4 Raiders vs an Empire
David led the others through the streets of Avernus found some weaker shadows for Ryuko and Eijiro to fight. He found a suitable shadow, isolated it, and let Ryuko or Eijiro have at it. After each battle, he'd check them before setting them on another shadow. Rinse and repeat until they are used to the Metaverse.
Ryuko objected to basically training… until David countered that she put him through training during their spars back at the gym. She conceded the point after that. Kirishima didn't mind at all, being the newest at using a Persona and resolving to be the best man he could be for the task ahead.
They spent the next hour repeating the process, all so they could be familiar with their metaverse powers.
With all four of them now able to use Personas, infiltrating Katsuo's Palace could resume. David and Lubbock explained how they investigated the Palace's Arena and two towers. Now, once they get the other two keys, they'll be able to access the main keep.
With the additions of Ryuko and Ejiro, they doubled their manpower. According to Lubbock, they went from a rogue & Ranger duo to a full party with the addition of both a cleric and a fighter. David wasn't as into the Game terms as Lubbock was, but he got the general gist of it.
Ryuko and Ejiro were both close quarters fighters, each with their own Element. Ryuko seemed to focus on Nuclear skills while Ejiro's Element was Fire. Ejiro's Persona also had some healing skills, making him the de facto healer on the team. He took the role in stride, seeing it as heroic for him to be the healer.
Stronger team or not, they decided to go stealth first. Lubbock took point, using his wires to trigger any traps. He played the rogue bit a bit too much for his liking, but David let him be.
Eventually, they came across the obstacle that David and Lubbock both wanted to be done with: Burning Breath.
He stood there, glancing around. He hadn't spotted them yet. David set up a group call; they'd agreed to keep in contact. David and Lubbock already gave the run down of Burning Breath's powers. Now, the four of them would tackle him head on.
David: [ Everyone clear on the plan? ]
Kirishima: [ Yeah man! I'm good to go. ]
O'Brian: [ Totally. The four of us will bring him down. ]
Ryuko: [ Sure. Except David, Edge and I will be doing most of the hard stuff. ]
David grinned. At the academy, he never had anyone who was on his side. A Street rat in Saka Academy, even by scholarship, was looked down on by principle. Even before being targeted by Katsuo and his cronies, he never had a shot at making friends.
Now he's got a trio of chooms who're on his side and got his back. It felt… good. 'Not bad for a drop out.'
David calmed his thoughts and got ready. He moved forward while Lubbock got into position from above, climbing up the pillars near Burning Breath. Edge and Ryuko took positions near him. Then, he charged straight at the horse Demon with a forward thrust.
Burning Breath howled as David's spear pierced his side. It wasn't fatal, but it hurt. Burning Breath grabbed onto his spear, wrenched it from his side, and flung it and David away. David spun in the air and landed on his feet.
David and the horse Demon traded blows, claw against spear, for a few seconds. He didn't need to deal any real damage; he just needed to keep him occupied long enough for the others to get into position.
As the demon fought, it used the same shockwave, targeting David and slowing him down. The demon grinned as it got closer and readied its fire breath. It exhaled, sending a torrent of flames at David…
The attack never struck, as Edge stood in its way. With a bellow, he called forth his own persona. "Guard the gates, Leonidas!" Blue fire came to life behind him, and dispersed to reveal a warrior king. He was a tall man with tanned skin and Greek hoplite armor. He wore a red cape of fire, a spear in one hand and a round shield in the other. His red fanned helmet covered his whole head, but let his glowing green eyes shine through.
As Burning Breath took note of the red haired interloper, it jolted forward as mantis blades were driven into its back.
The horse demon raged against her, causing her to fall back and regroup with David and Kirishima. It opened its mouth to call for reinforcements.
Before it could, a figure fell from above. Lubbock wrapped its wires around its jaw and pulled tight with all his strength.
David noticed Lubbock grip slipping. He grabbed Ryuko and threw her at the demon.
