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[DP 2] The Goonberg Files
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Post by Alan Pantell on Oct 11, 2019 18:21:56 GMT
That their crewmates found their disposition towards opponents amusing was, in a strange way, flattering to Alan and Levi. Was ensuring there were no casualties a tall order? Yes, especially if these so-called "Chaos Pirates" were going to be getting themselves involved. The point they tried to make was rather....
"Almost everyone has a reason for doing what they do... your 'enemies' the Rocket Pirates, for what little I was told by that source of questionable merit, are after the same things we are. I wouldn't kill or let die over what amounts to a conflict of interest. If the Chaos Pirates are murderers, then sure, self defense is cool. Even so, I hold that nothing's quite as satisfying as being able to look your enemy in the eye and say, "I don't need you to be dead for your existence to not be a problem for me." Perhaps that's nothing more than a fun daydream at this point~"
Following that, Alan and Levi would continue with the rest of the crew, diligently listening and observing before asking any questions. Even once they were asked, they wouldn't have much to say.
"The typhoon boost is ingenious, if you don't mind me saying. No questions so far, assuming we also have a plan for what happens after we disembark."
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Post by Erika on Oct 14, 2019 15:24:09 GMT
“That part is a little harder to plan. Hehe…” Moving the gears around his mainframe, Hagurumon giggled. “Since we don’t actually know what we’ll find on the islet, making a plan for when we get there is harder.”While staring at the island, Bruyne sounded a bit nervous.
Virkka, however, seemed a lot more straightforward about the matter. “Once we’re in there, we do what we do best. Staying out of sight, and letting the others be an excellent bait~” That seemed to be where the Rocket Pirates were playing an important role. “Krull and his group of dimwits are going to cause a mess everywhere. We let them be a distraction for the Navy while we infiltrate inside the headquarters and take the files.” She seemed to be more than sure about what the Rocket Pirates’ approach would be but... she also seemed to be sure they were striking tonight. Why would that be?
“Not like we have much choice. We really don’t know what we’re going to find there. So we can only be sure we'll do what we always do.”
“Then it’s all set.” The vamp turned her eyes away from the ship at the distance and looked at her crew, her red irises going through each of the members as she addressed what they would do next. “Lire, you’ll stay here making sure the ship does not do anything different until its time for the change of shifts. Once it is, move to the west and you’ll get on the Tomb right before we enter the typhoon’s stream. Once we’re at the islet, you’re disembarking with me.”
“Yes, Master Virkka!” With a smirk on her face, Lire nodded. “Bruyne, you’re disembarking too. Kuda will come with us too, now that we know the Chaos Pirates might show up.” The captain added.
The ogre’s response was brief. “Sure. That makes four of us so far.”
With that out of the way, Virkka looked at her favorite gear. “Hagurumon, you’re driving the ship back to the shore along with Pillomon after you drop us at the islet. Make sure to get everyone in the crew ready, we’re probably leaving this island as soon as we have the files.” “Hehe…”
And, finally…
“Alan and Levi..." After a pause that only accounted for dramatism, Virkka revealed their role. "You’re completing the group of six who is going into the islet. That means you’re disembarking with us.”
Although Lire seemed to just know this was going to be the outcome, she still was visibly angered about this decision. "Just... don't get in my way." She muttered.
Bruyne jump off the rock he was sitting on and spoke loudly before this turned into another argument. “Well… I have no questions. And I’m also hungry. So I guess we can go back, right?” Swinging his club around his hand, Bruyne asked, looking at Virkka and the rest.
“Not quite.” The captain answered. “We still need to test and improve Alan and Levi’s stealth skills, don’t we? I just decided you’re in charge of that, Bruy-ne~”
The Shammamon received the news with a bit of shock, staring at the captain as she looked at Hagurumon. “Once you leave me in the forest, take Alan, Levi, and Bruyne to our ship, Hagurumon. I assume Kuda must be on her way there already, setting everything up for tonight. You can have lunch and dinner there, while Bruyne gets our new crewmates ready for the heist.”
“M-me…?” Without really deciding if he should feel flattered for having his first trainees or not, Bruyne looked more like a stuttering mess than anything else right now. But… that didn’t change anything, honestly.
Just like the vamp had ordered, Hagurumon turned into a Resshamon again. It carried the whole crew except for Lire back to the forest, leaving Virkka there, and then it moved towards the west, taking Bruyne, Alan, and Levi to the insides of a cave, located basically at the middle of nowhere, in a place even more hidden than where they had come out from the stairs coming from the basement of the Lost Droplet earlier.
