Birthday Bash!

Yuuki's birthday is coming up! And what does she want to do for her birthday? Go raiding of course! Expect boss fighto!

Yuuki
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    Yuuki has leveled up again! Though not in the character type of leveling. But in the life type of leveling. And of course she wants to celebrate it! Last year was just a simple gathering. This year though, Yuuki wants to do something a bit more exciting! Which is why she's invited anyone who's interested to join her in a small raid.

    To this end, Yuuki currently waits at the south gate of Breg Epona. Leaning against a wall, she waits for people to show up with a grin on her face.
Merek
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

    Merek of course would come to assist, and with him being already in the nation because of his recent work, well it is an easy way to get to the place. He will nod a little bit to Yuuki while he smiles, "I wish you a happy birthday!"
Fukaziroh
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    Birthday party or raid, Fukaziroh's usually up for either. Both together though, now THAT'S a party! An ADVENTURE party! With explosions and devastation! How could Fuka have possibly missed it?

    She trots onto the scene, waving cheerfully. "Yuu! What's this I hear about a PARTY?" she claims cheerfully. "My gift to you is... ME! The best gift of all~"
Prophylaxis
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

It's RAID DAY. Though Prophylaxis does wish that the situation facing Yamato were a little less dire so that he could properly enjoy the special occasion. This is, after all, not an ordinary raid. This is a BIRTHDAY RAID for a very special girl.

"Happy birthday, Yuuki," The Doctor announces, "And to many more to come! I have also brought... a present." There is indeed a box in his hands, which he soon offers to the birthday girl. "I hope you like it. Sadly we're still limited on ingredients, so I couldn't get you what I really wanted to, but with any luck, That will turn up sooner rather than later."

What is... 'That?'

Well, that's a good question!

"So," he asks, glancing about. "What are we raiding today, exactly?"
Yuuki
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    Oh yey! People are arriving! Yuuki pushes herself off the wall to greet the first to show up, "Hey Merek! Thanks! "

    Next up is Fukaziroh, "Hey Fuka!" Oh? Fuka is the gift? Yuuki smirks playfully, "You wouldn't happen to have a receipt for that gift? Just in case I want to return it~"

    Finally Prophylaxis shows up, "Prophy!" The Doctor better be prepared because soon there's a black-purplish blur heading his way. Not quite a full tacklehug, given the precious cargo he carries, but a speedy hug nonetheless!

    Yuuki lets ago again and grins, "Thanks for coming!" Her eyes light up at the offered gift, "Hooray!" While she's unboxing it, Yuuki chuckles mischievously at Prophylaxis's question, "Oh~ Just something I've tried to solo myself a few times. But I always fall just a little short! So thought I'd get some help! Oh! Can someone get us some rental pekos? It's a bit of a ride..."
Fukaziroh
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    "Okay, rude!" Fuka cries in reply, though she's still grinning about it. "Why would anyone possibly want to RETURN ME?" she complains. Then she shrugs. "I had an actual present for you, but at this point I might just eat it myself!" she adds, withdrawing a 'gift box' and presenting it. Spoilers, it's edible. The contents of the box that is, not the box itself. Well, probably. Anyways the threat to withhold it is pure bluff. She's not going to hold good bants against the birthday girl.

    "We're going riding huh? I'll have you know I'm a champion rider! Well, maybe not champion, but I didn't come in last!" Fuka brags in a rather... ineffective manner.
Merek
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

    Merek will offer a nod along to Yuuki, "Well, I will assist with that, I am waiting to see what it is we will be fighting," the man offers, while he takes the time to pull the hood along the features of his while waiting.
Prophylaxis
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

Oh no! Prophy is ALMOST BOWLED OVER! Except probably not because he's very well adapted to Yuuki-based tackle-hugs by now. The procedure for dealing with all that limitless momentum is simple: The moment she hurls herself at him, he lifts her up and spins about once, then twice, before setting her back down--!

"I wouldn't miss it for the world!" He chimes, as Yuuki unboxes her gift to reveal...

