Delsin looked up from his paperwork at the sound of his door being opened. He raised an eyebrow at Phoebe as she, in her ever brief manner, let him know she was done with her mission. He'd not expected her back in time for the trials given the distance to the job she'd chosen, but then again he wasn't exactly surprised to see her back so soon; completion speed did tend to be the defining characteristic of her jobs.

"Good to see you too, Phoebe, how nice of you to ask about my day! In regards to your question, the S-Class trials are already underway. I believe almost every team has left by now, though I think I saw the Harpy team that Kage joined still in town. Other than them, Vega's team might still be around, and would in any case be on the road to Darrelea; you'd be able to catch them if you wanted to join that team. Feel free to ask Angela out the front for any details and the like that you need to know; that might distract her for long enough for me to catch up on some of these infernal Mage Council documents. You can get her to organize the payout from your job at the same time I imagine."

---

Cyril was, as ever, and as expected, was both artful and flirtatious as he attempted to shed blame for his heinous crime. Taking slow and menacing paces forwards to emphasize her points, she maintained eye contact with Cyril as she spoke with an airy but almost threatening tone.

"Oh you poor dear, however would you have coped with the humiliation of having to drink through a straw? I recall the last time someone stole my food, they spent the rest of their day seeing their worst fears in just about every reflective surface around them, the [Mirrors of the Soul] can be such an unsettling thing to see in every shop window you pass..."

Reaching out, she took hold of her halberd that Cyril had planted in the ground and attempted to take it back from him.

"In any case, Alexandria has headed off to do some research on something, so we have a bit of time before we can leave the city. I would suggest that in order to avoid a terrible fate, you ever so swiftly fetch me a pair of sundaes while we walk back to the guild."

"And don't eat my food again unless you're cruising for an extended, no holds barred training session!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was a little over two hours later when the group was finally ready to leave. Mis had, as she always did, linked up the small hand-mirror which hung from her neck beneath her armor with a mirror which hung beside the bar in the Nest. That way if they ever needed to contact home, they had a quick and efficient way of doing so. She'd also grabbed a map, and was sitting and plotting their route to Robinsend as the last few members of their group arrived at their meeting place outside the guildhall. They could cross the river at a few places, and she'd had a look to see where their best campsites would be, so it shouldn't be a difficult trip. Looking up at the rest of the group as the last person arrived, she addressed them as a whole.

"Alright! I hope we're all ready to go, if you've forgotten anything, now's the time to remember!"

"We'll be on the road until sunset this evening, when we should reach Caverthorn stream. We can camp there for the evening and then follow it all the way to the river, where there is a ferry station that can get us across. After that we can head north to the main road and then follow that up to Robinsend. Any thoughts, complaints or otherwise? If not, let's get this show on the road!"

Interacting with:@Lord Sawsaw2@Sho Minazuki

Master Delsin came over as soon as Damian proposed they get a start on the mission, catching on to Damians last sentence. The guildmaster was quite pleased with Damians enthusiam in him, this had to be the most pride he took in the guy since he joined the guild.

"Meh..nothing really. There is just a reward that money can't buy for once"

the boy said putting his hands in his pockets once more. There seemed to be another person with Delsin, he seemed confident in his ability with a hint of arrogance, Damian peered over at Vega quickly. Like we don't already have plenty of that. When Delsin began taking pride on Vegas choice the boy had to turn his head to the side to stifle his laugh. It was sight to see Delsin acting like a proud father.

Damians laughter came to a halt when Delsin said their group was too small for the guild. Guess S class was no joke, Damian was pretty confident in his ability and with Vega they seemed tough to beat. He then offered the wizard who's name was Adrien as a solution to their problem. Unless everyone was going to die he knew that Vega wouldn't call for help, Damian decided to keep to take this responsibility up on his own if thats the case. He was prepared to lose some dignity if things got out of their league. Damian awaited for Vegas reply to Delsins terms.

The infamous man mumbled like a spoiled kid before agreeing to the 'contract' as well as adding some Vega charm to the end of it. Though the wizard infront of the two didn't sit and take the hit. Adrien jumped to his own defense as he began bickering with Vega. Soon the two were going back and forth in a screaming match forcing Damian to eventually butt in between the two of them. Normally he would just sitback but at this point someone was going to end up in the hospital, he would be without a team, and Luna Crescente would get destroyed.

He got inbetween the two, putting distance. He had a serious face on him, a sight neither of them had seen from the young lad. "Alright! Alright! You guys are too old to be bickering like spoiled brats. Lets just get going, the quicker we get to Darrelea the quicker you each are out of each others face!" he said raising his voice for the first time. He didn't want to be teamed up with them anymore then they did.

"Gather what you need and meet back here in a hour." Damian said before turning a corner and disappearing to prepare himself. Hopefully they would do the same and just leave. He kept walking towards the outskirts of the town to the point there were no more buildings. Once he reached the forest opening the boy merged with a tree and traveled through the intricate root system of the dense forest. The forest was ancient, he could tell by how deep the trees rots were embedded into the earth. After some time traveling, Damian landed himself infront of a large beautiful tree which towered all the other trees in the forest providing a nice view. At least that's what it looked like to other people but this was actually Damians home.

This is where he felt most comfortable, it reminded him a of his old home a bit. He kneeled down and brushed his hand against the moss growing at the bottom of the tree, a smirk appearing across his face. Damian always had some kind of connection with nature since the day he was born, it was etched in his DNA. Never comfortable if there wasn't a grassy breeze blowing in his direction. He merged with the tree before reappearing once more near the top of the 60 foot tree. There was a small hole in trunk which held the boys dearest belongings. He grabbed a map of Fiore as well as a couple more seeds that could come in handy. Damian rubbed soft moss etched into the tree, he felt as though he certaintly wouldn't be home for a while. Looking to the his right he could see a bird nest with momma birdy providing heat for who two eggs that would hatch any day now.