Although such cave looked small on the outside, its insides were massive! It glowed in a green color and seemed completely abandoned. That did not stop her from looking… really pretty on the inside. This was the place where the Dusk Pirates had chosen to keep their ship for now.
In the middle of the cave, a lake was the resting surface of a giant wooden ship. It looked like a caravel, with big, grey sails and some very gothic decorations. The green light produced by the fireflies and the precious stones inside the cavern lightened up the vessel in a truly majestic way. As soon as they had entered the underground chamber, Resshamon went back to being a Hagurumon as the group walked down a surface that led to the central lake, where the ship rested.
“That’s our ship,” Bruyne remarked while he walked in front of the group. “Its full name is The Bloodlust Tombstone, although most of the times we just call it ‘the Tomb’” As they approximated the ship at the center of the cave, Alan and Levi would be able to appreciate its full details a bit further. “So? Whatcha’ think?”
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Post by Alan Pantell on Oct 15, 2019 19:32:47 GMT
"Yeah, that's about what I expected..." the young blonde stared out to the island. "But... wait, you say Krull is going to cause a distraction like you're relying on it. How can you be so sure?" Various possibilities flashed before him. Recon, someone on the inside... maybe they were allies the whole time, posing as rivals to throw off the Navy. Or maybe... an ex-Dusk Pirate in the Rocket Pirates was still linked to Virkka. Of course, as was usually the case, Alan had no way of knowing, other than to wait for a response.
Being part of the party to disembark was expected, but still made the pair of adventurers nervous. They knew that would be fixed shortly, but for the moment, it seemed unreal. The mission was tonight, and they were super outclassed! They knew the basics and common sense of sneaking around, but they had never done professional stealth work, as close to "professional" as this may have been considered. Even so...
"We won't." said Levi after Lire's comment. Now wasn't the time to "try" this or that. They either would or wouldn't.
The two partners stared up at the ship, eyes sparkling with the stones and fireflies. "I love these kinds of caves! And how to describe the ship... it's..."
"It's classy for one thing. And maybe it's the lighting, but I'd say it's pretty gorgeous! But anyway... they said you'll be training us...?"
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Post by Erika on Oct 19, 2019 13:09:34 GMT
With the Dusk Pirates -and apparently the Rocket Pirates, too- moving, it was clear the preparations for tonight’s mission had already started. Alan and Levi’s question wouldn’t be answered by Virkka. Instead, the captain had instructed Bruyne to explain that to them later, which is exactly what the Shammamon did while they descended through the cave and into the Tomb. “Oh, right. About the Rocket Pirates…” The ogre remembered to talk to them about this. “The reason why we’ve known they’re striking tonight all along is that we share the same informer. This informer doesn't know we know, but we’re pretty sure they’re giving the same information they’re giving to us to the Rocket Pirates too.” He noted while he climbed into the ship through one wood ladder placed at its side. So, what did that mean? “The information we received is that tonight, Epox, the commandant in charge of Goonberg, is moving to Grimway to attend some top-secret matter. That means, just for tonight…”“That islet will have a threat less.” A mature, feminine voice came from the western side of the ship, while a creature went out of a cabin that seemed to lead to the lower floors. “Kuda.” Bruyne greeted his crewmate. “I should have known you were here already.” “Mhm…” She nodded, not minding Bruyne much and looking at their new crewmate. “I saw you two earlier in the basement. I’m Kudamon, but everyone call me Kuda. I’m the cook aboard, along… other duties.” She addressed the pair. “I guess they’re going to the mission?” Glancing back at the ogre, she asked. “They are. At least for now.” Bruyne answered. “I was just explaining to them why we know the Rocket Pirates are striking tonight.”“Well, we can’t always trust Amelie’s information. You and I both know she’s kind of a troll.” That name again… “But I guess there’s no harm in crossing fingers and expecting she told us the truth.”“If she didn’t… I don’t think Virkka would be too upset. We all know she wants to fight Epox again.” Bruyne scoffed while making his club stand on the floor and leaning against it, his arms folded. “You’re ri—“ Before reaffirming the ogre’s point of view, Kuda turned to see Alan and Levi, and then back to Bruyne. “What are you guys doing here, anyway?”Letting go of that relaxed pose, Bruyne turned towards their new crewmates. “Oh, right! I am supposed to train these guys for tonight.”To this statement, the Kudamon giggled elegantly. “You…? Whoa, your first trainees.”“W-What’s so funny?”“Nothing~ I’ll go cook something for you guys.” The chef wiggled her tail before going back to the door she had come from. As Kuda left them alone on deck, Bruyne seemed ready to start with his lessons. Well, that was when he started deciding on how to approach this. “Let’s see…” He seemed to be remembering something that happened a while ago when he joined the crew and was trained himself. “Right. Our First Principle on the battlefield.” Raising up his index finger, he looked firmly at the pair. “Think of it as our Golden Rule, our most basic axiom. Something you have to base all of your choices on.” This seemed important, and here it went… “While the sea is calm, the pirate shall become one with the Dusk. When turbulence strikes and the Dusk needs the pirate’s aid, that is when the pirate and the Dusk shall separate, only for the pirate to aid the Dusk, as the Dusk once aided the pirate.”
