GambolMuse

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

Something big be on its way :o

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

Viral was nothing compared to him, nothing compared to the might that was the Saiyans. No one could ever hope to match their unbridled strength or sheer natural talent for combat, certainly not some cheap imitation. "You are a failed machine Viral, nothing more! A discarded memory caught in his own delusions!" the Elite shouted back, laughing as he fired a Ki blast to the ground, intending to engulf the Beastman in the explosion. The blast nearly met its mark too before another energy struck it and held it in place. Where was that blast coming from?! Realizing the rest of the traitors were still engaged in combat the Elite came to the shocking realization that Viral was using energy of his own, and it somehow equaled his. Gritting his teeth as the beams collided, smashing and causing bursts of brilliant color, the Saiyan tried to push more power through his attack. The resulting clash of their blasts was causing the air around them to heat up rapidly, the sky above them shifting as a result. Clouds were parted and the smoke previously obscuring the sky began to clear, giving way to brighter sunlight. And with the stronger sun now came a stronger push against his own blast, slowly losing the tide of the struggle.

"I-Impossible! How are you doing this!?" Slowly but surely his Ki was being pushed back no matter how much energy he poured into it; the sun was doing something and it was making Viral's power increasingly more powerful. "You're a rodent, filth! You cannot be stronger than us! It's inexcusable! Die!" With one last push the Elite flooded his blast with as much Ki as he could muster, his jaw dropping in shock as Viral's blast pushed through regardless. Unable to dodge he barely lifted his arms in time to block and was engulfed in a searing heat, taking the full brunt of the attack as it exploded around him. Before the smoke had even cleared he fell from the sky, slamming into the ground with a pained groan: arms were charred and bloodied, face was half burned, his armor all but melted away and one leg burned in several places. Breathing raggedly the Elite struggled to push himself up to his feet, barely managing before he stumbled forward and collapsed again, glaring up at Viral. "Impossible... You... You can't be that strong... There's no way..."

Yumi had gotten an advantage briefly when she'd changed tactics but now that was disappearing. Mobility was limited by the quills sticking out of her and the Elite was now much more cautious with his attacks, trying to bait her into making a mistake and leaving herself open. Each step sent a pain racing down her leg as her muscles contorting and relaxing shifted the quills, and she was fairly certain one in her torso had just barely missed her lungs. Dashing backwards to avoid an overhead kick from the Elite she reached up and pulled the quill from her chest, gasping in pain before throwing it at the man and missing by a few inches. With Ki in her palm she hurled a blast at him as he charged her down, clicking her tongue when he dodged by ducking beneath it. Again he tried to grab a hold of her but she evaded by jumping up and over him, or nearly did as he grabbed her by the ankle. Flailing awkwardly she could do nothing as she was dragged back down and slammed into the ground, being lifted again and slammed on the opposite side. Nearly smashed a third time she barely managed to break free by throwing a Ki blast in the man's face, being dropped and quickly kicking out, smashing her heel into his leg and bringing him down to one knee. Everything hurt as she got up again but she forced herself to take a leap forward, her left leg cocked back as her whole body contorted, swinging her full weight behind a kick that connected with the side of the Elite's head.

The sound of bone crunching and breaking was the first thing Yumi noticed when her kick connected. The second was that it was not her own, a welcome relief. When she looked at the Elite however she saw she'd missed his head and instead struck his arm, clearly breaking the limb but sparing him paralysis, or perhaps even death. The limb fell limply to his side and she tried to capitalize and kick again but her leg was caught this time and she was swung aside, being tossed into the rubble as the Elite threw a blast after her, reducing the stone around her to dust. Coughing as smoke and dirt filled her lungs Yumi unleashed Ki around herself to clear the air, trying to search out the Elite's Ki signature. When it suddenly appeared right before her she tried to react in time and throw a Ki blast at him, failing as he dropped a knee into her stomach that made her yell out in pain, losing her focus and the Ki in the process. Feeling a massive hand clasp itself around her skull she was lifted off of the ground again, slammed back down before being lifted again. Everything hurt and her head felt like it was going to break, her hands numbly reaching up and trying to pry off the hand. His grip was tightening and her skull threatened to give way beneath his strength, her screams soundless as she fought to get free.

