As she finally returned to her private quarters after a difficult battle on one of the islands further afield from Skyworld, Edelgard sighed. Every battle was long and hard-fought, especially those farther on the periphery from the heart of Lady Palutena’s power. It wasn’t often she sent any of her Lieutenants as far as they had gone, especially given that the Corruption seemed to be fighting them harder and harder lately. But when she did, it was for good reason. Reports of strange, new Corrupted had been cropping up, and Edelgard had volunteered her unit to investigate.
Corrupted angels. Edelgard shuddered at the implications. Worse still was that there were two kinds. If it had only been the mockery simulacra that appeared, it would have been bad enough. To have their soldiers’ likeness imitated, insulted by those monsters. But no. No, the Corruption, whatever was at its heart, if it had some intelligence, that was, had taken actual angels. Soldiers of Lady Palutena’s Skyworld, and twisted them for its own disgusting ends. A new, hot burst of fury grew inside Edelgard’s chest, but she shook her head and took a deep breath. No need to get angry now. She and her unit had cut down more than their fair share of Corrupted. They were fighting this war, and fighting it damn well.
She sat upon her bed and rested her head in her hands. This war seemed to have no end, but even still, they would fight. They were the holy host of Lady Palutena. Her resolve burned deep in her heart. Edelgard would not let the people of Skyworld down. She was a warrior, and failure was not something she would tolerate, especially not from herself.
Monday Morning
As the assault force gathered, Edelgard stood before her platoon of angelic forces. ”Black Eagle Strike Force!” She called, and her angels stood at rapt attention. ”Today, we will fight in an all-out offensive gathered by our Lady Palutena! Today, we shall beat back the Corruption, and destroy its taint on her lands once and for all! We must be at our best today, and do Lady Palutena proud!” The assorted angelic soldiers all raised their weapons in the air and cheered, garnering a nod from Edelgard.
”You may rest and congregate amongst the others until it is time for us to move. At that time, I expect you all to return to formation and join me in our assault. Dismissed!” At her command, they separated into smaller groups, talking excitedly and nervously amongst themselves about the upcoming battle. She knew that many of these angels would not see the end of the day, and though that saddened her, it was the harsh reality of war. Their efforts would see it ended on this day, or at the very least, they would push the Corruption back further than it had been before. She had no doubts of Lady Palutena’s faith in them all, or in the necessity of this attack, as bloody as it would be for their forces.
As her own people congregated, Edelgard sought to do the same, looking for the recent additions to Lady Palutena’s forces, and her favored captain, Pit. She had been rather busy since their arrival, and had not been able to make time to properly greet them. If they were going to fight together, it was high time she did so. Approaching the group, and having missed Midna’s lament, she gave the Twilight Princess and her companions a nod.
”Hello. I don’t believe we’ve met yet. I am Edelgard Von Hresvelg, one of the Lieutenant’s of Lady Palutena’s forces, and leader of the Black Eagle Strike Force. I thought it prudent to introduce myself before the coming battle, so that we might familiarize ourselves with one another’s capabilities and battle tactics. I, personally, utilize a combination of physical and magical attacks, and have composed my platoon of a well-rounded group of soldiers to compliment that versatility. Should you require it, I am capable of performing basic healing with my magic as well, though I must warn you that I am limited by both quality and the quantity when it comes to healing magic.” Looking to the others, she gave a stilted smile and a curt nod.
”And Captain Pit. I’ve heard much about you from Lady Palutena. I look forward to seeing you live up to her praise.” The compliment was direct, but pointed and conditional, with a very subtle implication that failing to live up to that praise would have dire consequences.
The host is slightly taller than normal, thought not by much. His hair is a pale strawberry blond, and his armor is now a suit of half-plate, with his legs and arms covered by leather underneath the plates on his thighs and forearms. He looks a bit more youthful, though a tinge of madness still peaks through his bright, blue eyes. From the shoulders of his gear extend two half-capes of a slightly translucent white material that is mistakable for silk when dry. Personality-wise, Geralt is a bit conflicted. He seeks to do what is right, and while he does not agonize over following orders, he has a bit of a rebellious streak in him, and revels in a challenge.