Bruyne would make sure those words remained in the pair’s head for a while. “Can you comprehend what is the true meaning behind that First Principle? Why don’t you try to tell me what you think it means?” He asked, showing a smirk. “Come on, you won’t be punished for wrong answers.”Making his club float some meters away from him, the ogre took a seat, his eyes closed and his arms folded. “While you do, try to steal my club.” The weapon was, seemingly, just floating in the air, steadily, while the Shamamon remained sitting on the wood of the deck. “Oh, by the way…” He smirked “… in our crew, when you’re assigned to train someone, you are granted the power to leave them out of any mission, if you feel they’re unprepared.”Suddenly, this had become a lot more interesting. Their possibilities of going into Goonberg tonight depended on this. “So… you better pass this training.”
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Post by Alan Pantell on Oct 22, 2019 16:04:25 GMT
"Amelie... Amelie... Amelie..." Alan repeated, the name ringing familiar to him. Had he heard it before? "Wasn't that.... ah!" He chuckled, remembering exactly that he had and where he had heard the name. "Lire called her a 'bitch' after you let us into your hideout for the first time. I'll take that opinion with a grain of salt."
Levi crossed his arms and nodded. "I'll bet she's said that about a lot of people." Soon after, his attention was turned to the Kudamon who had shown up. That was right, he had seen this digimon while wandering around the slowly-waking basement, even if he wasn't feeling up to conversing at the time. "It's nice to meet you, Kudamon! I don't know if you already caught our names, but it would be rude to assume, so I'm Levi, and this is my partner, Alan!" He said, indicating the young blonde man.
"It's a pleasure to meet you!" said Alan, almost bowing out of instinct, but stopping himself after roughly ten degrees. They agreed silently amongst themselves that it would be better to listen to the conversation play out rather than attempting to interject. The idea of being made something excited them, and they watched Kuda as she left. They smiled to themselves. Okay, so she was a bit cute.
Next came the training. The pair listened to Bruyne's warning about being allowed on the mission. "I'd have it no other way," said Levi. "I wouldn't want to go on a mission I was unprepared for either."
"That said, we're starting from very little actual background, here. So that's why we'll be putting our trust in both you and ourselves! We'll take a moment to discuss, though."
The human and the dragon huddled together to discuss a plan of speech and action for this first task of their training. After a minute or two, they would face Bruyne again. "Alright, here's our take:"
"The Dusk Pirates are, first and foremost, a group that operates in the shadows. During any given mission, unless stated otherwise, the goal is to work silently, unseen, in the shadows, with the Dusk, to accomplish the objective without needing to engage in violent conflict. As one."
Alan hooked one hand behind the back of the Levi the Flamedramon's chest piece.
"But to claim that plans cannot, and are not prone to going awry would be incredibly naïve, to say the least, especially with so many unknown factors every step of the way. The one thing more important than the mission objective are your fellow crew members. When the Dusk Pirates are in danger be they caught or attacked, do not abandon them - come to their aid, even if it means blowing your cover. It was with them that you made it this far, and with them you shall continue!"
Towards the end of this analysis, Levi would dash forward, pulling Alan behind. If Bruyne moved the club out of the way, he would probably notice he wasn't dashing towards the club, but Bruyne himself feigning an attack as he did so. After passing it, Alan would detach himself from Levi's back and kick off, jumping towards the club from behind Levi, at least reaching for it, at best attempting to bear-hug it down. Were there flaws in this plan? Of course, plenty! But one thing it would do was help ascertain just what this ogre's capabilities were, fail or otherwise.
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Post by Erika on Oct 23, 2019 15:37:40 GMT
There was still some to be said about the previous conversation of Alan and Levi with their crewmates, which happened before Kuda left them alone with Bruyne.
“It’s nice to meet you.” The creature barely closed her eyes, showing a dim smirk. Then, she did make a comment about the Amelie matter. “Well, I wouldn’t go as far as Lire but… I can understand why many pirates don’t like her. As I said before, she is kind of a troll, who constantly makes use of her status as a pirate that the Navy can’t touch.” Interesting. Very interesting.
