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EX Hidden Temple - Final Key ~Prelude~

Scene details

Setting: The Star Chasers, armed with the four keys, applied them to the entrance in order to unlock the secret temple, only to find disappointment when nothing happened. At the revelation of a fifth key, the Star Chasers finally encounter a man who had been watching Reize the whole time. Standing between them and exploration, he offers the final key if they accept his challenge...

Log


  Beyond the misty woods lies an undergound site that was dug up until beings of darkness took over the forest. Once they were dispelled, it cleared the way for the merchants to try to at least get the place set up for excavation. Old stone marks the makeup of the surrounding area. Once a place filled with darkness hangs several torches within a full circle. It had recently been adorned with the burning torches that radiate a brilliant light. Adorning the walls are decorative drawings showing the age of ancient times. Those decorations feature the familiar water and ice sprites that lie about. However, there are dark clouds with strange tendrils that appear within the midst of those drawings.

  The hall itself is expansive, stretching out to appear like an arena of sort. Needless to say, there is plenty of space for the group to move around.

  However, the Star Chasers have all gathered at the entrance of the Hidden Temple. The last time they were here, despite the combined efforts of Reize and Anna, they were unable to move the entrance. The entrance is a double-doored blockade, each side bearing two diamond-shaped slots. It is this time that the door has three of the slots filled nicely with a gem comprising of the colors: blue, red, and green.

  In the hand of the young boy is what appears to be the final diamond-shaped crystal, a yellow glimmering gem.

  "Okay! Are we ready, everyone?!" He chirps. He looks excited for treasure.

  He soon fits the final gem into the slot.

  As the gem is placed in, all of them appear to be in place. With the final gem, the group can finally find out what lies beyond the depths of the double-doored entrance.

  ...

  Except apparently, nothing happens. No clicks, no movement of the doors, nothing.

  "... Buh?" Reize blanches, leaning forward as sweat covers his face.

 

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 7 months ago


 Into the misty woods once again and then down under it. Anna is here; the Suryle princess gently runs her fingers over the ancient drawings of times long gone by as the party reaches the entrance of the temple.
 "You've got the last gem right?" Anna says mildly to Reize as he produces it, and purses her lips when he slots it into place.
 And. Nothing happens?
 "Um?"
 Maybe she should try pushing on the door?
 If that doesn't work she'll give it a pull too, just to make sure it's not one of THOSE kinds of doors.


 Ivo smiles blithely, conveying neither trepidation nor overenthusiasm as he watches Reize prepare their grand entrance into these ruins. Glancing over his shoulder briefly, gazing into the mist and fog, he reflects on their previous clash with Nais here. If the druidic accountrements in that old house in the Logging Town suggest rightly, this forest only became dangerous with the loss of the knowledge of the druids, who could predict and shape this place's inclement weather. Perhaps Nais will go from being this forest's greatest threat to its guardian, now.
 Looking back, he unconsciously places a hand on Hauteclare's hilt. When they clashed with Nais, Ivo had been beginning the process of upgrading Hauteclare to be compatible with his magitechnical trinkets, his Crux sensor and his elespheres. Now, after their adventures throughout Granse, his fighting style has begun to adapt to his own modifications. The prospect of doing battle with some monstrous ruin inhabitants is much more interesting to him than it ever was before. Is this how battle-hungry warriors like his father feel in situations like these?
 Better to not think about his father. Otherwise, he'll start thinking about what the man would think if he ever knew about the changes Ivo is making to his sword.
 "Oh?"
 Fortunately, Reize is here to interrupt such thoughts with a grand flourish, preparing to open the way to the dungeon. Ivo waits with bated breath.
 "...Well."
 He smiles again.
 "They look lovely, all together like that," he compliments Reize. "Nicely done. Shall we go, friends?"
 Do something actually helpful, Ivo.


  Reize glances back at Anna, looking more alarmed, "Y--yeah! I know that this is the last one! There was four slots, right?!" He looks back at the door, noting the two holes on each side. He then points over to the completely slotted gems. Furrowing his eyebrows, "They even seemed to correspond to their particular color..." He places a hand to the door, "I should know---" The boy turns to face Ivo upon his quip with a glare. "No! Not until we find out what's beyond here!"

 Upon Anna testing out the reaction to the push and pull, she will find the same result as the last time. No budging at all.

 Reize furrows his eyebrows and then he places his face onto the center of the door with a *WHOMP!*

 This kicks off a plume of dust that overtakes the boy. He is left into a coughing fit. The spectacle is like a fog trapping the hapless boy inside. However, the dust clears off...

