---

As the houses belonging to the hunters grew closer, so did the forest they were near. It seemed dense enough to supply Hdur with enough game for decades to comes. Though it was clear some of the forest was cleared away, probably for lumber, it didn’t seem to leave any sore of dent in the size of the forest itself. The sky was clear today, with slight breeze.

“I’m sorry to have cut your meal short. I was not expecting you to make a stew. I hope you were able to get some satisfaction from the bacon and vegetables you were snacking on.” Solomon addressed Cedar as they took another turn on the dirt road that lead more directly to the hunter cottages. “On the bright side, with the farmer offering to make your stew, you’ll have a hot meal waiting for your return.”

Not long after, they approached the hunter’s houses. Solomon stopped. The house appeared occupied, but through the window, it looked like some kind of struggle. People looked to be backing away from someone, as thought they were trying to create distance. It didn’t seem to work as their assailant blurred past with arms outstretched moving out of sight. “Take care here, Cedar. It looks as though there might be some trouble in that house.”

Goodbye Mr. Henri, your service will never be forgotten...

After making a personal vow to tell Fred what the prince's loyal tutor had done in his (probably) last moment. Jazdia could see the dome strengthen, but then rapidly lose its integrity. The musketeers only realized it after Jazdia impaled one of them with an arrow, the rest, including Aaron scamper to the wooden railings next to them.

Before today, the last time Jazdia killed a soldier was twenty years ago, during the Tretagor crisis. Not the proudest milestone in her life, to be honest. To her, soldiers were the most pitiful profession a man could ever take. They didn't have the right to choose; a chain of commands bound them and the order was their sacred codex. They were disposable pawns, a perfect asset to discard to suit their commander's needs. And when their commander fell, they too fall with him.

So, let's give them a chance. Jazdia fired an enchanted arrow with a remote trigger at the wooden frame on the northwest entrance then shouted at the hunkering Aaron.

"Constable! What a sorry state you are in right now. I see that your shield is shrinking. That's a shame! Tell your boys if they retreat they will be spared! If they retreat with you they will be killed. And if they stay with you for too long, they will die. Do you see my arrows? It will explode in five minutes! Or when they violate the rules! As for you, Mr. Delving, God willing, I will not let you leave this tunnel unscathed! Time is running. Go and make your choices!"

One of the musketeers unneighbourly responded by blindly firing his musket. An arrow flew in retaliation, but it hit the side of his helmet and deflecting the arrow off of its course. Two of his friends took advantage by running for the exit. Probably under Delving's order.

Didn't matter. They didn't violate the rules.

"What a lousy shot! Never do that again if you value your life!"




A half kilometer away from that, in a cold chamber, a shackle shattered.

waking up from her pitiful slumber, a woman cried. Agony shot through her, agony such as she had never known, and it concentrated in a brand on her nape. At first, she thought her master was angry at her, punishing her for a mistake, and she was willing to accept.

But as the pain subsides, she found no sign of her master. The young woman shambled for the exit, moved by unexplainable anxiety, and it grew stronger when she opened the unlocked door. There was a faint trace of magic, one that didn't belong to anyone she knew. She shivered, a whisper came, and it brought faint ill news. She tried to shrug it off as the usual useless lure from the lingering spirit who haunted this place.

At first, she walked, and with every step taken the anxiety turned into fear, and the fear turned into sadness, from sadness, came anger. The memory of her master started to fade in her mind, the master that had taken her in and liberated her from the torment of her so-called parents. The master who raised her and gave her purpose in life. She feared she would lose his touch forever.

Terrified beyond reason, the young woman now hovered over the bloodied, broken corpse of her fellow servants. She stopped, yowling incoherently about where the master was and why his throne was empty, but nobody answered.

As she strode past the broken trapdoor, unexplainable emotion surged through her. For the first time in her life, she felt impatient. As another wave of pain pulsed from her nape, her back arched in agony, and another scream was torn from her, and she realized with a racking, raging sense of grief that her master might have met his demise.

The wall before her crumbled in an explosion, there, she rushed deeper. Tunnel after tunnel she knew so well, now all would be the victim of her unadulterated rage; crumbling and caving in in her wake. As she reached the place where her master's life force have once lingered, her eyes-- or rather, senses, were immediately fixed on the elven woman with a bow and wicked magic. Sensing the same magic from her and the residual life force of her master.

