The baron frowned when Lance came back with the news. This was not a good start to his daughter's picnic. "I will not have some lowlifes ruin this for my daughter. It would be best to take them out so they will never come back but I am sure the only way to do that would be to lure them in." The baron scratched his mustache as he tried to think of a solution.

"What's going on dad?" Veronica asked as she looked around at what everyone was doing.

"Nothing to worry about sugar, just a minor complication." The baron assured her before turning serious again. "Gear Heart, keep her safe. The rest of you be ready to engage at a moment's notice, let's see if we can lure them in and finish this before any of the hot food gets cold."

---

Intent on programming the beasts, the four sell swords did not notice they had been noticed; however the apparent leader looked through his eyeglass once again and noticed many of the servants going back into the mansion, something was wrong. "Curses they're on to us. Let's come back another day." He turned to his companions but the largest one looked sheepishly at him.

"Umm I'm afraid the programming has already been complete, we won't be able to take the beasts back with us." As if to emphasize his point, the closed bag was nearly bursting at the seams as the creatures tried desperately to escape and complete their task.

"Well isn't that great, those beasts cost a pretty penny. We'll just have to hope they can do the job for us." The grizzled leader took out a large knife and slashed open the bag, out popped three wriggling masses that looked like crosses between and eel and a lizard. With long, slim bodies, quite a few pairs of legs with nasty claws on them, and mouths like leeches they were gruesome looking specimens. About a meter and a half long each they were not the largest of creatures but they were fast, agile, and quite venomous. They were called Death Worms and had the nasty habit of latching on to their prey to dump their entire reserves of toxins into their target.

The Death Worms scuttled away toward their target, but instead of heading straight for Veronica they made a slight detour toward the pond, their instincts telling them to use the water as cover to reach their target as stealthfully as three semi-aquatic worms could.

The assassin captain watched as the creatures sped off and noticed their path. "Alright men, we'll provide cover for the creatures until they can reach that bit of water. Once they're in we'll retreat and come back another day to if those creatures are unsuccessful. Let's make it snappy!" The four men checked their equipment and took out their ranged weapons, three crossbows and a short bow and headed off after the monsters, looking around to shoot anyone who tried to intercept the creatures.

Of course this they were not expecting that someone was actually now behind them.

Jack followed quickly behind Lance back to the picnic area and after Lance had spoken to the baron he went to dawn his gear. Jack stepped up putting himself between Veronica and the tree line. "Miss Veronica let's play a little game close your eyes and cover your ears, then count to 100 and do not peak no matter what you hear, When you reach that number think of your favorite animal and stay focused on that thought, I bet I can guess the first letter of that animals name now go ahead and give it shot." Jack gave her this ploy for he didn't want Veronica to see what was gonna go down over the next couple minutes.

He then turned to the baron and bowed while saying "It has been a pleasure serving under you Master and hopefully that won't stop now, but need it be I give my life just know I gladly shall." Jack then turned his gaze back to the tree line to watch for when the group approached.

As they did he spoke once more before the battle started. "Alright Veronica go ahead and start counting and remember to focus on the numbers, then the first letter of the animal you think of - in my head I will ponder."

Lucky had just been about to join the others, when dropped a daggers into his arms explaining a threat at Veronica's life. The boy sighed sliding the dagger in into his work boot, before moving towards the baron and his daughter. Quietly he took he hid his violin case in the bush's moving to stand in front of the baron and Veronica, the stable boy lifted his arms.

Along his skin blue lines formed as he channel mana, readying to cast spells if need be. Of course the Baron knew of the boys talent, but few others knew exactly how Lucky always managed to avoid accidents. He prepared himself for stopping bolt or arrows meant for the nobles behind him, a sort of personal barrier. He of course was no fully trained mage but rather a one trick mage, good thing it was a hell of a trick.

As Lance stepped through the gate of the manor, he was quite literally a knight in shining armor. The sunlight shined off of his scalemail and breastplate. In his hands he held a shield made of steel, and a Longsword made of the same. On his back was his tried and true lance. As tall as he was, it looked fierce and battle-ready. Strapped to his belt were two sturdy bottles, both from his alchemy class. They were a deep red, and could regenerate wounds fairly quickly. It was time.

Running towards the forest edge, several worm-like creatures could be seen skittering towards a nearby pond. Taking the same path around the trees, the four figures were visible with crossbows and a bow. They seemed to be defending the monsters. Taking a long path around, he managed to get behind the fellows. Just a few trees behind, a movement out of the corner of his eye startled him. Looking over, the familiar face of Noella could be seen in the bushes. Not a bad hiding spot. Now to wait for the perfect opportunity. If Noella fired first... he might be able to get a sneak attack in. But if not... well, guess it's headfirst into battle. Time to wait.

