Should've known better...

Roy's defiant offensive gesture didn't surprise Travis but the speed in which the hunter carried out his attack was unexpected given the injuries that he had sustained. Nevertheless, this was a reply Travis was expecting though had hoped Roy would never enact. Just as Roy became within distance of actually stabbing him, Travis had activated his contingency plan; a Decamp spell. More than once did the former witch hunter hurl knives or try to stab at Travis when he least expected it; now that Travis was acquainted with Roy's maneuvers, responding to them was simple if planned properly.

The spell took effect immediately, thanks in part to the pre-flowing of mana in to his left hand. While nobody would notice it in the brief instance once fired, Travis' body would of quickly emanated a white glow, almost like a flash of artificial light. The spell itself was something he had picked up on while observing Raiya utilizing comparable spells and techniques. Given how uncommonly often he would be chased by cultists and hunters in the past, the ability to enhanced one's maneuverability became a necessity to him. Following Travis' mental instructions and desires, his entire form shifted several feet away from Roy, denying the hunter his kill though for only a few delayed seconds if he tried to continue his attack. Now with a fair amount of distance between him and Roy, Travis wasted no time and discharged all three of his runes at point-blank range.

His two lightning spells would have taken no time at all to strike Roy given the space between him and the source runes, soon followed up by Travis' backdraft rune a split second later.

Raiya followed behind Nemo, but she kept a bit of an awkward distance between them. She was still thinking about the feeling she felt from the mana she took from Nemo. Raiya thought about saying something, bringing up what she felt, but she ended up deciding against that. Every time her mind wandered to that abyssal feeling she felt from Nemo's energy, a shiver would run down her spine. She still had a flask of alcohol in her hand, she took a quick swig from it while she continued to follow behind Nemo. Nemo's spell certainly had worked, that was one boon from this experience. Raiya could feel all of the energy she had absorbed, the little bit she had over-absorbed had quickly faded away, which was good, Raiya didn't want to have to feel that void energy at the top of her mana pool.

Nemo had reached the hatch to the deck and opened it up, allowing a flow of cool air to rush into the doorway, clearing Raiya's mind for a moment. Let's just finish this mission and get back to the headquarters, Raiya thought to herself.

Roy was hit by Travis' attacks, his last ditch had failed him. He never thought the untalent would be able to use a magical dash maneuver. The first lightning strike had knocked him unconscious, but the second had finished him off. The strikes coupled with the draft blew him across the deck of the ship until he heavily collided with a metal shipping container. Afterwards he slid back down to the floor and slumped over, dead.

---

Nemo stepped back out to the deck and looked around to get his bearings. Not far off he saw the rest of the group, with Roy's body laying on the floor. He walked over to them and got a better look at the body. "See." Nemo said, looking up to Zoey. "I knew he wouldn't be too much trouble for you three." He finished.

Nemo rested his thumbs in his pant pockets before continuing. "With Decker gone that only leaves... one left of Seidon's crew. Lori Mizzen, the sni-" Before Nemo could finish he cut himself short when he heard a loud bang of a gunshot ring out. Nemo quickly cocked his head to the side and outstretched his arm in the direction he heard the shot from, just in time to use his gloved palm to block and absorb a heavy blast of energy. "-per."

"I think it's time to take cover." Nemo announced before dashing away and rolling behind a metal container, narrowly dodging another speeding blast that hit the floor and tore up the sheet metal. Before he hid Nemo was able to get a better look at where the attacks were coming from. At the other end of the ship where the shield generator was he spotted the white glint of a scope perched on top of a high up outpost.

"Anyone have a plan?" Nemo asked from his cover. "Travis, you're the thinker right?"

Zuri walked over to Roy's corpse and spat blood onto it. "See you in the next life, you messed up bastard.." she said as she gazed down at his dead body before turning her attention towards Travis and Nemo. However everyone was rudely interrupted by a sniper bullet. She quickly takes cover behind one of the metal containers closest to her, in the same direction that Nemo was taking cover and waits to see if Travis has a better idea than Zuri just being reckless.

