Jacob yawned and stretched as he walked down the street, he'd just arrived back in Ylisstol after weeks at sea. He'd been sea sick the whole trip there, been named the Champion Naga, nearly killed escaping Rosanne and sea sick the whole way back. Why did he agree to this again, oh right the Exalt had ordered him to go. She'd been like a mother to him and she was the ruler of the country so he did sort of have to obey her. Still he could have weaseled out of it if he tried, other ships had arrived back before them thanks to his ships delayed departure they'd gotten caught in storm.

People whispered and stared at him as he walked, word must have reach here before he had. People were already talking about him, he did wonder who they knew his face. It's not like... Never mind. He stopped in front of a tavern, the Church of Naga had a bounty on his head. Three crimes listed below a pretty good sketch of him Blasphemy, destruction of church property, and defacing of local monuments. He was only technically guilty of the last two and they were more of the church faults than his.

He ripped down the flyer and continued on towards the castle, the market was crowded and he figured bounty hunters and bandits would be watching the castle so he ducked though some back alleys towards the servants entrance. He stopped when out of the darkness stepped a couple of cloaked figures. They said nothing but drew knives, behind him he heard foot falls. He counted them out, three fighter by the sound of it maybe mercenaries. Between the two thieves in front a man stepped out, an archer. "Your him right? The tactician? I don't really care if your working for Naga or not, my boys and I need the money. Sorry kid but your not getting away." He told him, guy looked pretty sad about doing this but Jacob knew better, you always had a choice.

The archer was quick on the draw, getting an arrow quickly. Jacob dodged the shot just barely scraping his arm as he pulled his sword backing up to the wall as he they circle him the archer pulling back to watch from the far end of the street. Jacob held a spell book in one hand and his sword in the other looking between the surrounding enemies. "Well this is gonna suck, alright ladies." He spun his sword the book disappearing into his robes for later. "Whose first?" He regretted asking that thief leaped forward stabbing at him.

In the tavern, on a stool a green-haired boy sat up. He peered around with a purposefully dumb expression on his face. "Waz all tha' ruckus?" Sanctus asked of no one in particular. He caught sight of the three mercenaries confronting a man outside. "Hey, Mercss!" He called out, his accent thick and his s slurred "Don't cha' think, three on wan iss alittle unfair?" He recognized the tactician, but he didn't show it. "And you're makin' so much noise itss hard to drink in peace. He paused as if to think. "And pick on ssomeone your own ssize while you're at it." He watched the man flee. and an idea occurred to him. He lifted his tankard to drink but it was empty, he looked at as if in surprise and asked the bartender for a refill. "I think you've had enough sir." Was his reply. "Really? Darn." He set his tankard down and pretended to stumble out.

As soon as he left the place behind he ducked into an alley way and followed the mercs and the tactician. He lost them a few times, but he had a good guess of where they where going. He stopped in the crowd close them. But far enough that he was just another face.

The thieves and archer surrounding the champion of Naga failed to notice two figures not a dozen feet away, sitting outside a small shop in the alley the boy had ducked down. The place was a small, local store that only locals typically frequented or even realized existed, but the older man between the two of them was an experienced wanderer and had come across the place last time he had passed through Yllistol and thought it was a good place to stop for a rest. The younger girl was keeping half an eye on her horse, which was tethered to a nearby post as the two ate their meals in peace. Well, peace until the bounty hunters went and tried to collect. The older man, relatively speaking since he was only really in his mid twenties, but was much older comparitevly to the younger healer woman, sighed as he saw the violence break out. "Ach, we cannae find a days peace without some damn fools going violent in greed after a lad, eh Niya? Reckon we intervene on 'is behalf, savvy?"

The younger woman quietly sipped from the drink before her, far weaker than she was used to but it would certainly suffice. The healer had her staff resting against the table as she listened to the man speak and she shook her head slightly. The young tactician, judging from his garb, was in well over his head and would probably need a hand or two in dispatching the bounty hunters. She stood up, collecting her staff and looking down at the mercenary who stood up with a grunt, sword sheathed at his side as he looked at the healer with a loose grin. The woman spoke briefly, already turning towards her horse, resigned to the fact the man was about to engage the bounty hunters on the young tactician's behalf. She intended to return to her horse and observe, to mend any injuries that might crop up from the upcoming violence. "You cannot leave well enough alone, Jerod. I'll be on the horseback if needed."

Jerod snorted, turning towards the surrounded lad and drew his blade, making a very distinct, clean noise that should be very familiar to the scoundrels ganging up on the lad. Face matched some posters he had seen, some nonesense about heresy and crime against the church, but frankly the mercenary wasn't really concerned with that. These rogues gave Jerod a bad taste in his mouth, figuratively speaking, and he was not fond of that situation. Besides, he and the church never see eye to eye, so he intended to give em a swift kick to the groin. Advancing, he opened combat without a word, attacking the closest thief without wasted time, a powerful cross strike that would leave him in a good defensive stance if he didn't bring the thief down low, forcing everyone in front of the lad and mercenary, speaking harshly now. "Alright, ye damned prancin' ninnies, these odds ain' fair at all. Now they are, but not fer you lot."