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

I think I'm going to go ahead and make a post ^^" Probably not tonight but later tomorrow, just to keep us moving along. I know holidays are busy and all but STUFF IS HAPPENING! :D

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

Something wasn't right here. Viral should be dead by now, crumpling under a superior force. He had no Ki, no real training, he was something that should not exist, an abomination and a tool made by another. So why. Wouldn't. He. Die?! The Elite unleashed more Ki in an attempt to overpower Viral and found their deadlock unchanging, that no matter the energy he put out it made no difference. Gritting his teeth as he attempted to push the Beastman back he sneered as Viral began taunting back, scoffing at his absurdness. "I get something to unleash all of my fury on and I can have some fun, what is there to be angry about? I couldn't be happier you freak!" That couldn't be further from the truth however as both of them were equally matched. No, that wasn't right either. He was losing ground to Viral, but how? Trying to force himself upon Viral the Elite gasped when the hold was broken, unable to react in time as claws raked against his chest, tearing through armor and drawing blood. He took another cut to the face before he finally managed to back off, dodging about to avoid being torn to ribbons. "You're nothing to us! Inferior! A cheap imitation of life! Accept that and die already!" Taking to the air the Elite amassed two Ki blasts, one in each hand, before smashing them together and lifting it overhead, throwing the sizable attack down at Viral. "Turn to dust with this miserable planet!"

Strike them from the skies and they couldn't run from his attacks. Easy on paper but difficult in practice, as the Elite was finding. To hit an enemy with his powers he had to visually see the target, tracking two people at once was all but impossible, even with following their Ki. Not only that but they were quick, much too quick to follow with the naked eye. As a result the Elite might as well have been throwing objects around aimlessly for all the good his power was doing him. Focused on Kai he'd failed to notice Choi at his back until a hard punch nearly toppled him over, and before he'd even righted himself an uppercut took him off of his feet, laying him flat on his back. Groaning and disoriented the Elite lifted its head, raising an arm and targeting both twins. If it couldn't throw objects at them... What about throwing them instead? Trying to lock both of them in place with its energy it attempted to pull them from the air and slam them into the ground, and at the same time it reached out blindly and grabbed a large piece of rubble, hoping to smash them into the road with it. Failure at the hands of traitors wouldn't sit well with their superiors, they needed to be victorious here today. They had to kill these children no matter what.

The attacks may not be as strong or as lethal as before but at least now Yumi was getting somewhere. For its own part as well her style was clearly something the Elite had never seen before as he aimlessly swung at her, each blow being dodged as she lithely ducked in, under and around each blow. For every swing he took she answered with one of her own, aiming at what she hoped to be a vital spot. Blunt force had proved ineffective but more precise shots were now wearing him down, and a two fingered prod to the sternum even made him stumble and cough up blood. He could be beaten, it would just be tedious and the longer the fight drew on the more dangerous it became. Concerned he might be catching onto her movements however Yumi again changed her manner of fighting, dropping her guard and smirking as she teased the Elite to attack. When he took the bait she jumped over his punch, grabbing his arm and pulling it along with her behind his back. Linking her legs around his neck she used her momentum to drag him back again before releasing and throwing him to the ground, then as soon as her feet hit the dirt she spun on a heel and axe-kicked down, slamming her heel into his sternum again. She was certain she'd heard bone break there and if she continued to hit the same spot he'd be finished before long. Before she could follow up though the man yelled and his orange hairs bristled, extending and firing out like a porcupine's quills. Yumi was embedded by several as she was forced to back off, gritting her teeth as several buried themselves in her torso and legs. Moving now hurt a fair bit and he was getting back to his feet again, wonderful.

