---

Spooky's flaming eyes shrunk in annoyance after hearing this man call him a "fine specimen". He still didn't like the situation, but his story made some sense and it didn't seem like he had any bad intentions for either of them. Offering the bottle that helped his friend deal with the smell that he definitely couldn't sense, was a kind offering. Making the crowd of Undead was kind as well. Still what does he have to gain for all this. A chance to just observe Spooky?

As the man lead them to the tower, Spooky felt at home at first. The sights making him more of home than the feeling of eeriness he would assume most would feel. He could also feel the force that repelled the wandering Undead. He felt a overwhelming presence of danger the wards placed for the undead. Spooky knew better that it was just the Wards doing their job, but it only made him feel more cautious of this man. With the invite to stay, it pushed him to finally speak.

In his harsh, guttural voice, Spooky addressed the man. Not allowing his friend's question to be answered first. "You first tell us you seen many undead being created. By whom?". Spooky brought his blade to bear. Slamming it's massive figure besides the Man, the Sword's hilt standing just over Ikebode's head. Showing he was deadly serious about the questions. "Furthermore... What purpose does any of this serve? Why would anyone risk their life to conduct research about the Undead, besides if to destroy them? Especially one who has already seen how they are created..."

The sound of the blade seemed to catch some of the local Undead's attention. Adding a little more to the stressful nature Ikebode was probably feeling.

Yasha was still circling around poor Gilfrey, who by now was probably incredibly irritated with her, until something quite... interesting happened. The screen in front of the man showed the exact moment when a scream erupted amongst the crowd.

"Commander! Above you!" A female voice said, obviously referring to Senna, who was watching the entire scene from the roof nearby.

Quickly moving the screen back near her, Yasha did a quick and brief movement, zooming the image on the scene. The owner of the voice was another soldier, and her face had quite the expression of fear, which made quite obvious that she wasn't dumb enough to believe on that 'dragonblessed' thing, or confound Senna as one of them.

"Demon...! The commander growled. That was very worrisome... She didn't know Senna very much, and that was exactly what preoccupied her. She was unpredictable, and dangerous. The twisted smile on her face, and her hands breaking the roof with unnatural strength were enough to predict her reaction.

But things went from bad to worse even before Yasha could go there to calm her down when the soldier woman shot a crossbow bolt directly towards Senna.

"Hey, you... Get out of here right now. Run as fast as you can. Try to warn everyone, get them out of here... Things will get very chaotic..." Yasha said to Gilfrey, before flying upwards again, standing above the clouds. Instead of only one screen, there were now multiple magical screens surrounding her, showing every kind of information possible.

Her face went serious when she saw the blood on the ground, and Senna's sword impaling the 'commander', mocking him as her sword seemingly absorbed all the blood on the man's body. Leaving behind only a shriveled, dry corpse. Zooming again on Senna, she took a better look at her sword, noticing a very peculiar thing when she removed it from the man's body. It wasn't a sword anymore, but a huge, vicious lookin halberd. The blood somehow coagulated around the blade, forming that frightening weapon.

The woman's death was even more gruesome and cruel than the previous victim. After a terribly fast attack, Senna said something about a curse and briefly after that, blood started coming out from every orifice in the woman's body, as she writhed in agony with her veins popping and her blood gushing out of her body in a crimson spectacle.

That was simply mindless slaughter... Cruel, gruesome deaths... And to make things worse, she seemed to be completely out of control, having fun while slaughtering innocent civilians... Yasha could understand if she killed the woman, after all it was simple self defense. But she had no reason to slaughter everyone like that... If she was still the woman she was before entering the game, she would be shocked and call the police, but she was not that woman anymore... She had an oath to follow...

"Thou who hath tarnisheth your hands with innocent blood, thy soul hath been marketh... Thy transgressions shall not go unpunished.
By the power of the Dark Sun, I shall hunteth the enemies of the Lords. Thy soul, body and sins shall be pierceth and purified by the light of the Dark Moon." Yasha said in a prayer, with her rifle on her hands, aiming it to Senna. She had began casting the Living Magic Artillery Shell. It was an incredibly powerful spell... Collateral damage, maybe even some innocent lives, were not out of the question, but to slay someone as powerful as Senna, it was probably the only thing that would be able to put her down quickly enough...

But before she could even complete the casting, something in her old self made her hesitate, preventing her from immediately pulling the trigger. Was that decision right? Just killing her? She was obviously not herself... Maybe it had something to do with the demon nature... Some type of trance, maybe? Senna deserved a second chance, even if she came to regret that decision later. She was previously a human. Just like all the magic thing was different to Yasha, being a demon will be quite a shocking transition... right?

"This should be enough to at least warn her..." Yasha said to herself, shooting a regular shot out of her rifle, in a silvery white streak of mana infused with holy energy. The beam pierced the clouds opening a hole on them, exposing Yasha's figure and hitting the ground near Senna, but not hitting her.
Yasha didn't noticed where Selena had ran off to, since the screen was zoomed in Senna, when she was inspecting her weapon. She could only hope the girl was fine... She didn't knew if Selena was capable of actual combat...

"Please... do not prove me wrong when I decided to give you another chance... I don't want to kill someone that is in the same situation I am right now..." Yasha said to herself, flying away behind another cloud after shooting.
Due to the nature of her weapon and magics, it was simply impossible to hide her position after one shot, so to make up for that weakness, she used her fly magic to quickly maneuver, concealing her position before giving another shot. It was just out of precaution. Even if Senna was using a melee weapon, she didn't knew if she was capable of ranged attacks...

Entering a conflict right now was the last thing Yasha needed. Her hope of finding information on that town was simply ruined. It was even possible that somehow, both Selena and her could get a bad reputation only by being nearby Senna, and by the fact that they were indeed travelling together... Something needed to be done... Quickly. Yasha expected that Senna still had enough humanity on her mind to stop after her warning shot...

@Rune_Alchemist @Hammerman @BurningDaisies

Spurred by duty or pride to pursue the beastmen marauders making a beeline for Woodstop, the 'fairer' half of the party plunges into the woods, unaware of what they might find



The sight of Kallahar replacing her helmet upon her head, even before she spoke a word, told Lenore that she meant business. Having come to her conclusion, the Death Knight gave her reply, and without so much as a word of acknowledgment from her ally wheeled her horse around to speed off into the trees. With no choice but to grip her staff tightly and follow, Lenore hurried after her. The excitement of a potential battle served as ample distraction from her lingering distress, so she rushed as fast as her fleshy dress would allow.

Just as the men of the group found out not so long ago, the woods grew inordinately thick at a startling rate. The sheer density of the forest forced Kallahar to reign in her steed, for the absence of any clear path meant that one could only navigate the way with care. Turning back and forth to get between the trees her horse was obliged to plod, slowly so as to not snag a hoof on some hidden root or twist an ankle in a leaf-covered pothole. Though the occasional flash of movement could be glimpsed through the trees, neither Kallahar nor Lenore were able to make out any foxmen with full confidence. Nevertheless they continued their pursuit, until a sudden light appeared amid the trunks just a short ways ahead.

Lenore's eyes widened beneath her cowl. She knew that light, vibrating like an overclocked engine with violent yellows and oranges, and if Kallahar harbored much experience with conventional magic, she would as well. The chaotic mote, placed too close to be avoided in this claustrophobic overgrowth of a forest, detonated the next instant.

