Duty Session 431: The Phantom Colosseum

Everyone is gathered for their own to-be-determined reasons to get on the boat that will take them over to the Phantom Atoll. One thing is constant: There is a colosseum on that atoll and the party needs to explore it. Exploration in the grand world of dungeons also means fighting. Fighting means XP and Loot. Also, its a frickin Colosseum! How cool is that?

Haru thinks it is cool at least. When the ferry boat docks along the shoreline he is the first to zip across the 'dock'. The dock is better described as a series of loosely connected logs lashed together so that someone can get to the boat. It is slick from higher tides which causes Haru to glide across it and is only stopped when the skipper puts a hand out to grab the Artificer. "Almost got wet early," Haru says as he smiles. Nothing from the Lander. "Wouldn't want to make a splash!" Haru tries again. "There is something fishy about this trip." Nothing. He then slowly puts his hands to his cheeks and bug eyes like a dead fish. Fish lip 'glub glub' motions. The skipper says nothing and goes about his business. Glub glub.

The sailing crew lets the Adventurers know that they are making preparations and will be off shortly.

Yeowang is here at thr docks, and will board the ship when she can. Hair tied up in a bun, black coat, neutral expression, she will board and look around, checking that things seem to be in place and acceptable. Haru's antics draw a puzzled look, and then a weary sigh. "They're busy preparing the ship, they haven't got time for entertainment," she offers.

"So, uh, I came here for the Phantom Atoll quest, and... well, I... kind of forgot whether or not I have already carried it out, and now I'm too embarrassed to ask," Uta explains, wringing her staff, nervous, when asked what brings her here.

"Noted," Haru responds in a robotic voice to Yeowang. His naturally noodly motions are made rigid as he stands on the boat. "Time for fun is -never-. Time for ship is -now-." Variable tones. Autotuned Haru. A hand flips up quickly at Uta. "Tickets -please-, Utachu Chukazoo the Third. Itinerary states all boarding requires -tickets-."

    A missive from the Guild came all the way out to Arashi where her current training was going on. A need to clear out a colosseum? ... Sure. Why not? A little break from the last two weeks of light training would be good. And also, a little show of what a bit of water training can do if the chance comes up. NO MORE DESERT FOR NOW. That's the reason the were-fang is here, likely with trainer in tow.

Uta pales.

"Oh. Oh! Tickets! I... I'm sure I..." She flicks her menu open, and flicks through it as quick as she manages to. Little beads of sweat appear on her temples, and she attempts to bite one nail, only to discover that she's biting onto fabric. Mandatory fantasy outfit floves. Ptoo, ptoo.

She pats herself down, as if for looking into pockets that just aren't there, until-

"Oh, uh, I am here for a quest. See? Hunter's guild!", she says, pointing at her badge.

Yeowang sighs at Haru, smirking, "Well, /you're/ still having fun, so do as you like. I have a great deal of fun, myself, in fact." To Uta, she says, "You're in the right place. As to whether you've done it before, I can't say. But doing it again is gainful in any event. I'm here to keep an edhe on my training, while everyone prepares to bring the fight against the Palace Landers." She smirks about the tickets. "If they let you on the ship, you're good. You don't need a ticket to run a duty."

And as such Vertina is hiking in after Arashi. "Okay, okay, I get it, enough beating up dessicated zombies in the desert. But they're less of a hassle to train againt than the normal eat your brains kind." She huffs, brushing out the hem of her dress. "But you could of at least given me a chance to grab my normal gear after I made us lunch on the trip over here."

    "By the time the Guild's missive got to us, we didn't have a lot of time, Vertina. Blame their bird," Arashi points out, holding up the parchment for the kiklzrd to have a look at. They were lucky they made it to begin with!

"Updated Protocol," Haru intones as he does an exaggerated Robot Dance to Yeo's commentary, "Operator H.A.R.U allowed to have fun. Operator -QueenBuzzkill- is having fun. Fun is officially part of the mission's prime directive." A little spin and a dip. Stands up. "Thank you for your tickets -Utachu-." The whole use of a name sounds like a pre-recording and replacing the name variable with Uta. Robo-Haru finds a position to stand near the mast and powers down. Bbbzzzttt. Pop. Yes, Haru does make the sound effects.

