[IC] :: Dragon Heart ::

[Quincy]

---

Group B

---

@Hitman @Esran @pkken

Clank!

Trixie was surprised when the top of her hammer slipped from its shaft and crashed into the ground behind her, but she wasn't that surprised. Trixie had been in scraps beyond her paygrade before and to her this wasn't that big of a deal. She wasn't sure to make of her enemy's magic, but she had good people behind her and realized at the very least she couldn't rely on her hammer when it came to this particular fight. Which was fine, because half of her hammer was on the ground.

Trixie didn't need her hammer to win this fight, especially since the genius who had challenged her decided she wasn't a threat after she was "floored". But that wasn't the case at all, especially if he was turning his back to her and honing in on one of her friends. The boost to magic she was given helped and she began channeling her energy into her arms. Her brows narrowed as she charged the man as she moved to tackle him to the ground with her newfound strength from pouring her magical focus into her bones.

"Don't think so!" She shouted as she threw herself into the man, likely sending him to the ground.

As magic exploded around Trixie the only concern she had was taking down the person waving a sword around.

[Aeolian]

[P.S. Click on Lorn's picture to hear his new voice]

Outside the Abandoned Magic Item Factory
@MarsAdept@Lmpkio@Valor

---

Things were moving faster than planned and zero time was wasted to commence on operation 'Cat Rescue'. Familiar with the woman, whose child he'd tutored before, Lady Isabella greeted him personally by warmly rubbing the top of his hand. Brief greetings were made before the began to explain the situation. He understood the pain the child was in, Dina was her name he recalled. Though the little girl was upstairs, he could feel her pain and distress at the loss of her pet Exceed. Her tears penetrated his soul like they were his own. These feelings, though they were not his own, they served as a greater motivation for him succeed in this quest. It had empowered his resolve.

As they made their leave, Lady Isabella pulled Lorn aside and looked at him intently, her face a bit red and agitated. And then she leaned into him and whispered in his ear. When she pulled away, Lorn's expression went rather uncharacteristically cold, but, keeping his composure, he simply nodded and left, following after his comrades who had already ran off towards the abandoned magic item factory outside of town. Lorn called out to them as he caught up, "I shall accompany Sir Dreadlin around the flank. But before we make any rash movements, let us survey the setting and act accordingly." he finished saying.

They were in new territory, which meant they needed to be cautious. It was rare that Lorn teamed up with other mages on quests, let alone quests that required confrontation. The words spoken to him in private by Lady Isabella penetrated his mind as he and Dreadlin separated from the girls and snuck around the back, hiding behind some kind of rusted mechanical contraption. He looked to Dreadlin as he pushed some of his hair behind his ears, "I can feel the exceed inside. It's scared". He peaked from around the corner of the contraption, taking note of several figures lazily gallivanting about the outside of the factory. One of them complained about being on guard duty as Lorn noticed a familiar dark guild mark on one of their arms, swiveling back around to Dreadlin, "I'll use my magic to peak inside. Maybe I can pinpoint where the exceed is. In the meantime, please protect my body in case things get violent out here. I won't be able to react to anything while I'm doing this" he said matter of factly.

From there, he brought his hands together in front of him and whispered, "Heart of the Dragonfly" and from within his unfurled hands, a gentle glow had given way to dragonfly, its frame resting upon his palms. He lifted his hand into the air, letting the dragonfly soar up and above the vagabonds who guarded the factory down below. He nodded to Dreadlin before muttering...

"Entwined Journey"

Immediately, his head hung over as his body slumped a bit onto Dreadlin. It was as though he had suddenly fell asleep. In fact, he had connected himself to the dragonfly. His consciousness was now inside the dragonfly itself, allowing him to see and hear everything the dragonfly was seeing. He was now in control of this small creature as he perched upon the frame of a broken window. With the buggy eyes of the dragonfly, he began inconspicuously surveying the inside of the building. There were many more of the dark guild members, more than he had imagined there to be. Unfortunately, no sign of the exceed though, which was most likely in another room or on another floor of the factory. The dragonfly fluttered it's wings and took off into the building, flying around quietly in search of the cat. None of the dark guild members took much notice of the dragonfly, most simply swatting it away when it got too close. The dragonfly perched upon a ledge as it peered around.

Where could this cat be...?

[Hitman]

Bat Flight

---

---

The interiors of the factory were not some sort of military bunker, but was quite different- a flea market was going on. Vendors were set up inside the abandoned building, selling wares from clothing to highly illegal Lacrima weaponry. The factory itself was long abandoned by its former owner and their company, having since become rather derelict. The stone walls were beaten down from weathering, the overarching roof had several large gaps in it, the floor was dirty and only covered by several cheap carpets, and the pillars supporting the main portion of the building didn't look all too sound. Despite this, though, the building was still bustling with life, shoppers running to and fro to get their hands on illegal wares, with men in brown robes wielding magic rifles patrolling the area in large numbers.