The hate grew inside her like a living, parasitic thing. With trembling hands, she gathered her magic. The pride and joy that her master would never spare his kind words to praise her talent.

"Talent, not disaster, not a terrible affront."

To think that she would never hear those words again hurt her more than anything, and in sheer malice, she unleashed her power toward those who have robbed the world from her.

One of Aaron's goons rushed for the dead navy near the northeast tunnel to loot the spare gunpowder, while the sharpshooter drew a bead at her, preventing Jazdia to shot at the running soldier. Commendable teamwork, but either miscalculated or simply desperate, they forgot that it wasn't a one-way trip. And on his way back, the elf fired her explosive arrow.

That one soldier smashed onto the wall before bouncing back to the floor and lying unmoving. Aaron, who was ready to receive the gunpowder thrown backward and could be seen squirming in pain behind the undamaged railing.

It was almost like shooting fish in a shallow barrel.

"Well, I guess Time is up, Gentlemen!"

That enchanted arrow on the northwest tunnel exploded. Its structure had sustained partial damage from the previous explosion before and now it had reached its peak stress. The entrance collapsed, and the explosion coupled with falling debris overwhelmed the navy sharpshooter, rendering him unconscious with substantial head trauma. Aaron was now the last one standing, or moving?

Jazdia notched an arrow in her bow, and again, the radiant purple flame engulfed its crystalizing head. She risked a little bit more energy into her eyes and scan the walls, to ensure nobody would interrupt their last dance.

To her disappointment, however, Jazdia saw a lithe silhouette approaching from the now-collapsed tunnel. And as the unknown actor hover closer, The debris, small or large was shoved violently and pushed aside like dried leaves. The figure was getting clearer to see, showing a very young girl in her early teens. Jazdia already had her bow drawn and aimed at her, but, for a half second, the elf hesitated, and she doubted her own eyes.

It was a mistake.

A white flash of energy hurled from that breached tunnel, and in the last attempt to correct her error, Jazdia released her arrow. Almost instantly, an enormous crackling ball of white and purple fire exploded in front of her. The blow flung her body backward and crashed to the floor.

The world was spinning, all the noises were now replaced with an annoying ring in her head. Her chest contracted as she gasped for breath, and as she partially gathered her wit, the pain was so severe she unable to move her body. Perhaps the most grueling part of her injury was when Jazdia realized she suddenly had an extra finger.

@A5G

“A fight? And who did you see fighting? Stop bickering and tell me what happened!” She raised her voice, feeling like a mother scolding her children. She looked at Reinhold, wondering if she could get some answers from him. She assumed that the two may have seen the royal guards fighting with the kidnappers.

“Did you see where the other party ran off to?” The large orc was starting to get impatient speaking with the two men.

Cedar shrugged at Solomon before responding.

"aww, dun worry tuh much 'bout it-- The nice fellar said he's a gunna cook it fer us no-how-- I'd prolly eat half o' it while fixin' it up-- Prolly works out better thisa way no how."

When solomon mentioned the potential for a fight brewing inside the cabin they had walked up to, it made him frown. He was raised to not start fights, or to try and get involved in them without very good reason, because it was how you invariably just got hurt. (or worse, hurt other people when you didn't really mean to, and have unending knock on consequences.)

He approached the small wood-framed home with some trepidation. It was "larger" than his single-roomed wood frame cabin, in that it had more rooms, but it was also "Smaller", in that it was not designed for his proportions. Getting inside and moving around would require stooping to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling, and other hazards-- fighting inside would be at a great disadvantage for him, unless he went down on all fours, --but he couldn't swing his walking stick that way.

He looked at Solomon, who had a similar look of trepidation on his own face, but for different reasons, clearly-- The building would be just fine for a person of his stature.

He sighed, then knocked politely on the door.

"Hey, uhm... Is this a good time?" he asked loudly through the closed door after knocking.

If there really WAS a fight starting to brew inside, it just showed a need to be mannerly more than ever.

"Polite and neighborly when dealing with strangers or meeting new people" his dad had stressed at him. "Try not to scare 'em"

He really hoped they would be affable and civil with a visit from a stranger, if they were so indisposed.

Kaito wasn’t sure on how the Golem did it but somehow he had created an explosive ball of feces infested waters powerful enough to get Aaron Delving sound the retreat. Maybe it was the explosion, the falling debris or the shit hitting the turd below but somehow it worked. Ironman had broken the stalemate and secured the victory for today.