Niya untied her horse from the hitch she had left him at, and quickly hauled herself up and onto the saddle, turning the horse without a word. Despite her penchant for cheap shots, no one expected them from a healer, she was not, by definition, a combatant. So she brought the horse around to the rear of the young tactician and Jerod, foolhardy mercenary as he was, and he was indeed determined to intervene on the behalf of the tactician. Who he was was of no real concern to Niya, but she been stuck all but babysitting Jerod most of the time, so she was hardly ready to abandon ship, as it were, and just ride off without the man now. Damn the oath she had sworn some days, this man was getting her into all sorts of trouble it seemed. Thankfully they were not an official envoy of any land, or this could be rather complicated. "Call wounds out, or I can't mend them. I am not psychic and cannot know injuries the moment they happen."

Unbeknownst to either group, another man would soon come to join the fray.

Travis was on his way to the very same local shop that was in the alleyway. He had already done his daily training and decided to blow off some steam. Rest after training was always important and there was no way he'd be in peak condition to fight if he was constantly exhausted after all. Moreover, rumors that the Champion of Naga would soon return were also very prevalent. Suffice to say, he really wanted to meet the man who would be responsible for ending the church's crusades, which he found very moronic in the first place.

As he arrived just outside of the shop, he noticed a small bit of commotion going on nearby. "Probably just some morons fooling around." He grumbled to himself, pulling out his sword from behind his back. Upon further inspection, however, he seemed to recognize one of the individuals involved. "Lucky me..." The very tactician chosen to end the war was right in front of him. He matched what was shown on his bounty poster exactly, urging Travis even more to fight.

"Well, well, what's going on here?" Travis said, appearing just besides another swordsman who seemed to have everything under control.

As the green-haired child stumbled out of the bar, Jonathan glanced up at the swinging door, glad that the annoyance had left the building. He spat over the side of the bar, nursing the tankard without the slightest indication of intoxication. The child's slurred words had grated against the axe-man's ears. He hated that the little blackheart had downed enough drink to get drunk. It wasn't fair.

Jonathan paused, mulling over his options on how best to loose his anger. The first one was to go beat the kid for crimes against the axe-man's buzz. That sounded good.

The hulking mass of muscle and unwashed anger hauled himself upright and tossed a few grubby coins on the bar. He downed the rest of the tankard, belched, and stomped out the door. Right into the midst of an attempted bounty in progress. The axeman's rugged features split into a wide grin that exposed all of his teeth. Fighting was one of the rare things that he unabashedly enjoyed. He was good at it.

Jonathan guffawed at the spectacle, the foam of his recent alcohol binge still hanging on his stubble. Both of the involved parties looked to have coin on them, and their corpses had no use for money. Whoever won, he'd be eating well for the next few nights.

“Hmm…hello there Mr. Corpse. Do you mind if I take something from you? Or do you still need those eyes of yours?”

The Dark Mage known only as Marianne stood still. Actually, it was really more like kneeling. Yes, here she was, kneeling in front of two fresh corpses. One was a charred black, presumably from being burned alive, and the other had a stab mark driven through is neck. Oh what a terrible way to die…but she had to admit, it was just more profit for her.

Studying the one with the torn neck, she had already decided that the burned corpse would be no use to her. By now, all of the soft tissue would have crisped over…no, that won’t do at all. Funny how no one was noticing her in the middle of combat doing such a morbid routine what with the sounds of a tavern scuffle heard from just around the corner. And really, why should they? The Church wasn’t her fight nor was any city conflict. Naga wasn’t a part of her fight either. All that really interested her right now was the supposed Champion…and those sweet eyes lying in the dead man’s skull.

It was rare to find such ghastly sights in the city of Ylisstol. Or at least, it had been rare if this was a few years ago. These days no country was safe from the ravages of war and black-hearted actions considering the dogmatic actions of the Church. Even the sight of these murdered corpses left to rot was no surprise to travelers such as herself, though the prospect of a warning to new folk didn’t faze her like it would some people.

Humming to herself, Marianne bent down and proceeded to study the dead specimen further when someone else caught her attention. Someone still breathing evidently but very much far away. Glancing up, her one crimson eye focused on a young man who seemed to be heading straight into the fray, a visible aura of anger and bloodlust coming off of him in waves. A Fighter from the looks of it….smiling, revealed herself from the darkness and padding over to his side.

“Excuse me sir,” she called out politely. “Would you mind in helping me do something? You see, I really need you to help me with a little corpse defiling. It’s of the utmost importance,” she finished, pointing back to the dark alleyway she had arrived from.

The Champion could wait. Eyes always came first.

Sanctus had picked up a tail, he was sure of it, he lost interest in the tactician and the mercenaries, the newcomes look like they could handle themselves. He doubled back retracing his steps. He soon found the man, a fighter he had noticed (and smelled) in the tavern. There was also a little girl with an eyepatch there. He stopped, suddenly gripped by deja vu. For some reason the girl seemed familiar to him, but he could swear he have never seen her before. With a little effort he pushed the odd feeling away. He snuck up behind the girl and tapped her on the shoulder. "Man I hope those corpses were no one I knew." he said with a boyish grin on his face "I am sorry, miss but this man seems to prior engagement." Sanctus turned to face the angry drunk fighter, suddenly completely somber. "Although, you are welcome to his corpse when I am done." To the fighter, he said "I know you came to fight me, so lets drop the pretenses. I could feel you glowering at me the whole time I was in there. And don't you dare say something stupid, like just looking for the bathroom. Now, I'm going to give you one chance, walk away now, or this gets ugly." Sanctus drew his sword but stayed in a relaxed, almost cocky stance." "What will it be?"