At the end of the factory, behind a pair of large metal doors, was a large office, the office of Keslar Magnate. Magnate’s office was massive, the size of a small theater, perhaps, and was covered wall-to-wall with magic weapons of various kinds. Magnate was behind his large polished deck, feet kicked up, a Magic Pump Shotgun in his hands. At his right side was his right-hand man and head of all security at the factory, Tiger, who was gazing intensely into a silver orb, and to his left was a small white cat, ensnared in a blue net hanging from the ceiling. The cat stared angrily but silently ahead.

"What's wrong? Bat's got your tongue?" Keslar sneered with an evil grin. "Don't you worry, little kitty. We'll find a nice home for you soon. At least, a home that belongs to the highest bidder."

"Boss." Tiger spoke up as he looked up from the crystal ball. "We got a problem."

"Problem?" Magnate laughed. "We're making tons of money right now, and this little thing's gonna get us a ton more! What makes you think there's a problem."

Tiger's gaze turned towards the Guild Master. "The Security Lacrima we've placed around the facility have detected four intruders. Three female, one lizard...thing. Most likely, they're hired mercenaries from the Ducards. Obviously, they're going outside the law to get their Exceed back."

"Only four? We have, like, quadruple their numbers. If they get any closer, turn 'em to ash." Keslar grinned.

"Of course. Our numbers easily overpower theirs's, and that's assuming that I don't join the fray myself. I just thought I'd let you know."

"Thank you, Skinner.'preciate it. Just try and bring 'em back alive, you hear? They might prove useful yet."

Johnny Skinner, the Tiger, placed the orb down on Keslar's desk and gave a nod. "Will do." He moved towards the doors of the office, ready to go join the rest of his ranks. Easy pickings, they'd be.

At least, so he thought.

[ShwiggityShwah]

@Hitman@Raijinslayer@Quincy@Esran@pkken

Two shots rang out and struck two of the downed men. Pox heart leapt into his throat as he thought the worst. "NO!"

Just then, the light of the shot spread to the two downed men and they winced, trying to get back into some semblance of lucidity. "Wha-Wha?" Said one. "Ugh, it hurts... but-" Said the other now working to get on their hands and knees.

Pox was relieved, and confused. Mostly confused. He looked... he knew there was someone there, and even in the crosshares he could sense that they were being watched, it could shoot him now, and yet. Yet it was helping them. Healing at range. That was a neat trick. But- but why? Why try to aid the enemy. Pox's already low opinion of his comrades sank more. Was this just a diversion, risking their lives. "Here! Quickly! Follow me!"

The men looked at the weird bird masked man, not knowing him. "Who the hell are you!"

"Guys over here! Hurry!" One of Pox's rescues was waving them over, safely around the corner of a building where three others were recovering.

That was enough, their comrade giving them orders was a good enough reason to trust Pox, and thankfully they could move on their own. "Keep your head down, they've got Marksman Magic!" He had to shout, another powerful blast ripping through the battlefield, casting dust and debris nearby. It was a warzone!

Safely behind the corner, the speculating began. "Bastards blew up the cart! There goes our loot!"

"Who knew they had magic that powerful! We didn't even see them!"

"How did they know we were there? Scrying magic?"

"I don't think it was them..." Pox was already looking back, there were more victims, and the battle itself could mean their allies being in trouble. Pox had to get involved. Had to stop this before the town was roped in.

"What do you mean, who else could it be?" Hard to believe your own guild would sacrifice you.

Pox didn't have time to answer, he moved around the building, hiding, looking out for the sniper and getting closer to the fight. He could help the Spiders if he got close enough... but why should he? Dragons were here to help, their magic showed that. How should he play this?

[Reflection]

Muko
@Sho Minazuki@Hitman

"Even people in armor can be tourists, right?" Muko grumbled out. Though to be honest, he had completely forgotten he was wearing some degree of armor. Mostly because he didn't really think about his clothing that much. But now that he was self conscious about it, he was starting to get worried. Did others judge him for wearing armor!? This was something he'd need to weep over talk to the Guild Master about later.

"You'd think though that a dark mage presence would be more... Presence-y. Don't you think? After all, It's not like he's gonna be causing trouble from the local bar. At the very least, we should make sure to avoid unnecessary conflict. We can blow up the town in the fight proper, you know?" With that said, Muko began to walk towards town, adjusting his chestplate, and putting on his brave face. Time for some character building conflict with Vega. Even if it was completely contrived.

[Squad 404]

@Hitman

---

Glory heard Victoria call for a two pronged attack, and figured that they would be fine on their own. Glory’s momentum was already built, and she wasn’t going to be subtle in the slightest. Glory’s feet carried her swiftly across the rough terrain. The guards that patrolled outside, if they saw Glory, would likely be powerless to stop her. Even still, Glory knew that she needed to be faster, and thus Glory did something that made her uncomfortable.