That is cut short with the call from the people doing work on the ship. "Last call!" they shout out, as if there was a first call or a second call. Its really the /one/ call. Boat is about to get going.

The Lander Sailors finish up their 'get the boat ready' actions. It invovles a lot of rope, shuffling around, saying sailor-tangental thing such as 'starboard' and 'mizzenmast'. All aboard the Crazy Tr-- Boat! One of the sailors gets out a hurdy-gurdy to set the appropriate music for sailing across the water. Most tend to making sure the boat is heading in the correct direction against wind and water currents. The makeshift dock begins to slowly fade from view as the sea breeze blows against the Adventurers. Sea mist! Cool air! The sounds of adventure!

Problems are spotted early on as the First Mate tells the Captain of the S.S. Sushiwalker that the reef itself is requiring adjustments to course. A table with the map and charting are thrown down with the typical dagger pinning one edge of the map to keep it from blowing away. "Here, then here," the captain offers, one of multiple quick re-routes. And quick it must be. The boat is already sailing through rougher waters.

Foggy waters. Haunted waters.

The water is like thick soup lapping against the wooden hull as the current slows in this watery mire. The air current is equally stale as wool-like mist drifts about. With the mist comes lanterns. No. Lights. Souls. Undead! Ghosts themselves that find the living offensive. A clanging of phantom steel cutlasses as they drift aboard like lost flotsam.

Haru was doing a pretty good job of being a powered down robot during this time, but there is something about the unnatural silence that stirs him. Then there is the clanging. When he opens his blue eye (singular) he is staring at a ghost pirate. "Stranger danger!" he shouts at it, bolts of quick-cast magical force coming from his Wave Arte focus as he falls back into a position where there are not ghosts surrounding him. However, no such position exists. They are ghosts. They surround the ship and float where they please! Gweehehehehe!

    While everyone else is running up to assist with Other Things like ghosts, fog, and the like, Arashi is rummaging through her own maps. "I'm certain I've been here before," she muses, eventually finding the right map in her inventory. "I'm not sure that's the right path, according to my notes..." she goes into this long reasoning about a few of the turns, and such before the captain peers, scowls, walks over, takes the map, turns it over, and hands it back. "......... oh my god."

Yeowang watches the crew, then, as the boat is gotten underway, with Haru doing The Robot In Offline Mode over there. She shrugs at being called Queen Buzzkill. If that's how she's seen, then so be it. She looks out over the horizon as the ship gets underway, and watches as we approach the foggy area of the reefs. The nautical goings on are not in her area of expertise, the phrase 'outside her wheelhouse' comes to mind, so she can't really help. So, she will let them do what they do.

From the fog, ghosts appear, but they don't seem to upset her much. Clearly they want something, why else would they be here? So, she will see what they want, and if they can be bought off, so much the better. It saves a bit of effort. Of course she's a skilled negotiator, William Shatner would be pleased, and the ghosts bothering her, at least, are quickly bargained with and appeased.

Oh look, ghosts. Vertina doesn't feel so bad for getting dragged along on this venture now, because this is the part that she is good at.
"Look!" One of the ghosts manages to rasp out, pointing a snarled finger at Vertina. "They be bringin' us a tavern wench!"
A scaled brow twitchs. And a light infused fist goes straight through the ghost's remains of a face, diffusing him almost immeadiately as the positive energy cancels out the negative spectoral ones. "THIS IS A MAID DRESS NOT A WENCH YOU SCURVIED SCALLAWAG!"

"WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN TO ME!", Uta exclaims, her palms slamming on the wooden table of the ship's navigator. "I have taken this affront One. Last. Time!", she exclaims, red in the face, tense, as she shoves her nose to almost touch the navigator. Each slam makes the items on the table bounce. She's furious, and a force to be reckoned with.

Pale and shaking, the man leans back, and stammers, "T...that's okay, ma'am! J... Just tell me what I need to do..."