As LCCB Assistant Manager, the host is adorned in riot gear, wielding a riot shield and a pistol. His orange-white hair is voluminous, flowing down to his hips.
As Ardor Blossom, the host has gained a noticeable amount of size, his skin has darkened and become hardened and scaly. His armor has transformed into a heavy tan jacket with a black undershirt, and he wears orange pants beneath it. His eyes are a bright orange, while his hair has become a darker orange. In this form, Geralt has rudimentary draconic wings that can be used to lengthen his jumps and buffet enemies with wind, but not fly. He has grown large horns on either side of his head, and his hands end in vicious claws. His demeanor is more dour and quicker to anger in this form.
Personality: Geralt is, for all intents and purposes, a mercenary, and thus he often comes across as aloof or uncaring. However, Geralt is a strong believer in equality among sentient creatures, as well as justice. He often betrays his contractors if he discovers that the monster he has been hired to slay is not a threat, or circumvents the details of his contracts to meet a non-violent resolution if one is possible. He is well-known throughout Skellige, the Northern Realms and the Nilfgaardian Empire as a fierce and loyal friend, willing to traverse through veritable nightmares for those he holds dearest. The Orphan of Kos left a deep wellspring of rage within Geralt, leaving him prone to bouts of rage. His personality is more calm and in control, much less inclined to fly off the handle into a rage with the fusion with Ishmael, but also more critical of allies. He seeks to do what is right, and while he does not agonize over following orders, he has a bit of a rebellious streak in him, and revels in a challenge.
Background: Born to a sorceress and a warrior, Geralt was brought to “Witcher School” as a young boy. After surviving the Witchers’ rite of passage, the Trial of the Grasses, Geralt voluntarily underwent a series of experimental mutations which killed all other subjects. He managed to survive these experiments, however, and became a Witcher unlike any other.
Geralt has fought all manner of creatures, from wyverns to kings to trolls and vampires. He was killed once, only to reappear years later with no recollection of his past, though he likely won’t be able to recreate this feat without a powerful sorceress at his side. Speaking of powerful sorceresses, Geralt has romanced two: Triss Merigold and Yennefer of Vengerberg. His fate was once sealed to Yennefer’s by a Djinn, but the two recently severed their magical bond and affirmed their love to be unbroken by the loss of that magical tether. His daughter figure, Cirilla, looks up to Yennefer as a mother, as well.
Job: Witcher
Specialty: Monster Slayer
Level: 14
Experience: 18/140
Abilities:
Quen Sign (Witcher) - produces two types of shields capable of absorbing and dispersing large amounts of kinetic energy before explosively shattering, sending foes reeling. The first is passive and offers lesser protection, while the second requires an active concentration and is capable of weathering greater stress. Starter Power.
Igni Sign (Witcher) - launches a burst of extremely hot flames, capable of bubbling flesh on contact, heating metal red-hot, and igniting flammable gasses in the air. It is a versatile Sign, capable of being used at varying levels of power. It can be used for mundane tasks such as lighting campfires, as well as in combat to damage enemy armor or light them aflame. If Geralt focuses his concentration, he can spout a continuous stream of fire to focus the damage on a specific area or target. Level up Power.
Yrden Sign (Witcher) - places a magical trap with one of two configurations. The Area Trap slows enemies that enter a circle with a radius of approximately one and a half meters. Additionally, any spectral enemies within the trap are forced into a more corporeal form, increasing their vulnerability to damage from physical sources (such as bombs and silver swords). Lasts for twenty seconds. The Glyph of Warding places a Visible Glyph on the ground which actively attacks hostile creatures and can destroy airborne projectiles within a ten-yard radius. However, the glyph can only attack approximately three times per second, and its attacks are not particularly powerful. Lasts for fifteen seconds. Level up Power.