David: [ Ryuko, we can't let it roar! ]
She drew her mantis blades mid air and drove it into the demon's snout. Burning Breath jolted and thrashed; it tried to shout out, but it didn't come out. With the roar canceled, and Lubbock took advantage with his wires. He aimed them down at the demon's feet. As Burning Breath thrashed about, its legs were caught in his wires; that, combined with the force of Ryuko's attack knocked the demon backwards. The two of them disengaged as it fell prone on the ground.
Burning breath attacked him, trying to pummel the closest enemy. Lubbock. Before it could, Eijiro intercepted, and blocked the blow.
Kirishima: [ Nope. you ain't getting past me! ]
The red head grabbed the Demon and pulled, lifting the Demon off the ground by its arm and slamming it back into the ground. Ryuko, David and Lubbock took the chance to rain down their attacks.
David: [ Hit him with everything you got! ]
O'Brian: [ I got dozens of knives just for you big guy! ]
Ryuko: [ we're wiping out this fire demon here and now! ]
Ryuko lashed out with her Mantis blades, Lubbock threw dozens of daggers at the downed demon, and David impaled it in the gut with his spear. He had to disengage when Burning Breath lashed out, but the damage was done.
Even when Burning Breath got up to attack with its fire breath, it couldn't get to them. Eijiro was able to guard against the flames every time. Same if it used its slow spell on David or Ryuko. Eijiro could hold off its attacks. And with his strength, Lubbock was able to hold him down for much longer.
Ryuko and David sped forward, slashing at him from all angles. Kirishima pummeled him with his fists and defended the others from His fire. Lubbock restrained him with Kiri's help, giving Ryuko and David the chance to deal even more damage.
They repeated their plan of attack for a minute longer; after that, Burning Breath was getting weaker and weaker. Soon, their efforts of fighting led to the end they wanted: Burning Breath fell to the ground, defeated. David readied his spear for the final blow, but before he could, it raised its hands. Not to attack, but to surrender.
"Wait!" For the first time since they encountered him, Burning Breath spoke actual words. "You… You have bested me. I… yield. Will you honor… this old one's request?"
"Yeah, I don't think so." Lubbock answered, drawing his wires to finish the demon off… until David stops him.
'With any luck, the technique Igor taught me will work.' David thought as he spoke. "Hang on. I wanna try something."
"Try what?" Lubbock was unconvinced. "We beat him, now we kill him and move on. Simple as that."
David frowned and shook his head. "Igor mentioned a tactic to get stronger, but I need a living shadow for it to work. If it fails, he'll vanish anyways."
Lubbock looked annoyed, but backed off. David addressed the Demon. "Make your request. If it is within reason, I will honor it."
Burning Breath nodded. "Answer me this: What would you do… if you knew your future? If someone showed you… what your fate was?"
David thought about it, considering what he learned about fate and destiny from Igor. He picked up a lot from his talks of philosophy and human nature. In the end, he shrugged. "It depends on how I learned of my supposed future. Is it a real future, or one that someone else is imposing on me?"
"And what would you do if you knew for certain it was your future? If someone showed you what your fate was?"
David smiled. "I'd still question it. Figure out how me in the present becomes me in the future. I don't think the fate of a person is finite, set in stone. Seeing the future would imply that it can be changed, because it is only one potential path, not the definitive one."
Ryuko and Eijiro just shared a glance; they weren't sure what David was aiming for. Lubbock just sighed, hoping David was almost done with whatever scheme he was cooking up.
Burning Breath just hummed at that. "Your argument… is sound. I feel your future is best held in your own hands." Burning Breath's eyes shone in realization. "...I remember now. I am thou… Thou art I. I am Orobas. May my wisdom forever guide you to a better future."
Orobas's form dissolved into azure flames… which then flew towards David and disappeared into his chest. It didn't hurt but forced him back a bit.
Edge was the first to question it. "Dude, what just happened?"
