scanned, he found them to be all ‘improved’ items; basically, this player had taken otherwise normal items and enhanced them by altering their stats. Such items weren’t good in the first place, and would only attract unwanted attention by the authorities.

Checking the items out caused him to loose interest in the findings. With a sigh he began to leave, resuming his thoughts about the targets. However, as he got up, one particular item caught his eye. It was a glove, one he had missed, one he had never seen before. When an analysis was attempted, the control panel could yield nothing, as if the item wasn’t even there. Furthermore, a console scan confirmed that: the game could not detect the glove as existing.

Perplexed by this anomaly, Cypher grabbed the glove, removing it from the white hue. As he grabbed it, all of the mystical elements were gone, causing the other items to enter the world of gravity, dropping down like a normal item would. This only furthered enhanced his confusion, and intensified his curiosity over the item.

And then the images of the fight spilled in.

He began to remember how his opponent used the glove to fire off what seemed to be balls of energy, although such a description came from a person unknown to the glove’s power or potential. Still, the attacks were rather strong, and it seemed they could’ve been stronger, yet the owner at the time used it somewhat incorrectly. As he played the fight out on his mind, he remembered how he complimented the glove’s power, and how he thought it would come in very handy if he were to own.

But why didn’t the game detect?

What the hell…doesn’t hurt to try

And with that, everything changed. The minute the glove attached itself to his hand, his entire world changed. At first nothing happened, and Cypher thought the gloves was broken. However, what he didn’t notice was how his stats were no longer legible, and instead jumbled in incoherent language, the type often posted on the message boards by hackers wishing to have fun with people.

Before he could deduce the reason behind the sudden stat change, the pain returned. This time however it was much larger, intensified at least ten fold. He found himself on the ground once more, although this time not even his thoughts were spared from the pain. Fists and teeth clenched, he finally let out a scream, symbolizing his defeat and submission to the pain.

The screen turned completely black, leaving the young man both perplexed, dazed, and still in pain. However, it slowly returned, flickering at first, but clearing up after a few seconds. He found himself on the ground once more, staring down into the digital dirt, half of it in covering his face. However, no more pain lingered, and instead he felt an odd boost of energy. He quickly got up, brushing himself off and making sure everything was ok.

And that’s when he noticed it.

On his hand was a glove similar to what he had put on earlier, although slightly different in appearance. The glove was fingerless, stopping just above his knuckles. Also, a small gem (more like half of it) protruded from the back of his hand, containing a small, bluish hue. Often the hue would intensify, although in small, slow intervals.

That’s new

But the changes didn’t stop there. No longer was his control panel present, a finding which alarmed Cypher. He was about to tab out in order to notify his friend, but stopped when a small interface appeared on his screen. It used font sleek and futuristic, unlike the standard in game font. A greeting was displayed addressing Cypher as his public name, indicating it was generic, and simply went off of the stats of the person. However, further reading revealed the interface was part of the glove, and actually explained in detail how to use it.

The glove itself was actually a precise, advanced weapon used in conjunction with other hacking programs for optimum use. This explains why the person that had it failed horribly at using it correctly. Once the entire reading was done and reviewed, Cypher began to test it out. The glove itself acted as a sort of gun, granting him the ability to fire off non elemental blasts of energy. These blasts could vary in power, although Cypher had a hard time learning to increase its power, leaving him to only learn the basics of it.

Hours passed as he entertained himself with his new toy, each use allowing him more control over the newly granted powers. Finally, when he was satisfied with his abilities, he decided to return to Mac Anu. While he would normally have no business there, it was the location of his clan base, and being the worrisome, responsible ex-leader, he wanted to check up on everyone.

Arrival at Mac Anu was as normal as always, bustling with many players, all of them engaging in their own ordeals. Unfortunately no one was at the clan house, forcing Cypher to find something to pass the time. An attempt at organizing the house was done, but he realized that under the new leadership, things changed. With a faint sight, he made his way out the door.

And that’s when it happened.

The one bustling Mac Anu was now practically empty. Instead of joy ridden players hustling for a trade, requesting to join parties, knights of war stomped up and down the isles, each one armed to the teeth and ready to fight. Cypher remained oblivious to them at first, but his existence soon became their concern. At first they attempted to remove him from the server, but thanks to the coding done by his friends, he wouldn’t be able to get ridn of so easily.

”I found another one!!!”

---
Total Kills: 113
Last edited by Cypher on Mon Jun 05, 2006 9:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Wishlist: Ends of Earth (11 BM), Black Sharp Angel Wings, BM Swords (Rare/Common)

New sig coming soon!

Reinier
Awakened Player
Posts: 164
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 4:49 am
Location: UNKNOWN ERROR, please try again later
Contact:

Post by Reinier » Mon Jun 05, 2006 4:25 pm

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The steady echoes of the heart monitor, echoing in a sort of runic rhyme, crept through the sterile, white room. A boy lay on the bed, his breathing monitored and helped through a machine. His eyes were shut, his arms outstretched over the covers, the rest of his body laying motionless under the covers. “Are you positive this is the alleged hacker? You have to be positive nowadays on who you convict, because it is a crime punishable by death…” The voice of a soft-spoken man broke the near silence in the room.

“I’m positive. Subject B0773704-1, Garrett Griffin, Player Character name “Reinier.” It’s said he can bend the earth around him to his will… we’ve made numerous attempts at contacting the boy, over The World and the phone, and his parents don’t seem to be answering any communications either. It’s strange… My friends are in Mac Anu right now, they’re trying to capture a group of renegade hackers, and one of them could have sworn they fought with a red head named Reinier… They said that he did, indeed, make the earth move to his will, and the way he moved ‘it’s like he’s in the game, doin’ everythin’ on his own.’ I think it’s a buncha bull, though. They always have had a bit of an imagination…” A more stern, executive-like voice spoke.

“I see… well, I guess we can rule out that this is the hacker, seeing as how he can’t get in to the game… Poor kid… says he’s only sixteen. Wonder what kind of life he was living…” A sniffle came from the man, as he began flipping through papers.

Silence crept over the two men, until the stern man began to speak. “Read me off the name of the next hacker off the list real quick…” His voice near a whisper, as he knelt down to read something off the charts of the bed next to Garrett’s.

“Andrea Griffin, why?” He asked, flipping his papers back and forth between Garrett’s and Andrea’s.

“Well, rule her out as well… she’s right here.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*

You need to calm down a bit, Reinier. You’re tearing your body to shreds killing everything in sight. As wonderful as it is, seeing you kneeling down, huddled over a blade that’s not even yours, you need to just calm down. A few things can bare to live for awhile…

Reinier’s breathing sporadically hopped out of his mouth and nose, as he spied the knights gradually making their move towards the boy. The torrents of sand twisted violently around the boy, matching his breathing and his current mindset of confusion. The encroaching men brought up their weapons, smiles as far as the eye could see.

For a man who made a promise to himself to get in to a massive fight with an endless amount of monsters, and to finally get his wish, you’re not taking advantage of this very much.

The statement took Reinier by such a surprise that he completely forgot where he was, who he was, and what his last name had been. He looked around, dazed and confused by what Taimat had said.

I never told you that… It was a secret oath I told myself when I first threw on the goggles and took up the controller… how’d you know that?

A few knights leaped in to the air, four total, each holding an end of a net. With an upward slash, the net came undone and split in half, the four men falling to the ground. Reinier rested his foot against one man’s face, applying enough pressure to keep him from moving. He moved his sword from man to man, flicking it upwards. A spire would shoot up out of the earth, ripping through the men’s skull as the sword passed over them. And with one smooth pass over the neck, across the jugular, another man had died. Reinier stood in the blood of four more people, pondering how Taimat knew about what he had told himself so long ago.

What? You didn’t know I can see all your memories? You should have picked up on that when I could be in your dreams, as well. Common sense here, man. I wouldn’t doubt that you could see in to my thoughts, my past, everything. There’s some real interestin’ stuff here in your head. Go figure.

Well, try and stop for a minute. I need you to come out real quick, and help me thin out some numbers. They’re still a bit much… too many of them, not enough us. It’s not really fair, if you ask me.

After this bit of info I just saw from your memories, and the small connection I made, you may not want that, but okay…

Out of no where, a gold ray shot up from a spot on the field where a group of knights had been standing around, looking for some fighting action. The dragon appeared in the sky, and begun his descent, shooting out flames to clear the area of knights. Screams and hollers echoed as men began to sprint away for their lives. Reinier, however, ran towards the dragon now knowing where his sword was. “Danku!” An attack had been called behind the running red-head.

He twisted around, bringing up the sword he found on the ground vertically. The end of the blade rested in between his thumb and forefinger, as he managed to block the attack. The Devil’s Blade shattered, as the attack of the knight continued downwards. Reinier shifted to the right, his sand shield managing to form in front of him, with the shield blocking the attack just long enough before it shattered to give Reinier enough room to launch a counter attack.

Reinier swung his arm around, letting go of the handle of the sword. The broken sword flew through the air, making contact with the knight in the temple. The boy crumbled to the floor, dead. Reinier looked up, and there stood Taimat, shooting out flames and holding the Horse-Killer in his tail. The tail of the dragon swung around, slicing a knight across the face, slicing his eyes and nose. The man let out a scream, falling to the ground, crippled. “Your sword,” the dragon grumbled, flinging the sword in to the air.

Reinier leaped in to the air, grabbing the sword, and fell to the earth. As his feet touched the earth, he dropped the sword to the ground, smashing in the skull of a random Wavemaster. Taimat looked around, surveying the area, and he seemed to smile. “I’ll be back… first, I’ll just get rid of a few of these men…” With a roar, the dragon’s mouth dropped wide, flames escaping his mouth in a stream. Screams echoed, as five men closest to Reinier were instantly disintegrated. Five more men, further down, were set ablaze, and began to run around in circles, obviously not remembering the “Stop, drop, and roll,” technique.

Those men eventually crumbled down to the ground, dying peacefully. Taimat galloped away, in the direction of the Trade Center and Grunty Stables, head butting a man on his way out. Reinier brought up his sword, his head spinning around to a mob of angry knights inclosing. The boy gulped, as he began to ran the battle through his mind, the ending not looking good. Then came a particularly odd noise… mooing. The earth seemed to shake, as Reinier remembered that Taimat had gone off for a minute.

Two knights sprinted away from where the Trade Center was, and eventually it became apparent as to why. A heard of Grunty, with three Iron Grunty’s leading the way, stampeded from the stables. One of the knights tripped, falling on the ground. He turned over on his back, screaming, and brought up his hands over his face as he pleaded with the Grunty to stop. They, however, spoke broken English and couldn’t understand him in their panic. The took his words to be, “Speed up to freedom, oink!” And so, the man was trampled on by the horde of the Grunty, the sounds of his screams and inevitable death where muffled by the sound of a thousand hooves against the ground.

Flames shot across the tops of the Grunty, as a sprinting dragon came in to view. He slid at a corner, running in to a wall and causing a canapé to fall on top of his back. He shook it off, and continued running, shooting out flames at the running steaks. Reinier, reacting to the impeding stampede, leaped in to the air, his wings spread out wide, and hovered over the running masses. Reinier turned his head, and watched as the Iron Grunty lead the way as they seemed to gallop high in to the sky.

The stampede finished shortly, and the battle recommenced. A Baby Grunty hobbled forward, stopping at Reinier’s feet. “Where’s mommy? Oink…” Taimat, strutting like he were on the cat-walk, came over to Reinier, slurping up a Grunty leg like spaghetti. Reinier let out a sigh, leaning down and picking up the Grunty Baby.

“Er… let’s go and try and find her…” Reinier said to the baby, looking around for a safe place to keep the baby while the fighting continued. A fire ball shot next to Reinier, enveloping a knight which had tried to slice the boy’s head off. “Thanks,” Reinier said to his loyal friend.

“For what? That was a burp,” the dragon replied. No sign of joking, either. Reinier let out a sigh, as he scanned the area. Reinier spied the Potion Shop in the distance, a building that stayed relatively intact.

“Clear a path, Tai, to the Pot Shop,” Reinier ran over, hopping on the back of his guardian. Flames escaped the dragon’s mouth, searing off the flesh of three knights that stand near. Two keeled over, dead, the other screaming and leaping off in to the river. The dragon sprinted forward, head butting any and everyone near, and at one point took a detour just to hit a random knight in the back. The random knight flew to the side, hit a wall, and landed on his neck. He was presumed dead on impact.

The dragon stood in front of the building, shooting out flames to any and everyone near. Several men leaped in to the river to avoid being hit. Reinier hopped off the dragon, and opened up the door in to the shop. He set the Grunty behind the counter, noting that the clerk was no where to be seen, and any and everything could be stolen if someone wanted to be like that. Reinier left the shop, just in time to watch a man’s head be crushed in the teeth of the dragon. “I think you’ve done enough helping for one day…” And with that said, the dragon glowed a magnificent gold, and after curling up and becoming an orb, shot in to Reinier’s sword.

Now, I want to run something by you. Imagine that you have all your enemies in one corner of a town you could honestly care less about. Wouldn’t you take the time to swoop in and kill them all?

Reinier thought about this, as he watched a knight charge forward. He knelt down, grabbed the man by the neck with his left hand, and skewering him in the stomach with his sword. He flipped the man in to the river, sliding his sword out of his stomach through his side. A nice crimson tint to the river became apparent.

Probably… what’s your point?

Oh nothing… just sayin’… Wouldn’t it be trippy if everything we killed hopped back to life, as like… zombies? Even those three Grunty’s I roasted to a crisp? That’d be so awesome…

I will never understand your logic… That could NEVER happen, and you know it.