The silence and the tension would've driven a normal person crazy, but Noella, as a huntress, was used to both feelings. Stalking these bandits and criminals like a predator was no different than hunting an animal, except the fact that most animals wouldn't fight back and instead dart off into the distance. She took careful steps towards a tree, using the leaves and soft grass to cushion and silence her footsteps while Noella approached. Throwing her bow over the huntress' shoulder, she slowly began to inch her way up the tree and onto the large branches that would've surely fell if Noella was much, much heavier. "It shouldn't be hard to find other people in the forest from up here..." The whiskered huntress mumbled to herself, cupping her hands around her golden eyes like binoculars.

She smirked as Noella spotted the enemies, a small group of lowly assassins. Out of the four, one appeared to be the big honcho with a spyglass in his hands. Glancing behind herself to see if any of Noella's companions were following the source, the whiskered huntress noticed Lance, mainly because of his massive appearance in the plate armor he wore. As he looked back at her, Noella held out a hand with four fingers in the air, signifying how many men she had seen to the elf before Noella made her advance. Tiptoeing across a branch, the huntress approached the assassins with the stealth she prided herself on.

Taking advantage of the fact that the assassins had not seen neither Lance or Noella, she drew her bow and took a few seconds to calm herself before aiming it at the leader. The huntress needed to find a way to cripple him, or at least inflict enough fear in the underlings for Lance to come in and finish the job. The groin or the leg might be a suitable place, but assassins are always known for their superb agility... Hopefully he isn't any better than the rest of his men. Noella thought, bring her bow down to the lower half of the leader's body. Pulling the bowstring backwards, she silently launched one of the blunted arrows at the assassins' superior, and hoped that the unknown might knock him off his feet and startle the rest of the assassins.

---

Veronica was old enough to know what Jack was up to, along with plenty of experience, but she also had faith in the companions around her so she relented to his request. Veronica turned toward gear heart, closed her eyes and leaned up against him as if starting a game of hide-and-go-seek.

"1, 2, 3..." She started to count while thinking of what animal to reply with at the end. The baron smiled at her but then turned when he noticed the approaching beasts and assassins. The ugly creatures making a beeline for the pond so that they could then emerge from it as close to their quarry as possible, also the water would make them more slippery and harder to catch.

---

The leader noticed something behind him too late to dodge and the blunted arrow hit him in the back of the knee, causing him to collapse as his knee buckled outward and threw him off balance. Instantly on guard the small pack quickly turned around to spot Noella and Lance, one spotted her and fired his crossbow. The other one had a short bow and fired a shot at lance, but quickly switched to his melee weapon, a cruel looking mace so he went to intercept Lance. The large one kept going along with the creatures as he kept an eye on the enemies ahead and the target as well.

The leader took a few moments to get back up but he had his eyes on the prize and kept going forward as well. "Let's keep these fools busy while the creatures get into a flanking position!"

As the arrow soared past Lance, he realized his time to go was now. Rushing forward with his shield up, he deflected another shot, and was now in front of the new man. Bashing him in the face with his shield, a quick few slashes to face did him in. The other one in the meantime had readied yet another shot, an it struck Lance in the arm. Reeling back, Lance rushed forward and tackled him. A quick stab to the head was all it took. Standing back up the leader attempted to shoot at him, but missed entirely. Slashing him accross the chest and then tackling him, the bandit was out cold. Scrambling to his feet, he ran towards the escaping assassin. Lance shouted to all in the area as loud as he could: "Attack! Don't let him reach Veronica!"

Gotcha! The whiskered huntress smiled as her arrow hit right on target with the desired effect. She hoped that the bandits hadn't spotted her location as the arrow flew into their ranks, but to Noella's dismay, the assassins immediately knew where the huntress was. One of the bandits had fired an arrow at Noella, and she reflexively leaped backwards to dodge the projectile. The sudden movement on the branch caused it to shake and bounce, disrupting the huntress' balance. Her foot slipped off the edge, and Noella would certainly become a flat pancake if she didn't think up something fast.