Lubbock thought about and took a wild guess. "The shadow gave a name, it's true name by the feel of things… meaning every shadow has one, instead of the silly names we learn about first."
David nodded. "That does help if we fight multiple Shadows of the same name, but that's not what I'm getting at."
"Oh?" Lubbock asked. "Then by all means, captain… Tell us, what exactly did you do?"
David just grinned as he summoned his persona, but instead of the Greek trickster hero, the figure behind him was the Burning Breath Horse Demon, whom they now knew was Orobas.
Kirishima backed away in surprise. "I thought your persona was Odysseus. What happened to him?"
"He's still here…" David tapped his forehead. "But after that chat, I gained a second Persona. Now, I can freely swap between them."
"The Hell?!" Ryuko gawked. "So you're saying you can just swap Personas like data shards in your neck? That's so broken."
David shrugged. "That's what Igor taught me. It's related to Arcanas, so stronger bonds of one arcana will allow me to bond with Shadows of that matching Arcana, and generally make those persona stronger."
"Make your enemies your allies." Lubbock just smirked, looking more amused than annoyed now. "That's legit one of the weirdest ways of doing it I can think of."
Once Orobas was defeated and David explained his new power, they explored the barracks. There were a few other soldiers lurking about, but with the four of them, they were dealt without much fanfare.
After getting the key, they were able to move up to the second floor. They explored it and dealt with the shadows guarding it. Night Walking Warrior (true name Mokoi) and Zealous Messenger (true name Angel). Lubbock's curse proved fatal against the Angel while David's wind took out the Mokoi easily.
It also made Lubbock get a big head, and start bragging about his skills… which didn't help him against Ryuko's fist. All in all, they called it a night and agreed to continue the next day.
_Days later_
After they explored the main area on the second floor, they called it quits for the day. After that, they picked up their progress. It helped that Ryuko and Eijiro had their back every step of the way.
The four of them managed to deal with any obstacles in their way, be it from enemy shadows or traps in the palace. Lubbock could disable most traps with his wires. What traps he couldn't, David was fast enough to trigger and evade entirely. Any shadows they faced, either by direct assault or ambush, they could handle.
Over the course of their battles, David had already gotten three more Personas from fighting Shadows.
Angel was the first. It resembled a woman with blond hair, white feather wings and bound in a tight gray leather outfit. During their first fight on the second floor, David replicated his strategy and managed to get one of the Zealous messengers as a Persona. It had decent stats and could use light and medium radiant attacks. It also could heal and cause confusion to the enemies. David didn't know how that worked… until he tested it on a Night walking warrior and watched it attack its ally.
Jack Frost was the next persona he gained. It looked like a small snowman with a blue jester's hat. They'd first met it when they had broken into katsuo's study. Lubbock was looking for traps, only for Ryuko to trip one while leaning back. That caused several arrows to shoot at them from the walls. They evaded the worst of it, but Eijiro still got hit by some of them. He was fine, but still gave Ryuko a look for triggering the trap. She just opted for a nervous 'sorry' before things got out of hand.
Anyways… After they sprung the trap, a trio of Mocking Snowmen appeared and tried to ambush them. They were weak to fire, so between outnumbering them and having Kiri's flames to deal with them, it was a fairly quick fight. After knocking one of them down, David offered one of them the chance to try out some new things and get stronger. The timid Snowman agreed to see more of the city, and became David's next persona.
They completed the puzzle in the study and continued, reaching deeper into the palace… or rather, higher up. They got to the third floor, which had a few rooms and open walkways between them. It also had the same balcony that he and Lubbock had faced Katsuo's Shadow in the first time.
That balcony was where he got his fifth Persona.