Raiya walked out to see the dead body of the enemy the three other members of her team had to encounter. "Good job," She said with a bit of a facetious undertone. Raiya did not have much of a ground to stand on when it came to her own encounter with the enemy, but she felt a bit irritated that the smell of ozone from a fresh spell being cast still hung in the air which meant they only just got done with their encounter. She felt like the three of them should have been able to take care of their enemy quickly. But it seemed like it took these guys as much time to get rid of their one encounter while Nemo and Raiya took care of four major magi on the ship.

Raiya would have said more about the issue, but the sniper fire stopped them from any further discussions. The first thing Raiya thought of when Nemo asked for suggestions was to split up on deck. "We should probably all scatter. The more grouped we are, the quicker she can fire. Everyone well versed in barrier spells should pick areas that are more open and uncovered, while those who are not good at casting barrier magic should hide under solid cover. We should keep moving towards the sniper's nest with each shot. Once we get close enough we will enter the sniper's blind spot, and it should be easy from there... This is all assuming the sniper doesn't have any movement spells, though." Raiya suggested.

Travis looked over his latest kill, which so happened to be Roy. The witch hunter's luck had apparently run out, all lost in a last-ditch to save his skin. Travis couldn't blame him however for committing to such a brash and futile decision. Had Roy surely given up, what was to say that his current crew wouldn't come after him? Then again, considering the pile of bodies that was beginning to form on the ship, that was perhaps the least of his worries. If he had given up, Travis may have had negotiated a forceful removal of his person from the assaulted vessel and decide his fate against the waves irritated by the looming storm. It probably would have been a better wager that rushing a prepared Scholar.

It was then Nemo and Raiya arrived back at the scene through it appeared Raiya had seen better days. Travis assumed they had encountered just-as-tough resistance but hesitated to ask her, especially her, nor Nemo to even bring up the subject despite his curiosity regarding the matter. Still it was pleasant to hear their congratulations, for what it was worth.

Just has Nemo announced the name last of Siedon's henchman, Lori, did Lori herself respond with a killing shot which was promptly stopped by Nemo. As it so happens, they removed one hunter from play minutes ago just to adopt another one. Great.

Travis scrambled in to cover as fast as he could, already feeling the dreaded circumstance of being stalked once more by a killer. This time however, it would be someone he couldn't see nor anticipate coming. He watched as another shot meant for Nemo crashed into the deck, tearing up the frame work in a small flashy bang; their assailant was definitely not using conventional means to attack them that was for sure. Nemo soon looked to everyone seeking any suggestions on how to deal with the new and now dire threat Lori has firmly exerted.

He had then directed the same inquiry to Travis in what the Untalent would describe as the poorest of words to do so.

"Oh, just because I come up with some cool and fancy ideas, doesn't automatically mean I have a solution for every problem that spontaneously pops up!" Travis protested, sounding surprisingly triggered after Nemo, perhaps unintentionally in the matter, implied he would already have a plan. Nemo wasn’t wrong, but then again, the reintroducing threat of death once more likely wasn't helping him.

Raiya dove into her suggestion immediately and offered the idea of dispersing into defensible positions and only advancing after each shot thrown against them. To him the plan was simple and would no doubt spread themselves out and supposedly made them harder to target. However, the proposal didn’t fully address if this Lori that was hunting them could whip out any more powerful shots that could make cover or barriers alike inadequate.

There was also the case of how many shots she could fire is succession. Travis figured the follow up shot taken at Nemo only occurred in mere seconds right after the other. Given Lori’s likely elevated position, it shouldn’t take her very long, seconds actually to pin someone down or kill them with corrected shots.

"Or any larger caliber shots. You did see how long that follow-up took right? Not very long,” Travis added, “I gotta ask too; who knows how to create and keep up a defensible barrier?”

“I’ll make my case simple. Remember that shade spell I used back in the catacombs? I could generate another one but on a larger scale,” he began, “Should be enough to temporarily kill the deck lights and allow us to move unseen. Manalysis will also will be ineffective too so that would keep her from tracking us.”

“Only problems though and the most obvious is that the spell can work against us too so I can imagine you can figure out how to address that. Plus the spell won’t last very long; a lot less in fact given the size.”

Nemo looked over to Travis. "If all of her shots are magic, then it's likely I could defend us against them with my absorption spell, even if they're designed to penetrate barriers." Nemo replied. Afterwards he spawned a rifle of his own from his inventory, a highly customized vintage bolt action sniper rifle. The most notable change that wasn't solely dedicated to gaudy looks that Nemo had made to the weapon was that the entire barrel had been integrated with a suppressor, increasing the size but not the length.