-----

"That's true... But since we've learned we're doing everything we can to find out more. From the way King Nema speaks of you it sounds like you and your kind were once highly valued in society, you were right up there with kings and queens. I don't know what made things change but we'll not be treating your gifts as curses, but instead for what they are. Gifts. And a means to keep the planet happy. And of course that won't be just up to you since there should be others, from what Nema told us. We only have to find them." But that wasn't as easy as he made it sound was it? People had been killed for having the powers T'charrl did, coercing anyone to come out of hiding after so long wouldn't be easy. And just getting others to cooperate wasn't the only issue too, what if they were struggling like T'charrl was? As his son was so apt to put it how could they help others when they couldn't even help themselves?

"W-Well... They said they were going to h-h-help you with yours first, s-so that's good, right?" Haku asked uncertainly, "A-And uh... If there are others th-then they might not have to a-ask you to do anything anyways. I bet you can just k-keep traveling with us like you have been." He certainly hoped so, it would be rather strange to travel without T'charrl after knowing him... Well, the entire time he'd been with the group. Maybe it was selfish too in wanting the Kaesstrian to stay with them since otherwise Haku couldn't see himself getting on with anyone else anyways.

"You'll be getting help long before anyone asks you to help them, my son. Renthal is busy developing ways to help with your new body, and Nema gave us plenty of texts to look into. There's a way to help but its been lost to the ages, we only have to find it again," Yusef reassured his son, smiling as he spoke, "Your spirit and you share a unique bond now and you can co-exist, but the host has to be stronger than its guest. Which is why we'll begin training soon, and while we are your mother and Renthal agreed to look into other ways to help. We've even employed Garesh to help, though... He's been about as helpful as one might expect. First time I told him we needed him to help you he laughed and told me to leave, and it was much the same for the next few visits. It doesn't seem like he'll agree without something for himself but we're trying."

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

This was just so satisfying to do. Viral had betrayed the Saiyans, he had changed sides despite their giving him power, a purpose. And having played a part in the destruction of their Beastman project there was plenty of animosity to be had, all of which the Elite was keen to unleash on him. Every blow would hurt as much as he could possibly manage, he'd be sure to break every bone before he allowed the Beastman death. Slamming full force into Viral he drove him back, smashing through a wall and into the center of a building. It just felt so good to hurt him, the damned traitor deserved every injury he took. Grinning proudly the Elite blocked the first punch, taking a second to the jaw that made him stumble and drew blood. "Except your own weakness! That will always be your downfall, you cannot compare to a Saiyan!" Catching both of Viral's punches the two men struggled to gain ground, equally matched in raw power as they pushed back against one another. "Face it, you only ever had a chance when you were our pawn! Now you're nothing again! Doomed to walk in the shadows of your betters!" Slamming his foot down into the ground he held firm, his Ki swirling violently around both of them as rubble was thrown every which way as a result. "You're nothing Viral! Nothing but a poor imitation!"

To hell with fighting a telekinesis user, the twins could have that headache. Kabocha would much rather settle for a few strong soldiers even if the numbers were working against him. In the confusion of their swapping opponents he'd already managed to knock down one but it was evident the others weren't going to be nearly as easy. Swinging at one of the soldiers he cursed when they blocked his punch and another tried kicking him, backing off and then deflecting a shot from one of their blasters. Three on one and they weren't your typical cannon fodder either, great. All three came at him at once then and he had to be on his toes to block attacks, ducking and weaving constantly to avoid being knocked around. Dodging one punch he reached up and grabbed the soldier's arm, flying up and around to wrench it behind their back before kicking them into another, throwing a Ki blast at the first's back and managing to blow apart their armor. The third however was on him in seconds and a powerful overhead kick knocked Kabocha nearly to the ground, barely stopping himself from crashing as Ki burst from behind him, the road caving slightly from the force. He had to fire another blast then to meet two attacks from the other soldiers, the three strikes colliding and causing a sizable explosion above.