My Kills: 21
Grunty’s Kills: 1
Grunty Losses: 4 Known

Total Knight Loss: 135
Total Grunty Loss: 4 Known
Image
Image
Reinier's Wishlist: Sakabatou|Sharktooth
Abraxas' Wishlist: Complementry|Summon
The Hack's Wishlist: Wall lvl 2

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

Post by Phoenix512 » Tue Jun 06, 2006 9:35 am

Phoenix was observing the battle between the Freedom Fighters and the Knights of War. Even though he was recovering his strength and did not want to ruin the others’ fun, his true purpose in not taking part of the battle was that he needed to know the others’ abilities and tendencies in combat. Since being part of the battle does not allow the luxury of observing, he took this opportunity to carefully watch them. As Phoenix watched the battle progress, he thought of a few things during this time.

It doesn’t help our image when some of the group kills the Knights in a bloody, violent way. It seems that some of them enjoy killing them. They are just like the Elites. They don’t care that those Knights are just pawns and don’t know any better. Reinier and Zan have animal characteristics to their bodies which they seem to have the primal animal instincts as well. Such brutality. I don’t enjoy killing pawns. I haven’t enjoy killing anything even since I been trapped within the game.

Phoenix continued to observe the battle when he noticed a development coming from where the administration was watching their men being massacred by the Freedom Fighters. He notices that Hijinx was talking to one of the admins which was the only one that he didn’t recognized. Oh great. Only the crazy rabbit would try to talk to one of the admins. Too bad I can’t really hear what they’re saying. I just can only hope that she doesn’t make the admins even more pissed off at us. Kamui and Tritoch are already hate hackers in general along with the fact that Tritoch hates Asgard from the old days. I don’t want them to pour their hate specifically in destroying us.

Phoenix turns his attention back to the battle and focus on the uninfected players. He notices that Dien was trying to reason with the Knights as he was fighting them. He knew it was a futile effort on his part but at least he realizes that he has to fight them to survive. The blademaster sees Zhao just providing support along with Rayo which he turns his attention to the last member of the uninfected. Phoenix watches the twin blade called Canti acting like a crazy man. Not another crazy one. Give the Knights more justification for their actions. So what do you think of the situation, Suzaku? After thinking the thought in his head, Phoenix hears the voice of his guardian bird.

I mostly agreed with your assertions but we cannot exactly tell them what to do or kick them out. They need to decide for themselves if they want to deal with their darkness within. Also we need their power as well. At least we know their abilities from observing their battles. Wait a second; I just noticed something not too far from our location. It looks like your old friend is about to get into trouble.

Phoenix turned to the direction of Cypher who was being ganged up by a group of Knights. I see a group of Knights on the ground trapping Cypher along with two groups of Knights on the rooftops. Suzaku, take care of the far group of Knights while I’ll deal with the other group and then get a jump on the remaining group. Suzaku immediately flew off to head off the far group of Knights while Phoenix equipped the Phoenix Wing sword before beginning to jump from rooftop to rooftop.

As Phoenix got closer to the group of Knights, he managed to find out that four knights were all low level and consisted of various classes. At the corner of his eye, he sees Suzaku engaging the far group already which seemed to be consisted of three wavemasters and an archer. The four knights were heading towards Cypher in a vertical formation which made it so easy for Phoenix to take out. He snuck up behind the group and took out the rear knight with a slash in the back. The knight’s body became devoid of color which Phoenix caught the body in order to not to allow it to cause a thud on the rooftop. He did this method with the remaining three knights which they had no clue that their numbers were being killed so stealthy.

Phoenix proceed to the rooftop of where Cypher was being trapped by three knights which two of them were low leveled with the center knight being a level 21 Heavy Blade. He looks towards the other side which he sees Suzaku successfully putting the finishing touches on burning the only archer of the group. Well done, Suzaku. Be on standby for now. I got this situation handle now.

The Master of Gravity proceeded quietly towards the back of the Knights which the two low-level knights were separated from their leader. He altered his gravity to one-quarter of normal in order to descend on their location without making a sound. After landing on the ground of the city, he gave two quick slashes to the backs of the Knights who quickly died from the attack. Phoenix proceeded towards the leader of this group of Knights as he was making some speech to Cypher.

“You have no where to run, hacker. You will be surrounded by a group of Knights in mere seconds.” Suddenly, Phoenix made a loud coughing sound which he had his hood up so that his face would not been seen so easily along with the Phoenix Wing in his right hand.

“Actually, you’re the one who’s surrounded in mere seconds. My partner and I took care of the other knights. I suggest that you run away right now as I don’t want to kill you like we did to the others.” The heavy blade leader became distraught with the sudden turn of events. He could not believe how he was surrounded by two players and an unknown third player along with the fact that his entire team of knights was defeated. He drew out his sword and turned towards Phoenix.

“I won’t ever run away from a bunch of cheats like you. I will kill you for the honor of my unit.” The heavy blade ran towards Phoenix and began the motion for an overhead swing at him. Phoenix was saddened by the fact that he has to kill an honorable knight but he will give him a face to face death. He called forth the attack of Ani Slash from the Phoenix Wing and quickly ran past him giving him a series of slashes on the midsection. He easily had a massive speed advantage on the Heavy Blade because of being at one-fourth of normal gravity which allows his muscles to easily exert more force into them since he was able to move at normal gravity with ease. Phoenix reverted back to normal gravity in order to stop easily after passing the Heavy Blade by.

Once the darkness energy that covered his sword dispersed back into nothingness, the Heavy Blade dropped his sword to the ground and fell to the ground. His body became gray and lifeless a moment later. Phoenix sheathed his sword and began talking to Cypher.

“Do you remember this blade, Cypher? It works pretty well. I noticed that your fellow coworkers are against you now. Anyway, I suggest that we go to the rooftops and continued this conversation somewhere else. I don’t want to be here when a bunch of Knights come heading to this location. It’s your choice really. I personally think you better off sticking with me instead of trying to fight out the Knights along with the four administrators by yourself. One more thing if you decide not to follow me, there’s a chaotic battle going on nearby with my allies and the Knights. You better off being the rooftops. I’m not going to wait for you to decide. I’m leaving now.”

Phoenix tells Suzaku to head for the roof that they were previously on as he jumps on a nearby roof and begins his roof hopping journey. The roofs have basically become Phoenix’s only way to travel now. After jumping from roof to roof, Phoenix sees Suzaku already at the roof and lays down on it watching the battle once again as he patiently expects the arrival of Cypher. It’s good to see that Cypher is alive and well. I hoped that he won’t disappear once again.

My Kills: 11
Total Kills: 146
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

Rayo
Exalted Player
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:21 pm

Post by Rayo » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:12 pm

The wavemaster leapt on top of a barrel beside the building forming their “right wall” as he had begun to think of it. The Patriot harmlessly piercing the storage unit, allowing a few fish to drop out the side. Rayo gulped down a Hermit’s Blood as he jumped, or fell back against the stone wall as the barrel was kicked forward, taking out the blademaster’s knees. From his laying position, the enchanter spat out a well aimed Rai Kruz, converging directly upon the center of the skull. The blademaster stayed down as the mage stood up, rubbing his back. Sure…that was a planned fall…sure. Stupid barrel.

Unfortunately, his temporarily enhanced height led him to witness two squads moving through the very building that protected a small portion of their border. The buildings to the sides were helpful because they were keeping the fight mainly on two fronts, as opposed to a true circular dilemma. Despite the influx of knights between the fronts, changing the entire dynamic of the battle would be faulty execution of the plan.

While on the ground anyway, the caster swapped out anklets, attaching one of the ninja variety despite the fact that his current train of thought was as stealthy as Lanceor summonings. It wasn’t really his fault if his spells would be flashy…


“GiGan Zot!”

The first series of pillars destroyed any support on the corner of the building that was nearest the door that was surely where the knights would exit to ambush their forces. With all the dust be sent up in the air the wavemaster wasn’t able to accurately see what the soldier’s faces depicted, but whatever the case, their rational would be obvious to one who worked with logic, not against it.

“GiGan Zot!”

There went the way they came in, removing the other escape route remaining as the far side of the building simply ceased to be, acting more as prison gates with a lack of altitude and spiky pierces of stone pointing every which way. Simply containing them wouldn’t be enough however. Based off how shiny they were, these soldiers were most likely somewhat stronger, maybe in their 20s or so when it came to level. Still, with the time elapse between his spotting of their approach and the eruption of earth, there was enough time for even a third unit to join them. There were close to a dozen from what Rayo had observed, and leaving that sort of troupe alone would just mean surprises later.

“GiGan Zot!”

The last semblance of support abandoned the structure, much like how life would abandon his would be attackers. Even Kamui didn’t like collapsing buildings, as experience had shown. Would she remember, hopefully so. Everything that could be done to keep her from concentrating calmly would be their asset, and key to surviving this, for a bit at least.

Being smacked straight into the rubble wasn’t what the mage wanted to happen upon completing a successful strike. However, the pair of a long arm and heavy blade behind him must have thought so. However, these two revealed their weakness through the tattoo of six on their shoulders…there were discarded bodies with those labels all around Zan by this point.

Still…his lack of SP made killing them a nuisance, despite that. Reaching into his cloak, the lightning user extracted a pair of Lightning Bolt scrolls, activated them without hesitation and witnessed the pair actually have the sizzle effect out loud for those close enough to hear before ghosting before him.

How many more were there…?


ooc:
Number of knights killed: 17
number of knights dead total: 159
Rayo
Lv.47 Archer 745HP/311SP
Bell, the Silver Grunty of Thunder
Skills/Spells-Shocking Arrow of Voltage(30), Arrow of the Burning Stars(10), MeRai Rom(40), Rai Kruz(10), La Repth(20), Rip Maen(40), MeRai Kruz(20), GiVak Kruz(20), MeRai Don(20), Rig Saem(15)
Weapon/Armor/Book-Golden Royal Bow/Thunder Torque, Thunder Cloak, Able Ring, Ivory Greaves/Thunder Magic
Wishlist: YL Fukuoka, Stormlore, Winter Stone, Silver Grunty

ryok
Elevated Player
Posts: 70
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 6:38 pm
Location: Unknown

Post by ryok » Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:18 am

-They never seemed to stop. There were so many enemies all around ryok didn’t know what to do but to fight. Turning he cut into another heavy blade. The knight fell to the ground clutching his face as it bled out on to the cobble. His eyes flashed in the bright sun. Turning from the fallen heavy blade his sword came to meet those of a twin blade. Sidestepping he pushed into the twin blades crossed daggers throwing her off balance. Stumbling she rose back to her defensive stance quickly. This knight was different; she didn't stand like the others. No, she was much stronger, and well versed in battle. He blinked a few times trying to get the glare out of his eyes. As he turned to rub his eyes he caught a glimpse of the fighter rushing towards him. Stepping backwards he pulled the Demonic Blade vertical just in time to be knocked back by the multiple slashes of the twin blade. He checked behind him to make sure there weren’t any other opponents to back stab him while he was preoccupied. Turning back to his enemy he dropped. One of her blades ripped a gash in the side of his arm. Ryok hit the ground and rolled out of the way of another attack. Which promptly hit the cobblestone and emitted a unique ringing sound. Pushing his hands into the ground he rose to one knee. Staring at the twin blade, he hoped could possibly beat her.

-Was it her that caught me with that reflection? It was a pretty smooth move. Plus she doesn’t miss a damned thing I do. She’s on top of me whenever I look in a different direction

-Rising back up to his feet he met eye to eye with his enemy. They headed at each other both running as fast as they could push themselves. Meeting a little closer to where ryok started off their blades rung out as they hit together. Ryok pulled up and back the blade pointed at her chest. Stepping into a thrust he was thrown off as her blades came across his. Stumbling off to the side he put his hand out and went into a quick roll. Spinning around his face nearly hit hers as she slid her blades up under his neck. Ryok blinked at the shear cunning of his enemy. Never had he come across someone so genuinely smart in battle. He blankly stared into her face waiting for her finishing touch. It didn’t come though she just stared back.

-“Who are you?” She asked. A smirk came across ryok’s face as his hand gripped the right blade and pulled it away from his neck. His blade met the sliding of the other blade as she pulled back trying to finish him. Pushing her blade down he raised and hopped back clutching his blade with his bloodied hand in his unique defense stance. He knew what he was dealing with now. Someone ruthless enough to not care about dying in battle as long as she knew she fought as hard as she could to win. Ryok narrowed his eyes. It had been a long time since he had been serious in a fight against a random person. He took a step towards her moving from defense into offense in a matter of seconds. The twin blade was a little startled at the quickness of his recovery. Which allowed him to easily pass her sloppy defense. He shifted twice moving out of the way of two counter-attacks. Reeling back he thrust his blade into her shoulder. Quickly recoiling to move from the range of her blades. A deep evil smile came across ryok’s face; he hadn’t that much pleasure from the hellish place in a long time.

-Her hand rose pointing at him. He raised a brow in confusion. A few shadows flashed past his face as he looked up. Shielding the sun from his eyes he hopped out of the way of a few arrows. Turning back towards the twin blade he focused past her. Two archers stood, with arrows slung back, behind her. She raised her arm and dropped it, another volley falling. Swinging his sword he managed to knock a few off course, and by rolling only one struck his right leg. Standing, he hopped back as the twin blade came in a little too close. He dropped his blade down on to one of the daggers and slid it up into her hand. Dropping the first blade she thrust the second forwards, into his right shoulder. Using the momentum from being knocked back he pulled through her hand. As he fell back his arms fully extended and swung across the twin blade. The tip of his sword just barely cut deep enough to severe her jugular. Blood sprayed out on to him as he hit the ground.

-She held her partially severed hand to her throat as her body went limp. No volleys of arrows rained down so he assumed that the archers hadn’t the faintest idea of what happened. He managed to spin his blade so it faced towards the sky and pulled the dagger from his shoulder. Taking advantage of the few seconds he had left he grabbed out another health drink and got it down. The hole that went through to the ground in his shoulder healed up to the outer most layers of muscle and the arrow tip in his right leg fell out as the wound healed over. He lay motionless, waiting for them to come and inspect their comrade.