It only took a thought to activate. One simple command from her mind to her body. [Overdrive.] Glory felt a rush as her body began to move even faster than what it had been moving at previously, much like how one would experience a sudden surge of adrenaline. Glory moved at an almost blur as she approached the rough walls of the factory. Glory honed in on one particular section of wall as, for some reason, Glory had an instinctive feeling that there wouldn’t be any life lost from what she was about to do. If only Glory knew that it wasn’t instinct telling her this.

Regardless, Glory’s focus hardened. She harnessed one of the few emotions that she could still feel: Anger. Glory was angry at the people here for stealing the cat, Glory was angry at herself for having to use Overdrive and further acknowledge that she was less human than she wanted to be, and Glory’s repressed anger bubbled to the surface. With eyes almost glowing red, Glory raised her left fist and propelled it forward just as she reached the wall.

The ground shook from the force of the blow, and smoke filled the air. The sound was almost like an explosion going off, and once the smoke cleared enough to see Glory now stood atop a freshly made pile of rubble some distance into the building, and a frighteningly large portion of the wall was now gone, which is presumably where the rubble came from. Seething with hate, Glory barked one simple demand. ”I AM GLORY OF DRAGON HEART. SOMEONE HERE HAS STOLEN AN EXCEED. IF YOU WISH TO REMAIN WHOLE, RETURN THIS EXCEED.”

Glory’s eyes darted around the room, her senses turned to maximum as Overdrive elevated her to power unknown to most. Naturally, the large metal doors at the end of the factory caught her attention. Glory would’ve gone to investigate, but if she so quickly dismissed her attention from those gathered then they would probably seek to counter attack, and Glory certainly couldn’t have that. Glory had everyone's attention now, like it or not. Abandoning such a pursuit too early would more than likely endanger her and her teammates. That was the trick of intimidation: Once you start, don't stop until you're done.

Bringing her arms apart, Glory smashed her fists together, producing an excessively loud metallic clank from the impact. To the likely surprise of those present, Glory’s fists suffered no damage from this. Glory barked another command, expecting obedience from those gathered. ”ANSWER ME OR ANSWER WITH YOUR FLESH.”

[Savo]

An Interlude of Information

---

Interacting With:: ???
Location:: Abandoned Townhouse, Albero

---

"Oh, non, non, non, perish the thought mon ami, I understand the circumstances quite distinctly," he bellowed jovially, waving one of his hands in a nonchalant manner one of his guards lead the chains binding the poor sods to one of the quartet of magi, leaving only three to accompany the Maestro. "But oui, I am more than happy to learn about my... prospective business partners."

With the snap of his fingers, both his escorts flanked behind him as he coiled and curled the cigarette, a snake slithering through the airy grass. "Why of course not! I am always on the look for more lucrative opportunities after all, Monsieur?" The slowed down the speech near the end seemed to indicate that he was curious about the leaders name, marching towards the staircase and began to ascend them with his two... "subordinates."

With Maestro heading up the stairs, the remaining trio turned and walked up next to him, the man who spoke earlier continuing as they walked to the top of the stairs.

”We are pleased to hear it! You have such impressive goods, and surely could not have had much notice about our presence here; it is certainly a sign of good things to come.”

On the second floor landing, there was a staircase ahead of them, but the trio turned to the left instead where a large double door dominated the wall. Heading over to it, the trio opened the doors to reveal a lightly furnished meeting room.

”Come, sit down, and we will talk about business here.”

---

Unbeknownst to the group, they were being listened to. Having heard them heading up the stairs, Ceri immediately stopped heading in their direction and paused just out of sight at the top. Business partners? Goods? Whatever were they talking about? Silently, as they turned to head towards the door, she took a few silent, light steps down certain that she was not noticed.

A large man, flanked by two obvious guards. A trio of obvious mages followed. Narrowing her eyes, she hesitated. She could ambush them here, easily. So easy. Silently. End their miserable lives - But she didn't, quickly stepping back as she decided best not too get involved for now.

She headed back the ways she came, moving to one of the third story windows, opening it and hopped out, gracefully landing not far in front of Mis.

---

@Lord Sawsaw2@Rune_Alchemist@Crimson Raven@Spanner@alexfangtalon

[Esran]

Valishin Elias

"Death in Three Acts"

Interaction/s: @Hitman, @pkken, @Raijinslayer, @ShwiggityShwah & @Quincy

---

Putting his lips upon the ring, Vali hissed in irritation as his keen eyes spotted the brigand medic still dancing in the shadows as the doctor began his vermin-like approach towards the battlefield. His desperate mind began to entertain the thought of just engaging the medic, but his principles prevailed with an exasperated sigh. The sniper moved from his current position, carefully maneuvering around the wheat stocks before he rested beside a scarecrow with its straws fluttering against the harsh winds. This time, the sniper was now closer to the town's walls, now crouching behind the clown and the woman who had began channeling a series of powerful spells.