Yumi had to switch her style of fighting with this man if she had any hopes of winning. But what was going to work? Striking him head on did nothing and he was fast enough to keep up with her, combined with the fact he could use Ki liberally and she was more or less in a dead match. Landing on her feet she waited for the Elite to get on his own, still trying to decide on a style to fight with. Maybe... More precise, targeted strikes? Worth a try, though she had no idea where this type of person's pressure points might be. From a solid stance Yumi began to bounce back and forth on the balls of her feet, her lands loosely curled. The Elite made the first move and came right after her, throwing a hard right hook aimed at her head. Allowing her body to simply drop Yumi flattened her hand and slammed the heel into the Elite's chest, hearing him gasp for breath and stagger slightly. Following up promptly she drove the hell of her left hand into the underside of his jaw, making him nearly topple as he staggered backwards. Dashing in for a follow up she struck the inside of the man's left arm, his shoulder and just below his left pectoral. Backing off then to avoid a swinging strike she watched as he painfully moved his afflicted arm, smiling confidently at the turn out. So that would work then, excellent.

-----

"Even if it changes it will always be our city, our home. That fact can never change. Why, do you think it was all the same from when I was a child? Or from when your grandfather was a child? Kaesstra has always been changing T'charrl, just more slowly than it is now. And we're doing absolutely everything we can to make sure those changes don't bring any harm." Their world was precious and everyone understood that from those who lived above ground to those who thrived beneath. In some ways Garesh's ideals were being recognized now with their people using technology and advancing, but they were doing so to benefit everyone. None of their developments were military in design, none of it was meant to flaunt power or to laud anything over another kingdom. Everything they were making would be shared and Kaesstra as a whole would only benefit from the developments.

"And Nema's shared those stories with us, how there used to be a lot of people like you. Those of us who could talk to spirits and spoke to the forests, there are hardly any of those left anymore because of what happened." Yusef sounded rather sad as he spoke, a rueful smile on his face as he shook his head. "Your grandmother was one of them, did you know that? I know you've spoken with her before but I don't know if she's ever told you. She had to hide what she was all of her life, and up until her dying breath she hardly told a soul. But times have changed, we'll need people like you to speak to the spirits, to make sure we aren't upsetting the balance in the world. We're being very careful but there's no way any of us can know exactly what the planet things, not without someone like you," Yusef added, smiling back at T'charrl again, "So when you do finally come home you, and others like you, will help move our people forward into the future. You'll have a place wherever you go on Kaesstra, and..." he paused, looking at Haku, "It looks like you'll have a place whenever you travel, too. I'm proud of you, my son. You're doing to do great things, I just know you are."

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

No, they did not have any idea of what trouble being a Magi could bring. Though in light of recent events they were beginning to get a fairly good idea. This couldn't be a regular occurrence for those who traveled and certainly trouble looked to follow them wherever they went. Ethan would have asked Asta to elaborate had they the time for discussion right now. This was bad, without a weapon and running on little reserves of energy as he was there wasn't much in the way of combat that could be offered on his part. Wind magic, his simple wind magic, was probably going to do nothing against opponents like these. And with no sword at his hip he had nothing to attack these creatures with aside from his ineffective spells. They had to try something though, clearly this Varuna was out to get them and if they hesitated and didn't protect themselves it was going to end very poorly.

"R-Right, I'm on it! Be safe!" Nymira was the best suited for this battle by the looks of it though Asta's magic might help turn the tables; the hounds from earlier were summoned to the battlefield and Ethan nearly doubled back to fend them off. Seeing their gazes transfixed on the Varuna however he took some solace in knowing they wouldn't be fighting a two-front struggle, reaching Nymira and Cecil instead. By now the Dimuran was gathering herself up from being swat aside and Cecil, with his gauntlets crackling audibly, rushed down their enemy. So long as Cecil could get close enough he could drive back the Varuna, they had to cover him so he could get to that point. Nymira already took it upon herself to help as she launched two fireballs at a slime and near immolated the beast, chunks of noxious liquid dripping from its body. Burning it was out of the question but with luck he could at least deter one of the creatures. Using his own magic to create a powerful gust Ethan hit the next closest slime to Cecil, uprooting it briefly and causing it to tumble aside haplessly in the wind, coming to a stop almost 2 meters from where it had begun. "Go Cecil!"