Uta snorts, and pulls back. "Fine. See," She shimmers a folded sheet of paper (parchment?) and slides it to the navigator. "I need you to sign me and my peko up for the race. His name is Not Stolen."

The man blinks. "...Y-you must have confused me with my cousin, Mr.Clerk."

"...Oh."

The navigator laughs, "It's okay, it's okay, don't worry, it's a common mistake. We look very similar..."

Stranger Danger indeed! A few blasts of raw arcane energy are all it takes to send a spirit back into its pixelated next life. It turns out that incorporeal things respond well to magical type damage over physical type. Who knew? DnD players, thats who. This nerdy lore serves well to thinning the ghostly raiding party.

Arashi's quick navigation suggestion comes with a level of confusion from the captain and crew. Long logical reasoning pulls them from their own map until the captain does his scowl, takes the map, and turns it the /correct/ direction. The captain and Aarashi share a tense and uncomfortable silence to the backdrop of pirate-like combat on the ship decks. Combat and the navigator getting the business end of a riled Spriggan. The navigator steals a glance to the captain with his laughter. Its true, Mr. Clerk looks a lot like him. Damnable reusable Lander assets!

Not all of the ghosts are dagger-in-the-teeth murderhobos. In fact, most of them were opportunitsts in a past life. They were in it for that booty. Naturally they drift towards Yeowang to discuss terms of non-aggression. It turns out they can be easily talked down and bought with little more than a song and coin for their next ghost bar crawl. The joke they share is that they will be back anyway. Kinda the point of being undead. You keep coming back.

Except Jim over there. Jim got way too fresh with Vert and has paid the ultimate price of being Light-blasted into final death. The ghosts bargaining with Yeo give her the 'Im out of here' look before floating away. Can't spend your bribe money if you get exorcised.

In the end the party makes its way through the nautical conflict as the fog begins to part. The captain is able to get the ship to turn at the last possible moments to get the ship docked at the opposite side of the atoll. The captain and navigator look at their map and where they are, realizing that they are on a different entance, but they will have to just make due. Everybody off!

The away party of Adventurers quickly find what appears to be a wooden set of doors on the beach. Yes. Beach doors. All the craze this time of year. Inside there is a man, shabby if not charming, with dreadlocks mumbling about the rum being gone. Why is the rum always gone? Eyes flash wildly at the company, hands doing a weebly wobbly wild motion, "Parley?" he asks, head rolling in a way that begs to ask what is wrong with this man. The list is too long, easier to start with what is right with this man: He knows a secret entrance to the Colosseum! He will show the party if they can come up with something strong to handle his desires... for the rum.

Haru steps up, noticing a similar figure that overacts to basic situations. A kindred spirit. A deadpan and heartfelt, "Sir, that rum is gone." Like losing a prized slime. There could be more rum, but none as good as the rum you once had, strange pirate-man of the Atoll-bean.

    No one pay attention to the mapping mishap. In fact, Arashi shows herself right out of the cabin after the ghosts are dealt with, to find the ship has found a way to a different entrance. After disembarking, and finding this dreadlocked pirate of a man, the dire-shire just clenches her fist, grips it with the other hand and looms over him, "Just take us to your secret entrance. Alright?"

Yeowang is unmolested by the ghosts, having bought them off with bargains and promises, striking a deal to perform the tasks that they were unable to, due to being shipwrecked and dead. Being dead makes it very hard to do things, she understands.

So, the ship makes it to land, and we disembark and proceed on, only to be accosted by a shabby-looking fellow who wants rum. She's a tee-totaler, herself, and disinclined to bribery when it's so crude and not supernatural. Ghosts, she'll bargain with. Businessmen, she'll bargain with. Bullies get punched in the face, and that's exactly what happens to this one. POW. She takes a look as he staggers back, and roundhouse kicks him in the face, snapping his head back. "If you know an entrance, show us," she orders him brusquely.

Ugh, ghosts. Especially horny ghosts. Vertina doesn't want to think about how that would even work. It's a moot point since he's sent back to the spirit realm now.