-“Sir?” One of them said as she approached. Ryok closed his eyes waiting for the pressure of the dead body to lift off of him. “Sir?” He called out again. Grabbing her shoulder he pulled her off of ryok. Ryok’s blade cut into the back of the archer’s calf. Which caused him to drop his bow and fall to the ground. Sitting up, ryok fell back down on to one hand rotating on it until he arrived on one knee in front of the fallen archer. The other archer watched a few feet away his hands trembling as he pulled back another arrow. Ryok grabbed the fallen archer by the leather straps that ran below his neck and pulled him up. The arrow hit the back of the crippled archer. Pushing the archer over ryok stood and headed at the other one in a sprint. Pointing his hand back towards the fallen archer his hand glowed a faint dark red color. Two consecutive glyphs appeared under the archer. The Dek Vak/Vak Don combo crushing what little hp the archer had left. Hoping he had finished the previously injured opponent ryok continued forward.

-He raised his blade deflecting one of the three quick shots as he came in for the kill. The weak archer stood no chance without the protection of the close ranged fighting twin blade. Sliding past the archer he spun with his blade out. Hitting the archer in the side of the stomach. Pulling it across the contact area he pulled the blade back and turned towards the stumbling archer. Running in, he put his sword through the archer’s neck as he looked back up at him. Ryok pulled the blade back and sheathed it. Turning around he already had the interest of another knight who was coming in towards him.

-He seemed not to have a weapon amidst his being. Ryok snapped the three arrow shafts off his body leaving in the tips so that the skin to heal over. Sheathing his blade he realized the class of the unarmed man, a fist fighter. Another class that ryok had not seen in battle up to this point. Knowing the fighter was skilled wasn’t enough. Ryok didn’t understand the true potential of the fighter until after his first mistake. The fist fighter sprinted right for him not stopping. Ryok felling weakness behind such an attack stood motionless, confident that he’d take the unarmed character out right off. Once in range ryok swung an empty swing. A swing without power or speed, thinking it would hit the character. The blade’s path shone across the field by the reflection the sun cast upon it. The opponent was gone though. The fighter was nowhere to be found or so thought ryok for a half for a second. Ryok’s jaw hit the top of his mouth with the sound of cracking teeth. Looking up into the sky only for another brief half a second until several punches were thrown into his gut. Ryok slide back clutching stomach, which was bruised under the armor.

-Ryok didn’t have time for games. He raised back standing straight. Sheathing his blade he was determined to finish the fighter off here. Sticking another speed charm to his being he rushed at the fighter. All he needed to do was finish him and then lay down for a moment to take a breather. No one would bother him there… Or so he hoped. Clutching his sheathed blade he pulled it across the fighter yelling out an attack he was sure to finish him if it hit. It hit… Direct. The fighter, as ryok, misinterpreted his skill. The fighter’s fist struck ryok across the face as his insides fell to the ground. The fighter having blank stare forward, as ryok flew several feet opposite the direction of where the punch came from. Sliding to a stop ryok didn’t move. Until he finally worked up enough strength to grab yet another health drink from his pouch and down it. Raising back up he looked around still seeing some stray knights. He backed up into a building where he leaned…

Number of knights killed: 5
Number of knights dead total: 164

Image
Ryok| Lvl. 27| Heavy Blade| Demonic Sword| Kagayuzen| Fire Bracer| Suzaku Fiery Pants
Karin| Kannon| Miu Lei| Vak Rom| Vak Don| Dek Vaks| Ap Vaks
Skill Drain| Death

Wish list:Black Sharp Angelic Wings| Time Headband| Unique Weapon

User avatar
Zhao Xun
Elevated Player
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 3:09 am
Location: Wherever I'm needed.

Post by Zhao Xun » Wed Jun 07, 2006 3:00 am

This was pure insanity. I had barely made it through the tower, and that was with others fighting alongside me, protecting me. Now everyone was spread out throughout Mac Anu, and I had nobody to run to. I had lost track of Rayo nigh instantaneously, and though I had tried to simply follow the sounds of the explosions, I hadn't managed to find him again in the chaos of the battle. It seemed as though I would simply have to fend for [myself.

I was surrounded by these "knights" rather quickly, and without any avenue of escape, I knew I had to fight. Five of them... and one of me. I looked about to see if I could spot Dien, Canti... hell, I would have even taken Zan at that point. But I wasn't so lucky. It looked like a five-on-one was exactly what was going to go down... and I was the fool who had been suckered into it.

Let me out... I can handle them, just let me out....

I ignored the voice... after all, he was far more dangerous to me than they were. I was just going to have to adapt. It was something I had managed all the time in the tower, when insanity was flying at me from every direction. So I simply had to continue to work with what I had, and I'd find a way out of this.

At least, I hoped so.

The five knights formed a circle around me, each one ready to charge. I looked around, noting that I faced two Heavy Axes, a Long Arm, a Heavy Blade, and a Twin Blade. Only one of them can keep up with me... but if he can trap me long enough, the others can crush me before I can do anything to fight back. Speed will be paramount here. And with that though, I began to move.

This was no ordinary movement. I pulled out all the stops, rolling around, leaping, trying to confuse them in any way possible. It seemed to at least affect one of the Heavy Axes... and that determined my first target. Nigh-infinite HP notwithstanding, a player who couldn't keep up with me even with his eyes would be the easiest to deal with.

My movements started to become less random and more coordinated, and if anyone had been paying close attention, they probably could have determined my target and warned the poor fool. Unfortunately, none of them were that good. The Logn Arm and the Heavy Blade tried to catch me in a pincer maneuver, and I used that to my advantage. I slowed myself down, letting them get a good bead on me, and waited for their inevitable charge. The Heavy Blade's katana flew out of its sheathe with the ease only a seasoned user could utilize, but the stab from the Long Arm was far less graceful. With a subtle twitch of my two blades, I forced a collision between the two... and then tangled them. I then hopped into the air and, as they were trying to seperate their weapons, dive bombed my target, ready to finish him as quickly as possible.

"Staccatto! Gale of Swords!"

The combo went for at least fifteen hits, possibly more, and used a good chunk of my SP. But it was worth it. Blood sprayed from the immense multitude of cuts I had inflicted, and the Heavy Axe collapsed to the floor... dead as a revenant, but not quite as animated.

My display of acrobatics and agility seemed to shake the other members of the party... all but the Twin Blade. He instantly flew at me at full speed, and I could tell this was going to be a worthy battle. My eyes locked onto his blades, ready to block whatever came at me... and then I realized there was only one. The realization came a moment too late as I realized he had flung one before I had even focused on him, and that realization also came in a form: pain. The sword sunk into my chest, causing me to stagger backwards, which only opened me to his next attack.

"Tiger Claws!" he yelled, spinning around like a madman. I took four more hits, three to the chest and one to my left arm, which fell limply to my side. I was going to have to improvise until I could get this guy off me long enough to slam a health drink. For now, though, I had to think fast. The first thing I realized was that he was in the same dilemma as I was: he only had one sword. I also figured out that I could keep things this way by simply dancing in and out of his reach. It would be difficult, but by no means impossible. I hopped backwards, determined to protect his sword from him. It was then that I realized this was the perfect bait. If I could injure his arm as well... then I wouldn't need to worry about dodging as much.

I left the sword open for a split second and, like a moron, the knight took the bait. His hand show out... and my sword met it halfway. He instantly retracted it, muttering curses under his breath. We were on even footing now, but I had the SP and the stamina to bring him down. I rushed him.

"Tiger Claws!"

My sword tore through him, as I had put myself at such terribly close range that he stood no chance of surviving. I couldn't count the number of cuts I made, but when I was done spinning, he was already on the ground.

And then there were three.

The remaining Heavy Axe, Heavy Blade, and Long Arm finally decided to wise up and come at me as a team... but not before I slammed back my first Health Drink of the fight. My left arm was back in working order, and my two blades were once again ready to unleash hell on whoever came near me. My eyes flashed like daggers, and this seemed to unnerve the Long Arm a bit. Good, I though, Another newbie. Just like me... there's my next target. The two others didn't seem to notice that their friend had faltered, and began to charge me together. I looked around, eyes darting frantically to try and find some avenue of escape. But to no avail. I was going to get hit by this... and probably die. So I decided that I would at least go out with a bang.

I charged straight at them, increasing the speed at which we would collide... which would, of course, increase the damage I took. But it had the desired effect... I focused my eyes on the Long Arm, knowing that this show of courage could possibly rattle him further. It did. He staggered back, his eyes wide with fear, something I was unaware I could inspire. Must be the bit of you in me, I though, directing it at Rikama. All I got in return was laughter, filling my mind. But perhaps the laughter of an insane being was perfect for this moment. After all, what I was doing was suicide.

I saw the two blades flash.

Blood spilled out of my chest.

I kept running.

I checked my HP... 17. A miniscule amount... one that the Long Arm could easily deplete. The question was, would he?

Nope.

I flew at him, not even using skills, simply slicing into him with reckless abandon. The poor fool didn't even blink before I had cut him down. However, I was spent. I collapsed to the ground and waited for the other two to finish me.

They walked over, slowly, gloating all the way. Standing above me, grinning like idiots, they savored the moment.

Fools. It's a rule of combat. Don't gloat, just finish your enemies.

Especially when they have friends.

"MeRue Rom!"

The words came from the lips of Zan, and those words were like a sweet melody to me... the melody of life. The two knights standing over me were blasted away in one shot, killed before they even had a chance to fight back. I turned to try and thank him, but he was already ignoring me again. He had turned simply to save my life, and nothing else. He was caught up in the battle.

Grateful for the save, I managed to gulp down a second Health Drink and get back up. I wasn't done yet.

Knights Killed in This Post: 5
Knights Killed Total: 169

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Cypher
Exalted Player
Posts: 235
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2004 11:01 pm
Location: Who am I...?
Contact:

Post by Cypher » Wed Jun 07, 2006 5:07 am

The knight gave Cypher a steady charge, yelling out several warnings for him to back down. Although his face was hidden behind the famed mask, Cypher could tell the seriousness of his threats by the tone of his voice. Furthermore, servers were hardly ever cleared out in order to apprehend someone, making this all the more dangerous. Unfortunately for Cypher, he entered a situation which he did not comprehend, but was held accountable for just as much as the guilty power.

Naturally Cypher attempted a peaceful explanation with the man, retaining some innocence when asking what was going on. It WAS suspicious he didn’t get kicked, and he was certain his identity would be revealed were he to be apprehended at the very moment. So in order to avoid a scene, as well as to fend off unwanted attention, Cypher prepared to log off, telling the knight there was some sort of glitch, and that he’d leave right away.

”We’ve got all your hacker friends now, so running won’t do you any good!”

Hacker friends…

As those words were spoken, Cypher’s mouse ceased its movement, stopping just short of the log off option. He was stunned at the comment, and immediately got to thinking. His list showed no one in Mac Anu, and hackers didn’t make it a habit of hanging out in root towns.

At least not the good ones…

Memories of past acquaintances came to life and played themselves out in Cypher’s conscious. Many faces appeared, first nameless, but soon gaining a full sense of identity. One by one he acknowledged them, recalling several situations in which he found himself together with them. As all that was reviewed, the root town invasion started to make more sense now. In order to confirm his newfound notion, he would discard his adopted innocent attitude, taking up arms for a higher cause.

First off he would need to go to the hideout. While it was not certain it existed in the same place he had left it almost two years ago, it was the only lead he had. He was currently in the clan house, meaning the hide out wasn’t too far, although there were a few buildings that needed to be bypassed, all possible ambush spots were there many enemies around. Despite this last notion was not fully confirmed, the simple fact the server was cleared and numerous knights of war trotted the city made this a truth.

While he wished to dwell on the fact he had not noticed the knights earlier (an indication he was not quite used to his new ‘tools’) the impatient knight just ahead of him literally sliced out all his thoughts by way of a swift, yet predictable sword cut. Fortunately for Cypher, two main facts aided his dodge: the knight was a heavy blade, and he executed the attack one handedly, using the arm opposite to where the sheathe was in order to grab his sword. As a result, Cypher knew what to expect the minute he cross his arm over.

However, what he did not calculate was the limited space the living room of the clan house provided. Granted he had purchased quite a spacious house for the members to enjoy, yet their inability to keep the house clean was what had forsaken Cypher to being a victim of a tripping accident. While he wasn’t clear about what got in the way, he made a mental note about how he would severely reprimand whoever had left such a cluttered scene.

That is, if he survived.

So, with self preservation in mind, Cypher did his best to balance himself out, using a nearby bookshelf in order to bring it down, serving both as a crutch, as well as an obstruction for his current opponent. The result was successful, having the bookshelf fall in between Cypher and the knight, which found no other way of movement except backing out through the door.

He had succeeded in getting rid of the immediate threat, yet also succeeded in bringing more attention to himself; the knight now began calling out more comrades. At the moment all Cypher had to fight was his regular skills, since locking the server removed the possibility of editing any data to his advantage, and he had used his purge attack already once, leaving a slow, long cool down time before its next use. Therefore, his fighting would have to be quick, precise, and careful.

The best route now seemed to exit through the clan’s second floor. This path gave access to the different rooftops, allowing multiple routes towards the hideout to be born. Before heading up the stairs, Cypher unsheathed his own weapon and gave a quick peak outside. There more knights had come along to help, two of them mages and one being a long arm. The distance between the two parties, as well as the obstruction that was the clan house, did not allow Cypher to view their data. However, a disturbance taking place simultaneously on a nearby rooftop, as well as the ground bellow, gave Cypher a wider window to regroup.

