Eijun peered up the snow-covered submit; wonderment and anticipation warred within him, the new norm now whenever they begin a raid. While the mountain itself was aesthetically beautiful, with its snow-covered caps, and especially the intricately designed castle that was built into the side. The arching pathways leading to the said castle, however, were rather daunting. While most mountains had their fair share of danger, what with the chance of avalanches or rock slides; this one, in particular, was much more perilous if one considered what all lurked upon the paths.
The portal for Shogun's Keep let them out, not quite at the bottom of the mountain, but on a smaller plateau that was leveled off before the real climb would begin. While they won't need any equipment to scale it thanks to the two branched-off pathways that bordered around a deep, crystallized chasm. The edge of each path was dotted with plinths —roughly as tall as Eijun— where clawed braziers rested atop, the flames flickered whenever a particularly fluffy snowflake was unfortunate enough to drift lazily into the heat. The snowfall had been mild, yet consistent; and thankfully, it didn't obscure their vision. All it would take was one misstep to plummet down the gorge. Eijun wouldn't want to imagine what it would be like to maneuver through Shogun's Keep during a blizzard; that was if the weather actually ever changed. Some raids had cycling weather, while others were in a perpetual state of rain, shine, snow, or even night or day.
They've only been in Shogun's Keep for about five minutes now, so it's still too early to tell.
It's been four months since Eijun had joined Seido, and he liked to think he had become significantly more comfortable participating in raids. It helped that typically they run a minimum of two to three raids a month, though this time, they're on their third in the span of eighteen days with a fourth planned in several more from now. Not that he could complain. If it were up to him, he would double that number. Already, Eijun has completely upgraded his gear to legendary status; that is, all except his spirit orb. He had grown increasingly more frustrated with each raid completion, and still no weapon drop for his class. He has even acquired a full set of accessories, with zero hides or hair of a spirit orb. The only thing right now that kept him from being too overly irritated, was that Furuya hadn't had a staff drop, either.
The ring, necklace, and bracelet offered a slight increase to his overall damage, but a higher-tier weapon would exponentially make a difference.
Eijun was almost desperate enough to purchase one off the marketplace; however, when he browsed the selection, the prices people were asking were astronomical, even with his increased income. Though to be fair, the gold he earns goes to repairing gear, buying potions, or other required items; such as Burning Cinders, which were a necessity for Shogun's Keep, as they needed to be inlaid into all of his equipment, protecting him from the harsh elements by regulating his body temperature. The downside, however, was that he had to buy one Burning Cinder per gear piece, which drained quite a bit of his funds. Since Burning Cinders were a rare drop from an optional, hidden boss in the dungeon, Den of Sanshoo, the going rate was drastically higher than Eijun expected; considering the main use for it was that it offered slight resistance to ice-based attacks.
Honestly, Eijun's dream of obtaining his very own mount —so he could stop hitching a ride from someone else— continued to grow further and further.
It's raids like these that make Eijun wish he had a fire attribute summon, but he still only had the two, Ume and Aoi. Wind and water. Though Aoi would be helpful later in the raid. Against the regular mobs, however, not so much; which leaves Ume for the beginning half.
For the first time since Eijun had joined, Seido swapped its cast around. Well, one member specifically. Masuko had been temporarily subbed out for a newer recruit. One that had only joined about two months ago and had been running raids with Seido's second string; thus, he's decently geared thanks to that.
Yui was a Paladin like Chris. Eijun had only spoken with him a bit, but he liked him well enough so far, though he has yet to see Yui in action, but apparently Chris vouched for him. Said he was improving rapidly. Though once Eijun caught his first glimpse of Yui fully decked out, Eijun had to wonder how Yui managed to wield a lance and shield nearly as tall as he, with bulky armor, the same type as Miyuki, yet on Yui it only appeared to emphasize his short stature. Almost like a kid playing dress-up with their father's gear.