Watching Delving and his men scramble for the exit the fox could not help but to swing some more insults at the constables head. ”You can run and hide all you want Delving but with that smell of yours we’ll track you down in a matter of minutes. Shitheads like you do smell like shit after all.”

Much time to rejoice the retreat of the constable wasn’t given as the situation took a dramatic turn. From the other side of the canal a floating girl appeared. Kaito recognized her faintly as the slave girl that was locked away in that special room behind a magic barrier. It was unlikely that she had lifted the barrier herself but who did it then? Was it Gerald?

Before Kaito could even ask the girl a single question she fired her magic at the fox’s elf companion. A large explosion of white and purple blew Jazdia away. ”Jazdia!!!!!!! No!!!!!!!!!!” Yelled the Kitsune in pure shock.

”Why….Why did you attack her? She tried to set you free! Spoke the fox as he clenched his sword even harder as his initial shock turned into anger that spread through his body like wildfire.

Kaito desperately tried to keep his head cool, raw emotion was never a good advice giver and yet he felt this burning desire to split this girl’s head in two. It was pure hate that he felt for her. Hate, anger and rage for hurting someone who he deeply cared about. And then it dawned upon him. Could it be that the floating girl felt the same?

It was hard to tell with the blindfold before her eyes but still her body language screamed anger and pain. Her attack was so focussed and tenacious as if it was done out of pure hate for the target. And yet they had never truly met. Could it be that it was because of Gerald’s death? Did she somehow have similar feelings for that wicked Guild master he has for Jazdia? That seemed to be the only scenario that made some sense for her actions Kaito could think of in this moment

And if that was true? What would that tell about the fox? Would he turn into a similar rage monster hellbent on getting revenge if the boss elf would die? It would be easy to get consumed by the anger and hate if your loved ones die to violence. He would move heaven and earth to undo the wrong but at the same time he knew also that no matter the retribution he would dish out, it never would change what has happened. The dead cannot be brought back to live and the pain of loss would not be any more bearable after revenge.

Kaito looked at Jazdia. Her wounds looked pretty bad but at the same time he also saw someone he desired to protect more than anything. It was a feeling stronger than the anger and hate he felt for that girl. A feeling the fox would cling on dearly as he stepped between his elf friend and the attacker. ”I think I have a grasp of how you feel, you loved Gerald, your master, right? No amount of revenge can bring him back and no amount of violence and death will ever ease your pain! It will only put other people through the same misery you’re feeling now but it will never end yours. I will not allow you to hurt my friend because I feel the same.” Spoke the Kitsune more resolutely than ever before. He wasn’t sure if any of his words would ever reach this psycho chick but he would not move. He would not let this girl take any more shots at Jazdia.

Aah, yikes, explosions. Yvonne hate explosions. There's no good way to deal with them beside hoping that the one aiming it missed, and that's fucking unreliable. Just getting clipped can irreparably maim a man no matter how skilled. It's even worse than musketeers. Thankfully the explosion-users were all on her side for once. That's a nice change of pace.

"What the fuck-"

So of course the world had to throw another curveball at her little group. She recognized the newcomer, the girl that was locked in some room with more magical reinforcement than most high-security dungeons. And she so happen to have a bone to pick with Sparky right there, very nearly blowing the elf to little pieces if not for the reflex to detonate the blast early.

Running away looked like an awfully appealing prospect right now. The series of fights today had been downright unpleasant.

Shaking off the thought, Yvonne sprint from her cover to grab and heave their team leader away. She's risking exarcebating existing injuries, but it would be a moot point if the next blast hit Sparky dead on. She'd need a bucket to collect the remains then. As for where, well. The nearest pillar would do, for now. And to think that just a minute ago it was her side that was raining explosives on the opposition. Life sure had a way to screw you over, eh?

"Dont group up, scatter away! MOVE!"

The girl floated across the broken bridge. Unhindered by the ruined infrastructure below her. White flames flickered and coursed in her right hand, but no spell was cast. Not yet.

She could feel more people come to aid the injured elf. One of them tried to tell her something, while the other sneakily tried to take the wicked elf away.

”I think I have a grasp of how you feel, you loved Gerald, your master, right? No amount of revenge can bring him back and no amount of violence and death will ever ease your pain! It will only put other people through the same misery you’re feeling now but it will never end yours. I will not allow you to hurt my friend because I feel the same.”