Contorting her body upside down, Noella latched on the branch upside down, using her legs to keep herself from falling towards the ground again. "Looks like I'm in quite the pickle now..." The huntress said out loud. There was no reason to be silent anymore now that her cover was blown and the bandits knew where Noella was hiding. Yet it was like the god of luck was watching over the huntress when Lance came charging out of the woods like a knight in shining armor as he took advantage of the sudden confusion that was sown from her distraction. Breathing a sigh of relief, Noella couldn't help but to smirk and laugh at the bandits as the odds were slowly beginning to favor Lance and herself. "Hah! You may call us fools, but let us see how you deal with Lance the Bear!" The huntress shouted, as if she was taunting the lowly would-be assassins.

Believing that Lance could handle the three bandits below her, Noella turned her bow towards the large bandit following the creatures they had released. Her field of depth was skewed by being upside down, but the huntress felt that she could hit him at the distance that she and the bandit were apart. Pulling back her bow string, she launched an arrow at the assassin, and the projectile clonked him in the back of his head in view of Gear Heart, Jack and everyone else that was still with the Baron. Despite knowing none of them probably couldn't see her from their position, she waved at them in a playful manner, but quickly and almost desperately pointed towards the water in case anyone did happen to see the battle on the other side of the lake.

---

Gear Heart surveyed the fight going on at the picnic area. The large golem paid less attention to the assassins being dealt with by Veronica's other protectors and more attention to the trio of death worms making their way towards the pond. Though small and easily squashable, Gear Heart knew they were the biggest threat to Veronica's safety. So the further away they were from Veronica when the squashing started, the better. With that in mind Gear Heart charged forward.

Even if the assassins were still in a position to effectively cover the death worms, there would be no stopping Gear Heart now. The worms made their way into the pond and emerged soon after, the water on their bodies glistening in the sunlight. They barely made it a meter out of the water before Gear Heart was upon them. The 1st worm was reduced to a long thin pancake by an iron foot. The 2nd met the same fate beneath Gear Heart's palm soon after. Gear Heart then clasped his hands together and brought them down on the final death worm with a loud crash. The death worms were no more.

As the large man ran through the field, he suddenly fell down face first. Likely an arrow from Noella. Leaping on top of the man, he struggled relentlessly, but in a manner of seconds, his arms were behind his back, and was in a Chokehold. Forty seconds passed before his flailing stopped. During this time, he saw Gear Heart rushing towards the pond and crushing, presumably, the monsters. Either that or, he hates frogs. "Hey! Gear Heart! Take this guy to the Baron. Let him decide what to do with him. But, obviously, don't let this guy anywhere near Veronica." Taking the assassin'assassin's crossbow and bolts, we went towards the forest to grab the bandit he hadn't killed. Still unconscious, he proved to be much lighter than Lance though he would be. Maybe he's just a lot stronger than he thought. On the way back, Lance found Noella sitting in one of the trees. He looked at her with a grin."Lance the Bear huh? Heh, figured I'd be more of a Lion guy, but Bear works too. Let's see what the Baron wants to do with these guys." Shifting the unconscious man's weight, Lance felt a sharp pain in his upper bicep. "I should also probably get this looked at." He said, tilting his head in the direction of the bolt stuck in his arm.

Gear Heart turned towards Lance when the elf called out to the golem. Gear Heart then looked at the unconscious assassin Lance was referring to. After a moment, the golem walked over to the assassin and picked him up. Gear Heart then took the assassin back to the baron, placed the man on the ground, and held him down with the foot he used to crush 1 of the death worms. Gear Heart then looked at the baron and awaited his judgement.

When Gear Heart moved to attack the death worms, poor Veronica, who had been leaning against him and had reached fifty, fell to the ground with a thud. Veronica pushed herself off the ground with a scowl and a face full of grass. "Moouh, why is this happening!" She complained as Gear Heart started to squash the monsters.

The threat appeared to be taken care of between everyone and it was soon quiet. Gear Heart brought over the last surviving assassin to the baron and was ready to smash him if necessary. The baron reached over and slapped the man awake. The opened his eyes and quickly realized his predicament, things had gotten really bad.

"Now I have only one question for you, who hired you to kill my daughter?" The baron glared down at him and pointed his sword at his forehead. The man said nothing but then spotted Veronica a few feet away but was careful not to show it as Veronica made her way over to her dad.

"Well I guess I can say they are very influential, in certain circles." The man admitted to bid some, while he quickly snagged a death worm claw from the bottom of Gear Heart's foot and hurled it at Veronica's neck. The man would not know if he was successful or not as the baron stabbed him a moment too late, the claw already on its deadly course.