At least once they get on the beach things are looking up, as they only have to deal with one bum that looks more like just a wreck than a walking corpse. And someone points out that he is out of booze to drown his sorrows in. "My brewmaster senses are tingling..." She might get odd looks for the maid dress, but what's that going to matter when she produces several bottles of fresh liquor to set down before the washed up seadog. "Now if you'd be so kind as to tell my friends what they want to know..."

Uta sees that other people are already taking care of the mysterious man who is wondering about the reasons for the disappearance of distilled beverages, so she just wanders around looking for something to do.

Training! That sounds good.

She inhales, exhales, and slides into the almost ritual performance of katas, sliding, parrying, kicking and punching at the air. Until, hey, look! Beach doors.

Doors on a beach make no sense, right? Must be floatsam. Or jetsam? Which one was which? Was jetsam the one that grows down from the ceiling of the sea, and floatsam the one that grows up?

In any case, nobody is probably going to miss them, so-

CRACK! One after the other, the doors are punched and kicked in half, like practice board. Uta might not think of her training as an act of intimidation, but someone else might.

That is a powerful entrance by Uta! It certainly startles the captain into attention. Just to be told by Haru that the rum is gone. One does not merely tell a man devoid of rum that the RUM IS GONE. Captain Spack Jarrow gives Haru the wild eyes of 'how dare you'! Haru replies with his hands up at him as if to say 'calm down there'. Fortunately there are others that can resolve this shenaniganry. The moment of shock and distain is shared briefly as Arashi gets all up in the captain's bizniss. "I see you are a woman of culture," he wiggly hands in the tense situation. He is introduced to the cultural end of Yeo's fist with a staggering back. Shaken, not stirred. "And this may be what you consider 'hitting on' a refined gentleman like myself," he staggers around, loopy. Loopy and staggering. Enough to take the bottle from Vertina, "Thank you lass, now. As I was saying." He wasn't. He isn't. He drinks. Still drinking. Stilllll drinking.

Eventually he tells the party what they need to know.

The information from the wiley captain pays off and the party is soon on their way into the Colosseum. Passages of hewn stone have seen better days with structural damage along the walls that have it collapsed in more than one area. It makes the place into a natural maze that requires doubling back more than once and plenty of encounters with the angry fishmen that inhabit the place. One classic dungeon crawl, served cold and damp! As dungeon crawls tend to go, it feels like hours before there is a notable break in the labyrinth (it wasn't, it was minutes). Finally one area looks notably different. There is a room that has stairs that descend downwards into strangly fresh water. The walls of the room are well carved and inscribed with strange runes that go all the day to the bottom of the room's stairway. The pathway is completely submerged and curiously enough the water does not have an impact on the Adventurer's Oxygen meter. Water you can breathe, and thats a Phantom Colosseum Promise... void where prohibited, shipping and handling not included.

The water itself begins to tug at the party. A rush of current. Suddenly it is a full riptide to yoink them through the corridors wildly. The Oxygen Meter immediately pops up. Breathing is an issue now, as is the whole toilet-flushing of the dungeon crawlers.

    Time to go under water? Sure. Arashi has no issues with water... when it isn't rushing around. Which it starts to do just a bit below, sending their O2 meter into a frenzy. Sonic Drowning Music anyone? The dire-shire has a thought, though. Silently thanking Kau once again for the technique, Arashi gets to trying to gather the others together, or at least the ones having the most difficulty, to yank them along through the turbulent waters and toward AIR. Seems like she's pushing off the water as if it were a wall or .. something similar, rather than actually diving through it. At least it is working!

Vertina stares at the flooded tunnel. Then sighs. "This better not ruin the dress. Gwen will have my hide if I come back with it damaged... I need a drink first." Though Vertina does not go for one of her flasks. Instead she takes out her Tortet's Jar, gives it a shake in a specific way, and then takes a swig from that instead. "Much better," she mutters as she puts the Relic away, and jumps in.

There is a method to this madness, though. See, one of the powers of Totet's is producing a medicine that can massively reduce pain tolerance. So, long story short, it doesn't matter how much the water current smacks her around, all Vertina has to do is hold her breath, and she comes out the eventual end a bit bruised up but ready to keep trucking on.