 ... There is an open slot at the very center. It appeared that it was obscured by the collected dust.

 "....WHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

 Reize's eyes widen at the revelation. "B---But there was four! How is there suddenly a fifth one?!" He drops to his knees, face smooshed at the door with a comical trail of tears. "... Now how will we get in?"


 The group have a new voice that breaks their chatter.

 "Looking for this, pardner?"

 If the group were to turn around to the source, there is a single man at the very entrance. The man is adorned in a black poncho with golden highlights along the edge. He has an oddly shaped hat, akin to a plumed hat, yet the style is a pinched front, leaving the back wider. Upon initial look, the man could be considered in his forties, if not fifties, bearing a trimed mustache and beard beyond his messy black hair. However, there is something that warrants attention.

 In his hand, held out for all to see, is a clear, diamond shaped gem. This one seems to radiate with a bright glow.

 "Glad to see that you're all in good spirits," quips the stranger with a cheerful grin. "Good to finally meet the rest of you--- well, save for a missing couple."
 

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 7 months ago


 Nothing. The door's not budging, nope. Anna tries. oh she TRIES but it is to no avail.
 "Ah... Nothing..." She says with a tiny huff while rubbing the back of her neck. Then Reize headbutts the door. Even Anna winces.
 But that reveals the last gem slot.
 "... Oh..."
 Guess this isn't happening, then.
 Not until a Mysterious Stranger appears though, making the berserker princess wheel right around to face him.
 "... Ah. It's nice to meet you?" Pause. "Who are you exactly?"
 Anna is clueless as she looks to Reize and Ivo.


 "Don't you find this sort of development distasteful?" Ivo is remarking, turning to Anna, though despite the content of his words, there is nothing but playful amusement in his eyes. "Imagine if there had been five components of the Crux instead of four, and Kernunnos had been like, 'Oops.' I think we would've thrown him, pendant and all, into Lake Gerisia--"
 The ironical aristocrat finally shuts up for a moment when he hears an unexpected voice. The young man does not especially pride himself on his powers of perception. He's no Orilion. But he always feels uneasy when someone sneaks up on him without seeming to have made any effort to sneak. This stranger's presence feels much too well concealed for their casual pose.
 "Friend of yours, Reize?" Ivo says, tone light, but smile having faded. "You're a long way from your cattle," he then quips to the stranger, remarking on his unusual garb. He's seen sketches of fashion like this, the garments of herders from some corner of the world which he cannot recall. A distinctive choice of clothing.


  It takes a moment for the boy to register the voice, turning his head over towards the source. "..Uh...." The boy blanches, "Ringo?!" There is an uneasy frown strring from the boy. When both Anna and Ivo address him in askance over the man, the young boy is rather uneasy.

  "That's Ringo..." He adds to Ivo, "He was the one who gave me the emblem that almost got us both arrested."

  The older man looks over both Anna and Ivo, maintaining a friendly demeanor about him. It's not unlike Ivo's general relaxed demeanor. However, coming from this individual, there is something rather offputting despite its carefree appearance. The casual posture remains unchanged, holding the crystal up.

  "Awww, still sore about that, kiddo?" Despite the carefree dismissal of Reize's annoyance, he turns towards Ivo. "Perhaps so, I'll return to that long enough, but I figured I'd pay a visit to my favorite little explorer and finally greet his friends." He tsks, eyes closed with a frown, "Pity that you and your divine friend parted ways."

  He cracks a grin, "But... you did bring a nice set of dance partners."

  "Including the new dance partner in place of your previous magical friend..." An eye from the cowboy hat wearing man opens up, smiling while his gaze cuts behind him at the very entrance. "Ain't that right, little lady?"

  Little lady?

  He does step closer into the center to meet with the group, politely parting way for another person who is likely catching up.


Ruidosa... overslept! Awgh! Why didn't no one wake her up!? She quickly got dressed, didn't even brush her fangs. (Usually very important!) and got her tome and booked it to where they we're supposed to visit. She makes her way there and she blurts out as she arrives..

"H--hey who are you calling little lady!?" she says as she catches up, finally and comes to with the rest of the group, before brushing herself off, as she cut through brush to get her!

She didn't forget her tome at least!

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 7 months ago


 "He did what?" What's this about almost being arrested? Anna eyes Ringo a little more warily. Something about the man is... Really kind of offputting, yes, and she doesn't like it. Though she at least doesn't reach for her axe.
 Yet.
 And there's Rui!
 "... Cattle?" She asides to Ivo, having been a sheltered princess that has never seen a cowpoke before.