It didn't explode with the proliferation of a molotov cocktail, but rather like a growing sphere of flame, blinding in its brightness. With tangible force it blew apart the tree trunks in its way, and true fires sparked to life in its wake. Like an oncoming wall it sped toward Kallahar and Lenore, inescapable, and marvelous in its destructive splendor.

"Aah!"

The blast mote's heat washed over them like a light breeze.

"...Oh." After the initial surprise wore off, and she pat herself down to make sure she wasn't burning, the shoggoth could see as the flash began to die down a figure moving toward them through the flames. Fearless and with her kukri in hand, the female fox made for a menacing silhouette as she strolled just inches away from the roaring flames. Behind her, though not sharing her absolute confidence, was a squadron of foxmen with various weapons.

“Thou wert a fool to follow us after we sparedeth thy lives,” the vixen growled, raising her curved blade. “Yet still I am not unkind, for I shall grant thee a swift--!”

Shock spread across her vulpine face as her vision restored enough to see that not only were the victims of her ambush still standing, but they seemed hardly worse for wear. “W-what dissemblery is this!?”

Lenore blinked, still a little confused. Wait. It makes sense if they're a lower 'level' than us. Plus we're both pretty tanky builds. A smidgen of cockiness began to tickle her, and for a moment she wondered if she might be able to have a little fun with the situation, before she realized that Kallahar's version of fun probably meant turning the foxes into desiccated corpses. Even if the beastmen had been the ones to attack, the last thing she wanted was to massacre them in brutal fashion, particularly if they couldn't actually hurt her. By now, however, it was too late to stop her ally from taking vengeance.

"Death take it!"

As the trees grew close enough to impede her progress she swore and brought the undead steed to a halt. Kallahar dismounted and gave an eerie, distorted whistle that prompted the mount to plunge beneath the ground. This wouldn't do at all. At this rate they would never catch up in time.

"Profane Aura, Etherfloat."

She rose a hands-breadth above the forest floor, high enough to be above any obstacles.

At the first flash of sorcery she stopped short, spinning to take cover behind a tree. A heartbeat after the flames passed she stepped out, one hand reaching out towards the enemies. Thinner parts of her armour may have retained a faint glow from the heat of the magecraft but that to quickly faded.

"The mercy was mine. Had I the intention I would have slain you and every one of your kin. But I stayed my hand on a rare whim."

The pointed gauntlet glowed with a dim light that nevertheless hurt to look at. After a moment it faded.

"Dispel Profane Aura."

Kallahar drifted to the ground and took a two handed grip on her sword.

"I give you a choice now. Face me in single combat and your kin that you have brought with you may flee to their homes. Or you can all attack at once and very likely all share the same fate. You, their leader, decides."

@Lugubrious

@13org@Thecrash20


As they had made their way to the tower the beast girl seemed to have warmed up to the strange man but the skeletal warrior was not so quick to trust him. The bright girl, especially in comparison to everything around her, was curious about how the Katze Plains came to be, to which Ikebode was more than happy to explain however before he could start any lectures, the giant skeleton decided to interrupt.

In his harsh, guttural voice, Spooky addressed the man. Not allowing his friend's question to be answered first. "You first tell us you seen many undead being created. By whom?". Spooky brought his blade to bear. Slamming it's massive figure besides the Man, the Sword's hilt standing just over Ikebode's head. Showing he was deadly serious about the questions. "Furthermore... What purpose does any of this serve? Why would anyone risk their life to conduct research about the Undead, besides if to destroy them? Especially one who has already seen how they are created..."

The sound of the blade seemed to catch some of the local Undead's attention. Adding a little more to the stressful nature Ikebode was probably feeling.

Having a giant blade slammed into the ground next to you was certain more than a little disconcerting making the somewhat expressionless man flinch a little. Still the man was able to remain relatively clam despite the stares several of the local undead sent their way in response to the sudden noise.

"From the young lady's question, I can tell that you are foreigners to this land. The Katze Plains are a well-known breeding ground for Undead as many years in the past this land was the battleground of many famous battles and wars. In fact, the norther parts of the plains are still used yearly in wars between the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire. The land is so filled with death that naturally Undead rise up in this land from the ground, corpses, and seemingly from thin air even at times. While dangerous, the plains also make a great source of resources and battle training for adventurers."

Ikebode coughed a little as he decided to cut the explanation short to get to the real questions asked by the giant.

"As for whom, while on occasion necromancers try out their hand in these lands, in general undead just come into being from the amount of death in the air. The general rule is that the more undead there are in an area, the more will naturally rise up. The more that naturally spawn will then give rise to more powerful undead will then in turn give rise to more undead which will help in the creation of stronger ones. The cycle is unending but, quite often adventurers make expeditions to reduce the number of undead to make sure there are never enough dense concentrations to give rise to extremely powerful undead. I have heard the rumor that a Death Knight was once created on these very plains but I have yet to see such an event with my own eyes. So forgive me for saying so, but meeting an Undead with such intelligence and power such as yourself is quite the event! Do you perhaps naturally occur over hundreds of years or were the result of some arcane ritual? I have heard of powerful mages becoming Liches but an undead warrior like yourself is quite the anamoly. If I could learn of your origin I am sure it would help my own understanding of exactly how powerful undead such as yourself are created."

Ikebode almost sounded hopeful but the sword next to him was still quite an alarming thing to be next too.

"In any event, I am sure you both wish for shelter so let me show you inside."

There was no door to the tower, as it had rotted long ago, but there was a ragged cloth draped over the entrance which could be shoved to the side to allow entrance and keep prying eyes out. Inside the tower it was not exactly clean, but one could tell the man did at least try to wipe down the rickety furniture and get rid of anything rotting or unclean. The inside had quite a few research notes, journals, bottles of various substances ranging from liquids to undead insects and rare materials. Quite a few old artifacts from the ruins had been collected and all around on the stone walls were wards and charms to keep the undead away so they would not bother the occupants inside.

"It's not well suited for guests I know, but better than traveling all night under constant attack."

@Rune_Alchemist@Spanner@GrafRoy Zeppeli@BurningDaisies

Vander felt no need to say anything as they all marched into town. He kept an eye on every single one of the residents of the town as they stared at them. As far as he was concerned if any of them made a bad move there would be hell to pay. He could see nothing of note as they made their way to the adventurer's guild. Everything was as Rath had told them.

They entered the guild building untouched. He imagined it was because they were such a strange crew of elves. They residents of Whiteside probably did not know what to do with them either. At least no one got it in their heads to attack the party. The building itself was definitely not very comfortable, however anything was better than that cold outside. Vander was used to all types of environments, but arctic and tundra were definitely his least favorite.

He recognized one of the people in the hall as the butler of one of the players of YGGDRASIL. He could not recall the name as he never gave NPCs too much attention. The player though, he was certain was Senna.

"Correct me if I am wrong," Vander scanned the butler with a certain gaze. "Could you be Senna's butler? What are you doing out here?"

This whole transitioning into other worlds thing was seriously jarring.

---

"Oh, yeah." The man turned on his heel, redirecting himself to the counter and speaking to the man behind it. "Guess I haven't paid for the time I've been here. How much do I owe you, old man?"

