---

Lorn hadn't had to chance to respond to Glory once she had answered his question, the abrupt appearance of Master Kukan putting their rather blossoming conversation on a curt hold as he moved everything along. He stood there more for a moment, watching quietly as Glory and many others went over to the Quest Board. By the time she had returned, he was gazing off out the window, thinking about Bébé and where she might be right now. It was upsetting to be frank; she hadn't reached to him all day. "Bébé, talk to me, please..." he pleaded to her telepathically, reaching out to her mind with his Heart Magic, wherever she was. He charmingly tucked some of his hair behind his ear as Glory tapped him. "Hmmm?" he hummed, looking at her blankly, his mind still adrift on Bébé.

"Lorn. We need to hunt someone's pet exceed. From what I understand your Heart Magic should be able to track it. Get ready and meet me outside. Dreadlin is coming too."

"Ah, yes yes. Of course. Allow me to procure a few necessities and then I will meet with you all shortly." he responded calmly, his expression morphing into that of a coy smile as he watched her tromp off.

---

Outside the guild, he gave a bellowing sigh and stretched his arms as he approached his comrades for the quest, his hair having been put into a very long and very high ponytail. He was often told that he looked especially pretty when he tied his hair into a ponytail, though he did it for the practicality of keeping it out of the way. This had become somewhat of an unspoken ritual for him whenever he began a quest. Lorn had a brown leather messenger bag hung across his body, his ponytail drifting over his shoulder as he bowed respectfully to his superiors.

When he looked back up to them, he gave them a courteous nod, "I'm honoured to be teamed up with you all on this quest. I understand my role here and will do what I can." After a brief pause of silence, a thought firmly plopped into his mind, "So! I think I might be able to help start us off here", he began eagerly, reaching into his messenger bag and pulling out a small device, showing it to his comrades once he had found what he was looking for, "This girl. This is Dina, Lady Ducard's daughter. I've tutored her daughter before, so I'm fairly familiar with how to get there. It's about a half days journey. A third of that if we traverse by carriage through the Blanch Head Swamps. Can't say it's the safest route though." he said, producing a heavy sigh as he placed the device back in his bag, waiting for their thoughts.

For a moment though, his gaze fell heavily upon Victoria, taking notice of her teetering movements. Lorn gave her a gentle smile and walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder and rubbing it in an absentmindedly affectionate kind of way, "You seem a bit..." he paused for a moment, as did his hand, "sloshed? Perhaps I can use my magic to help you with that if you desire so. I don't mind." he offered politely, though, it was more of his way of passively suggesting that she shouldn't be drunk before doing a quest.

Oh Victoria...

---

---

As the members of the Dragon Heart guild were thrown back into their usual buzz of activity, a rather exasperated figure walked through the doors running a hand through his hair and with a sigh on his lips. Argus had been just about to enter the hall when the Guild Master had made what had probably been his 100th such proclamation since he'd joined the guild. Family this, Magic Council that, and the main troublemakers lacking any sense of actual remorse for whatever action spurred Kulkan's rant completing the whole song and dance routine that the red-haired mage had almost grown numb to at this point.

"I swear, if the Magic council ever does decide to actually do something besides throw papers at us because of those two," He muttered, adjusting his pack as he made his way to the person at the guild desk. "I'll personally plant my foot up each of their asses." An empty threat, given the fact that Argus had about as much hope of beating either asshole as he did of winning a swimsuit competition among the guild members, but it at least made him feel a bit better if nothing else.

After he finished turning in the documents for his completed quest, a simple job of bodyguarding some landed lord's kids that had gone off without a hitch, the young man took a seat near the front of the guild with a mug of ale in hand. While the main focus of the job had been easy, the brats he'd been sent to 'guard'had been some real pieces of work. Honestly, he felt the noble had been just looking for someone to babysit the gremlins because he saw not hide nor hair of the man until the last day of 'guarding'. He'd eventually managed to get them to settle down by then though through a mix of party tricks and showing them how little of their shit he was willing to put up with, but he had the feeling the noble would be calling for his service again. . . especially given how even though he seemed to be lacking a wife, he had been seeing Argus off with a woman on his arm.

