<Nocturnal Harmonia>

[Bloodedge]

"Again, that wasn't a no! We're gonna have a lot to talk about when this is done!" Those were Yugi's last words to Maki before the combined grand display of spider murder. More than the act of 'aura farming' itself, the Players did more than enough in that combination for another level. [LEVEL UP!] the System announced. Fully refreshed, Yugi stretched his arms overhead, tilting his body at the waist one way, then the other. The spider queen was preparing her final defense... and he didn't seem worried at all. "Damn she thick! That thorax makes me wanna fuck her to death with a greatsword. I should get a greatsword," Yugi chattered. The pair had gained a bit of Resonance as well, though not enough to reach any new thresholds.

"Showing off in the middle of a high-ranking Dungeon Break still counts as crazy... unless you're way stronger than whatever you're fighting," Aki stated, wondering what the actual limits of that pair might be. They didn't seem like much to the senses, but accomplishments spoke for themselves. Either way, it was about time to ignore the remaining stragglers and look to the boss as it prepared for combat. "Time to finish this. C'mon Hayashi," He demanded. Aki would be picking up the ice mage by his collar, taking him up onto the fox's back in a single jump. Maki could obviously handle the leap herself, but the one he called 'Hayashi' could not. "Oi, warning before you jump up and start flexing on my fox! What's the plan for the boss?" he asked. Meanwhile, Satoru had another question to answer. He was loosely observing the group as the main collection of spiders was reduced. If there was an example of 'aura farming' to be found in this raid, that combo attack definitely fit the bill. "Yeah, that's the stuff! Posing is what they call peak aura farming. It's definitely for the reactions. If you've got it, flaunt it," he explained briefly.

[Apollymi]

They were going to have a lot to talk about... like why this young man decided to throw all his sexual energy at a virgin. That would be on the top of Maki's list to discuss. "Yeah, that's kind of the point of the number exchange," she said. She hadn't said no, because no didn't seem like the way she wanted to progress, she simply needed some time to cool off. Soon though, with a wave cleared and only stragglers left, Miko and Yugi were receiving a level up and thus getting their refresh for this leg of the battle. "Wooh♪!~ That's nice♪~" Miko happily chirped. "Alright, next present on the list. Might as well make a weapons master of you♪~" Miko agreed to the idea of a greatsword.

Meanwhile, the other three Hunters were making their way onto the fox, while Aki complained that aura farming like theirs should be left to those stronger than what they were facing. "I don't think they are weaker than the boss..." Maki admitted. What she understood said they were getting stronger by the moment and it would seem that whenever it was mentioned properly Aki would be brought into the know as well. Hayashi and Aki were soon on top by Aki's machinations and Maki would be launching herself upwards to land softly nearby as well, figuring they were going to get a ride to their destination. As for the plan Miko looked to Yugi... she had a pretty basic understanding enough to get by with her own plans but figured he had the flashier and more appropriately executed one. "I figured it would end up a bit stun and gun... but I'm not the brains of this operation. Omen-kun, are you cooking up something?" Miko wondered herself, as she snapped new barriers for the groups individuals to help their regen during this brief downtime. Meanwhile, Makima was receiving an answer to her question. The teens actions definitely counted as 'aura farming'. Even their posing and the like was included. She knew another individual who posed frequently when acting, "Ah, is that what Toji is always doing?" Makima questioned almost rhetorically as if things were finally making sense to her after an extended period of time.

[Bloodedge]

Whether Yugi and Maki would actually have time for that long conversation was to be determined when the raid was done. He'd make an attempt, but he also couldn't be sure whether Makima intended to drag them back to HQ immediately. Probability could only be rated at 50% or so, but that wasn't something he considered important for now. Now, they were looking ahead to a boss setting its own stage. Such a giant spider would have been so intimidating just a day before, but its mana wasn't totally oppressive now. "Y'know I almost picked up a bow earlier. When I was window shopping before, I saw some good choices... and that's pretty much why I didn't buy one of the affordable options. No motivation to try making one yet either," he said to Miko. Becoming a weapons master wasn't such a bad idea, Yugi thought. Maybe he'd give it more than passing consideration?