Kusi Mitama. It was a… a weird looking persona, the weirdest he'd come across. Most shadows so far were humanoid or animal-like creatures; Kusi on the other hand looked like a gunmetal gray tear with a face on it. According to Japanese folklore, it was the 'wondrous Soul' aspect of humans. They fought a group of them - Neutral Aspects of Wonder - along with a group of Possessive Dog Ghosts. It was difficult at first because everytime they attacked one of the dogs, the Aspects would heal them. They had to bind and take down most of the Aspects before wiping out the Dog ghosts.
He tried to gain a sixth persona - one of the Possessive Dog Ghost - but found that he didn't have the… capacity for it. He'd have to speak with Igor about how that could change, but figured five persona was his limit. For now.
They even ran into cognitions of other students from the academy. Most of them appeared in plain robes and tunics, and seemed to be working as servants around the palace. He and Lubbock tried to get some answers out of them but it didn't really work. They just cowered in fear and either praised Katsuo for dumb reasons or tried to convince them to surrender to Katsuo.
Ryuko tried as well, but to little good. Despite her best attempts, she couldn't get them to speak either. The cognitions were adamant about not bothering Katsuo in the slightest. David explained that acted that way because that's how Katsuo thinks they would act, and in his mind, the students would fear him over anything else. Ryuko argued that he was a shitless nobody in real life, but David explained that the cognitions of people act based on what the ruler thinks is right.
Ryuko just grunted at that but nodded. She proved to be the most intimidating among them. David wasn't surprised; he knows what kind of threats she can make. Between her and Lubbock's scheming, they were able to get more than just eddies and loot out of some of the shadows they beat. They got info on the rest of Katsuo's Palace.
From those interrogations with Shadows, they'd learned about a possible concern: a supposed unbeatable, guardian dragon that would descend upon the unworthy when the emperor called for it. By that point they'd already searched most of the palace and seen no such creature, So it could have been a false flag. Still, it was better to be aware of any surprises now than later.
"You really think it's a legit dragon?" Lubbock pondered aloud as they got closer to the final area. "I mean, it could just be something else, or something called a dragon as a pseudonym."
"Wouldn't it at least resemble a dragon though? Or a reptile at least?" Eijiro countered.
"Who cares?" Ryuko was honestly tired of the back and forth about dragons. "Whatever it is, we find it, beat it up and move on so we can leave this stupid dump-"
"Guys." David called for their attention. "We're here."
It was the fifth day after taking down Orobas that they arrived in the secret treasure room behind the final throne room. Katsuo was there, but they were able to sneak past him by jumping from the pillars and chandeliers above the throne. When the four of them landed behind the main throne, they found the final treasure room. The team entered, and they found what they were looking for.
"That's the treasure right?" Edge asked. Before them was a large hoard of treasure; gold, jewels and other items of grandiose value. But the most notable thing in the room was the odd amorphous cloud of gray, purple and black that swirled in front of them.
David chuckled and just nodded. 'It has no physical form, just like Igor said.' "I mean technically, yeah, but-"
"Alright then!" Ryuko cut him off. She sounded excited, but mostly to be done with Katsuo's Palace. "Let's grab it and get the hell outta this dump."
Ryuko went to grab it but fumbled forward, failing to do so. Kirishima joined her in grabbing it, to no success. At some point they ended up hitting each other. Then came shouting, punching and kicking as they fell down, got back up, and repeated the process. Lubbock just spent that time snickering at their attempts.
Five minutes later, David palmed his forehead in frustration. 'This is just stupid.' he pulled the two of them to their feet and away from the formation. "It's. A. Damn. Cloud." David pronounced every word slowly and calmly to get his point across. Then… "You can't grab a damn cloud! The fact you two thought you could is ridiculous!"
Ryuko turned sharply at the Latino, and spoke in a dry, unamused tone: "Before we met you, we thought demons weren't real. Same with Hell. Now you got us sneaking into a Roman palace to steal from your stalker bully. All. in. Hell. How is stealing a cloud weirder than any of that?"
David was gonna argue… and then conceded the point. "Touche."
Lubbock just laughed at the two of them for messing around. Ryuko hit his shoulder and told the verdette to shut up.
