[center][h2]Geralt of Rivia[/h2] The Dead Zone Lvl 14 Geralt (57/140) -> Lvl 14 (58/140) (+2 pending) Word count: 569 words[/center] With Edelgard out of harm’s way and no time to lose, the group continued to advance into the crater after the close call. As the group shifted around the ruins to avoid the large pits of quicksand, Geralt kept a careful eye out for anything around. He, of course, couldn’t detect the BTs, though, so he wound up having to focus instead on the BB carriers. Edward, Goldlewis, Primrose, and Roland. He knew Goldlewis the best, and Edward not at all, so his eyes tended to drift mostly towards the Former Secretary, though Roland on the same side caught his attention as well. As long as nothing corporeal intervened, Geralt would just need to keep quiet and he’d be fine. As the group pivoted around the quicksand pits, Geralt gave Ace some room to move, which proved wise when he felt himself slowly sliding downwards, though he had little trouble extricating himself, owing to the Orphan’s monstrous strength. Grimm’s jaunt up into a set of ruins above was only barely noticed, short-lived as it was, and after not very long at all Geralt and the others found themselves above a ravine with a river of lava at the bottom. “Damn.” He sighed, pulling himself from the ravine’s edge as Sectonia summoned a platform for the group to use. He noticed Ace’s hesitance, but chalked it up to the rain, the effects of the SFE itself, the size of the group compared to the size of the platform, and the pressure that was on him. He had no idea about the monster hunter’s distaste for magic. Of course, as the group began their crossing atop the magical platforms, Ace’s scoutflies became agitated and glowed red to warn them of danger just as demons began to appear. “Of course.” Geralt rolled his eyes as he cast Quen before drawing Odysseus’s Bow and nocking an arrow. Ace was quicker on the draw, however, Geralt’s Sign-casting giving the monster hunter the edge in draw speed necessary to defeat the lone demon easily. That state of things didn’t last forever, though, as more demons began ascending, in multiple varieties, and Geralt hopped and dodged about, firing arrows at any he could see, softening up for allies or finishing them off. Though the platforms weren’t overly large, the group still had plenty of room to fight with. When some Gargoyles came in close, Geralt summoned the Hydro Twinblade and became a flurry of attacks, moving between them in a flurry of blows that left them all wet, which he detonated with an Igni blast, Vaporizing the entire group and turning most of them to ash. He quickly finished off the remaining Gargoyle with his Twinblade, collecting the fallen Spirits of the demons to be crushed once they were free of the rain and battle. Once the tide of demons finally stopped, Geralt joined the others in recuperating. It seemed that Edelgard took some nasty hits from the magic blows the demons were using, and once she and Edward had put some healing into her, he offered a First Aid of his own, though it seemed the slime from the Viral Rifle had taken care of what their suppressed magic had not. Once they had all come free of the ravine, Geralt returned to his orbit of Ace, though for the time being he watched their rear to make sure no more demons attacked from behind.