Sadly, the pirate would not elaborate further on that. She was gone now.
Not that Alan and Levi had much time to focus on that now. They had some training to pass.
Once Bruyne heard Alan say something about discussing, he opened up his eyes, blinking twice as the duo exchanged ideas quietly. “Huh… interesting.” He remarked with a simple smirk, while he closed his eyes again and kept his arms folded. The ogre would remain like that, just listening to the explanation from the tamer and his digimon. However, he didn’t issue any single response to their deductions about the Golden Rule. Instead, he remained quiet, in the same stance he had maintained so far, as they jumped towards the club.
So, what did the club do? At first, absolutely nothing. Levi would be perfectly able to reach it and grab it, whether he wanted to hold it between his gauntlets or bear-hug it as Alan planned on doing. The weapon just remained still, in the same place where it was when the training started.
It was then when Bruyne finally broke the silence. “Your explanation was very good, actually.” He admitted. “I noticed from the start… since I saw you at the Lost Droplet, you two are very good at studying and memorizing other’s words. That is a very valuable skill to have. You managed to understand the meaning of our Golden Rule on your first try, with an almost-perfect accuracy.” All of these were uttered with a dead-serious tone of voice. The voice of someone who was taking his role in all of this seriously.
Although it seemed like everything was good news, the pair would hear the end of the compliments coming from the ogre. “So… then tell me…” A dark aura started surrounding Bruyne. From where they were standing, Alan and Levi would probably be able to feel some type of vibration across the deck, almost like if energy was flowing from the pirate. The color of the energy swirling around him was exactly the same as the Soul Wine they had drunk days ago. “… why is it so hard to act... accordingly with your intellect!?”
It was probably a good thing Alan was at Levi’s back because, as soon as Bruyne finished his sentence, the club the dragon was holding imploded in a burst of energy, sending the pair propelled across the surface of the ship. With any luck, the digimon’s body would be able to shield his partner from an explosion that was actually surprisingly painful for the stage one might think Bruyne had! Where was that kind of power coming from? No time for questions, Levi would have to reincorporate fast if he didn’t want him and his tamer to fall to the water.
Once he raised his gaze again to look at the one in charge of their training, they would find Bruyne still sitting with his arms folded and his eyes closed. This time, however, there were three clubs floating at some feet from him. They all looked exactly like the last one.
“As in life, the more you fail, the harder this will get. Try it again, and this time make sure your words match your actions.”
Okay. Time to decipher what they had done wrong and go for it again. They probably didn’t expect the training prior to joining such an important mission was easy, right? Nah, actually… knowing Alan and Levi? they probably didn’t want it to be.
Bruyne vs Alan and Levi. Round 2. Go!
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Post by Alan Pantell on Oct 23, 2019 18:56:03 GMT
~~The Results of the First Attempt~~
The ship rumbled with energy beneath them, and Levi, caught off-guard by being able to catch the club on his first pass, expecting the club to be yanked away from him, decided, in all his brilliance, to hold it closer.
It happened in a flash. Searing pain ripped through Flamedramon's body, and for one second, the most important second, the world faded from his view. All he knew were the screams - those of Alan and himself - and a heavy breeze battering him. With no other feelings and no floorboards beneath, he was soaring through the air, his tamer behind him. In the time he noticed, he jolted awake and jammed his gauntlet into the floor boards, grinding his movement to a halt, but flipping his entire body over itself, leaving his legs and lower body dangling over the side of the ship. Alan did not follow, and landed on his back with a burst of light, as if something was shattering. The boy's light screen shield had absorbed most of the impact, though through his light jacket he felt himself skid to a stop. This was a helpful bit of information, as it told him that what had just hit them was more than a Champion-level digimon could manage. Levels were not their main concern, though it had been an interesting tidbit, and they did say they wished to gauge their trainer's capabilities.
Against the aches and whines of his body, Levi pulled himself up over the side and flopped back onto the deck, allowing Alan, who had taken nowhere near as much damage, to help him back to his feet.
"Strike three," gasped Alan, his gaze returning to Bruyne. The faces of the two partners now sported a hint of guilt, their eyes tinged with a respectful fear.
"Strike three?" Levi repeated, and in response Alan would raise his left hand and begin to count fingers, starting with the thumb, pausing for a breath with each entry.
"One, for the cards.... two, for the apple... three, for the club..." The human looked back at his dragon companion. "Let's talk again, shall we?"
~A Quiet Yet Audible Discussion Between Partners~
"Okay, so, we failed because we didn't take our own advice? What did we say again?"