Lucky had remained had just relaxed his glowing stopped following Veronica towards her father, however he watched the man before them. His eyes darted for a moment to Veronica, they reminded him of a thief planning... Oh no. He gave a quick step forward, then a second as the man grabbed the claw and through it. Throwing his left hand out in front of Veronica as he grabbed her shoulder with his right to hold her still, a foot from her face the claw froze in the air as Lucky glowed once more. He hugged Veronica pulling her from it's path before he released it letting it fly harmlessly to where it fell upon the ground. Pulling both kids to the ground however Lucky put himself between her and the ground to keep her safe.

Grunting as he hit the ground Lucky looked around and then at Veronica before smiling softly. "You're safe now." He told her as sat up somewhat looking at the Baron giving a nod as he started to help Veronica up. "So.... I guess the cat is out of the bag about my magic huh?" The boy blushed a little not really familiar with the heroic line of work that protecting someone would bring. After they had gotten up he walked over looking around really hoping people were not going to start asking him questions, a time mage was a rarity even untrained. "So uh... I can alter an object's relationship with reality... With my mind." He said giving simple terms to what he could do.

"I-It was a spur of the moment, alright?" Noella exclaimed, looking around at her surroundings. She was still upside down, dangling from the tree and unsure how she was going to get back on her feet again. The huntress had to decide something fast as the blood rushing to her head was making her dizzy, and Noella was having trouble focusing. "A-Ah, well... let's see..." She muttered as the huntress leaned backwards and then quickly thrust her body forward in an attempt to stand upwards once more. Sadly, Noella wasn't as lucky as before, nor did she have the luck of Skyler, as she overestimated her landing and threw herself into a bush, but the whiskered huntress was lucky enough for it to be comfortable without sustaining too much injury from the impact.

"T-Tch... That probably wasn't the best decision I've made." Noella stood up from the bush, and plucked her clothing free. Watching the huntress try to walk was like seeing a drunkard, and she stumbled for a few minor moments as Noella's sense of depth and gravity came back. She looked on to see Lance had already disappeared on his quest to capture the other men, and saw that the problem had mostly resolved itself until the captured bandit threw one of the worm's claws at Veronica just as the Baron executed him. No! I'm too far away! Noella thought, sprinting towards the rest of the crowd in fear while muttering a prayer that any of her companions might stop the claw from impaling Veronica.

To Noella, it was ironic that an elf named Lucky was truly lucky. Reaching the Baron just as Lucky was helping Veronica up, the huntress breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm just glad that you were fast enough to rescue Veronica, Lucky. Without your magic, it might've not been possible." Noella replied with a smile as she plucked free a leaf that was tangled in her hair.

---

Lance ran behind Noella, bolt in arm and the assassin still slung across his shoulders just in time to see the assassin throw the claw, an Veronica getting tackled out of the way. Out of breath, Lance made it back to the team."Nice going, kid! Quite impressive." The boy's magic came as no surprise to Lance. He'd seen magic users before, and now was no different. He turned to the Baron. "What do you say we take this one somewhere more... solitary. Away from Veronica. We might be able to get some information out of this guy." He then turned to Lucky. "Hey. You can keep the knife. Think of it as a thank-you gift for saving Veronica. Don't worry, I've got plenty more." Shifting the man's weight once more, Lance felt another sharp pain in his arm. Yanking the bolt out of his arm and snapping it in half in one fluid motion, he put it into a small case pocket on the side of his armor. Grabbing one of the red flasks that hung on his belt, he took a quick swig and put it back. "So, Where am I taking this guy?" He said, pointing at the man on his shoulders.

Gear Heart looked on as the assassin threw the claw at Veronica. Though the baron had already killed the man, Gear Heart still crushed the assassin's corpse. Gear Heart then looked back at Veronica. The girl was safe, pulled out of harm's way by the stable boy who had also used magic to halt the claw's progress long enough to successfully move Veronica out of the way. After Lucky explained his magic to all present and the 2 elves had said their peace, Gear Heart approached the boy and held out his large metal hand. Within seconds, a poppy had bloomed on the golem's hand for Lucky to take. Gear Heart then reached his other hand out to Veronica and offered her a poppy as well.

It had all happened so fast for poor Veronica, first something was being flung at her face and next she knew, she was lying on top of Lucky. While she certainly played with Lucky more than other servants due to his age, being in such close contact to the boy was not something she was exactly used to. Wide-eyed, she looked down at Lucky like a fawn in the lamp light.

"You're safe now." Came his soft voice into her ears, turning them pink. As he sat up she quickly scrambled away and turned her head to make sure her hair was in the way, so the redness wasn't apparent. Veronica wasn't exactly sure what just happened but for the moment she just decided to take in a few deep breathes.