Jonathan swore loudly and violently as the dark haired young woman melded into existence no less than two feet from his right shoulder. He barely contained the urge to swing his axe at the pale apparition when it spoke. He began to calm down with deep breaths as the girl began to explain her reason for acting like a phantom with a rather grisly proposition. The blonde man leaned forwards so that his sunken eyes were on level with the body-snatcher's. His breath stunk of alcohol, but aside from the uneducated speech, he didn't seem inhebriated in any way. "Ain't gonna lie, girlie, you're creepy. But I ain't got qualms with robbin' the dead, and less time I spend fightin' is more time I spend lootin'. Lead on, though these dead friends of yours better have some coin." The creepy little chit of a girl smelt like danger, but she didn't carry any obvious weapons. He could work with that.

He turned to follow the girl back into the alley and nearly jumped again as the little brat that had pissed him off in the tavern materialized from another alleyway. Jonathan openly snickered at the sight of the cute, boyish features trying to look intimidating in the slightest. This was gonna be fun. He gestured toward the drawn sword.

"Now, see, that's what's been scratchn' at the back of my head all day. You swinging around that kitchen knife at your hip. Daddy not give you enough attention or somethin'?" Annoying little midget. Even if the tiny size was new, Jonathan knew the type. Guys who showed off, cracked jokes, tried to be funny for the ladies. He snorted at the hilariously sad mental picture. Jonathan outweighed the child by nearly a hundred and twenty pounds, at the least. No matter what the little bastard had planned, he'd power through it, like usual. Instead of hefting his axe, he let it hang loose by his side as he retorted with his own verbal barrage."Now, why don't ya go home and suck on mommy's nipple, little sow-spawn? Or she toss you out for beating her in the ugly and stupid department?"

A young man in a white robe with staff strapped to his silently walked down the roads of Ylisstol he has garnered some sideway glances for people recognized him as an ex-priest of the church, his robes and staff are not helping. The young man sighed, how will he find the Champion? The church must already be hunting the champion down? Konrad is a healer not a tracker. He sighed deeper and run his gloved hand through his short brown hair. But he has to do something, even if to help the people who will be stuck in the middle if he doesn't find the champion on his own. Now that he started to think his plan though he relised how foolhardy it all was that he could even find the champion without any tracking skills or even assistance from others, Konrad groaned, this wasn't his best idea.

While busy with his own thoughts Konrad is brought back to real life by the sounds of a scuffle down one of the side alleys of the city, Konrad sighed softly, he knew fights would happen since he heard the news by the church, he has to do his best to make sure people aren't hurt. Konrad grabbed his Heal Staff off his back and quietly walked into the alley, and he scanned all the members of the scuffle, there was quite a large number of people. He got nervous, he never liked combat and violence, it made sick and scary, but he has to do his best to make sure nobody who still left don't die. But will they attack him if they know of his ex-priesthood? or that he left the clergy? Konrad was visibly shaking now, he really has to make sure he doesn't die because of his choices.

He has to be diplomatic and speak with the utmost care or else there might be severe consequences for his safety and most likely his life.

"Dear gods I'm dead."

Jacob dodged left brought his blade hard against the rogues back cutting clean though with a sickening sound. He turned backed expecting to face a second thief, instead two mercenaries one having just dealt with the other thief. He challenged the fighters, the men looked confused and Jacob took this chance to break the circle. Drawing his tome he let loose a spell that ignited one of the fighters, he collapsed slapping at the flames. "If you two are here to help then by all means, I would prefer not to tire myself on these fools." He said, regretting that as the archer gave a sharp whistle.

Two mages moved up to attack the Mercenaries and two more fighters raced to the bosses side as three soldiers came up the ally lances at the ready, the Ylisstol guard. "Defend the Champion!" One cried as the burned fighter leaped forward cutting into a soldier. He managed to survive the blow as his friends jammed there lances into his gut. One of them held his wounded friend trying to find a vulnerary in his bag. The remaining soldier rushed to Jacobs side.

Jacob sighed. "If you mercenaries are interested in work clear out those fighters. I can promise a good wage for it, plus more work if we survive." He told them as he readied his weapons. "You two wrap up with the fighters, I'll take the mages. He yelled as he rushed forward the soldier at his back. He lunged in the mage making quick turn to dodge, yet she didn't dodge the lance that followed. The mage collapsed dead as the spear was pulled from her. The soldier ready for the enemy mages attack.

Niya saw friendly lancers run forward, and one become injured by the enemy fighter by the sword. She urged her horse forward, riding alongside the wounded soldier and the man holding him, raising her staff over the wounded man as she muttered an incantation to empower the staff, sealing the wounds of the soldier that had been injured in their arrival and their cries to defend the champion. Save the vulnerary for a situation where no healer was present, and Niya found that she was in a position to indeed aid the wounded man so she had done so with not a moments thought to her own safety. She looked down at the mended soldier and his friend and spoke briefly, directing them in a simple manner. "Your wounds are closed, follow your Champion!"