Vali decided to put the medic in his place before engaging his target. Thus, he placed his lips upon the ring once more as he threw his voice in the area close to the medic who he saw creeping through the dilapidated buildings.

"This is the Sniper of Dragon Heart," Vali's voice rang around the medic. "I helped you heal your injured allies so that you would flee from the battlefield. I understand your need to help your comrades, but this is no place for a medic. I may be able to distinguish a target from an innocent, but bullets or fireballs cannot choose which flesh they pierce or incinerate." The marksman breathed out before continuing. "Tend to your wounded and mourn for your loss after the battle, lest you join their ranks and they lose any chance of survival. But," He paused for a moment, his thoughts pondering on the implications and the limits of his principles. "If you insist on helping your fallen friends on the field, then, I will watch over you, because I am Dragon Heart. And, I know what it means for others to fade before your eyes."

The pieces have moved once more, and Vali realized that their little game had now reached the final turning point. One errant step would spell the end of their formation.

"But, know this," Vali continued through the ring. "If you get in between my allies and me, I will not hesitate to put a bullet through you. The law dictates that your task is only to retrieve your allies. Nothing more."

As he said this, a large explosion spiraled at Damian's location, and immediately, Vali sprang to action as he refused to waste any more time on the bandit medic. With the clown and the woman distracted with their spells, the sniper got to work as he took off his black cloak, white mask, and onyx hat. Swiftly, he placed them on the scarecrow before using a bullet to spawn a white rope which he tied around the doll, just beneath the black cloak.

Before the two could spot him, the sniper had vanished beneath the illusion cloak once more as he placed the ring near his rifle, activating it in the process. If the ring could throw voices, Vali knew it may also be able to throw the sounds of his shots. When it came to assassinating people, he needed to deceive them by redirecting their senses to a location where he would never send his attack. If all went well, he could probably take out the two. The sniper breathed out as his aim steadied and his heart stilled.

Now, they play again.

A loud shot echoed to the duo's left, and Vali predicted that anyone who was battle hardened would immediately respond to sounds, almost instinctively. If he was correct, the clown and the woman would look to their left, exposing their blindspot to the right. Immediately, the white rope soared through the air, narrowly missing the woman by an inch as it passed from behind near her neck, embedding itself to the earth to their left, leaving a bright strand connecting the bullet to the costumed scarecrow. This was the second deception: sight was also a sense that was easily manipulated, and anything bright would often draw the eyes of the enemy. Vali believed that the luminous rope would draw their attention further away from him as he began circling further to the right. Now, it was the final deception: with a huff, the white rope connected to the scarecrow reeled back into the bullet, dragging the cloaked and masked doll as it flew through the air towards them. With its straw body and face shrouded by the cloak, mask, and hat, it would seem as if an assassin was charging at the two. However, the marksman knew that enemies of this level would only take a second before they would realize that it was just a decoy. Every precious shard of the briefest of eternities mattered.

But, a second was all Valishin needed.

As he settled now to the right of the two, his scopes lined up on the injured clown, knowing that he would have the hardest time dodging. In any normal case, he would just aim for a body shot to incapacitate his enemies, but this was different: they were murderers, and he needed to put them down. His scopes hovered on the clown's head, and Vali knew that in the chance the clown could dodge, his angle would allow the bullet to still hurtle towards the woman, effectively threatening both of them. Besides, any earthen shield would try to make would immediately be pierced through. If the gods were on their side, he could take out both.

"May my aim be true." Vali prayed in his mind as he took the shot, throwing the sound off to Jean in an effort to distract the speedster. The purple bullet pierced through the air, dashing at horrifying speed as it eagerly flew towards the clown's head.

[Sho Minazuki]

Vega Ashcroft

@Reflection@Hitman

---

By the look on Muko's face, his obliviousness was plain to see. In return Vega made his own face of incredulity, unable to believe such a halfwit was S rank. This system was rigged he thought, if someone like this was S rank he should be well ahead, or at least the others should be. How did this guy do it? Just power? He certainly had that, but what difference does it make? None, otherwise in his mind, he would be with the same ranking. In any case...

"Whatever, the little shitter's probably hiding out someplace with a view of that damn guild hall, probably hidden or something. There's no trace of any such activity, so it's better we just ask and ambush, simple stuff... Now let's stop dawdling and get in there. I'll let you do the talking, and I'll be the muscle. You couldn't give even a scowl to save your goddamn life", he didn't seem to be listening... Well at least not completely. In and out quickly was probably best to not cause a disturbance. He was more or less dragging Muko to his plan... Well, they'll see how that turns out.

For now, they should just head on over there.

