6701/Old Schoolhouse Exploration 2

Old Schoolhouse Exploration 2
Date of Scene:	07 July 2019
Location:	Thors Military Academy - Old Schoolhouse
Synopsis:	The exploration team investigates the fourth floor of the Old Schoolhouse.
Cast of Characters:	Rean Schwarzer, 1149, 7002
Tinyplot:	Old Schoolhouse Exploration
Tinyplot2:	Trails of Cold Steel 1

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Rean Schwarzer has posed:
It's midsummer in Erebonia. Most of the students at Thors have switched to their summer uniforms, consisting of short sleeved dress shirts with accents and ties in their class's colors.

Otherwise, the campus is pretty much the same as last month, and so is the Old Schoolhouse...externally, at least. Internally, there's another floor added, just like last time.

On Rean's team is Laura, a tall girl with her blue hair tied in a ponytail, Machias, a bespectacled boy with green hair, and Emma, the pink haired and also bespectacled girl from the Nord field study.  

The path doesn't split this time, and instead is just two large rooms one after the other, with stairs and different pathways. Some of the staircases are blocked off by what looks like a series of crumbling stone pillars, but they're no match for Laura's greatsword, or Machias' shotgun or any other weapons with enough blunt force to break them.

And just like before, there's monsters down here. One of them is a deer-like creature with skin that looks like lava - and attacks with fire all the same. There were also a few plants that looked like walking venus-flytraps, one of which had 3 heads and, if you were familiar with it, kind of resemble the Pokemon Hydregion, just plant-y and not flying.

At last, the group makes it to the end of the maze, and enters the large room behind a stone door.

And waiting inside is...some sort of bizarre fusion of a stone gate and an angel statue, with the gate serving as its wings. There's two of these things here, and after letting out a loud screech, one of them fires a green laser at Krusty!

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty had arrived at the school once more wearing the uniform of the Round Table Alliance that he represented. Mainly as a means of not alerting any of the students to possible problems. It wasn't until they actually entered the old schoolhouse that he donned his heavy armour and large two-handed axe with a few swipes of his finger at the air.

    After introductions with Rean's other classmates, Krusty was more than willing to stay at the front of the group as they dealt with the smaller monsters on their way through the level. It was an odd layout for a 'schoolhouse' and very much reminded him of the dungeons from his own world.

    Upon reaching the room at the end of the maze, Krusty eyes the two statues facing off against them. Interesting designs, for sure. He doesn't lack confidence in facing them though as one of them unleashes a laser against him. It sweeps across his armour, leaving a scorch mark behind but not yet penetrating, "I'll try and keep them on me. Attack while they are distracted!"

    Lifting his axe up in preparation, Krusty takes a deep breath. He then unleashes a deafening roar. The sound is obviously amplified, the Taunting Shout skill creating a visible wave in the air that washes over the two stone angels and attempts to bring their focus, and their wrath, down on him.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto took the various enemies as seriously as she did the first time, deciding to stay in her adventuring outfit with a kendo stick to use as a weapon.  She enjoys the workout, honestly, and a chance to use her skills on opponents that can fight back but won't easily overwhelm her.  However, with the final door open...

"Huh, those look like they're serious," she comments to the rest of the group.  Tossing the weapon back and bringing her hand up with the ring on it.  The ring transforms into a jade gem, seemingly encapsulated by gold trim.  There is a flash as ~magical girl~ transformation sequences begin.  

With a burst of jade, she steps out of the transformation sequence with a jade sword on her shoulder being held by a single hand. With a spin she drags the blade across the ground around her in a circle, now gripped in both hands as she thrusts the blade into the earth.  

From this, phantasmal monkies appear, running out the various door-angel-guardian things to jump on them, pulling their faces, and generally make an annoyance of themselves, trying to make it very VERY difficult to deal with, while also doing minor damage.  

"Alright, kids, let's do what we can before those things figure out how arms work."

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Krusty's taunt attracts the attention of the angels, alright. The two angels start firing more lasers at him, and honestly they're a bit bright. Bright enough to be dizzying, or even confusion-inducing. It might be hard to tell friend from foe after tanking too many of those.