The girl lifted his left hand and waved it, sending a telekinetic wave to blast the rescuers. Kaito who was the closest to her suddenly found himself thrown away by the force and landed on the floor between the first and the second pillar. While Yvonne was similarly knocked away and hit the floor with Jazdia.

Another pain surged through her, but Jazdia managed to secure her right hand from hitting the floor. Now lying on her back, the elf faced the enraged young woman, who was now weeping before Gerrald's corpse. Her wailings were incomprehensible, more like a shriek from the wounded animal, but the rage was humane, pure, and filled with a burning need for revenge.

"Motherfuck-"

Yvonne felt like an invisible giant had decided to slap her off her feet, barely managing to angle Sparky just right to avoid falling head-first. Welp, change of plans. Boss elf... hurt bad, but not dying just yet. Good enough. The girl had gotten so much closer now, giving up the strategic advantage that was the river of filth slicing through the cavern. And... she's weeping for that asshole Gerralt? Hmm. Something to use.

First thing first, she grasped her mace with both her hands before hurling it straight to the weeping girl. Whether it hit or miss the weapon likely would be forever gone in the flowing filth, but she's got bigger worry than replacement cost right now. Then Yvonne set to charge forward, very much ready to perform some corpse desecration if it'll give her any advantage at all.

Everything ached. Pity that her battle trance had faded. She could really use some boost right now.

The mace flew straight, and the flange hit the girl right on her temple, tearing the skin along with the upper part of her earlobe. The weep now was not just for her dead master but for herself as well. Blood immediately flew from her injured temple, and her sobs turned into angry growls.

Her blindfold unfastened, and with her glowing red eyes, she saw the woman charging at her with a blade drawn. Almost instinctively, a telekinesis wave blasted the woman away. Yvonne was still gripping her sword tightly when she crashed with Chonan, and the second pillar behind them with a thud.

Had the mace missed, she might never know what was coming. And she would have died, right here, right now spending her last moment indulging in a final sorrow.



The blindfolded young woman stood up, and now instead of using her power to hover, she walked. A spear from a dead soldier clasped into her grip as if attracted by a magnetic force. And then she advanced.

Jazdia now could make a small movement with her leg but it wasn't enough to stand yet. Her hands however were free, and immediately she tended to the most injured of the two: a broken arrow shaft was lodging in her knuckles between her index and middle finger, yawing with one part of the splinter made its exit on the back of her hand and the other exiting near the wrist. Gasping for a breath and bracing for more excruciating pain, she yanked the broken shaft out.

Blood spurted out, but she couldn't pass out yet. She could feel more blood trickling on her leg, but this time it was not hers. The girl stood in front of her now. Why did everyone in Kindeance seem to have a national preference for poled weapons?

The blow came straight down. Instinctively the elf shielded it with her palm, then desperately used her bloodied hand to grip the spearhead to stop the thrust. Seeing it from the lowest angle possible, it was easy to forget how lithe and frail the girl was. Her body was not, by any means malnourished, but the excessive use of magic had worn it inside out. How the spear stopped after piercing her palm reflected the girl's physical fraility.

Despite the girl's stunted strength, it was still a vertical blow that could kill her if she let it. The elf knew she was now bleeding profusely, and now the only thing that kept her together was the adrenaline that too will fade in time. Seeing no easy way out, Jazdia shifted the blow and let go of her grip, letting it sink shallowly into her upper chest, closer to her shoulder. The blow made her gasp for air, but not futilely so; a flicker of fire conjured from her bloodied hands like a whip, and she launched the flame, along with her boiling blood toward the blindfolded girls' eyes.

The spear yanked away. And with more strength now returned to her legs, Jazdia inched away from the frenzied girl. A telekinetic blast blindly aimed at the floor jolted her, but it helped to gain additional distance.

Between her wailing, growling, and piercing cry, the orb of white energy formed again on the girl's right hand.

"GRRRAAAHH!"

Yvonne was really, really pissed off. The girl got zero combat training and she'd still made a plaything out of her. Not a good feeling, that. Perhaps she should've invested more in spellbreaker talisman or whatnot. Food for thought, if she survived this day. Mages were great rarities, but she'd been neglecting countermeasures against them for a tad too much.