It seemed another ‘hacker’ had come and engaged the group, causing attention on Cypher to shift towards the new enemy. Taking advantage of the situation, Cypher rushed upstairs, reaching the window that faces away from the action and towards the back alleys. With a bit of momentum, Cypher dove through, shattering the glass in a million, digital pieces that would scatter all across the back alley in a stylistic fashion.

Of course being in such a high maintenance, virtual video game had its perks, the most evident one being the human defying stunts one could execute. The current situation was the best example: as Cypher traveled through the area, he used the game’s false sense of gravity to twist and turn his body as he saw fit, until he was ready to make a proper landing. Several seconds later, he found himself landing as he should, head up and feet down. However, such fiction did not exit without a bit of reality; due to the large jump, he found the weight of his body pushed him down, causing the almost perfect landing stance to break, sending his right knee smashing down onto the pavement in order to stabilize the sudden imbalance in weight.

Yet with an added sense of reality came even more fantasy, evident by the lack of injury endured from such a landing. Instead of a busted knee with scrambled muscles and broken bones, Cypher merely brushed his leg off and moved on.

”Stop right there”

The voice originated directly behind Cypher, and its owner was unknown, causing much suspicion and alertness. The crying of a blade sent all sorts of alarms inside Cypher’s conscious mind, causing him to instinctively dodge forward, safely voiding what was a wide axe swing from another knight. As he reached the last part of his dive, he allowed himself to flip over, granting him full sight of his new enemy.

Unlike the other knight, this one was quite larger, bearing a long, heavy axe in both hands, and armor that aided in doubling, maybe even tripling his size. He offered no introduction or order, yet the stern, serious demeanor he carried said it all; there would be no ifs and buts, just a battle. A quick glance down at where he once stood revealed a gaping hole which the axe created, deep enough to reach knee height.

Despite all the seemingly heavy attire and weaponry the man carried, he moved with a terrifying swiftness, almost rivaling that of the seasoned blade master. After a few dodges, Cypher allowed himself the privilege of analyzing his data, a task which continuously failed due to the natural block such members of the staff have, yet still breakable after several attempts. During the decoding, Cypher found himself on the brink of disaster many times, having time to lunge here or there to avoid loosing a limb.

The data that came back was not surprising, although having ultimate proof of the man’s ability struck a cord inside Cypher. He was of equal footing to the ex Army of Darkness leader in terms of level, and possessed equipment which boosted his speed dramatically. In fact, it seemed he equipped some sort of custom item that gave off a constant Ap Do spell. That explained why he moved so swiftly, and gave reason fro Cypher to get serious.

“Ap Do”

The natural speed advantage his class had over axes was returned, although it was hard to tell since the man’s offensive was so swift and fierce. Several times did Cypher try to deliver attacks from his new item, but each attempt resulted in a constant, monotness warning message stating the item ‘wasn’t powered up.’ While he did not understand the nature of the message, it wasn’t much of a bother, since he had the item for only about an hour, and had used it only for basic attacks.

Ruling that out as a possible form of attack, Cypher simply continued his dodging, a task which got easier as he learned the attack patterns his opponent chose. While he had more speed than a regular axe, they were fighting in a confined space, making his movements and attacks tighter and more limited. Cypher gained an advantage on weapon size, and he did not fail to make his opponent painfully aware of it, as he skipped left or right after each swing and delivered a swift cut to the opponent’s sides.

This went on for a good bit, Cypher being the one receiving the less damage, as well as dealing the most. However, when the axe’s health began to hit critical, he underwent a mental overhaul, turning into a berserk mad man which swung carelessly, regardless of his surroundings. At times he would deal critical hits on Cypher, and other times he’d simply bury his weapon in a nearby wall, allowing Cypher to deliver a few cuts before regrouping.

However, Cypher’s health was low, and he did not seem to posses that extra, ‘demonic’ gear his opponent displayed. He entered a desperate zone where his sense heightened, yet served only for evasion. This state would only last a small period, fatigue besting it with time’s passing. Also, at such fast attacks speeds, Cypher had no time to switch equipment to heal. It seemed he was doomed.

And that’s when he noticed it.

Every near death state he entered caused the power in his glove to intensify, evident by a simultaneous intensity of both the gem on the glove and the meter on the screen. Although he wasn’t sure exactly what this would lead to, it was fairly obvious it was powering up for some sort of attack, one which he had not seen before. Finally, after almost a minute of gathering energy, a new message flashed on the screen.

What is Purge!?

While the data drain option mysteriously disappeared from his screen, a new one replaced it. Anxious to try out the attack, Cypher did his best to spot an opening, one that would grant him enough time to execute the attack. He did so by ‘baiting’ the axe into attacking him; that is, making it appear that he was open for a fatal swing, when in fact he merely faked it.

Kneeling down and appearing to be in pain caused the axe to execute an overhead swing, the same used when they first met. This one, however, was much stronger, evident by the way the axe head buried deep into the pavement, and provided much resistance to be pulled out. Once the dodge was executed, Cypher jumped on the pole, using his weight to leave his opponent’s weapon disabled. Before he could attempt to reequip another one, Cypher ran up the pole and delivered an uppercut kick, one which caused both players to flip in the air, although the receiving end did so with pain, while the delivering end did so with pleasure.

As the man’s body glided down towards the ground, Cypher executed the purge skill. What followed was a visual manifesto similar to the old data drain, although this one was much more graphical. From where his glove once was now appeared a long gauntlet, extending all the way down to his elbow. The gauntlet itself broke into four pieces, breaking away from the elbow and hinging towards the wrist. Energy began to build up in what appeared to be a solar panel, the illusion created from the digital evolution of his new weapon.

Once enough energy was gathered, it was shot out in the form of a white ray, a ray that penetrated the opponent’s chest and extended itself after the body. Accompanying the ray were several red and black ‘tentacles’ (such a denomination was the only thing he could come up with at the moment) which wrapped around the opponent and sent several shocks. Finally, when enough damage was delivered, everything surrounding the opponent would explode, leaving a white flash which blinded Cypher for several seconds.

The same kind of energy loss suffered from the data drain was experienced, although this one lasted less, and did not provide as much pain as its predecessor. Cypher wobbled up to his feet, ensuring the target was immobilized first before healing himself. Once he was sure he was ready to fight once more, Cypher checked around and moved out.

Before returning to the clan house, he decided to turn back and see the results of his attack. He was astonished to see the path of the beam had burned a hole through several buildings that stood in its path. But more astonishing was the destroyed state his opponent found himself in. He was now inflicted with every status ailment available to the game, as well as in critical condition, since the attack delivered some damage as well. Overall the effects were similar, but this one wasn’t as damaging to the person behind the VR glasses.

Each trial use of his glove provided more satisfaction, causing eagerness for battle to boil up inside. Now the old Cypher returned, that is, the battle spirited side. He rushed to the scene were he was spotted first, and found many bodies of the knights that once confronted him. The causer of their defeat was none other than fellow blade master and friend, Phoenix. Cypher waved at his comrade as he moved up towards his position.

“Do you remember this blade, Cypher? It works pretty well. I noticed that your fellow coworkers are against you now. Anyway, I suggest that we go to the rooftops and continued this conversation somewhere else. I don’t want to be here when a bunch of Knights come heading to this location. It’s your choice really. I personally think you better off sticking with me instead of trying to fight out the Knights along with the four administrators by yourself. One more thing if you decide not to follow me, there’s a chaotic battle going on nearby with my allies and the Knights. You better off being the rooftops. I’m not going to wait for you to decide. I’m leaving now.”

Cocky as always…

Despite the drastic physical change Cypher endured (loosing his famed red attire, adopting instead a full gray exoskeleton suit, complimented by a long gray bandanna that fluttered all the way down to his back) Phoenix recognized him well. While he was foreign to his methods, there really was no time to sit down and chat. His advice appeared as the best course of action since it would lead him to the others, as well as less unwanted conflict that could lead to out numbered battles, and possible defeat.

With a smile, Cypher sheathed his sword, glanced at his glove’s power level (which was at the very starting point) and did his best to keep up with the gravity master.

-
Kills: 1
Total Kills: 170
Wishlist: Ends of Earth (11 BM), Black Sharp Angel Wings, BM Swords (Rare/Common)

New sig coming soon!

Zan
Exalted Player
Posts: 206
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 10:28 pm
Contact:

Post by Zan » Wed Jun 07, 2006 5:18 am

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

Since the night of the Breakthrough and the loss of their Ceros, the Clan of the Umbral Tear had dispersed from the United States and found themselves scattered amongst the normal folk of Ireland. All of them except Julie. As she had promised herself, after nearly two years of hiding on the Green Island, she had returned to her husband. Her return was oddly easy, smoothed out by the man's simple ecstatic response to seeing her once more. There hadn't been any questions; she had conditioned him away from that, only the love and loyalty of someone who saw their other as their soulmate. Eight months had passed since her child's conception, another life kicking and fussing in her womb. Julie and her husband had always been so careful, so nigh-surgical about sidestepping the possibility of having a child. However, as nearly all of the females of her kind, she had an almost unignorable biological time clock. She found herself with a choice all those months ago; extend the Clan another generation with a human (something even still that didn't sit well with the community) or simply ignore what her mind and her body screamed at her to do. It was then and only then that she realized why Zahn had done what he had done with the Fionnuala, with Lilith. He had fallen in love with the woman and to attach his body to anyone else for the sake of simple procreation was unthinkable. That's why, only a few months after the Breakthrough, little Conner was birthed and Zahn's blood was preserved through him.

Having even a single human parent stripped the Wyld cells of their influence over the body. Both Conner and the little girl growing in Julie's stomach would be borvos, half-bloods; stripped of the rage and control the Wyld had over the physical form. Half of the reason the faol, the lycanthropic kind, looked down on the consummation of a borvo was the sheer hell it had the potential to wreak on the child. They would always feel incomplete, if only fractional, and they'd forever search for a way to fill that void. Some did it through frantic art, some through music, but most all did it through the inky tendrils of the occult. Most borvo ended up joining cults, covens, or any other wannabe mystical group that could temporarily fill that emptiness in their heart. Half of the borvos birthed in the history of the faol committed suicide at a young age and the other half either died in their foolish groups or lived out their lives in a lulled solitude. The Wyld still holds dominance in their minds, making them crave the comfort of the pack and, finding themselves surrounded by the sheep and not the wolf, they couldn't even fill that with all the human attention in the world. If Conner was lucky, Lilith would still have the faint linger of Zahn's presence in her eyes, in her hair, in the way she moved. To be with a faol was to carry a part of them with you until the day you died. If Conner was so lucky, Lilith's indirect aura of the dearly departed Ceros would calm his need for pack. Julie could only pray the woman would live long enough to tell him of his heritage. Her death would remove the last sentiment of the pack from that child's mind and drive him to the fate that all other borvo seemed to eventually find.

A glance down and Julie couldn't force a smile onto her face. Gliding a hand over the large swell of her stomach, she felt the sorrow begin to creep up in the back of her thoughts once again. The packs were so few, so incredibly small and diluted with borvo. Faol were only a few dozen in a world of billions and, in a few decades, they'd be all but gone...a shattered memory. Who would her child find then? Who would little Marilyn find comfort in? Lilith and Julie had long since broken contact and Conner would more than likely be off and away from New York City by now. Julie did her best to summon up hope for her child, but that God damn Seer had smashed that to cracked and jagged shards. A call from the Emerald Isles had informed her that Marilyn's mind would be lost to her body when she came of age. A click and the Seer's voice was gone, such was his way. Oh, how's it been? Long time, yea. Oh and by the way, your little girl is going to lose her mind. Have a nice day! Who the
fuck worked like that? Sadly, the poor man received image and vision after image and vision and, by faol law, had to make sure all whom they concerned were contacted. There was no real way of searching this out, no, but most Seers followed it out of moral obligation.

Julie could only conceive two possible ways of Marilyn's encroaching mental instability. Though being a borvo by psychological biology made you prone to things like suicide and all the like, there were only two things amongst their kind (the borvo, that is) that lead to real and true insanity; losing all pack influence and witnessing a transformation. If she could somehow leave Marilyn behind after her birth before any such pack influence could be established and therefore eliminating the chance of the girl witnessing any of her transformations...then maybe...It was the only hope Julie had for her child. Glancing over at the sleeping form of her husband next to her, she indulged herself in a weak and fleeting smile. He would never let Marilyn simply go. Not even
he was that understanding. Lifting up the pillow from behind her head, she hovered the item above her husband's face and indulged in that smile once more.

It was the only way.


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

Zan blinked away the microsecond-memory and tried not to dwell on what he had learned. That man, that bastard of a father that had lost himself at the moment of Lilith's death, had never really been Conner's dad. Had he known? Had it been an affair or something that occurred before that man had ever come into his mother's life? Either way, Zan's really father had seemingly been the influence to his online alias. A blood memory, Lowen had called such a phenomena. The smile on his face soon replaced by the bloodlust the fight around him was bubbling in his stomach, Zan ignored the stream of thoughts headed his way and stored them for consideration at a later date. A quick save of Zhao's ass, literally if not figuratively, with a simple shout of a sorely unused spell in the lycanthrope's arsenal and he was back to the insanity around him. Where was all of this headed? Was there any real big picture to the slaughter? The more Zan fought, the more he felt himself slip away to a Beast he was willingly feeding. In mid-moment of formulating something important and Zan caught the motions of Rayo and the redundant cast of the same spell. It seemed the lightning mage had a real plan and, not wanting the bastard swarm about him to ruin it, Zan went back to thoughts of the kill and nothing more.