Mikoto's monkeys cause them to stop that, though, and they start focusing on trying to get these dang creatures off of them! Laura takes advantage of the opening and slams her sword into one of the angels, cracking it a bit. Emma follows up, creating a series of phantasmal blades in front of her and sending them forward with a swing of her staff. They strike true, exploding into a burst of light on contact.

Rean and Machias are fighting the other angel, with Machias firing a piercing round at it and Rean following up with a few quick slashes.

And then one of the angels lets out a wail that rings off the walls of the room. Things seem...slower, somehow now, mainly your movements. Not too slow, just a tiny bit.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
The stream of sonic disability waves washes over the party, causing slower movements and general annoyance.  It's slight, but enough to cause her some discomfort.  Her eyes gleam for a moment, Drawing her sword from the ground as there is a blue aura that courses through her.  

Then she moves at /sonic/ speeds, if they would slow her down, then she would counter that with overwhelming force...basically like everything in her life.  Using the stolen speed of Sonic, she dashes between the two angel statues.

Her blade swings in a massive arc, aiming to try and slice through both statues with a single blow at speeds that are all but blinding to those who could follow them.  The blade swings back, ready to defend.  "Strike while they're distracted!" she says, with a similarly fast pace in her speech.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty is forced back a step with each laser that washes over him. His eyes squint at the light, but he endures the damage, leaving the others free to engage untroubled. Finally there is a scream from one of the creatures, causing Krusty to raise one hand to his ear as he tries to block some of it out. But his movement seems slower somehow.

    Still the battle proceeds and it's time that Krusty add his own axe to the assault. As Mikoto calls for them to strike while the angels are distracted, Krusty chuckles, "There must be an echo in here." Still, it's good advice!

    Krusty lowers his stance and sweeps his axe out to the side. He's not very adept at targeting multiple foes at once, so turns his focus on the angel being attacked by Emma and Laura. The blade of his axe begins to glow as he starts, "Aura-"

    Krusty pushes off from the ground, quickly covering the distance between him and the angel in a flash. However, it's not a direct charge as Krusty aims to rush past the creature, swinging the large axe as he passes. The weapon, turned immaterial by the skill designed to bypass enemy defenses, will pass through the angel and inflict its damage as it does so.

    This leaves Krusty to skid to a halt on the other side of the statue, finishing with, "-Saber!"

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Mikoto's slash strikes through, leaving a pretty big gash in both. They start firing at her again, and just like with Krusty, the lasers are bright and disorienting.

"No need to tell us twice!" Rean says, grinning. He sheaths his sword and dashes forward, doing a similar maneuver to Krusty and swiftly unsheathing it as he passes. Machias does some suppressive fire as well, making an opening for Rean to strike it again from behind.

Emma holds up her staff in front of her and starts casting an Art, blue ring of light surrounding her. While her partner is casting, Laura does a jumping overhead slash to the angel, smacking it on the 'head' after Krusty's done with his attack. The large amount of focus on Laura and Emma's angel has it flagging a bit more than the other one. It starts shaking, like it's about to scream again.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto turns around just in time for both of the monsters to bear down at her.  Even as they move to fire, her blade stabs into the earth again.  Jade spikes shoot up around her, protecting her body like a shell, burning through the outer layers of the jade.  The Jade shatters, revealing a slightly singed, but not disoriented Mikoto who has a grin on her face.  

However, Mikoto notices one of the Angels is about to scream again.  She grabs one of the nearby pieces of Jade that have not evaporated yet and runs right towards the about to scream angel.

Then she proceeds to shove the large slab of jade right into its mouth to interrupt the scream.  

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty spins around to once more face the angel he's attacking. Though he does pause for a moment to take in the situation as a whole. It's easy enough to keep track of their progress so far, with his keen tactical mind. One of the angels is looking worse for wear than the other. Obviously they should focus on bringing it down, leaving the other easier to handle.

    Of course, first they have to deal with the angel's cry. Oh wait, Mikoto appears to do that rather nicely. Not to mention somewhat uncomfortably looking.

    Still, recognizing the spell charging of a mage, namely Emma, Krusty rushes forward. His axe blade once more shines as he swings for the statue, "Armor Crash!"