So the children weren't completely hopeless then! Fine, it made their demise all the sweeter to watch them struggle. Though its minions were being felled by the one with fire the Varuna cackled in delight as it watched the fitful battle, knowing full well it could outlast even her. "Sssssubmit! Ssssubmit and ssssurrender, I sssshall kill you sssswiftly!" it shouted, a row of discolored teeth holding a malicious grin. Oh, one of them was trying to reach him again? Eying Cecil with a perverse delight the Magi swung his staff and one of the tendrils surrounding its body swung out, trying to swat away Cecil's attack like a fly. When the mitt struck the tendril however it promptly stopped and spasmed before falling apart, the liquid unable to maintain its form under the electrical current. What kind of trickery did that boy use to disable its magic like that? No matter, it had other means of protecting itself.

The cane glowed green again as the Varuna slowly swung it side to side, four green orbs seeping into the ground at its feet. A chorus of shrill howls came out, muffled from the dirt as viscous limbs struck up from beneath, pulling to the surface liquid-beings like the ones at the river. Humanoid and bound to skeletal remains they clawed their way up, their black voids of eyes promptly turning on Cecil. "Kill! Tear him limb from limb! Die die die!" the Varuna shouted as it stomped excitably, its cane shaking in anticipation, "Our lord demands you die! Sssssstop resisting and die already!"

No one knew what Cecil's magic was or how he was able to counter the Varuna but Nymira understood how important that was for them. If Cecil could get close enough then even the defense which had kept her at bay would fall, and with that down so too would the enemy. Now that Cecil was close enough to strike however matters were complicated further as the Varuna brought even more creatures in for them to battle, the shambling corpses of the fallen acting as his tools yet again. How infuriating and utterly disrespectful to use remains in such a way, the intensity of the Dimuran's gaze upon their foe outmatched only by the intensity of her flames. Already she was breathing hard and she knew she was nearing her limits, the white hot and blue flames proving to be far too costly to use as freely as one might hope. But they had a means to put down the Varuna now and they couldn't let up. Gathering flame in the palm of her hand she compressed it into a smaller ball, throwing it at one of the new creatures. Closing her fists she then opened it and unleashed the magic she'd tossed, the flame exploding and promptly swallowing one of the creatures. Twisted howls of pain signaled the beast's demise as the liquid shell it had was melted away within seconds, the skeleton beneath proving to fair no better.

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"You were taken because you were weak! WE gave you strength, and still you failed!" the Saiyan laughed as he pulled Viral in, delivering a hard blow to his body that nearly lifted the Beastman off of his feet. For a man who was written off as dead he had a surprising amount of fight left in him as the Elite took a punch to the face, releasing his grasp on Viral's arm when kicked back. Clutching his stomach for a moment the Saiyan spit before grinning, motioning for Viral to come after him. "Good, so you can still fight. I was beginning to worry that killing you might be dull." Slamming his foot into the ground and kicking off the Elite went straight after Viral again and attempted to grab hold and drive the Beastman backwards, into and through a nearby building. If successful he'd begin to mercilessly pound on the former commander, using his Ki to enhance every single strike. If unsuccessful... Well, one benefit of being a Saiyan was the ability to use Ki, unlike those freaks of nature. He could simply wear Viral down with consecutive Ki blasts until he was unable to fight back, moving in for the kill then would be child's play.

