Minecraft II EX [Mod; Holly]

[Vice Ysal]

Annoyingly dark this place is, Vice deemed it to be the only place to give him a challenge anymore. All the other areas had more or less been nested with quite a couple of shadows but none of them bore the kind of experience he was looking for. So here he was again, trying his best to increase not only his proficiency with Arondight, the black knight had a thing for being unruly sometimes and didn't like the concept of serving another King or some such, and his physical abilities. Provided that they were rather high already before his supposed awakening, the presence of his imaginary friend had opened up new limits for him to test.

So here he was again, trying his best not to get his ankles stuck in between the tracks or something ironically comical like that while making sure that he'd be able to map the place out. As it were though, the constant use of the place made it plausible that someone else could have probably cleaned the area up of both anything valuable in terms of monetary or mental value. Sighing and ignoring that problem, reminding himself that this was more of a physical test for him than anything else, Vice flexed his muscles for a bit and tightened his grip on his readied swords.

So far though, he'd been lucky enough to not have been tangled in some shadows that could get the jump on him. Ignore the fact that he was just walking between four points over and over again until his supposed partner would finally arrive. She wasn't late per say, more so that Vice was just a bit earlier than the supposed time for them to meet up. Wasn't his fault that he wanted to test new things out with Arondight, the whole chance to explore a completely new facet of his existence was simply too intriguing to pass up for complacency or something boorish like being a waiter.

A rock tumbled in front of him, the same rock that he'd been sharing some of his attention with to increase the awareness around him, and Vice continued on his walk back towards the meeting area. Who knew, maybe the 5th cycle would reward him with a partner.

[Holly Mason]

A few days ago, Holly did another thorough scan of the outside for newly opened areas she could actually handle.  Once again, she was able to blow through the weaker shadows without too much resistance, but she would always come to a barrier that would stop her from progressing.  No amount of attacking the barrier, tinkering with the barrier or doing anything else she could think of to the barrier would make it break or even budge either.  In other words, if she wanted to improve her own strength or find anything worth finding she was going to have to go back...there.  To the mines.  Again. 

She wasn't sure whether she should thank Vice or curse him when he asked her to come explore.  On the one hand, she was still going to have to go back to the damn mines, but on the other at least she wouldn't be alone this time.  It's not like she was going to hold off on exploring more this week just because she only had one place to go and she was sick of going there.  Holly warned him that it might be pointless to explore them right now because she had already explored them to death and that this would actually be her eighth trip down there, but it would be a good spot for him to improve his own skills if he could handle it.  And if he couldn't?  Well, she had gone down there alone so many times that it didn't really matter if he was even completely dead weight, and she expected that he'd be at least a little more useful than that.  It was hard to say where  he'd be skill wise.  On the one hand, he had already fought several battles, but on the other he was newly awakened.  Regardless, her skills would make any person, user or otherwise, perform at several times their natural capabilities, so this should be no problem at all.

She wore her usual attire for exploring because she still felt it was the coolest thing she owned.  Vice was likely familiar with it by now given how much they met in the outer circle.  Her hair was down, and somewhat messy.  She had long since stopped bothering trying to keep it neat when she decided to come out here, it's not like it would stay that way.  Besides, she was fierce, not some princess.  Her pants were simple, loose-fitting black pants that she tucked into her knee length lace up boots.  The boots weren't laced with a usual shoelace though, she preferred to use a red ribbon.  Because it was still pretty cold, she wore a red turtleneck instead of the lighter top she preferred.  Completing her wardrobe was her favorite black long coat.  It wasn't particularly elaborate, but she thought it was incredibly stylish.

As usual, Holly made sure she would arrive 3-5 minutes late to ensure she wouldn't have to wait.  Once the mine came into view she mentally groaned.  She wanted to explore the place, she knew she wanted to explore the place, it just had gotten so repetitive that even looking at it was a little irritating.  Unable to hide her irritation, she put her hands in her pockets and strode into the mines.  Again.  Her partner at least made himself easy to find.  Part of her was surprised that he hadn't gotten jumped by shadows yet, but she supposed that she rarely got attacked at the entrance herself.  It looked like he was walking back from further down though, so maybe it was a little strange.  It was good that her timing was good and he was near the entrance where she would easily see him upon entering, otherwise she might have been a little more irritated.