"110 Kriel payable in stamped silver or gold coin. We don't exchange foreign currency here, so don't bother." Bertram never once looked up from his ledger and continue scrawling notes, numbers, and names into its margins. His voice was gruff, deep and sounded as if someone had raked gravel across his throat. "The guild may accept deferrals of debt provided you have a sealed letter from a reputable sponsor; however, be warned, if your sponsor does not pay, you will be the one with the bounty on your head, not your sponsor."
Once his handwriting reached the bottom of the page, he used a piece of twine to mark the page, and closed it gently. Bertram eyed Vyrmain casually, determining his actual worth, but his lips pressed tight and was ultimately unimpressed. "So 110 Kriel then?" He said at last, implying Vyrmain obviously had no wealthy sponsor to pay his dues.

---

"Aha, a bit of both, I think." She replied warmly, a sharp contrast to Vyrmain. "Simply put, we aren't...exactly from around here, and have been traveling for quite some time and do need a place to lodge."
...
"As for the adventurer's lodge...we ran into a man on our way in who told us of some problems you may be having with some troublesome Fey. We might be able to help with that."

Mahon's bushy brows knitted together in surprise. "Oh? You must have met with Rath..." He cleared his throat before continuing. "The official listing hasn't been posted yet, but yes we are looking for folks to help subjugate the evil spirits and Fey along the mountain trails."
He looked over his shoulder at one of the haggard-faced men nursing a tankard of ale. "Was it last week or the week before?" Mahon's voice boomed.
"Both" the man replied in between sips.
"There you have it." The giant said indifferently. "Two deaths in an as many weeks. At this rate, we won't have a town left in a few months." He laughed dryly, but his smile was grim and held not an ounce of happiness.
"We haven't officially posted anything yet, but the reward has already been approved by the main branch. In fact, if you'll take the mission, we can offer you lodging free of charge. However..." Mahon's eyes flashed between each of the newcomers in turn. "None of you have adventurer plates. If you're adventurer's, why have you not registered with the Guild? The mission is only open to Silver rank Adventurer's or higher. We can't have a bunch of new recruits run out there and get themselves killed."

---

Lethe's silence was a stark contrast to her usual exuberance. She was awestruck by Lord Kalduk's sudden declaration. Behind the vacant look in her eyes, her mind was racing.

"We exist only to serve the Lords of the Tesarion... How can our worth be infinite, sacred even? I had prepared myself to die for him, yet..." Her chest tightened. A potent mix of relief, disappointment, and hope rampaged through like a sweet poison. She didn't know how to react, paralyzed by her own feelings.

She desperately wanted to prove herself useful to Lord Kalduk, and the others no doubt shared in her thinking. It was strange to think that a Lord of Tesarion didn't require blood sacrifices to maintain power and protect the people. But if Lord Kalduk was so powerful that he merely required their belief, she could not refute it. Who would reject the words of a god?

As the faithful reorganized into a small caravan and prepared to leave, Lethe pulled an ornately carved horn from her belt and brought it to her lips. The horn's clarion call bellowed through ruins and echo strangely as if from a great distance. The intense sound shook the air. The fog twisted and swirled until a thick layer of mist parted and condense into an enormous archway. Beyond it, the hazy vision of lantern-lit tunnel appeared.

Lethe turned to Lord Kalduk, and held out the horn. "As you'll recall, this was made from the horn of Lord Thrain, the Red Martyr. It still holds some of his power even now, and its bearer is invested with the responsibility to lead the faithful." Her voice carried an unwavering conviction. "It is rightfully yours, Lord Kalduk. Please take it."

~Senna~

@Hammerman@13org@BurningDaisies

---

Whatever words were said by anyone to try and stop the rampaging demon was drowned in a sea of screams from the civilians.

As she finished off the knight who fired a crossbow at her, she moved quickly to the next group, stopping not even for a second. She leaped towards them in a manner befitting a wild animal more than a human. The blood drenched halberd swinging a wide arc in front of her, cutting through the unarmored people easily as their cries and yells were cut short. The black armored woman landed on all fours, not even stopping movement for a second as she leaped again, using her momentum to carry her forward, kicking off the ground as her free hand supported her in a hand-stand like fashion before pushing off with powerful, inhuman muscles as she launched herself into the air.

The blood blade writhed, shifting its image from a halberd to a large two handed sword mid jump - increasing its weight, but lowering its mass just slightly. The momentum of her jump carried her right over the heads of the fleeing civilians, and the blade landed right on top of them. Her feet hit the shoulders of a man first, sending him to the ground as the heavy blade slammed into the ground, an explosion of red followed as a mist of blood droplets coated the people's clothes, the force of the blast nearly knocking some people off their feet and causing them to stumble.

The only noise that could be heard from Senna by now was clearly disturbed laughter.

She moved quickly onto the next group without wasting another second. As if she was caught in some macabre dance, she continued without rest. The heavy blade was lifted easily in one hand, easily dashing towards a fleeing man and cutting into the flesh, letting the blood boil do its job. She moved onto the next swiftly, quick foot work causing her to spin and catch another poor soul by the neck as a curtain of red flowed from the blade. She crushed his neck in an instant, before tossing the lifeless body towards the other fleeing people, the weight of the body knocking them off balance and easily hunted.

Their only saving grace, was Yasha. The shot from Yasha was the only thing seemingly able to stop her, even momentarily from her rampage...but the results weren't good. The demon stopped, for only just a moment to look for the source of the attack, easily determining where it had come from. Despite the blood-addled state, it seemed Senna was far from lacking intelligence or sapience. Blood dripped off of her armor as she turned her gaze towards the heavens - she didn't know where she was up there, but she knew she was there. There was only one person in this world that they had met that showed that amount of power.

"YAAAASHAAAA!" It sounded more a feral growl than anything - but it at least showed Senna was in there, somewhere, buried under all of that bloodlust. Perhaps if someone could simply knock her out or subdue her, it would calm her? Though, that was easier said than done. The demon only gave the other player a moment to react before she stomped the ground in annoyance at not being able to reach the flying target, but that only served to further agitate the demon. "IF YOU'RE GOING TO ATTACK, DON'T HALF ASS IT, HAHA! AND WHAT ABOUT YOU, SELENA?! PLAYING BIG SISTER AGAIN?! COME OUT AND FIGHT OR I'LL TURN THIS PLACE INTO A GHOST TOWN!" The maniacal laughter that followed nullified any thoughts of sanity.

For now though, she ignored it. She needed more. She leaped onto the roof of a nearby building - easily catching the fleeing civilians. She landed behind them before leaping into the air and twirling, creating a trail of red around her as the blade writhed. She pulled the blade over her shoulder, slamming it into the ground hard enough to crack earth as she cleaved a person clean in half before continuing the bloody work.

How many was that now? Ten? Twenty? Thirty? The count didn't matter.

She just.

Needed more.

So the dance continued.


@drewccapp@Spanner@BurningDaisies@GrafRoy Zeppeli

---

Two dead? Lena frowned, narrowing her eyes in disappointment and running a hand over the silver choker around her neck. It was unfortunate - she hadn't been here for that, but it still made her feel for them. He went on to explain more about the job and how they had posted one recently. Then there was the issue that Rath had mentioned. She could understand the rankings and why they would be hesitant to send someone who wasn't ranked on a potentially dangerous mission. However - Lena was confident in her abilities.