"Well, at least it paid well. . . and the brats were cute enough once they actually behaved for 2 seconds." Letting out another sigh, Argus took a slow sip of his drink, eyes scanning the crowds around him. Tall, Dark and Metal was busy 'asking'(read commanding) people to help her with something, Vega and Muzo were heading up to the Guild Master's office, and so on and so forth. Nothing, in particular, caught his eye until he heard a familiarly bubbly voice chime up somewhere to his right. Glancing over, he saw the Guild's resident Celestial Mage talking to some others that he recognized but didn't know too well, apparently gathering them all a request as well.

"Wonder what they're all up to?" He took another sip, wondering if he should run up another quest himself after he visited Juno. She'd prob yell at him for starting on another job so soon, but he figured he could head that off by getting her some scones. His sister was a sucker for pastries, and assuming he got enough, she'd probably be too occupied devouring them all to chew him out for it.

"Probably best if I keep it short and close by though, or I'll probably get the silent treatment again. Didn't talk to me for a whole month last time I pisssed her off." Argus couldn't help but shiver, remembering the various other things that his sister often did to show her displeasure with him, like when she replaced his entire wardrobe with pink. That . . . that had been a dark day for him, and he was certain some members of the guild would never let him live it down. Kind as his sister tended to be, nobody held a grudge or got even quite like she did. It was really rather terrifying.

@Hitman@Quincy@Esran@pkken

---

---

Trixie's sudden challenge of his observation only earned her a raised brow from the red-haired mage as he took another sip from his mug. The girl's name was. . . Dixie? Something like that, a B rank mage whose only defining traits were her hammer, her cape, and her mouth, all things that Argus was not in the mood to deal with at the moment. As such, rather than return the insult, he simply went back to enjoying his drink in peace.

”Hey! Arg! You want to come with us? We’re doing a big job to rescue some medicine from a group of bandits. We have room for one more!"

And here we go.

The requip mage couldn't help the sigh that escaped him as Sara started to wave at him to come over, wondering why the girl even bothered. He wasn't exactly known to be a team player, and if they were just dealing with bandits, the group they had was more than enough to handle it. As such Argus had set himself to just ignore her, his attention sliding away to the board as he thought of what mission he'd take the next da-

"Oh I'm sure my little brother would love to go on a mission with you all? Isn't that right, Arg-ie?

Before Argus could even register the voice volunteering him for the mission he was pulled right out of his seat towards the group by his ear, the perpetrator being a young woman with long blonde hair, mismatched blue and green eyes, and a mischievous smile that the red haired mage had learned to equate only with trouble.

"Gah! Juno!! What the hell, let me go!!! This realy fuckin hur-OWWWWWWW!!!" The yell was followed by Argus falling on his ass in front of Sara and the others, rubbing his ear as he glared up at his sister while trying not to look as utter emasculated as he felt. "What are you even doing here!? Shouldn't you be at home?"

His tone dropped slightly from frustrated to concerned, eyes falling to the cane that Juno carried, only to suddenly have the bottom of it slam down between his legs, unable to stop the yelp as he backed away just in time to avoid some rather serious damage. Juno, meanwhile, was smiling such a sickly-sweet smile that Argus knew she was beyond pissed.

"Doctor said I was good for a walk around town today, so that's what I did. Got some grocceries, ran som eerrands, and all in all having a wonderful day. And what do I see on my way back but my little pain in the ass of a brother being rude to such a pretty girl asking for his help? Now, that simply won't do." The chuckle that followed her declaration was anything but mirthful, as was the threatening aura that surrounded her as she glared down at Argus with what seemed like the wrath of thousand suns. But as quick as it came, the Aura left as Juno turned towards the group at large, giving a small wave and a much more genuine grin. "I'm sorry for my brother's behavior and as I said, I'm sure he'd love to join you all!"

"Oi! I didn't consent to-" Argus' complaint was quickly silenced as Juno sent him another heated glare, and for a moment it almost seemed like sparks were flying between the siblings' eyes before the red-haired mage was forced to avert his gaze with a click of his tongue. "Alright, fine. I was going to hit up a mission anyway so I guess there's no harm in it."

Argus continued to grumble under his breath, while his sister sported a rather victorious grin, before turning around to take a seat with her cane resting across her lap.

"You might want to take notes on how I handled my brother, I'm sure this won't be the last time his bad attitude will need to be dealt with. Oh, but where are my manners? My name's Juno, his sister, and may I have the pleasure of your names?"