The company carried special pikes for lindwurms, for fuck's sake. If boss (not Sparky) do that just to prepare for rare oversized lizards she'd do well preparing for some assholes in robes.

Scrambling back to her feet, Yvonne scampered not toward the blind girl since it had proven to be a bad idea, but instead to Gerralt's corpse. She wanted the prick? She could have him. Grabbing the dead mob boss by a leg, the mercenary draw into her drying well of strength to drag and swing the corpse at the blind mage like a macabre bludgeon.

"Catch this, bitch!"

Gonna be out of commission for two weeks at least. Beats dying though.

The sudden wave of telekinetic energy blasted Kaito away from his position in front of Jazdia. Flying a few meters through the air he crash landed on the floor, rolling a few more feet before coming to a stop. The fox could feel the bruises and cuts all over his body. As he tried to get up he could feel an intense pain coming from his ribcage. The crash had most likely bruised some ribs at best or broke some at worse. Painful but not enough to keep him from fighting.

For a moment he looked at the girl to figure out a plan of attack. He wasn’t sure if she could actually see or hear. His words didn’t seem to have reached the fragile thing and the blindfold suggested that she was visually impaired. If she was deaf, charming her would not work and if she was blind, purely visual illusions would not work either on her. However she did respond to the mace that Yvonne had thrown so it seemed a relatively safe bet that the girl retained her sense of touch and pain.

However there was no time to strategize. The girl continued her brutal assault against Jazdia. Attacker her with a spear and pushing the elf away again with her telekinesis. But it would not end there. The masterless slave girl was charging up her magic blast again. If the fox didn’t act now, that crazy chick would certainly kill the elf.

Kaito knew he had to go all out. He had one shot before his mana would be depleted. The kitsune stood up and drew out his last remaining magical powers. The hairs on his head and tail were all swirling as he was casting one of the most intense, devious and disturbing illusions he had ever done. ”Stop it!!!!

Suddenly flames bursted out of the girl’s body with intense heat. The smell of burning flesh drove away the stench of the sewer. Kaito has given the girl the sensation that she is burning alive. She would feel the intense heat and the excruciating pain, smell the sickening stench of her own flesh burning away, see the flames devour her body, hear the fire raging in her ears and experience a taste so horribly that no words could describe it.

Casting such a complex illusion that attacked all five senses at once was quickly draining the last of Kaito’s remaining mana. As an unbearable headache set in he knew he could only keep this up for maybe 10 seconds at best, probably less before he would pass out from exhaustion. Hopefully it would distract the crazy chick long enough for either Chounan or Yvonne to get in a shot and disable this girl….permanently.

"Catch this, bitch!"

The girl was still hysteric, and now even more so when Yvvone swung Gerrald's ruined bulk against her. Her frail body thrown sideways and collided with the wall. She still managed to stand, yet trembling, both in panic and pain with bits of gore from Gerrald's cratered chest splattered on her abdomen. But it wasn't the end of the relentless assault her enemies had prepared for her. Suddenly the fire that had burned her before spreading to every part of her body, crackling to consume what was left for her. All but not the grief.

Long before her master took her in, she was no stranger to torture, if this would be the end of it, then so be it. She swallowed the pain and steeled herself. Her talent was ready, fire and blood blocked her impaired sight and sense, but she aimed regardless.

The bolt of energy shifted in the air, nicked Yvonne's shoulder, and hit the pillar behind her before bouncing off its course and bombarding the wooden crates at the far right of the hall.

Although not taking the full brunt, The young noblewoman was impacted by the attack. Pieces of masonry hurled at her with considerable force, and she immediately registered extreme pain in her left shoulder.

The girl was spent, so exhausted, so conditioned with the pain she could no longer feel the scorching fire the enemy had cast upon her. With one arm stretched, she wobbled, magic flickered in her fingers, and then, a sudden sharp feeling of pressure recoiled in her chest. She managed to make another step before finally kneeling, whimpering as her breath became narrower, and then lying down on the floor, an arrow lodged in her chest.

Several good meters away from that, Jazdia let go of her slippery grip from her bow. Blood trickled from both hands and her upper chest, soaking her torn undertunic. Her fear had set in and become worse with every passing second, luckily she found a campfire conveniently lit by someone...