Zan tried his best to focus on the personal artistic touch he had to his attacks, but found such a thing lacking. The more he killed the more that seemed to pop up and individual attentions couldn't be paid any further. Dodging the higher leveled Knights, the ones that would hinder the mass of corpses he planned to add, he focused more on the skittish and low leveled Twin Blades and the like to get his work done. Vak Drive and Vak Smash became prayers on his lips, incantations used almost in chant as he cleared four here, two there, and another four with the sheer heat of his attacks. When his SP was depleted and ten corpses lay blistered or broken (or both, really) about him, he changed tactics. His sword still smoking from the skills he had used, he heaved the thing with all his strength towards a small unit of three Twin Blades before him, watching with subtle curiosity as the massive blade spun with deadly precision. It cleaved the three in half before it was retrieved into his inventory and, in turn, into his hand. However, sliding forward and away from a wave of arrows that took out two Heavy Blades behind him, he knew that his 'protection' of Rayo was still failing at best. Oddly enough, the slaughter just wasn't satisfying him. Logic and human reason had quieted and the Beast and he found himself wanting a part in whatever it was that the lightning mage was planning. Turning his voice to Rayo without giving ground to the front flank more than he had to, he spoke up.

"Whatever it is you're doing, Rayo, let me help. To answer the question you had before about what I can do, I'm pretty damn sure the fact that I can bench-press an SUV with one hand in the right form has to give us another card to play in whatever freakish thing you have cooking in your brain with that building!" Not yelling at Rayo, per se, but yelling over the sheer mass of sound the battle had, Zan waited for the change to his true wolf form to become necessary.

"So, if we were to say, detach a building from the ground, could you toss it a few feet up and over?"

"That building you're using is small enough...so I could give it a shot. Lord knows I'll probably strain the hell out of something, but it is doable. I'll need to grab a Warrior's Blood from the item shop to get the right kick, think you can cover me?" God damn he hoped this worked.

"I'll manage, an idea rings the bell. Just be ready for a big push, I'm tired of standing here and taking it. I want to take out those between us and the bridge. I have...plans."

Not needing anything else, Zan turned from the frontal assault and aimed himself at the item shop, waiting for Rayo's cover plan to kick into action. When a Grunty ran out in front of him, blades attached to its sides and Rayo riding it, the Heavy Blade didn't stop to ask questions. Instead he followed right behind the man as he charged on the pig-thing forward, cleaving away some Knights and scaring others further from the brim. It worked rather effectively, clearing away a path and leaving Zan little parrying work with his own blade as he charged through. The item shop came into view sooner than expected and, not opting to converse with the annoying NPC, Zan simply leaned in and snatched up the item that he needed with a half-assed toss of his GP in exchanged. The currency scattered about the inside of the shop, pushing the shop owner to frantically attempt to pick them all up as Rayo too seemed to have his own purpose for coming to the shop.

"Where do you want me to heave that thing?" Zan asked, the small vile of blood in hand.

"Half on the knights, half over the river's edge by the road that leads down towards those shops on the left."

With only a nod given in response, Zan once more waded his way through the Knights with Rayo as his cover, his weapon getting only a minor work out with little to no blood spill as he finally got into a clearing. His approach to the building was met with a touch of caution, his eyes blatantly hesitant as he gulped down and savored the rush of the Warrior's Blood. It was like molten steel going down his throat, but the Beast lived for every second of it. He could feel his strength capping out as it was, pushed even further by the item, but he was in no way going to attempt this thing in Clabro. Choking back his inhibitions of letting the Beast take physical shape, he willed himself to change. Bones broke and snapped rather audibly through the air as the Heavy Blade shifted, flesh tearing and rippling with a dark brown fur and the swell of muscles that echoed across the chiseled expanse of his form. A muzzle beginning to push and strain forward from his face, his teeth becoming two rows of lethally efficient enamel, Zan watched on with agonizing glee as four-inch, razor-sharp claws replaced both the nails on his hands and on his feet. With his knees cracking back the 'wrong' way and his eyes bleeding into the orange-amber glow of the wolf, the Beast finally came crashing through into his mind.

It took only a moment to fight down the surge of urges that flooded forth, but the control was still obtained. Now standing at nine and a half feet and comprised of over eight hundred pounds of muscle, Zan was momentarily intoxicated with the power boost the Warrior's Blood had gifted him with. Doing his best not to drown in it, he picked up the Knight before him that absolutely reeked of fear and heaved him effortlessly with one hand over his shoulder, rather enjoying the sounds of his fading scream as he soared through the air and hit the river with a wet thunk. A deep breath taken, one that came out as a growl in this form, he found the one support of the fallen building that left it hoisted and tilted and crouched under it, making his way to the center of the semi-collapsed building. Another growl-breath was taken and he pressed his palms to the underside of the building, putting every last ounce of focus and power he had into lifting the building off of the ground and over his head. Rubble and dirt filtered from beneath it, covering Zan in an earthy tone as he felt his knees begin to buckle. It was only then that he began to feel stupid for asking to do this, for even agreeing to it.

The Warrior's Blood was barely enough, the earth cracking and concaving in beneath his feet as his arms gained the tremor his knees held. It was only when bloody tears began to rip along his body, ones that didn't seem likely to heal very quickly, that the lycanthrope knew there was no turning back. All the pain, all the unbelievable exhaustion and he still had to press forward. Putting the last of himself, the last of his will, into his arms and his knees in turn, he let out a roar that shook the very air around him and heaved the building forward, watching in satisfaction as it landed just as it should; half of it crushing a number of Knights beneath its weight and the other half hanging precariously over the river. Hoping Rayo knew what he was doing; Zan felt the muscle fatigue and inhumanly large exhaustion overtake him, consuming the wolf, forcing him back to brittle humanity as his consciousness fled. Darkness swallowed him whole, leaving his physical shell torn and bleeding in the midst of a war.

God help him.

-----
Kills This Turn: 25 (15 from me, 10 from the building landing.)
Total Kills: 195
Last edited by Zan on Wed Jun 07, 2006 6:40 am, edited 5 times in total.
Lv. 50 Heavy Blade
Wishlist
Special: Levels, GR Sendai, PL Sakai, Darklore.
W: Tonosama Sword, Mineuchi, Jundachi.
A: Samurai Helm, Able Hands, Rare Greaves.
I: Holy Sap, Treebane, Cooked Bile, Nightbane.
EX: Elemental Summon (Lv. 2), Overdrive (Lv.1), Elemental Attacks (Lv. 2), Enhance Dark, Elemental Breath (Lv. 2).

Rayo
Exalted Player
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:21 pm

Post by Rayo » Wed Jun 07, 2006 6:13 am

Turning from the newest corpses, the wavemaster was able to view Zan’s save of Zhao, finally allowing him to spy him again. With all of these knights in the way, it was becoming far to difficult to move together. Clearing the way would be best…if they could junk the knights in front and rejoin Nighthand, it’d definitely relieve pressure. What the thunder mage really wanted to do was drop a large quantity of knights under the river and use that to conduct the electricity and expand the number of targets hit, but moving enough armed guards to be worth it was too troubling.

His questions answered, Zan’s brief shout out and their following exchange was enough to give Rayo an idea on how to bring his plan to fruitation. Whipping out his diamond designed Grunty Flute, the summoner did the little tune that would bring more trouble into the area. True to it’s purpose, Bell somewhere made it to her master without much trouble, though her attempt to bite him resulted in a smack before they were off. With the sleek side blades equipped at the center of each side, Bell became the perfect mower for weeding through this knight infested habitat.

Without any fancy horse like tricks before taking off, the pair moved between Zan and mob, tracing a path, fairly straight, into the Magickery. Maneuvering around Dien, Rayo’s mount decapitated one blademaster to the side, and then an unlucky whipmaster caught unaware coming out of the item shop herself, probably with fresh fuel for the fight. His steed finally paused a meter or two inside the shop with a clean skid.

Leaving 500gp on the counter besides the strongman’s change in flight had landed, the caster pulled a Mage’s Soul off of the shelf and hopped back on his ride. Drinking it as he pulled away, Rayo left the return trip to Bell…who seemed slightly more violent than her rider. Four different enemy warriors lost their heads on the way back to the front line, knights who might have lived if not for the grunty’s need to adjust the course to slit every neck on the way back possible. Most just cleared out of the way, probably from the Iron Grunty stampede from just a little while ago.

The wizard dismounted, promptly snapping his fingers as he went to discharge a Rai Rom to blast away some silly knights that were trying to interfere with Zan now that the plan’s explanation was just completely. Only two of the lesser grunts actually phased out from it, most were just knocked back and away. In some ways they were the fortunate ones, since the goal was to move the building forward and to the left, not to the right.

With the placement skills of a professional, the heavy blade had managed to not only pull off quite a feat, but it even was in the precise region it was supposed to have gone in. Zan was going to get brownie points or something for that one later. Once the magician was certain anything underneath had full enough time to be fully compacted, another GiGan Zot ripped through the earth beneath the somehow still in one piece rubble fortress; it had to be a fortress and still resemble the original design as much as it did. The nudges from rising earth pillars was all it took for the entire framework to cannonball the river, sinking in a bit after raising the water level substantially in the low level portion by the bank. Mac Anu was designed so that the shops were down some stairs and closer to the water than the main road. Consequently, between the knights already stationed there and those who fled in that direction from the flying rock were all spread out along that path. With the water to help conduct electricity and spread of the volts that soon would be coming, Lanceor alone would be enough. Even relatively higher leveled players wouldn’t deal well with the combination of the magic boost, water enhancement, and thunder summon.


“Lanceor Ch!”

Dropping into place from right above, as if mimicking the boulder toss trick, the beast surged with energy that once unleashed ripped apart them all regardless. After the plan’s success, their flank finally seemed to have thinned somewhat, not that there weren’t plenty of targets remaining.

Moving towards their charges, Rayo pulled Zan's arm over his shoulder as he proceeded over. Help from Zhao and Dien would be all the more important after spending so much energy on wiping out those most recent men…


ooc:
Number of knights killed: 28
number of knights dead total: 223
Rayo
Lv.47 Archer 745HP/311SP
Bell, the Silver Grunty of Thunder
Skills/Spells-Shocking Arrow of Voltage(30), Arrow of the Burning Stars(10), MeRai Rom(40), Rai Kruz(10), La Repth(20), Rip Maen(40), MeRai Kruz(20), GiVak Kruz(20), MeRai Don(20), Rig Saem(15)
Weapon/Armor/Book-Golden Royal Bow/Thunder Torque, Thunder Cloak, Able Ring, Ivory Greaves/Thunder Magic
Wishlist: YL Fukuoka, Stormlore, Winter Stone, Silver Grunty

Lord Canti
Exalted Player
Posts: 300
Joined: Sat May 13, 2006 3:58 pm
Location: In da' plains of hell, natch.

Post by Lord Canti » Thu Jun 08, 2006 2:01 pm

"DEATH FROM ABOVE!!!"

(That was the shout that suddenly pierced the air as Canti went under for the third time. Or wait...no. It was the first time. It just sounded neat to say it was the third. Well, the point of the matter was...big leap plus Wolverine-like claws equaled nasty and deadly skewering for those who happened to be of the Knightly persuasion. As it happens, he caught two by surprise and dealt some rather painful blows that quickly. Errr...assuming that they could feel pain. Well, no matter, they went all gray and disappearing shortly after Canti noticed a Heavy Axeman coming his way along with a pair of Long Arms. Well, this would be interesting...)

Canti: Oh, what was the main weakness of Long Arms again?

(Just then, there was a reddish-brown haze, one that only appeared to Canti. It lasted for only a few seconds, in which he was spoken to.)

"High strength, low defense."

Canti: Thanks. I always forget that.

(The Heavy Axeman swung first, just as the Long Arms got around him and attacked from the sides. This left Canti surrounded, almost, with only his evasion and speed as his edge. The axe came near his ankles, so he forwards-vaulted over that, then rolled back as a lance came down, aside as the other came, then blocked the axe again with his knives right before kicking one of the Long Arms away and angling his head just out of the way of the other. Then, he reverse-somersaulted just as the Axeman attacked again and...)

"Aha! Nipped a piece right off ya!"

(There was the end of a foot lying separate from the rest of a body. Canti stood up and looked at it.)

Canti: That's not my foot.

"That's...my foot."

(It belonged to the Long Arm that he had somersaulted nearby, having gotten the Heavy Axeman to cut off somebody else's foot instead of some part of himself. Canti backhand-stabbed the footless Long Arm with a Shadow Blade, and then sliced up at his throat. He was dead quickly, making him the third one in this grouping... Then, with a grin, Canti changed weapons again, putting on something that looked a bit dull and rusty. He then said...)

Canti: Miu Lei!

"Huh?"

(The Axeman began to move against his will, being of great physical strength, but low magical defense in this case. He fell victim to a Charm spell, hacking and slashing his axe around while the Twin Blade just whipped out a small scorecard and a pen to keep track of his work. Anything that man killed was going in his tally since it was his spell.)

Canti: Let's see... The other Long Arm makes four... Blademaster, five... Wavemaster, six... No, wait. Nevermind. He had curing spell...

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!"

Canti: I don't think so.

(He casted Miu Lei again. The Axeman went "Not again...", but was surprised to find that it missed and that Canti wan't going to give him a chance again, anyhow. He only did it now as a distraction, which led him to putting on his Fuse Blades again and stabbing repeatedly into the Axeman's exposed back until he was...)

Canti: Six!

(...dead. Just then, the Wavemaster appeared. He was a high-level threat, not a weeny like everyone else. That made Canti worry. He had the same kind of spells on offense, mostly, but he would do more damage. he was decked out like a wizard, but with a dark helmet to signify his Knights of War allegiance. And with a Gan Don spell, he got this started, whomping Canti over the head with a big stone from above. Then, he shot him with Rai Rom and Vak Rom, because it's a known fact that the combined damage of tornado spells were deadlier in the end. This was putting alot of pressure on Canti's health, which was dwingling fast with each attack. He just kept on casting spells! Well...what ELSE was a Wavemaster good for?)