As Juno introduce himself, Argus remained on the floor, grumbling about something or such while glaring at the spilled mug of ale on the floor, resting his chin in his palm as he offered the party a sideways glance. It took a sudden smack across that head and another glare from Juno before he picked himself up and gave an intro of his own.

"For those of you who don't know, I'm Argus, B rank Requip mage, yadda-yadda, nice to meet yo- Juno, I swear to god, if you hit me with that cane again, I'm done with this, I don't care how much shit you give me for it!!"

@Hitman@Quincy@Esran@pkken

---

Valishin allowed a small smile to grace his lips at the endearing show of affection between the crimson-haired lad and his sister, Juno. The teasing banter between the two reminded the sniper of the tapestries of a childhood long gone, just before their parents were taken away from him and his siblings. Memories of fresh snow falling like drops of starlight upon an asphalt pavement with three children dancing and laughing hit the marksman like hammer against concrete-- he was dazed at a distant past, and it took a moment before Vali registered in his head that the lad had introduced himself. Vali nodded in acknowledgement, smiling at the siblings before he introduced himself.

"I'm Vali, marksman at your service." Valishin spoke in a calm tone, like how two strangers tried to bumble their way towards conversation. "Nice to finally be acquainted with both of you, Argus and Juno. Don't worry, I'll watch over him." The sniper vowed as he chuckled with amusement at the sister's coddling of Argus. However, his vow was not one just for show. In the few times that Vali did work with a few members, he always swore to watch over them-- to keep them safe. It was his own self-enforced penance for the thirty-two innocent lives he took, which gave birth to a promise never to take an innocent life nor to let one slip through his sights. The quest they were going did not seem dangerous, but every guild member knew how quick the turn from easy to cursed. One moment the mages would just be felling trees, and another moment, they would already be fighting a malevolent murder of spirits.

The life of a mage never promised a ride back home, but if Valishin had anything to say about it, he would do his damned best to make sure that he brought home each ally he had in one piece.

His gaze turned to Sara, and at once, he recalled how she had ignored him for quite a long time. These slight quirks and misdemeanors rarely evoked a response from Vali, but at this moment, he felt a slight heat coursing through his spine downwards to his legs, shooting out in tendrils, at the thought that this woman would blatantly ignore one of her own. It was telling what kind of a person she embodied since Vali swore he would never treat one of his own like how she did so. What did brotherhood and the guild mean to her? Even now, he found no guild member yet who embodied the true attitude of one who treated each other like family. Human nature dictated that they keep their friends close and their enemies at bay; Vali was no exception, he fully admitted that he had flaws especially when it came to treating Vega.

He had no reason to confront her, though, but Vali stored that memory at the recesses of his head for future reference.

"I've still got a lot of ammunition in my satchel 'ere, but if ya'll decide to meet up later, I'm dandy with freshening up first." Vali offered. "I'm ready when ya'll are."

---

It had been a long day for Annalyse even though it was merely the afternoon. She had been specifically requested by a family of Rosa Blanca to be the 'entertainment' for their precious 'princess' birthday party. Honestly, Annalyse had no clue why she was always the one chosen to do this. It may have to do with how kind she was to the kids. Or maybe the little boys liked her and the little girls wanted to be like her. But the more likely reason was that she always tended to make a fool of herself and was a right laughing stock for all the children and adults. Unfortunately, this time wasn't filled with laughs. She had Eclipse on her back as usual and some of the boys wanted to see it. The adults said she could do what the children asked, and she did. Then they asked her to swing at a tree standing near the party area. Well, she decided to oblige and was planning to miss entirely and hope the children just thought the sword was for show. However, she swung the blade a little too accurately making the sword cut clean through the tree. So clean a cut everyone thought she missed.

The partygoers started giggling about how such an incompetent wizard had joined Dragon's Heart. As if on cue the tree fell over slamming directly into the table piled high with birthday gifts. Let's just say that Annalyse heard a lot of crying and yelling before she left. At least she still got paid. More in a desire to get her away than for doing a good job. It was likely though that they would still call upon her in a years time anyway.