 "Ha ha ha... ahh."
 Ivo, reminded of their escape from Zerhem's Vanguards, sighs wistfully.
 "Yeah, good times."
 Pausing a moment more to reminisce about that delicious melon, the young man finally looks back to Ringo, and once again his smile fades. His good humor does not seem to reach his eyes.
 "The emblem of the Grandmaster of the Vanguards, right?" he says. "I recall there being a number of people very interested in how you came across that, Ringo. I would so love to hear the tale. Hey, chief," he then asides, a little more quietly, to his friend. "Think Rufina would go on a date with me if I brought her that bit of intel? Maybe there's some new prize livestock in Suryle."
 It's very hard to tell if he's joking. He does perk up a little, though, at the sound of someone else approaching who, unlike Ringo, isn't especially trying to disguise their presence.
 "Glad you could join us," Ivo says, his smile returning, "little lady."
 Yes, why *didn't* anyone wake her up? Well, Ivo was going to mention her being missing, but Reize seemed so excited about the prospect of exploring the ruins that no one could hold the chief back. And what was Ivo going to do then? Go rap on her coffin? *Does* Ruidosa sleep in a coffin? Ivo has no desire to find out.
 "Yes," he's saying to Anna. "Maybe some prize cattle, or some prize sheep. What are Suryle's other specialties?" No, she's not asking about the date idea.


  The stranger, now addressed as Ringo, makes no move to stop the girl from joining the group. After all, it'd be impolite to get in the way of a lady. It looks like she is annoyed as it is. Matching the carefree demeanor, he casually flicks his wrists to toss the clear, diamond-shaped crystal into the air before he catches it.

  "Back to my proposal: I'll hand over the treasure for a dance with you four." His eyes drift towards Anna, "...I have been curious to see how you well you can draw the... blasphemous Chaos."

  His eyes fall on Ruidosa, "...And how you perform with your partner and..." He takes a time to draw chuckle, "... if you're able to hold a candle to his previous partner." Shots fired.

  Ringo gives a jovial laughter upon Ivo's inqury, "...Ahh, well... that is a secret, young pardner... but maybe once this dance concludes, I'll divulge a bit."

  Finally getting up from the door, he approaches Ruidosa as she meets with the group with an uneasy smile, "Sorry Rui, it looked like you were having a good dream." He coughs, then he looks back at Ringo. His eyes drift towards Ivo and Anna, finally addressing the three.

  "He's challenging us for the prize."

  Ivo's asiding question is met with a thoughtful look, "...I think so?" He looks rather confused. "...She was seemingly interested in the emblem."

 

Ruidosa La Crima finally gets done brushing herself off as she's listening to the discussion, trying to catch the gist of it. "Wait, you we're arrested, again!?" she sputters out, not catching the full gist of it. "-and wake me up next time.. anyways!" she huffs!

She looks away from Reize and back at the cowboy hat wearing man as she eyes him. "And who the heck are you to do this!?" she asks as she leans forward a little. "-and why do you want to fight us!?"

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 7 months ago


 ... So it's a challenge then.
 Anna looks to Reize, Rui, and Ivo.
 Her fingers twitch.
 "... Are we doing this?" She asks before looking back to Ringo, her eyes narrowing at his... 'curiosity'.
 


 "Ooooh."
 Ivo sucks in a breath, glancing between Ringo and Ruidosa. The Cosmopolitan is really being very helpful today.
 "Well," he finally says, raising his eyebrows at Ringo at the older man's offer, "I'm looking forward to that."
 Ah, Rufina. Ivo wonders how the elven Grandmaster has been faring since they last met. Surely all is well.
 "*And* I'm looking forward to *that*," he replies to Reize, quietly drawing Hauteclare from its sheath. Even with the prospect of a date with an interesting woman maybe, possibly, potentially on the line, Ivo might normally do more to try to talk their way out of this spate of random violence. But, with his tinkering with the sword, he is more intrigued at the prospect of battle than he ever has been before. Fighting so often strikes him as the most boring way to resolve a conflict, to say nothing of being scary and painful. Is he becoming the sort of person who wants to 'test his strength'?
 "My pardner here is quite interested in these ruins, Sir Cowpoke..."
 A little shiver goes down his spine at that thought. No, thanks. He'll join the Cosmos Cup if it means being managed by Daiby-senpai, but that's it. Still.
 "...so I suppose I have no choice."
 At least he feels able and willing to back Reize up.