"I see." She replied softly as she continued in a sincere tone. "You have my sympathies for the deaths, for what it's worth." Lena paused for a moment, thinking of the best way to go about this. She didn't like lying. Saying they lost them or some other equally ridiculous reason would be sure to raise suspicion. Unlike Cain or Vander she wasn't good at the whole lying thing in the first place. Even if one of them was doing the talking, she was 100% confident in her inability to lie with a straight face. Even so, she had to come up with a suitable answer that was at least believable, even if it made them seem somewhat suspicious.

"I understand your concerns, Mahon. It would be foolish for an unskilled party to deal with something like this. Fey are dangerous and fickle creatures even when they're your allies. However, all I can say in our defense is that we are from extremely far away - a place where this guild of yours does not exist and we have only recently became aware of it. I realize that is likely an unsatisfactory answer, but it is the best I can tell you. If there is a way I can at least perhaps give you a display of my skill, then I would be happy to provide." Lena cast a glance over to Tania and Vander who were conversing with someone that seemed a bit familiar, though she couldn't quite place the face or name. "However, I can not sit idly by why this place is plagued by dangerous creatures. Whether I am part of the guild or not - Tania and I will deal with these Fey."

The fairy in question had currently become aware of Vyrmain's presence. The pixie bolted over the moment Vander had said something about him, pointing at him accusingly.

"Gah! It's you! Grumpy McDragon lava butt! Why're you here!? Shouldn't you be getting beat by Sen you masochist?!" Considering how many times Sen and Tania had worked together in the actual game, it was no surprise she was easily able to recognize Vyrmain.

@Rune_Alchemist@Spanner@GrafRoy Zeppeli@BurningDaisies

Vander frowned. Of course they would have some system to keep track of rankings of adventurers. Of course there would be some sort of obstacle to overcome in regards to quest acquisition. Lena made a good point overall though. Dangerous beasts and foes would still have to be overcome regardless. He saw no point in lying though as they were not members of the guild.

"You have your rules," he stated neutrally. "I understand. We... are not from this part of the world. Where we're from has different rules as far as adventurers go and a different system to keep track." He glanced around the building. "You don't seem to be with much for options at the moment, and I'm certain you'll find us at a much higher level than simply silver." He grinned finding the thought more than amusing. "Have you any system to test our talents here? I don't expect you to take us on faith, and I'm more than happy to put my money where my mouth is."

He found himself more than eager to get into a combat scenario. Anything to compare his skills to anything of this world. He instinctively felt himself fall into a semi-combative posture. An excited gleam in his eyes.

December was taken about at the strangely competent servant following Danielle around. His depth of knowledge about women's clothing was more than a little disturbing. Nevertheless, she tried assisting Danielle where she could, but her manservant seemed to enjoy monopolizing his master's time and quietly ushered December aside on more than one occasion so he could work.

Feeling somewhat annoyed, she began browsing for her own change of clothes. The fashion sense in Brightwing was starkly different than anything she knew of in her old life, and simply browsing the store held her attention for a long time. The myriad of dresses, corsets, bangles, circlets, and other pieces left her overwhelmed. After searching at length, she finally settled on a ornate, silver-white strip of silk. Equal parts shawl and jacket, which draped from her like a loose robe and was trimmed with a deep sapphire blue. A regal violet and warm blue wrapping lashed around her waist and tied into a bow; its wide ribbon tails streamed down to her knees.
"...against the white skirts it almost looks like the Vanaheim Sorceress robes from the first expansion." She permitted herself a small smile.

She thanked the merchant, and followed her friends to the Magician's Guild.

The building itself was covered in intricate decorations, but December was more distracted by the overpowering smell of arcane magic that pervaded the air. The faint scent of burnt sugar grew bolder and more oppressive as they approached the guild; even if she hadn't known where it was before, she could smell it ten blocks away.

Even if the current patrons inside the guild were more preoccupied with boring didactic lectures and the nuances of magical pedagogy than casting spells, she could still sense their latent power as well. "I don't like this place already." she muttered under her breath.

"I don't suppose anyone has one of those translation devices from the game do they?"

"I do..." December said quiet as a whisper. Her eyes were wistful as she recalled a distant memory of teaching a newly-born Akena how to read arcane script. Homunculi grew quickly, and little Akena's appetite for gourmet foods and arcane knowledge was limitless. Shaking her head, December broke through the tide of old memories and regained her composure. "I can read it." She added finally. "I bought the ability a long time ago to help a friend."

She glanced at the cherry wood sign above. "'Knowledge is the eye of desire and can become the pilot of the soul.'" Her eyes shifted to the small print listed below it. "Magician's Guild... Brightwing Main Branch."

"We're in the right place at least. The library they maintain here could help us find out what happened."

What was happening down there was... terrible and gruesome... Senna, lost in her own bloodlust, was simply slaughtering civilians without any regard. From where Yasha was, and because she was using the target acquiring spell, she had a privileged view of the bloodbath. Every movement Senna made, Yasha could see clearly... Moving like a blood drenched beast, she cut through innocent bystanders without any difficulty or remorse, the noise of her halberd cutting and tearing flesh only accompanied by screams of agony, fear and her unsettling laughter. She couldn't help but feel deeply disturbed by that sight...

Even when Senna called her name, even the brief hint that showed that the true Senna was still there, somewhere inside that raging demon, her scream sounded much more like a feral growl than other thing... Yasha didn't know what she should do next. Was that really correct? Senna was obviously in a state where she clearly wasn't herself. She couldn't control her actions. Even though... She had spilled innocent blood... Too much innocent blood already. Should Yasha eliminate her? After all, it was her duty as a Blade of the Darkmoon... Senna had sinned, that much was an undeniable truth. She had to pay for her sins, and the punishment for those sins, was usually death...

Many questions popped up on her head. Yasha wished she could have a bit of time to think about that moral conflict on her mind, but sadly, time wasn't something she had on abundance... Every second, Senna slaughtered even more innocent civilians... Something should be done quickly... She should make a decision right now.

"IF YOU'RE GOING TO ATTACK, DON'T HALF ASS IT, HAHA! AND WHAT ABOUT YOU, SELENA?! PLAYING BIG SISTER AGAIN?! COME OUT AND FIGHT OR I'LL TURN THIS PLACE INTO A GHOST TOWN!" Yasha heard Senna's screams, interrupting her thoughts and bringing her attention back to the current situation.

"I hope this works..." Yasha thought to herself, preparing her rifle. This time, it wasn't a single beam, but a fragmentation shell. She would fire a volley of 5 fragmentation shells, setting them to explode in an area above the general location where Senna was.
Yasha never faced a situation where she couldn't kill her target, so it was very tricky for her, since all her spells are pretty much lethal. Instead of tweaking her shots to be destructive, she instead opted for them to be disruptive. The fragmentation shells were imbued with holy energy, and upon exploding, they would create a very dense shower of thin, needle like beams of pure holy energy. It was a particularly cruel spell against creatures that were weak to the holy element. Not strong enough to kill, but the beams would be painful enough to make them wish for death. Originally, Yasha used that type of settings on her shells when she needed an disruptive, area denial spell. Maybe she could drive Senna away from the most populated areas with those shots...