After regaining her senses, she saw Gear Heart offer flowers to both her and Lucky. Not wanting to be rude to the friendly golem, she took the flower but then turned and offered hers to Lucky. "Thank you Lucky, I feel like you deserve both of them." She desperately tried to keep a straight face as she offered the flower to the half-elf, but could only do so by only half looking at him.

The baron was pleased as he saw everyone return, not uninjured but at least nothing fatal. "Lance, Noelle, Gear Heart, Jack, and Lucky, jobs well done. As for the remaining assassin Lance, I've heard the pig pen is especially muddy this year, might be a suitable location for our guest."

The baron looked around and sighed, "Well, we will have to move the picnic a ways so some of the servants can clean up here. Still, this will not stop me from enjoying some quality time with my daughter." He smiled again, and as the servants came out to help, he was there along with them in moving the picnic to another area near the lake.

Lucky blushed a deep red as the other poured in the compliments, he really couldn't take all the praise. "It's fine... I really just want to help out. It's not like my magic's a big deal or anything." The added, modestly he took the flower from Gear Heart gratefully however when Veronica gave him a second poppy he could hardly meet her eyes. Taking it shyly he stepped back from the others. "Any time Lady Veronica... I am just here to serve."

He looked at Noella first his blush fading some then to Lance the two here he looked up to the most. "I think I'd like to train more... I need to learn how to fight and move like you guys do, I can't always depend on changing time." He said hoping the two would understand why he wanted to learn and be willing to teach him. "I think knives would be best for me..." The young boy added, already brain storming where he could 'borrow' well balanced knifes to practice throwing.

With the others finishing up he walked back grabbing his violin case, so he could perform a tune or two for the others at the picnic.

"The pig pen eh? Well, I suppose I could pay them a visit. Why not?" Luckily the pen wasn't to far of a walk. A large muddy fenced off area filled with squealing pink pigs. Lance noticed a few of the males butting heads, looking very angry at each other. This would do nicely. A few turned their heads towards Lance, a look of malice in their eyes. Oh yes. About this time the assassin began to wriggle around on Lance's shoulders."Rise and shine big guy. I've got a surprise for you." Before the man could utter a word, Lance grabbed him by the neck and threw him into the pen. Not a second passed before the pigs began charging him.

The next 30 minutes were a sight to behold. Between falling over constantly from the muddied ground, to getting knocked off his feet by rampaging pigs, Lance couldn't help but laugh. Suddenly the man had somehow gotten his footing and made a beeline straight for the fence. Unfortunately for this man, his face was covered in mud, and he had no clue where he was going. Unknowingly, he ran straight towards Lance and he attempted to jump the fence. WHAM! Lance brought up his shield and bashed it into the man's face. Now unconscious once more, Lance grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him over to a pair of guards who were also watching the spectacle. "Throw him in the brigs or something. Lock him up and we'll do something with him later. And if he wakes up, knock his ass out again." And with that, Lance rejoined the rest of the party.

"W-well, I think I owe you at least a lesson or two for your heroic actions today, Lucky." Noella replied as she glanced at the elf, and then to Veronica. Veronica appeared shaken, but more so embarrassed like Lucky was as Lance and the huntress complimented him on his quick thinking. She couldn't help to grin at the two youngsters' display. The first hint of young love was always cute, and Noella heard many tales of love from the elderly in her village. It felt like a shame to the huntress that she never had the time to experience such a feeling. In order to support her mother, any activity that required free time was usually put on the back burner. Noella rarely had the time to goof around, but sometimes life was cruel and you always went on. That was what the whiskered huntress did in the past, and that is what she intended to keep doing until the end of her days.

She watched Lance disappear with the assassin and made his way towards the pig pen, and Noella turned her gaze back to the rest of the party and her companions. "I'll take care of their blades, sir. The food has been already tested, and you shouldn't have any reason to worry. I'll be back shortly in time to join you." The huntress told the Baron, and quickly went to gather the weapons before Veronica got a hold of them and cut herself. Walking deep into the forest, the huntress looked around for a rock and when she found one, Noella banged the edges against the rocks repeatedly to dull the blades. "Average quality... I could always sharpen the edges before the next time I go to the city..." She spoke to herself, debating whether to keep the now dull blades for some extra dough for her mother when the Baron required Noella to go to the nearby town. In the end, they were placed inside the magic box that housed her bow, and the huntress made her way back to the picnic grounds.

---