Jerod snorted, flicking the blood clean off his blade as the dead thief laid at his feet. The man was not expecting such an assault and was dead and gone. Of course, the so called Champion offered good pay, and more afterwords, should they aid him in clearing out the fighters. The man had nothing coming in, pay wise, for the foreseeable future so he would not turn down the chance to work. With a glance at the other mercenary who ran up, he looked back to the fighters and, before he charged the nearest fighter he made a comment towards the Champion and the other fighter. "Aye lad, I'll help ye in this mess o' yours. Feel free to follow along, mate, yer welcome to those I ain' guttin." With that, Jerod engaged the closest of the fighters with his blade, his sword and experience more than readily able to handle the man and his axe, narrowly avoiding a blow as sparks were raised from his scale armor as the axe blade narrowly missed, only to have a counterstroke take the man's head from his body. Jerod stood over the corpse, ready for the next problem to come his way.

“Thank you kindly good sir,” Marianne said warmly, turning away back towards the darkened alleyway. “I can’t say for sure if they have any coin on them but I believe one of them may have been a noble. The burned one I think.”

They were about a few steps into their path when suddenly a newcomer made himself known to them both with a tap to Marianne’s shoulder. For a split moment, she stared at the boy with curiosity in her crimson eye. Jonathan was right in laughing off at the boy’s childish features because he looked no older than Marianne herself. And yet he somehow seemed familiar though from where, she couldn’t say for sure.

Fortunately, that curiosity was snuffed out by her morbid fascination of the boy’s more interesting features. Yes, his eyes were just a perfect shade of scarlet! How beautiful, how enticing! Yes, a live specimen was worth more than any dead sample could make.

“Ah, there’s no need to apologize Mister Ponytail. You don’t seem to be around these parts so I doubt that these corpses were any associates of yours,” she said before turning to Jonathan. “Please do be quick with this Mister Axe. I still require your assistance.”

With that said, the Dark Mage politely moved to the side to watch the battle with a front seat. Oh this was most marvelous indeed! Both of them were worthy specimens and she had the faint wonder if one of them was going to die during this brief struggle. Whatever the case, she’d be sure to ask the victor in their assistance in collecting her corpses.

“I hope to collect the remains of both you fine gentlemen when you’ve eventually perished in battle,” she called out encouragingly. “Worry not, for I shall put your organs to good use in wonderful art for the land.”

The other Mage loosed a lighting bolt wildly he reacted quickly by slamming his sword into the ground. The lightning rod worked as he drew his tome and unless fire the ball of flames set his cloak alight, he collapsed screaming in pain. The new new fighters rushed forward. Both assaulted at him, he ducked under first and spun from the second. The first axe was a clean miss the second... Well the second ripped away the cloak and left a nice wound on his ragged back. He grunted in pain biting his lip not to scream he shoved his hand in the face of the second axe carrying fool and let his magic burn his skull clean.

The soldier had tried to attack the axe wielder and been knocked back into a wall with the back swing of an axe. He collapsed in a pile. The two remaining rushed to the squad leader, ready to defend him. Both were met with arrows that pinned there feet to the ground. The archer turned and began to run, no doubt deciding the fight was lost and his boys could while he escaped.

Niya was overseeing the chaotic close quarters battle, witnessing the champion become injured as he turned and incinerated the offender's skull. The healer sighed quietly to herself, seeing the damage that the champion had suffered, and also saw the fact that the soldiers defending the young man had fallen and she urged her horse forward, moving close enough to the young man to prepare her staff and cast another healing spell, with the intent of reducing the damage as best she could. She would tend to the two soldiers with pinned feet as soon as possible, but priorities had to be made and the young man's injury was far more severe than the punctured feet of the other two soldiers. The one who took the axe blow, she could not assume whether he was dead or alive right now, but either way, another healer would prove most useful at this particular moment. She could only do so much. "The archer flees, sacrificing his men to escape."

The soldiers that failed to attack the axe wielder that was not having their skull cooked did do one key thing. They left Jerod an opening to carry his battle momentum forward, blade flashing as he locked against the axe of the fighter he was squaring off with. Unlike the others, element of surprise was not in his favor nor was the man nearly as unskilled, so they traded blows and Jerod barely avoided a vicious sidewards swing, leaving more permanent damage on his scale armor as several scales were sent flying from the strong blow. However, this left an opening for Jerod to strike out to leave a gash across the man's torso, ripping through what armor was there with the blow, but did not fell the man. However, he was driving him back and created a clean opening for the lad champion, or anyone else who intended to aid the lad, to head after the archer or consolidate the position.