...A package full of candy! It looks like they're mostly sweets custom-molded in little butterflies, rolled up taffy and caramels. There's also a... stuffed bunny rabbit there, with a distinctly grumpy (but nevertheless adorable) expression.

"It's quite a ways out in the desert, eh...?" Prophylaxis asks, scratching at his cheek. "Well. I suppose I could finance the trip. It is a special occasion, after all."
Baroness Wake
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0



    Baroness Wake is here. It's just like that with her sometimes. Gone one minute, there the next. And so it is that she decides to just be present abruptly, but with the posture of one who has been waiting to be noticed past the very edge of her patience.

    "You know, Yuuki dear, you'd think that if you invite people to your birthday rave party, you'd greet them promptly!"

    Wake is, of course, teasing, but the Right Clothes do look rather like something one would wear to a club, with the whole skin tight, bare mid-riff, short skirt thing she's rocking. The over-the-knee boots with impractical platform sole just add to it. If she's brought a present (of course she has!) she isn't showing it just yet.

Yuuki
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    "The more help the better! Thanks~" This is Yuuki's response to Merek as she finishes unboxing Prophylaxis's gift. The candy is of course always appreciated. But the grumpy plush bunny draws out an amused laugh from Yuuki, "He's adorable!" She gives the bunny a squeeze-hug, before stuffing it away in her inventory, "Better keep it safe for now. And free of sand."

    Then Fukaziroh produces her own gift for Yuuki. Who sparkle-eyes at the sight and says, "Okay, I think I'll keep you." She proceeds to unbox Fuka's gift too, during which: Sudden Baroness!

    But Yuuki doesn't skip a beat when she replies, "But if I do that I can't pretend you're really good at stealthing and I didn't notice you. And that would be rude!"

    Soon enough Prophylaxis returns with some rental pekos for the group. Yuuki proceeds to mount up, starting to lead the others out of town and into the desert. As they start to pick up speed and follow Yuuki, she calls back, "I hope you guys haven't been skipping out on your exercising!"
Fukaziroh
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    "FUNNY you should mention that!" Fuka grins in an unsavoury way at Yuuki's question. "I'm actually working on a training regimen, trying to bring myself back to my roots as a melee fighter. This training involves lots of running various dungeons." she notes, saying the last bit quite deadpan.

    Following Yuuki on peko-back, the little Sylph should have little trouble keeping up on the ride, whether due to animal handling or physical condition, so long as it's not actually a race. "So, interested in training with me sometime? Assuming you can keep up?" she asks. Yuuki mostly, but the question's open enough should anyone else be interested.
Merek
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

    Merek will begin to follow with Yuuki, taking the time to nod to everyone, "Alright, we will assist with whatever we can," the man offers, while he takes the time and relaxes a bit watching.
Prophylaxis
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

"Ahahaha, I'm glad you like him!" Prophylaxis smiles and reaches down to ruffle Yuuki's hair, "I'm just sad we haven't found and cocoa yet." Much like the /entire population of Yamato/ more or less. "Just be sure to feed him plenty of hugs, he's only grumpy on the outside."

And a giant fluffy fuzzball on the inside...!

But! Mount up! Prophylaxis alights astride his rental peko. It's a somewhat different experience from riding on his usual lazy bones of a bird, but with all the experience he's accumulated over his many (many) races, Prophylaxis is able to handle it just fine. "Please," he rolls his eyes at that last quip, "I'm not Setsuna. I have at least a /little/ bit of stamina."
Baroness Wake
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0



    Wake grins at the response from Yuuki and reaches out to ruffle the birthday girl's hair. "If we live, I have something for you."

    She'll mount-up smoothly enough, though she's never been a great rider. Properly using stirrups in her current outfit is just barely possible, and almost indecent.

    Regardless of her skills, she'll keep up one way or another. She can't let Yuuki win any race too easily, after all. "So you found something you couldn't solo, huh? I think half of my deaths previous to the big reboot started with that line.." She looks over at Prophylaxis, "It's nice having the old gang back together again, following Yuuki into what is most likely to be an exciting disaster!"