Now, Eijun would never admit to anyone, even upon pain or death, that Miyuki absolutely pulled the heavy armor off better. The fact that he moved around with an ease that spoke volumes about his overall experience, but even more so about the muscles he had to build up. In order to carry all that extra weight the armor added, it would be necessary. This just led Eijun to relive the memories from the few times he accidentally caught Miyuki shirtless, to witness all those glorious muscles on full display. It was a treat for the eyes, but again Eijun would tell no one.
Especially Miyuki.
Going off the appearance of the armor, Miyuki's supplied a fair deal amount in the intimidation factor. Well, it would if Eijun wasn't aware of Miyuki's "winning" personality. A personality, he couldn't find it in himself to hate, and it typically left him flustered in the face of it; wherein Eijun was cast into making a fool of himself nearly anytime they interacted.
The armor was black in color, with an orange-hued luminescence that faded in and out wherever the scale-like plates overlapped; like the flickering flames of fire. Mainly, however, it was the large spikes that jutted out from the shoulder guards, and the smaller few that ran down the length of his arms and legs, leading to clawed gauntlets and boots. The helmet was in a similar style, with curved, devilish horns that carry over the same vivid amber glow along the tips, causing them to appear as if they would be hot to the touch.
They weren't; Eijun checked.
Eijun also liked to point out it made Miyuki easier to spot in areas that offered limited light; essentially making him a glorified lantern, but not nearly as effective.
On the contrary, Yui's armor was a shiny silver, lined with gold trimmings and decorated with gilded, swirly patterns. All rather stereotypical, which, by all means, was not fair on Yui to compare, as Miyuki has had plenty more time and opportunities to acquire better and better gear, along with the rest of the first string.
However, Kawakami had later been kind enough to explain that Paladins were pure defense —with minor heals— and, if talented enough, could get away with donning slightly weaker gear than other tank classes. Which would make it easier to pull Yui in whenever needed. So while he may not have first-rate armor, he was supposedly sufficiently skilled to compensate for it.
Thankfully, Yui played a tank role; meaning Eijun's position on the first string wouldn't be threatened by a talented rookie. Conveniently, Eijun ignored the fact that he was still relatively new as well, but he at least had the rare aspect —thus making him heavily sought after— of being a ranged class amongst the never-ending supply pool of melee's most people tend to choose. In his lifetime, Eijun had been insulted on multiple occasions for being a range class as opposed to the increasingly popular Blade Master. With the village kids claimed Summoners were "lame", which only served in ballooning Eijun's desire to prove them wrong.
Though, of course, tanks and healers were generally desired as most people prefer being a damage dealer, not enjoying the intricacies of maneuvering the boss a certain way or focusing on teammates to keep them alive. Unfortunately, with tank and healer's high mortality rates, it had reached the point where guilds would open recruitment specifically requesting those roles; in need of replacing ones that had fallen.
With the —rather childish— misconception that melee equals cool and range equals lame, they've since become a commodity within the world of running dungeons and raids.
In more recent times, there has been a rise in ranks seen in the Hall of Fame, specifically for ranged classes; breaking through the multiple Blade Masters and Dragoons that have dominated the top. Most notable, was Narumiya Mei, a Sorcerer who entered the top ten a couple of years back. The only thing Eijun really knew about him, was that he was part of the Inashiro Guild, and peculiarly Miyuki, of all people, personally knew him. And of course, the bastard refused to divulge how seemingly deriving pleasure in holding that information over Eijun's head.
Asshole.
"It's too early to be distracted," Speak of the devil, and the bastard appears.
Miyuki leisurely rested his arm atop Eijun's shoulder, "Don't you have more important things to be doing? Such as getting ready to make sure we all don't die?" Eijun jostled the offending appendage off, only for it to return moments later.
Everyone currently lingered around the portal entrance, doing a few last-minute preparations before they officially began. Eijun only needed to summon Ume, which didn't take long at all.