Upon arrival in the fair land of Ylisse, bustling with activities among the civilians, the warriors and their leader from the origin of the faraway land, Chon'sin, scouted throughout the area in search of Ylisstol, the palace in which the Exalt of the land resided in. A fair amount of people paused in their daily activity to spare a glance towards the marching swordsmen from the foreign lands, others keeping a distance from them. During their information gathering, a word of Champion of Naga being present in the premises was caught in the general's ears. How delightfully convenient,she thought to herself. Once directions towards the palace were given by the merchant of a fruits stall, Lei'min announced an order towards 'his' men, "Lend me your ears, fellow comrades of Chon'sin. I shall pay a visit to Ylisstol to await for the Champion of Naga and pay my respects to the Exalt. All of you may freely act as you wish, but keep in mind, you are in a foreign land. I will not tolerate any acts of tomfoolery to taint our nation's name under my command." After the men affirmed 'his' orders with a salute, Lei'min turned on 'his' heel and paced towards 'his' destination.

The Exalt sat on her throne as nobles pleaded cases before her against war, for war, lower taxes, higher taxes, and all manners of things. She was bored with it all, Jacob had yet to return and her court was full of dozens nobles wondering about the issue. She finally decided to end it all, standing up she thumped Falchion against the ground. "Court is over, we shall wait for Jacob to return before deciding our actions." She slumped back in her throne as the knights pushed out the nobles. She really hated this, she prefered hitting things to discussing them at length. She remained on the throne giving orders for only visiting diplomats and personal friends to be given entry. With that headed into the private room she kept for training, smashing pottery and the like all the while.

Meanwhile, the Chon'sin myrmidon was greeted by one of the available servants of the palace, to whom she explained who she was and for what business which brought her there. After the explanation from the crossdressing female, the servant agreed to escorting her to the throne room and grant her permission for an audience with the Exalt. Two pairs of footsteps echoed throughout the grand hall leading towards the throne room, Lei'min surveying the fanciful surroundings all the while. When a large, wooden double door was before them, the female servant pushed the door open and welcomed the general inside. With a posture fit for the presence of the Exalt, she entered the throne room with poise.

The Exalt had been informed of the Generals arrival she quickly returned to her throne. Composing herself to greet the visiting dignitary she fixed her hair and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Sitting up straight as the man entered, the Exalt got up slowly walking down from her throne to greet him. "Welcome to Ylisstol, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" She asked in truth she had a feeling she already knew why.

Lowering 'his' upper body for a respectful bow, Lei'min rose up after a moment to part 'his' lips to speak. "It is a great honor to be blessed by your presence, milady. I have been told of tales regarding your reign of Ylisse." The swordsman's lips curved up into a calm, faint smile before she continued. "As for my business here in Ylisstol, if I were to be blunt, it is regarding a... negotiation between I, as the representative of Chon'sin, and the Champion of Naga."

The Exalt nodded. "You are here to meet Jacob then, he's the one that seemed to have the church all excited. He's my ward as well, however I know you must be tired from your long travels. You may rest here in the palace, your men and welcome to rest in the barracks." She said returning to her throne. "When Jacob returns you may speak with him, I wish to know the full extent of what has happened as well." She said. "My daughter will show you to your room."

With that a young blue haired Princess entered the room bowing to Lei'min. "Please follow me General." She said turning slowly she began to walk out and down the halls, past guards and into a wing dedicated almost entirely to guests.

With a grateful bow, the general replied with an appreciative tone, "I am truly indebted to your generosity, milady. I sincerely hope the negotiations will conclude well, for I wish to repay your kindness in the future." Her lips thinned into a smile once more before politely bowing towards the Exalt's daughter. Following the princess' lead, Lei'min walked along the halls of a whole new wing in a quiet manner. Since the girl was of a royal status, she decided not to speak unless necessary.

Caroline stopped opening a door a large room, everything inside was made for royalty perfect to the very core. It must have also been readied as fresh clean sheets and blankets lay waiting. "I hope everything is to your liking General. Let the servants know if you need anything. Perhaps you would like to speak later, I could tell you of Jacob. The Champion everyone seems so interested in." She said giving a light bow.

One glance around the room was enough for the Chon'sin female to notice how extravagantly furnished it was, perhaps too extravagant for someone of her position. "Milady, are you certain I may occupy this room to myself? Your highnesses are too hospitable, I will accept this but allow me to repay in kind, one day." Lei'min deeply bowed in appreciation and 'his' interest was piqued upon the mention of the champion.

Caroline nodded. "I'll let you rest. All the guest rooms are the same so worry not. The Champion sleeps across the hall when he visits the castle. Good day to you." She gave one quick bow then headed off to attend to her duties and help in the search for the Champion.

"A good day to you as well, milady. Again, I greatly appreciate your hospitability." A sincere curve upon her lips, before she shut the door behind her. The information she was given was most curious indeed, perhaps performing an investigation on the Champion will be made easy with the close distance the general's room was to his. A wry smile upon her expression as Mei'lin started to settle down in the room.

Two cavaliers rode their horses away from the Exalt’s castle, ordered to find and either whisk away the ‘Champion of Naga’ back to the safe confines of the Exalt’s home or protect the young man for long enough for the ‘Champion’ to find some shelter and protection from the church’s assassins. Word of the bounty on young Jacob’s head had already reached the Exalt’s ear. This news was indeed extremely worrisome for the Exalt, which resulted in her sending Marius and his younger brother, Aloysius, out to retrieve this person of interest.

While making their way through the city, the two brothers heard a commotion down one of the many alleyways through the capital city. Curious whether the ‘Champion’ was involved with this commotion and wondering whether they were too late, the two cavaliers headed down the alley. Once on the other side, Marius and Aloysius could see what had recently become a battlefield, right inside the boundaries of the capital city itself.