Fukaziroh
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    "Old gang? Who are you calling old?" complains Fuka. She's (probably) not actually seriously thinking they're talking about her, naturally. "You're the old ones! I'm too young and pretty to die, at least when Prof's around! So we're going to beat this dungeon or mob, whatever it is!"
Yuuki
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    "I thiiiiiink I could keep up with you. But maybe you should go easy on me anyway!" Yuuki grins at Fuka. She then laughs at Wake and Prophylaxis, responding to Wake in particular, "Oh, this is definitely going to test your physical abilities!" Possibly magical too. But Yuuki doesn't think about such things.

    The ride is a little while, the rolling dunes shining as the sun beats down on the group. But soon enough the group crests a dune and then Yuuki points into the distance, "There it is!" Looking that way, the group can see what looks like some ancient ruins. Numerous pieces of broken buildings are half and potentially even fully buried under sand. Though one tower in particular rises up a fair distance into the sky. Atop which is something shiny, though it's hard to see what at this distance. But as the group rides closer, it starts to become recognizeable as a large gong hanging within the tower's tip.

    Finally Yuuki hops off her rental peko some distance from the ruins and walks the rest of the way. She climbs up onto a large piece of debris, on which a pedestal sits. She moves over to stand beside it, before looking back at the others expectantly and waiting for them to join her. A giant grin on her face.
Baroness Wake
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0



    "Ohhhh, so this is one of those raids where we ring a giant monster's dinner bell and wait around to see what happens," observes Wake. "I hope the poor thing is ready for the worst case of indigestion ever."

    She does the only really important thing one should do before fighting a huge monster: she ensures that her hair is just right. She's in a primma donna mood today. Okay, pretty much always.

    "We are having ice cream after this, right? Cause I imagine I'd be able reach next level focus if I knew were going to do that. This heat is awful!"

Fukaziroh
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    "We'd BETTER have ice cream after this!" insists Fukaziroh. "Wait we have ice cream here? I understood it was lost to us forever until we conquered the Palace Lands! Don't tell me I was *lied to* to get me more enthusiastic for warfare!"

    The idea of ice cream cheers the girl immensely, though she had no shortage of cheer before, naturally. "So what's this pedestal, Yuu?" she asks curiously, stepping up. "Is it a magic elevator? A catapult? Hey that sounds pretty fun. Who here doesn't have wings?" she asks, looking around curiously.
Prophylaxis
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

"Wake and I are old friends of Yuuki's," Prophylaxis explains, leaving the exact nature of the relationship a mystery, "I hazard we've known each other for years now. Of course, when the Apocalypse happened, I decided to take a more proactive role in tower climbs, which led to my departure from the Sleeping Knights. Officially, anyway."

He's /here/ after all.

The rental peko squad sprints across the rolling, all-consuming dunes. Prophylaxis' expression turns pensive and thoughtful at the sight. Those ruins... The way the sands seem to swallow them all whole, and the gleaming gong at the top of that tower...

"Why am I getting sandworm vibes...?" He mutters quietly, "Or... some kind of bird, maybe...?"
Yuuki
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    "WE HAVE ICECREAM!?" No. Wait. Raid first. Yuuki grins at Prophylaxis as he makes a couple of guesses, "Nope and nope!"

    Then Fukaziroh speaks the magic words, "Why Fuka, I'm so glad you asked! It's more of an wake up alarm..." Yuuki places her hand on the pedestal.

    The pedestal begins to glow.

    Trails of pure light sweep down the pedestal and into the ruins beneath.

    The ground begins to shake... No, not the ground! The ruins all around the group begin to move. Specifically, the start to rise up, sand falling away to reveal more and more of them.

    But they don't stop rising once they are fully revealed, continuing upwards as they begin to float higher and higher into the air.

    The central tower in particular exits the sandy ground, shooting high into the air before stopping as it joins its fellow floating ruins. For a moment, there is stillness as all these pieces of building float in the air above the group at various heights.

    CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

    The gong rings three times. The ruins slowly start to orbit and move around each other and a giant name and health bar appears above all of them:

                            LORD OF RUINS                            

    And at this point, Yuuki points upwards towards the tip of the floating tower at the very top, "We need to get up there and hit the gong again to beat it!"
Merek
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

    Merek will follow with Yuuki, and when they are at the boss, the man nods a bit, trying to use a few pillars to climb to the top, though he doesn't manage a lot at the moment.
Fukaziroh
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    "Wake Up? So it IS a catapult!" Fuka observes, waggling eyebrows in Baroness Wake's direction. She only stops making dumb puns when the ruins begin to arise.

    "So then, not just Wake up. We ALL go up!" Fuka notes. Not done punning just yet apparently. "Last one to the top buys ice cream!" she shouts.

    Laughing in delight, Fuka takes advantage of her racial traits to zoom on up. The lightweight race and affinity for air makes her able to bound upwards, running almost as if there weren't monstrous parkour leaps and gaps to surmount.
Prophylaxis
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

"This... Is a /race?/" Well, that would explain why Yuuki hasn't been able to clear it solo yet. If it were a monster to slay or something like that, it'd be long dead by now after all. Prophylaxis seems mildly... unnerved? Worried? CONCERNED!?

"Oh no," he mutters, "My race luck... shall the doom befall me once more?"

He hops forth, zooming from platform to platform on a puffs of air... Only to miss his last jump and tumble all the way back down to the start!!

"My dark fate," Prophy laments, "Truly, my curse is great...!"
Baroness Wake
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0



    "Yuuki, dear, you know my whole comedic take on a birthday rave instead of raid is really going to bite me in the tail, so to speak."

    The Baroness looks up. And up. And up. She doesn't seem angry or nervous, just totally relaxed.

    Impractical shoes or not, the Baroness has clearly not lost her step. She even makes a game of pretending to fall a few times, as if were all just the finest of games.

    "Hey Yuuki! I can't see my home from here! I think I need to go higher!"

Yuuki
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    Yuuki has already tried this a few times on her own, though she was being literal when she said she kept falling a little short. As she kept falling after failing to properly judge a jump. But now that there's more people here, Yuuki is hoping they'll be able to work together to reach the end. So she's happy as she watches the others beginning to make their attempts rising up.

    Prophylaxis is the first to fall as a platform moves just out of range of his jump at the last moment. However, when he hits the ground, he'll find it was barely even a tap. At this point, he (and others) may notice the buff currently applied to them: Safety Net. Inspecting it further shows the description: Reduces damage from all sources by 90%. Looks like they don't have to worry about getting hurt here!

    Yuuki facepalms as Fukaziroh not only manages to make it up and doing so in a seemingly easy manner... But also barraging them with puns.

    Merek starts going from pillar to pillar, making his way up. But at the very last pillar, a part of it crumbles beneath his foot! Soon enough he's falling, falling, falling-bam. He hits the ground again, likely experiencing the same realization as Prophylaxis.

    Finally it's Yuuki's turn. She doesn't rush off right away. Instead choosing to watch as the various ruined platforms float around. Her eyes look keenly at them... There! Yuuki runs and leaps, landing on the first piece of debris. From there she hops and skips, following the path up that she had spotted, until she's practically a third of the way up. Pausing for a moment to respond to Wake, Yuuki laughs, "Well, no one's stopping you. Though I understand if you need a break, old lady."

    So far, not too bad. A few of them have made it part way up. But if they think it's going to be that simple to continue further, they are sorely mistaken. For one thing, the higher up they get, the further away the pieces are and the faster they orbit. Making the chance of mistaking either timing or distance an even greater possibility.

    And for another, the boss doesn't seem content to just idle and let them try. Sand rises up out of several of the floating pieces surrounding those part way up. The sand quickly hardens into the shape of what look like hell hound statues, their mouths suspiciously wide open. Sure enough, fireballs begin to blast out of those mouths towards those who are part way up. Thanks to the debuff, the damage isn't of real concern.