[GM Post]

""We've no idea we ain't getting involved in that!!"" The two idiot replied altogether, hilariously synchronized in their response. 'Ah' hide an' wait til it's over, I swear on me mum!" Said one. "I ran fer' it!" Continued the other. ""Reinhold an' Birk took closer look!"" Finished them together.

Then there's the knock, and a disarmingly polite questions. The two hunters paused, glancing at each other before replying. "Ain't the best of time here!"

Been so many bloody years since Yvonne got battered this bad. Not even getting tail-slapped by a lindwurm ruined her day to this extent. Her shoulder burned with pain, too much to ignore, as a buckshot of concrete launched in her general direction. She twisted alongside the magical impact, minimizing herself as a target as she covered her head with her working arm as best as she could, but it was still. Well. Unpleasant would be an understatement.

The hit was... right arm and sides, mostly. Wasn't quite sure. Everything's hurt so what's another ache on top?

The mercenary could feel darkness creeping in at the edge of her vision. Ah, there it comes. She had borrowed a bit too much, push her body too far that willpower can no longer keep it standing, and now the debtor came to collect. Would be nice to just fall unconscious for a few days, but no.

"Fuck that was bad." She'd laugh, but her chest hurt so bad just from breathing. "Someone check on Sparky there. That's a lot of blood."

She shook her head, steadying before taking slow and steady steps to reclaim her sword from where it fell near the pillar. Left arm hung limply and she's favoring her left leg, but she still moved anyway. One step after another, toward the blind mage that very nearly killed them all. Sparky had shot her, but double-tap on dangerous enemies was something perfectly sensible to do. Beheading probably wasn't an option in Yvonne's current state, but she could cut the throat. That'll have to do.

Chounan's Ki was activated back then when Yvonne got thrown herself into him. Caught with a readied posture and hugged tightly from the back then sooner rolled on the ground and hit himself on the pillar, inflicted a blunt damage to himself with some bruises upon catching Yvonne. The short noblewoman regained herself and made a score to the blindfolded slave girl.

He saw the fox collapsed from mana depletion and the elf leader gave herself a first aid. He careful moved the elf along with her weapon as Jazdia was trying to reach the camp. Same with Kaito, he carried the fox nearby same place where the elf leader regaining energy. He took the map and tended the rest of Jazdia's wounds with her medkit. He checked Yvonne again and carried her onto the rest of her party once she done with her job.

He proceed on the Gerald's office with the help of the map. Searching medical items and important intels.

Come to think of it, she might have cut some of her muscles.

Jazdia twitched her fingers. All were responsive albeit with limited movements.

Nervous system?

She could feel the touch, and pain, except for her right thumb and pinkie which looked very pale. She tested by yanking both fingers. Ouw! Ouch!
Yeah, they too passed the check.

Blood vessel?

Blood dripping from her punctured knuckle and wrist told her that this one was still... problematic.

Jazdia had finished tending to her left palm when Chonan approached her, offering help. But she shook her head and dismissively waved her hand. The Samurai was slow to take the hint, so Jazdia resorted to verbal instruction.

"You should help Yvonne."

That noblewoman in question however was walking, or rather, wobbling, with swords in her hand, but barely a few steps later she stumbled, almost comically so, and hit the floor, face first.

Hesitatingly, pausing many times for breath, she stressed."Yeah, you should help her..."

The samurai nodded and approached Yvonne. There was a short bark, unruly squirm, and wild arm movement when he gently picked the noblewoman up and bring her to safety. Come to think of it, they looked awfully matched to each other. Jazdia leaned backward and laughed throatily.

The Samurai then stormed for the south tunnel for God knows what.



Upon arriving at Gerrald's bunker, Chonan ransacked the guild master's quarter and opened all the containers he could find. There was no valuable intel, however, but at the cupboard where Gerrald stored his liquor, he found a jar of honey and unlabeled rectified spirit. Opening another cabinet near the door, he found a scissor, three small bottles filled with red aromatic liquid, two similarly small bottles filled with clear solutions that smelled like lemon extract, and a generous supply of bandages --three rolls to be exact.

What the.

Aww shit.

That was Yvonne's last thought as her body just failed her, adrenaline completely vacating her system resulting in an instant and immediate crash. The mercenary blacked out, didn't even felt the impact until she sort of regained consciousness a few seconds later - face uncomfortably in the dirt, barely being able to twitch a muscle.

And oh, everything fucking hurt like it's on fire.