"The Dusk Pirates are, first and foremost, a group that operates in the shadows. During any given mission, unless stated otherwise... "unless stated otherwise," do you see?"
"Shit. But the instructions were to try and steal his club, not to do it in a certain way. And now there are three of them. Are we supposed to take them all?"
"No, that would be employing brute force, and we should know by now exactly where brute force gets us. Here's what I think: he gave us our instructions, and left nothing out. Our goal is to steal his club, nothing more, nothing less. That's the only thing we need to do to succeed. Do you get it?"
"...that wasn't his club."
"Exactly. So why would any of these be? Following our own advice isn't an added condition for success, it's simply what we need to do to succeed. Let's approach this from a different angle."
~~The Second Attempt Begins~~
Alan would ask aloud a question to which he did not expect an answer:
"Bruyne… are you sure increasing the number of clubs made this any harder?" A few seconds of silence. "We'll have to see for ourselves."
Following this, Alan would switch on his Analog Jammer once more and step casually, as softly as the deck would allow, around to the other side of Bruyne, and examining his person carefully. It was time to see if he was right about this. Hopefully, if he was wrong, the worst that would happen is embarrassment and a few moments of awkward silence.
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Post by Erika on Oct 25, 2019 18:46:12 GMT
Although Bruyne had not been able to see the dragon’s display of agility to get back on his feet, it was likely he would have been very impressed by Levi, even if that was not being assessed here!
While their first approach had been rather Rocket Pirate-y, the second round seemed to be entailed by a rather pensive demeanor coming from Alan and Levi, who had decided to do things different. All the while, Bruyne remained with his eyes closed and his arms folded.
At first, he issued no response. Instead, the ogre decided to remain quiet and listen to the human’s words. It was after some seconds, when there was absolutely no sound being produced by any of the parts, he spoke again.
“I don’t know. It depends on the approach you’re taking. Maybe I can help you with that.” Why? Why was he offering his help at this point? It seemed like he had an interest for keeping the conversation going.
What would Alan notice by looking at his crewmate from different angles? Well, nothing, really. Just a Shammamon without his club, sitting on the floor of the deck. The three clubs remained floating, not too far from Bruyne, who didn’t seem to be hiding anything around him. It was definitely undeniable that looking at things from up close would give them a better perspective, it just seemed like their lecturer didn’t have anything interesting to look at.
He did seem, however, a bit more impatient. He had started knocking his feet against the wood of the deck, while his ears twitched a bit. Were Alan and Levi doing something that bothered him? Or was it more about what they were not doing?
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Post by Alan Pantell on Oct 29, 2019 21:17:16 GMT
Alan's hopeful face eased into a frown each time he checked and found his guess wasn't on the mark. Bruyne was without his club, and one of them was probably, probably the "real" one, or at the very least, one that wouldn't explode if they laid hands on it, and did so in a manner that was considered passable. This much was hinted by Bruyne's terse statement. Neither of them were sure what he had meant by "maybe I can help you with that."
When Levi looked to him for confirmation, Alan shook his head. This wasn't a simple trick like last time. This was a true test of aptitude. No... was it a test? It was supposed to be training, even if their trainer was to judge them based on their performance by the end, he was ultimately there in their best interests. He was there to help them, and that's why he was willing to get rough with them, and what made him realize this was Bruyne's impatient body language. He saw this impatience, and it induced within him a sort of panic.
"Gh…" Alan took a step back, his eyes wide and his mind racing.
Those who face their opponents head-on, with guns blazing and blades swinging, would look down on those who worked in the shadows, calling them "cowards." Always "cowards." It was their best buzzword. Those people often mistook solutions to issues that didn't involve direct confrontation with an opposing force for avoiding problems on a mental level. How was it cowardly to exercise more than muscle?
"Let's see, then..." said Alan, continuing to think out loud, searching for a better course of action within his own words. "Bravery is not a measure of the absence of fear... it's the ability to face those fears. Those who, lacking in excessive strength, work in the shadows to achieve their goals in spite of the strength of their adversaries could be said to possess more bravery than those who toss away or silence their fear to charge headlong into opposition."
"But Alan," interjected Levi, "It's like he said: we could talk theory and philosophy all day, but we need to start taking our own advice. How are we going to- no, how ARE we approaching this?"
Alan stared uneasily at each of Bruyne's three floating clubs, trying to discern any difference in their appearance or movements, stealing glances at Bruyne himself, checking his demeanor. He would continue to watch the clubs as he spoke. "I admit I'm a little bit scared, and a little bit confused. So let's gather information at a safe distance."