    The explosive force they impart on the targets they hit however, could be very troublesome!
Merek
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

    Merek will try to keep on climbing, while he uses magic from the wind to try to assist him up. Well, he doesn't do all that well at it and in fact is doing less than he was before with the pillar.
Fukaziroh
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    Fukaziroh shrieks as she's pelted with a fireball. "THAT'S CHEATING!" she cries out as she's blasted off the course, knocked back to ground level. She bounces back up however, on her feet and charging forward with deliberate martial tempo. "I get knocked down, but I get up again! You ain't ever gonna keep me down!" she chants, making her way back up once again.
Baroness Wake
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0



    Wake does take it a bit more seriously, even if she appears to be simply goofing off. Seriously enough to get quite amusingly knocked off her current platform!

    The Baroness laughs and throws out her left hand, grabbing a ledge and swinging herself right back up. She even does a little amused dance as she does so.

    "Yuuuuuki!" she calls out in sing-song voice, "This is the best rave evvvver! A pity Kauchemar isn't here to DJ for it! You little kids still call them that, right? Raves are still a thing?"

Fukaziroh
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    "OMG MOM!" cries out Fuka at Wake. "You can't call it a rave, that's most of the way to grave! This is a PARTY!"
Prophylaxis
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

He... doesn't take falling damage?

...

Well, this absolutely isn't exploitable. Surely if death wasn't accompanied by potentially catastrophic consequences, some enterprising adventurer could find a way to, for example, take this buff and roll through the geometry so that they bypass the plane that would normally strip it, and then go off and solo a few bosses.

"Ah," Yuuki and the others take a bad fall. Oh no...!

But they'll be fine, because damage is a myth. "Well, let's try another way," the doctor mutters and plants his hands on the ground, conjuring a pillar of stone directly /underneath/ him, to fling him safely up one level...!
Yuuki
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    Round 2 - Fight!

    Yuuki is apparently too distracted watching the others. Cause she should really know better as a fireball comes streaking her way. Yuuki quickly raises her blade to try and deflect it, but the resulting explosions is still strong enough to make her lose her footing! Yuuki proceeds to plummet down to the ground once more, slamming into it with a fake, "Ouch!" Fake given that there was barely a tap as far as pain goes.

    Merek is the first to pick himself up again as he starts climbing. The wind boosts help, right up until a piece of debris comes floating around to slam into him and knock him off course. Oops!

    Fukaziroh gets knocked down, but she gets up-Oh, she already did that reference. Okay, sure. Fuka is back up to where she was again. Non-progress!

    Wake manages to catch herself despite the fireball. Fancy! But when she asks again raves, Yuuki shouts back, "How would I know!? I'm not exactly the dancing type!" No doubt referring to her real world status, though all in good humour. She long ago learned that jokes are a great coping mechanism.

    Prophylaxis LAUNCHES himself into the air, making progress for the first time. Watching along, Yuuki says, "Hey! That's a good idea!" So Yuuki tries to do the same thing!

    ...

    ...

    ...

    Oh wait. Yuuki can't do magic. FAIL!

    Those who have made it up once again find that, also once again, the hell hound statues are spewing fireballs at them. This could be a problem if they don't somehow deal with them, given the difficulty that they've encountered so far. No wonder Yuuki couldn't do this alone!
Merek
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

    Merek will think about it a moment, then he takes an explosive potion from the belt with him, and will throw that, using any rubble to climb. "Well, that works a little bit it looks like."
Fukaziroh
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    Not just a magical powerhouse with air, Fuka's actually athletic and fairly quick. Having suffered fireballs before, she decides to switch up tactics. "Got to fight fire..." she says, muttering a partial chant before beginning her dash to the midlevels. Holding it back, she leaps with purely physical prowess, clearing gaps with good athleticism and good timing. And when the fireballs come, she points her finger and draws a line. A wall of fire erupts, deflecting enough of the incoming literal fire to make it miss her. "WITH FIRE! Come on you ice cream buyers!" she shrieks. "Get on my level!"
Prophylaxis
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

"Yuuki no!" Prophylaxis cries, "You're about as magical as an accounting spreadsheet! You can't--" Too late. Prophylaxis winces at the sight of this... terrible mistake. Oh, poor Yuuki...