"Now, you'll pay for all the killing you've done, hacker!"

Canti: I'm not...a hacker...asshole...

"What? Of course you are! Why would four Admins and an army come otherwise?"

Canti: Because they can't tell who's a hacker...and who's just idling by?

"I don't have to listen to this. You'll be dead in a minute, and then we can delete you from our service."

Canti: Two problems...chief...

"Oh? What's that?"

Canti: First...you're a blind idiot... And second...

(Canti stood up straight instead of looking dazed and confused. He wasn't really in the danger zone and there was no way for the Wavemaster to know that because players didn't display their HP to other players or NPCs. In short, he was acting.)

Canti: I'm not really all that hurt. I'm only half way down. I acted like I was in trouble. So then...would you like to dance?

(A shout of "Thunder Dance" was heard, and then a scream from a Knight whom was pasted by the afore mentioned strike, courtesy of your pissed off, asshole of a Twin Blade, Repthing himself to high health as soon as there was a lull.)

Canti: Seven! I got seven in one... Errr, no... Let's see... Ah, here we go... I got seven in thirty strikes!

7 kills
230 total
I'll have a doozy of a sig later, I swear. It'll reflect ".hack//CODE" an' everything.

Hey look! A profile! It's got items and stats and things! Cool! If it isn't fully up to date, it will be, so don't worry 'bout it.

Reinier
Awakened Player
Posts: 164
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 4:49 am
Location: UNKNOWN ERROR, please try again later
Contact:

Post by Reinier » Fri Jun 09, 2006 1:55 am

Petulance, War, Famine, Death… It seemed the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse had arrived in Mac Anu that day. Other then the fact that Reinier hadn’t really had much to eat that day, the other three horsemen rode rampant through the town. Exhaustion reigned over Reinier, as he wandered in to the middle of the battle field, slashing randomly at knights. He didn’t really hurt them, per se, as much as wound them to the point of immobility. A slice across the leg here, a jab in the eye there, a kidney shot every once and awhile did the trick.

“You! Hacker! Halt and drop your weapon!” A Heavy Blade called in front of Reinier, pointing his sword at the boy. Reinier smiled, bringing his hands in to the air, dropping the sword to the ground. He began to twist his right finger around, which made the sand, dirt, and dust which circulated around the field, follow the clockwise movement of his finger. At the point above his finger, a more tangible form of earth began to form while still spinning. The whirl of a spinning saw blade echoed slightly above Reinier’s head, his smile growing larger. “Hacker! St-stop! Why aren’t you stopping!?”

Reinier dropped his hands, and let loose the saw blade which flew forward. The blade flew through the air, cleaving the Heavy Blade’s head clean off his shoulders. The head tapped against the ground as it rolled against his feet. The body crippled to the ground, knees hitting the earth first, until eventually the body slumped over. Reinier cringed, falling down to the ground. He clutched his heart, remembering back to what Taimat said about using too much energy.

This is my limits? I’ve gone so much further with so much less before… I can go further, I know I can… Look at Zan, he’s done so much just on his own… Hell, I needed Tai just to thin out a few extra numbers. I know I can do this…

The sand shield activated as an opportunistic Long Arm attempted to impale Reinier through the head. Reinier’s left hand glowed amber, as he ripped it up from the ground and pointed at the Long Arm’s heart. A thin spire, with a diameter or no more then an inch, shot up from the earth, cracking a rib and puncturing the heart. The man let out a squawk, as he leaned forward and breaking the spire. The amber miasma twisted and writhed around Reinier’s left hand, an odd an unexpected side-effect to the Blessing indeed.

“Die hacker!!” The voice of a low leveled knight called out above Reinier. The boy looked up to see a Blade Master hovering above, his sword drawn out behind his head. Without hesitation, Reinier leaped in to the air, lunging for the Knight’s leg. He gripped the leg, and managed to do a flip in the air, twisting the knight around with him. Just as he completed the flip, he threw the knight down on the ground, causing his Horse-Killer to pop up from the ground. With an immediate descent, Reinier landed on the knight’s chest, inevitably crushing at least five ribs and half his sternum, and grabbed his sword. He flipped the sword around, and with an effortless jab to the neck, ended the knight’s life.

Reinier’s vision had gradually become blurred, as if he had taken five too many shots of tequila. He staggered a bit in his place, tripping over the corpse. His sword dragged against the ground, and when he tripped, sliced off the corpse’s hand. He rubbed his eyes, and noticed men running towards him. With a flick of the wrist, he whipped up his sword, ready to attack and defend. Another oddity were the men continuing to run past Reinier, as if he didn’t exist. “Did that building get taller…?” Reinier mumbled to himself, looking in the direction of the item shop.

Seemingly before his eyes, the building began to grow higher and higher before his eyes. Reinier lowered his sword, and began to walk towards the building. The walk turned in to a jog, which gradually became a sprint. He came to a skidding stop, near one side of the bridge. River water poured everywhere, and in the distance, Reinier spied Rayo raising his wand. Purely on instinct, Reinier took to the air, flying over in that direction. Lightning poured over the water, incinerating a flood of knights, and perhaps a near by Grunty.

Reinier touched down in the middle of where the shop used to stand, folding his wings inwards. He surveyed the area, noting that Zan had collapsed, and Rayo had begun to pick up the warrior. “Fuckin’ Lycans… insanely powerful,” Reinier muttered. He wandered behind the counter to notice the Baby Grunty shaking and oinking frightfully to itself. Reinier leaned over, picking up the baby in his left hand, and lifting up his sword in his right. “Come out, Taimat. You’re needed.”

The sword glowed golden, and out flew Taimat. The dragon looked around, wondering as to why he had been summoned. Reinier, not saying another word to the dragon, wandered over to Rayo. He set down the baby, and noticed a scroll lying on the ground. He picked it up, noting it was a Speed Charm. He placed it in his pocket, muttering, “Never know when you need one of these…” He watched the baby begin to waddle, and seemed to head over to Taimat. The baby oinked playfully, rubbing his nose against the dragon’s ankle. Taimat let out a sigh, as he grabbed the baby by the neck and gently placed him a few feet away from himself. The baby promptly waddled back up to the dragon.

Reinier walked up to Rayo, sheathing his sword. He lifted Zan’s head up by his hair, chuckled a bit, and gently moved the head back in to its limp position. “What a guy… actually tossed a fuckin’ building… Lycan’s are something else… Here, lemme take Zannio off your hands…” Reinier leaned over, putting his left hand under Zan’s right armpit. He slung the arm over his shoulders, and began dragging the comatose warrior away.

FUCK, you’re heavy as hell, man… lay off the Kibbles ‘n Bits, man…

In the distance, Rayo called out to Reinier, “Get Canti and Ryok over this way, we need to get into a new formation now that you and Zan are out of place. It won't hold as is.” Reinier, struggling to lift the boy in his current fatigue, lifted up his right hand and gave the thumbs up. Reinier slumped the unconscious Wolf-man on top of Taimat.

“Be careful with’em… he’s ‘fragile.’ Don’t wanna rough’em up anymore then he already is,” Reinier muttered, picking up the Baby Grunty. Reinier spread out his wings, and began to hover in the air. The dragon mimicked his friend’s actions, and the two took to the sky. The two took the back alleyways, attempting to avoid all suspicious eyes. However, it WAS a boy with wings holding a pig, and a dragon with an unconscious man slumped over his back.

The two landed near the Lii-Pa Inn, the fighting on the battlefield still visible. Reinier opened the door, letting down the Grunty baby. He held the door open, as the dragon made his way inside. With a jolt of the back, he popped Zan off his back, on to a wicker three person chair. The boy, who still weighed a pretty pound due to his muscle mass, cracked the legs of the three person chair, causing it to crack and shatter. With a thud, the boy landed on the ground, wood all around his body. Taimat looked up to Reinier, and said, “Your friend weighs a ton. He’ll be fine here, I’m not moving him again.”

Reinier shut the blinds on each window, including the door, and peered through the blinds. “Yeah, good thing we didn’t have to lug your happy ass, or we’d never make it here. Look, you and Grunty stay in here, I’m going back outside, I think I see some brave knights…” The dragon gave a lazy yawn, as it lazed on the ground, curling its’ tail around its’ body the way a cat would. Its’ wings lay outstretched, which the baby used as covers to sleep next to the dragon.

Reinier gently shut the door behind him, as he walked out to the middle of a half-circle created by the knights. A single high level Heavy Axe walked up to Reinier, tapping his axe against his shoulder. “By order of the Knights of War, I order you to set down your weapons, put your hands in the air, and move aside from the door. We shall th-…” He looked down, as he fell to his right knee, to see a spire protruding in to his stomach. His arm swung around, his axe smashing in to the ground. “You… jerk… Get!… him……” The man said, pointing towards Reinier. He slid forward, the spire driving deeper in to his stomach.

“I may not be able to throw a building… But I sure as hell can slaughter all of you,” Reinier said, his eyes beginning to glow amber. A copper miasma filtered itself around Reinier’s hands, which lay near his hips as if he were ready to pull guns out of a holster. The sandstorm began to rapidly twist and writhe around the group, reacting to the pent up rage and jealousy Reinier harbored for his fellow fighters.

“Bang,” the single word echoed out from his lips. Two square blocks of earth shot up from the ground, hovering near his hands. In a rapid twist, a casing of earth shattered and fell to the ground, two spinning saw blades hovering in their stead. Effortlessly, Reinier brought up his right hand in a swift motion, his hand nearly tapping his chest. The saw blade shot off, hitting a knight in the shoulder at an angle that it most likely sawed through the heart and most his ribs. With a motion of the left hand, the other saw blade did the same thing, hitting yet another knight. This one, however, lost his head in the heat of the attack. His body slumped to the ground, the head rolling against the ground.

Reinier reached in to his pocket, and opened up the charm he found earlier. “Ap Do,” The spell seemed to echo, as the spell flourished around his body. With the increased speed, he jolted forwards. A knight stood in his way, but went down easily. Reinier’s sword pierced the man in the stomach, blood curling down the sword and the boy’s hand.

Reinier shot around, noticing three knights on the advance. A smile curled around the boy’s face, as he lifted his hand, squeezing his fingers gradually in to a fist. The dust around the knights began to spin in a funnel, until three spires levitated in the air. Reinier pulled his fist towards his body, and the spires followed. Three men collapsed to the ground, spires protruding through their chests.

Reinier felt his body jolt, and soon found himself against a wall. A spear stuck in to his body, he lay pinned against a wall. He let go of his sword, and the corpse attached to the body fell to the ground. The red-haired warrior looked down, noticing the spear which protruded out of his stomach. A shaken Long Arm stood in front of Reinier, his breathing heavy and erratic. The fatigue from all the fighting, using his powers, flying, and carrying Zan had chiseled away at his strength gradually, but this had been the last straw. Pain spiked throughout his body, as his vision became blurred and sporadic.

“Stupid hacker…” The Long Arm muttered, letting go of his spear. He turned his head away, and seemed to be looking for a superior to report to. Reinier took in a massive breath, holding up his hands. They shook violently, the miasma around them radiating gallantly. All his strength poured in to one last attack, two squares began to form to the sides of the man’s head. Reinier smashed his hands together, and the squares followed his hands. Blood sprayed across Reinier’s face and chest, as the body fell to the ground, the squares breaking to pieces on impact with the earth.

The dust and sand which had enveloped the field died down, gently falling to the ground as if it had never been summoned in the first place. Reinier grasped the spear, clinched his eyes shut, and bent to one side. The pole broke, and he tossed the remnants to the side. He pushed against the wall, pulling his body off the spear. His eye color had returned to normal, and all signs of the copper miasma had disappeared from his hands.

Using what little strength he had left, he wandered in to the building. He opened the door, and tossed his body inside of the building. The door slammed shut, as Reinier leaned against a wall. He grasped his wound, looking down to notice Zan had awaken. Reinier slumped down to the ground, a trail of blood left behind on the wall. Out from his pocket, he pulled a health potion. He bit off the cork of the bottle, and chugged joyfully. Every ounce and drop slithered down his throat, returning his health, and some of his strength. Reinier climbed back up to his feet, and wandered in to the back room.

“There! It’s the Werewolf! And the drag-…” then silence. Reinier continued looking around, remembering the only true way to get a wolf back on its’ feet was meat. A recliner, a desk with and an old stack of papers, and an ancient and not very much touched work-out set stood in the room. In the corner, stood a refrigerator. Reinier wandered over to it, the screams of men and maybe a few women echoed, as Taimat had probably been rudely awaken and none too happy about it. Reinier opened up the door, shuffling food about and around, looking for anything meat-like in the freezing fridge. “Please God no!” echoed, and was muffled abruptly. With a sigh, Reinier stood and walked away, letting the fridge shut itself shut.

The scarlet haired boy leaned against the inside of the doorway, noting that most of the entrance to the Inn had been destroyed. Twelve or so corpses lay on the ground, most charred to a crisp. Reinier let out a groan as he pushed himself off the wall, and wandered over to one of the knights, not truly a corpse yet. “Please.. Mercy…” Reinier stepped on the woman’s back, and let out a meek chuckle and smiled.

“Mercy is a game I never particularly liked, no one ever beat me,” Reinier moved his foot over the woman’s neck, and shoved all his force in to the leg. The cracking of bones echoed through the tiny, charred room. Reinier leaned over, picking up the woman by the arm. He tossed the corpse near Zan, who had sat up and leaned against the wall. “Dinner,” Reinier mumbled, grabbing his side. The pains from when he was hit still stuck with him. He crumbled to the ground, leaning against the doorway. Reinier turned to Zan, who had always wondered what it’d be like watching a Wolf eat its’ prey.