"Hopefully I wont miss their birth"

Damian placed his hand on the tree making the branches around the nest grow even more and provide an even tighter grip around the nest, just in case a nasty storm happens. "I'll see you guys soon"
Damian merged once more with the tree this time a little bit slower, first his legs vanihing into the bark, following his body, and lastly his head. The young man began making his way back to Luna Crescente to meet back up with Vega and Adrien at the town square.

---

After finding her way to her room, Ceri did what she usually did - locked the door to her room. Her room was one of the few places where she felt comfortable being, well, herself. She didn't have to always feel on edge or worried about something. First thing first though, she had to prepare for this mission. What exactly could she do to prepare? She hadn't a clue how she of all things would even fight a dragon. If it was a dragon. She had to remind herself that chances were, that it wasn't in fact a dragon.

Ceri sighed, pulling the hood of her robe down.

Still, the thought that she would have to possibly deal with a dragon terrified her. She walked into the room, pulling a book from her robe and sitting it on the bed as she walked over to a mirror, glancing briefly at her appearance. Oh wow, her hair was a mess. She took a few seconds to straighten it.

Oh right, preparations. She glanced over to where she kept her knife in her room, hesitantly picking it up. She had never used it before. She was terrified of the idea of fighting...she'd dislike actually having to get violent, but...if she had too...well, that's what she was trained for. Ceri picked up the knife, storing it in her robes. Well, there wasn't much she could do here. No sense in drawing it out. Wasn't like she could psyche herself up any more either. So she left her room and headed for the meeting place.

---

She was of course, one of the first ones there. She didn't have very much to prepare for after all. She had no clue what she'd need to prepare anyways, but it seemed Mis was on top of things as always. A map and a plan. Why hadn't she thought of that? It seemed so obvious that at least they should have a map and some sort of plan, but here she was not contributing anything. Well, with Mis in the lead things at least wouldn't get troublesome until they actually got there.

"N-none from me!" Ceri replied, fidgeting lightly.

A heavy sigh escaped Jack as he leaned against the bars table and wore a look of dissatisfaction. He light drummed his fingers on the wooden surface and stared towards the other side of the bar with an irritated glare. The bartender of the establishment, Horace, looked to Jack with a collected look while the patrons looked on with worry and fear at his growing aura of annoyance. Horace was a rather large man with darkened skin and it was safe to say he wasn't always a bartender thanks to the many mounted monster heads that lined his bar. They stayed within a moment of silence before he ceased his drumming and glanced to Horace who only kept his calm demeanor. "What do you mean it's 'gone'?" he asked with gritted teeth. The patrons readied themselves to leave while praying for Horace's safety. Horace on the other hand simply sighed and jabbed his thumb towards a large hole in the wall that led into a room that once did contain the bars alcoholic drinks. Now it only belonged to smashed kegs and splintered wood.

"Well ya see last night a certain moron got into a fight with another group of morons and nearly destroyed my place of business. Sadly one of the casualties was my keg room, or how you like to call it, 'the booze room', and now I'm without proper drinks until next month. Now I'm about to get payment back from the bastard who caused that damned hole in my wall and destroyed my product," he said as he balled a heavy looking fist that seemed to steam with his fury. Jack leaned forward on the table and stared at Horace with a frown.

"Yeah, you see that certain bastard?" he mumbled as his fist was covered in shadows.

"Yeah!" Horace growled as a vein pulsated from his head. Jack smirked as he closed his eyes and readied his fist.

"Good," he whispered before spinning around and glaring at the rest of the bar. "Alright, who destroyed my booze room!?" he shouted with anger and vengeance. As Jack readied himself for revenge Horace leaped over the bar and brought down his fist onto Jack skull and smashing his head into the wooden surface.

"YOU DID, MORON!!" Horace roared as he imprinted Jacks head into the bar table with an enraged look. As the smoke calmed down and the splinters finally stopped flying the room was found in a new found silence as the patrons watched Jacks limp body sit motionless within the bars table. Horace huffed and pulled himself back over the bar and crossed his arms as he glared at Jack. After a few moments Jacks head pops up, scaring and surprising a few people in the process and he looks to Horace with a bloody nose and a few splinters in his face. He stared at Horace with a deadpanned look before finally pointing to himself.

"Me?" he questioned as a trail of blood dripped from his nose.

"Yes!" everyone, including Horace, shouted in the building. Jack thought before a moment before snapping out of his deadpanned look and replacing it with a embarrassed smile before chuckling and rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh yeah, I did didn't I? My bad," he apologized. Horace readied another fist filled with steaming anger, but in the end he sighed and shook his head.

"It'll be no use, you probably drunk away your brain cells. Hitting you wouldn't get the point through," he said with a frown and crossed his arms. Jack chuckled and shook his head.

"Ah come on don't be like that. I get it, I get it, my bad. I'll pay you back for the damages," he said, but Horace scoffed.

"With what money?" he questioned. Jack smirked and jabbed a thumb into his chest while using his free hand to pick away the few splinters in his face.

"Well ya see I'm about to be an S-class guild member and when I do become one I'll pay ya back twice the amount!" he said as he held up to fingers and flashed a confident smile as he picked away the last splinter. Horace rubbed his grey beard as he listened to Jack and rolled his eyes, clearly not believing him. Jack frowned held up his hands. "Ah come on, you know me. I'm always good on my word, I'll pay for the damages and more. I swear," he insisted. Horace stared down at Jack for a few more silent moments before sighing.

"Fine, but you better live up to your word. If not then-" Jack waved a hand to dismiss his threats.