But also: POOR PROPHYLAXIS. Flame-spitting sand gargoyles do exactly what their name suggests they are wont to do. A fireball races towards the magus...

Who conjures a MIGHTY BARRIER just in time to send the destructive blast sailing into a far-off ruined structure, setting the stone ablaze for a brief moment before the masonry remembers that it's not actually flammable and puts itself out. The doctor grimaces and looks upward, holding his staff high. The sky begins to rumble and darken... As a bolt of lightning smashes into the head of his mighty mage's rod!

...Which he then lashes to a CONVENIENT GRAPPLE POINT high above, slingshotting him up another several dozen feet...!
Baroness Wake
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0



    Wake falls again blasted skyward into a remarkable cartwheel, catches herself with her legs, dangling from a pole, mast, or something of that sort! She swings there a moment, facepalming.

    "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.. the Lady Wake, old, fragile, but incredibly clear of skin and free of wrinkles, struggled mightily with her ascent.."

    She looks at Yuuki, from her very upside-down perspective, and smiles. By frowning. Cause you see, the lips have to curve upward.

    "You know we can't really get ice cream until we deal with the Palace Landers, right?" she asks playfully.

Yuuki
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    Yuuki watches from the ground again as the others continue to climb. Merek turns the ruins into even smaller ruins with her exploding potion. And it works! The large amount of floating pieces gives him far more choices to pick from when rising up.

    Fukaziroh's fighting fire with fi-Damnit, stop doing that! Still, it works. The fireballs exploding against the fire shield, keeping very little of the resulting force from reaching Fuka herself. This gives her the opportunity to bounce her way further up. She finds herself perched almost two-thirds up the mass of floating ruins. The tip of the tower is in sight, as is the gong. With the right moves, she could make it there with her next burst!

    Prophylaxis points out the critical flaw in Yuuki's plan. Then lords his super magical powers over her even more as he proceeds to call on LIGHTNING ITSELF to pull himself up higher and higher up. Soon enough he joins Fuka up there in sight of the goal.

    Yuuki once more starts running and jumping up the ruins, starting from the beginning once more. She gets close to the one-third mark when she notices her target platform shift at the last moment! Oh no, Yuuki's going to fall! Just kidding~ The swift imp activates one of her sword artes, her body engulfed in a dark wind, which she's able to use to redirect her jump mid-flight and land once more.

    Yuuki breathes a sigh of relief, before looking thoughtfully at Wake, "Do you think the Palace Landers that are invading might have brought some with them? Clearly we should raid them to find out!"

    So far the party is split between 1/3rd and 2/3rds up. Those at the 1/3rd point are once again facing off against the statue-launched fireballs. However Prophylaxis and Fukaziroh find themself in an unfortunately different and more difficult situation: Some of the floating ruins begin to change course, starting to rush towards the two of them and crash into the platforms they're standing on. Not only are they at risk of being hit by these flying pieces of debris, but there's the possibility that the ground beneath their feet will be smashed into pieces, leaving nothing keeping them from falling!

    Welcome to Round 4, people!
Prophylaxis
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

Look, just because Prophylaxis is a mighty magus capable of conjuring the very might of the elements themselves does not mean that he's /showing off./ No, the fact that he's... using about the flashiest possible spells he has access to-- that's why you know he's promenading his power around like a proud peacock.

Which is why the world probably sees fit to punish him for his hubris not a moment after he makes a perfect three-point landing on the next tier of the tower. "Hm. Not bad. If I can keep up this pace..." Prophylaxis smirks, then frowns, because there's a shadow underneath him that wasn't there a moment ago. "Uh." He looks up...

To see a BUILDING being hucked at him!??!

"What!?" The doctor lifts his left hand in a protective gesture, a globe of crystal-white flame erupting all around him! The structure slams into the shimmering sphere, shattering it into a billion tiny shards. Prophylaxis is... unharmed.