  With his free hand, Ringo gestures towards the sealed door for Ruidosa's edification. If Ruidosa was to look back at the door, she will find that the four gems found were placed on the door, yet it did not open. What she may now notice is a small diamond-like shape gap. It was originally covered by dust, obscuring the fact that there is a fifth slot required to open the sealed door.

  "As it stands, little lady... I stand between you all and adventure." He adds, ".... And I'm certain that doesn't make our young explorer happy, wouldn't you say?" He runs a hand over the back of his head, looking uneasy. "Ahhh, Indulge an old man, will ya?"

  Once Ivo is the first to show signs of battle, he starts to grin, "That's the spirit."

  Then, Reize finally starts to position himself into an aggressive stance, leaning forward while drawing both boomerangs out and inverted. He gives a grunt, "Let's give him a show, everyone! I won't let him stand in the way between us and adventure!"

  "Now -that- is the spirit."

  While Ringo still appears carefree, there is a perk of life from him as he straightens. He brings his hand down to his side to withdraw something from the side. Twirling in his hand while putting the crystal away in his other hand, he manifests a pistol. Depending on the knowledge of the lore through Cosmopolis, it appears to be a very old fashioned pistol. This one is no longer one in development. The noticable feature of it is that at the back of the pistol is a flask attached and is locked together. Flasklock Pistol, to be exact. With the weapon drawn, there is an eerie presence drawing from the man. The aether appears more dense once he moves, thickening yet not suffocating.

 "Let's dance."
 


Ruidosa La Crima huffs and looks back to the door, then to the gem the man is holding. H-hey! there's a fifth!? That.. that isn't fair, there should only be ''four''. A nice, even number of gems! not some lame odd number of gems! She huffs and then stamps her foot. "I demand you hand that over right now!" she commands. She opens up her tome to her spells as she grumbles a little angrily. Fine. they wanna a fight, she'll fight.

Everyone else can ready to fight, Ruidosa just gets straight to the point and unleashes a bolt of dark energy from her hand at the man in the cowboy hat. Who has that stupid ''fifth'' gem. Seriously. Dungeon designers can suck it so much.

She can feel that presence however, it makes her shiver a little bit. What the hell is this.

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 7 months ago


 It's settled. They're gonna fight Ringo for the sake of adventure.
 Reaching behind her, Anna unslings her axe.
 Time to dance.
 When he manifests his pistol, Anna shifts her stance. The shift in aether makes her frown.
 What could it be?
 Regardless, though, she takes a breath... And lets the spark out from where she keeps it chained in the secret place behind her heart and grits her teeth.
 Blue-green eyes shift into a bloodshot red, and the Suryle princess is off like a gunshot, sprinting full tilt at the mane as she intends to bring the blunt end of her axe down as hard as she can into the shoulder of his gun-toting arm.

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 7 months ago

Anna rolls 1d20>=12.
Comment: Let's cripple that gun-arm shall we?
Roll(s): 11. Total result is 11. This is a failure (by 1).


 Ivo, gaze intent, taps Hauteclare's pommel and flicks his wrist.
 It's a subtle gesture, meant to be missed amidst the challenges posed by Ruidosa's ranged attack and Anna's head-on rush, that sends the blade flying amongst the trees and disappearing into the fog. All while the Cosmopolitan keeps his eyes on Ringo and that worrisome spellgun, wishing that Fox were here as a fellow gunner, his hand twitches occasionally.
 After a couple moments, as Anna reaches their adversaries, a plume of fog bursts from the mists behind Ringo, hurtling toward him. But this too is a feint. The fog is empty, a mere wreath of vision-obscuring vapor intending to distract their foe and aid his allies. Beneath it, shooting instead toward Ringo's legs to try to cleave him to his knees, flickering with the green hue of the wind aether that has pushed the fog with it like a shield, comes Hauteclare's blade.

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20>=12.
Comment: Foggy feint + backstab
Roll(s): 19. Total result is 19. This is a success (by 7).


  Keeping in consistency with the seeming carefree nature, the man merely starts sauntering towards the group. The hand lowers, pistol head pointing low as he approaches the group. When Ruidosa releases out a bolt of black energy, he brings his hand out in order to 'test' the water. In this case, the sensation of the dark energy surging through his body.

  "...Not bad, his previous partner struck a bit harder, though."