But enough with boring trivial jobs. Annalyse was hoping that by the time she arrived at the guild hall new quests would be on the board and at least something interesting would be left for the wannabe adventurer. By some strange miracle, she didn't notice the more recognizable members of her guild standing out front. The young woman rushed in and headed straight for the mission board, but upon inspection noticed that what was left was the typical 'slay a bunch of creatures' or 'fetch' quests. Those were not the kind of quests a budding adventurer desired. Turning away from the board slightly sad that nothing interesting awaited the rest of her day,

---

---

"I don't need 'watching', shooter boy," Argus muttered, casting an irritated glance in Sara's direction at her remark. Has the girl never heard of tempting fate? With a sigh of resignation to his own fate, he waited for the others to clear out before sparing a few words with his sister. Once they said their good-byes, Argus caught up with the rest. A low whistle escaped him as he took a look at Sara's ride.

"I guess I should have expected an heiress to ride around in style." Taking a few of the cookies hostage, the red-haired mage claimed a window seat for himself, summoning his chameleon cloak to wrap up in so he could get in some sleep while they traveled. Hopefully, that also discouraged anyone from trying to strike up any conversation with him as they drove to Mill Valley. Just because his sister forced him to come on this mission didn't mean he'd do anything more than what the situation required. If the rest want to chit-chat and all that, they were free to do so amongst themselves.

---

Unfortunately for Argus, Sara's driving skills weren't exactly conducive to his plans to rest, as she seemed to have quite the bad case of lead-foot. He was certain that the car had been nearly flipped on its side no less than 5 separate times throughout the whole ordeal, and made a mental note to make sure that anyone but Sara drove on the ride back. He wasn't sure they'd survive otherwise.

He grumpily stepped out at her insistence, gaze fixed on the carriages. While he agreed that this did look like their probable quarry . . .

"Not to rain on your parade, sunshine, but this is way too convenient. The request said that we were to meet the guy in town, yet we just happen to run into the suspects when we're right about to get there? Call me a cynic, but this feels like a set-up." Argus unbuckled his cloak as he spoke, inspecting the fabric a little before tossing it over to Vali. "Here. It's a chameleon Cloak and we're around the same size so u should be able to wear it no problem. If you wouldn't mind staying back, keeping low, and keeping alert for any possible surprises that'd be great for easing my nerves. If it were just me, I'd want to find a way around these fucks, but they've likely spotted us by now."

Argus took a few steps forward before stopping, almost as if considering something else, before turning back around to toss a rather worn looking ring to the sniper. "Take that too. It'll let you tell us if something's up. It's a bit tricky, but I'm sure you can get the hang of it. If not, then just shoot a flare or something. . . also, lose or break either of those trinkets and you owe me big money, shooter boy." Argus held the masked man's gaze for a moment so as to pass on the seriousness of his words before facing the group as a whole.

"Aside from that, rest of you guys have any ideas about how to deal with these fucks? I know that most people in the guild seem to think that just blowing up the bad guys is considered a plan, but I'm going to assume at least one of you possibly has something more tactical in mind."

A rather big assumption, all things considered. The Requip mage thought with a groan, turning his gaze to look out over the field.

In that instant, his eyes widened as his entire body went stock still, so much so that not even his chest seemed to move. For a few moments, he'd remain like this, unresponsive to any words sent his way, before suddenly coming back to reality with a short gasp as he started to breathe again. Shutting his eyes for a moment as if to block out further stimulus, the red-haired mage took a deep breath and held it for a moment longer than needed before letting it out shakily. As he his eyes slid open, he chose to focus on some distant point in the horizon, hands slipping into his pockets as they began to shake.

@Hitman@Quincy@Esran@pkken

---

Damian just smirked a bit, Sara was pretty naive of how bad this world is but it was nice to know that she had a good heart. The wizard just nodded his head in agreement with the task she selected. Now all that was next was to go find members, something that wasn’t the easiest for the guy since he doesn’t have much of a reputation. It was a good thing Sara was somewhat of a social butterfly and was able to nab some members, though each of them seemed a bit off. Trixie was first on the list, she seemed like a knucklehead who enjoyed swinging around that hammer restlessly. All in all she seemed like someone who would make this job unnecessarily more difficult, this raised some red flags in Damian’s mind that caused him to second guess going on this job.

