The Lapis Tome and Ruby Blade team, after about an hour, are able to procure enough Prowess and Morale books for their internal members. Surprisingly those who are primarily Artisans do not receive a Weapon or Spell Proficiency, instead their Tool Proficiency goes by one level. It is now level 3!
This is an unexpected and welcome gift as raising their Tool Proficiency is hard due to the current level of materials and tools does not match their statuses as mid tier Apprentices.
The teens finally move on to their first Boss. They are met with a volcanic landscape. A stripe of land large enough for them to all move freely is before them but on either side is an ocean of lava.
[Defeat the Rarog to carry on forward!]
A 50 foot fiery falcon swoops above them. As it roars at them the temperature seems to rise even higher. Three massive fireballs begin raining down on them immediately as it uses its [Flame Storm] skill. Instead of shielding or dodging, however, they decide to fire back with their own moves!
When the clash ends, neither side is harmed.This makes the Rarog absolutely furious!
"Starry, Blade, can you clip that chicken's wings? Lock, you and I are going for the tail." Pakeeja says, narrowing their eyes while waving their hands to cast a spell. If they can ground the Rarog then it'd be easy picking. Tara and Asuka brace themselves as Pakeeja had casted this before when they were fighting the Squall Tactician.
With [Aerial Movement], translucent jade wings manifest on their bodies. Pakeeja's are like that of a nightjar, Tara's are bat-like, while Lock's are like a sugar glider. Asuka's which were previously both feathery like birds are replaced with one feathery one with an intricate butterfly wing. Swirls of fire and depictions of beautiful gemstones could be seen within.
Tara takes the left wing while Asuka takes the right. It takes Kingdom Lock a moment before she adjusts her flight path and follows a speedy Pakeeja.
Tara's daggers glow with energy as she decussates with twin Piercing Blizzard Fang. A combination of Tiger Fang, Rain Scatter, and Ice Energy, parts of the wing are freezing. Even the flames from the wings are weakening from Moon Claw's Dampen effect.
Asuka draws not just her ochre colored flissa but an ember orange katana as well. Such a boss warrants both weapons. She spins herself rapidly as she approaches a wing, generating great rotational force before slashing down with both swords. Applying Force Layer, both strikes are extremely heavy as she succeeds in cutting through hard bone.
The Rarog's energy flares at this significant damage from two ants. Even its tail is being nipped at increasing its fury. The four of them are shunted back as it also shrugs off the incoming Arts and Crafts thrown at it. The only exception is Izel's musket balls which are considerably heavier and denser.
The group's strongest blades only have 4 more minutes of using their wings. Pakeeja can't cast it more than twice if they want to be able to use their skills.
Luckily, the initial strike weakened the Rarog a good bit as it wasn't flying as high. The closer in range to the group, the stronger their Skills would be which means it won't just simply blow them away this time.
With everyone working together on a singular target while also working on their timing and rhythm, what should have been an hour-long fight was whittled down to half an hour. In the time they have flight, Tara, Asuka, Pakeeja, and Kingdom Lock hold nothing back.
Doing so forces the Rarog down enough that the melees could leap at it with Twin Sphere infused bodies. They all had attacks that had some range but they are significantly weaker than if their weapons collide directly.
Hanit is the most valuable player otherwise: she could grant Buffs shields that not only heal over time but coat others skills in Water Damage and Dampen Effect! Her strongest spell outside of her Divine Blessing, Ocean's Protection, is clutch when the Rarog enters its blue fire Berserk phase.
Spewing flames so hot and powerful, the attack not only splits the lava pools beside them but creates a whirlpool-like vacuum in them. Luckily they are able to withstand it.
Once defeated the Rarog drops three pieces of Equipment and two Skill Books, a Martial Art and a Craft Primer respectively. What is revealed is a necklace, a pitch black helmet, and a deep purple hat.
[Rarog's Fury, Silver Grade]
[Dark General's Helmet] (1 of 6)
[Shadow Tactician's Hat] (1 of 6)
Similar to the other Set Equipment, the individual pieces' stats can't be viewed unless worn. With only one piece though it isn't worth having anyone wear them. The two Skill Books on the other hand are the moves [Cerulean Fire Breath] and [Eruption Orbs]. The former is the breath attack the Rarog uses when it goes Berserk, allowing a melee type to either spew a wave of fire or focus the attack through the tip of their weapon as a beam. The latter is a small scale version of when it had dropped fireballs.