"I'm sorry, Senna." She whispered as she fired down towards the city. It was indeed a terrifying sight... If anyone looked up, they would see the shells cutting the sky, leaving behind streaks of pure mana... But despite its terrifying appearance, pure holy energy should be completely harmless to normal humans, so she wasn't afraid of hitting innocent bystanders. Those looking at that scene though would probably think what would happen if Yasha had used other thing than holy energy...

"Senna! Stop this nonsense. I don't want to use lethal force against you." Yasha yelled to Senna, letting herself be seen behind the big holes her shots made on the clouds.
"You have drenched your hands with innocent blood. Look at yourself, are you proud of what you have become? Can you call yourself even human anymore? That is... if there is still some part of the human you used to be inside you..." Yasha yelled again, with a very serious and intimidating voice.
One thing that Yasha hoped Senna wouldn't realize, was that she couldn't use stronger attacks if she didn't want to cause collateral damage. If Yasha used anything stronger than the fragmentation shells she just used, it would be very probable that she would kill many innocent people, due to the sheer power of her attacks.

@Rune_Alchemist @Hammerman @BurningDaisies

---

Ikebode's answer to her question fascinated her. So the Katze Plains were always a battleground... It was understandable that it turned out to be what it is today... After so many years of being drenched with blood, bones and flesh. Maybe the plains became something like a traditional place for battles? That would explain why it was used so many times... Anyways, Nyna couldn't even imagine how it was before being a dead land. Aside from the ruins, there isn't many clues about the past on the dead, misty terrain of the Katze Plains.

Nyna wasn't able to hide her surprise when she saw Spooky's reaction to what Ikebode said, visibly flinching when he slammed his blade near Ikebode. Nyna herself didn't know how it was being an undead, but Ikebode was literally treating Spooky like he was an specimen of some sorts... That surely would be irritating, so she could understand a bit his reaction. She only didn't thought he would be so... fierce like that...
So the moment Ikebode started talking about how magnificent Spooky was, treating him like an specimen once more, she visibly started making signals for him to stop, although he didn't seem to have noticed her, instead being focused on Spooky's massive blade, which he had slammed just nearby the poor man.

"In any event, I am sure you both wish for shelter so let me show you inside." Ikebode said, after a while.

As Nyna followed him inside the tower, it became quite clear that he was indeed researching about the undead, just by the amount of research notes, vials, even some undead insects and other weird things on the shelves. The place wasn't that clean or luxurious, but it was way better than just sleeping outside with the undead...

"Mr. Ikebode... Don't you get... lonely being out here by yourself? I mean, I can see that you really love what you do by the way you talk, but even though... the Katze Plains are distant from... everything, right?" Nyna asked, looking around as she walked around the place, curious. Did he even get out of the plains to get food or something? How was he able to sleep without being afraid of being attacked? Especially if he was alone? Those and many more questions popped on her head as she looked at him, waiting for an answer.

"Oh! I just remembered one thing! Spooky, do you still need to sleep? I mean, now that you are an undead, I don't think you really need to eat, sleep and do other things like that, right? If that is the case, then it would really been much more easier for you to pass through the plains by yourself." Nyna said, without even realizing that she spoke way too much.

@Thecrash20 @IceHeart

Revenmar took the new idea in stride. It would be good to find the culprit and teach them a lesson about murder. He was however, slightly at a discomfort for leaving Emile's side but it was probably for the best. He knew his Lord would not like him fussing over his every step and following him to the ends of the earth and back. Sometimes, you just had to go your separate ways.

With little more to say or do, he stood up, clutching the small carving knife in hand. It was a pretty knife, one that he would keep. As a sort of token, maybe? It was nice to have trophies and things that you could show off. The little knife wasn't really a trophy but it was a start. He placed it away and put on his helmet, instantly feeling better. He asked which way to the mess hall and then they were off.

Not too long later they arrived at said Mess Hall. Little more then a building with some long tables in the center for sitting. He was eyed almost immediately. Some with looks of wonder, and others with a sense bewilderment and still others, with indifference.

He looked back at Effin.

"Where do we start?"

---

Selena watched as Yasha gave her warning shot to the rampaging demon. Unfortunately, it seemed to do nothing to dissuade her from stopping her horrible acts. And instead, it angered her even more.

"YAAAASHAAAA! IF YOU'RE GOING TO ATTACK, DON'T HALF ASS IT, HAHA! AND WHAT ABOUT YOU, SELENA?! PLAYING BIG SISTER AGAIN?! COME OUT AND FIGHT OR I'LL TURN THIS PLACE INTO A GHOST TOWN!"

Hearing this, Selena gulped with fear. She could feel sweat starting to form on her body. She really had no choice but to go all out against her.

She looked at Yasha who was flying on the sky. It seemed she was going to shoot her shells again.

This time however, she would have her aid.

She summoned back her transformed robes from before, wearing them over her current outfit. It was still a robe for sure but it added to her defensive capabilities on top of her enhanced villager outfit. She looked at Senna from the shadows. To deploy the maximum strength of a curse, you have to be able to aim it at the target itself. It would be even stronger if she could touch her, but that would be pretty much suicidal. So this had to do.

She began casting her curses from the unassuming alleyway behind Senna. She prioritized immobilitizing, paralyzing, sleep, and weaken curses, so that Senna wouldn't be able to dodge the barrage Yasha would unleash.

@13org@Rune_Alchemist

This was a magnificent Cathedral, grand in scale and in design, the influence of the dragons could be seen everywhere. One could say that this particular building and religion held the Dragonic Kingdom's true faith, the one semi-endorsed by the current government. It also helped that the current queen was a direct descendant of the founder of the capital, a dragon who would be connected by species to their esteemed deity. While perhaps the most lavish of the grand cathedrals there were also churches devoted to the Six Gods as well that were quite grand with beautiful stained glass and statues devoted to those gods, although lacking in the dragon motif department.

The followers of the Six Gods, whichever one they decided to follow, still has communion together readily enough and quite a few follows of those gods also paid homage to the Dragonfather. Still the rather loud worship the Dragonfather's followers sometimes had could get on others' nerves. One such person groaned a little at the chants coming from the Grand Cathedral, a priest serving at the nearby Six Gods temple.

His name was Yuan Trillow, a priest following Gaiaian Juniper, God of the Earth. As a priest under this particular god his garments were various shades of brown and tan, with gold accents here and there to show the abundance the Earth contained. Unlike many priest he sported no hat, he had brown hair, brown eyes, and a naive looking face. He also carried an ornately carved, wooden staff that was polished to perfection and fashioned from a light colored wood.

He was walking by, hearing the chanting when something extraordinary occurred. Lights, power, a divine aura, what madness was happening inside? Yuan quickly made his way inside and what he saw was breathtaking. Next to a very strong looking knight appeared the most beautiful elven woman he had ever seen. Yes, he had not seen many elves in his lifetime, but at even a glance he could tell she was amazing and not just her beauty. But what was such a being doing here? Everyone in the vicinity, even the ardent dragon followers were all gawking at what had just happened. Due to the puzzled expression of the leader of the congregation, she was not related to the Dragonfather.