...But he's also sailing bodily off the tower, flailing for anything at all to grab onto...!!
Fukaziroh
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    The end goal is in sight, but these fireballs and stuff are getting nasty, not to mention those platforms are trickier than they were below. Fuka has magic to spare, but she's running out of athletic tricks to advance. She can channel a move burst with air but ... well, that might get in the way of her advance. And she's only got moments to decide as fireballs pelt her way and her platform begins to shake!

    Hearing Proph's outcry however, Fuka has a change of mind. Well, not really mind. She doesn't even think about it really, she just reacts. Diving out from her slightly lower position, she raises arms out as if to catch the doctor and protect him from the fall. "Gale~!" she shrieks out, pouring out mana in a pure and unfocussed blast before her.

    It's a LOT of air mana. And, even unfocussed, it exerts considerable force. Enough to push Proph upwards and, if he's skilled enough, back to safety. Maybe even advance him slightly.

    Of course it also propels Fukaziroh in the opposite direction. She *slams* into a lower platform, the air unironically whooshing out of her. And she just lays there, trying to breathe, plastered out on her back where not even fireballs are likely to dislodge her.
Merek
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

    Merek looks to the next place in the phase that he needs to get to, then he begins to adjust and will swing up with a fireball that blasts along into the ground, taking the time to place him at the next phase.
Baroness Wake
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0



So Wake does manage to avoid the fireball. There's that going for her.

    "If at first you don't succeed," she cries out trimuphantly..

    And so she attempts to move upwards. Not using the general punch her way up that had been working, but instead relying on a general acceptance of what appears to be the rules that govern the behavior of one at this level. In short, she glides in a series of quasi-dance moves that look almost like bows and curtseys. It's weirdly time to some invisible beat. Sadly, it doesn't work and she ends up missing her leap.

    "... destroy all evidence that you ever tried," she finishes, laughing as she falls.

Prophylaxis
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

Is this the end!? After over a year of avoiding CERTAIN DEATH, Prophylaxis is hurtling clear of the tower, and potentially of its life-saving invulnerability magic. Even if he maintains the buff, 90% of potentially infinite fall damage is still a lot! He grits his teeth and braces for impact in that brief moment of total vertigo...

And then Fuka finds him, grabs him, and sends him rocketing into the air at her own expense. "Ghh--!" Prophy flails, weightless and at a loss for words... But not at a loss for thought. He sweeps out his left hand again, this time invoking a different sign. Clutched in his fingers are several... seedpods?

There's a flash of emerald light as their growth is kicked into overdrive. Thick vines erupt from the doctor's hand, intertwining into a powerful, clinging cord that wraps around a high up pillar. With a burst of air magic of his own and a fierce tug of that vine, Prophylaxis adds to Fuka's donated momentum and sends himself higher, higher, higher...!

Until finally he straight up faceplants on the tower's top platform and, with a groan, reaches out to bonk his staff against the gong.
Yuuki
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    Merek takes advantage of the highly reduced damage buff to rocket jump himself up to the 2/3rds mark. Despite earlier issues, it seems that he has managed to make up some ground! Both Wake and Yuuki manage to keep themselves from getting blasted off their platforms by the fireballs. But they then fail their attempts to climb higher. Yuuki in particularly gambling on a long jump, trying to stab her sword into the opposite platform as an anchor point, only to juuuust fall short and plummet back down again.

    As for Prophylaxis, he takes a building to the FACE. No. Wait, correction. Prophylaxis's magical shield takes a building to the FACE. Prophylaxis himself just gets thrown into the air by the resulting collision. With no where to go but down...

    ... No wait! Fukaziroh comes FLYING IN! She uses a wind spell to send him flying upwards once more, putting him into spell range of the tower's speak. Can he do it? Can he pull it off? Yes! Yes he can! The vines wrap around a floating pillar as Prophylaxis Spider-mans his way up to the tip of the tower. 0/10 landing aside, he manages to hit the gong with his stuff, the loud sound echoing out from the tower and signaling victory! The health bar of the massive boss, which is barely missing a sliver despite the various attacks and damage done to its structure, now suddenly plummets of its own accord. Before emptying.