It is no contest that Iris Ash and Fire Ribbon are given these two books. They are the most prominent Fire Essence users outside of Asuka. Iris Ash is particularly grateful since she doesn't have many skills she can use in close combat. This would be especially good as a surprise attack if she were surrounded.
As for who got the necklace, Purple Bull joins them on a roll off for it! After all, when the description mentions "performance" that doesn't just mean damage and range! It also includes a 30% decrease in the cool downtime of Skills, an increase to the grid of area of effect spells, and maybe an extra usage of an Equipment Skill. For example, Iris Ash would be able to control one more flame arrow while Flame Ribbon would summon two wolf shaped flames to attack.
It goes to Flame Ribbon in the end, later becoming an item she would never take off. Instead, it made her focus on trying to acquire items that increase performance over anything else in the future.
They move to the next resting point that further opens up to a stone bridge.
A platform with a raging river with an unknown source is awaiting them along with a similar crystal though blue instead of red. This time [River Infantry] appear but they are surprisingly weaponless.
Tara charges first with a swipe of her dagger as one of the monster's meets her. Sparks flight as daggers collide. Just like the Water Trial in her Story, the River Infantry can use the weapons of melee users. Tara uses an aura filled Tiger Fang which is immediately countered with the same move. There's an explosion from the two energies and it's Tara who's shot back towards her friends.
"Having fun?" Asuka smirks while pulling Tara up off her back.
"Yes!" Tara grins fully with her eyes sparkling. She proceeds to explain to them what she figured out, causing a similar excited look to bloom on Asuka's face as she unsheathes her flissa. The other melees also don't hesitate to rush in. They can use these monsters to continue fine tuning their combat standards!
As soon as the frontline can match the River Infantries physical strength and technical control, the rearguard finally joins the fray. Since the River Infantries could only copy Arts, they are decimated by the Crafts!
What drops from them were books like the Kindle Vanguard. Unfortunately, they were items that aren't particularly useful to their Workshop. One book is an energy gathering technique while the other is an energy circulation technique. Both are fairly ambiguous and the quality of them can't compare to the Twin Sphere Skill Books nor the Soul Realm gems. Of course, Jumping Sash is happy to have more material and it isn't as if they can't make money off them by putting it up for Auction or even gifting it to a local power in order to form an alliance.
The next chamber is a dreaded underwater level. Unlike before with only one footing for the team, this Boss stage has multiple at different elevations. Other teams would find their movements slowed and Skills weakened in such an environment but the Twin Sphere energy acts as a buffer somewhat, especially those with the lunar energy.
The Sacred Beast this time is a massive horse headed Kelpie. It was extremely mobile and hardy.
The battle this time lasts two hours thanks to the Boss's high recovery rate and equally high speed. Though Fire Essence is significantly weaker in this underwater dungeon, Flame Ribbon is able to show off how much stronger her new Accessory makes her. The party has to use plenty of debuff skills like Bleed and Wound to help cut into the Sacred Beast's restoration.
The group receives an Emblem by the name of [Keplie's Vitality] among the rewards. An Emblem is an insertable item that could be slotted into equipment. Some of them are removable, such as the one they have just acquired, while others are a one time use. Gladiolus places it onto her shield receiving a passive boost to her Agility and Health Recovery rate.
Two more Skill Books are given this time one a powerful healing Craft and the other Defense raising Art. The Dark General's Sabatons and Shadow Tactican's Boots make 2 out of the 6 for the set.
The third and final round of Mobs are [Onyx Mages] and [Storm Puglists]. A lot of health, high physical and magical defense, and a variety of Skills from each element, they are truly the hardest to defeat. The group has to rest for a good half an hour after finally destroying the spawning crystal. Enhancement gems, used to further empower Equipment similar to Emblems, are dropped.
The last chamber is a giant semi circular. As with the Mobs, there are two gigantic monsters present: a clay brown tortoise and a venom green scorpion. The Sacred Beasts of Stone and Wind respectively. Luckily with such a large team, they can divide the monsters among the 30 of them. They divide the Novelists and Set wearers between them with Storm Kitty and Straw Monkey not separating because they have great synergy.
This has to have been the longest fight as a full group! 4 full hours of fighting as the two Sacred Beast used a unique fusion technique when they went Berserk that puts their health back at full. The victory leaves them absolutely drained of their resources with even the Soul Realm drained of purified Essence. As everyone sits down near the entrance to recover Pakeeja goes to pick up the loot. Four Skill Books, two rings...and 5 out of the 6 pieces for the Sets.
"We have a problem." Pakeeja announces.
"I would not say so, young Travelers," An aged voice meets their ears. "You've been a great help clearing the way for my people and I."