"But that's what we've been doing this whole time, right? Seas are calm right now, right? So we're supposed to be one with the dusk, right?" While Alan responded, Levi would inch closer to the clubs, perhaps hoping to get a closer look himself.
"That's what's confusing me," said Alan. "I don't know under what conditions you're willing to help, Bruyne, but... your eyes are closed, which leads me to believe you can't see your surroundings. So the "Dusk" would encompass just about anywhere in this situation, as long as we made no noise. But during our first attempt you specifically asked us to give you our interpretation of the golden rule while we did so. I can't tell if we're expected to hide our position or anything like it, and the uncertainty is freezing me solid. That's why I've been so gullible, so unintelligent in my actions. Because based on past experience, if I'm not gullible, I'm indecisive, and I don't know where to find the balance."
Levi would try to watch from up close, letting Alan keep up a conversation. He had to know which club to steal before he tried to steal any of them.
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Post by Erika on Nov 1, 2019 15:02:54 GMT
Oh boy. Even if tense, the training session happening on the deck of the Tomb was, without a doubt, very interesting. If any of the Dusk Pirates were watching this, they would definitely have a blast.
When Alan spoke again, he could see how Bruyne’s movements became much more relaxed, as soon as he issued the first word. The Shammamon didn’t seem nervous anymore. Instead, he just remained quiet and listened to both Alan and Levi talk. While he didn’t issue any comment about their whole speech at first, he did show a smirk while the blonde human elaborated on his search for balance and his uncertainty of what his approach should be.
“If you’re confused and clueless, it means I’m doing a good job.” It was probably then when Alan would be able to tell… Bruyne was playing to win. The Shammamon seemed to understand the only way for this to be an effective training session was if they managed to overcome difficulties and come out as winners. It was a training session because the test was not impossible to overcome; it was a test, but they had to improve while doing it. Bruyne was not testing their current skills, he was pushing them to develop new skills or improve the ones they already had in order to overcome this test. That's what the training was about.
This meant… He was trying his best to win. He was making it as hard for them as he could. He was not annoyed some seconds ago because they were doing something wrong, he was annoyed because they were doing something right! So… if he had calmed down now, if he didn’t seem so nervous now… they had clearly stopped doing what they were doing right. Or, maybe... they had started doing something they shouldn't do. What was it? What was the thing they were not doing (or doing little) a moment ago and now they were doing too much?
Without issuing any response to the rest of Alan's comments, the ogre just remained there, confident. Meanwhile, Levi would get a better look at each club… Nothing. They all looked exactly the same! Neither of them seemed to bestow any relevant feature that made it different from the rest. It was clear only one of them was the real club, the one they needed to get, but… which one was the real club was not something they could discover by merely seeing them.
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Post by Alan Pantell on Nov 1, 2019 18:41:12 GMT
Bruyne had uttered one sentence in response to his whole spiel. At first, the ogre's more relaxed demeanor set the human at ease, but this absence of tension in the air, as Alan would soon realize, felt off. This, combined with the one sentence he had received in response to his comments...
The sides of Alan's lips pulled upwards into a silent grin. That was it! That was exactly the information he asked for! At the heart of his comments had been one question: who was Bruyne to Alan and Levi at this point in time? A mentor, or an opponent? A mentor's goal is not to confuse and bewilder, but to teach and clear confusion. At this moment in time, during this exercise, Bruyne was their opponent. A lack of perceived tension in the air in a competition was not a good thing, and this is why it had felt off to Alan earlier. This meant Bruyne felt he had to reason to call into question the eventual outcome that was his victory. The boy had suspected Bruyne was getting impatient because he wasn't saying anything, as he had during the first attempt, since Bruyne had asked them to speak. As a matter of fact, this inkling had been correct. The only incorrect part of the assumption was that this meant they were to seek Bruyne's patience.
So much in a single sentence. What a nice guy, thought Alan.
Levi could not determine any visual differences between the three floating clubs, and turned to Alan to signal this with a shake of his head. When he did this, the Veemon noticed Alan was smiling, as if having had an epiphany, and signaled back to Levi: first, with a nod of acknowledgement of Levi's own signal, and second, with a "zip it, lock it, and put it in your pocket" gesture, which he had remembered learning in kindergarten. Either way, it was an effective method of communicating "don't say anything" without being hypocritical.
Well, that was one mystery solved. Now Alan and Levi had a direction to follow, and this was especially important when solving puzzles, and it was safe to say that for all intents and purposes, this was a puzzle.