"Yeah, yeah you'll throw me out. I know," he said as he had heard this a thousand times. Some didn't know this, but Jack actually is living in Horace's bar. He lives in the room upstairs while Horace lived in his own place outside of the city. Jack was somewhat there to watch the place when Horace was away, but it was clear he should have picked a better person for the job. Horace shook his head and sighed.

"Well why are you back so early anyways, you usually get drunk at the guild before mucking up my place," he said as he leaned against the bar. Jack chuckled.

"Well I'm actually here to pick up a few things before I head off on business," he stated with a grin. Horace raised an eyebrow before rolling his eyes and reaching under the bar to pull out a small bag. He hefted it on the table.

"Right, so your supply of flaming whisky and brass knuckles, right?" Jack winked at Horace and pointed a finger towards him as he grabbed the bag.

"You know me so well," he said as he secured the bag on his waist. Horace rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Whatever, just head out before I bash your head deeper into the table," he mumbled. Jack grinned and saluted him as he walked for the front doors.

"Like you can, later old man!" Horace narrowed his eyes at the old man comment, but just gave a lazy wave before Jack exited the building. As Jack left he began to head back to his teams meet up spot in town square and grinned. He could just feel the future challenges coming his way.

@Sho Minazuki@pkken@Spanner

"Thank you," Phoebe nodded curtly, and with a quick turn, headed out. The first thing she did was collect her reward from Angela. As an A-rank mission, the reward was substantial, which served her well since she was starving.

In her hurry to ask about the S-rank trials, she'd forgotten about her meal. She rectified this with a quick visit to the guild hall.

While chewing over her food, she went over the information she was given. The S-rank trials were a collaboration with Harpy's Wing this time around. She imagined that more than riled up a few feathers.

In any case, teams had already been formed, and in order to participate she had to join one. That was inconvenient - she hasn't worked with a team in a long, long time. Her personality just didn't mesh well with others.

But she had no choice. She had to become S-rank.

That being said, her options were limited, and time was dwindling. After a moments deliberation, made her way to the town square.

---

Phoebe pushed her hood up, shying away from the crowds of festival-goers that had gathered. She looked around for Vega and his team - it was only natural. His team was comprised of all Golem's Hand members, and despite his . . . personality problems, he was a capable mage.

If she could just tolerate his presence enough, then they'd make for a powerful team.

---

@Joker892 @Sho Minazuki @pkken @Spanner

@Joker892@pkken@Spanner@TheHangedMan

---

Vega had been wandering around town soon as everyone left to do their preparations. He had none to speak of, everything he needed, he stole, despite his loud appearance and mannerisms, his ability to steal was quite good, though he since gaining his magic had also taken to mugging people, though he was picky. He knew what kind of marks were easier or safer, but now that he had to head a team, perhaps such methods were problematic... Guess he just has to make sure they don't see him.

Well for now he made a round trip and eventually ended up back at the square. He still had that bag of varied smoke bombs, maybe he can use them sometime on the mission? Hmmmm, though a bit of snooping around tells him that some Harpies were possibly going to show on these missions too, interesting, maybe if he sees one he can throw a wrench or two at them. That'd be fun, he more than welcomes anything to make this entire and dull and in his opinion, pointless gauntlet more interesting. S Rank mission should be no big deal for him, yet he has to take some others along with him. Sounded like a lot of trouble in his opinion.

While her silly teammates were talking amongst themselves, Kage quickly grew bored. Which was usually a bad thing. But, since she had annoyed her team, she decided to be in her best behavior. She sat down where she was at, in a cross-legged position. From her perspective, everyone looked like giants, striding about. Kage got the nagging feeling that something was missing. She looked around, puzzled.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Weird.

Everybody left in ones and twos, while Kage just sat there, stairing off into space. She had nowhere to be, and nothing to do.

Time passed...

The sun slowly crawled across the sky overhead. Kage had, by now, drifted off in a very light nap as she sat there in on the ground. Precisely an hour and a half later, she snapped out of her nap. She yawned largely. Her internal clock told her that it was time to meet up with the others. She uncurled her stiff legs and stretched herself out on all fours, not unlike a cat. Rearing back up to two legs, she padded off to the meeting place.

---

She showed up like her eponymous shadow, slipping amoung the group so quietly and stealthily that it was hard to tell when she actually arrived, or if she had always been there. In truth she was a tad bit late, and trying to avoid the possibility of another lecture from Illdreth.

She said nothing at the last call. She had everything she needed to survive tucked away. Books, coffee beans, some sweet snacks, and another book, just in case. Of course, she had a coffee pot, her mug, flint and steel for a fire, rations (mostly some biscuits and jerky made from a deer she had caught and cooked on her last job), a blanket, some rope and a towel. Yes, a towel. Towels were wonderful things and absolutely essential for anykind of journey. This one so happened to be her lucky one. It was also her only one, but that was what made it lucky.

All this gear was stored safely in her shadow, much like a reuip mage’s pocket dimension. She laughed quietly at some of the other members of their party struggling with their heavy loads. Poor things didn’t have nifty abilities like she did. In the midst of the group, she spotted little Ceri nearby. That one was so shy and easily frightened, it made Kage want to comfort her and mess with her in equal measure.

Well anyway. She was ready for the march. A slight breeze picked up, bringing with it the smell of adventure, a inglorious smell of unwashed bodies, sweat, blood, dirty clothing, horse droppings, and far less pleasant things.

It was a good smell.

With the whole group now assembled, Illedrith led the way out of the city and along the long path through the depression in the landscape which used to be the stream that connected the Luna Crescente lake with Caverthorn stream, and thence the ocean. A dry riverbed now, the area was still a green and fertile landscape, and was well cultivated by the farmers of the area. All manner of people and goods could be found along this road, which carried the party in the long but direct route down toward their destination.