[Lmpkio]

_{@MarsAdept, @Valor, @Aeolian}

---

Lorn would accompany Dreadlin as they made their way towards the back of the factory. They'd go behind a rusted mechanical fragment while they continue to search around for the missing exceed. The lizardman raises his head slightly to potentially get a lead on where the cat could be, but alas to no avail. It was definitely not running around anywhere. And with the guards walking about, it's simply guaranteed.

"Hmmmm..." he mentioned quietly, "I dun' smell it, so far. Where could they be hidin' de wee lil' exceed?"

His partner on the other hand can feel the exceed's frightened demeanor. Dreadlin couldn't blame the poor thing for how it's feeling. Who knows what these vile people are trying to do to it. Lorn would then ask Dreadlin to protect him while he attempts to peak around to find the exceed's precise location.

"Yeh." Dreadlin answered with a affirming nod.

Yet while he guards his partner, he suddenly hears the faint sound of an echoing explosion from nearby. While it startled the lizardman slightly, only issuing a quiet "meep", he still kept his composure in check. That most likely was Glory and Victoria breaking into the factory's defenses if he had to reckon. He somewhat envied them for already getting into the fight. Like sure he could beat all these guys within his vicinity, but he didn't want to jeopardize the plan if they wanted to be sneaky. But then again, if these guards are going to investigate the noise coming down the hall, perhaps they could still remain hidden after all?

He just hopes that these low-lying guards were sloppy with their work...

[MarsAdept]

Victoria Pax

@Valor @Aeolian @Lmpkio @Hitman

---

---

Victoria laughed to herself as she saw Glory just smash her way into the factory. She could not be mad at Glory for the lack of her grace with that breaching maneuver. Glory had struck the iron it was time to make heat up the forge. Victoria charge into the breach right after the dust settled. As she crossed the threshold of the breach, red flash ran down Victoria's form. The light was the light of Victoria reinforcing her illusion. Her armor solidified and hardened. The thuds of her leather boots' footfall was replaced by the clanking of metal sabatons as she crossed over the rubble. She stumbled a bit as the sudden weight of the armor places itself upon her frame. Despite how much she was prepared suddenly wearing armor always as her threw her balance off.

Victoria was actually surprised to see what she did when she passed though the breach. She had an image in her head that this factory would be little more than a empty warehouse with just some punk gangsters pretending to be tough. She instead found herself in the middle of a black market. Glory's sudden entrance and shouting had caused a wave of fear to go through the market. All present seemed frozen in fear as they looked in Glory and Victoria. Victoria saw a merchant quickly steal some jewels from the customer he was trying to haggle with. Victoria had to get these scared people moving again. It would be wasteful to crush everyone here when they could run away without resistance. Victoria without thinking conjured up a full body shield in her left hand and in her right hand she conjured a long steel spear. As the spear manifested, the shaft extended beneath one of the nearby stalls. Victoria used the spear as leverage to flip over the stall. The poor merchant's stolen enchanted jewelry and other trinkets scattered everywhere. Victoria called out after Glory paused, "Shop is closed. Flee while you can! We want to Exceed and this factory is now a war zone. Any hostility will be interpreted as being an associate to theft!"

As Victoria made her demand known, the first guard of this hidden black market and possibly a grunt of Bat Wing came charging at Victoria. Victoria bashed the man hard with her shield. He was unprepared for such a sudden response. Victoria swept his legs out from under him with her spear. As the man was momentarily in the air, Victoria morphed her spear into a one handed war hammer. She brought that hammer down on the man's chest and drove him into the ground like a nail. Victoria brought her shield in front of her just in time for block a fireball launched at her. A member of bat wing had a wand looking device and was blindly shooting fireballs at Victoria.

[alexfangtalon]

---

Annalyse

---

If anyone were to ask her, Annalyse would have to admit she was a little sad. Two members of Dragon Heart were fighting and she couldn't do anything to help. It was safe to say that her mind wasn't entirely on the mission at hand but she followed Mis either way. Upon arrival at the townhouse, Annalyse did her best to see if she could notice anything out of the ordinary. But as she had a lack of experience the young mage had no real idea of what she should even keep an eye out for. She decided that for now, she'd just follow Mis and Ceri's lead since this was more their forte than hers.

When Ceri left to scout Annalyse tried to figure out something she could do. She thought back to the recent words of both Flavia and Mis stating they really didn't have an understanding of her abilities. So, if anything it may be a good time as any to fill them in on what she could do until Ceri got back. "Well, what I do is more of a support kind of mage ability. I can apply attributes to things such as silent, rejuvenating, sticky, lightweight, and etc. There are a lot of different attributes I can use but there are also a lot of limitations. Also, it takes a while for me to apply some attributes. The more I use one the easier it gets though. I also know Requip magic but I am not able to do it on the fly just yet. That's the main reason I always carry Eclipse on me. And I do know how to use it but I'm not that skilled with it yet. I also have these patches that can do various things. Do you wanna try one?"