But it was too late, he already gave Sara his word and he never goes back on it, Perhaps she would decline Sara? Maybe trixie wouldn’t see this mission as something interesting? Damian held his thoughts inside hoping this was the case.

“I’m up for it. What do you need me to do?”

”Fuck”

The boy tried his best to keep his true emotions inside but as soon as she had accepted the boys eyebrows twitched a bit out of disappointment. But soon enough a blessing came in a different shape and size, the level headed sniper, Valishin. The wizards mood flipped as Vali offered up his services, perhaps he would be able to keep hammer girl tranquil with his cool and collected persona.

The last to join the group was Argus..well more like forced against his will to come along by his sister Juno. Argus was definitely a character, he took great enjoyment out of triggering other people with his tricks. Something that Dame just didn’t quite understand.

The boy chuckled as his sister easily coheresed the boy into joining up, watching the tight bond between siblings was always something bittersweet for Damian as he also had siblings. A little sister and brother who he’d rarely see do to him always training because of his birthright, there were also other reasonings as well but he had to end his train of thought hastily.

Before he knew it the team was formed and were heading towards a four wheeler, despite being a rather efficient form of transportation, Damian preferred an rather old fashioned form of travel that was full of interactions with nature. Alas, time was of the essence, being the tallest member of the group,the wizard claimed the shotgun seat and simply stared out the window pretty much the whole ride, completely unaware of the pitiful driving that was to come.


Once the car came to a stop at mill village, Damian immediately got out of the car a bit shaken up. ”Id thought trixie would be the one to do more harm than good first but I was mistaken.”. Once the boy took a good inhale he could quickly feel how dire the situation had became, the boy grabbed a small bundle of wheat that had been ran over by Sara and quickly surveyed the conditions of the crop with his magic.

”These crops are not in the best condition, not only that but the ethernano in the area is rather low.” Damian placed a hand on the hilt of his sword as Sara pointed out something of interest. A band of carriages full of men in black robes were seen not to far away, an obvious trap pointed out by Argus. Immediately the crimson haired man began strategizing even if it was just a little, seeing this side of him made Damian trust the guy a little bit more. Not only that but he seemed to have a rather interesting arsenal of gadgets.

Sara pushed for them to go forward saying that she’d cover them which was probably for the best since she wasn’t exactly someone who was built for the front line.

”Well if they’ve already took notice of us why not just confront them? I’m sure we can handle them, don’t you think Trixie?” Damian said, gripping the hilt of his blade with a questionable smirk.

@Reflection@Hitman

---

As the two stepped into the office, as Kukan began to talk it became abundantly clear to the two that they were to be set on a mission, though his scowl was ever-present as one would have come to expect from him. Despite his simply A rank status, he was able to match the S ranks of the guild quite handily, a fact that he keeps in mind, and makes sure it stays that way. It seems they were to be sent to hunt a mage, a dark mage no less and a powerful one based on the description. Perfect, mage-hunting was the kind of thing Vega was suited for.



"Huh?", his scowl twisted slightly in surprise. So the old man's already set everything up? Normally they'd be allowed to go out and grab what they needed... Perhaps that had been prepared, well regardless as soon as the spell ended, Vega took a few steps forward into the landscape before them.

"Well that's convenient. 'Paid handsomely' he better be right about that", well usually Kukan was good for that. He knew that much at least. In the distance he saw a small structure of some sort, based on how it looked, was a guild hall. Probably the guild hall of the ones getting attacked.

"Anyway you can take your time, I'm headin' over. You ain't good with crowds anyway so go sulk somewhere nearby instead, maybe you'll see our target in the distance", as tauntingly as he says it, there is a point to be had. There's no cover for miles here, this large open spring field, you could see anyone approaching from miles around. Likely they already saw the two of them. In any case without waiting he was heading off to the hall.

---

"I'd like to respectfully disagree, Sir Dame." Vali's voice echoed softly near them as the sniper vanished underneath an illusion brought on by the cloak before getting out of the vehicle. "Argus is right. This is too convenient. If this is indeed a trap, we have the advantage of them not knowing how many we exactly are as well as what we can do. It's best if we keep this advantage since we also do not know how many of them there are sneaking about."