Miyuki ignored Eijun's, rather snarky, questions to instead ask, "You haven't stretched yet, have you?" The smirk that graced his lips told Eijun that he already knew the answer. Eijun, in fact, had not stretched and had completely forgotten as he inspected his new surroundings.
This was how he found himself seated on a mix of snow and stone, legs spread, arms extended forward, and nose practically touching the ground. All while Miyuki applied pressure to his back to further the stretch.
Fortunately, Eijun was naturally flexible, as this position allowed him to hide how aflame his cheeks currently were. As it was, Eijun refused to glance around, afraid to catch any teasing looks from the rest of the team. He couldn't claim it was a result of the chill, either; thanks to the Burning Cinders inlaid in his gear to prevent such a thing.
Miyuki ran Eijun through several more stretches, too hands-on to be necessary, practically positioning Eijun's body for him. Now Eijun was forced to make accidental eye contact with several other members who had large, toothy grins on their faces; essentially promising Eijun the teasing he had hoped to avoid. While Yui peered on with a confused tilt of his head, further increasing the added heat to his cheeks.
Eventually, after he deemed himself good enough, Eijun waved Miyuki off, who danced out of reach of Eijun's flailing hand with a shit-eating grin; all while Eijun backed up a few paces to further their distance, with a meager hope that a larger gap would somehow prevent the onslaught of teasing that was sure to ensue. Eijun was very tempted to sick Ume on him, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to do much damage to Miyuki if any at all.
Unfortunately.
However, Ume's wind can certainly knock him off his feet, which would most certainly be embarrassing.
"Go get yourself ready before I blow you off the gorge!" Eijun's jabbed his finger toward the chasm in question.
He expected Miyuki to laugh or possibly mock him, while others join in as they tend to. What he didn't anticipate, was for the whole plateau to go quiet, all except for the whistle of the wind. Eijun glanced around, taking note that practically everyone was now staring.
"Word choice, Sawamura. Word choice." Kuramochi piped up as chuckles began to ring out.
At that, Eijun thinks back to what he said and immediately identifies his error. Blushing red again, he splutters, "That's not what I meant!" He summons Ume, spirit orb glowing and morphing until his favorite, plump little bird emerged. Before the shine could fully diminish, Eijun whisked her from the air and held her out on display for everyone to see, "I meant literally with Ume's wind!"
It was too late, the damage had been done. The chuckles escalated into full-blown laughter. Even Miyuki had the audacity to utter, "Well, if you're offering..."
Eijun turned his embarrassed fury toward Miyuki, and before he could second guess himself, he wound his arm back and chucked Ume directly at the bastard's smirking face. Ume squawked at the suddenness as Miyuki's eyes widen —satisfyingly— in surprise. With their proximity, Miyuki was barely swift enough to pull his greatsword off his back to block the initial impact of Ume, the subsequent burst of wind that surrounded him managed to ruffle the tassel hanging off the hilt of his new —because of course Miyuki lucked out with another legendary weapon; while Eijun still hadn't had one—sword, but otherwise he remained unharmed. Eijun narrowed his eyes further in annoyance as Ume flapped her way back to plop herself on top of his head.
Miyuki lowered his weapon, a stupid smirk still in place. With few options, Eijun flipped him off.
"Get a room," Azuma snapped; arms crossed.
"Is this normal?" Yui asked, clearly still bewildered. Shirasu simply pats him on the back but said nothing.
Of course, Kuramochi jumped in with, "Oh, you sweet summer child," with an expression full of pity.
Isashiki, not so helpfully, supplied, "Ignore them, they're just pulling each other's pigtails," then flapped his hand in their direction as if it were no big deal. This made no sense coming from him, as Isashiki was one of the bigger offenders when it came to teasing Eijun and Miyuki, right behind Kuramochi.
That, however, appeared to further confuse Yui, before sudden enlightenment flashed across his expression, mouth parted in a silent "oh" and eyes darting between Eijun and Miyuki as if he were seeing them anew.