Axii Sign (Witcher) - A simple, yet quite unbreakable but effective sign, Axii assails the foes mind and bends them to the user's will. In combat, the sign serves one of two purposes: stunning an opponent, or, when focused on more actively, controlling an opponent in combat. Stunning an enemy is as simple as making the sign, and the attack will overwhelm the enemy's mind and leave them too disoriented to coordinate themselves for a period of about seven seconds.
Overriding an enemy's mind and controlling them is a much more difficult task. Typically impossible on more mentally resilient enemies (usually boss or mini-boss level), Axii nonetheless can wreak havoc on a group of foes if they're not expecting to have to fight one of their own. It also serves a second purpose of taking the heat off Geralt if he's surrounded. Oddly enough, many enemies seem to be even deadlier when being puppeted by the sign. Whether the effect of a removal of some inhibition, or even breaking the biological inhibitors that adrenaline deactivates (in humans, at least) is unknown. It's simply...known, that enemies controlled by Axii are deadlier than they would otherwise be.
Outside of combat, Axii must be maintained much more actively to produce anything more than a simple command. However, Geralt can use the sign to give complex orders to an individual. Of course, if others see him doing this to their friend, it tends to go over poorly. A few peasants may have lost their teeth or their lives trying to fight Geralt when he foolishly used this sign with others witness to what he was doing. Others...wisely ran in the opposite direction. Level up power.
Aard Sign (Witcher) - Force incarnated, Aard produces a roughly cone-shaped blast of concentrated telekinetic energy, capable of forcing even hearty wyverns to stumble. It's also been known to knock barriers aside, blow open locked doors (Or sometimes knock them right off the hinges!), and knock grown men clean off their feet.
Creatively applied, Aard can also produce a smaller and somewhat less powerful circular blast of force around Geralt, typically only strong enough to force men to stumble or risk losing their footing, rather than knocking them down outright. Level up Power.
Second Life (Witcher) - When Vitality reaches 0, you become temporarily invulnerable and regenerate 100% Vitality. The effect can only be triggered once every 180s. Level up Power.
Eldritch Lightning (Orphaned God) - Allows the host to call forth waves of electricity with a scream. From the Orphan of Kos Spirit.
Hateful Flesh (Orphaned God) - Allows to pull the Orphan’s cleaver from within himself at a moderate health cost. The heaviest of his three weapons, it possesses an edge of siderate, a mineral said to have fallen from the great beyond, and rather than men or monsters, it deals extra damage to eldritch and spectral enemies. The host can pull clumps of extremely volatile tissue from the cleaver, which can then be used as contact explosives. From the Orphan of Kos Spirit.
Identity (LCCB Sinner) - allows the host to switch out his current set of weaponry, equipment, and proficiencies to a different loadout, with additional identities available via level investment. Spirits applied to an identity will only affect that identity. This comes with the identity LCCB Assistant Manager, which comes with a set of riot armor that resists blunt and explosive damage, a tall ballistic shield, a pistol that shoots tremor-inducing Quake Rounds, and associated skills.
Identities:
LCCB Assistant Manager - comes with a set of riot armor that resists blunt and explosive damage, a tall ballistic shield, a pistol that shoots tremor-inducing Quake Rounds, and associated skills.
Ardor Blossom Star - An E.G.O. Identity. Replaces all equipment with and orange coat, orange-and-black-striped short dress, black leggings, and boots alongside flaming moth wings, granting the ability to lob explosive fireballs at enemies. The fireballs can cause Burn, and if he puts more power into them, he can launch more fireballs albeit with a random spread. If she strikes an enemy she burned, it will cause an explosion of three more explosive fireballs that fly in random directions.
Ardor Blossom Identity Ability - Ground Shaker (Dark Dragon) - A powerful stomp that unleashes a wave of heavy dark explosions forward, although it must by charged by dealing damage. From Barbatos's Spirit.