Without stopping, she raised one of her hands.  "Alright, I'm here let's move."

[Vice Ysal]

Vice had continued to kick the rock along the path in front of him and he was just about to turn the bound again when a shadow had began to converge on his person. He tensed up slightly but the young man relaxed when instead of an actual shadow that would have wanted his head on a plate, it was instead a rather familiar face. He wasn't quite sure if Holly would want his head on a plate, though there was really no need for that to happen, but still. People liked different things and all that. The girl, again, came upon the area to allow those within the vicinity to bask in her presence. With a light smile, Vice chose to humour the girl and stood over to the side to allow the blonde entry to the mines.

He would have added the salute and all that just to add in the whole mocking thing but instead just fell into line with that same small smile on his face. Right hand already unlatching the safety of his revolver and the other slightly dancing over the hilt of his weapon.

"Good to see you again, Bosslady. I do apologize for the short notice and I thank you for at least going with it."

Vice's voice was smooth, rich, and the sarcastic playfulness to it was as obvious as the burning of the sun. It wasn't quite mocking, but he decided that he could at least ease out the obvious irritation that his companion had. It wasn't directed at him, that much he could assure himself, so it meant that either something stupid happened within the city, it was that time of the month, or that something else was just bothering the girl. Rogueish and unkempt as Vice made himself out to be, the young man did have an eye for detail and a brain big enough to be capable of connecting the dots.

"I doubt that the Stratum Shadow's still roaming the place...this place seriously looks used enough by the others."

---

Notes: Modding can start after this post.

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

A pack of Shadows appeared!

Killing Hand

• Agilao
• Bufula
• Tarukaja

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk: Elec
Killing Hand

• Agilao
• Bufula
• Tarukaja

Absorb: Repel: Null: Fire, Ice Rs: Wk: Elec
Shouting Tiara

• Ziodyne
• Diarama

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk: Wind
Liberating Idol

• Hamaon
• Auto-Sukukaja
• List item 3

Absorb: Repel: Null: Light Rs: Wk: Dark

[Holly Mason]

"Hmph, quiet you," a small smile returned to her face.  "Oh, definitely, this place already has less shadows than any of the other places I've seen.  I learned a new trick and I'd like to try it out against something reasonably strong."

She didn't motion for him to follow her again, she figured that was obvious at this point.  At this point, she was looking for targets, so her senses were sharp.  He could do whatever it was he wanted to do while exploring this place, she didn't intend to take part of in it.  It's not like she could do much more with this place after all.  Eight trips to one place was just way too much.

Soon, she sensed a small pack of shadows.  It was slightly larger than what she was used to dealing with, which made it perfect for this experiment.  The small smile from earlier widened into a larger grin, the kind of expression that was much more common for her.

"Looks like we've got company.  I trust I will actually be able to leave it to you this time?" she turned her head slightly towards him and smirked.

Holly raised her hand above her head and called the there, quickly smashing it.  It called forth a figure with very long brown hair wearing a yellow dress.  This time, Anaisa Pye's expression was a bit different from usual.  There was definitely some of her usual mischievousness in her expression, but this time she almost looked sorry for the shadows.  With a flick of her wrist, the shadows were surrounded in a series of orange rings that started converging on the shadows, disappearing once they did.  The process happened more quickly than it did with her Rakunda.  Right after the orange rings vanished, purple rings appeared around them and did the same thing, and once they were gone green rings appeared around them and repeated the process.

"Debilitate!"