Eijun wasn't certain his face could get any redder, —could probably melt the ice caps with his cheeks alone— and at this rate, he considered throwing himself into the gorge to end his suffering.
"I take it we're all ready then," Yuuki deadpanned, long since used to the antics. "In that case, there's no point in waiting. Yui, Tanba, Kawakami, Azuma, Isashiki, and I will take the left. Miyuki, Shirasu, Kuramochi, Kominato, Sawamura, and Furuya; you guys take the right. As we'll be separated, Miyuki will call the shots for group two until we reconvene. Understood?"
There was a chorus of "yes, sirs" from group two. Yuuki shot a withering glance at Eijun, "Sawamura?" He prodded, catching on immediately that Eijun was the only one that had not responded.
Eijun grits his teeth and said, "Fine! But if he pisses me off, he's going into the gorge! Main tank be damned!"
Bless him, Yuuki nodded, accepting that as an adequate answer, even as Miyuki shot him a look of feigned shock.
"We have Yui, anyway," Kominato offered with a shrug.
That got a genuine reaction, "Hey!" Miyuki exclaimed, notably affronted.
Yuuki ignored the exchange and turned toward Kuramochi, "Make sure they don't goof off too much."
To that, Kuramochi instantly protested, "Me?! Why am I always on babysitting duty?!" Unfortunately for him, Yuuki simply spun on his heel and strode toward the beginning of the left path, the rest of group one followed. This left Kuramochi to direct his ire to the next source, "I swear, Miyuki, be professional or I will be the one shoving you into the gorge. Clear?"
"I'm always professional," Miyuki said with a snort and a laugh, as he too, made his way to the start of the path on the right. Frustratingly, Miyuki wasn't necessarily wrong. About ninety percent of the time, he was excellent at putting personal feelings aside, throwing all his focus into the raid. The last ten percent, however, depended greatly on how dull he felt periods of the raid were.
When each group was in their respective positions, they awaited Yuuki's final sign to begin. But before that, Miyuki turned back with an expression of pure glee, "Alright, we're going to turn this into a race to see which group can get to the gates first."
Eijun couldn't help the matching grin that pulled at his own lips. He's always down for some good competition.
The gates in question were positioned equally along each route; four per side. They were allegedly tall, and made of stone. Blocking all progress until the respective lever was pulled. Each gate was guarded by a tougher mob, but once it was dead, they were free to pull the lever, subsequently opening the gate on the opposite pathway. This forced raids to spilt into groups if they wanted to continue forth. Though Eijun supposed weaker guilds could plow through segments one by one; which would take a significant amount of time as they would have to constantly backtrack between both paths to open all the gates. Splitting up was definitely the quicker method.
"Does it count as a race if the other team doesn't know about it?" Kominato asked in a sardonic tone, though they all knew he wasn't opposed to the idea.
Not to worry, Eijun had that covered, "Hey!" he shouts, loud enough not to be drowned out by the wind, as well as to carry over the distance between. All six heads in group one turn to stare, "Last group to the most gates has to farm Oblivion Tunnels!"
"We're making bets now?" Kominato questioned, though obviously intrigued.
Kuramochi began to cackle.
Typically, Seido members not within the first or second string were tasked to take on dungeons, and occasionally farm them for material that the guild frequently utilizes. Mainly for Obsidian Grit which was used to repair higher-level equipment. They go through it quickly enough that constantly needing to purchase it from farming guilds or the marketplace rapidly added up. After buying Obsidian Grit, they had to take the gear to a blacksmith or armorer and pay again to have the item repaired. Having Obsidian Grit on hand at least saved them some gold in the long run.
There were multiple dungeons that Obsidian Grit could be found in, though Oblivion Tunnels had become famous for having the highest drop rate. The dungeon was rather easy, just incredibly tedious and annoying, which made it perfect for punishment games. Everyone had at least run through it once, settling a deep-seated hatred for it in them all.
"You're gonna regret that!" Isashiki hollered back.