Yumi had barely a second to gather her wits before she had to roll aside and avoid being stomped on by the Elite. Spinning onto her shoulders she kicked out and knocked the man away, springing onto her hands and again avoiding being crushed. A high kick narrowly missed his head and she arched back to avoid a strong punch that smashed apart a support beam behind her. Leaning back further she stood on her hands and wrapped her legs around the Elite's arm, pulling him along and off his feet before dragging him down onto the ground. With his arm in a lock she swung out to try and smash his chest with the back of her arm only to have it caught, leaving both her and the Elite in a deadlock. Neither could make much of a move and she considered letting go at first, the decision being made for her when a notable heat began pooling at her back. Promptly unfurling her legs Yumi just barely managed to move when a blast was unleashed, gathering Ki and throwing her own blast to retaliate. The Elite had managed to dodge by blasting the floor and sending himself skyward, to which she jumped up and grabbed hold of his leg, yelling as she yanked him back down and threw him into the rubble of the building.

So the Elite had to see him to use those freaky powers of his huh? Easy, all Kabocha had to do was somehow become invisible and then he'd win in seconds. Sputtering as he coughed up dust he peeled himself out from the rubble of the building, wondering to himself how in the world he was supposed to make that happen. He wasn't quick enough to just vanish like some fighters could which left... What? He'd used the dust as a cover once and he doubted it'd work again so he'd have to come up with another plan then. Looking for the twins he spotted them squaring off with several soldiers, smirking and waving to the Elite before darting off towards the twins. "Hey Kai! Choi! Tag out will you? Take care of this guy!" No way was he going to be able to deal with that man in a one on one, he'd have to take on someone more his speed. With all the other Elites preoccupied though that left him nothing but the regular soldiers, still a cut above from your usual fodder but hardly an Elite. Against them the typical tricks should work just fine. Darting after one of the men fighting the twins he grabbed them by the shoulder, turning them and near knocking them out with a punch square to the jaw. Ducking under a retaliatory swing he knocked the man's jaw again with the top of his head, finishing them off with a sideways swing of his arm that put the soldier down for good. Finally an opponent that wasn't going to throw shit at him, what a welcome change!

The Elite wondered why Kabocha was fleeing until he saw the two twins, promptly picking up two large pieces of rubble. If they thought numbers were going to overwhelm him then fine, let them try it. Smiling its eyes flashed yellow before both pieces shot into the air and went after Kai and Choi, each fixed on them, prepared to chase until they either hit their target or were destroyed.

-----

"Yes, it will be going to King Nema's lands first, as a proof of concept. Once other cities and kingdoms see what it's capable of though I imagine there's going to be a lot of demand for extensions. Just imagine, a safe way for our people to travel between regions! It's going to open up so much for our kind! Travel, trade, we'll be able to expand businesses, transport troops to help one another, the widespread distribution of ideas..."

Yusef smiled in amusement as Katas continued on with his ramblings, rubbing at an antennae. "Yes well... You can see Katas is very excited. It's going to be a while yet until its ready but we're getting there and already we have big plans for its use. I think next time you visit us you won't even recognize the city anymore." A lot was going to be changing for them in the coming days and the troops were going to be rather busy as a result. Katas was eager and optimistic about the changes yet Yusef had to be the realist here and prepare for the worst. Not everyone was going to be so receptive to the changes, there would be people who would no doubt try to disrupt the construction and trouble them even after it was completed.

"It's w-weird, seeing a world like this," Haku said, smiling as he looked at the tunnel's entrance, "I've always seen worlds that were already b-built, or that the Saiyans, uh... R-Ruined. But your world's building and ch-changing, it's the first time I've s-seen one that's like it. In a lot of ways."

"We're going to keep most of the world the same, it'll be the major cities that will be different," Yusef pointed out, glancing around to try and find Katas. Seeing the man talking rather animatedly with some of the workers he opted to leave the Captain be, gesturing for T'charrl and Haku to follow him again. "We won't be building further into the forests, and we'll do our best to build the tunnels where they won't disrupt anything. There might be some problems the more expansive these new ideas become... But we'll worry about that when we get there. It's all new territory for us so planning ahead isn't possible, we'll just have to do our best."