Annalyse reached for her bag pulling out one of her white patches. She holds it out to Flavia but before the girl can respond Ceri lands in front of the group. It takes everything in Annalyse's power to not yelp out in surprise. Scared to speak in case her momentary fright does escape from her Annalyse looks from Ceri to Mis and then to Flavia. Hopefully, one of them knew what to do next.

[Crimson Raven]

Flavia Astra

_{@Lord Sawsaw2, @Rune_Alchemist, @alexfangtalon}

Flavia blinked at the offered patches. The looked normal enough, but seeming about they way they were offered struck her as...illicit-seeming. She looked back at Annalyse and then quickly looked away. "Er...no thanks. Sorry."

Just then, Ceri returned in nimble fashion, hopping down from a window. Flavia beckoned her over. "What did you find?" She asked quietly.

[Rune_Alchemist]

---

"Hm..." Ceri took a moment to collect her thoughts, walking over to Flavia. "Seven or eight people." Ceri said in a quick, efficient manner bereft of her usual shyness. In fact, she seemed rather confident. They wouldn't see the small, smug grin beneath her robes. "Maybe ten to be on the safe side. Most are in a large meeting room on the second floor. Perhaps some more on the first. Might be a basement. Didn't get to check." Pausing, she seemed to suddenly fidget and wilt in her usual manner.

"A-ah, u-uhm..." She looked down to the ground, holding her large sleeves together in a fashion that hid her hands. "T-that's uhm, it! Something about goods and uhm, stuff..." She looked over to Mis expectantly.

[Lord Sawsaw2]

Illedrith Adrasia

---

Mis looked intrigued as Annalyse pulled out a white patch of some kind. She was, of course, very vaguely aware of the magic of most members of the guild, but she'd never seen Annalyse actually use her magic so she was rather interested in understanding the actual applications of it. As she was about to ask about it, Ceri dropped out of the sky next to them. Hardly much of a surprise to her, given how much they'd worked together in the past, she turned and waited for Ceri to report on the status inside the building.

"Seven or eight people. Maybe ten to be on the safe side. Most are in a large meeting room on the second floor. Perhaps some more on the first. Might be a basement. Didn't get to check."

Mis smiled when she heard the report. A good fight was brewing on the horizon, and her companion was getting better at information gathering with every passing mission. A split house meant that the numbers advantage could hopefully be kept at bay, giving them the time to deal with the first group and then turn the matter into a series of 1v1s that Mis had no doubt they could handle.

"Excellent work as always, darling Ceri, that should do for our initial recon. I have a plan for what I would do personally in this situation, but I'd like to hear your thoughts. How do you all think we should proceed?"

[Crimson Raven]

Flavia Astra

_{@Lord Sawsaw2, @Rune_Alchemist, @alexfangtalon}

Flavia considered the problem. She stated mumbling out loud, seemingly without realizing it. "Seven to eight minimum is a lot of people. We'll be outnumbered two-to-one and they could have more. Splitting up is out of the question, we'll work much better as a team. Maybe sneak inside and attempt to ambush them one by one...? Or at least take them in small groups. We don't know how strong they are so its a gamble. If this is supposed to be a seek and destroy we could really use more muscle w-we aren't...v-very...uh." Flavia stuttered to a stop and blushed bright red as she realized she had been saying all this aloud. "N-not that I'm doubting your power or anything! She said frantically, waving her hands around. The white-hair mage shrank down on herself as she mumbled her last bit even quieter. "J-just that...well...I'm not sure we um..." She trailed off, even more embarrassed. "I'm sorry!" She exclaimed.

The nervous girl felt like none of them were direct combat specialists and so a offensive assault would be ill-advised at best, and suicidal at worst. She'd feel a lot more comfortable if they had fighters like Glory or Ladon, someone who could take point and duke it out in a melee, coming along with them.

[Aeolian]

[P.S. Click on Lorn's picture to hear his new voice]

The Abandoned Magic Item Factory
@MarsAdept@Lmpkio@Valor

---

Lorn came to after his search of the factory via looking through the eyes of the dragonfly. He brought his hands to his temples and moaned a bit, a surge coursing through his head. His mind was in that dragonfly for too long it seemed, causing an uncomfortable pulsing like he was recovering from a headache. He shook his head and turned to Dreadlin, "It's a black market in there. And the exceed....it's located at the far end of the factory in a room. I felt it's presence from within, and it wasn't alone..."

Just then, a loud pop went off, like something had just been bulldozered, sounds of hard material and concrete suddenly cascading to the ground. The jarring subsided as he suddenly felt a presence of immense anger and determination, and the accompanying voice of a certain woman of solidified his initial thoughts, "Glory..." he murmured to Dreadlin. The assault had begun, though certainly not in the subtle manner that he had originally envisioned. In any case, Lorn adapted and would utilize the current distraction she caused to move forward with his plan. Glory and Victoria were certainly woman capable of commanding attention, he felt it.