    There's a flash of light as the axe connects, the skill trying to crack the statue's defenses and present a weakness for the others to take advantage of.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
"Uh...Well, then." Machias says, watching Mikoto deal with the screaming in a rather blunt way. He fires at the angel he and Rean were focusing down again. "Mind doing that again to this one?"


Krusty's axe connects, right in the crack Laura made earlier. It grows, and Emma's spell resolves, turning into a beam of silver light that slams into it.  The statue shatters, and then its remains explode into a cloud of darkness, leaving behind its partner.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto turned her head towards the second statue, thinking for a brief moment.  Giving Machinas a shrug, and then a wide grin.  "I think I can do something," She says, before shoving her blade into the ground once more.  There was a shimmer of summoning as a large snake came out of the ground aiming to open it's mouth wide enough to cover the top part of the statue.

"Can't scream if you're head is eaten.  I mean...you CAN...but it's all muffled and nobody can actually hear you," She comments, with a wide grin.  

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty holds up an arm in case of debris as the first of the angel statues shatters. Once confident his sface isn't going to be showered by bits of rock, Krusty gives a nod to the others that had been fighting it, before turning on the one that remains.

    Krusty doesn't immediately charge the second angel, not wanting to interupt those who are already engaging it at close range. Instead he holds his ground and sweeps his axe out to the side. Once more it glows.

    Krusty swings his axe in front of him, the gathered light jumping off as a crescent that streaks towards the angel. A quick follow up swing sends a second wave flying shortly after the first. They slice through the air and hopefully into the moving statue as well.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
There's now a snake on the angel's head and it's doing exactly what Mikoto said, screaming while muffled. "...Thanks." Machias says, firing another piercing round at the angel. Krusty's crescents strike it as well, and Rean's still behind it, delivering another sword slash to its back. The angel decides it's had enough and starts firing its laser again, trying to dispel the snake on its head.
Laura jumps in and delivers a vertical slash to its chest, and Emma is charging up again.

It's not /quite/ finished yet, but it's getting pretty close.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
The snake is shredded, it had the unfortunate position of being ONTOP of the source of the laser.  Lasers cut through the snake, as it disperses into whiffs of magical energy.  Mikoto gives Machias a nod, before bringing her sword around.  

With another burst of speed, she runs around the thing to try and draw it's attention, before coming up behind it, kicking off of Rean's shoulders, and aiming a slash for the back of its head before flipping over it and coming into a baseball slide.  

"Thanks for the boost Bean."

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    The angel statue appears to be on its last legs. So to speak. You know. Because it doesn't have legs. Which gives Krusty an idea.

    While the angel is distracted by snek and the others assaulting it, Krusty circles around behind it. He waits until after Mikoto has struck it on the head before he moves in to quickly capitalize with a follow up attack.

    Krusty unleashes a battle cry as he launches to heavy swings towards the statue's back. They are aimed for the points where its gate-like wings join to its body as Krusty hopes to break them off.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
"Ack!" Rean shouts as Mikoto vaults off of him. Her attack hits the angel's head, leaving her in position to strike again from underneath it if she wants as she slides under. The angel fires off more beams at Krusty as he advances, but he still manages to strike the angel's wing joints. It falls to the ground and screams again.

You all feel slower, but it doesn't really matter anymore because Laura and Emma have a plan. "Emma, let's finish this!" Laura shouts, looking to her partner.  Emma finishes casting, and a circle of fire appears under the statue, burning it. Laura holds her sword up in front of her as it glows with light, and then charges in with a shout, delivering three strikes before whirling around and delivering one last strike. The statue shatters and explodes into darkness just like the other one did.

"Phew. Everyone alright?" Rean says, sheathing his sword.

Suddenly, there's a loud earth-shaking rumble back the way you came. "-What was that?!" Emma shouts, turning around.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto nods to Rean, "Yeah, I'm good.  A little singed and tired of hearing these things attempts to sing.  Seriously, worst singers ever," Mikoto says, "And here I was told Angels' songs were supposed to be beautiful."