They would definitely have to come back to this world now just to see how things changed each time. Would the monorails be up by the time they returned? Would they have something else entirely? Haku wondered if T'charrl was half as excited as he was about all of these changes; T'charrl had seemed on edge about the construction, was there something to it all that he knew that none of the others didn't? Did it have something to do with spirits?

-----

"Hey, not bad there buddy! You hit one that time!" Takeshi beamed as he spoke, patting Shu on the back, "Looks like that one was... A whole 3 points. If you get 12 more then you win one of those." He referred to a stuffed toy on the board, a colorful plush of probably some native animal with exaggerated, cutesy eyes. Probably some little kid's toy and far from anything he'd care to win but it was probably something Shu would be all about. For such a doofy game with crappy prizes he was unusually excited for this. Maybe he just wanted to see Shu have fun with it and win something. Grabbing the next ball before his brother could Takeshi grinned, bouncing it in his palm and then handing it over to the younger boy. "You've got this buddy, just hit the same target you already hit and you'll win that toy."

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

Nymira had never been paranoid before through all of her encounters, she'd only had one rough night's rest and it had come after her first kill. So why was she so on edge now? Her fight with the slavers had proven tricky but it hadn't been the worst thing ever, she wasn't bothered by any of what she'd done or seen. Yet the hairs on the back of her neck stood on edge and every time she casually glanced to the side of the road nothing popped out at her, flat lands to one side and sparse vegetation to the other. No one was lying in wait, nothing was poised to strike, they were alone out here on their travels. So why was she so uneasy? It had to just be fatigue, she'd slept poorly and their meal hadn't exactly been large, perhaps after some more travel they could rest a bit, replenish their stocks and try and pick themselves up. Tightening her grip on the reins of the horse her face darkened as she stared down at the ground, unsure if she was more annoyed that she felt so uptight or that she was trying to lie to herself over it.

The sensations were not unfounded as it happened and the first attack came utterly without warning. Nymira was unsure how Cecil had managed to react as quickly as he had or how someone had gotten so close without detection, but there they were. The horses whinnied in protest as she and Ethan fought to keep them from bolting and Nymira had barely climbed down when another bolt of magic was shot at them. Retaliating to the next attack with a blast of flame she the foul liquid into a noxious mist that stung her nose when it reached her. The smell of rotting corpses, a smell she was perfectly familiar with, but where in the world had it come from? Burying her nose in the crook of her arm she scanned the area until she spotted him, a familiar Varuna stood some several meters away. Him, she knew they should have tried to kill him when they had a chance. It seemed like that Muran had failed in doing so, how bothersome. Now here they were without any haven in sight, injured and tired from the previous day's events facing off against a powerful Magi. Perhaps their lone saving grace was the lack of a large body of water, though the Varuna clearly didn't need any to be effective.

"Cecil! Hang on!" Ethan, with Amuné on his arm, brought the Ydran girl behind the cart and smiled reassuringly, gesturing for her to remain where she was. "Just stay safe, we've got this." Vaulting over lead he hurried over to the Machina's side and was relieved to see he wasn't seriously injured, helping Cecil back to his feet. Flames roared a ways off as Nymira faced off against the Varuna on her own, the sound of liquid turning to steam roaring across the otherwise silent land. "I guess it was too much to ask for a peaceful trip..." Ethan chuckled weakly, hurrying over to join Nymira in her fight. They were going straight into magic dueling weren't they? If that was the case then he was almost useless, good for a few small bursts before he was spent. Nymira could keep up enough but even she would probably falter against this man. Why was he so persistent in attacking them?

"Sssooo annoying... Prey that will not jussst die..." the Varuna sneered as he raised his staff overhead, the gem in the forward end glowing a dark green color. Waving the wand across four orbs shot out from it and burrowed into the ground before splitting the earth, creating four slime creatures from the ground, each seemingly constructed with no rhyme or reason or form. "No more meddling Remusss.... You children will die today!" He would not fail again, he could not fail again. Hissing as he gestured forward with the staff all four slimes began to move towards the group, leaving a trail behind them that burned the soil beneath them and rotted away anything it touched. Just like the creatures before, something that should not exist.