The next mystery: Levi had personally confirmed that there were no visual difference between the three clubs, be they in the clubs themselves, or the movements of the clubs, or the lack thereof. That left the other four senses, and with smell, taste, and hearing being doubtful, their answer would likely be found in touch. Specifically, physical contact. They acknowledged a few strong possibilities that they would decide to follow cautiously:
- Guessing is not the correct answer. Even if we pick the correct club, the obnoxiously flawed methodology would render our solution incorrect.
- Taking all three is not the correct answer. The fakes would explode, and even if they didn't, who's to say they wouldn't be dangerous in a real situation? Fakes are a common tactic in preventing thefts. "What good is a thief who can't tell the value of what he steals," to reference a certain RPG.
And in that thought process was the key, so they figured. Bruyne stated he intended to mimic a real-life situation. If there was a precaution to take, chances are they should take it. What was the safest way to ascertain the properties of the fake clubs, as opposed to the real one? If the fakes were intangible, it would simplify matters, (and thus they suspected it would not be intangible.
Bruyne, however, had that information, didn't he? Clearly the two challengers couldn't simply ask, but would there be a way to ascertain this without being obvious? It occurred to them that this was quite like the BlackVeemon's card game, in only that they had three choices in front of them, and only one was correct. With this in mind, Levi decided to try and test Bruyne's poker face. While maintaining his silence, the Veemon would bring his hand close to one of the clubs without touching it, move it along to the middle one, and then move it to the one on the other side. Levi would watch Bruyne's face, just in case the ogre even had any way of knowing he was doing it. It was doubtful, but in that case, how would Bruyne even know if they grabbed the correct one? If this test failed, it occurred that Levi might have to resort to lightly tapping each one. How they went about that would depend heavily on what they learned thorough this first test.
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Post by Erika on Nov 4, 2019 16:31:52 GMT
One could use any kind of joyful expression to define the results of Alan and Levi most recent approach; the outcome was pretty clear: They had been completely successful. As the duo went silent, it was just a matter of seconds before Bruyne started to nervously tap his foot against the wood of the deck again. He slowly grew more and more nervous with each second, visibly annoyed by the lack of sound. However, he never opened his eyes or moved from that exact same spot.
Upon hovering his hand in front of each club, Levi would not see them reacting in any special way. All the same, Bruyne would remain quiet, still wrinkling his mouth by the seeming discomfort the silence was causing on him. All of the weapons looked the same, and they all seemed to show the same reaction: no reaction. Would this change if Levi went to touch any of these?
No way to answer that immediately. The amount of time under absolute silence had pushed Bruyne into making his next movement. With his eyes still closed and his arms folded, the ogre pointed the index finger of his left hand in the clubs’ direction. As soon as he did, the three versions of the weapon started moving erratically, elevating some more meters above the deck and just floating around at great speed, without having any defined pattern. The clubs had just made themselves harder to touch by the duo.
This didn’t seem to be a consequence of Levi approaching them, since Bruyne didn’t seem to have noticed he had. Instead, it seemed like a move coming from the ogre as a response to the sheer silence that had invaded the scene.
“If you’re so confused, you can go ahead and ask questions. I’ll answer them.” Bruyne broke the silence by extending this offer. Why? Why did he seem willing to help now?
Would Levi be able to reach any of these floating, moving clubs while keeping the environment as silent as it was?
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Post by Alan Pantell on Nov 4, 2019 17:42:15 GMT
No sooner had Levi reached out for the clubs when they started to float erratically about the air above them. The partners' entire response to Bruyne's offer was to look at each other, smirk, and shake their heads in agreement. Nice try, Bruyne. That having been thought, the new challenge the movement of the clubs presented was a more difficult one. Grabbing a club from the air without making noise would have been easy enough, but they still had no idea which one was the correct club! Even now, they seemed to agree it was safer to not attempt a full-on snatch until they were sure which one they were supposed to be snatching. Furthermore, on the off chance that they did end up making noise, they would want to make sure the noise was not coming from the same direction as the one in which they were standing. What if they were to throw something light in the air and see if it collided with anything?
They would move silently to opposite sides of the deck. Alan would remove his baseball cap and prepare to toss it to Levi with a high arc. Depending on just how fast the clubs were moving, they might even aim to hit a club in the back to avoid a full on collision. They would also avoid putting Bruyne directly between them so the hat wouldn't fall into Bruyne or anything.
However, it also occurred that maybe, just maybe, they should wait a bit longer before throwing. Bruyne's reactions were important to knowing how close they were to their answer, but his reactions were not exactly a be-all-end-all determiner for their progress. It was possible he might lighten up if he so much as suspected they were taking the wrong approach. If enough time passed with no difference in action from Bruyne, however, they would proceed with their original plan and toss the cap.