Zan’s groggy form eyed the corpse before him with a look of quiet contemplation. The Beast screamed for him to follow his Instinct, to chase the pain and the fatigue away with the meat of the already-dead. The lycanthrope's humanity waged a war within him, a war that lasted centuries but past in a second. Falling one step further into the nature of the Beast, the Heavy Blade crawled to the dead Knight, his jaw barely shifting enough to hold the strength of the Clabro and the four razor sharp canines in turn. Roaring the best human vocal cords could roar, Zan buried his face in the dead girl's throat, jaw wrenching open arteries as he quenched his thirst with the splash of blood that warmed his mouth, gulping down the goblet of flesh and larynx mingled with hanging veins and all the trimmings. When the left side of her neck and raw tears in the same side of her face hadn't done the trick, the lycanthrope moved to rip away the armor covering her upper body and begin to gnaw away at her stomach, the Beast consuming him in his quest for sustenance; each jerk of his head, each splash of blood across his clothing and the floor in turn, each sickly wet sound of ripping flesh only heightening his feral state.

Refusing to rip away at her innards, leaving her intestines be, the Heavy Blade grabbed her wrist and shoved it in his mouth, biting down hard enough to crack bone in half as he gulped down the fresh stream of blood rather vampirically, reveling in the hot rush of life that settled in his belly. Still he was hungry and still he fed, hands gaining a hint of strength and the sharp edge of claws as his eyes bled to the orange-amber of the wolf in turn, nails piercing her sternum as he wrenched them to either sides, the loud crack of bone echoing sickeningly through the air as a bloody-hand dipped into the open cavity and extracted her heart. Both hands brought it in a shaking grasp to his mouth, the horrid excuse for a man slurping down chunks of it, growling low in his throat as he bit into it like one would a hamburger until, at last, it was gone and his sanity came creeping back in. Zan could think again, the world no longer a tilting blur about him. Getting to his feet, albeit a little shakily, the Heavy Blade tried to ignore the blood-stained state of his mouth and his hands in turn, trying his best to think away from the dark crimson stain from the neck of his green shirt down to his navel. His breathes deep, hoarse, he offered Reinier only a nod before he unsteadily tried to waver back into the legion of Knights about them.

“That… oh my God… you’re… I’m going to throw up…” Reinier scrambled to his feet, forgetting all the pain which had been inflicted upon himself. He ran over to a sink which stood near the refrigerator, and began to throw up. Seeing as how he had only been drinking water for the past day, that was all that came up. Discolored water and bits of water flew out of his mouth, right in to the sink. Groans and moans escaped his mouth, as he finished up. He turned on the sink, flushed some water over his face and in his mouth, spit, and walked out in to the room. “Okay... better... Now that that's done with... Ready for round two? Let's see if you can throw TWO buildings this time,” Reinier muttered, walking out in to the room.

Stopping his approach to the rest of the Knights, Zan turned to Reinier. “I will never, ever, throw a God damn building again. Not if it forces me to do that. I am never doing that again.” Doing his best to hide the self-hatred boiling in his eyes, Zan turned back to the Knights and tried his best to collect himself for the fight to come. With a chuckle, Reinier ran out of the building, wavering to the right to grab his sword, and ran up to the side of the wolf. The Baby Grunty stayed in the building, but the dragon followed behind, taking flight. Reinier pulled up a Flashmail, and began to speak to Zan at the same time.

To: Ryok, Lord_Canti
From: Reinier
Subject: Defense

Go to where the Item Shop used to be. Sparky needs to talk to ya’ll.


Reinier sent off the Flashmail, and said, “If you ever need to talk about that stuff... I've always got a pair of ears to lend.”

Zan, trying not to look at Reinier as he spoke, damn unable to, responded. “...thanks. The day I take you up on that is the day you'll wish you had never offered.”

Reinier laughed and smiled, and replied, “As long as you’re NEVER at my Thanksgivin’ dinner, anythin’s fine by me, my friend.” The two stopped, drawing out their swords.

As much as Zan wanted to laugh, to enjoy the sense of humor he always appreciated from his friend, all he could bear was a small twitch of his lips and even that was false. “Heh, yea. I’m not sure if I’ll ever look at anything even remotely resembling meat the same way again. Ugh, anyway, I'd rather not dwell on it right now. There isn’t time to hate myself. You get the ten thousand on the left, I’ll grab the ten thousand on the right?” There, only then...only then something like a real smile would find its way on his face.

A smile crossed Reinier’s face, as he spoke. “I dunno... The numbers aren’t very fair. I mean lookit’em, they’re all... not... strong... A REAL challenge would be so kickass right now. Oh well, best defense is a good offense.”

“They try, give ‘em that. Plus, they're more for people like Zhao, Canti, and Dien. Give the newbies a workout.” The light hearted mood was a fake, of course, and anybody who knew Zan would find the tell tale signs. But he was trying.

Reinier could tell something was wrong with Zan, but preferred not to drag any unwanted rage out of the Lycan. “Yeah... poor kids... Oh well. At least they're not feeling pain right about now. Fuck, my side hurts so much right now... THIS must be what it's like givin’ birth…” The two made a gradual advance on the Knights, knocking them down on their backs here and there.

Quirking a brow, Zan did look at Reinier then. “Oh, I'm so sure. Make sure to offer up that opinion to the next mother you see. Bring riot gear.” Reinier simply continued to smile, as he simply advanced forward.




My Kills: 20
Total Kills: 250
RUNNING RIOT
Last edited by Reinier on Sat Jun 10, 2006 3:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Reinier's Wishlist: Sakabatou|Sharktooth
Abraxas' Wishlist: Complementry|Summon
The Hack's Wishlist: Wall lvl 2

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

Post by Nighthand » Fri Jun 09, 2006 4:28 am

The Corona blade blazed in his hands, and he could feel the heat washing over his arms. Being on the bridge gave him something of an advantage, as the knights could only mass from two directions Still, there were a lot of them. It seemed for every one the group killed, two more took his place.

His sword swung in great arcs, left and right and back again, leaving trails of ignited clothing and singed hair on the knights it passed. Many were killed, but just as many took their places. He cared less about killing them, anyways; his goal was to gain some breathing room. Knights jumped out of the way, over the bridge's railing and into the water in some cases, to avoid his strikes.

The air was filled with shouts, and screams, and cries. Die, Hacker! Hold still while I kill you! Oh god where's my arm?! Nighthand tuned them out. It was all senseless, anyways. The knights wouldn't listen to him, to them. Even if they did, they feared Kamui far more than they feared the group. Either way they looked at it, they faced death... so they chose to irritate the lesser of two evils. And so, Nighthand fought, his massive blade of steel and fire clearing the path for him to take another step.

Step he did, one after another. Heedless of the few knights that survived, he continued on, clearing his way to the Admin side of the bridge. Behind him lay countless knights, bodies settling to the ground, and the group, still engrossed in the slaughter. Ahead of him lay a small cluster of knights, those who had remained on this side of the river, and the four Administrators themselves.

***************************

Kelvin Zephyr, lord of the BBS, master of the winds, was having an odd time. On one hand, the players before him could be displaying nothing other than hacked abilities. A form-changing player, turned into a monster that could even lift a building? A dragon and a Phoenix, fighting for them? Let alone some of the other oddities he spotted as he scanned the fights from afar. At least, until one of the players contacted him. Flashmail after flashmail was sent, until this Hijinx shouted to the one on the bridge, the one named Nighthand, and displayed his most recent message.


”So, Kelvin, you alone of the four of you big shots want to learn, huh?” Was the reply, the dark-clad leader of the odd players calling from the foot of the bridge, even as he wiped out the remaining knights on this side of the river.

”Yes, Nighthand. I do. How DO you all have these powers, and yet still claim to not be hackers?”

”He's lying, that's why! These scum do nothing but lie! They all deserve nothing better than TOTAL ANNIHILATION! Stop holding me back, Kamui, let me kill them all!” Tritoch cried, struggling against the iron-strong grip with which Kamui held him.

”We're not hackers, as I keep saying, as you keep ignoring, Tritoch. Asgard defeated you because you thought you were dealing with hackers. WE ARE NOT HACKERS. We aren't the ones you're after.” If only Nall were here, to tell them, to show them proof. He, alone, knew more than any of them about the Elites, and he alone could convince these admins of the mistake they were making.

Where was he?

***************************

Nall was in a field, miserable, yelling at anyone and anything. Considering he'd already dashed around and killed everything he could in his frustration, that amounted to yelling at the small whitish cat that sat on his shoulder.

”I'm telling you, they need me! A barrier on the town is more than just a coincidence, and that redirection attempt proved it!” He'd been trapped there, ever since he left the field after defeating Suraisu. He'd gone to meet Sheena, to get a little rest and a little repair, before he jumped into the fray. Suraisu's words had disturbed him. The hackers, attacking the town? And now this, unable to access the town. It didn't bode well.

”Oh, be quiet, you big ninny! Raine's working on it from the inside, and you know Nighthand and the others can handle it.” Nayru replied, digging it's claws into Nall's shoulder.

”That's just it. If the hackers really are as mad as that fist fighter said, there's no way the group could stand against them. There's no way I could stand against them. I have enough trouble with just one, but all of them? Impossible!”

Flashmail
To Nall
From Rayo
If you know of any ways for us to exit Mac Anu outside of the normal Chaos Gate, please tell us. The knights are keeping us busy and we won’t be able to last indefinitely.


Nall's eyes widened a bit as he read the flashmail, but he soon settled down a bit. Rayo had, unwittingly, calmed him immensely. The hacker's weren't there yet. That was good. Saying Knights meant that it was the Admins, and if the Admins were there, maybe the hackers would think twice about their attack. Wait... Rayo? The blademaster hadn't seen the mage in some time... so he was back. That was good news.

Flashmail
To Rayo
From Nall
Good to see you're back with us, Rayo. Just stick with the group for now, try to bring them all together. Something big might be going down and I'm doing my best to get in there and help, but it might take some more time. Just try to survive as long as you can, alright?


The flashmail sent, Nall waited impatiently as Raine continued to tinker with the Admin barrier. Sooner or later she'd burrow a hole through it, and let the blademaster in, but that would take time. Time they might not have.

”Got it!”

***************************

Mac Anu had never seen such chaos. Not since the days of the Yoroi General had such an immense battle taken place. They had been ambushed there before, sure, but they had subsided. Asgard had been data drained, and the rest of them had barely escaped with the arrival of the Guardians. Still, now they fought, and they found themselves in the same position they had been before. Surrounded, battered but unbroken, unbeaten.

”Show me these real hackers, then.”

”Shut up, Kelvin. You've had your chance and they won't admit it. The knights have failed, and we've closed off the town for too long. It's now or never. We have to kill them, and deal with it later!”

”No, Kamui, not until I know what is going on. There's more to this than your violence-blinded eyes can see.”

”Yes, Kamui, let him find out what you won't bother to hear!”

In a flash, a line of knights simply... died. From the far corner of the mob of knights, stretching almost to the bubble of death that was the freedom fighters, and then across the bridge to the end of the mob, a path had been cleaved through them. The freedom fighters would recognize the voice, but the admins were left in the dark as to who this mysterious man in green was, and how he had just appeared, accompanying the death of dozens of their soldiers.

”Kamui, Tritoch, Balmung, Kelvin. You're all powerful, but very few of you have sense. You can't see what's right in front of your eyes for fear of looking back when CC catches you crosseyed. Oh, I know how CC operates, and I know how you run. Don't bother trying to kill us, you can't.” As if to punctuate his words, a knight who was sneaking up on him died, without Nall seeming to move. ”You don't believe us when we say we're not hackers, when we say there's a greater threat. Well, that threat is coming!”

Nighthand froze, immediately scanning the rooftops for anyone hiding. After all, the hackers did tend to love the high ground. He saw nothing, but it didn't comfort him.

Behind them, the fighting seemed to have stopped, for the most part. The knights had seen that their leader was talking, and the freedom fighters couldn't have missed Nall's sudden appearance, nor his announcement. The hackers? Coming here? It was absurd.. and yet, after losing two of their number, they couldn't be happy.

”So you've called in your friends, to try to convince us not to kill you? Don't make me laugh, you pathetic hacker. I know all your tricks.”

Then Nall... laughed. It was a thick, despairing sort of laughter, the sort one man lets out when he knows the inevitable is coming and there's nothing he can do to stop it, or even warn anyone. ”You're all such FOOLS! Don't you see? THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT! You don't believe they exist, but you'll see, soon enough. SEE! THEY'RE HERE!” Nall shouted, pointing behind the Admins. Nighthand's eyes followed the finger's direction to the admins, past them, to the chaos gate.

The chaos gate, the slowly spinning focal point of the entire town. The Chaos gate, which had now stopped spinning. It seemed to jitter, once or twice, like it was trying to spin but being reset. Something was stopping it. Then the clear blue liquid, like a pane of vertical water in it's center, began to freeze. To ice over. The silence over the town was deafening. No one was even bothering to fight, they all just stared.

Then cracks began to appear. The first, with a resounding SNAP of breaking ice, and more and more. Then the gate exploded.

The resultant wash of noise sent most of the knights to their knees, arms over their heads, in the habitual reaction most humans had to danger. Some looked on, following the example of their four leaders and the two so-called hackers standing at the fore of the town.

Where the gate had stood, it's pieces floated in a loose sphere. Chunks of frozen blue and shattered gold, slowly rotating, caught like a still-life of the explosion in progress. Then, slowly at first, then with increasing speed, the pieces of the gate flew off around the town. Some congregated on a rooftop, some on the far ends of the knights, some near the bridge. Six places were chosen, and six places were slowly filled with pieces of the gate.

Soon it grew apparent that the pieces formed more than the gate would have held... even more apparent as, within moments, six new chaos gates shone in their new places. The admins watched with widened eyes, as wide as any of them, at the blatant display of power.

Kamui was the first to recover. She stared down at the crowd, though she wasn't really that much higher than them all. ”Which one of you did this?!” She demanded.