    You guys know what that means!

    The boss. The Lord Of Ruins. Begins to fall apart into pixels of light. All of it. Every pillar, platform, statue, stone and speck of dust until there is nothing left.

    Yuuki has a surprised look on her face as the platform beneath her turns to light and she begins to plummet. She starts flailing, seeing the ground rushing up beneath her-BAM! She lands in a puff of desert sand with a fake groan. Fake, because thankfully the damage resistance buff had remained long enough for the party to 'reach the ground' once again. Though it quickly fades soon after.
Baroness Wake
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0



    There is a kind of feline grace in Wake's movements, and just like a cat, she falls on her feet. Or she could, but really? That's so predictable and boring. It's a total n00b approaching to falling.

    Cleary, Wake has to fall in style. Which in this case means she takes on the pose of the Nirvana Buddha, on her right side, head propped up comfortably on her right hand as she plummets into a poofy cloud of sand.

    A moment later the sand clears and she remains there, failing to reach Nirvana due to the damage reduction. Oh well, she tried!

    "I don't suppose anyone has some bad pork on them?" she asks playfully.

Merek
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

    Merek of course will keep trying, although he doesn't manage to keep from taking another step down, he does use the fist of his along with a kick to rock himself up.
Prophylaxis
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

Prophylaxis groans, forcing himself upright. "Is it done," he asks, though nobody can answer, "Did we do it...?"

He's able to enjoy being on his feet for approximately thirty seconds before the boss' hp bar hits zero...

...and causes it to *vanish entirely* underfoot.

Unlike most cartoon characters, Prophylaxis is in fact entirely vulnerable to gravity. He goes 'gwap!?' once, and immediately starts falling out of the sky like a particularly graceless dino-murdering space rock.

He hits the ground with approximately as much grace as one, too. Fortunately, he also fails to take any damage, but...

Well, he's going to be cleaning sand out of... everything.
Yuuki
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    Yuuki lies in her Yuuki-shaped indent in the sand for several moments. Until part of her pops up and raises a fist in excitement, "VICTORY!"

    Yuuki climbs to her feet once more, brushing the sand off her and laughing, "That was great! We should do that again some time. Maybe start timing ourselves and get a speed run contest going."
Prophylaxis
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0

A hand rises out of the Prophylaxis-shaped hole in the sand.

...It is curled... in a /thumbs up./ (b'')b
Fukaziroh
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0


    Fuka lies on her platform, trying to catch her wind. Pelted a few times by fireballs, she barely feels the effect, just clinging to the platform and not moving, peering upwards to see Proph actually manage to reach the goal.

    It's a great feeling. Sure Fuka wished she had won herself, showed off how amazing she is, but she also knows Proph made it because she saved him from a fall. In a way that's better. Better to help others win, to be reliable and effective. Besides, it was fun!

    She'll have to remind herself just how much fun the race was AFTERWARDS however, as the platform beneath her sparkles and vanishes in a burst of light. Falling once again, the little sylph pancakes into the sand, disappearing into a puff like an escapee from a Looney Tunes cartoon. She doesn't even get a chance to try to save herself with her wings. They might have worked if she'd been in a better position, but they were totally inadequate in this case.

    From within the dust comes a soft moan. "Owwwwwww...."
Baroness Wake
Yamato - -45 - 0 - 0



    Wake rises and dusts herself off with a sigh. She sees Prophylaxis' thumbs up and breaks into a laugh. She has to appreciate the good doctor's approach to comedy.

    "Well, we didn't die," she observes. Old people have incredible wisdom and discernment, see? A young person might not know they weren't dead at this point.

    Wake meddles about with her inventory and draws out a small box. It has been expertly wrapped, by Wake herself. She could get a job at even the fanciest stores in Ginza! Perhaps she did?

    "Happy birthday, Yuuki! I hope you like it. Oh.." She draws out another present, "And this one is from Tae. She tells me you never eat enough, so she went crazy with baking."