  He cracks a grin at the vampire, though his gaze drift towards Anna as she charges in like a gunshot, full bore to his path in her berserker way. While she is on a full rush, he takes a step back, and then he takes a simple step to the side. However, Anna will find that his 'simple' step leaves a trail of after images before finding that the distance between himself and her had further increased.

  However, this was right into the incoming kick by Reize, who earlier lept into the air and came down swinging his foot at the man's head. Ringo offers a smile as a hand clashes to the foot. "Surely... you can do better than that." Given the close range of the boy, he greets him with a quick pistolwhip.

  "Ggggghhhh!" Reize rolls on the ground, but quickly recovers with a hiss. He starts to move towards Ruidosa, "Ooi, Rui, let's try to get him from each side."

  Perhaps Ringo let himself get too distracted by both Reize and Anna that he forgot about Ivo. Ringo pays for that misstep with the growing fog sent behind him. However, he is quick to recover as he lifts a hand to swing at the fog. Ivo does manage to find purchase as Hauteclare cleaves against his knees. The man takes a bit of a step back, but the blade does get a nice clean cut in as the blade makes its mark.

  "....Heh... A man out of my own heart."

  He flicks the gun around, then he points it out to release a shot.

  "I got one myself."

  His other hand flicks a coin towards the direction of the 'energy bolt'. Upon impact, the coin soon becomes a glowing bullet, ricocheting across the entire temple. It starts striking everywhere to bolt against Ivo, Reize, Anna, and Ruidosa.
 

Ruidosa La Crima watches the man shoot a coin like some trick shot master, then the coin is suddenly ricocheting around the room, as she 'awks' and avoids managing to be shot by it, barely, by flailing to the right and just barely missing her right leg. This looks totally unelegant. "Right, then!" she says to Reize as she suggests a flank attack, both an affirmtive reply, and a direction as she comes in from the 'right' of 'Ringo', shouting "Falcata!", before a momentary blade of dark energy manifests from her hand to try to slash into the man.

She's hoping Reize picked up on the directional speak. It'd be silly if they both came in from the right. >.<

Ruidosa La Crima rolls 1d20<12.
Comment: I lied, I'm rolling.
Roll(s): 1. Total result is 1. This is a success (by 11).

Ruidosa La Crima rolls 1d20>12.
Comment: I lied, I'm rolling.
Roll(s): 13. Total result is 13. This is a success (by 1).

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 7 months ago


 The man sidesteps so easily. And the trail of after-images left in his wake-- he's fast.
 Even in her rage state, Anna's eyes widen by a degree of surprise as her attack is deftly evaded, leaving her off balance for a beat.
 Then it's his turn isn't it.
 That's how it goes in turn based RPGs right?
 That is to say, while Anna is off kilter, the man has ample opportunity to fire and flick his coin-- and turn the coin into a deadly projectile in the process
 As the charged change zips around the chamber Anna tries to follow it as best that she can, eyes darting left, right, left, up, down, as it ricochets all around, she chokes the grip on her axe...
 And SWINGS.
 It's high-risk to try and baseball bat the coin right back at Ringo. But it'll likely be high-reward too. IF not... Well she's gonna eat that coin and it's probably gonna hurt.

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 7 months ago

Anna rolls 1d20>=12.
Comment: ANNA GETS HER HANDS ON THE HOME RUN BAT FROM SMASH BROS
Roll(s): 4. Total result is 4. This is a failure (by 8).

Reize Seatlan rolls 1d20>=12.
Comment: Can my speed beat the speeding bullet coin?
Roll(s): 1. Total result is 1. This is a failure (by 11).


 Ivo grimaces, showing no satisfaction at successfully striking Ringo. Partly, that's because his interest in combat is more intellectual than instinctive. Mostly, it's because the old man hardly seemed to flinch at the wind-imbued assault.
 "Can I track it...?"
 Returning his blade to his hilt, Ivo activates the internal sensor instead. There's no way his eyes can follow this bouncing energy bolt, and his friends seem to be struggling too. But if he can attune his sensor to Ringo's aetheric signature, maybe he can focus on countering this sort of attack and disincentivize them. Otherwise, this old man is going to be striking them from all directions all fight.
 "Come on...!"
 Focusing fully on defense so that he can try to get an enduring lock, Ivo, sweat beading at his brow, flicks his wrist at last and tries to cleave the bullet coin from the air after his friends have made their attempts.

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20>=12.
Comment: Trying to use the targeting computer instead of the Force
Roll(s): 4. Total result is 4. This is a failure (by 8).

Reize Seatlan rolls 1d20>=14.
Comment: Compensating with Delayed Strike
Roll(s): 13. Total result is 13. This is a failure (by 1).