Maki didn't think those two were weaker than the boss. Aki couldn't see them being any stronger than himself... or rather, he wouldn't if they hadn't been throwing spells and Skills around with no signs of slowing. Mana reserves like that had to be at least A-rank, even if the power output was comparable to his own level. "I don't even know what to call it anymore. I'll just be glad when it's all over and I can find a hotel or something," Aki said with a deep sigh, lighting yet another cigarette. Regarding their approach to the boss, Miko was the first to speak. She assumed the 'stun and gun' approach, but deferred to Yugi for any other ideas. So often did Yugi take plans into his own hands, but... he was feeling less inclined to do so of late. "Nah. We've got a good group here," he said despite having a backup plan in mind already. "Besides, you've wanted to do the thing a lot. Should be pretty effective with all these webs out," he added. Aki's fox was stuck to a web presently, alerting the queen to the group's location. The boss was making her way down that same massive thread toward its presumed meal, but... vibrations were the key to a spider's hunt.

Still on the topic of aura farming and what it meant, Satoru was asked about someone named Toji. A laugh caught in his nose as he thought about that man's antics. Could it be called aura farming? "Kinda? JoJo poses can count with the right person watching, but it's usually just cringe. Not recommended unless you've got like a thousand aura points already. Arbitrary number, by the way."

[Apollymi]

Yugi wasn't the only one thinking that their most recent acquisitions buffering was going to be put off for a while. Makima might want to speak to them directly again and if that was the case, it'd be a while before they could speak to their new matches properly. Beyond that point, making the lad into a weapons master was apparently not something he'd given a lot of thought to, but he'd thought about a bunch of different weapons. "A bow would be interesting... magical ranger is one of my favorite types. That would have been cool♪!~" Miko said enjoying the magical arrow aspects of such things. Still if he hadn't bought any of the options she had plenty of room to help him out and find or create some reasonable ones for him, Miko was looking forward to that and also helping with it in whatever way she could.

Beyond their more personal conversations, there were the actions to be taken to kill the boss. They rode the fox in while, Maki and Aki conversed a bit. "Definitely a hotel... you have to be exhausted, at least you can get paid before so you have something to start with..." Maki offered as much comfort as she could. She couldn't imagine getting stuck with one's house inside of a zone close enough to lose it, when it was basically brand new. Miko suggested the 'stun and gun' method and it seemed that this was an acceptable enough plan for Yugi to go along with it, he also acknowledged that she wanted to do the thing. "I really do... it's gotta be great by now♪~" Miko chirped. As for the actual plan Miko felt the spider approaching and shifted gently towards the front. "Alright, everyone get ready and after I'm done talking cover your ears. I'm going to stun the big spider, and then Haya-kun can get started on the chilling ice and I'll back him up. Maki-nee can apply her debuffs, aiming for squishy eye parts and the like... and by then the fox should be free to do its thing, and Aki-nii can do whatever kind of damage he can apply most easily and Omen-kun can insert himself for DPS as needed... Sound good?" Miko asked and if everyone took that set of instructions she'd stand at the fore and switch her water staff for her two crystal swords, which were in fact catalysts for her voice.

Meanwhile, Makima was learning the nature of oddity concerning Toji, through the laughter of Gojo. His words gave her much more to consider, "Jojo... posing. Is that another of those anime people are always watching? I feel like I might need to marathon some things... these references are getting out of control," Makima decided. All the while, Miko, with both swords in hand would open her mouth and let out that loud melodic note to stun the creature and her swords would repeat it, pulsing that same note as she sang. "OoooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooooaaaah♫~"

[Bloodedge]

As they discussed weapon acquisitions, Yugi took a casual look inside the shop. There wasn't anything particularly interesting within the price range he'd been imagining before... but he quickly noticed something about their available funds. "Oh shit," Yugi whispered. "All those B-rank monsters have been worth a lot. We can buy actual good shit without worrying about it now," he shared. That was something to consider later. First, they had to finish the ongoing raid by dealing with the rapidly-approaching spider queen.