The team then headed to one of the safe rooms hidden. David explained how every Palace had a few of them, formed due to people having natural gaps in their psyche, locations in their minds that they couldn't control.
Lubbock just compared them to the safe zones in video games.
"Alright. What now?" Ryuko broached the subject as she leaned back in her seat. Kiri, Lubbock and her all had eyes on David.
David just sighed. "The treasure right now has no form because Katsuo, the ruler of the palace, doesn't think it can be taken. The only way to make it manifest physically is for the ruler to realize that the treasure can be stolen. Once that happens, we have 24 hours to actually take it."
"Okaaay…" Kirishima considered a few things. He'd mostly trusted David's explanations but some parts of it still confused him. "So will taking this treasure even affect him? Hell, what even is this treasure' anyways?"
David sighed. "Okay. The treasure is the core of this Palace. It's the manifestation of the twisted desires of the Palace ruler. In this case, Katsuo. Clear so far?"
At Eijiro's nod and Lubbock's smirk, David continued. "The treasure is the core of the Palace. It represents what Katsuo's corrupt desires are. When we take it, it will cause a chain reaction in his mind… to the point he won't be the same person." David continued his explanation, trying to . He compared it to if a person who did sins without care suddenly grew a conscience and started caring, causing them guilt from their actions. In essence, their own guilt would force them to change.
At hearing that, Lubbock's expression went from amused smirk to a serious scowl. "So what? We do this, take his treasure, and he just magically becomes a nice guy?"
David shrugged. "Not really. He'll just start caring about his actions and how they affect others. The guilt will make him change, not us. Whether Katsuo will change his ways doesn't really matter to me."
"Bullshit, Martinez!" Lubbock shouted now. "That guy's a damn nuisance to guys like us. Hell, I wager that what the bastard said about your mom-"
That was as far as Lubbock, Lubbock flinched back. One second David sat across from Lubbock, the next he stood right in front of him, spear in hand and glaring daggers at him. 'Right. Sandevistan super-speed.' Lubbock put up his hands on reflex; he also made a mental note to never mention David's mom like that ever again.
David let out a breath and backed off.
He'd never forgotten what the punk said, but he wouldn't pay it any mind. He didn't need to. "That's the thing, I don't forgive him… I don't need to. What Katsuo has done or said in the past doesn't matter to me anymore. All that matters is getting him to leave me alone. Hell, the only reason he's obsessed with me is because I do my level best to ignore him." David retorted. "I still have Maine on my back 'cause of the Sandevistan, so the less enemies I have, the better."
Lubbock grumbled, annoyed but said no more on the subject. Kiri just took note of the name David mentioned. "Maine? Big guy with blond hair, brown skin and a bigger ego? That Maine?"
At David's nod, Ryuko cut in. "Yeah, what's his beef with you? Did you sleep with his daughter or something?"
"Hell no." David dryly said. "Pretty sure he doesn't have one. It's like this…"
David went on to summarize what happened from his mother's death, to chipping in the Sandevistan and decking Katsuo, to his meeting with he kept the moon BD to himself; it was between him and Lucy. From there, he concluded with the Maine's ambush at Lucy's place and his disappearance thanks to Igor.
Ryuko hummed at that, all while doing maintenance on her mantis blades. "So if we meet this Lucy chick, I should stab her. Repeatedly."
Lubbbock scoffed. "That's what you get for falling for a pretty face."
"How was he supposed to know about them? His mom never told him about this Maine dude or their deal." Kiri defended.
"Yeah, that's about right." David summed up. "She was klepping chrome to sell to Maine to help me get through the academy. I kinda… ended that when I had the Sandy implanted. Either way, I'm not giving it up, but I need to sort things out with him 'cause-"
"You still owe Maine." The three guys turned to her, and she just rolled her eyes. "I don't blame you for not knowing about the deal between Maine and your ma, but you getting the sandevistan implanted threw their deal out the window. Now Maine wants what they agreed on. To settle it, you gotta pay him back with the eddies-"
"Eddies I don't have due to the costs of my mother's…" David trailed off. Thinking about it nearly brought him to tears, but he held it in. 'Not the time for that.'