As Illedrith had predicted, the sun hung low in the sky when they reached the bubbling stream that was their destination for the evening, and so they made camp near a small group of other travelers who had decided to make this place their travel goal for the day. Merchants and adventurers by trade, these folk were welcoming like most country folk of Fiore, and so the groups all shared their evening together, before parting with them in the morning and continuing down the stream. The walk took most of the day, though the scenery was just as nice along the steadily strengthening stream, with birds and fish aplenty along the riverbank.

It was mid-afternoon by the time they reached the Regina river, which certainly lived up to its name as the Queen of rivers. At this point it was a mile wide, and it only got wider as it approached the sea. The 'ferry' which took people across the river was actually a series of four sailboats which pretty much consistently traversed the river to carry people from one main road to the other. Given the width of the river, it was impossible to build a bridge or otherwise ford the river downstream, so travelers to Darrelea would cross here most of the time and take the better maintained road on the other side of the river, rather than trying to barter passage across from fishermen and villagers on the opposite side of the river from the city itself.

Crossing to the other side using the guild discount, the group then split off from the majority of travelers, and took the path up towards the mountains. Well kept, for it was the main road for the various mountain towns to ferry produce down to Darrelea and the capital, the path was nonetheless little more than a winding trail which passed between the mountains, with yet smaller tracks winding up the sides of the mountains themselves to the hamlets there. The trip to Robinsend would take around two days for the group, who made their way there practically without incident.

Robinsend was a very typical example of a mountain town. It had started as a small group of woodcutters and the like who had built a small settlement on a flat part of the mountain, and as it became more prosperous and popular to be up in the mountainous regions, the town had expanded to be more of a mining and agricultural town, eventually growing to the point where it was designated as the town where the mayor of the area would reside. A mix of wooden and stone houses, the city spread out to the edge of the flat ridge it was built upon in concentric circles, with most of the infrastructure built either below or above the level of the town to leave room for more houses. Upon the team's arrival, they were met by an elderly man who was very clearly the Chief Tompkins who was mentioned in the job request.

"Another group of glory-seekers here to rid us of our dragon, eh? Well, for the sake of this town, I hope you'll do better than the last lot or the lot before..."

---

Vega's team would likely have taken the same road as the Harpies down to the ferry, as it was the most rational way to get to Darrelea, though whether they would have seen or met up with them depends entirely on what time they managed to get their show on the road. From the ferry, they would have had to follow the main trade road south-west along the ever widening bank of the river. As a prime fishing and agricultural spot, this land is very highly populated, and forms the economic core of the southern regions of Fiore, providing the capital with fresh produce from the many farms in this unblemished region.

With hundreds of travelers and traders on the road up the river every day, no doubt the Golems would have encountered one or two interesting characters on the day-long journey to Darrelea, but nothing that would prevent them from making it to the great southern port. A sprawling city that hugged the river and seaside, Darrelea spanned miles of waterfront land, with docks that ranged from pleasure craft to fishing boats and even less savory types at the far end of town. The quality of housing and the like seemed to be a steady gradient as one entered town, with affluent individuals living further up the river in the idyllic countryside and unspoiled riverfront properties, while those less well off clung to their coattails in the center of the city which was where the mouth of the river mixed with the ocean. Finally, the lower class lived on the far side of town, which spread out along the shore past the town center.

There were three key buildings which served as the centers of the town, arrayed around three sides of a huge courtyard with an ornate fountain which was squarely in the middle of town. These buildings were: the mayor's residences, a huge townhouse which housed the office and sleeping quarters of the town administrators; the Darrelea Branch Mage Council Offices, which were larger still and took over most of the block they were on; and the guildhall of the Sea Rats, a lesser known guild mostly known for their mild piratical nature and 'good natured' pranks.

Unlike the Harpies, there was no welcome for the Golems when they arrived in town, since to most eyes they were just another set of regular visitors to the town, and not worth giving more than a passing glance during a day's work. When the Golems finally made it to the central courtyard, Adrien piped up.

"So then, 'boss', what's our go? Straight to the Mage Council offices like the job said?"

---

Bursting from the library, the magi dashed along the cobblestone pavement, gritting his teeth while squeezing his hand that had a red string tied around his ring finger tightly. Good grief Illedrith, just... why? Running across the streets of Luna Crescente, Cyril was blazing through each pathway, passing by any other Harpy's or Golem's. Any quips or insults flew quickly behind just as he did. There looked to be a frustrated and rushed look on his face as he furrowed his brows.

"Y'know, this isn't enough time to get a good idea of the mission and plan things out," he communicated briskly in his head, twirling to avoid crashing into some people before yelping out an apology. The glasses that rest on his face bounced up and down every time he moved, threatening to come off at any given second.

Really, he only had the basics down over this mission and what was transpiring in Robinsend. Apparently they were tasked with taking down a dragon, which made him question why. It sent a shiver down his spine, so he assumed they would need a day, possibly a second one to be extra prepared, as well as take the necessary precautions, hell, even going so far as to purchase any lacrima that could possibly help tip the tides of the battle in their favor if anything went awry.

... nope, leaving today, like, really?!

Bouncing along the path, he found himself staring at a group of people along the road, no alternate paths to take, and this was the fastest route back to the guild. With a small amount of adrenaline coursing through his veins, the solution to him was rather simple.

Eyeing the top of a building, he noticed a sign far above it that someone could hang from. It only took a split second, but before he knew it, he was tossing the books straight into the air and reaching out towards the sign. String formed from the tips of his fingers as he began to unravel before he launched himself into the air too.

The string he manipulated went to work, dashing and ducking around like snakes through the grass before wrapping themselves around the sign. Smirking he began to entwine his body back together, and flew through the air, forcing his way up around the roofs. "In any case, the town is set below the snowline, and based around some rumors unfurled about, the dragon usually appears around the mid to late day, so we should set-up in the morning if we can," he delivered the information, swiping the volumes out in midair.