  It looks like that Ringo is enjoying the fight. Even with the cut that was made by Ivo, he can feel the spirit of everyone. That's it. Their Will. Their reason for fighting. He can feel that everyone is giving it their all. This is what he desires..

  Ringo cannot help but wince at the spectacle of the imbued coin's onslaught. "Ahhh, maybe I should have not used the other hand." When the coin flies towards him, he simply catches it with the free hand and places it back into his pocket.

  Ruidosa, however, makes her presence known with the dark energy blade slicing through. He starts taking a step back from her, but the blade does tear against his poncho and make a nice cut across his chest. "Ahhahaa, that's muuch better!"

  That is where Reize comes from the other side. Unfortunately, the timing was not in his favor because he got flatten to the ground. However, he tried to make sure to work with the timing of Ruidosa by rolling on the ground to get himself closer. He can feel his head ringing from the coin hitting him, but he performs a roll and then he launches off the ground with a handspring kick.

  Ringo's movement, as fast as ever, leaves the after image as he spins. "Good, good." He starts clapping, though he grins, "I think I'll stick with one arm, this time." He brings his free-hand underneath the poncho, keeping it tucked away in order to limit himself.

  Now, the group gets to see the other side of the spellgun. He brings the pistol out towards the group, then he releases a single shot, producing an orb. This orb is slowly floating around, then it spins around while changing into different colors.

  Chromatic Orb.

  The orb spins and resonates before it spreads out and starts shooting multiple colored orbs of their varying elements; fire, water, wind, earth, towards the gathered four.
 \

Ruidosa La Crima rolls 1d12>12.
Comment: Avoid Being HIT
Roll(s): 9. Total result is 9. This is a failure (by 3).

Ruidosa La Crima rolls 1d20>12.
Comment: Avoid Being HIT
Roll(s): 10. Total result is 10. This is a failure (by 2).

Reize Seatlan rolls 1d4.
Roll(s): 2. Total result is 2.

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 7 months ago

Anna rolls 1d20>=12.
Comment: Also avoiding the Chromatic Orb.
Roll(s): 10. Total result is 10. This is a failure (by 2).

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20>=12.
Comment: Interrupting Chromatic Orb with EX Art: Elemental Spectrum Slash.
Roll(s): 12. Total result is 12. This is a success (by 0).


 "Khhh...!"
 It's Ivo, instead of Ringo, who is the first to fall to one knee, inevitably struck by the empowered coin that he was unable to track. Though his miniaturized sensor is highly refined, able to detect Crux fragments and eidola alike, he has never before attempted to use it to track such a fast-moving target. The effort seems to have caused some errors in the mechanism: it occasionally pings Ringo's own presence, for some reason.
 "This is..."
 It's like when they faced the Black Beast before. But Ivo's been practicing for another encounter like that. One eye squinted shut, he sees the Chromatic Orb emerge and takes a deep breath. It's time to attempt what he couldn't manage last time. He's been training the proper motion and experimenting with the possibility of combining elespheres with Argent, Fabroxo, and the Heavenly Crowned Beetle.
 "...my chance!"
 Time to see if those efforts can yield results.
 Ejecting the empty wind elesphere from Hauteclare's pommel, Ivo reaches into another cloak pocket and loads a peculiar and delicate little orb into it: an elesphere artfully divided into four smaller chambers, each with isolated raw aether of a different element within. He has to gauge this carefully. Watch how the orb alternates aetheric attunement. Prepare the frequency accordingly.
 And launch.
 As a burst of water begins to emerge from the roiling orb, aimed toward Ruidosa, Hauteclare's blade whips through it wreathed in flame, the water evaporating into steam. The blade sinks into the Orb itself, slowing to a crawl, quivering as though on the verge of being repelled or even broken in twain. But as different elements rise from the Orb, the blade responds in kind, countering each element with its opposite, thereby slowly but surely cutting its way through the Orb -- and finally breaking through, aglow with a four-colored rainbow hue, spinning toward Ringo himself. In the distance, framed by the shattering and dispersing Chromatic Orb, is Ivo, wide-eyed, sweat-bedewed, uncharacteristically intense, all too aware of how close he just cut it.
 "As anticipated," he breathes. "More... or less."

Ruidosa La Crima watches the man shoot the gun, which she assumes is spitting magic at this point, rather than a contemporary projectile at this point. She watches it spit out an orb of strange energy that changes different colors... oh, her mother told her about a spell like this, once! She also said to avoid the orange color, because it was fire and ... look, vampires really dislike fire, okay. It's just undead weakness. It's how it is!