Ryuko took a deep breath, noting the look in his eyes. She knew that look. "…yeah. Sorry."
"...It's fine." David waved it off. "And sad to say, you're right. I do need to settle things with Maine, I owe him, and my mom, that much."
"And if we get the treasure and sell it, we'll probably get enough eddies to pay him back." Eijiro added.
"Probably… if we don't split it four ways between us." Lubbock just groaned as he noticed another flaw in their plans. "Do you even know how much Maine paid for the implant?" David shook his head, leading to Lubbock's groan.
David thought about it. 'Maine's not gonna tell me, he's too pissed at me right now. Same for most of his crew… except, maybe…' "There's only one person who can find out, and might be willing to tell me."
Lubbock's eye twitched; he knew who he was referring to and didn't like it. "...That's a horrible idea."
David raised an eyebrow. "It's my only shot."
"You're gonna get burned. again."
"I'll delta before that happens."
"And if she shuts you down with quick hacks?"
I delta. Before. That happens." Lubbock frowned at that but held his tongue.
David held his forehead and sighed. "Ryuko, Edge. think you can gather some supplies?" Both agreed, with Edge promising to get everything ready for the final raid.
"I'm gonna get some intel. Tomorrow, we'll meet and brainstorm how to get the calling card to Katsuo. Agreed?" They did, with Lubbock
With plans set, the four of them exited the Metaverse, and then went their separate ways for the night. Lubbock warned him not to fall for the same trick twice; David agreed, but insisted he'd be fine. They didn't argue about it beyond that.
Now he had to meet with a netrunner, and started headin' to her apartment. Hopefully their second encounter would end without violence and hellfire.
_Lucy_
'Dammit, Where the fuck is he!?' She cursed as she made her way to her apartment. First time she saw him by dumb luck. Now, she couldn't track him anywhere. No camera
The crew hasn't done any jobs, on account of Maine being hyper fixated on the Sandevistan. The fact she basically needed to find David and get this done.
'He might be willing to fork over the Sandy if I can get his original spine from Doc.' She'd already swung by Doc Borg to make sure of that. Fortunately
She walked into her building, planning to head into her apartment and either to do some deep dives on her own or sleep in and hope to find the punk the next day. At least… that was her plan.
Instead she walked up to her apartment to see a familiar latino in his bright yellow jacket. Lucy's eye just twitched at that. 'I've searched the last few days for him, only to find he's dropped off the face of the earth. Now he shows up at my place again, like it's normal.' "...Didn't expect to see you here."
"Yeah." David looked a bit sheepish at that. "Mind if I come in? I need your help with some… unfinished business."
Lucy scoffed at that. Calling the headaches he gives her and the crew unfinished business is a nice way of putting things. 'Setting my boss on a wild goose chase is more like it.'
She brushed past him and motioned for him to follow. David sat on the couch with the view of the window behind him. Lucy took the seat across from him. The same one Maine and the others sat in during that first confrontation. She just glared at the punk across from her. "Spill, What do you want?"
David didn't even flinch at her tone. He just made his own demand. "How much did Maine buy the Sandevistan for?"
Lucy raised an eyebrow at that. She hadn't called Maine about David, either out of spite for Maine or curiosity at what David's up to. The only reason he'd ask her that would be to pay him back. 'That would be between him and Maine.' "You think you could pay him back? Maine still wants the Sandy."
David sighed. "I know, but it's the last thing I got from my mom. I'll refund him in full, but I need the price."
Lucy huffed at that. "That's some big talk. Where was it when Maine was staring you down? Honestly… I wasn't impressed."
David countered. "Not like you were any more honest with me. You were playing me from the beginning."