Ardor Blossom Identity Ability - Shuriken Shower (Ninja Dragon) - Summons a rain of 14 shadow-infused ninja stars in an area, though this must be charged by dealing damage. The 14th star deals 58% more damage, and this ability also energizes the host and nearby allies, decreasing stamina usage and boosting stamina regen. From Shinobi's Spirit
Brain Eater (Psi General) - Allows Geralt to permanently copy psychic abilities via aggressive grappling of other psychics' heads. Only psychic abilities can be taken for his own. From Karen Travers Spirit
Foul Legacy: Raging Tide (Fatui Harbinger) - Allows the host to enter a melee stance endowed with weapons of pure Hydro energy. This allows him to execute quick attacks with dual blades, or stronger attacks with a joined twinblade. All attacks in this stance apply the Wet status, and critical hits apply Riptide, which deal additional Hydro attacks when triggered. From Tartaglia's Spirit
Demon Fang (Paladin) - Sends a cutting shockwave along the ground to deal unaspected slash damage. From Flynn Scifo's Spirit.
Basic Spells (Paladin) - Grants two basic spells, First Aid and Luminant Scythe. Each spell requires two seconds of uninterrupted channeling to cast, and require about as much stamina as casting a Sign. First Aid heals an ally for 25% of their maximum HP, while Luminant Scythe summons two angled rings of light to surround an enemy, along with four orbs of light which all crash into an enemy, dealing medium holy-aspected damage.
Advanced Artes (Paladin) - Grants two more advanced abilities, Guardian Field and Holy Lance. Each ability costs roughly the stamina required to cast two Signs in short order, slightly exhausting Geralt after use and requiring a period of roughly fifteen seconds before he uses any costly abilities again, otherwise he risks severe physical exhaustion and an even longer period before he can use abilities. Guardian Field creates a ten-foot diameter field of blue light around Geralt, which damages enemies and heals himself and all allies within for 10% of their maximum HP over a period of three seconds. Holy Lance requires five seconds of uninterrupted channel time, after which it summons six lances of holy light, five around the target and one above. The five lances rapidly crash into the target in succession, each stunlocking the target in place for about half a second, and the final lance strikes into the target with tremendous force, knocking them up and back.
Skills:
Extreme Poison/Disease Resistance (Witcher) - Geralt is immune to all but the absolutely deadliest poisons, which allows him to utilize the Witchers’ deadly concoctions as medicine, where they would normally destroy a normal human’s body in minutes. Starter Strength.
Superior Regeneration (Witcher) - While not enough to regenerate lost limbs, Geralt possesses regenerative abilities far beyond that of any human being. He can survive wounds that would be fatal to regular humans because he can simply heal them quickly enough to not die from them, and other, non-lethal wounds disappear significantly more quickly than they would for anybody without an absurdly powerful healing factor. Starter Strength.
Encyclopedic Knowledge (Witcher) - Geralt’s mind is a trove of knowledge, owing to his advanced age, wealth of experience, and quick wit. He houses a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of the various potions, bombs, and oils he can create. He can easily and readily identify the ingredients to these, though they are not always readily available, of course. Along with that knowledge, Geralt also knows the names, appearances, behavioral patterns, and weaknesses of every type of monster to roam the Continent, though this knowledge is of less use against creatures he hasn't researched or fought, including humans. He can, of course, use this knowledge to approximate what may work against any monsters he comes up against. This knowledge is also useful in performing autopsies, though Geralt lacks the proper tools to perform all but the most basic autopsies. This knowledge also pertains to investigating and breaking curses, though those are often unique cases based as much on knowledge of the creature as they are knowledge of the personal circumstance. Level up Strength.
Witcher Physiology (Witcher) - Geralt's mutations as a Witcher grant him a number of attributes that make him stand out from ordinary humans. His strength, reflexes, durability, speed, and endurance are enhanced well beyond that of the average person's. He is strong enough to stand toe-to-toe with a troll, fast enough to race a wolf, agile enough to dodge an arrow, and sturdy enough to...stand toe-to-toe with a troll. His nose rivals that of a bloodhound, allowing him to track scents he can get a good read on. Overall, a Witcher stands beyond an ordinary human in ways few can match. Level up Strength.