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Post by Erika on Nov 6, 2019 22:55:11 GMT
While Bruyne seemed visibly fretted upon the fact Alan and Levi had not responded to his offer, meaning they had finally understood the whole premise behind this test, the ogre looked a bit relieved when they started moving. It was logical to think Alan and Levi couldn’t hide the sound of their steps completely, even if they tried really hard. However, it was still hard to track them with them being so careful. The Shammamon seemed to be aware of more-or-less where they were right now, but he knew that could change at any moment. And that’s why he made sure the clubs did not stop moving.
Alan’s scheme, however, was an excellent counterattack. Just like he planned, the cap, which was flying through the air in an ellipsis, ended up making contact with one of the moving clubs. The result? It was definitely not what you would expect from the cap hitting an object like that. The weapon just… shattered into a bunch of small pieces.
The flimsiness of the weapon was such that it didn’t even make the cap change its trajectory. Levi would be able to catch it with no trouble, and it didn’t seem to have modified its course even a little bit. The pieces of the feeble copy it destroyed vanished upon hitting the floor. It was then, however, that Bruyne reacted.
“It seems like you’re ready for phase two…” He muttered, clenching one of his fits. Well, not much time to celebrate, sadly.
The scenario then changed completely. Somehow, the environment got really murky all of the sudden. It would be hard for Levi and Alan to even see each other, and much less see Bruyne or the outsides of the ship. It was like a black mass of fog had covered the air, trying to impede the pair from seeing anything.
The light would arrive eventually, though. Flying above the heads of both the trainer and the trainees, a beacon of light appeared. Like the flashes on a scenario, a cone of light traveled through the deck. The light would slightly illuminate things outside of the cone, letting both Levi and Alan see where their partner was and also spot Bruyne sitting on the exact same spot. The circle of light the beacon created kept traveling through the deck, getting closer to Alan and threatening to put the spotlight on him.
It wouldn’t take long for the human and the dragon to notice that, as a matter of fact, the beacon of light was… one of the clubs. The weapon seemed to have turned into the base of the beacon that was now patrolling through the deck, while the other club was nowhere to be seen. Okay. So that solved the problem of which club was the real one, the problem was… where was it?
Alan and Levi should probably try to trace a new strategy, since that seemed to be working so far. However, they first needed to decide what to do about that spotlight coming right towards the blonde!
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Post by Alan Pantell on Nov 8, 2019 16:27:28 GMT
The plan was more effective than the duo could have possibly hoped. Not only was the fake club effectively intangible, but it also disappeared upon contact with Alan's hat! Furthermore, it seemed by doing this much, they had passed into phase two of the training.
Phase two. The phrase had a nice ring to it, and Alan, as an avid gamer, could not resist mentally comparing their current trial to a boss battle within a game - though a battle of traits beyond strength. In either case, reached a "phase two" implied a passing of a "phase one," that the challenger had proven themselves, at the very least, to be a worthy opponent, and that, (for the most part,) the challenge would only be made more difficult from here. First was the immediate issue of a spotlight advancing upon Alan. The response was a simple input and output: he saw the light approaching, and with decent reaction time and speed, leapt out of its path, keeping an eye on where its acceleration appeared to be taking it. It was not too monumental a task, especially with the young man's new-found agility upgrade as a Dusk Pirate recruit, but it became clear to him that the light itself was only one aspect of the challenge here.
In Phase One, the opponent had ears, a body that remained stationary and grounded, and a means of manipulating the target objects, for all intents and purposes, wherever he wanted. In Phase Two, the opponent has gained an eye, and a thick fog enveloped the "arena." The opponent gains some visibility (though the range of vision is visible), and the challengers lose some visibility. Again, the opponent retains their ears. While before, movement was free as long as it was done carefully, now, movement was, to some degree, forced. Where the spotlight was was where Alan and Levi could not be, so they would have to relocate accordingly while continuing to move lightly, making as little sound as possible. To aid themselves in this endeavor, they would examine the motion of the spotlight, moving out of the way of its future trajectory wherever it was easiest to predict.
Finally, there was the fact that these were only further conditions applied to their training. The task remained the same: to steal Bruyne's club, which happened to be the spotlight hovering above their heads. Where to start? First, Alan and Levi would use the indirect lighting to examine their surroundings, wherever they could do so without being in the light's path. What was the layout of the pirate ship? Was there a way to elevate themselves for a better position, using a higher portion of the deck, or sails, or both? And while they were at it, if the beacon was patrolling the deck, did it appear to have any repeating patrol route, or was it moving erratically? Were there any blind spots? Determining the answers to all of these questions was important for determining how they could reach the club without being spotted by the same.
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