To add on to style, he twirled about, leg nicked out with a hand stretched towards the earth. As he whisked and whirled, it nigh time came to and end as he stuck the landing, knees bent and arms spread out with his head facing the pavement. There was a large grin, filled with a bit of gravitas, yet a bit of fun to it all.

The same natural feeling, heh. Rising back up he quickly broke back into a sprint, heading towards the guild hall. "In any case, bring something warm with ya; if y'can't find anything, I'll just make something fer you on the way there... and be sure to tell the rest of the group as well; don't want Sae or Ceri gettin' too cold," the thought crossed his mind with a semi-pained look before continuing off, opening one of the books.

...

...

...

After some lengthy time, he burst into the Nest with vigor, causing a yelp of surprise from the few people meandering or drinking about by the entrance. Of course, he gave a swift apology while dashing about the place before hopping up the stairs and swinging up some of the railings.

There, he found it all; myriads of rooms set about with no way to reach them, lest one had any sort of mobility. The oval shaped doors were familiar to him as he blazed on by to find his room. Upon discovering his perch, he extended some string towards the beam that allowed him to get up there in the first place.

"The community is rather new, namely that it came before the age of dragons based on what I've been told and the information in these books, so the town doesn't really have any sort of history with dragons," Cyril restated as the string wrapped around, tightly grasping the firmly lodged, stout wood. Pulling himself back up, he continued his report, taking some time between looking down at the book and looking up to his room, unfazed by the height.

"The town is a multi-tiered sprawl, with the community largely involved in farming, animal husbandry, and logging; typical exports includes goats, timber, high altitude crops, and so on, so lets take that into account when trying to avoid collateral damage, or prepare any sort of traps," he approached the door, hanging and with no real way to open it...

... well, other than his string of course. Using his other finger, he sent out more twine to grab his key, as well as unlock the door and twist the knob. Kicking at the circular door, it opened up and with as much finesse as he could, he swung back and forth a few times before flying into his room.

There he went to work, gathering a few items, focusing as he created a bit of padding for his clothes; an overcoat of sorts that would still allow him to show off his usual style and be great enough to keep him reasonably warm. "Other than that, that's all I've got. I haven't been able to gather much on the patterns of the dragon, so we might be going in a bit blind, so be on guard," his penultimate words echoed to Illedrith as looked around his room for a brief second.

"I might be a bit late due to the short notice, so you're going to have to give me a bit."

That was definitely going to be the biggest understatement of this week as he slowly set to work.

...

...

...

Satchel with the basic essentials... pulling it open, the usually items were in there, ranging from some food and water to bandages created from his own string, as well as other items to help aid in a survival scenario. Check.

Clothing... well, check. Sword... drawing it from the sheathe, he gave it a good inspection; he wish he went to get it sharpened today, but he was short on time. As much as he hated to admit it, this would have to do for now. Check.

After checking off other items on the list, he let out a huff before unraveling his hand a bit and tying it around the post to his room. Jumping out, he didn't bother with any sort of acrobatics this time as he descended, satchel to his hip as it was a slave to gravity as much as Cyril. A solemn, slightly irked look rested on his unsmiling face. Dashing through the hall, the mage quickly flew out the door, heading to the meeting Illedrith assigned to them.

"S-sorry, for being a bit late," he said, putting on a smiling visage as he snapped his fingers, his sprint slowing down to an almost complete halt as he sauntered over to the rest of the group, eyeing Illedrith. Guess he wouldn't need this any more. Untying the string off his finger with ease, he let it flow into the wind, the red twine gradually fizzling out of existence.

Staying silent, Mis did all the talking over the path they were going to take to get to Robinsend, Cyril taking it all in with a stony face with small smile on it. Placing a hand on his hip, Cyril gave a shallow nod to the lady. "Nothin' from me Mis; lets hit the road!"

---

The journey wasn't too long, taking at least a day or so based off of what he was predicting based on the map when he asked to look over it with Illedrith on their travels. He did do his best to fill the group with any sort of conversation, even flirting with Mis just once. For the most part, Ceri was Ceri, Kage shied away from him, and other than Mis, Alex was the only other person who would talk.

Looks like he was going to end up being the chatterbox for this journey.

Eventually, the sun began to set after sometime, Mis leading them to a stream she pointed out when discussing the map; predictable, heh. Of course, there were other travelers there too, a few being cute girls that he decided to chat with after helping set up his teams own camp for the night. As he spoke and exchanged different news, alongside hobbies, he eventually questioned if they could purvey some of their wares.

While they did appear a bit wary, he eventually worked his charms into asking, taking a look over some of their items, purchasing some items he believed that they could use against the dragon, along with something else that caught his eye. While he did chew at his lip upon hearing a couple of things about the item, namely the price, he did eventually fork over the required gems for it and swiftly pocketed it.

Afterwards, he went to setting up a couple of clones around camp, focusing as to weave each of them together, taking around ten to fifteen minutes for each one, sometimes less if he was lucky. Before he knew it, there were a whole bunch of string versions of him who began walking around camp, silently interacting through waving at others and a warm grin.

Eventually as the evening faded away, Cyril ordered and assisted his clones in packing up his portion of the camp, even going over to help others if they required it.

After some time traveling, the group loaded up onto a ferry after paying a toll. The trip across was rather peaceful, though he did have to dispel his string clones since they would try to charge them as well. Made him roll his eyes over how ridiculous the prospect was and made the trip across a little less enjoyable as he stared into the crystalline clear river.