The plan was established by Miko. Aki and Hayashi had no issues following her orders. They hadn't seen much of Yugi apart from the general craziness, but Miko had only led their group in a positive direction thus far. As it stood, they were all to cover their ears while Miko took the first stun attempt. Hayashi would then take on the second effort to control the spider boss before debuffs and damage could be dealt. "Hai, Boss!" Hayashi exclaimed while Aki nodded, both covering their ears thereafter. Yugi nodded along as well, though he had something to share with Maki before they began. "When you're on the last hit, jump back here and throw your weapon. I'll do a thing," he suggested. With that, Miko's note rang out. Vibrations spread through the air and caught the webs, severely affecting the spider to stop its approach for a while. While the queen freaked out from sensory overload, Yugi kept his eyes focused on it. Its mana was going haywire. Good, he thought. Whenever Miko fell silent, Hayashi would be aiming his wand at the boss to produce his freezing mist ─ which he tried to focus forward as best he could.

All the while, even Sato Kenta was suffering from that shriek. His eardrums burst and bled, but Satoru didn't let it affect his survivability ─ still keeping the few spiders that became aggressive from the vibrations at bay. Satoru's sunglasses cracked in one lens as well, much to his dismay... even though he seemed entirely unbothered otherwise. "Huh. I need a new pair," he commented. "It's one of the more popular anime out there. They say everything is a JoJo reference ─ even other references sometimes. I didn't know you watched anime, Makima-chan♥~"

[Apollymi]

A quick discussion about weapons and mastery turned into Yugi perusing the shop. Of course, the main takeaway from that, wasn't a particular weapon or anything of the sort, but instead... the knowledge that they'd been acquiring quite a fair bit of gold in this Dungeon Break. His whispers were heard by Miko, and would be regardless of their volume within their current range. "Sugei, we'll be able to relax as long as we're doing reasonable level Dungeons," Miko whispered as well.

Ah but the time for action was upon them and after sharing her instructions, Maki found herself on the back row with Yugi. She readied herself to cover her ears, but not before hearing the words of Yugi. "Ryokai!~" she affirmed for him. Like the guys for Miko, she'd already been shown this young man's prowess, if he wanted to do something cool, she'd enable it. And if he trusted the girl, she felt it was fine to do so as well... he wasn't exactly a trusting individual from what she could tell. That noise that escaped Miko though was quite strong, it was something Maki felt in her body and across her skin, it gave her goosebumps even with her ears covered and it caused the lenses within her glasses to crack. "Holy shit! I thought voices that cracked glass were just in cartoons!" she seemed more excited about the thing that happened than she was about it breaking. Of course, since it didn't shatter it was fine, she had a spare pair at home. The spider for its part in this was indeed unmoving by the tiem Miko's note stopped. "You should grab her a pair of glasses," she added to Yugi. Instead of dealing with that immediately the vibrations in the webs would free the fox summon while Miko joined Hayashi, to help with his forward push. "To force more outwards through an ability like this... imagine your arm is like a hose with the control at the wrist. Feel a gentle build up behind your arm as you breathe and then let it flow out at full power from your finger tips," she advised. She switched her swords for her water staff and to show the kind of spray he should be working with to help with the slowing of the spider creature.

"Aw yeah my turn!~" Maki claimed a she jumped and spun that naginata around her body. She didn't need her glasses of the creature couldn't see. She knew where it's eyes were and would be aiming concise strikes for each one of them she could see. Each hit would be applying that stacking debuff and the venom fang's new one as well. She struck a total of four times and on the fifth one she hopped back tossing her weapon straight into the monster's head with precision, the strike wasn't deep enough to kill but she figured, Yugi had a plan for that. Meanwhile, Makima was hearing that Gojo would need a new pair of glasses and hearing one of those soul shivering notes that the girl sang. "I didn't know she actually did that for an attack," Makima said having heard the girl's 'singing' a bit earlier. Apparently Gojo wasn't aware of Makima's watching habits, "I don't exactly, but Kyoka is quite interested in such things and music and I like to keep an eye on things that interest the twins... Still if the story or action are good, I'll watch just for understanding." she said, it was an oddly parental thing of her to say and would have likely counted as doting for many people.

[Bloodedge]

"Relax?" Yugi asked immediately ─ rhetorically even. Relaxing was the last thing on his mind with the prices of System items and the like. "I'm having the steak and the lobster. And a lasagna pizza," he decided firmly. Soon, whenever there was time, Yugi would establish a full spread of exotic foods, including a long dining table to set it upon. This sort of income was a time to live in luxury. In fact, doing so wouldn't even cost them much ─ it was affordable with their existing budget.

