Akyna looks over at the others, seeing what they are doing. She begins to think again. Akyna then crosses an unpleasant thought which causes her to think about a memory, it was back when she first figured out she could use magic. It was her practicing the Attack Wolf against a training dummy. She tried to cast the spell several times, failing. She eventually got fed up and casted it with anger, causing the wolf to appear and rip the training dummy apart. Into many pieces, that caused her to back up and feel fear. She then stops thinking about it, both of her hands twitching in fear and her hands balled up into fists. Sweat running down her forehead. Before anyone can ask she mutters

"I'm fine."

She then rubs her forehead. Trying to clear her mind.

"Hehe, giving me the most important role... alright! You can count on me to get the job done. As long as you two can make a half decent distraction it should be easy." Alma said pointing at the two people that she'd be relying on as she bounced around excitedly her hair flicking about. One of those two however, seemed a little distracted.

"Hey you feeling alright?" she asked Akyna with a slight frown. "We gotta be on our A-game if we're gonna beat Judith's team, she probably cheated and brought gear for her team so it'll be tough, but we can definitely win!" She said cheerily, pacing back and forth as she explained her plan for success. If Judith really had done that it technically wouldn't be cheating but it'd certainly make things more difficult, just the kind of thing a government person would do.

"What I'm going to do is swap places with whoever is closest to the flag when we get to it and then you two take em out, bam bam! Then I grab the flag, swap back and run it back to home! Sound good?" Alma was clearly excited about the event and roaring to go. She could use magic as much as she wanted; given she didn't wreck the forest too much, which shouldn't be too much of a problem. Luckily one of her spells was almost perfectly suited for this sort of thing so it should be easy pickings. Capture the flag in Florida at a resort? Definitely one of the better afternoon events.

After 'suiting up' as one would, Lukas joined the others at the described locale, donned in his priestly robes and worshipping mask. Judith explained the plan and gave the others some useful equipment. While this was going on, Lukas was doing a little groundskeeping, incinerating all the grass to the same level and gathering up the ash, as well as breaking off a few branches. If he was to annoy the enemy team he wanted a couple of projectiles, and a shield like Finn's.

After assembling a few marble-esque projectiles and a buckler, he stood still and focused, gathering up mana and molding it into wings and pulling it all to his back. Finally, a pair of black feathered wings sprouted from the small of his back. Now he was ready. Lukas said, before charging head first towards the enemy base. He'd stick low to the ground at first so the enemy wouldn't see him before he saw them. It was hard to distract someone who you couldn't see, after all.

"I will see you all on the other side, friends."

"I heard that," Judith muttered to herself in response to Allison's words, before positioning herself on top of the hill with the Paintball Sniper Rifle. As Lukas formed wings to fly, Judith lay on her belly, crawling a few inches forward to present a low profile. She would then observe Alla as she positioned herself on defense. Judith knew the woman's powers, but part of the test was to see if she truly knew how to use them. Pressing the trigger of the paint gun, Judith shot a ball of coloring at...Alma, noticing that she presented a great threat due to her spells, one of which was similar to Allison's. The versatility of the woman's power set would be challenged this day.

And yes, Judith knew that she was the closest to the flag right now, which would mean letting Alma near was a 'lose' condition. Thankfully, she now remembered something, and the agent turned to Finn, saying: "Your water manipulation; how fine a control do you have over it? And yes, I can get you water to manipulate."

Judith then lifted her left hand, and made a small, circular motion, causing a portal to the swimming pool to open just at the bottom of the hill, and water to gush out of the door in space and time. Enough to make a layer of mist with, it seems? She then realized that Lukas' vision would be obstructed if Finn went with making Mist or Mist Servants, something the agent felt the boy needed practice with for the Necromateion...

@Senhara@Kafka Komedy@MagnetBolt@jdh97@Dead Cruiser@Scarifar

Akyna knows that Alma is the main person. She casts her Defense Shield to protect her. Surely someone would try to strike her first. Akyna tries to stay out of vision of the opposing team. Readying for another spell. She casts it. It appears next to Alison, bumping into her leg gently before running off, it's the Attack Wolf. Surely she won't be attacking anyone, why did she cast it? The Attack Wolf nearly topples Alison. She had practiced magic for a while, it's a talent to learn. Like playing the Violin. It would help her here.

"Get em. Steal anything they have for offense."

She says quietly. The construct of Mana races off. She then sees the paintball shot and moves the shield to block it. She isn't strong physically, but makes it up with eyesight and mental things. She then relays the new info to the Attack Wolf. After the paintball shot is blocked she dissipates the shield to focus on her magic wolf. It attempts to sneak up on Judith and snatch the paintball gun out of her hands. If it succeeds, the wolf will try to run away with it. If not it'll keep wrestling until it's despelled by something.

Finn stood uncomfortably among the others on his team, visibly sweltering. He swatted at various insects harassing him, whispering threats to them as Judith barked orders at the team, himself included. Looking up at her, he nodded halfheartedly to acknowledge what she was saying, and though he was taken slightly off guard, caught the shield she tossed him. He idly wondered what she really expected him to do with it; he wasn't really strong enough to stand up to a magical attack, even with a shield.