Of course that changed when they were halfway across as he recalled something and briskly cruised along the boat to Mis, striking up a conversation with some teasing. Of course, one thing lead to another and he was eventually able tell her his suggestion over having the group go for a swim when they get back, either before or after the second trial.

This also set him up for her own retorts and jabs... but she seemingly didn't seem too adverse to the idea, so there was still a chance there!

He spent the rest of his time trying to get to know a bit more about Kage, who just... constantly kept her distance from him. It was kind of irritating trying to get an idea of what your teammate could do if they were very unwilling to explain.

Gives him conniptions. Made Cyril just downright grimace with a bit of frustration as they came to the shoreline. Other than that, the rest of the trip was uneventful as they all traversed to Robinsend.

Everything was as described in the books as he gave the place a wide berth, studying the infrastructure and how everything was built up. His eyes darted about as he traced indiscriminate lines around each house, squinting as a bit of string formed at his index finger, wiggling about like a worm through the dirt.

Cyril disconnected it once they came into the proximity of what looked to be the person mentioned that was giving out the job. He initially seemed like an affable man before causing Cyril to frown slightly and wriggle his nose at the term given to them all. They were here for a job; glory was important, but seeking that out was secondary to him when it came to success and safety.

Stepping forward, Cyril gave the older man a pleasurable smile, pressing a hand against his hip as he approached him. "Aye, of course we are," he announced proudly but not before stopping a few inches in front of the man. "But before we get to helping you out of this mess, I've a few questions for you regarding the task if you wouldn't mind answering; two that spring to mind in fact."

"Could you tell us a bit about the attack patterns of this dragon, as well as when this whole fiasco started; we haven't been debriefed on either as far as I'm aware," despite his affable appearance, his voice was smooth and formal, the sort of tone you would see in someone who was ready to do business.

Which is, of course, what they were all ready to do from the get go... or at least, he hoped they were.

---

For the most part, Ceri kept to herself most of the trip in usual fashion. As they made their way out of the city, Ceri kept up well enough with the others, though sometimes found herself having to catch up a bit. When she wasn't doing that, she stuck mostly to Illedrith still and took to watching anyone else they passed on their travels. She had never been many places - merchants, travelers and the like always fascinated her. She couldn't help but be curious as to where they were from, or what they were doing, but she was far too shy to ask them of it.

When they made camp, Ceri contented herself with reading a few books and listening to the idle chatter of others. Cyril was being his usual self, making some copies likely to help watch the camp. She even had what she that was hopefully a pleasant chat with someone else, though she spent most of the time listening. She was a little sad when morning came and they had to part ways, but she had to keep up with the others. When they finally reached the Regina river, Ceri had to gawk a bit at how big it was.

She had never seen something quite so big, let alone a river of all things. She knew they could get big from reading about them, but to see it first hand was something else indeed. She had never had much interaction with a sailboat before either, and now she was on one. It was equal parts exciting and equal parts frightening...but as long as she had Mis and the others, she was fine.

The rest of the trip was a little more difficult. After splitting off from the majority of the other travelers, they took the path towards the mountain. Needless to say, a lot of walking was happening and Ceri was thankful she had always been light on her feet. Didn't stop her from internally complaining internally about how much her feet hurt though. For two days, even.

She was relieved when they finally reached Robinsend. Maybe she could get a chance to rest. The small mountain town looked like one might expect. Stone and wooden houses intermingled as she observed the town, telling a fairly obviously tale of how it was built. It was larger than she thought it'd be, and as soon as they arrived they were greeted by an elderly man that Cyril was first to greet. The Mayor of the town?

"E-erm...what happened to the people before us?" She hesitantly asked, immediately regretting asking.

@pkken@TheHangedMan

---

As soon as they arrived to port, Vega out of habit was already marking down 'targets', eyeing individuals, the way they walk, how they handle themselves, where they kept their money, stuff like that, but this was simply out of habit. He knew why he was here, and he wasn't eager to go speak with the Mage Council. He knew some of them already disliked him a fair bit, and as much as he'd like to, going wild here was going to create... Complications. He'd just have to grin and bear it, for now. Adrien piped up on what to do next, yes they could go straight there... But he felt like a more scenic route.

"Right away? Sounds a bit boring don't you think? Take a look around, this is a port town with many merchants and travellers passing through. I'm sure this is a good chance to buy something nice and rare", like something unusual to eat maybe. In his mind though, this may be a good chance to find magical items... He was an avid craftsman himself, these knives he used were made by him alone, maybe he can 'borrow' something useful.

Before the group could protest he was already off, waving later.

"Oh yeah, wouldn't do to get separated. Mage Council in an hour, go eat or whatever you wanna do", and with that he disappeared into the crowd.

For now it seemed they could try and pick something up here, or maybe they could gather info in advance...? Either way, it didn't look like they were going to be going to the Mage Council right away.

"Aye, of course we are, but before we get to helping you out of this mess, I've a few questions for you regarding the task if you wouldn't mind answering; two that spring to mind in fact."

"Could you tell us a bit about the attack patterns of this dragon, as well as when this whole fiasco started; we haven't been debriefed on either as far as I'm aware."

"E-erm...what happened to the people before us?"

Chief Tompkins waved away the barrage of questions from his new arrivals.

"All in good time, all in good time. It's no good having you out here, head over with me to the town hall and we'll talk there out of the cold."

Leading the way towards the center of town, the old man mumbled back over his shoulder at the group as they walked on.

"Guess it doesn't hurt to answer some of your questions while we walk though. You want to know about the Dragon of course, but I'm not sure how well we can actually help you with it. The central town hasn't been attacked directly yet, obviously, since otherwise we wouldn't be standing here chatting. People in the houses on the outskirts of town have claimed to see it off down the mountain or up on the slopes, but there's yet to be a confirmed sighting from the town proper."