"It's possible I could try to take a shot at her then as well." Nemo said as he loaded a round in the chamber. "Going lights out wont be much of a problem for someone who can see in the dark." Nemo added as he slung the weapon around his shoulder by the sling. "Usually I'd just try to take out her nest with a spell, but I'd be out in the open for too long to get it off."

Before Nemo could say any more another shot whizzed out from across the ship, growing louder and louder until it collided with Travis' cover, taking a decent sized chunk out of it.

Zoey called down, "I can get the lights, if you can find where she's at. It'd be a simple trick to make her see nothing, much easier than cutting them all at once." She had relocated once again from where she was when Nemo showed up. "But I gotta know where she is. No guess work. And right now, all we got is guess work." She fires a slug off where she thinks the sniper's at and finds new cover.

Travis never had time to follow up on his suggestion after Nemo had offered his view of the situation. In that brief moment, the midsection of the shipping container that he had adopted as covered violently shuttered as a projectile of concentrated mana bore through it almost effortlessly. Luckily for Travis, the last shot had missed him but not by much. The mere force of the round not only ravaged the container but also managed to launch the Untalent a few feet ahead of him.

Almost shocked from the event, he scrambled to pick himself up though only to dive behind a nearby collection of storage containers and boxes. He was unharmed for the most part though Travis couldn't help but notice and feel the burning sensation across the right flank of his face and body where Lori's shot had nearly grazed. He then took note of the new hole in the deck, sized just about the volume of his waist. The outlining rim of the hole glow a bright red whereas the remains of his former piece of cover emitted fumes of melting metallic substance.

"This is really starting to get old." Travis commented, sounding almost unamused if not annoyed.

Raiya listened to the suggestions of everyone else in the team. and while it seemed the group had figured out a plan to blackout the deck to keep themselves hidden from the sniper's eye, it seemed it was easier said than done. They had a rough idea of how their plan was going to go about, however before Travis could complete his runic spell, a shot from the sniper blew apart his cover and almost winged him. Needless to say, things were not going well. Raiya had been fleshing out a long ranged lightning attribute spell, a small thin beam of plasma that could take foes out from a medium to long range, but she had not put enough effort into finishing it and the finished product of the spell was still a long way out. And unlike Nemo, Raiya did not carry with her a rifle of any kind. So the only thing she could do was try and get closer.

Raiya activated her speed enhancement spell and zipped in the direction toward the sniper, making it only about 30 feet before zipping to cover behind a series of small metal crates stacked up upon each other about 5 feet high 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. She crouched behind the crates waiting for the next shot to ring out.

The blast in Travis' cover and near death experience made Nemo think it would be better to to get this done as soon as possible. "I don't care which one of you takes out the lights, just get it done before there's nothing left to hide behind." He said, hearing the faint whistle of another blast approaching the group. Nemo used his warp to shift himself up to more cover just in time to escape his previous hiding spot before it was torn to shreds by the blast.

The short time he had to look in between cover he could make out by the glint that the sniper was still at her high up outpost.

Nemo brought up a valid notion. Now that taking cover was a less feasible option as Lori could apparently destroy it with ease, the needed to act quick and buy themselves more time advantages. Travis got back on his feet though carefully so lest he unintentionally raises awareness to himself. Raiya had apparently took advantage of the moment after Lori's shot hade barely missed him and quickly advanced across the ship and then back into cover. Given the accuracy of her last shot, Lori was keeping a close eye on them and making good guesswork on where exactly her victims were hiding.

For the moment, there were no follow up shots directed at him however whether she was actually planning her next shot or if she was scanning the deck was anyone's guess. At this point, Travis and perhaps everyone without a strong means of defense else were almost helpless if Lori had a good bead on them. Travis nevertheless decided to continue his efforts despite the feeling of another possible shot imminently whizzing towards him ever present.