Yuan wanted to say something but decided to keep his distance, this event was no doubt something that would need to be reported back to the Slane Theocracy. Depending on what would happen there was a chance one of the Scriptures would have to get involved in the area. Still he could not help but say a little something not exactly right for a priest to say. "By the gods...magnificent."

The priest of the Dragonfather's Cathedral was the next to speak, this directly at Lexus and Akena. "Who are you to appear so brazenly in the house of the Dragonfather? Though if you are here to offer your respects then you are of course welcome in his presence." The rest of the congregation looked back at the newcomers unsure of how to respond to the sudden course of events while Yuan spied on from outside.
@BurningDaisies@Stern Algorithm

In pursuit of answers or attackers, our heroes delve into their respective issues



Effin, happy to play the sage, was stroking his whiskers and preparing an enlightening reply when a lean, ratlike man in white attire came walking up. Recognizing him immediately, the axe fighter gave up his pondering with a shrug and just pointed toward the approaching newcomer. “Him.”

Hand clasped behind his back, the thin-faced man attempted to find Revanmar's eyes within the slit of his visor, before focusing on Effin. “Good day Effin, milord. Morderik Biupolt at your service.”

“Boss o' the mess hall,” Effin explained, giving Morderik a nod of acknowledgment. “This is Revanmar, a mercenary from afar, jus' come to join our sorry bunch.” He seemed to take a degree of pride in the knight's presence beside him. “We're on official business, as ye mighta gathered. It's a li'l sudden o' us, but might ye know anythin' 'bout this here knife?”

Once the knife was produced, the cookmaster scrutinized it through narrowed eyes. It didn't take him three seconds to reach a conclusion. “Carving knife, best for separating meat from gristle and bones. Got a handful of them around here. Why?”

Shaking his head, the axe fighter pressed him further. “Wanna find out whose it is. Any mo' details, cookie?”

Though clearly resentful of the nickname, Morderik took the blade into his hands to review it. After a moment being held up in the light, he said, “Dirty, based on the oil residue. Used recently. If you found it outside the mess haul, someone probably took it with 'em to deliver some food, then left it somewhere. Whoever it is should still be in the kitchen.”

Effin gave another nod. “Thank ye kindly.”

A few moments later, the trio stood in the mess haul's brick back room. To say it was cramped would be to make an understatement; it filled what little space it had with ovens, larders, and surfaces upon which ingredients were heaped. The present cooks, who numbered five, might have succeeded in ignoring the new entrants had Revanmar's armor not reflected the fires with such brilliance. Only one, a stocky bald man whose back was turned, did not immediately look at him. Two (a woman with short blonde hair and a gangly youth with his long brown hair tied back), having looked up, returned their attention to their work with great haste. The remaining three, which included two older men similar enough to be brothers and a middle-aged man with black eyes, took in the unusual sight before continuing.

“There are two more that aren't here at the moment,” commented Morderik. “Though one of them was here when I went out to greet you.”

While scanning the room Effin asked, “Who d'ye reckon mighta handled the knife?”

The cookmaster singled out the gray-haired, mustachio'd men. “Markris and Setheo typically clean and cook our meats.”

Sure enough, the countertop near the old men sported a small wooden knife rack, and three were missing. Effin leaned toward Revanmar and whispered, “What d'ye make o' the sichy-ation? Ye got the manner o' a clever man, maybe ye can figger it out. If one's the culprit, he's playin' it real cool with us just standin' here...”



Every fox present alerted his or her bright eyes from the despicable luster burning at Kallahar's fingertip, save the spellsword. She gritted her teeth and flattened her ears, the skin over her eyes bunched up from anguish, but she did not look away. By the time the death knight made her demands, however, the vixen's resolve had hardened once again. Lenore felt as though this enemy knew the impossible odds she was up against, but somehow found it within her to power through. Either she was very brave, or something was assisting her behind the scenes. Around her, the ambush brigade seemed to have physically shrunk, the beastmen lowering themselves whilst backing away with their bushy tails between their legs.

Kukri in hand and foaming a little at the mouth, the vixen stood alone. After a brief glance to either side to take not of her underlings' reluctance, she returned her yellow glare to Kallahar and growled, “Allow thee passage so that thou might splinter our force from the rear? Keh. Never shalt I betrayeth he who saved me from who I once was. I am not afraid to die for him.” She moved in a flash, not to the left or right, but both at once. A blue rippling energy rolled off her form as the vixen split into six identical copies in a semicircle, three on each side, each about a yard away from the next. As one, the readied their blades. “We art Rorryln the Gleam. Ready thyself.”

The impressive sight, coupled with the vixen's display of dedication and the hint of an interesting past, procured a nod from Lenore. “Alright.” She knew nothing of these beastmen, or why they attacked the humans, but it was clear that they were much more than ravenous beasts. The courage to persevere for the sake of what one believed in, regardless of the odds, was something Lenore had thought to be uniquely human. Maybe I could learn something from this Rorryln, she thought, I'll face her as a worthy opponent.

With that in mind, Lenore moved first. She lunged forward, striking with her free arm. With startling speed her arm changed form, morphing into a lance that extended straight toward the nearest clone. Those nearest to the target dodged away, but the target herself raised a hand to project a rippling magic shield. Lenore's lance pierced straight through the weak barrier and impaled Rorryln in the heart.

Is that it? Lenore wondered, scarcely able to keep track of what she herself was doing.

Her answer came when the clone detonated in a mighty burst of force energy. The shockwave smacked into Lenore like a freight train, causing no damage but sending her flying back to crash with a sickening crunch into a tree. A touch dazed but otherwise not much worse for wear, she stared at where the clone had been with a surprised expression. Her gaze quickly shifted to the remaining foxmen who, having witnessed their leader's conviction and what looked like a success with her clone trick, had rallied and charged forward to join the attack. Several ran her way to make sure she was finished off, and from her higher elevation Lenore could think of one possible, though disturbing, way to handle them.

Tentatively she willed what she'd hoped were legs to move. In an instant the fleshy tentacles beneath her dress lashed out and grabbed the two nearest foxes. After coiling around them, the tendrils embedded themselves deep into their victim's flesh, and a nasty reddish magic began to seem into them. Beneath their fur and sparse clothing, the beastmen's skin bubbled and churned, changing on the inside as well as on the outside. Matter visibly pumped down each tentacle and into the victims, swelling them as they mutated, until two hideous golems were all that remained. Lenore gaped, trembling, as the tentacles retracted themselves. She'd done the same thing in Yggdrasil, but seeing it in such detail inspired both nausea and regret. “Uh...sorry...I'm sorry,” she said as she winced, one eye closed. The golems stared at her blankly.

Meanwhile, the five remaining Rorrylns attacked Kallahar together. Some darted in for a melee strike, but others slashed the air to send out magical replicas of their kukris like boomerangs, each composed of cutting rather than concussive force magic. Two foxman archers also took aim from a same distance, peppering her with arrows.

Luckily for Vyrmain, a pair of nameless grunts tried to mug him.... it didn't end well for them.

Vyrmain dug his hand into his pocket, grabbing whatever change he still had in his person. He was still getting used to the new monetary system he had been introduced to and he had also been taught to spend in moderation.... in his own monetary system.

