Delving Deeper (Party of Two, Open)

[Tristan Carter]

Tristan wasn't feeling too confident about going back to the park. After all, he fought against a horrible monster of boss proportions last time he was there. There was also the fact that he felt strong enough to try and take on one of the stronger areas. What brought him back, though, was the gentle gamer's logic reassuring him that the odds of him encountering another boss already were slim to none. Besides, he would be more than prepared should one appear.

The boy had added onto his attire with a special item he had gotten from the strange duo from the forge. The chestguard, while heavy and cumbersome, had been infused with something special, or so Tristan had been told. He felt that it might not have been worth the ogre fang, but he was also glad to be rid of the disgusting trophy.

Movement from the trees distracted Tristan from his train of thought. He readied himself, grabbing out the card the blonde woman had given him.

[Kate Minola]

Kate had been driven back to the park by an urge to test herself against something mild before venturing into different, potentially tougher areas. She'd gotten more training in and had actually been able to get her hands on some better equipment: For starters, she managed to get better arrows. These bodkins were combat rated, with a high punching power to go through armor and pointed ends on the back that made them harder to extract and which would tear flesh further when you tried to pull them out. The ring she got as payment for services rendered was strange but it made her feel more vigorous when worn. Lastly, was the vest. It looked like a simple dressy vest but it was laminated with silk sandwiched between cotton and a leather back. It was light but it still felt sturdy and the dinosaur skull patch on the pocket was a goofy addition but she felt safer wearing it.

She proceeded carefully through the rampaging growth, avoiding obvious noise-traps like dry brush and electing to stick to paths that were not going to get blocked by anything and cut off her escape. Her bow was in hand, ready to be drawn and used and her quiver was heavy with arrows. She was ready.

The night was quiet so the shuffle of feet alerted her and she reached for an arrow, carefully edging her way through the brush to an open area. She relaxed a little when she saw that young man she'd run into once before - the supermarket, wasn't it? She'd run away after the battle because she was too embarrassed to admit she was pilfering salad greens.

"Hi," she said sheepishly.

[Satanick]

Dryad
Resist: Wind
Skills: Media, Marin Karin, Garu

Dark Elf
Resist: Slash, Fire
Weak: Lightning, Light
Skills: Fatal End, Garu, Dormina

[Kate Minola]

When the murder-fairies made their appearance, Kate was better prepared for them this time. She immediately turned and nocked an arrow, firing it at the plant... thing that was coming right for her. It looked vaguely like a woman made of wood and foliage but its surface was gnarly like old bark and provided with distorted features.

She shot it in the eye and while it reeled a bit, it did not get discouraged and continued to barrel for her. Kate summoned her Persona.

"Antiope!" she said sharply and commanded the amazon to burn both creatures with a wave of fire. The tree-lady was jolted but the elf hardly noticed.

The tree thing responded by waving its hands weirdly and casting some kind of healing spell which danced around both creatures and seemed to perk them up. Seems she would have to focus more on this plant thing so it wouldn't keep them there all night by healing the pair up. She renewed her attacks by firing more arrows at it and ordering Antiope to slash it with her spear, sending it flying. It crashed on the ground with a loud crunch but got right back up and performed what Kate could only describe as a strange dance, producing a puff of pink and... sparkles?

Kate felt her head get fuzzy but she shook her head suddenly and cleared it. She'd seen another creature do something like this before and she almost slapped herself to properly snap out of it.

"Cut it out, stupid thing," she muttered and fired more arrows at it.

Absently she noted that she was getting faster with her shots and drawing arrows from her quiver. That was good news. Another strike with Antiope's spear soon finished that pesky thing off, even though it still got another shot in on Kate, a blast of wind that knocked her on her ass but didn't hurt her severely.

[Tristan Carter]

Tristan heard a person approaching and turned to face them. It was the woman from the supermarket, the one who had a name Tristan couldn't remember. She gave a greeting that was followed by the appearance of some of the creatures. The woman dealt with the tree woman, but that left the elven thing.

With a smile, Tristan summoned Odysseus. The Persona was unarmed, but a fountain of darkness erupted out from underneath the creature. Before the monster could respond, the boy materialized the Greek warrior with a bolt of lightning. With one swift motion, the elf was killed by electrocution. Pleased with his work, Tristan turned away from the battle and started heading home.