Under the cover of illusions, Valishin made his way to the top of Sara's vehicle as silent as a lion on a prowl. The cloak proved larger than what the sniper expected, and as such, he was able to aim down the barrel and scope of his rifle while maintaining his cover. His scopes lined up with the robed men who stood near the still carriages. He adjusted the magnification, allowing him to observe the men better as he watched for unusual twitches or errant movements.

"Sir Damian," Vali spoke into the ring which allowed his voice to somehow hover near the ears of his comrades, his inexperience with the tool causing his voice to shift from his normal baritone to a shrill tenor. "You are the most skilled in our group. If ever an ambush has been set, you have the highest chance of repelling it with your power and experience. However, just in case it proves too much, Trixie and Argus should accompany you to watch your back. As people adept in close-combat, they can rapidly come to your aid if the need arises."

The sniper breathed out, noting the oddity of the lack of any noticeable movement from the robed individuals. They seemed quite stiff, as if they were planning something.

"Sara and I are ill-suited for close combat. As such, I recommend our resident celestial mage to prepare a spirit who is well-versed in close-combat to function as a frontliner should the ambush extend to the backline." Vali suggested as he removed his eye from the scope, gazing at his surroundings before speaking into the ring again. "I'll provide cover fire from my vantage point, and I'll drop 'em if they swarm. I count ten heads, but mind the shadows." The sniper looked through his scopes again, checking the surroundings which were marred by walls upon walls of withering crops and wheat. This was the perfect area for an ambush, and it was almost uncanny how poorly hidden this plot was if ever their suspicions were right. "Do not provoke them or anything, though, as you approach them. Keep your fingers steady on your weapons, but do not give them a reason to attack. The Magic Council might get on our rears if we indeed attacked a group of innocent civilians who just happened to be conglomerating in dark robes. We have no concrete proof aside from our paranoia, so, we must play it safe."

The bullet encased in the rifle glowed green as he prepared himself to create a blanket of poison fog to shroud their enemies' line of sight should things turn sour.

"We aren't gonna start anything, but, by the gods," Valishin smirked, his voice scoffing at the idea of an ambush this obvious. "We're gonna end it."

---

As he trained his eyes on the group of robed men, a slight rustling some meters ahead caught the sniper's keen eyes. A lone glint of sunlight reflected upon the blades of grass swaying with the winds, and a disturbing sight greeted the marksman. For the briefest of eternities, he glimpsed at some figures hiding amongst the crops. They seemed too far for any of his comrades to notice with their normal eyesight, but a foreboding sense of grim gripped at Valishin's heart as the figures vanished without a trace. Whoever these people were, they knew what they were doing.

"Twenty-meters northwest of the robed men-- spotted possible figures hiding in the shadows." Valishin reported. "Proceed with caution."

His finger eased at the trigger, breath steadying as his sights stabilized on the field surrounding the robed men.

"Weapons ready. Let's dance."

"Master Pox! Master Pox!"

Pox had been approached by one of the brave volunteers of the towns folk. He was still wiping the clownish paint that Marni painted on his face while tending to another patient when the panicked' man ran to him. He pointed outside. "There is some kind of carriage outside of town, but there are also some strangers in the northern stalks! They are wearing robes, have weapons!"

"Are they the bandits?" "Is it a dark guild!?" "The bandits are here?" "What hope do we have!" There was a clammor of despairing voices in the town hall among the bed ridden patients. Those of lucidity joined into the concerned banter. The bandits have moved in, holding the entrances to the town. They tried to remain hidden but they didn't do a very good job considering their darkened attire. The belief was that they were casing the weakened town to raid it. This was the first time they were so close.

It was part of the plan but with so many players, it was bound to be less than elegant.

Pox addressed them. "Calm yourself, the carriage may have been the Dragon Heart Guild I sent for."

"Dragon Heart?" "Is it really them!" "This is great! They'll show those bandits!"

A simple word to bring some hope. The Dragon Heart Guild proceeded itself. "Keep everyone inside for now, there might be a battle in store. And maybe they can get that medicine. Nala." He addressed an unassuming girl, she modeled herself a nurse, and was known around town as Pox's assistant. She seemed skilled and knowledgable if a little quiet. "Keep things running. If its the Dragon Heart, they might need some medical assistance after the fight."

---

In case the Spiders couldn't hold Dragon Heart, Phase 2 would take place. Pox and Nala worked it out, get the Guildsman into town, where each of them had the advantage. Hostages to keep the heroes busy with both of their insidious magics could take advantage.