Travis kept his back against a new storage container and crept across its vertical surface until he stopped at the edge of it where a open gap separated his chosen cover with another storage unit. If Lori was still gunning for him, he suspected she would keeping an eye on that gap. That said, Travis held his position for time being but not without at least being productive. Channeling mana into his left hand and generated an eerie green magical circle, similar in structure and arte form as his earlier possession spell. However instead of pointing the circle towards something else, he instead directed it towards his right eye. The circle glowed in intensity as small ghostly tendrils spawned forth and conjoined with this hazel centered orb. The coloration of his pupil and iris soon faded to white, systematically blinding his rightmost vision.

In a twist, he then carefully directed the circle towards the open space but ensured it was out of anyone's notice. Upon triggering the spell, a small transparent sphere of green began to grow from the tendrils of the circle itself. The process didn't take long to complete and soon his vision was complete again but not in the way it was before.

Closing his left eye, his rightmost vision saw the world in a much different way. As he perceived it, his surroundings were of a chromic inverse whose eternal material essence wisping away in some unknown wind. The inversion and negating of natural colors created a pure white landscape in where anything that casted actual light was instead shrouded glistening black. In Travis' perspective, the dark looming storm clouds now lit up the sky and the areas of the deck where the deck lights shined had dimmed. However unusual this perception was, it did server a purpose. Travis could now perceive the flow of mana and where it had been carried. The spell he had conjured was very similar akin to a manalysis spell but functioned in a more extended manner.

Through this new sight, Travis could literally see the vectors of each shot that were illuminated by the mana traces they had emitted. Turning his left hand just slightly his vision narrowed but now he could see the upper decks of the ship in closer detail as if he was already standing on the other side of the vessel. Making several more slight hand movement, he directed his literal ghost eye in track where each shot had come from. He eventually traced each shot vector back to what looked like a sort or observation nest or outpost and found the darkened profile of an individual residing within the outpost with a clear aura radiating off of them. It was likely Lori as all the shots traced back to his perceived signature.

Noting an occurrence through their fight with Roy, Travis pulled out his manadial and prepared a whispered message meant for the entire team though had meant it mainly for Zoey given her earlier offer, "I have as visual on our sniper. She's located opposite side of the ship, right from the bridge, second level of the command deck, positioned on a observation post...doesn't look like she's focusing on anyone of us yet, just searching at the moment."

Travis then paused for a moment and thought of this given situation. No one currently held an opportune moment to really do anything against Lori now that she was forcing everyone to keep their heads down just by making her threatening presence known. It seemed that the only way they were going to push their way forward would be to draw her attention just enough to apply enough momentum to tune the tables on her.

Travis then continued, "She hasn't noticed me yet...from where I am, I could quickly grab her attention and draw her fire but I wouldn't be able to keep tabs on her like I am right now, not for awhile. I'm already pushing my luck as is."

Zoey nods, Alright, here goes nothing. She reaches out with her magic until she finds the sniper, and casts an illusion around her eyes, effectively making her blind for as long as the illusion holds. It could be manipulated to make her see something like a bright flash and such, but for the moment it was just the worlds best blindfold. Zoey remains in cover and tells the other the sniper should be blind.

Raiya continued to advance forward as everyone was putting their plans into motion. As she continued to zip at a relatively high speed she recieved word from Travis where the sniper was located so she changed her direction. Running at full speed towards the sniper nest she knew she would be there in an instant. However, as she reached the steps heading upwarss to the lookout post she wasn't paying attention and stepped on a runic trap that activatedd the moment her foot came into contact with it. In an instant she went from moving extremely fast to instantly halted. The rune she had triggered was a stasis rune that completely and instantly immobilizes anything it comes into contact with. Since she was unable to move ahe was also unable to call out for help. Raiya then decided to build up a large charge of mana in her body and instantly discharge it outwards creating a large blast of electricity that could be seen by the group to alert them that she was in trouble.

Lori suddenly felt like somebody had turned off all the lights, she knew she had been blinded. But after hastily applying powder to her face that looked just like the anti-magic powder Roy had used early, she found her vision had returned for good. She quickly looked back down her scope, still seeing nobody out in the open. The hindrance had caused her to miss Raiya falling in her trap however, until the electric charge went off.

Knowing that Raiya had fallen in the stasis rune, Lori considered what to do next. She decided instead of trying to finish her off, she'd wait and see if any of the other intruders would make any erratic moves to try to save her, putting them out in the open for an easy shot. After all, Raiya wasn't going anywhere soon.