The effects were almost immediately obvious.  The shadows were practically moving in slow motion now for starters; their movements were easier to predict than anything she had seen in the past.  She might even be able to dodge their attacks in these confined spaces.  Further, they just looked weaker and more delicate.  Her grin widened.  This was great!  Now it was just a matter of seeing how much damage her partner could do.  Her attack power was pretty bad, and it looked like his persona was more built for directly attacking so she figured his attack power was at least on par with hers even if he was newly awakened.

After the first cast, she continued using Debilitate until the shadows were completely debuffed.  If the two of them needed healing after that then she'd take care of it, but she didn't intend to heal until the shadows were were completely worthless.  Honestly, if they needed it before then they were probably more worthless than the shadows.  After that, she'd start raising their attack power, healing when necessary, but not attacking just yet.  She hoped the battle would be done by the time their strength was fully buffed, but if it wasn't she'd attack herself.  It would be a sign that he was just taking way too long.

[Vice Ysal]

At the slightly more jovial tone that had been used for him, Vice could conclude that whatever it was he did, it did whatever it was he was meaning for it to do. Confusing as that statement was, tension was less and that was what was important. No words had to be added from his part after that exchange and really, all he had to do was to keep following. Though the less experienced of the two in terms of summoning would have preferred to be upfront, more because he knew he could tank things out better and not because of the underlying possibility of sexual discrimination, he had allowed the young woman to do as she pleased. From his experience with the dealings concerning this particular person, the former normal was sure she'd prefer not to be coddled or have any chances as such.

For the most part, the male simply kept the silence between the two. It would be easier to pay attention to the surroundings and whatever was lurking in it when one wasn't quite disturbed by dialogue and such. Even if they were looking for a couple of things, said things were still rather dangerous if they were the ones to get a jump on them. So jibes and jabs were out of the equation. Making himself useful, Vice simply went on and examined what he could and double checked his equipment without much of a fuss. Surprisingly enough, it didn't take the duo that long to find there victims for the day. A pack of shadows had made themselves known, and for the moment Vice noted that they were much more than the usual amount he fought on his own.

As predicted, Holly had been the first one to step up to the plate and carried along with her the same stance she always had for these kinds of things. The only difference from the last time this happened was that instead of giving him some kind of advice or whatever, she was trusting him to clean the mess up. Moving forward, tapping the flat side of his sword on his shoulder as he passed Holly, Vice piped up his own retort.

"Have a little fate, won't you?"

A small grin of his own and the blonde then began her machinations. Continuously, the opponents seemed to be gaining rings around them that broke away. In sync did it happen and all four of them were slowly becoming weaker after each set of disappearing rings. Vice mused that it was probably a drugged up version of whatever skill she had used the last time they were together. The young man didn't dally either, and the moment the first Debilitate was in full effect did he unleash his own touch to the mix. There was no need for any kind of explosive body language or anything of the sort. All he needed was to charge forward and Arondight flew along side him with a vengeance. The gleaming pair of swords swung through the air and connected with the nearest opponent. A floating Tiara had been the closest one to him, and thanks to the surprise of the earlier Debiliate, Vice's attack had managed to deal quite a bit more damage. It would have continued on forward still but after another Debilitate happened, the follow up attack by Arondight's Cleave had been enough to take down the first shadow. A splash of ichor covered the Persona and his user.

A rain of fire then followed soon after that and Vice, with his now relatively higher speed, easily ducked through the first attack but had to take the brunt of the next fire ball with his left arm. The stinging sensation wasn't enough to make him falter in his step but it did tell him that it was going to be dangerous for him if he didn't clear this up sooner. A ball of darkness began to form within Arondight's fist and directing his Persona to the farthest shadow, Vice pulled the mental trigger and sent a burst of black energy at one of the Killer Hands. It tumbled back, falling flat on his back when another series of circles appeared along it. Instead of making it weaker however, the thing just seemed to be tougher.

Gritting his teeth at that, the young man had to first redirect his attention to the nearing Hand that was going to smack his head off. The attack connected, and unlike before where he would have tumbled back from something as simple as that, Vice weathered through the attack and impaled the thing with his blades. It screamed in agony as due to massive difference in conditions, it fell back to the ground. The massive knight by Vice's side appeared once more and dismembered the shadow into ichor once more. The splattering of black blood splashed against their forms once more but instead of being disgusted, the young man simply felt exhilarated.