Touch them and you would burn, Nymira knew as much from their last encounter. Her daggers would be all but useless and without Geoffrey and his bow their only option was magic. Relying on that so heavily in their state was an awful choice but their only one here unless they wanted to risk being tainted. Stepping away from the horses to pull the fighting away from them she found the first slime and extended a hand outward, fire sparking to life in her palm before swirling and shooting forth, a vortex reaching it within seconds and engulfing the creature in its entirety. Once the feed of magic stopped the flames continued to burn, nearly the entirety of the slime alight and yet still moving towards her. Gritting her teeth Nymira swung a hand out and unleased another quick burst of flame, concentrating it and increasing the temperature, a blue flame escaping her hand this time. This flame immediately caused the creature to crackle like an egg upon a frying pan, globs of its flesh falling off and burning away in the process. High heat then, much more costly but it was effective.

With no weapon in hand Ethan had no option except to use magic. Not that he'd probably want to use a sword anyways, not considering how everything around those things was dying. Unlike Nymira who had plenty of experience he could only muster up a burst of air, nothing that was going to probably kill these creatures. Throwing a quick gust at a pair of them he managed to divert their attention from the horses, backing off hastily as they came after him. There had to be some way he could hurt them with his magic, but what in the heck could he do? Looking around for anything of use he spotted a discarded log along the roadside, smiling as an idea occurred to him then. Standing on the far side of it he gave it a push with his foot, finding it to be loose enough to move. Carefully positioning himself then Ethan took a step back before putting out a fair bit of his energy in a large gust, concentrating it on the underside of the log and kicking it into the air. It splintered and fell apart but large pieces still managed to strike a slime and cut away large pieces as a result, bits falling to the ground and ceasing movement. There was little room for celebration however as it hadn't killed the creature, and with three left and the Varuna as well they'd be hard pressed to end this quickly. The Magi wasn't content to sit back idly this time either as Ethan quickly found, ducking and scrambling away as two blasts of its foul magic narrowly missed him.

Suspicions were confirmed by how the Varuna approached this fight, and it gave Nymira an idea. They cast spells from afar and used these abominations to get close, always making sure it was nowhere near them in battle. If she was correct then the Varuna was vulnerable if you could get near enough, which meant somehow avoiding the slimes and closing the distance between them. Pulling her daggers from their sheaths she circled around the burning slime and began a run headlong at the Magi, well aware of one of the slimes quickly changing course and coming after her. Undeterred she lowered herself to the ground enough to avoid a blast thrown at her, cursing when two more slimes were hastily conjured up between her and the Varuna. He had to be protecting himself, there was no question about it. Still she kept running right up until she reached the new beasts, a smile creeping to her lips as her hands lit with flame and it moved down to the blades of her daggers, a trail of fire forming behind her. Kicking off with her back foot Nymira jumped up and over the slimes, spinning her body as she did so and causing the daggers to spit out flames. As soon as they hit the slimes the fire turned blue and their flesh began to burn away within seconds, effectively killing them off. Almost within striking distance now she threw one dagger at the Varuna and just barely missed, buring it in a stump behind him. Using the chance she got within striking distance and tried to swing at him only to be suddenly pushed back by an invisible force, rolling across the ground awkwardly and aggravating her wounds again.

Hissing in delight the Varuna watched as Nymira was thrown aside, sneering at her failed attempt. "Folissssssh girl, did you really think that would work?" At its feet nearly a dozen black tendrils appeared, creating an effective shield around the Magi, prepared to block any and all attacks thrown at it. Save for her dagger, whose heat was intense enough to pass through its defenses. Not that he expected the girl to know that, and so long as that went without knowing its defense was impenetrable. Laughing it raised its staff and fired off three quick blasts at the Dimuran, each one missing but managing to drive her further away. "Sssssubmit and die! DIE! DIE! DIE!"

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

HE'S A POTATO! :O

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

Repent Mogs, REPENT! D:<