It was a Phantom Colosseum Promise! This is unfair!

"Water!", Uta mouths, but being underwater, all that comes out is bubbles and muffled gurgling sounds. "Why does it always have to be water?!"

She swims against the current, as hard as she can, squinting, and when that does not suffice, she makes arcane gestures, while still swimming. Hopefully to direct the currents and mitigate their negative impact on the party.

Yeowang nods as we get our way and proceed past the pirate and into the ... whatever this is. Hewn stone and weird labyrinths have her expecting minotaurs, but there's fishmen. That's OK, fishmen are easily kicked in the face.

But then the path leads into the water ... breatheable water? But then we're tugged away by the current, and the breatheable stops being breatheable.

And now we're swept along like a cross between an amusement park ride and a tumble dryer, while underwater. This is a bit complicated.

But Yeowang remains calm. She practiced her Butterfly kick for weeks before turning circles in the air became reflexive, and maneuvering in the water, it's like air you don't sink in, sort of. But the point is, she can maneuver, and if there's anything mystcal about it, she didn't put it there. That's the game assuming she isn't simply /just that skilled/. So, sucked down through whatever drain we've been sucked through, she keeps everyone together and moving as much as she can.

Arashi Air Services. You need air, we find thats fair. Need to dive? That'll be three ninety five. The results correct the currents so that the party is not going where the 'dungeon' wants them to. Notably that would be 'outside'. It makes the medicine Vert is handling an easier trek through the waters so the occasional high velocity collision with a wall is like a rubbery bounce. Water, always Water. Uta's Aquatic Control finds a point of harmony with the Arashi Air Services and Diving Emporium to stabilize the group on their way. It becomes an extreme sport after a while, extreme water surfing under water. Haru, well its hard to say what Haru is doing. Probably trying to cast something under water and getting ping-ponged off of the walls like the last time he was here. Yeowang on the other hand has all the practiced raw physical power to swing even without Aquatic, Magical, or Dive Services assisting.

It is a difficult challenge to navigate the rip-roaring corridors. Yet nothing is going to stop this team of super adventurers! There is even a little sound effect that plays off when the party manages to get themselves back to the corridors of the Colosseum instead of being force-flushed out. The path continues on until they reach the underwater layer of the Colosseum. It is a massive underwater cave made aglow with colors of red, yellow, and orange. Fungus and coral both are attached providing visual warmth to the water world's cool toned existance. It provides more than visual stimuli. The light directs and points to the Sahuagin that use this place for tournaments. In fact, one is going on /right now/ and the party entered in through the gladiator entrances. A new challenger approaches! The gates slam shut behind the party which signals bloodthirsty cheer from the Sahuagin. Sports! The announcer introduces them as the 'Outsiders' as round after round of battles are rolled in to challenge them. Sahuagin gladiators on chariots! Giant clam creatures. A battle shark! The crowd loves it, they can't get enough of the surprise entry.

Haru looks at possibility of a prolonged fight and does the sensible thing of bringing a Summon out for the occasion. Notably the a huge Earth Sprite with drill arms. More targets, more power. More music, too. Have to have good battle music going on for extended fight sequences.

    See, now, this is more Arashi's kind of thing. A battle colosseum with a HORDE mode? Lets freaking go. Though, considering that she dragged Vertina out for this, they're going to try something. With Starshadow pulled free for the melee, the weapon is turned so that the lighter of the two blades is facing outward, "Well, here goes nothing," she muses before lunging forward. The strikes are landing, and landing well, but the leading edge isn't quite getting fully charged, which the sharp-eyed lzrd may notice if they spare a glance Arashi's way.

Yeowang and the others, finding themselves dumped out more or less where they wanted to be, proceed through the big gates and find ourselves inside a colosseum. Well, this is not her first time fighting for an audience, though fish are not her usual opponent.

Not to worry, apparently strange fish-men are vulnerable to the same punches and kicks that everyone else is, and she did come here for training, so she takes it slowly and seriously, punching one on the jaw, then dispatching him with a spinning back kick.