Two down, two to go.

Vice felt the strain on his mentality begin to settle, but nonetheless he continued his onslaught of black beams and Cleaves against the nearest shadow. He didn't even have to exert so much effort this time to elimanate it from this existence. It was the only one not to have its innards splattering all over him or his persona. The last killing hand, the one that Vice had ignored in favour of the others trying to tackle him to submission, had raised itself up. It even seemed to be charging up for something incredibly dangerous.

Then everything stopped when the hand suddenly noticed that it had a massive hole in its middle. It raised its head up, a face of shock looking up to Vice who was holding a gun that had smoke emanating from its barrel. It disappeared once more into nothingness. A satisfied smile crept into the former normal's face this time as he turned to look back at his partner.

"I'm not sure, but I think I did better this time wouldn't you say?"

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

Success!

You defeated the enemy!
Vice found: Amrita Soda
Holly found: Nothing.

[Holly Mason]

Holly didn't respond to his query about faith.  She just continued looking at the shadows with a smirk.  She wasn't really that worried about how well he'd do.  She thought about what would happen if things did go badly of course, but that doesn't necessarily mean she expected it to happen.  She was just picking on him a little.

The shadows seemed pretty focused on him, so she was able to safely stand back, weaken the shadows, strengthen the humans and heal as necessary.  She was a little insulted they were so easily distracted, but it worked out better this way.  Besides, shadows were stupid, it was to be expected that they would be distracted like this.  It gave her a chance to let Vice fight without having to worry.  His attack power was on par with hers as she expected, so it's likely that it would be much better at doing raw damage than her was as he grew.  He was only using base level attack skills, much like she did as well.  If his was more offensive that would likely change soon.  Further, he looked really happy.  It was almost disturbing.

The last shadow was eliminated before she could attack.  Good.  She folded her arms and grinned.

"Well, it's too hard to outdo what you did before you got your persona, but yes, better."

[Vice Ysal]

"Such a tough audience."

Vice mimicked with a grin, the blood splattered grin just a bit more unnerving than it had to be. Sliding off the biker jacket he had with him then and flapping against the empty space of where the shadows had once been to get the loose ichor out, the male soon enough made his way towards his partner though a bit farther than normal if only because of the clinging black stains on his person.

"It's something at least.Though, I would have guessed there to be more shadows than these. I know the place has been picked clean, which meant a lot of fights, but you'd think that that would leave behind the tougher guys."

Vice shook his head.

"Something to research about when I have spare time I guess. You ready to head on home or is there anything else you wanna do before we leave?"

[Holly Mason]

"What can I say?  I'm difficult to please."  She paused for a moment, thinking about his other remarks.  "Hm, well I think there's normally a lot less shadows around after the leader's defeated.  I think of them as more like leftovers," she sighed and shrugged.  "There was just never anything stronger to go after, so I kept coming back here.  I've practically got the place memorized now, so no, there really isn't anything left for me to do here.  I'm ready to leave whenever you are."

With any luck this would be the last time she would have to come to this godforsaken mine.  If it came down to it, maybe she should just beat her heads against those really strong shadows and hope everything works out.

[Vice Ysal]

"That explains quite a few things I guess."

Vice answered, the humour from before draining away at the subject of this place really having been run ragged. Guess his initial idea and findings weren't so off the mark either. Wearing the black jacket again, more or less fine now and more presentable than the mess it had been earlier, Vice was about move forward when his foot had kicked forward a small can of still full, unopened, and familiar looking bottle.

"Pfft."

He couldn't help but make a sound as he bent down and picked the thing up. It looked horrendously familiar to the one that was sold in laharl's shop so maybe he could go for a visit and check it out if it had the same effects. Pocketing it and continuing on his way, Vice passed over Holly with the words "Come on then." being said between them.