“Is that the Champion?” Aloysius asked his brother. Marius pulled off one of the bounty ads that was plastered to a nearby wall and compared the image on the poster to the young man who was in the center of the action.

“Looks like a positive match.” However, right after Marius spoke to his brother, one of the church soldiers had wounded the ‘Champion’ with his axe, although the assailant did not get away scot free. Even in his agony, the ‘Champion’ was able to muster enough strength to counterattack, striking his foe with a fire-based spell.

Marius and his green-clad brother looked at one another and immediately knew what they needed to do. Riding forth, the two cavaliers rushed toward the aid of the ‘Champion’, as was their duty.

“I suggest you retreat momentarily while we find a healer to mend your wounds.” Marius suggested to the ‘Champion’.

Konrad watched in horror as the fighting got more violent, and that the young tactician gotten injured, but a young woman on horseback was healing his wounds. Konrad breath slowly to level out his panic breathing, when he was calmed enough he ran towards one of the injured fighters who, were pinned to the ground by an arrow to the foot. Konrad walked up to him and grabbed hold of the arrow, "Sorry about this, sir." Konrad apologized before he yanked the arrow out of the man foot, Konrad was too focused to pay attention to noticed the man's reaction, but he knows it wasn't pleasant, but he couldn't heal the men wounds with the arrow still in his foot, with a quick movement of his hands he used the restorative powers of the staff healed the hole in soldier's foot. Konrad sighed and he ran towards the other soldier. He did the same as before, this was not pleasant for anybody, but the men will be able to keep fighting, which is what needs to be done at the moment, he will check up on them later and see if everything is still working.

Konrad finally get a good look at the young tactician, Konrad gasped softly, he realized the young man was the 'Champion', as he saw the face before on wanted posters. Konrad sighed a breath of relief, he can finally do his best to protect him and he has found the new meaning in his life, in a middle of an alley fight. But he has to wait to introduced himself, he has to make sure the man that was axed is still living.

---

Above the alley streets were a young red-haired woman on the back of her Wyvern, the pair has been watching the fight going on, and at first the pair decided it wasn't important enough to get involved. Until one of the Guards has yelled out to the 'Champion'. Her eyes glimmered in anticipation, she has found her next employer. Before she could fly down, and surprised the fighters the fight has become one-sided and the leader has run off after slowing down a pair of guards. Melody grin and put on her goggles, she and Pearly flew after the archer, he may have an advantage over her in weapons, but she has the element of surprise to back her up. She flew after the man and made sure not to make herself known until the time is right. She held on to her hammer and gotten ready to finish him. As Melody and Pearly were right above him, Pearly turned to her side to give Melody the best shot at the archer, Melody held on to the Wyvern and she swung the giant hammer right at the back of the Archer's head, which caused a loud thud and the sounds of a body hitting the floor. Melody grinned. The pair adjusted themselves back upright and the Wyvern hovered above the body of the archer. Melody quickly patted Pearly's neck. "Well's it best that we report the archer is down." Melody whispered into the Wyvern's ear. Melody sighed, how many more people will get hurt by this stupid pissing contest, at least she knew this man attacked first. At least She and Pearly won't get rusty.

Jacob turned and ran towards the now open fighter, spinning his sword he leaped and buried the blade and his boots in the axe wielders gut. He flailed for a moment before Jacob twisted the blade and pulled it out, he was dead in moments looking first two Knights who arrived moments earlier. "Marius, Aloysius; your late." He smirked at the Knights letting them know he meant it only as a jest.

Next he turned to the Mercenary. "Thank you for the help, lucky they were nothing but a handful scum. A few of them had some skill but the rest were there to intimidate. Those mages were even properly trained, the magic was wild and inaccurate." He shook his head surveying the damage. "Thank your friend on the horse as well. I have a few other to thank for help as well."

As he turned to walk away. "Marius gather up the soldiers here and have Aloysius take them back to the barracks. They deserve a good rest." He told the Knight, Tacticians were trained to give orders and made up most of the Ylissian officers. Marius didn't have to listen to him technically they were equals in rank.

While still a a Junior Tactician he had proven to be the top of class and would have graduated already had Grand Master Andres been able to convince the Exalt he was ready to serve. A Junior tactician was equal in rank to a knight. A fulled Tactician equal to a Lieutenant, while this meant Knight Commanders and Pegasus Knight Captains held rank over them. However only Tacticians could become Grand Masters. These commanders planned troop movements and discussed war with the highest officials. There only a few known Grand Masters of Ylissian Army Robin, Morgan, and Andres. Andres being the longest serving.

Jacob walked over to the male priest giving a small bow. "I'd like to thank you for your help. If you wouldn't mind I could use a little healing. My pretty blood and they ruined my robes, it wasn't deep just stings every time the wind hits it." He said taking a seat on the ground. He looked over the crowd in alley. "Lets get the introductions done then I'm...." He stopped looking up. "... Is that a wyvern?" He asked out loud, they were incredibly uncommon creatures here meaning the rider was from Valm or was inherited the beast. He hoped the second because a lot of Valmese really wanted him dead right now. He stared up at the beast noticing it had the Archer who had ordered the attack with it or maybe just his body.