Finn prepared to scry upon the enemy team's plans. Lowering his arms to his sides, his eyelids fluttered and his head lolled about his shoulders as he entered a prophetic trance. This lasted only a moment until the luminescence of his eyes sparked like the green pulse of a setting sun, his eyes shooting open and his mouth agape as vision flooded his mind. Chalice, blade, and pentacle, wand aloft.

He returned from his vision just as quickly as he entered it, the brilliance of his eyes returning to their normal levels. "They plan to misdirect us," he said calmly, as though he was merely relaying information he had heard or read. "Stand firm, play defensively. Don't give them openings to exploit." When asked about the extent of his control over water, he merely said, "I get by."

As he was given access to a relatively large pool of water to work with, the first thing Finn did was to disperse as much of it as he could until a fine mist covered most of the clearing where their flag was kept. The rest of the water persisted as a shallow pool that settled overtop of the muddy earth rather than be absorbed into it. Finn took off his shoes and set them atop a tree stump, relishing the cool water and the relief from the heat it brought him.

Alison screamed as the wolf ran past her, the construct hitting her legs and tipping her over. She froze in midair and steadied herself before releasing her spell, avoiding tripping only because of her magic, rather than any physical fitness.

"Maybe these woods aren't as safe as I thought." She muttered. "Maybe..."

Alison huddled down beside a tree, trying to hide. All she had to do was stay out of sight for a few minutes. As long as no one investigated her little scream it would be fine. Just fine.

In the meantime, she had something else to occupy herself. She looked around to make sure no one was watching and pulled out a worn paperback book, one of the dozen or so books she'd brought on the trip with her. She settled down and started to read.

Lukas went headfirst towards the enemy and though he had already sprouted his wings he kept on the ground floor and moved from tree to tree as he approached. Thus it was only natural he would run into the enemy group of three that was coming towards them. The enemy team was split up, so as they should be able to beat this force by sheer numbers and then do the same to the defense. Simple as that. The mist in the area did not bother him, it simply meant he would be able to get close and surprise his opponents. He crept forward step by step until he saw a form in the mist and leapt forward, propelled further by his wings, to strike his target in the chest with a flying kick. Normally he would have shot a flurry of flames, but this was just a game after all, so they shouldn't do anything too dangerous. Plus it would mess up the mist.



Alma flinched as a shot rang out and a burst of color appeared on the mana shield next to her. "Thanks Akyna, let's keep going!" She said cheerily as she summoned her own defense, her Gentle Blade. The construct hovered just behind her, hidden from those in front of Alma by her body. Mist began to pour out from somewhere, probably where the enemy flag was. Alma took a few steps forward with her teammates and paused long enough to pick up a few medium sized rocks to put in her pockets, for later use. Given this mist... She had a new plan. Of course there wasn't time to communicate this because a dark shape came flying out of the mist at her. Alma reacted instantly by casting Turnabout and swapping places with it, upon the spell's completion she immediately began sprinting forward towards the enemy flag. If she could just get a hold of the flag this would be over in no time at all. Of course Lukas skidded to a halt behind her, now between her two teammates who had the advantage of numbers and to a lesser degree, initiative.

Henryk

Henryk was also surprised by the gunshot from further ahead and was gratefuly that Akyna's shield had blocked it, though he didn't verbalize this, partly because he was annoyed he had allowed such an attack on his sister to get so far in the first place. Regardless as Alma did, he prepared for combat by manifesting his four mana arms via Asura's Disciple and moved through the mist, this time much closer to Alma to protect from any further attacks. Of course she ended up not needing it, instead sending somebody at them and running off ahead. It was clear they were to deal with this threat but he still wished she hadn't run ahead like that. Regardless he immediately set to attacking Lukas with a barrage of punches from both his magic arms and his own.

Alia

With the game plan set, Alia made her way back to the flag, eager to get the show on the road. Ok, let's set up some defenses, Alia thought as she began to work. Power wall! Extending her arms to her sides, Alia conjured a semi-transparent dome of mana around herself and the flag. As she looked around, however, Alia was not yet satisfied, and wondered if it would be enough. Magic would not get through easily, but the same could not be said for people. With that in mind, Alia decided to reinforce the defenses, picturing in her mind the two spells needed.

Combo Cast: Earth Barrier! Alia thought. With a rising hands motion, she lifted the ground, creating a small circular wall slightly above waist high around herself and the flag, keeping the radius of the wall well within the boundary of the mana dome. She stumbled a bit from the resulting aftershock, but managed to keep her footing. Giving the rock wall a small push, Alia nodded in satisfaction as she felt how solid the wall was. All she had to do now was wait for the attackers to come. Alia figured she would be ready for whatever they had to throw at her. Probably.

The wolf was not intecepted, and Judith's Paintball Sniper Rifle was knocked out of her hands, causing her to let off a quick but muffled curse word within the mist. But now was not the time to lose the initiative; especially not when a blur - Alma? - was rushing towards her!