"What there have been are farmers and woodcutters off in the depths of the region all independently corroborating a story about a dragon with the same specific identifiers, who has rocked up on their door with no warning, eaten everything it can find with four legs, and taken every shiny object that isn't nailed down. To cap it off, the shredded remains of the majority of the town flock were found a couple of weeks back, with their remains and bones piled in a heap and charred to ash. The curious thing was that nobody heard or saw a thing the evening they disappeared, and nobody in the town was attacked."

"Anyway, we're here. Come inside, but make sure you wipe your feet."

Tompkins had eventually led the group to the very center of town, where a square, stone building slightly larger than all the others occupied the middle of the circular courtyard inside the inner-most ring of buildings. Bearing the coat of arms of the district on all four faces, this was clearly the seat of the district mayor. Inside, the bottom floor was all administrative desks and chairs, but Tompkins led the group upstairs to what was a quaint but cozy house.

"Alright, after we're done here you'll be assigned lodgings in the building below until such time as you no longer require them, or the building gets burned down in a torrent of dragonfire. Both fairly likely scenarios at this rate."

"To answer your questions then: we don't really have a proper pattern for the dragon attacks. There's no daily routine, no rhyme or reason for where it attacks, or who. Always goes for food, kills anyone who gets in its way, not that there have been many people stupid enough to do that. This whole 'fiasco' as you call it started with the first incidents around a month ago. As for the people before you, there were two groups who claimed to be S-Class mages and looked real formal. Both of them disappeared without a trace a couple of days after arriving. Any more questions?"

---

"Right away? Sounds a bit boring don't you think? Take a look around, this is a port town with many merchants and travellers passing through. I'm sure this is a good chance to buy something nice and rare. Oh yeah, wouldn't do to get separated. Mage Council in an hour, go eat or whatever you wanna do."

With that, Vega turned and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Adrien to roll his eyes and turn to the rest of the group.

"Well, I guess our intrepid leader has spoken. What are your thoughts? Shall we go exploring and see what we find around the town, or do any of you have a better idea about how to spend our time? I've never been here before to be honest, so if one of you has, now's the time to speak up!"

Damian Ivorn

After arriving to the town of Darrelea he couldn't believe that the first thing Vega did was shop. Vegas idea of shopping is stealing things or stealing the money for the item he wants. Damian sighed as Vega decided to run off, Adrien then asked the question of what to do next.

"This town doesn't really interest me outside of the job. If Vega wants to goof off then let him, explains why he is here with us and not with the other S-class wizards. I say we gather some intel before heading to the magic council branch office, and what better place then the local tavern. Come along if you want, other then that we should reconvene at the branch office in an hour.

Damian was off to the local tavern, Darrelea was alright though it lacked the lush Forrest that Luna Crescente housed. Upon opening the door to the nearest tavern everyone inside gave the boy a piercing gaze as if he didn't belong.

Well he did look like a teenage boy after all. The atmosphere was thick but Damian didn't waver. Living with the golems he was used to that kind of treatment. He took a seat at the bar and decided to play the role of a traveler. The boy places be a few coins on the table,

"a cup of your finest ale, please"

@Lord Sawsaw2

---

Ceri listened intently to Mayor Tompkins as she hurried down the road, following Illedrith and the others. So the town hadn't been attacked yet? That was...odd. If it was an irate dragon why wouldn't it just burn the town down? It wouldn't be like anyone could stop it. The people on the outskirts of town seemed to be the ones to see it most often. Something smelled funny here already, but she couldn't exactly put her finger on what - and she was a little afraid to voice her opinion on the matter.

What the mayor said next though, confirmed that voicing her opinion right then would be silly. Eaten everything with four legs? Broken doors? And taken every shiny object? That was just like a dragon, wasn't it? She pulled the hem of her hood over her head, frowning. If it was a dragon, it was being awfully stealthy about this - and Ceri was of the firm belief that the only stealthy things were just afraid of being seen from personal experiences.

This wasn't making any sense at all. It acted like a dragon in many ways, but didn't in others. Once inside the building, Ceri wiped her feet and followed the mayor up where he finished his last explanation of the matter.

Really, what could she do here?

"..." She remained silent, glancing up at Illedreth for some guidance.

Adrien nodded along to Damian as he critiqued their intrepid leader's attitude towards the whole affair.

"Info gathering is probably best for now, I'll follow you then."

Following Damien to the nearest tavern, Adrien kept a close eye out for anyone actively observing them, but it seemed like nobody cared even the slightest amount about the newcomers in the city, giving them a wide berth and not more than a moments glance. Even the glares from the patrons when they entered the tavern seemed to be more about the youthfulness of their faces rather than them specifically.

Crossing to the bar, the barkeep gave Damien an almost incredulous look as he looked him up and down.

"Righ'o kid, 'eers ya ale, don' be 'urlin' on m' bar y'ear"

The thick accent, typical of the seafarers of the coast, made it a take a second to parse exactly what he'd said. After passing Damien his drink, he turned his head to Adrien and raised an eyebrow.

"The same, thanks."
"Righ'o, 'eer ya go."

Returning to his neverending task of cleaning the glassware, the barkeep followed up with more questions.

"Wot brin's ye folk t'me bar? Ne'er seen ye's roun' 'eer 'afore."

---

The trip had been quite short in the scheme of things, but Illedrith was thoroughly looking forward to a warm bed and hopefully a hot bath to precede it. Like the others, her questions on arriving were cut short by the Mayor as he led the group back through town. A quaint town, and well designed, Illedrith nonetheless had concerns about its structure given the present circumstances. If a fire broke out in town, the centralized and concentrated pathways that led through the city would likely become a river of bodies trying to escape down it, which could lead to people being trampled to death, and would certainly decrease the combat efficiency of anyone trying to fend off, say, the angry dragon which started the fire.