After buying the finest tea leaves in the land as well as all the hoard of clothes that he felt he needed for his long journey ahead. Some old habits died hard and he wanted his master to taste the tea of a distant land.

Therein lay the problem and his current currency came at a grand total of....

"30 Kriel.... I don't suppose you could make an exception, right old timer?" Vyrmain said with a bit of a smile, yet not one that didn't look as if he were about to lose it. There was a vein popping at his forehead, and the smile was very forced, and it showed.

It didn't help any that he felt an intense gaze glued to his back, making him turn, supporting both of his arms on the counter and then meeting eyes with whoever was staring at him.

"And you.... do I got something on my back? Is there a fucking monkey hanging around my back or something because the only thing I can feel is your fucking gaze glue to my back.... or maybe you wanna pay for me?" Vyrmain laughed a bit, before he became serious once more. "So, which is it, eh?!"

As always, Vyrmain was quick to lose his temper, and the temperature around him was definitely rising. However, extinguishing Vyrmain's anger, someone asked him of someone that he didn't really expect to hear of in the snowy village.

"Correct me if I am wrong, could you be Senna's butler? What are you doing out here?" An elf asked of him, but whoever he was was not important... rather, the fact that he had called out his master's name.

His attention instantly shifted to the elf as he put a hand over his chest, "Indeed, I am milady Senna's butler... I care not for who you are, elf piece of shit, but if you know milady then you must take me to her!" Yes, the way he talked was... less than ideal for asking a favor, but it was just the way he was 'programmed', not to mention excitement might have gotten a bit to his head.

Regardless, he finally had a lead, and he was happy for it, until someone had to ruin his mood, again.

"Gah! It's you! Grumpy McDragon lava butt! Why're you here!? Shouldn't you be getting beat by Sen you masochist?!" Another elf said, looking actually amused.

"Who the FUCK is a lava butt, huh?! How about I turn you into ashes, eh?!" Vyrmain stomped on the ground, leaving a burnt mark where his foot landed. The temperature of his body was quickly rising, and steam was starting to come off his body. The first one to realize this and take a deep breath was Vyrmain himself.

He had limited magical energy and if push came to shove, using magic to warm himself was also an option, but he needed to keep himself calm for that sort of situation, at least for the here and now.

With a heavy sigh, Vyrmain frowned, and then said, "Forget about it. I care not for what you call me... I am indeed Senna's butler, and I have been transported here for reasons unknown to me.... I need to go back to her. Do you know or don't know where milady is? It... hurts my pride to say this, but so long as you can get me to her then I'm willing to do whatever is in my power that you ask of me." Vyrmain said, sounding as serious as possible, yet still growling like a cornered breast.

@Rune_Alchemist @Spanner @drewccapp @BurningDaisies

"Fantastic speech. Really..." He said quickly. "Do you mind if I..." He pointed his chin at the mop and bucket. "I'll be right back. Just hold that thought."
Mahon shuffled awkwardly to the back room. The clatter of cleaning tools falling onto the floor and loud swearing could be heard beyond door followed by a few hurried thuds and more swearing.

Bertram winced slightly every time he heard the ruckus, belying his otherwise impassive glare, and drew in a long breath to calm himself.

Mahon appeared before the group again, wiping his hands on the back of his breeches. He spared a quizzical glance at the rowdy customer shouting angrily at two elves, and was about to speak when he saw Bertram, whose lips were pressed thin into an angry grimace.

Bertram had reached his limit. His intense gaze was directed at elves now. "You want to be adventurers right?" His nostrils flared as he tried sound professional.
"Since you all seem to know this ill-mannered whelp-" He gestured towards Vyrmain. "-I'll give you an opportunity. If you cover this man's bill, I'll consider it as your registration fee and waive the mission restrictions. You can be a member of the famed Adventurer's Guild right here and now as long you're willing to take your squabbling friends outside." His friendly enthusiasm sounded convincing, but his irritation was obvious and ruined the entire facade.

Mouth agape, Mahon looked astounded. He quickly did the math in head while counting on his fingers. "For that bargain, you could get a small cask of Taldan's Finest..." He muttered to himself. "That's-" Bertram shot a withering glare in his direction. Exchanging looks with his subordinate, he didn't speak as much as he simply made himself understood.

"Do we have an accord?" He said turning back to the elves.

---

Cain couldn't help but frown as the ever-so-attentive Vander not only recognized Vyrmain but actually exposed the fact that they knew Senna without a second thought - an uttely naive way of doing things that could only cause annoyance to Cain, who hated giving away information that easily, without taking any amusement out of the situation. No need to say that the dragonkin's act of confronting him, acting as he - a mere servant npc, a pet made for Senna's convenience - was equal to the devil himself.

"Preposterous." He announced while staring the dragonkin, his azure eyes glowing dangerously as he once more started losing his composure due to his newfound pride, going as far as letting his monstrous aura leak for a moment - not even enough for the less keen humans notice - before he managed to forcefully restrict himself, managing to maintain his facade as a proud elf instead of revealing his identity as a dangerously easy to provoke devil. "So what if I'm staring you, lizard? It's just natural to pay some attention to a stray pet whoose the owner you know. Who knows? I may even get a reward for taking you back to that savage woman." The devil chuckled, seemingly not even bothered by how the dragonkin's fury augmented the warmth of the room - after all, it wasn't like it could damage him in any way and some warmth was even welcomed after facing the extremely cold weather for so long, being, in fact, pleasant to the point where Cain actually felt like letting the lizard go away without receiving any form of punishment... For a second.

In the end he didn't even need to think that much, as before he could decide how exactly he wanted to punish the dragonkin the person who was seemingly responsible for the adventurer lodge offered quite the deal in exchange for taking the bothersome thing out of the lodge - something that Cain was more than glad to accept, as he was already eager to have a private talk with the lizard anyway. "Very well, I accept the deal." He said loudly, stopping just to convey a message to his companions before proceeding with his small play. "Lena, I assume that you're staying here assure that we get to receive our reward while I take our friend here to a walk, right? Do me a favor and take care of Vander too. He seems awfully disposed to openly talk about not so open matters today." He ordered in a clearly overly authoritary way, letting clear that he was merely maintaining his role in the act - except for the criticism towards Vander, that was most certainly genuine. He did feel annoyed by how the elf freely gave away some if the information they could use as bargaining chip, after all - as he lazily walked towards the entrance seemingly waiting for the dragonkin to spontaneously follow him - what wasn't quite right, as if the dragonkin followed him it would most likely be motivated by the fact that he was, in fact, telepathically contating the lizard through the message spell, conveying a simple demand: Be a good boy and follow me so I may give you some information about your beloved owner..

---

@GrafRoy Zeppeli@BurningDaisies@Rune_Alchemist@drewccapp

@GrafRoy Zeppeli @BurningDaisies @Rune_Alchemist @Spanner

Vander frowned at the sketchy deal that had just been struck. How in the hell were they going to pay if the currency they held was the incorrect kind? As far as covering for the butler that did not settle well with him. The lizard ought to be able to pay for himself. Especially with an attitude like that. He certainly wished this NPC remained silent, at least Lena was pleasant to be around.

