[INSANITY BATTLE -25m] Ash & Dust (Shik&Thrain) DEFEATED

[AyeAvast]

There were a lot of reasons why one might seek out a particular partner in one's excursions, especially in instances like this where it would be an interesting, if somewhat melancholy, return to one's old home lands.
Today, Thrain just wanted to be nosy.
Well, alright fine. He did want to go scouting and see what he could do, go see what new lessons he could glean from fighting Insanity. But the reason he had, more or less, cornered the War stallion and told him to come along with him was partially rooted in wanting to learn more about various situations Shik was involved in. Namely, why Shaheen was always so upset whenever the fellow War horseman left. Maybe ordering Shik around was not the way to go, but it was easily figured that meeting the War man's gruff nature with an equally gruff demeanor might make him feel more comfortable.
Which was totally ridiculous thinking but as previously stated, Thrain felt like poking the bear, as it were.

DEFENSE CLASS TITAN

HP: 30/30 ** Halved due to special effect
RANGE: 0 - 25 meters
CLASS: ** (2 Distortion Fragments needed to successfully purify)
Attack: It shoots out spines when threatened! All damage done to this creature is halved (rounded up). All Fear attacks done to this creature is DOUBLED.
Auto damage: This creature does 5 auto damage a full round.
LOOT: Upon successful purification, roll a 4-sided dice to see what you obtain

1: Bonus Distortion Fragment x5
2: Insanity Nettle x2
3: Insanity Broken Core: x1
4: Insanity Fragment x3

 

[medigel]

At least he didn't have to poke very hard. Shik had been on a sort of streak lately in his need to gather materials, reminiscent of the beginning of the Lost Clans when Medea had them on all sorts of fetch quests. This or that, come find those, where is that damn arkapassu . . . Except now the executioner actually wanted to do the work.

It meant killing things. Insanity things. Absolutely yes.

"You are . . . I don't even remember," Shik realized in a flat tone, already heading towards the portal. "Well let's just move along, shall we? I'm sure you can talk and fight at the same time."

He was a man on a mission.

A cool mission.

Cool weapon mission.  

[AyeAvast]

For about two whole seconds Thrain was upset that Shik had not remembered his name. And that was only because that meant Shaheen hadn't talked about him and weren't they friends?! But upon immediate consideration, it was totally unlikely that Shaheen would mention anything but fighting and blood and weapons, so he wasn't that upset.
"I am Thrain." He stated simply, not really sure what other qualifiers would really matter. More so, none that Shik would really care to remember. Still, he hustled after the stallion towards the portal, one hand clenched in a fist.
"That is something I am quite adept at! Talking and fighting at once are a specialty of mine." He laughed as they exited, not even bothering to notice the spikey little monster that waited for them. "Undoubtedly you have not heard the story of the time I was on post and there was an absolutely terrible snowstorm. But our post was also being invaded by a number of very odd looking critters... Big fluffy things with awful claws--"

Oh, attacking, right! The Guardian summoned his sickles with a double flick of his wrists and hopped forward, not even bothering to actually hit it with his weapon. Instead he kicked it.
"Anyway, so there is this terribly huge storm going on. Awful!" Yes, yes he was going to do this.

HP: 40/40
Damage: 6
Fear: Whatever it is idr  

[medigel]

"Excellent," Shik purred, surprisingly enough. "My last partner left much to be desired--Initiates are never up to par, I find."

Much less trying to create battle banter with a sullen corpse. Gods, that had been trying.

Almost immediately Shik took to the air once they found their opponent, one ear listening to Thrain's story, the other busy being filled with the sound of monstrous roaring. "Snow storms? Awful things," Shik commented with a scowl, though part of it was from the concentration it took to strike at the spiny creature multiple times, scoring a litany of wounds before darting away. "As you can glean, I dislike wearing so much . . . restrictive clothing. But go on and give this thing a little tap and I'll clean it up for you."

Look at him, playing nice with others!

. . . Or maybe just trying to hurry up the process so he could get nice things.

"And while you're at it, you can explain what these furry creatures were exactly?"

Shik's Stats

HP: 50
Damage: 13 (13/2 = 7.5 x 2 for bonus damage effect still available = 13dmg)
Distortion Shards: 8
Current Loot: x2 Insanity Nettles, x2 Insanity Claws

 

[AyeAvast]

The spikey monster was, by all accounts, rather sleepy. It just wanted a nap. And to stab things with its body.
Yeaaaaaah.
Stabbing things.

HP: 11/ 30  

[AyeAvast]

"As of yet I have not had the opportunity to work with an Initiate... Those are the... Students who are our allies?" The last word was said cautiously, for Thrain had not fully decided how he felt about all that. Students were all well and good, but they should not be considered full time allies. More part time when it was favorable...
"Ah, well. Restrictive clothing is sometimes the only thing keeping one from freezing in a snow storm, so you come to like them." Hey, lots of furs and layers were the best thing ever ok.
Still, Thrain was mostly just glad that Shik had yet to insult him. At least that he could tell...

"Well, I think the furry creatures were some sort of bear but honestly, the storm was so bad that I could not really see that well." While he was chatting on and on, the Guardian did take another strike at the monster, this time deciding his sickles were a pretty good idea.
"The storm was so bad that we had to shout at each other just to be seen and I literally had to talk the whole battle!"

HP: 35/40
Damage: 6
Fear: SS  

[medigel]

Shik made a face nevertheless. He'd always prefer his humidity and rain and trees, thank you. Snow was a necessity to get used to, and he would if he was called to such a battlefield--but otherwise, nope. Too cold, too restrictive in clothing, no flexibility. And the chill reminded him just a bit too much of Insanity.

"To be located, yes?" he inquired, taking out several distortion shards to cleanse the creature now that it looked solid enough. "Did you not have fire or other means of identifying yourselves?"

BOSS HP: 5 - 3 = 2 HP PURIFIEDDDD
 

[AyeAvast]

Thankfully Shik's face went unnoticed due to his aerial status, but even so Thrain would have let it go unmentioned. Not everyone, especially not someone who literally spent their entire lives in heat, would ever find the necessity in heavy clothing. Snow was a friend to the Guardian, it was home. And there was none of that here, sadly.
"The winds were too high to keep a proper fire in a fight. And it could have done more harm than good." With a shake of his hands his sickles went unsummoned as the stallion stepped forward to pick up what the titan had left behind.
"But there is more to the story and this thing went down quite easily. Up for another one?"
Aw shoot! He had totally forgotten to be nosy!

Thrain has picked up 5 Distortion Fragments!  

[medigel]

"Bah, fire always does more harm than good," Shik answered with a shrug as he investigated the leftovers of their thankfully short encounter. "It's only good for forging anyway--destruction is what it was born to do."

He looked most disappointed to only find a few boring nettles again.

"I was about to ask you the same." Shik stood up and turned to Thrain with an eager gleam in his eye. "Barely a proper fight, this one. Let us move out and see if we can find something more suitable."

(( x2 nettles get ))

Shik's Stats

HP: 45
Damage:
Distortion Shards: 6
Current Loot: x4 Insanity Nettles (2 + 2), x2 Insanity Claws