This would require further thought and planning, but at the moment she just wanted to rest.

Fortunately, this seemed to be on the cards relatively soon. The Mayor clearly showed off why he was in charge around here, outlining the history of the problem and the current state of affairs succinctly and simply to the group. After he asked around for questions from the group, Illedrith felt Ceri's eyes on her and despite her fatigue figured she should get their ball rolling on the hunt for the beast.

"Perhaps if you could provide us with a map of the area, with where there have been attacks, what was taken, etc. As well as providing us with any insights or decisions you heard from the other groups who came through? I can't really think of anything else at the moment, so unless anyone else has anything, I guess we'll just do our best to keep in touch."

"Yes, yes, we can organize that for you. What's your plan for tomorrow?"

"Unless anyone else has any ideas, I guess we'll split up into groups, and have a look around the area, see if we can't find something to follow up on, verify these attack locations ourselves."

Cyril kept a smile formed on his face, giving a rather shallow nod as he eyed the older fellow; the crisp air was a bit sharp, but it didn't really bother the magi as he took one step forward. The clockworks were already cranking in the back of his mind, a blink becoming no more than a pendulum swing as his eyes shifted from one part of the tiered town to the next.

The village had all the basic assortments, ranging from meat or vegetables being sold at your usual market stalls with a few colorful emporiums sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the others. The minstrels eyes were unusually focused on the trinkets and doodads at these stands or seemingly conspicuous shops which had a rather large dosage of people gathered around them.

Suddenly, that grin he was brandishing earlier began to change and unfurl into a frown as he unblinkingly glared at the shops. Some look acceptably trusting whilst others looked to be thrown up over night despite how "uppity" and "professional" the stand looked. Nothing more than a footnote for who to avoid when investigating the premise, especially since they were just trying to cash in for some quick gems.

There really wasn't anything else to note of other than how one portion of the town appeared unfinished, so without anything else to observe and analyze, he went on with the rest of the group. There were a few things settling within the confines of his mind, things the mayor spoke about; caused him to obscure his lips with a curled finger as he frowned. His eyes changed between each group member rather briskly before settling back on the old man.

The mayor spoke about lodgings below, but something nagged at him that this wasn't the type of "dragon" that spewed out copious amounts of fire to the point where a wildfire would look like the embers of a dying flame, oh no. Despite this, he gave a shallow nod to the man, arranging the pieces of a puzzle in his head, searching for the parts that were missing from the mix. Lightly tapping his lips, he his ears perked up at the sound of him preparing to answer his and Ceri's questions. His eyes focused hard on the man once he said those words "to answer their questions," not daring to take them off him for even a second.

Despite the words he spoke over the "dragon" lacking attack patterns, there was something the man said earlier that lent some credence to there being a pattern, as jumbled was it was - it went for the food stock, seemingly acting as if it was nothing more than an animal. While peculiar, hm...

The next two answers he gave were pretty good, in regards to how long this has been going on, as well as the groups disappearing without a trace in the next few days. While the latter portion shot a sharp shiver through his spine, he nevertheless maintained his composure. A month ago, exclusively attack their farm animals, and the facet that every group who came here vanished into thin air...

Even if it was a month ago, dragons were monstrous beings that could possibly topple any sort of infrastructure in the blink of an eye without the work of people coordinating to bring it down. Cyril softly tapped his lips, gazing over at the door for a moment, recalling the structures outside; wouldn't even be a footnote if the "dragon" decided to bring this whole place down.

So why a month?

Moreover there were other questions floating around in his head, one more macabre than the others that would be saved for when after Mis was finished with her own. He smiled a bit, affirming with a spirited nod, despite his rather worn out appearance. As their fearless leader continued to chat, Cyril was already at work, preparing for the next day as he discreetly formed two small, separate pieces of red string in his right hand.

Fibers extended from his fingertips, thin and nearly invisible to the common observer, bending inwards to grasp at one of the red pieces, gingery tying it around his ring finger. Flexing his fingers, he steadily drifted towards Mis, looking almost ready to pounce on her like a panther to its prey until suddenly both of his hands lunged at one of Illedrith's plated gauntlets.

"Weeeeelll, looks like I know who I'm grouping up with tomorrow," he said with a large catlike grin, looking down at the redheaded knightess as he quickly weaved his way through her hands, no different than an expert craftsman or weaver who measured someone for clothes or armor. Despite his actions, his voice was more matter-of-fact; Cyril's eyes also betrayed a sense of business as there was no twinkle in his eyes - only humorless, dull rubies rested in their sockets.

"Alright, so Illedrith," the sound of Cyril's voice penetrated the woman's head as he finished tying the knot. "Gonna be frank when I say this, but I highly doubt that there is any sort of dragon based on what I've picked up. Dragons are usually powerful creatures and when you study the town, as well as compare the time when these attacks started, then this town would of been reduced to nothing but ruins long ago."

Chuckling, he backed away from the lady, giving her a small wink as he took his place at the mirror knight's side, placing a hand on his hip as he brightly beamed at the mayor. "I have a few more questions for the mayor, so when he's done showing us our lodgings, I'll head back here and give you updates as things go along. Moreover, I'll start preparing more copies of me; I know its our first day here, but considering those other groups, well... mmm, try to stay on guard..."

"... ah and one more thing - could you talk to Kage and explain to me her abilities? I've only heard she can 'command the shadows' or something, but she... absolutely refuses to interact with me... Honestly, the way she acts makes me feel like I'm some sort of contaminated individual; rather irritating, consider the mission we're on," his shoulders weakly slumped as he tilted his head to briefly look over at Mis.

"I understand that's more of a 'me' problem, but communication between all of us is crucial for the success of the mission... that and the fact that it's best to have an idea for our groups, so yeah."