He faced Cain with a slight glower. [b]"What in the hell does it matter? It's not like they actually care where we're from and it's certainly going to be made obvious anyways with how we act as we adjust to our new surroundings. We're going to have to earn our way up regardless I imagine despite anything I have to say for the matter, and if we don't have a way to prove our worth here then the only other way will be through missions. I said nothing that causes us any harm or disadvantage."

He had no interest in any intrigue and none of what he said put them at any real disadvantage. As far as the spirit of cooperation was concerned giving them that much information could only help them in the long run. He certainly felt Cain's haughtiness was more of a disadvantage to them than anything. Superior or not, those that assume they are better than others always get eaten by a bigger fish in the end.

At least the mission restriction had been waived. This would be a fair opportunity to prove themselves in spite of how leery he was of the sketchiness of the deal.

~Senna~

@Hammerman@13org@BurningDaisies

---

All the demon could see was the blood of her victims, and all she could hear were their cries.

A hole cleaved into a wall there. Caving in the roof of a place, burying the poor fools under it. Senna's path of destruction had carried her a fair ways from the initial starting point, a trail of blood, corpses, and ruined buildings marking the trail.

Even so, she was nowhere near done, it seemed.

The demon leaped from the ground, lunging and spinning through the air and cleaving through another poor soul or two as they fled - a few managing to get inside of a nearby building, only momentarily halting her rampage. Her feet hit the door of the building, impaling itself in the wooden door frame. Unfortunately for them, destroyed a wall was an easy enough matter - but she wouldn't be satisfied by something so trivial. She grabbed the wall with her free hand - powerful armored hands easily digging into the structure as she used it as a handhold to launch herself upwards. The bloody sword shifted, writhing again as it changed its appearance once more. The end of the large sword grew in mass, hardened spikes of blood jutting out from a heavy, bulbous protrusion as the weapon shifted into some sort of large spiked mace.

She flipped in the air, angling the large head of the weapon to smash into the roof of the two-story building, sending the weapon crashing down onto the ground below. The impact was enough to destroy the roof completely, shattering it in a matter of seconds. She flipped, slamming the weapon into the second story floor, before the destruction of it made her fall onto the first floor below, the impact of the bloody weapon sending a spray of red in all directions. The two who had fled inside, only had a moment to scream before Senna's weapon slammed into one, crushing them against the wall. She swiftly grabbed the other, tossing them out the door with force enough to throw it off its hinges. She lunged after the man, the blood mace crushing his skill instantly. For a second, it seemed like the demon was catching her breath, shoulders slumped and seemingly leaning on the obscene weapon. In reality though, she was listening - for more foes.

A series of explosions over head was enough to temporarily distract her. Yasha, again most likely. An explosion of holy energy - little more than a nuisance to her with the Amulet created a barrier of anti-magic energy. Ignore it, then - she had to find - her head shot up from where it was gazing at the corpse of her recent kill, a low growl coming from her throat as she felt Selena's debuffs hit her. Immobilization, first.

"Ah, so utterly pathetic." She laughed, pulling the mace from the corpse. Well, she wouldn't be immobilized so easily - nor did she really care. If anything, they were just annoyed her further and making her even angrier.

It seemed only one person in the vicinity had any amount of guts in the first place.

And he was half their age and sorely, sorely, out of his league.

"Oh...now, playing hero, are we?" She laughed darkly as she became aware of footsteps. Her voice was eerily calm for now, despite the rage filled shouting from earlier. Light, small footsteps, like those of the child they belonged too. It was the kid from earlier. In his hands was a familiar looking sword - the one that had belonged to that captain person. The child, whatever his name was currently staring her down, holding the blade with both hands in front of him. He clearly wasn't skilled with such a thing, but the sight amused the blood-addled demon regardless. "Take a look, Yasha, Selena!" She laughed, loudly yelling. "Instead of hiding behind your stupid gimmicks get out here and fight already!"

"Y-you killed Theo-!" The boy grit his teeth, grip tightening on the sword.

"Ah yes, that was his name, wasn't it?" She chuckled. "Tsk tsk, would he want you out here, I wonder? Amusing either way, but let me tell you.....this isn't a hero story, kiddo." The blood fell from her weapon, falling onto the ground and creating a puddle of liquid as it returned to its resting state. "But...heh, perhaps if you amuse me. I'll let you live so you can tell everyone else what happened here...."

There wasn't a second waste. Despite the immobilization, paralyzation, and sleep spells Senna either seemed relatively unaffected, or either ignored them and continued regardless. Even if they did have an effect of some sort - the sheer difference between her and the kid was too massive for any amount even luck to help. In a second, she was upon the kid, a twisted cruel grin displayed under her helmet. She slammed the blade downwards, the boy barely able to catch it with his own, but it did little good. Senna followed it up with a swift, powerful kick right to the kids side and sent him sprawling into the ground.

"Is that it?" She laughed. "Pathetic. Weak. So utterly boring. I wonder how much you'll give me." The boy managed to pull himself to his feet, and readied the blade again as Senna lunged at him once again.


@drewccapp@Spanner@BurningDaisies@GrafRoy Zeppeli

---

Lena frowned at the current state of affairs, turning her head to look towards Vyrmain, Cain, and Vander. The three...didn't seem like they were going to be getting along well. Tania likely wasn't going to be helping either, if her ears were correct and she had heard the name calling done towards Vyrmain. The elf sighed, wondering if she should intervene. It was possible things were going to get out of hand with the two of them, but injecting herself into the problem could simply cause an already volatile situation to worsen. At least Bertram was willing to hear them out despite the...three...or four idiots? Should she count Vander in that too?

...she hoped not because that'd make her the only sane person here and she wasn't sure she could handle that. At least he had a good, hard-working attitude.

"I...I apologize for my erm, comrades." Lena said to Betram, unable to hide a bit of embarrassment at their lack of common courtesy to the others in the area. At least they weren't commenting on her bosom again. "If that is acceptable to you then yes, we will take the deal." That said...they didn't exactly have money and they said they didn't accept foreign coins. That meant that the only way they were going to be able to actually pay for Vyrmain was....

"Tania, come here a second." The small elf looking person in question zipped over with a bright grin, being her usual energetic self.

"Need some cash, Lena?"

"Mhm. We are paying for Vyrmain's stay, as well as considering our entrance fee into their Adventure's guild. If you don't mind..."

"What's the magic worrrrd?~" She grinned brightly, causing the Elf to frown slightly, making a subtle motion with the arm holding the shield. She already felt bad about even considering this option but they didn't exactly have many options here. She'd have to find some way to repay them later.

"Okay okay, don't hit me in the face with the shield again!" Tania pouted, grumbling slightly as she took out exactly as much Kriel as Bertram needed. The coins of course - weren't real, and completely illusory. However, Bertram would need high level magic to in fact, be able to tell that. "Here ya go!" Tania gave Bertram a bright grin. "Need anything else, old man? Maybe a new back? Hows about an entirely new place here? This place could us more trees! A night here with Lena? She's a great coook I tells ya, among other things. Wink wink nudge nud-mmmpf!"

"That last suggestion was especially not necessary." Lena replied, glaring at the top of the small elves head. "I-I apologize for her as well." Lena shook her head. "I-Is there anything else, sir? If not, then I think perhaps we may get started on deciding what we should be doing about these fey."