Once Miko's outcry was done, some had to recover a fair amount. Hayashi was ready to begin the next stage of their group attack, but Aki had a finger twisting in his ear. If not for those veils, they may have taken some real impact. It seemed Maki's glasses weren't safe, though. Miko suggested that Yugi get her a new pair; he was ahead of the curve in that regard. "Planned to. Those were normal. Normal is lame," he declared. In the next few moments, Miko was offering Hayashi some instructions about his magic use. He tried following her directions to the letter, imagining that hose and trying to focus the spray. It seemed to successfully compress the release of his mist, but its range was affected negatively in exchange. "Is it supposed to do that?!" he asked. Yugi took a moment to silently judge that exchange, only to keep his gaze on Maki. That utterance of hers was noted directly by Aki, who heard such things before in... a scene he never wanted to be that close to again. His moment of PTSD aside, Yugi had some passing advice for Miko and the mage. "Frozen water hose. Bad move. Doesn't matter; step three," he said. Yugi would henceforth be expanding his lightning ability outward. He hadn't leveled the Skill enough to develop proper range with it, but his earlier attempt was enough for the lad to notice what an attempt managed. His effort to spread the lightning outward produced an electrical field, which his Sharingan's visual prowess allowed him to focus into a line between Maki and the spider queen. "Electromagnetic field. Who's got a wrinkly brain? Say it with me now─" Yugi instructed. Maki threw her naginata with a force that shouldn't have dealt fatal damage... but she'd find that naginata traveling from her hand to the spider's head at a speed beyond that of sound once it entered the field. "RAAAIIILGUN!"

In the midst of the grand assault, Satoru was busy dangling his broken sunglasses in front of himself. Even Makima heard that earlier screech and commented on the voice of one Iino Miko. "Not new then, huh?" Satoru questioned in rhetoric. He'd yet to see that kind of ability from either Player. As for the woman called Kyoka and her apparent interest in anime and music, Satoru had a small amount of interest to offer. "Huh. I wonder if she'll be my wingman for the concert next month. I thought about having a... chat with her before. Didn't know if it was worth it. Anyway, it's decent story, decent action. Pretty good drama if you're into that," he stated.

[Apollymi]

Miko thought of relaxing with the knowledge that they had a decent store of gold built up, Yugi claimed a sea of indulgent foods and Miko pouted. "That actually sounds really good. Never had lasagna pizza before either, I'm hungry now♪~" Miko added. Oh well, she could put her appetite aside and do what she was supposed to do.

In their normal set up, she would have screamed at the creature and Yugi would have hit it with the follow up attack, there would have been no need to pause for anyone else's benefit. Still, with a group good and active there were allowances to be made, and things to find out. Like the fact that Miko's voice had evolved enough to cause glass to break. "You're right normal is lame..." Miko added. Maki didn't much care but Miko was now trying to help their ice mage get a bit more power out of his Ice Magic but got to something of a hiccup. Where it was more compressed as she imagined but his ranged shortened even more. "Sou ka, bad metaphor. I'll work shop it, and get back to you in a bit♪~" Miko offered. Well it was her first day as well helping someone else through something that felt relatively natural to her would take a bit of extra thought. Luckily for them Yugi was there with the biggest hurdle to their exchange to offer them both, Miko nodded her own understanding and started shuffling through processes in a different box in her brain. "Still, any change shows you just need some different kinds of practice. You'll find the right one♪~" Miko cheered the lad on in his push towards growth. "Aki-nii, are your ears okay?" she wondered noting the man's oddities, she knew her own voice was concerning in a lot of cases, but she wouldn't leave him or anyone else with injuries. But step three was where they were, after an utterance from Maki which made Miko's ears twitch, 'I like something about that statement,' Miko decided internally while listening to Yugi's speech. There were always interesting things happening when plans started coming together, she had so much random information in her head, key words had boxes flying off shelves to find the appropriate answer. "RAIIILLLGUN♪!~" Miko chirped as well after realizing what they'd managed even with limited range. Maki, after launching her naginata looked surprised. She'd not expected a killing blow but it seemed the tool had sped up quite a bit. "HELL YEAH THAT'S AWESOME!~" Maki chanted as she landed. There was something interesting about seeeing magic entwined with her very non-magical self. That break in the sound barrier made Miko's ears pop, but it wasn't too bad. Still, Maki was only made confused by everything that was happening.