But then Ivo crushes the attack, she whews, even though she's sure it wasn't a fire attack coming for her as she huffs. She brushes her self up off quickly. She has composure, see! She's composed. She wasn't worried about fire at all. c.c.

"Reize!" she calls off. "Ready up!" she calls off as she raises a hand towards him and calls out. "Cadena de Tiniebias!" as she blasts the chain lighting...toward's Reize!?

Hopefully, he'll get ready quickly to continue the attack forward!

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 7 months ago


 With a 'CLINK!' Anna's axe collides with the coin as it-- rolls under the blow and sails into her midsection. With a grunt the Suryle princess is launched backwards, tumbling to the ground in a heap on her hands and knees. But she picks herself up just in time as the Chromatic Orb is--
 Dispelled as Hauteclare nullifies the rampaging swirl of ever changing elements.
 It was a good chance and Ivo took it. Anna can be thankful for that as she picks herself up and takes a steeling breath as she sets her footing...
 And bull-rushes Ringo again, snarling as she intends to take the wind out of his sails with a...
 Well she's just flailing wildly.
 No. No she's not.
 She's intending to lay a SEVERE beatdown on the man if no one stops her.


  Ringo is treated to a great spectacle. Even though he launched out the magical shot from his spellgun, he watches as the floating blade, attuned by aether, the blade counteracted the different elements of the Chromatic Orb with the oposing elements, and then it expelled the Orb itself.

  There is a whistle. "Impressive..."

  He smiles.

  Reize is sweating, glancing back at Ivo with a grateful smile. "Great job, Ivo..." It is a sincere, soft smile. However, the eyes shift back at Ringo with a glare, getting back to his aggressive stance. As he positions himself, his eyes drift towards Ruidosa as she calls out the dark lightning once again, aimed towards him.

  "GOT IT!"

+++ LINK ART ACTIVATED!

  The boy draws upon the aether flow, then he starts moving towards the chained lightning. As the dark aura manifests around him, he starts riding around the lightning chain, and then he spins around to start darting towards Ringo. As the boy bolts closer, the lightning bolt forms into a hawk as the boy passes through Ringo.

>> Link Art: Night Hawk.

  "WHOAAA!!!...." He is caught by the sweeping lightning, blown back by the impact. This knocks him into the trajectory of the bull rush, lashing out against the man with multiple blow to blow. Each strike sails at his face, giving him nice bruises and a sound of crunching.

  However, that soon ends as there is a large explosion of aether erupting from the man. That well of the aether from earlier now weaponizes enough that would blow Anna off from him.

  But soon, Ringo stands up to his feet.

  ...

  ... Only to holster the pistol. It starts with a simple clap. Then the tempo picks up.

  "WA HA HA HA HA HAA!"

  His head rears back and the tempo increases.

  "HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

  It becomes rapid clapping.

  "HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO!"

  After the awkward moment of his uproarish laughter and clapping, the air starts to become still. The well of aether dies down briefly. The man, keeping the carefree smile, finally brings his other arm out to throw out the crystal towards the boy.

  "Catch."

  The boy awkwardly catches the gem, looking at the content. "Ah! We finally got it!"

  Ringo glances back towards the party. "You have all impressed me. I've... seen what I need wanted to see."

 

Ruidosa La Crima closes her tome and frowns a little as the man begins to laugh and clap. She continues to frown as she spouts. "You're insane!" she says in a sputter. "What was this even about!?" she says as the man hands over that dumb, even numbered gem.

"Now go away. If you've seen everything you've wanted to!" she says, leaning forward with her hands on her hips!

  • Character: Anna
  • 1 year, 7 months ago


 That's... That's it then.
 Apparently Ringo has had his fill. Which is all well and good for Anna as she plants her hands on her knees and works on catching her breath.
 Goodness that was rough.
 "... Hooray." She says blandly as the gem is tossed over.