Protective Instincts (Witcher) - Geralt's time in the maw has reawakened the instincts that once drove him to wage a war to rescue his daughter. When an ally of Geralt's is in danger (by his perception, so just fighting a few weak enemies wouldn't suffice as a trigger) or has been previously harmed by an enemy, Geralt is strongly motivated to protect or avenge them. He becomes faster, stronger, and more resilient (mentally and physically) when he is fighting directly on the behalf of or for the safety of others. Maw Strength.
Famine (Maw Reward Skill) While hungry, gain speed boost and stamina regain that ramp up the hungrier you are. Maw Strength.
Mutation Resistance (Witcher) - Owing to Geralt's history of taking (alchemically sanitized) monster parts into himself for power prior to Galeem's combining of the worlds, he has now gained a sort of resistance to the negative effects of Spirit Fusion. When Fusing with a Spirit, Geralt reduces the effects of any weakness they may impose. Fears become general aversions, and damage vulnerabilities are reduced in severity, for example. Level up Strength.
Unrelenting Stamina (Witcher) - Owing to his Mutations and training as a Witcher, Geralt's stamina regenerates at a markedly increased rate. Signs can be cast more often, and summons can be called upon more frequently without over-taxing Geralt. Level up Strength.
A Call Beyond (Orphaned God) - The Orphan of Kos has given Geralt an affinity for and insight into nightmarish things beyond mortal ken. From the Orphan of Kos Spirit.
Monstrous Physique (Orphaned God) - The inhuman strength of the Orphan of Kos has suffused into Geralt, improving his already-impressive physical strength to levels far beyond human. This also improves his physical durability, allowing him to withstand more punishment. Level Up Strength from having the Orphan of Kos Spirit.
Weaknesses: Despite his manifold abilities, Geralt is still human. His enhanced healing still takes time to work on grievous wounds unless he makes use of his limited Swallow potions, and he still requires the staples of life: food, water, sleep, and air. After a period of heavy damage and healing, he’ll need to eat quite a bit to recover that energy. His signs, while powerful, drain his fabled stamina heartily; it can take a few seconds for him to recover his energy and willpower before utilizing another, which can leave him vulnerable to a quick opponent. Geralt is also often treated as a subhuman by those who hold such views; his mutations and inhuman abilities, along with the reputation of Witchers as cold-blooded killers, often leaves Geralt on the outskirts of society.
Fear of Starvation - Geralt's experience with starvation on the Maw was harrowing to the Witcher. Despite his outward nonchalance, losing consciousness mid-fight due to not eating enough has left a growing seed of doubt in his mind. Geralt becomes constantly way about having enough to eat, to the point that lacking some kind of reserve of food will result in him growing irritable, and arguing for a course of action that is more likely to allow access to food, or an opportunity to rest.
Combined with the Famine strength, Geralt becomes more and more manic as his speed increases and his hunger grows.
Geralt's potions provide the bare minimum level of comfort, as they are more supplements for his abilities than actual food. In a pinch, he will use them to satiate his fear rather than for their stated purpose, though that will ultimately result in him feeling even worse for wasting after a short while if he's not able to reach some kind of food for relief. Maw Weakness.
Rager - It it easier for Geralt to give into anger when fighting (or in general) and suffer compromised decision-making with no increase to combat ability. From the Orphan of Kos Spirit. (Somewhat mitigated due to the fusion with Ishmael)
Fatal Slash - The host takes more damage from unmitigated slash-type attacks. From Ishmael's Spirit.
Brain Crush - Puts Geralt into a special staggered state if enough brain damage is dealt in quick succession. From Karen Travers' Spirit.
Self-imposed Self-improvement - Makes Geralt much more inclined to choose the weapon he's least proficient with when starting a fight. From Tartaglia's Spirit.