---

Glory actively worked against letting her mind wander as she waited for her chosen teammates to arrive. The first to appear was Victoria, which was a genuine surprise to Glory since Victoria appeared to be quite drunk. The urge to chastise Victoria was strong, but Glory held her tongue. Victoria would most likely be sober by the time they got anywhere. Hopefully. Glory gave a slight nod to Victoria as she arrived, but said nothing since Victoria probably wouldn’t be in the mood for conversation.

The next to arrive was Dreadlin. Glory gave him a nod as he approached, just as she had done with Victoria. When Dreadlin spoke, Glory answered his question. “Yes. We are waiting on Lorn. He should be here soon enough.” Glory took a moment to glance up at the guild entrance before looking back to the group. Approximately a minute and a half later, Lorn would arrive.

Glory gave him a nod as she had done for both Victoria and Dreadlin. When Lorn began to talk about tutoring and knowing the way, Glory listened intently. Thinking for a few moments after he finished talking, Glory nodded and said. “Alright. We’ll take the carriage through the swamps. It might not be safe but we’ve got two S class mages present, which should be more than enough to ward off any problems.”

Glory pushed herself up from the rock and went from sitting on it to leaning on it. Using her hands to better articulate her plans, Glory began to describe the ideas she had been thinking about earlier. “My basic plan right now is to have Lorn use his heart magic to track the Exceed, which will hopefully not have been sold yet, and then we can assault the dark guild and take it back. As a bonus, since this is a dark guild, we can beat up everyone there and take them to the authorities to hand them in. Might even get to destroy the guild hall if we’re lucky.”

Glory paused for a moment before she brought up an alternate plan. “However, this depends on the Exceed not being sold yet. From the guildmaster’s speech earlier today, we need to recover it even if it has been. Giving up this quest will not help our reputation in the slightest. Given this, if it has been sold the plan is generally the same: Beat up the dark guild, but then interrogate them before shipping them off to the authorities. Then go chasing after it again.”

Folding her arms, Glory waited a few moments to let everyone digest the information she had presented before adding in one last comment. “Anyone got any better ideas? Anyone got any problems with the ideas as they stand?”

---

The lizardman simply nodded in agreement at her simple, yet efficiently logical sounding plan. However there was one small thing that he felt could be done better.

”S’unds diddly to meh,” he croaks with a thumbs up, ”But I reckon’ tat taken’ a tiny ol’ carriage through de stinkin’ swamp may lose us valued time. I have big ole’ monstas tat can trek through de deep soggy watas much mer effectively than de tiny ole’ rust buckets. I can easily hel’ all three of yehs on de back of meh leviathan ferm, or even on meh tall fiery ferm, and still be fasta then them. Waddya thank of tat, eh?”

---

Victoria tries to speak up but a drunk hiccup come out. She curses at herself under her breath before taking another squigh from her water-filled jug. Calming herself by force of will and demanding the world stop swaying, Victoria finally manages to get a word out, “I swear to y’all I will be sober by the time trouble finds us. ‘was not expecting to go on back to back missions so soon. Promises… I will follow y’all’s lead until I get back on the horsey. Dark Guilds deserve all they get from us Light guilds.”

Taking another squig of the water, she turns to Lorn with a forced smile, “You can fix a crash and hangover from a drunken state? I had me wine. What a devilish spirit! Goes down smooth and yummy, but the hangover leaves you feeling like a dried out grape or a corpse awaiting for death to get down his list to you. Go for it.” Victoria hiccups and swears at herself again. With pain, she winced and then said, “I give you permission to fix this.”

---

“I think that’s a wonderful idea Dreadlin, though, perhaps you should conserve your energy in case we run into trouble. But then, I’m sure you know your own limitations. So if you certain, I will gladly comply”, Lorn said as he acknowledged the lizardman’s idea for them to ride on his back. He looked back to Victoria and smiled,
“Alright love, this should only take a moment.” His hands were on either side of her head, as he closed his eyes and began using his Heart Magic. After he removed his hands from her head, she’d feel a weight lifted off her, the insobriety and drunken feeling essentially nullified.

Lorn stepped back from her, pushing some of his hair behind his ear and folding his arms across his chest, “Feeling better?”