This sets her up to elbow another hard enough in the ribs that he doubles over, and that leaves him open to a knee to the face. Pixels are all that's left, and soon not even them.

Vertina trudges out of the water passage trying to wring some of the water out of her apron so it doesn't weigh her down. So it takes her a moment to realize they're now in middle of a tournament arena full of fish people. That gets her mood to pick up immeadiately. "Finally!" The Salamander is suddenly very excited. "Time to get some more proper training!" Then there she goes, charging headlong into the wave of surprised and annoyed competitors with her usual reckless lack of self concern.

Remember what she did to the pirate ghost that was trying to make a pass at her?

Now it's happening repeatedly to fish faces this time, and Vertina is launching the occasional ki charged kick amongst the flurry of punches and light infused lariet swings. Though the fact that she's kicking in heeled shoes might hurt more than the energy does.

Especially when said heel is put into a fisheye when one of them tries to bumrush Arashi while the mare is dealing with her blade. "At least you can still use it like a sword when it's not all charged up!"

Having a musical kung-fu nurse in the party is a strategy as old as videogames, if not more. Pong wouldn't have been the success it was without one, to say nothing of classics like Tetris or Wordle.

Still doing her best to DPS, with devastating blows from her staff between twirls, punches and kicks, she occasionally stops to intone a melody and casts energy-restoring beams on the rest of the party.

Sweet beats? Sweet beatdowns? Terra, Haru's massive Earth sprite summon is all about this. The drill arms grind into opponent after opponent as her healthy pool of health soaks up plenty of high defense damage while Haru keeps her sustained over the longer duration of the battles. Horde mode? Lets gooo! Its ample time for practice with Arashi. Some of the strikes are landing to perfection, but they are undoubtably tearing through the enemies in round after round of combat. A massive melee that shows Yeowang breaking bones and internal fishy organs with fist and foot until they burst in the pixelated shards from once they came. A downright brawl when you add in the kung fu carnage unlreashed by Vert and ETO's very own kung-fu nurse. Who says Healing Artes can't be used to deal out the pain. Fish better take their medicine! Haru cheers them on from the back, far from the melee.

"Are we not amused?!" The crowd roars. The announcer demands more. "Are we NOT AMUSED?!" ROAR! "Then with no further adieu. The thunder from down under. The beast you'll flee when seen under the sea. He takes the Try out of Tri-dent because trying is for Sahuagin that don't want to be WINNERS. He is mean. He is blue-green." The crowd is all amped up. "Looooooord Sahulkain!" The /thing/ that comes out from the other side of the colosseum gates is more beast than fish. Easily two times larger than the rest. Two times the arms. Two times the hunger. His massive trident crackles with electricity as he spears someone from the crowd and gnaws on him in pixelated glory. Big fish eat small fish. This is the way. Speaking of the way, the other 'small fish' run in terror from the stands. All that are left are zealots of Team Sahulkain cheering them on even while knowing they could be a snack to their bloodsport idol.

Charged up from a fresh snack, the trident weilding lord charges in, lightning ripping through the area as it roars. Huge, meaty fish hands plowing down against the party. Saghulkain Smash! Terra, nooo! The summon goes to bitty bits in the dramatic moment where it must be known 'this thing is stronk'.

Haru yells out, "Noo!" because, of course, he cares about his summons, even if they are elemental monsters. He draws his orb in hand and begins casting a Wave Arte, "Crystallo. Serratus. Lacrima. Assula. Inimicus." What is left of Terra on the battlefield that hasn't de-pixelated begins to hover off of the ground. "My name is Haru Nox and you killed my Summon," he says in his best Inigo Montoya voice, "prepare to die." And its a full on rock storm on the Hulky Fish.

"That is one big ugly fish," Vertina quips as Sahulkain tomps over the fallen to enter the arena. Holds her hands up to the sides of her mouth to project her voice. "Hey, fish breath! YOUR MOMMA WAS A MAGIKARP!" Which he probably doesn't know what is, but that she's yelling it in a demeaning manner gets the point across that she's insulting him. Enough to get a roar, and a massive fist hammered down at her!