That individual skill of Miko's wasn't new, it was instead simply not something Makima saw as being conventionally useful in offense. Even with the rhetoric she'd answer, "Iia, she's got quite the lovely singing voice... I just didn't know it had proper power behind it," Makima stated with casual tone. As for a wingman to the concert Makima was willing to give it some thought, "Kyoka is weaker than you, but she is a bit more hip and somehow more sociable than Kyo manages to be... depending on who the concert is being put on by, she'd definitely go," Makima gave it a bit of thought and knew that her favorite artists were among the things she was looking to meet. "Also did they just, kill that boss in a few minutes with a team of people they just met today?" Makima said in almost disbelief.

[Bloodedge]

The 'railgun tactic' between Yugi and Maki proved to be an interesting little method of combat. He'd definitely be keeping that one for later, though his own current sword wouldn't work so well for that purpose. Well, they were recently talking about Yugi acquiring more weapons. He could easily find a few things that worked with that technique. "Damn right it was! Celebratory make-out?" he offered the green-haired girl, shifting his gaze toward Miko for a sly wink. At the same time, Aki was recovering well enough to scoff when asked about his ears. "Ears? Fine. Sensibilities? Not so much," he said. This was all getting a little too ridiculous. Those two E-ranks were well beyond their alleged level in power and tactics alike, and frankly... he hadn't signed up for any of this nonsense.

On the topic of Kyoka, Satoru had some thinking to do. He knew she was weaker than him; the vast majority of people were. "She seems tough enough," was all he had to say. Satoru knew Makima viewed that pair of twins like children, so he wouldn't bother going into much detail about his intentions. No, he'd leave it just vague enough to be obvious without unnecessary extras. "I don't think there's anybody who'd skip this one. I'll see what she says," he decided. As for the group completing the raid in a matter of minutes despite just meeting each other, Satoru glanced over and saw the spider queen yet to curl-up. "Pfft, of course they didn't!" he said. Only a second or two later, though, Aki's fox was chomping off the boss's head. [LEVEL UP!] appeared for the Players not once, but twice. If the headless spider queen wasn't enough confirmation, seeing their mana spike to refresh was. "Of course they did! Nothing less from my precious students! So, is Kyoka free after she gets back, or do you have plans with those two and these two instead? Seems like everybody here is going back to the daily life arc once the real boss is dealt with."

[Apollymi]

The railgun tactic was one for the ages. It did most of the boss's health in a single instance of damage with a bit of scientific principle and knowhow. Maki was excitable and said quite a bit only for Yugi to come back with something cheeky. He agreed with the awesomeness of the situation and offered a celebratory make-out. Maki's face processed those words and then immediately went red as she pushed her glasses up onto her face, with the glint showing even through their cracked surface. "There are people here!" she exclaimed. Miko saw that sly wink and smirked. "Aggressive and shy, interesting combination~" she decided quietly moving on to speak with Aki instead. His ears were fine but apparently his sensibilities weren't. "Sou ka. It has been a rough day for you, or so I've been hearing. I get it... we're kind of a lot," Miko said sheepishly. She figured this man had a whole world on his plate and he didn't deserve that over Sato Kenta's nonsense.

Meanwhile, Gojo and Makima continued to talk. Makima did see that set of twins as children, but she'd also known them the last 10 years and knew of their... oddities as a pair. She wasn't completely aghast by the idea of their sexual activity with anyone else, she was however made happy by the idea that Gojo was content to share all the sordid details. "Sou ka, well if you think so... I see no problems with it," Makima said. As for the boss it was soon knocked out by the fox spirit the rest of the way. "That's ridiculous~" Miko chirped happily but still she was pleased that the fox had gotten the rest of its meal. Maybe it could lay off Aki a bit more in the future. "It's always fun to hear or see you being surprised," Makima said to Gojo. "I don't mind, I am still trying to decide if it's better to present the twins as a packaged deal or to let Kyo and Kyoka work it out separately. Since she's in a Dungeon now and Kyo didn't have an immediate interest I feel like I have time to make a decision on that front, hopefully when they're around the same strength... that would likely make it a bit easier overall," Makima shared her general plans with Gojo on the children. As for their real boss fight she smirked over the hpone. "That part will be interesting. The girl mentioned them having a trip planned before their evaluation was moved up, I wonder if they're still going to do that and what it actually was..." Makima commented as if there wasn't still a human for the pair to kill in the group.