---

The charge had alerted Nemo, and after he peaked his head out for a quick look he was able to discern what had happened. Once Travis finished his status update, Nemo brought his own manadial up to his lips and whispered back. "Try to draw her fire and it should distract her long enough for me to get a shot off. Don't worry, I'll only need one." Nemo un-slung his rifle from his back and waited for Travis to make a move. Raiya's predicament meant they were no longer able to take it slow.

"It better count," Travis replied back to Nemo, sounding almost hesitant and uncertain but committed the to the task at hand.

With a sigh, he withdrew his left hand back and quickly curled his fingers fist, crushing the design of the circle and thus cancelling out his spell. In moments, color and sight soon returned to his right eye though he blinked repeatedly to wear off the negative perception he still retained. If it weren't for its usefulness, Travis would have reconsidered dabbing into the darker arte; the spell itself presented an experience he struggled with appreciating. Quite simply, it made him uneasy tapping into a vision of a mirroring realm that perceives his reality in much different light.

Recomposing himself, Travis prepared his distraction and focused on the mana pooling into his right hand. While his runes were efficient in consuming the minimal of his reserves, they still demanded quite a bit of focus in generating, especially if there was a large number of them. For his next act, he was going to cast as many of his own lightning and backdraft spells from different intervals as he could just long enough to drawn Lori's attention to him. He knew where the summon them but the matter at hand was doing so without being spotted; a risk he didn't fancy making.

"Well, here goes nothing," he said with his head resting against the container, eyes closed before drawing a big breath and shooting off from his position and quickly leaned around the container and began casting.

Travis inserted each of his runes ahead of him, half exposed within the cover he had chosen to establish them in. His gamble was tricking Lori in directing her attention to what looked like a number of intruders attempting to engage her. Given the range and conditions, Travis was almost certain that his ploy wouldn't pose too much of a threat unless he got lucky with one of the spells.

After inserting his runes, had released a slight pulse of mana out, triggering each of the runes nearest to him to go off. Travis then broke cover and ran forward, causing each new rune to go off until he dove for the nearest container. The runes that were now active, while aimed at Lori, fired off without hardly any concentration back up their efficiently. Bursts of fire would have dispersed before even charging the outpost while streaks of lighting attempting to lash out either fell short or whizzed past harmlessly toward any attracing conductors.

Travis' distraction garnered Lori's attention, she quickly adjusted his rifle to spot him. She figured that he was making a final move to try to save his trapped comrade, just as she had anticipated. However just before she could fire her runic musket, Travis' runes began to discharge. While they didn't hit her from her outpost, the bright lightning disorienting her scope, throwing off her aim on Travis. She fired nonetheless, sending another heavy explosive round down range at him as he made his way towards his next cover.

---

As soon as Nemo heard the first sound of Travis making his move, he took a deep breath and popped out from his cover with his rifle shouldered. Moments later he fired off his own shot roughly at the same time Lori executed her own, though the sound of Nemo's was significantly dampened by the suppressor.

The distance between Nemo and Lori made seeing or hearing the results of his attack nearly impossible, except for the abrupt absence of the glint of her scope. However to Raiya, she would be able to hear the sudden break and crack of glass after the whizzing of the single bullet. Nemo didn't miss, his bullet had traveled the full way before piercing straight through Lori's rifle-scope, the only thing Nemo could see from his position.

Nemo immediately began to walk towards the outpost, using the bolt of his rifle to cycle another round in. Even without any real confirmation on his hit he seemed confident there wouldn't be any more attacks on the group. The silent stroll allowed Nemo to notice the storm had been picking up even more, causing the ship to rock in every direction from the tides. The rain and wind began to increase as well, making it harder to see. But by his guess, they still hadn't reached the threshold that would bring them to the paragon yet.

Soon enough Nemo reached the outpost, finding Raiya in her suspended state. "Looks like you're in a bit of a sticky situation, huh?." Nemo commented as he walked up and used his gloved hand to touch the magically effected area, causing the spell to gradually dissipate in a wave until Raiya was freed. "Just because I said I'd protect you doesn't mean you should be so reckless." He added before he began a trek up the outpost stairs to check for the body.