---

Victoria froze in place as Lorn put his hands near her head. She could literally feel her struggling against her drunkenness just to remain still for Lorn. As the heart magic flowed through her, her body relaxed and became visibly less tensed. Victoria genuinely smiled for once and proclaimed with excitement, “By the Moon, that was impressive! Sir Lorn, I should seek out your services more often. Wow! Just wow! Let us give this dark guild a lesson they will never be able to forget.

---

Glory nodded in agreement with what was stated. Turning to Dreadlin, Glory spoke quickly. “Alright Dreadlin. We’re going to a swamp, so most likely your leviathan form will find the most use. If you would please…”

When Dreadlin finished transforming, Glory helped the shorter members of the group clamber onto his back and get a good grip before jumping aboard herself. Glory gave his back a couple pats before shouting a clear and gripping tightly as Dreadlin lurched away. The travel was harsh and bumpy, but it was also thankfully quite quick. The scenery was a blur as they moved to their destination.

It didn’t feel like a long time before they arrived at the manor of the family that had placed the request. Thankfully, for all his speed Dreadlin was also good at another important component of travel: Brakes. With their travel finished, Glory hopped off of Dreadlin and gave the leviathan a thumbs up as she walked to the door while the others were disembarking. Producing the folded request from a pocket, Glory raised her fist and knocked firmly upon the door. Perhaps a bit too hard, as she did leave a slightly notable pair of dents in the door from her metallic knuckles. Not thinking much on it, Glory tapped her foot as she waited for the family to answer.

---

---

Argus didn't bother to respond to the bravado-laden answers from Damian and Trixie, though he did turn around to fix them with a look that screamed 'Are you fucking serious?' Whatever the case, it seemed that aside from him, no one was going to provide an alternate course of action besides running right into the trap. To say Argus was less than ecstatic about this development was an understatement, one made even more pronounced when Sara's chosen summon(a stupid lookin' cow . . . thing) decided to just trudge on ahead.

So much for trying to form a plan. And Juno wonders why I never want to group up with any of these idi- Shit!!

Argus grit his teeth together as the caravan suddenly went up in flames, requipping his puppeteer gloves, a knife, and a few smoke bombs as he took a step back, figuring that whoever was behind this was going to make their entrance soon. And that they did, as argus just managed to catch the flicker of movement out the corner of his eye that indicated the enemy's first move. Luckily for all of them, the one they took down was the spirit(some frontliner he turned out to be), which told Argus that whoever these guys were, they were aiming to kill, a fact that was quickly confirmed by the man himself.

The red-haired mage looked between their new foe and the 2 others behind him, trying to figure out the best course of action, but Trixie beat him to it with her loud declaration. For a moment, he thought she was being extremely stupid, but the more he thought on it, the more he couldn't help but agree with her. These guys had just massacred their own men for no reason, so no matter what diplomatic bullshit they spew, the likelihood that they would be satisfied with their surrounded didn't quite strike Argus as rather high.

Keeping his hand with the bombs behind him and taking a stance akin to that of a fencer, Argus walked over until he stood between Sara and the blonde swordsman. After all, he'd be damned if he'd let some half-pint loud mouth make him look like some sort of coward. Plus, if there was anyone who needed to back away right now, it was definitely Sara. Out of all of them, Argus was getting the feeling she was the biggest liability in terms of combat,at least if the speed with which her summon had been taken down was any sign.

"Oh sure, I'm certain killing those mooks over by the carriages was completely neccessary, but regardless, I'm afraid the half-pint has the right of it. I ain't about to let some blonde pretty boy fop clap me in irons without a fight." With an arrogant chuckle, Argus flipped his knife into the air while letting the bombs fall behind him to the ground, using the invisible telekinetic strings attached to them by his gloves to keep the small sphere's hidden behind his frame as they began to float. Catching the Knife with ease, he once again pointed to the man while sweeping his other hand in a rather showy way, the smile never leaving his face. "Besides, I think that looks are really all you must have to go on, Jeeves. I can't think of any other reason why you'd be stupid enough to get rid of your numbers advantage so easily. If that was your attempt to intimidate us, I have to say, not really feeling it. Maybe if you'd sent someone scarier looking then a Warlock weekly reject."

@Hitman@Quincy@Esran@pkken