And the guards outside had obviously heard the sudden commotion too, as some of them rushed back inside the factory while the others rushed around the other side of the building to see what had caused the loud boom. Patrons were running out too, notably frightened by what was beginning to unfold. Lorn sighed a bit, relieved to see things moving in his favor.

"Dreadlin, it's time. While they're preoccupied, I'm going to go procure our feline friend. Not sure your figure lends itself to subtly." he teased the man, though he what he spoke of was true. If he were to snoop around, Dreadlin would probably stand out like a sore thumb. In any case, Dreadlin could aid the girls in their assault, the number of Bat Wing members present was plentiful. He gave Dreadlin a pat on his shoulder and then got up and pushed his way through the crowd that were evacuating the premise.

Once inside, he crouched behind a vendor stall, trying to blend in with the patrons too scared to get up and evacuate like some of the others had. He peaked up from behind one of the stalls and briefly met eyes with Glory, giving her a fortified nod, hoping she'd catch on to his plan to be sneaky since his Heart Magic was ineffective on her. In any case, the fighting was definitely underway, fireballs whizzing past him towards Victoria, who aptly shielded herself from the attack. He glanced at her as she fought the wand-wielding Bat Wing mage and then took off down the hall, quickly tucking himself into a dark crevice to hide from the Bat Wing mages that were running past to confront Glory and Victoria.

He would wait until they all passed, and then continue towards the large reinforced metal doors in silent and carefully subtle strides.

[Raijinslayer]

Argus

---

---

"You're not the first to say something like that, but you'd be surprised by what a few parlor tricks can do." Argus said with a chuckle, keeping his eye on his foe even as the man seemed to dismiss him. He was an arrogant fuck, that was to be certain, and the red-haired mage planned to take full advantage of his over-confidence the moment he made a mistake.

Until then, however, he had to deal with his team doing almost everything in their power to be liabilities it seemed. Sara had decided to become nothing but deadweight it seemed, Damian had made himself a sitting duck doing whatever the hell he was doing, and Trixie had decided to try and tackle the speedy guy that had cut through her hammer like it was butter. He knew asking for some form of cohesion from a bunch of guys who had never really worked with each other before was probably asking for too much. . . but the fact that a base level of intellect seemed to be missing as well proved to be more than a little irritating.

Sparing the celestial mage little more than a disgusted look, Argus took advantage of Damian's support spell to make his own move, but instead of going after Jean, he decided now was a perfect time to go after one of the others while they were distracted by Damian. Rushing towards the two, he'd pull out the pepper bombs he'd first toss his dagger at the fat one, quickly followed by the two pepper bombs, causing a huge cloud of thick, choking smoke to surround the two, causing their eyes and throats to burn intensely as the special pepper mixture in the smoke came into contact with them. Following that, however, Argus quickly dodged to the side, anticipating an attack from one or both of his foes, and summon forth a pair of explosive bombs to toss into the air while their vision was obstructed. Taking advantage of the puppeteer gloves, he'd make them plummet down on top of the two from directly above them in the hopes of getting around any defense the woman put up, the bombs triggering with a sizeable Boom the moment they made contact. They were strong enough that a direct hit should be enough to take out a mage with no reinforcing magic, so with luck the clown would go down with this . . . but he doubted things would turn out so well.

All of this becuase the damn airhead didn't take two seconds to thing before heading into an obvious trap. And Juno wonders why I prefer to work alone.]

@Esran @pkken @Quincy @Hitman

[Hitman]

Sara Hepburn

---

---

Left around Damian was a towering beacon of smoke, obscuring vision around the Mage (or possibly what was left of him). Before any of the members of Black Widow could confirm the kill, the dumb Dragon Heart Mages decided to launch their own counterattack. First, the hammer girl launched towards Jean with a firm determination to attack. Jean barely gave the attack any meaning, sidestepping with impossible speed before regaining his stance in case the girl had even more tricks ready. Then, a luminous white rope and a scarecrow flew past the head of Piedra, causing a quick glance in the other direction. This moment caused by the decoy gave the sniper a chance to fire one of his specialty bullets, but Smiley- already bleeding heavily from the last goddamn bullet- wasn't falling for the same trick twice. With movements as fast as could be, he pulled an orb from his own bag of parlor tricks and smashed it. Immediately, a blue shield of energy wrapped around him, the purple bullet's magic power dissipating on contact with the shimmering barricade.

"My Shield Orb eliminates magic on contact. I don't carry a ton of those, so don't you bother keep hitting me with your piercing whosiwhatsits!" In angry retaliation, Smiley pointed in the general vicinity of where the bullet came, a dark red orb appearing by his side, before spiraling towards Vali's approximate direction, a great explosion of heat erupting as the orb hit Mother Earth. The clown doubted the attack would eliminate the rather wise sniper, but hoped at best it would injure him, and at worst would send a message.