 "Huff... huff..."
 Ivo allows himself to slump a little. Being struck by that coin *really* hurt, far more than it should, and he doesn't want to know how being treated to the full brunt of the Chromatic Orb would've felt. And pulling off that counter made his head hurt with the cognitive effort and his heart pound with the risk. But he looks up through his dark bangs to see Reize's smile, and grins back. All that effort paid off. He was able to open the way for his friends.
 "...Well fought, everyone."
 He doesn't seem surprised that the old cowpoke chooses to stand down even while not seeming especially the worse for wear. Ivo knew there was more than one reason why he was reminded of Thael during this fight. This guy is the real deal.
 "Hey... Ringo."
 Even so, Ivo looks up at their laughing adversary fearlessly.
 "Don't forget: I want the explanation behind that emblem, too."
 One might think that perhaps Ivo has Become Cool by virtue of pulling off his ultimate attack this time, or that he's just that motivated to maybe possibly go on a date with Rufina. Actually, his fear is just being mitigated by his fatigue, which is causing him to dissociate. Well, you know.
 "And I also wouldn't mind knowing..."
 That's just as good, right?
 "...where you heard that Anna here wields the power of Chaos."
 The party may have become accustomed to talk of beastkin blasphemy and wielding that primordial force, but to most of the world, such a thing is the stuff of esoteric myth.


  While Ruidosa and Anna are exasperated with the man, Reize is just happy that he has the final crystal. He is already moving towards the door in order to start planting the crystal inside the final slot. Despite his beaten state, he is quite perky in his excitement to finally see the door open before them.

  Meanwhile, Ringo looks at Ivo, who inquired about the emblem. "...Ahh, yes, I do owe an explanation behind that emblem, don't I?" He looks bemused, considering how to indulge Ivo's curiosity. "It belonged to the first High Guildmaster, or Grandmaster of the Vanguard Association." He adds, "The Vanguard Association was an instrument of Cosmpolis in order to spread goodwill and enable each country inhabitant to defend their own territory." He looks thoughtfully, "Did you know that the Headquarters used to be within the Korotus territory of Eurena?" He runs a hand along his chin, "... I wondered what led to it moving to Verdios."

  "... It has been so long."

  He considers, "...Pity that Rufina did not want to watch the show."

 With a shrug, he starts to walk off, before he takes a pause. "...Ah, I only told you that I'd indulge in the meaning behind the emblem." However, he smiles before he turns to face Ivo, "I'll leave you with one more small piece of information..."

  "... Ivo Galvan."

  If Ivo was to look at his eyes, there is a change... the sclera becomes green as he smiles. Now, the entire presence of the man becomes more unnerving as the aether flows within the entire area. This alone stops Reize from his focus of the door. As the aether flows, there is that distinct feeling as if time seems to separate from everyone and the rest of the world.

  "There are great secrets within the headquarters at Cosmopolis. You may find something verrry interesting...."

  That strange feeling stops and when he turns around, he looks back with the hat tipped over. "But I must bid you all adieu. I look forward to our meeting once again. And do give dear Lily my regards..."

 

Ruidosa huffs. Lily this and Lily that. Why aren't they just waking her up already!? So.. so..

So..what? For real. Ruidosa doesn't know but she just stamps her foot. "Good, go away...." she mutters under her breath. 'Good riddance!' as she turns back around to the door to Reize already trying to open the door. "..Hey.." she says. "Wait for us..!" she says with a annoyed huff!


 Ivo, slowly rising to his feet, furrows his brow. There are too many peculiar aspects of this man to count, but the way he speaks is odd in a way that is difficult for the young man to articulate.
 "Rufina?"
 He opens his mouth to say more, but stops short. Ivo feels pinned like a butterfly to a board by that eerie gaze. As he is stunned to silence, the sensor on Hauteclare's hilt emits some hissing static. It seems to stir Ivo to life, and he glances at is, finally able to break eye contact.
 "Headquarters? The Vanguard headquarters?" He looks up, baffled. "The restaurant? I mean... wait, are you saying..."
 The *old* headquarters? Is that why Ringo was talking about the origins of the Vanguards? Ivo is only left with more questions than before, but the old man is turning to leave.
 "...I hope Rufina's alright," Ivo murmurs, watching Ringo go as Reize seems to focus on the door.
 It seems they'll have more than one puzzle to solve when they return to Cosmopolis and their slumbering friend there.


  For a few moments, Reize is holding onto the door, stopping from what he was doing to think about his currently indisposed partner. Upon hearing the man requesting for them to give his partner his regards, Reize cannot help but wonder about Lily's state.

  ... Until...

  'Wait for us...!'

  "Huh? Oh right! Yeah!"

  Once the last piece is entered...

  is a slow rumble from the ground as the double doors finally part. The doors drag along itself, revealing a deep passage.

  This is the Unknown Hidden Temple. What are the origins of this place? What secrets does it hold? There is only one way to find out what makes this place special that it required five different keys to keep it hidden from intruders...