”You poor fool... If you think anyone of them has the power to do this, you're sorely misguided.”

Most of the freedom fighters would recognize the voice, but the new players wouldn't. Of course, it wouldn't take long for it all to become clear, as the first black-booted long and slender leg appeared, stepping out of one of the gates. Nighthand's mind was caught in momentary deja-vu, as he recognized the place as the same spot she had stood when she commanded the Yoroi General to attack so long ago. Royce, the hacker elite of Light, the twin blade nemesis of the group.

The one who got me in to all of this...

She made a stunning figure, in her exceedingly skimpy black outfit, standing tall on top of the roofs. She cared little that her skin was largely unprotected; it was a rare chance anyone was able to hit her anyways.

One by one, they each emerged from the gates. The six elites. The six immense powers that represented between them everything the group was fighting to stop. They were the embodiments of all the evil, hatred, and violence possible in the game, and above and beyond it's limitations. Spaced around the Knights emerged the others. Garra, his barely cloaked form that of an immense demon, a great mace clutched in his hand. Rugudorull, a small man with a large beard, covered with a form-hiding cloak. Melzas, the man who was little more than a skeleton above his clothing, his heavyblade resting over his shoulder. And, finally, the one they had never seen.

Dressed in an ornate suit of red and gold, he seemed like a version of Kamui from an older era. His blademaster's sword held rigidly at his side, his aged face sternly looking over the amassed army. He would have been an imposing figure, if not for the markings on his face. One might picture the swirls of a goth-teen's eyeliner, except bright red. The effect was almost comical... if one didn't remember the man could single-handedly kill everyone in the town. He could only be Klive, the hacker elite of Fire.

That left only one, Xenobia, the long arm who had stolen the black Treeweaver. She had emerged on the bridge, the very spot Nighthand had held only minutes before. She, too, looked over the town and laughed.

”Oh, Nall, what trouble you get yourself into. Too bad this will be the end of it all for you and yours.” Her Treeweaver spun in her hands, and in a single swipe demolished a dozen knights. Their bodies blackened and rotted, and the spear itself glowed with a dark energy, as it consumed their data for it's own power.

”Bring forth the armies!” Came the shout from the great demonic mouth of Garaa. Bared teeth flashed in the light of the town.

Aside from Royce and Xenobia's gates, each gate began to pour forth creatures upon the town. Lines upon lines of monsters filled the ranks around the knights, who were in turn around the freedom fighters. Hovering mages on crystal balls, glowing with the powers of earth. Insectile monsters, as tall as men but hunched, mantis-like arms clicking bladed claws, their shells black as night. Tall monsters, having to stoop to pass through the gate; twice the height of men, great wooden clubs swung over shoulders blue as ice, with white beards and dirty brown clothing, their skin steaming in heat unnatural to them. Small, flickering beings, little more than basketball-sized orbs of light, sizzling with the static of the air. Now and then one seemed to alight on the ground, revealing an imp-like creature in the center of the ball of light. Each creature seemed to fall into rough ranks of their own, careful not to interact with the others.

Each type of creature represented an element, but two were noticeably absent. Fire and Wood. Nighthand knew well the powers of mind control that Xenobia had within her Master's Crown... and all at once he remembered, the scene from their time in the hot springs, Nall telling them about the remaining elites. Telling them about Klive, and his powers of Necromancy.

His fears were confirmed in minutes as the army of knights seemed to separate. A full third of their ranks seemed to shiver, convulse, and straighten. Their eyes were filled with a darkened glow and their skin seemed to darken, while the Treeweaver in Xenobia's hands and the gilded tiara on her brow pulsed with an equal light. Klive, too, went to work. All the knights that had died, hundreds of them, began to rise and reappear. Severed limbs returned to their places, but the wounds didn't heal, the limbs simply stuck. The reborn knights glowed with an inner fire that showed their heed of their new master's words.

Nighthand looked to Nall, but the path of action was clear. There was little they could do but flee, now, and try to survive. One elite was bad enough, but all six was suicide, plain and simple. Leave the admins to fight, and get out. Nall's pendant glowed slightly, and his form became a blur. Nighthand, too, pushed all he could to speed, and together they wove their way past the elites, past the knights, and back to their group. Xenobia watched them and laughed again, but let them go. It didn't matter. They were dead anyways.

”WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!” Kamui's shout echoed through the town. Xenobia simply looked at the other long arm and smiled.

”Oh, we're not much, Kamui. Just the end of your life! HAHAHA!”

Kamui was enraged, and in a burst of speed, closed the distance between herself and Xenobia. Her spear lashed out, a quick jab that Nighthand knew well; it had killed him before, last time he'd met the long arm in battle. Xenobia's arm barely moved, and the Treeweaver was there to block. Kamui's eye's widened in shock at having her attack blocked, then narrowed in fury at having her will thwarted.

The Treeweaver pulsed and burst into vines, tangling around Kamui's spear and her arm. Xenobia twisted and suddenly Kamui was on the ground, on her back, the point of the Treeweaver at her neck.

”You pride yourself on being the best Long Arm in the world, but you're not, Kamui. Far from it.”

Kamui twisted and lurched, heaving with all her strength against the ground, attempting to toss the hacker elite from her. Xenobia's footing never swayed, but her smile left her. She twisted, and Kamui, suddenly released from the grip of the swinging Treeweaver. Her red and gold body slammed into a building which, to add insult to substantial injury, shuddered and collapsed on top of her.

Meanwhile Tritoch, no longer restrained by the more powerful Long Arm, had been hurridly preparing a spell. He floated in the air, a great view of the elites below. His fragile mind targeted the one least likely to resist; Rugudorull, the weaponless, cloaked man.

”Lanceor!” The great snake-like dragon, that was Tritoch's variation on the summon theme, formed in the air and lanced toward the worst elite he could have chosen to target.

Rugudorull, looking up, simply raised a hand. The dragon struck, Impacting the upturned palm with all it's fury, compressed itself, contracted, and disappeared. Rugu's lip quirked... the hint of a smile? It didn't matter. His other hand flew out, and lightning shot out from him in rays. Knights were killed on impact, and a great beam struck Tritoch. The admin squawked and fell from the sky, landing about where he had started.

Garaa growled. He wanted to kill. All this toying with these so-called freedom fighters had gotten two of their number killed, and he wanted their toll in blood. ”ATTACK!” He commanded, and all the armies began to move.

Hell had broken loose in Mac Anu, and no one could live through it's fury.

------------================------------

ooc: Alright, lot's of OOC here. First off, 21 posts from ten people in 8 days is VERY good. Let's keep that up. Sorry for the day delay for my post, I don't intend to keep that record.

I'm gonna try something a little different here. More quotas, but this time, for each type of creature. No, we're not gonna wipe out all the creatures. Figure whenver a knight dies, Klive gets another soldier, and whenever one of Xenobia's controlled knights dies, she takes over another. A creature dies and another come from the gates. The creatures won't attack each other.

Admin's Knights: These are the same as in the previous post, though there are more of the stronger kind out at the moment, the weaker having been killed off more easily.
Quota: 40

Xenobia's Controlled Knights: Same as the admin knights, though more of the weaker variety. They don't speak and they have no instinct for self-preservation, however, so they are harder and more disconcerting to fight.
Quota: 30

Klive's Reborn Knights: Same as the admin knights, these are the resurrected bodies of those that were killed. Same silence and zeal as the Controlled Knights, only they have a greater defense, and fire does very little to them at all.
Quota: 30

Earth Mages: These are speedy creatures, to make up for their lack of defense to physical and magic. They cast powerful spells of their own; level 1 and level 2 earth, as well as repth on their own kind. They won't repth anyone else though. Also, they can be pretty painful if they run into you.
Quota: 20

Darkness Insects: These are quick, think twin-blade. They're powerful, like a blademaster. And they have the defense of a heavyblade. They tend to attack in packs of three or four. The have no skills or spells, however, simply physical attacks.
Quota: 30

Frost Giants: These are slow, but powerful brutes. Magic hurts them but physical is diminished. Their clubs can dish out a loooot of damage pretty fast though. They attack solo, and have no magic of their own. However, if left alone, they will slowly regenerate.
Quota: 10

Thunder Imps: These are also fast magic users. They'll repth anything and anyone, which would be good for us, except we're drastically outnumbered. If you happen to touch one, they deliver a quick electric shock and fly off, temporarily powerless. They also are pretty much immune to magic, and will also sometimes switch from repthing things to rai don-ing things. Once they do, they don't go back to repth. They switch when they're touched.
Quota: 30

Knights: 0 / 40
Controlled: 0 / 30
Reborn: 0 / 30
Mages: 0 / 20
Insects: 0 / 30
Giants: 0 / 10
Imps: 0 / 30

Let's keep this up, guys, going great. One step closer to the doom of us all! Oh, right. And if you're not with the group (coughreinierandzancough) then you'll proooobably not have a fun time getting back with us. It could be... dangerous out there. The elites and the giants can, and probably will, smash buildings.

Rayo
Exalted Player
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:21 pm

Post by Rayo » Fri Jun 09, 2006 5:50 pm

The wave master glanced over the flash mail response from Nall. That was a completely useless response that didn’t help at all with the current situation. Sure, keep everyone together. That would involve certain people finding their ways back from their excursions…

First things first, defense. With Reinier and Zan currently out of the loop there would be substantial gaps in defense. The fact that the mage was sitting inside of a crate he had snuck in to avoid a pair of what seemed to be advancing armies was a minor indication of this at best. He was a wave master, a wielder of magic, controller of the imagination, but all of that was false without some good ol SP. Yeah…SP. Where had that all gone anyway? Thinking back through a series of summons and rising earth pillars answered the question, but did little to relieve the issue. What really did anyway? That’s right, sitting put and hiding in a crate.

An advancing knight was making a charge at his own charge, Zhao, who for the moment had his back turned. Thrusting his once noble staff through the hole in the box to impede the advancement of the charging blade master, the wizard almost gleefully watched the idiot fall over and tumble down the nearby stairs. That made…number eight. With the root town being so crowded, it would make sense that the corpses littering the ground would be obstacles for the obstinate soldiers. That, combined with the stairs that were being used as the storage zone, none assailed bothered the lightning mage. None of the warriors being knocked down stayed down, but at least twice the next rolling armor with a person inside made them go back to the prone position.

Inching out the wand, the wizard quickly jerked the end of it up as a whipmaster made his approach. With a tumble, the player managed to fall one of the blades of a comrade making it back up the stairs. Now if only that process could be repeated another thousand times, maybe then, and just maybe, the knights would all be gone.

Listening through the cracks, Rayo heard all of the meaningless banter between the administrators and Nighthand. As it was, half of the speakers were angry enough to raise their volume, making it all the much easier to follow things. However, the pause in the fighting allowed him full attention as Nall made his appearance, the first the caster had seen in quite a long time, proof of this alleged resurrection.

The knights had demobilized and were also just paying attention, but fortunately for a still vengeful stick wielding player, a fellow wavemaster had stopped just beside his hiding spot. Gripping his wand firmly, the player took a swing and the knight buckled under the hit to the knee, tipping nearly all the way down to the ground. Still, there was no momentum so the soldier remained where he was, that made things better. The next strike wiped out any strength in the soldier’s legs, putting them at eye level. The wave master must have been confused until that point, but a look of terror overtook his place as the sharp end of the Great Elite was shoved down his throat, both choking and smashing into some lungs. Pulling out his weapon, the summoner finished listening to Nall’s proclamation, peering out just in time to see the gate split, and then form the six mirror images. With those gates however sprung forth an elite from each, though only some faces were recognizable.

Then…then the wizard noticed the influx of monsters, combined with the fact the corpse outside of his current residence, be it a box as it may, and all of the other ones laying around simply got back up, with all wounds intact, making the mess that got up from the buildings quite a sight not to be described all on their own.

Knocking the lid up and back, Rayo bounced up, vaulting out of his getaway to land beside Zhao, while calling for Dien to back up and stick close. With a spin of the Great Elite, bolts of lightning fell from the sky, forming the perimeter of the tornado that cleared away the reanimated corpses of the weaker knights slain by the other two in the area. Eight simply died where they were, and several more were knocked back. Letting go with a weaker Rai Rom, the remaining four who withstood the first spell also collapsed. It wouldn’t be wise to allow themselves to be separated by the multitude of opposition before a plan could be worked out.


“Zhao, Dien, let’s meet up with Ryok and Canti, they aren’t far off. We need to work with a running battle, fend off whatever comes by but don’t stop moving. There are just too many monsters and knights alike to stay put, and I’d prefer not giving the Elites a sitting target to play with. Let’s go.”

Turning around to where the back front had at one point stood, the wave master dashed forward, hoping that he’d be able to keep everyone together long enough to escape from here.

ooc:
This Post:
Knights: 2 / 40
Controlled: 0 / 30
Reborn: 12 / 30
Mages: 0 / 20
Insects: 0 / 30
Giants: 0 / 10
Imps: 0 / 30

Total:
Knights: 2 / 40
Controlled: 0 / 30
Reborn: 12 / 30
Mages: 0 / 20
Insects: 0 / 30
Giants: 0 / 10
Imps: 0 / 30
Rayo
Lv.47 Archer 745HP/311SP
Bell, the Silver Grunty of Thunder
Skills/Spells-Shocking Arrow of Voltage(30), Arrow of the Burning Stars(10), MeRai Rom(40), Rai Kruz(10), La Repth(20), Rip Maen(40), MeRai Kruz(20), GiVak Kruz(20), MeRai Don(20), Rig Saem(15)
Weapon/Armor/Book-Golden Royal Bow/Thunder Torque, Thunder Cloak, Able Ring, Ivory Greaves/Thunder Magic
Wishlist: YL Fukuoka, Stormlore, Winter Stone, Silver Grunty

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