Sanctus just laughed at the man's insults. "You know," He said brightly, "Your insults are pretty weak, I know a good book on them that I could loan to you!"

Jonathan's expression shifted to mock surprise, complete with an over-exaggerated mime of wiping sweat of his brow. "Oh, right, you can talk! I forgot, what with the whole looking like one of them monkey things and smelling like the ass end of an ass."

Sanctus raised both eyebrows. "Better, but still pitiful. Surely such an edicated individual could do better. Although, " His expresstion becamed thoughtful, and slightly nausiated. He turned he head away and held his nose. "Are you sure the smell isnt you?"

Jonathan grinned savagely, green eyes lighting up behind the lank hair. "Nah, see, you walked in and the smell of soiled pants followed ya inside. Turned everyone of their drink. Although..." The fighter mimicked the child soldier's expression, save for the nose holding. Instead, he spat with unerring accuracy at the smaller male's face. "...you'd make a great spit-bucket. Got the face for it."

Sanctus moved with incredable speed, his empty hand backhanded the spit out of the air, before it came near his face. He absent-mindedly wipped his hand on his pants. "Say it, dont spray it, mister." He said in a child-like tone. "Soiled pants, yeah an oldie but a goody. You really should read that book, anyways I thought you came to fight. Not trade insults, or is that tounge of yours the only sharp thing about you? Maybe, I will cut it and find out.

The backhand was a surprise. Jonathan's relaxed posture changed with miniscule twitches as he optimized his stance, unsure of what to make of the sudden burst of speed. Instead, he slipped his free hand into one of the pouches on his belt, keeping his single-handed axe lowered and ready for combat. He sneered at the child. "Try it, maggot."

Sanctus s voice lost its child-like tone, eerily sounding like an adult. "The only maggots here will be feasting on your corpse, mister. Now, tell me your name."

"What, so you can mutter it in vengence as I leave you sobbing and broken? Nah." The sneer grew. "I ain't no knight, kiddo. Honor in battle and all that's for people with a death wish. The ones who can't finish the fights they start." He chuckled. "Kinda like you, coward."

"Careful, you might say somthing you regret, very well then... lets begin!" As soon as he said this, he dashed to the right and kicked a fist-sized stone he had notaced earlier at the mans face. He swung his sword around in an easy practaced motion, reversing his grip. He followed the rock forward, getting inside the mans reach and sliceing upwards. Jonathan's left hand snapped up, the flat of the axe-head ploughing into the rock as the child's sword approached this sudden and seemingly defenseless opening. He stepped into the charge and brought his heavily armored right hand out of the pouch, using the momentum gained from his step to bring the fist around in a blow that clipped the sword as it passed by. As the blade hissed past the exposed flesh of his axe-arm, Jonathan's expression turned grim. Instead of attempting to bring his axe down past the widely thrown sword, he let go of his weapon and snapped his elbow down in a crushing blow toward where the kid's forward momentum would bring the swordsman's head. Seeing the trap, Sanctus crouched low and stepped forward, avoiding the brunt of the force of the attack. He turned with the deflection of his sword, and slashed in a wide circular motion, aiming low, just below the knee. The next moment the elbow crashed into his back, throwing him to the ground. The wide slash proved to be just what Jonathan was looking for. Instead of attempting to block the blow aimed at his legs, he instead continued through with the elbow blow, falling forward and letting his crushing weight pile onto the child-like form. The hissing sword connected just as he began to fall, its razor edge the only thing that allowed such an awkwardly angled blow to penetrate flesh. It dug into the shin and stuck fast as Jonathan collapsed fully, quite happy to keep his opponent under his superior weight if it meant a scrape on his leg.

Sanctus knew he was introuble, but the fight wasnt done yet, With his one free hand, he pulled out a dagger in a reverse grip, reached backward and tried stabbing Jonathan in the ribs. Grunting, Jonathan twisted and grabbed at the stabbing hand with his left, slamming it to the ground. "Keep still, you little bastard. I've got half a mind to cut your face off." He loosened his right fist, letting the iron fillings that he'd kept inside tickle out in a fine stream. "Would keep ya down." The fighter drew his own dagger, a long-bladed piece that curved wickedly in the last half-inch. He lay it flat across the boy's neck, letting him feel the cold steel. "Move, in any way, and I will cut your throat."

The next moment, out of nowhere, the halft of a spear cracked on Jonathan's head. The shock drove the man's eyes wide and his vision blurry. Ever so slowly, he keeled over, barely supporting his collapsing form as he attempted to focus on why the world exsisted in triplicate. He was kicked over and three of the wavering figures pointed their spears at his throat. The overabundance of jerking senses prevented him from correctly grasping the irony of the cool metal point pressing against the base of his neck "How dare you pick on a little boy like that you oaf!" Lilith cried. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right here!" This time Sanctus spoke up huffing and wincing, "If you--nrrgh killed him, then we couldn't finish o-our fight." She nearly dropped her spear in surprise at his voice. "What?"