Then, the red-haired Mage sent forth several massive clouds of red pepper stuff, causing great coughing fits among the weaker Spiders. Then, several bombs rained down from the sky. Ignoring where the kid got telekinesis from, and realizing that her ability to raise a rock wall would be limited by time, Piedra instead fired several shards of rock towards the clown, knocking him far out of the way of the explosion, and taking the bare brunt of the bombs herself.

As the smoke subsided, Piedra coughed, her body devastated by the attack. Rock armor wrapped around her skin, hopefully protecting her from future attacks.

Meanwhile, as Smiley was launched aside, Sara saw her opportunity. "Scorpio!"

"Got it!" The Scorpion got down on all fours, his metal tail pointing towards the midair clown. "Sand Buster!"

A whirlwind of sand launched towards the clown, engulfing him and blasting him across the hills of Mill Valley. At least for the moment, he was out of the picture.

Jean barely gave a glance towards his injured comrade, taking note of every Mage's skills. "Not bad. Not bad at all." He applauded slowly. "One removed from battle, one heavily injured. I must admit, you've impressed me. And obviously the Lady in Black as well, considering that she's dispatched one of her best towards this location presently." Jean chuckled softly. "She was right about you, that's for certain. On the money."

---

---

Meanwhile, miles away at the Bat Wing headquarters, all hell was breaking loose. All the store-visitors were running in panic across and out of the building, while the guards were quivering in their boots. Eventually, one of them spoke up. _{"they're keeping the magic cat with the boss in the back room please don't kill me aaaahh~~!"} he squeaked, quite embarrassing for a 6'4" muscled guard.

A footstep was heard, and then in a blur a man appeared only a couple of yards in front of Glory. He had slicked blonde hair and was wearing a tiger-print robe and wood sandals. His eyes were amber, war-hardened orbs with firm dedication. His mere presence gave the members of the guard a boost in morale, and they promptly encircled the visible Dragon Heart mages. Tiger gave Glory a nod.

"I'm afraid this is an area not authorized for individuals without a pass. As Tiger of the Bat Wing guild, I will remove you if necessary." Tiger raised his hands and rose onto one foot, like some sort of fighting stance, and stared Glory down.

"Fighting against an S-Class mage of this guild, you stand no chance."

Boy, how he would be proven wrong.

---

---

Meanwhile again, in Kukan's magic world, the Sea Dragon's Tooth guild came into view. The town was small and quaint, and the Guild matched that- the hustle and bustle of activity seen in Dragon Heart was not present in Sea Dragon Tooth, a dull place void of any actual interactions. The Guild Hall itself was similar enough, slightly smaller, looking like a cheap knock-off of Dragon Heart, in fact. Sitting at the bar was a lonely young lady with a brown cloak and a tattoo of a curved fang on her neck. This was Amber Sawkins, Guild Master of Sea Dragons Tooth.

The Master gave a sigh, before taking another drink from her mug. The times were not good, with devastating attacks from the Dark Mage unsettling the Guild's mages, and membership was at an all-time low. Sawkins only hoped a miracle would happen.

Maybe it would.

---

---

Viewing the fight from a high point on a cliff, wrapped in a black robe, Eliza Bathery viewed the battle with intrigue. The robe she wore was that of invisibility, so she could view the fight in peace, and wrapped around her neck was a silencing charm, one that would keep her undetected for a while.

She laughed, knowing that nobody would hear her. This was quite interesting, indeed.

[Sho Minazuki]

Vega Ashcroft

@Reflection@Hitman

---

"What, it's just some old lady in here huh?", Vega stepped into the hall, quite prepared for more fanfare, or even just a few people. Just one person though? He did not expect at all.

"Well isn't that nice Muck-o? Just a single old withering hag, no crowd to get all worked up about. Tch", he teased, the tone was as aggressive as he usually was, but he looked almost disappointed given the plans they had 'decided' coming in. He seemed to be a bit irritated though... He won't say it, but he has noticed. Everything is eerily familiar to their town and guild hall, something about this place did not feel right at all. The silence of this place did nothing to help matters either, but he felt it best they not act as if they'd noticed... If this was a trap of some mage's doing, giving away that they know so soon would likely end up with them finding out very little. He noticed her tattoo as well... It's likely she was this place's leader, but the problem was there was no one to lead.

"Hey old lady! I hear you got some kinda dark mage problem. Care to share? It's not like anyone else is around to make you busy anyway", his tone seemed annoyed as if his time was being wasted, which to him, with no one around and such a boring dull place devoid of any activity, it was. He kicked the nearest chair, causing it to flip and spin right round as he took a seat in it in a backwards fashion as he leaned forward on the back of the chair.

"Try not to put us to sleep alright?", resting his chin upon his forearms.