"Owowow, easy on the shoulder-"

Someone came for her soon after, it's the adventurer guy. The man brought her next to Sparky and left her there, not really much of an improvement but at least she's not stuck face-down on the dirt anymore. still cant move for shit though. The debt's being paid with interest, probably wont be able to move again anytime soon.

At least she's alive.

"Hey boss. Doing good?" A cackle escaped Yvonne's lips as their condition was nowhere even close to "good", the laughter cutting off prematurely from the pain. She suppressed a wince as her attention redirected to the blind mage still gurgling on the ground. "She ain't dead yet. Would be a lot safer to finish her off, yeah?"

Everything was black, no lights, no shapes, no colors. Just an endless nothingless, a void so tranquil yet devoid of anything. Anything? no, vague voices could be heard in the distance. Voices that sounded familiar but the fox struggled to place them. Then he opened his eyes.

The sudden light bombarded his eyes, the world around him seemed to spin out of control while a massive headache just kept ringing inside his head. For a moment Kaito just felt nauseous, weak and could not place where he was. The kitsune tried to stand up but felt that his legs were just giving in and he felt flat on his ass. For a brief moment the fox just sat there, dazed and confused about where he was and what just happened.

Then the events of earlier all started to come back slowly. The fight at the entry of the guild’s headquarters came first and slowly he started to regain his memories from today until the very last thing he remembered. The girl was charging up her blast attack in order to finish the job she had started. She was about to kill Jazdia when Kaito casted his illusion. Then everything went black for the fox.

A sudden panic came over the kitsune. Frantically looked around for his elf companion and tried to scream her name but his voice was weak from exhaustion. “Jaz…”. But before he could finish he noticed that she was on the ground next to him. Much to his relief she was still alive but badly injured.

”You’re alive. That’s good” Spoke the fox with much relief in his voice. Slowly the realization dawned upon him that the fight was over and they all had survived. But Jazdia and Yvonne were in terrible shape.

Kaito looked for a moment at Jazdia. The sight of her injuries still filled him with a terrible rage and concern. However he took a deep breath and decided that his emotions should not be clouding his judgment at this time. They had to get into moving shape as quickly as possible. They were still on the territory of the black serpents guild afterall.

Kaito stood up and walked over to the elf. ”We’re is your medkit? We need to do something about that shoulder of yours.” He paused a bit and looked at Yvonne. ”And we need to do something about pretty much everything of Yvonne. Where is Chounan?”

"Hey boss. Doing good?"

When Yvonne saluted her, Jazdia was busy biting one end of the bandage to secure a knot on her wrist. Even after done with that, she didn't immediately answer. She handed Yvonne a small, squeezable tube with a cone-shaped end containing white powder and asked her to wait as she unfastened her undershirt and pulled it down. There, on the same level as her armpit was a wound. It was still oozing some blood, but luckily no froth could be seen.

The elf poured some antiseptic solution and then sprayed the white powder before quickly applying the bandage. To her dismay, but completely unsurprised, the gauze she had was insufficient to properly dress the wound.

A trace of blood was still spreading slowly on her left hand. A sign that she might had use her bandage a bit too sparingly. To that, she chuckled wryly. That was a first aid kit for you.

"She ain't dead yet. Would be a lot safer to finish her off, yeah?"

The Rosenving daughter suggested, but Jazdia wasn't very ready to answer that. Pausing a moment to watch the fire burning in front of them, she then handed to her a metal sleek thermos. Gesturing to Yvonne that her injured and bandaged hands were too weak to open it themselves.

Approaching from behind was Kaito and immediately he voiced his concern. “Jaz…”

"Morning, little fox. Having a nightmare?"

Jazdia rose up and flinched as her injured chest adapted to a different tension, she raised a hand to tell them she was fine, but Kaito fluttered around her like a fussy nursemaid.

”Where is your medkit? We need to do something about that shoulder of yours.” He paused a bit and looked at Yvonne. ”And we need to do something about pretty much everything of Yvonne. Where is Chounan?”

Jazdia rubbed the bandaged wound under her untied shirt and sighed. "Don't worry about me. As for Chonan..."
The glow in her eyes was faint this time before it turned normal again.

"I can't see him," She stated flatly, then continued in a manner of someone explaining a natural occurrence. "I have lost a sizeable amount of blood I can't use my power properly."

As she finished speaking, Chonan returned, bringing several items with him.