Whatever he was going to say will never be known, because at that moment, soldiers in Ylissian colors came rushing into the ally "STOP! DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!" Shouted a soldier, whose fancy armor proclaimed him as the captain of the unit. Sighing, Lilith complied and other soldiers came forward, confinscated everyone's weapons, searched them, and then clapped them all in steel shackles. However, Marianne was nowhere to be found. Sanctus and Jonathan (Who was still trying to figure out which way was up, due both to his concussion and his profusely bleeding leg) were hauled to their feet, and with Lilith, marched off to some unknown fate.

And where had the curious Dark Mage wandered off to? The Corpse Collector had honestly gotten tired of the brute display of testosterone in front of her and so went off on her own to complete her namesake. Poking and prodding the two mangled bodies, Marianne hummed softly to herself as she carefully took care of their blanked eyes and other pieces she could acquire in a short timespan.

The sound of approaching troops made her sigh as that heralded an end to her fun activities. Locating a dark corner to hide in, she did just that as both Jonathan and Sanctus as well as a female newcomer were quickly carried away. Watching them go, Marianne slipped out of her hiding spot and considered going after them. However, as she walked out into the streets, she noticed that the Champion was nearby at last, having apparently finished a battle of his very own.

There was no contest in which path Marianne's interest lied in though she did cast a lingering glance in the direction of her apprehended friends. Yes, as much as she adored cutting their bodies open, both Jonathan and Sanctus had provided enough amusement for her to consider them allies, at least for the first five minutes. And thus an idea came to her rotted little head.

"Not to worry F.R.I.E.N.D.S. I'll see you very soon," she whispered to herself before turning to the direction the Champion was standing. Strolling up with a happy bounce in her step, the Dark Mage walked up to the group and took in the people more closely. It was certainly a wide range of characters, though she was able to identify the Champion easily by his robes. Well, torn robes now .For now, she walked right up to Jacob and gently tugged on his sleeve, a bright smile plastered on her face.

“Hello there everyone,” she said politely, before taking the hem of her dress and bowing slightly. “My name is Marianne. I've traveled far and wide to finally meet the Champion of Naga."

She extended out a still bloodied hand in greeting to Jacob, smiling gently. A moment of pause passed and the Dark Mage suddenly frowned.

“Oh dear. I completely forgot that you are a man of great power and stature! Thus, it’s only natural I present a token of my gratitude for your work and proof of my sincerity. Let’s see….”

Digging around in her pocket, she plucked out the fresh eye from the man she had just collected from and offered it to Jacob happily. It dripped in blood and all sorts of unsightly fluids and she eagerly placed it out for the Champion to take. One step in saving her friends from whatever terrible and hopefully grisly fate had befallen them.

“Please take it as a sign of my interest and curiosity in you young man. Also, has anyone ever told you that you have A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. eyes?”

Konrad has looked over the man and it appears that he's still breathing but unconscious Konrad used his staff to lessen the severity of the wounds long enough for him to be taken by the guards and be taken to an infirmary. Konrad sighed, he's not used to fights compare to everybody else involved but he has to stay strong for the people and for the champion. As if on cue the Champion approached him and thanked him for his help and even did a small bow, Konrad politely bowed back at the young champion. "It's no problem at all Champion, I did what I could." Konrad spoke sheepishly, while scratching his cheek in embarrassment, it didn't feel like he did much. The champion asked Konrad to heal his wounds, Konrad nodded and readied his staff as the champion sat on the ground and relaxed. Konrad was far too focused on the task at hand to hear his comment on the Wyvern down the alley. The light beaming from the staff quickly closed and healed the Champion's wounds, Konrad sighs in relief.

"There good as new champion, if you feel pain or discomfort later you can tell me." Konrad told the Champion. A young black haired woman walked up to the pair, and she brightly greeted to the champion as Marianne with a bloody handshake, Konrad was shocked, did she hurt herself during the fight? But to his horror the girl pulled out a eye out of her pocket, an actual eye! He felt sick looking at the eye, but he tried his best to keep a civil but uncomfortable smile at the young girl. "Uhh... Marianne?" Konrad spoke slowly picking his words carefully. "Did you or anybody else get hurt?" Konrad asked the Black haired girl. Suddenly the body of the archer was thrown near the group, his body slammed harshly onto the alley. The Wyvern rider which he had only noticed had an impatient frown across her goggled face. Her hammer still had the blood from her previous victim, she looked intimidating.

---

Pearly had carried the battered body of the archer who had tried to ran away but he ended up on the wrong end of Melody's hammer. Melody grinned smugly at the injured Champion, but soon her smug grin has turned into an annoyed frown as the champion was being bombarded and harassed by a strange girl with an eyepatch and trying to pass the champion an eyeball. Soon enough she just groaned and whispered to Pearly's to make their presence more known. The body hit the ground with a loud thud and blood started to leak onto the street from the battered head wound. Melody leaned on Pearly neck and grinned a cheeky smile at the champion, she should introduced herself and to confirm she isn't here to kill him, the opposite in fact. "Greetings Champion, I killed your would be assassin, he didn't seem to be expecting a Wyvern to fall from the sky." She smugly told the champion, "I know you could use fighters on your side so I'm going to join your side because I happen to be one of the people that falls under the church's new genocidal ideal." She bluntly told the Champion. And winked at him.