"Finn! Summon Mist servants! Now!" she shouted as she took two Paint Pistols and began shooting at the direction of the blur as it entered the flag area. She did so with only mental calculations and the mundane ability to track the sound of footsteps. She heard, or seemed to hear, the paint pellets hitting a mobile wall; Henryk was helping his sister, it seemed.

As Alma drew closer, Judith played her last card, in the last few seconds before Alma reached the flag, she opened a portal right in front of the charging woman, a portal that would transport her and her brother to the other side of the playing area. At least, if they were moving at a high velocity.

@Senhara@MagnetBolt@jdh97@Dead Cruiser@Scarifar

Akyna then relays info to the Wolf, focusing all her energy on it. Tuning out all nearby sounds, focusing on the Wolf. It then charges to where the flag should be. It then attempts to take the flag in it's mouth and runs off with it. Making a beeline to the forested area. Running like the wind. If it gets away it tries to round the long way to Akyna.

Meanwhile Akyna has her eyes closed, her body twitching due to the micromanagement of what the Wolf is doing. Her mind controlling it. She wants to win. It would be shameful to not show her skills early.

Judith is probably going to have a lot of questions later about where Alison went. For now, though, Alison can distract herself with a book instead of worrying about that. It's a riveting thriller about a killer virus from space and frantic efforts to stop it, though the main character is betrayed by communist agents!

She's so into the story that someone is probably going to have to come and get her.

Finn sighed as Judith continued to bark orders at him, "So pushy."

The luminescence of his eyes became cool blue in coloration as he willed life into the mist that covered the copse of trees. Enemy combatants in the mist suddenly found themselves being seized by phantoms in the mist, or the air itself solidifying around them to freeze them in place. Even striking out against the unseen forces would only be a temporary defense, as they were still completely covered in the living mist. As long as they were this close, there would be no escape for them, as they were quite literally in Finn's element.

Alma's Gentle Blade moved fluidly, blocking the projectiles that came flying from the mist towards her and leaving paint residue on the 'blade'. Alma was focused as she got closer to the flag, but when it came into sight her movement suddenly felt restricted by the very air around her. It felt like invisible arms were trying to latch onto her. She frowned and began two actions at once, her Gentle Blade slashing the air around her, while she cast A To B to attach the flag's gravity to herself. It popped out of its holder and began flying towards her while Alma forced her way forward with the help of her blade, pushing forward and reaching out a hand to grab the flag- right in to the portal Judith had opened sending her back to her own starting area.



Lukas was surprised by the sudden shift in his position, which was only compounded by the fact that he was immediately pounced upon by Henryk. The flurry of blows both magical and physical cause him to raise his wings in defense, taking the brunt of the blows on them as he retreated, finally breaking the striking distance by jumping backwards propelled by a sudden beat of his wings, luckily managing to avoid hitting any trees. He didn't think he could really fight Henryk like this, a brawler like him had the advantage in non-lethal fights, so it was best to... RUN! Lukas leapt into the air and flew above the mist to glance over the field. Unfortunately he didn't have much ability to see given just how mist there was, so he just decided that he would start heading to the enemy flag, at least he guessed the earth dome was encompassing the flag.

Henryk

Henryk was prepared to activate more magic to increase the pace, but Lukas suddenly retreated and vanished. He still probably would have been able to chase if not for the fact that he suddenly found himself unable to move normally. Even his magic arms felt restricted and a bit of experimentation gave the sensation that the air itself was holding him back, as it moved in response to him. Unlike Alma he didn't have much ability to escape the mist and was forced to stay in it while the effects increased. He could probably break free with Heat Rush but it would be rather draining and there was no pressure at the moment, so he decided to stay next to Akyna and make sure she didn't get taken out by another member of the enemy team while she was concentrating on something else.

Judith cursed as she saw the Attack Wolf grab the flag, and drew out a saber from her dimensional pocket, chopping off the construct's head and turning said construct back into Raw Mana. Let's just say that it was not getting away. That said, Akyna would get the magical energy she had spent back once the construct was destroyed; she shouldn't worry about that.

Glancing back at the flag, Judith would then see Alma grabbing it with a spell, before throwing herself into the portal meant to put her back into square one. A brief flash of pride as she knew that loss or not, her team's defeat was fair and that's all that mattered. Grabbing her phone just as Alma (presumably) got the flag, Judith would call the other team to say:

"Congratulations, you won. Celebratory snacks have been prepared back at the hotel; sorry for preventing you from socializing earlier. We might also have a new member, Logan Adley; he's an Underworld Mage."

@Senhara@MagnetBolt@Dead Cruiser@Scarifar@Ceta de Cloyes

The group assembled and was lead back to the resort and given the chance to change before coming down into the lobby for a small meal. However the group would notice that several members were absent, those being Alma, Lukas, Henryk, and Akyna. They were free to socialize, enjoy the food like watermelon slices, hotdogs, chips, soda, and the like. There were plenty of open seats and inside was thankfully much cooler than outside for those of the party more sensitive to heat.

It actually took a while to find Alison. She was so busy reading she didn't notice people calling out to her. She sits glumly in one of the chairs, her book having been confiscated. She still isn't sure how much trouble she's in. Absently she takes a cold drink and just holds it quietly, at a loss for what to do since she can't escape into a book.