Only go kick up dirt and pixels as the nimble Salamander cartwheels out of the way. And keeps rolling, staying just ahead of his attempts to turn and smash her. Until she's spun him around a few times.

Then she stops on her hands and springs back up onto her feet. "Hit him while he's dizzy!"

    Dizzy? Sure. Dizzy works. Seems Vertina had a good first strike, and then Arashi leads up with a proper ground pound, marching fiercely forward, making the ground quake, to try and stunlock the beast even further. "Now is most certainly the time to get your hits in!" At which point she stabs. Hard. Die foul beast.

Yeowang considers the champion for some moments as the fight is joined, this one seems like kind of an important fight. Well, this fellow seems to be the champ, if we win, we'll be the champs, right? Or will we have to fight one another until only one is left?

Well, she's analyzed his style, which seems to be the Hulk Smash style of just swinging clumsily at what's in front of him, and sets her tactics. She comes at him from the side, slightly to the rear, and kicks the crap out of the back of his head. If this were a carnival, she'd definitely have rung the bell. Bouncing away when he turns, she ducks a lunge, slips behind him again, and snap-kicks the back of his knee. This makes his leg buckle, and he staggers, leaving him open to a kidney punch, but when he spins around, she's not there. She and the others beat him down, laying into him withhout mercy.

Uta stands, with an intense stare. Feet kept apart, arms held straight, sloping down, at a short distance from her body. Crackling with electric energy.

"Now, let's see what the next challenger is lik-"

Thump. Thump. Thump.

THUMP.

Uta looks up. Way up. "*wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeze*"

"No panic, no panic, I know just the thing!"

She swipes her menu open, and shimmers into existence-

A red, squishy ball. Which she proceeds to squeeze while performing breathing exercises. "I'm calm. I'm calm. I can do this. I just need to find my rhythm and-"

*PUNCH*

Well, if people tuned in right now, they might suspect that Uta has unlocked the secret to flight...

All of the lightning attacks are promptly debuffed by the Earth magic in the room, debuffing one of Saghulkain's fastest abilities for dealing with group encounters. He is too slow for the flurry of martial combatants. Stagged. Stunned. Kept off base. The Combo Counter keeps going up, kept rechained by a jagged rock to keep the bleeding debuff fresh on him. Four fists means plenty of attacks, including the skewering end of the trident, but non avail in taking the party down. He does avail in taking one party 'up' and thats Uta.

In the end there is but one team that is victorious. It is the Adventurers! With the final blow, the huge fishy creature lay on the ground, arm outstretched as if wanting to rend one more person in his beefy talon-hands. Then. Gone. Pixelated into the abyss. The members of the crowd shower the victors in roses. They cheer! What a show. Of those roses, some of them inspect as the Witherless Rose, a token of the victory on this day.

"Huh," Haru says as he picks one up, putting a finger to his monocle to Appraise the rose through the purple tint of his relic. "Wow, of the things I expected to find down here, didn't expect this one." He isn't speaking to anyone in particular, but he does look around for Uta. Did... Uta learn to fly?!

Once the fight is done Vertina walks over and gives Arashi a pat on the shoulder. "Just keep trying." She did notice earlier, but can only quip so much in middle of a Mob Rush miniboss fight. Points at the white side of the sword. "It -is- responding, I can sense it, but you just can't charge up it as fast as was required for constant damage output like that. -Yet-."

Yeowang looks over to Uta, spinning around with one arm out, and says, "I'm sure if spriggans fly, they don't fly like helicopters." That may make her Miss Downer in Haru's book, but Uta needs the harsh truth. "I'm sure if you keep up your research, there will be some insight into how you can fly like you did in the game before," she offers hopefully.

    Eh? Oh. Vertina. "Right, I couldn't get quite enough energy into the blade, but like you said, it is still a sword even without that added bit," Arashi agrees. "Close, really close.. though," she insists before giving the weapon a glance over and putting it away. "Progress, at least, right?"