"Get fucked, losers!" Came Azuma's eloquent retort.
A boisterous laugh bubbled out as Eijun's amusement climbed. Instinctively, Eijun peeked over at Miyuki, and upon seeing the wide, genuine smile on his face, Eijun's heart skipped a rather painful beat at the sight. He swiftly turned away and desperately hoped no one noticed his blush.
"We'll win," Furuya stated, already fired up. Partially due to wanting to win, but Eijun believed it mainly stemmed from Furuya's extreme, personal despise of Oblivion Tunnels. The last boss had a strong resistance to magic-based attacks, rendering most of his skills useless.
Eijun understood his pain; it grew frustrating having all his attacks essentially nullified.
When everyone least expected it, Yuuki announced the start. Eijun hadn't been prepared and took his brain a second too long to figure out where they were going.
By the time He got his feet moving, Miyuki had already drawn his weapon and began to dash up the pathway; utterly unbothered by each puff of snow that exploded on either side of him. Ice wolves emerged out of any and all piles of snow to immediately give chase; growling and snarling. They launched attacks, fangs bared, yet as Miyuki was constantly on the move, their targeting was always off; leading to them whiffing entirely or smacking into the cliff-side wall on their right. One nearly plummeted to its demise into the chasm to their left. The pathway wasn't wide enough for the way the wolves bodily threw themselves into each attack.
Shirasu dodged a wayward wolf that missed its strike against Miyuki. This was why Eijun and Furuya hung further back to avoid accidents such as those. Some mobs were simply too reckless in their own attacks.
Miyuki continued forth, pulling aggro from more and more ice wolves as they appeared. Eijun had to wonder if or when Miyuki planned to stop so they could take them out, but soon noticed the first towering gate through the growing fog.
"I'm pulling to the gate!" Miyuki announced, answering the unasked question.
Already, though, the pack of wolves he had collected was somewhere over two dozen. Eijun attempted to count, but with how frequently they moved, and how their white fur blended in so well with the snow, he was positive he missed or double-counted some. With how it seemed they formed from snow, they almost felt endless.
Just before the first gate, there was a steeper incline, and at the top of that, stood a hulking snow golem. Its entire body was covered in white fur, much like the wolves, other than its hands, feet, and face, which were a light gray.
The golem awaited them, rather patiently in Eijun's opinion. Up until Miyuki scaled the incline and charged the golem to stun it. He then ducked around the golem so he was sandwiched between the gate and its guard and horde of vicious wolves. However, even Eijun could see that as a clever move, as the gate flawlessly protected Miyuki's unguarded back, while allowing him to focus solely on blocking all frontward attacks.
Once the golem shook off the stun, it veered around to swing its meaty fists at Miyuki, only to be repelled by his greatsword. The wolves swiftly joined in the fray, practically piling and climbing over each other in their desperation to tear Miyuki to shreds. Once they were all within Miyuki's range, he let loose a fire AOE, cracking the ground under his and the mob's feet. Eijun watched as spurts of flames shot out of the split earth; steam hissing as it met the significantly colder air of the mountains.
Generally, Miyuki's usage of AOE was a sign for everyone else to attack. As long as Miyuki got the first hits in, he should retain their attention while the rest whittle them down. Shirasu, Kominato, and Kuramochi instantly jump into the horde while Eijun and Furuya launch their attacks a little ways away.
Eijun unleashed strong gales that sliced through fur, and the inner ice bodies that lay beneath. Furuya shot out hot blasts of fire that swiftly melted away all the wolves' defenses, which made finishing them off exponentially easier for everyone else. It didn't take long at all for the mobs to drop, their bodies crumbled and shattered into powdered dust for the wind to carry away.
Kuramochi immediately dove for the lever, opening the gate for group one.
"That's one point for us," Eijun cheered, but shortly after, their gate rumbled as the door slid open into the cliff-side.
"But can we go four-for-four?" Miyuki challenged and instantly began his charge through the next segment.