The loud rumbling is surprising, she looks towards Rean who looks like he has no idea.  She was about to cancel out of her Magical Girl transformation, but now she's not so sure.  "Well, Bean, we're not going to find out by asking questions to the air."

Walking back the way she came she looks to see what happened and hopes it's not more bosses or the way is blocked in.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty falls back after taking several more hits. He recovers in time to see Emma and Laura finish off the last angel. He nods to both of them for a job well done, "Impressive."

    At the question of being alright, Krusty nods to Rean, "I will be." Planting his axe into the ground, Krusty reaches beneath his tabbard to pull out a bottle. Uncorking it he drinks it down. Some of the scorch wounds he's suffered from the lasers appeal to regenerate quickly.

    It's towards the end of drinking the potion that the earth-shaking rumble can be heard. Krusty throws the empty potion bottle away and grabs his axe. He nods to Mikoto, "Agreed. It seems that this dive is not quite yet over."

    Krusty starts heading in the direction of the loud sound, once more charging straight into trouble.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Everybody rushes to the entrance to the 4th floor, and, luckily, there's no bosses here. What /is/ here, though is a giant red door with a sort of flower or flame pattern on it. As you get closer to the door, you can hear the sound of gears turning and winding.

"What the!?" Machias shouts.

"That...definitely wasn't here when we came in." Rean says, puzzled.

"Just when we were starting to figure this place out..." Emma says.

Rean puts a hand to his chin. "Don't see any way to open it..." he says, drawing his sword. "Maybe brute force?"

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty rushes in, quickly coming to a stop at the sight of the strange door. He slowly approaches it, listening to the sounds it's making. He hmmms, "I wonder what is happening inside..."

    As Rean reminds them that the door wasn't here early, Krusty frowns a little, "Rearranging dungeons can be the most surprising and annoying."

    Still, the knight raises his large axe up as he faces the door, "However it appeared here, I suspect whatver is on the other side is unlikely to be friendly." Of course, the questions is how do they open it?

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto frowns, but it's not ENTIRELY unwelcome.  It means they can at least advance...but still.  Mikoto thinks about how they can open the door, and then tries the only thing she has available.

She attempts to pry open the door with her sword!

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Rean shrugs in response to Krusty's comment.  "Well, that's basically how this place works so far. One trial of sorts after another, with the inside shifting around."

After looking over the door a bit, to see if there was a hidden switch or something, everyone attacks the door with swords, guns and magic.

And...nothing. The door keeps ticking away.

"How odd..." Laura says looking at the door. "It's ticking like a clock, so maybe it's on a timer? Or perhaps it's a giant orbment?"

Rean sighs. "Maybe." Kind of a downer, though if that's the way it worked. He shrugs. "But if we have to wait, we have to wait."

He walks up to the door one last time to make sure they didn't miss anything, and-

REVEAL-

Rean flinches and touches his chest, his scar flaring up in pain as the disembodied voice rings in his head.

Emma tilts her head. "...Rean, is everything ok?"

"...Yeah." Rean says, backing away from the door. That was weird, alright. Not the first time that's happened, either.  As usual, this place continues to be weird.

"Thanks for coming along, you two." Rean says, turning to Mikoto and Krusty.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto turns towards Rean, raising an eyebrow at him as there is a sound of pain coming from the Bean and a strange thing where people ask him if he's okay.  Though he seems honest not sure what happened, though it's an occurrence that is not unique.  

"Well, it's a timer huh?  Weird.  Well, I'll see if I can't find someone who has destructive beams or disintegration cannons and see if we can't just breach the seal early."

With a flash of jade, Mikoto is back in her adventuring outfit and has her normal kendo stick back.  "Yeah, no problem.  It was fun, and now you owe me lunch."

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty looks at Rean curiously. There's obviously something more going on here. But Krusty is too respectful to prod any more than has been already. It doesn't seem that there is any immediate need to investigate the door further. Beyond curiosity. And they've done enough for the journey so far.

    Krusty returns his axe to his back, nodding in agreement with Mikoto, "It has been an interesting quest so far." He looks at the other members of Rean's team, "You clearly work well together. A pleasure fighting alongside you."