Raiya let out a grunt of irritation at Nemo's pun. After he released the rune, Raiya fell down, exhausted from being essentially paralyzed. Raiya knew Nemo was right about her acting reckless. In fact, this entire mission was just her messing up time and time again and it was starting to weigh her down. "Damnit..." She cursed under her breath as she picked herself up off the ground and brushed herself off. Instead of dwelling on her mistakes she decided to just force herself forward, she'd have all the time in the world to pick herself apart after they got the paragon and returned. She followed Nemo up the stairs as he began to walk towards the outpost. She also made sure to keep her eyes especially peeled for any more traps, her most recent encounter with runes kept her on edge as they walked forward.

"What happened?" She asked curiously as they walked towards the outpost, "Did you guys take the sniper out?" She said as she conjoured her pistol in her right hand.

Shit... Shit. Shit!

Despite it being an arguably decently ploy, Travis' distraction, in the way he perceived or in how he was now experiencing it was now a very risky and conceptually dumb maneuver in getting a killer's attention. His subconscious was yelling at him, telling the Untalent that running out in the open was a stupid idea and worthy of being shot for it, regardless if he had runes "covering" him. Every second that elapsed was moment he was hoping this dangerous plan would work.

Sure enough, his performance did work though in Travis' shoes, he would have wished it didn't do some degree. Lori clearly saw him approaching and fired. While jumping into cover and paying no attention to anything else rather than his well-being, Travis could feel a sensation of extreme heat and mana whizzing right over him just as he quite literally hit the deck. The Untalent laid on the floor frozen and uncertain of his fate but soon realized he was still breathing and well for the most part. With a irritable sigh, turned and flopped to his back and looked at the dark skies. For the moment, he was thankful for being alive and cheating death yet again but soon looked further up to notice the large glowing hole in cargo container he had leapt behind. He face grew pale while he swept a hand through his hair, finding the tips of the top of his hairs were practically scorched.

"I hate today," he moaned.

He eventually got up on to his feet once he saw Nemo was walking and without a bullet already in his head given how far he had walked. Their plan clearly had worked and Nemo's counter-shot had stopped Lori though to what end they didn't know. Sensing his reserves were low again, Travis once more topped off his mana well with a mana crystal. As he became more bolder with using his more advance spells, his need for addition mana grew as his reserves dwindled. Given his circumstance as an Untalent, he was sure no one would berate him for needing to recharge but what he was more worried about using up all his crystals he had brought with him. While there was still enough to complete the mission, he had already used a few more than what he had predicted was needed. He concluded that his supposed over-usage was likely because of his offensive stance he was now taking and the dangers of this mission that demanded more mana but ultimately, it was more so his choices in how he conducted his efforts.

While he appreciated his role as a Scholar and what it meant, dangers included, it was one of those very few moments where he wished he was a Talent, that and having a more tactical mindset like some of his other teammates.

As Nemo and a now recovered Raiya were making their way upstairs to determine Lori's fate, Travis approached the bridge while channeling mana as a precaution but remained on the main deck. He figured that if there was a chance Lori was still alive, there as a possibility she would not want to be in the same spot Nemo and Raiya were now approaching. Given the position of the outpost, he concluded only a few spots Lori would retreat to and Travis wanted to position himself where he could reasonably respond if Lori were to make a break for it.

Given their currently quite moment, Travis decided to check up on everyone he didn't have eyes on, "Zuri? Zoey? How are you guys holding up?" he said into his manadial, again on the same channel for everyone on the team to hear.

Zoey teleported in beside him stretching, "I'm fine. I'm not sure she ever actually saw me. However, I felt my spell go out, so I think she was in cahoots with hypocritical magihunter retiree back there. I'm concerned about you though. You almost took some heat, and I've been watching you blow through your crystals. While it's of interest to me that, despite almost being shot, and constantly running near low, you aren't a mess, I would like to feel comfortable knowing your situated. Hand me a few of the empties you've got. I'm going to refill them in the moonlight for a bit. It will probably feel strange when you tap them, but consider them emergencies, yeah?" She holds out her hand expectantly, offering a small smile. She looked a little tired herself, what with all the magic that had been flying. But the moon was slowly coming up, and she knew that meant a fair bit of renewal in itself.