'We're doing this now. Great.' She took a drag of her cigarette. "Not like I planned all of it from the start."
David didn't look convinced. "You could've said some-"
"Told you what?" Lucy shot back. "Maine wouldn't shut up 'bout his prized Sandy goin' missing and I saw you usin' the exact same one on the train."
David sighed. "...Fine." By the scowl on his face, he wanted to say more, but held himself back. He just sighed and focused on the deal with Maine. "If you give me 48 hours, I can pay him back. Can you find out before then?"
"I could." Lucy ground out her cigarette in a tray. "Dorio would probably spill if I asked. But why would I tell you?" She didn't see a reason to help him out.
David snorted. "Because Maine won't stop bugging me, you and the rest of your crew till our dilemma is resolved. You tell me how much, and I can settle it with Maine."
The Netrunner hummed at that. 'Okay, that's a good enough reason.' "...Fine, I'll do it. Just convince Maine to take your deal. If you can't convince him, convince Dorio. She'll get it through his iron thick skull."
"Thanks." David stood up and turned to leave.
Lucy was grateful for that. She didn't really feel up to saying anything more on it. She'd never thought
David stood at the door and turned his head to see her. "One last thing, I gotta ask… Why'd you show me the Moon BD? Seemed pretty personal."
Lucy wasn't gonna share anything until things were normal. But if he could settle things… 'I might be willing to talk if…' she might as well say it. "Settle things with Maine, and… and I might share. Okay?"
She watched him nod and walk to the door. She didn't know what happened to him since that night, but he seems calmer and more focused.
David didn't say anything to that, he just glanced back, and then zoomed out of sight, courtesy of the Sandy.
When she confirmed he was gone, Lucy just let out a breath and slumped back onto her couch. 'Why did that feel so… awkward? Painful? I only knew him a single day, so why do I care if he lives or dies?'
Lucy just sighed as she contacted Dorio. She might as well try to ask her about Maine's deal with Gloria. Fortunately for her, Dorio was in a tipsy, annoyed mood. A little prodding from her, and the tall woman gladly ranted about Maine and his growing chrome addiction.
Whether or not she'd follow up and send the details to David… 'No. What he asked was simple. I owe him that much.' Heart resolved, she just had to decide when to send him the details.
Things are heating up now. They had their rematch with burning breath and proceeded to the final roadblock. The end of the first arc is coming up.
Also, I recently looked it up, and apparently, Orobas does in fact have a canon Shadow name: Equine Sage. I only found it a few days ago. For now I'll leave it as Burning Breath, but I edited it, making it Burning Breath Equine Sage. sounds more intimidating to me.
Now for Persona Stats…
Leonidas [Tower Arcana] Lvl: 8
Summary: King of Sparta during the time of the Second Persian War. When word of the invaders reached Sparta, he took 300 of his greatest warriors, along with dozens of other Greek Allies to defend against the invading armies of Xerxes. Even when allies abandoned them, even when the enemy had them surrounded, He and his 300 stood strong until their final breath. Their stand gave the Greek allies the time they needed to rally troops and win the second Persian War.
Strength-8 Agility-5 Endurance-9 Magic-6 Luck-4
Melee(Res) Fire(Nul) Electric(- -) Wind(Wk) Frost(- -)
Ranged(- -) Nuclear(Res) Psychic(- -) Radiant(- -) Curse(- -)
Skills
Agni(Nu) = Light Fire attack against one target. 20 % chance of Burn.
Dia(He) = Heal 1 Ally for 20-30 % of their total Health.
Baisudi(He) = Remove Burn, Freeze, Shock, Dazed, or Radiation conditions from one target. Also heals for 2 % of the target's health.
Shielder(Pa)* = Redirect an enemy attack at an ally within reach of you to yourself. Attack damage reduced by 50 %.
I'll admit, I'm kinda fast forwarding past a lot of stuff, especially for the first Palace. It's mostly because I dislike Katsuo and want to be done with him… same as David actually.