Disaster Chef - Automatically ruins any food he cooks, making it downright toxic to those without sufficient poison resistance. From Flynn Scifo's Spirit.
Ardor Blossom Identity Weakness - Shapeshift Limit - Puts a timer on how long the host can remain in his Ardor Blossom Identity before reverting to default, incurring a cooldown before the host can become Ardor Blossom again. While this timer normally lasts 30s, taking damage decreases it according to the damage taken. From Barbatos's Spirit.
Ardor Blossom Identity Weakness - Light Bane - Increases the damage taken from the light element by 25%. From Shinobi's Spirit.
Spirits:
Striker- Fizz: A playful trickster striking with an assassin’s dexterity, arriving in a flash and gone just as quickly. His quick flurry of trident attacks can cause bleeding, and he can also pull off a corkscrew dash attack. Benched.
Striker- Judicator: An abominable monstrosity, made all the more horrific for its undeniably human element. Although borne of the lowest depths imaginable, a cursed amalgam of sea creature and doomed mariner, it bears an undeniably connection to the cosmos–specifically the constellation Libra. It is slow and not that strong physically, although it takes up a lot of space, and can be called on reasonably often. Its scales, however, can induce stress in targets in a wide area,pelt them with spectral fire, of grant healing through the act of flagellation. Active.
Striker- Monsoon: A Striker that excels in hit-and-run assassination tactics with a medium cooldown. When summoned, he can perform a handful of attacks with his sais, separate into a magnetic tornado and then corkscrew forward, perform a leaping stab attack with high crit rate, throw a smoke bomb, or take a couple seconds to gather up loose metal into a large mass to hurl at a target (though taking too much damage during the charge will stop the move). He has the passive of auto-dodging slash damage and can therefore not transfer that type of damage to the host. Active.
Striker- Zero: A Striker that excels in hit-and-run assassination tactics with a medium cooldown. When summoned, he can perform sweeping elemental slashes with his katanas, hitting once with each, while moving in a desired direction. He can also throw two handfuls of energy kunai, or unleash a dual-element spin slash to clear an area. He has a passive that lets him deal extra damage to an enemy's back. Benched.
Fused- Orphan of Kos. Guardian of the Blue. Grants the Eldritch Lightning and Hateful Flesh Abilities, the A Call Beyond and Monstrous Physique Skills, along with the Rager Weakness.
Fused- Ishmael. LCCB Sinner encounter in Arahabaki. Grants the Identity Ability, along with the Fatal Slash Weakness.
Fused- Karen Travers. Major General of Midgar’s Other Suppression Force. Defeated during the battle against Consul C and Tycoon. Grants the Brain Eater Ability and the Brain Crush Weakness.
Fused- Flynn Scifo. Paladin of Brave Vesperia. Spirit found inside a capsule machine. Grants the Demon Fang, Basic Spells, and Advanced Artes Abilities, along with the Disaster Chef Weakness.
Fused- Tartaglia. One of the Eleven Fatu Harbingers. Spirit found inside a capsule machine. Grants the Foul Legacy: Raging Tide Ability, along with the Self-Imposed Self-Improvement Weakness.
Fused (Ardor Blossom Identity)- Barbatos. A dragon forcefully fused with Aldred by a shadowy syndicate. Spirit found inside a capsule machine. Grants the Ground Shaker Ability, along with the Shapeshift Limit Weakness.
Fused (Ardor Blossom Identity)- Shinobi. A ninja dragon, shrouded in mystery. Spirit found inside a capsule machine. Grants the Shuriken Shower Ability, along with the Light Bane Weakness.
Kindred Spirits: Yennefer of Vengerberg- Geralt’s True Love, once bound to him by Djinn, but affirmed as his lover once their freedom was taken back. A powerful and untamed sorceress, Yennefer is a force of nature to rival Geralt, a magical powerhouse who could destroy armies with her spells. She also serves as a surrogate mother to Ciri.
Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon- Geralt and Yennefer’s surrogate daughter, Heir Apparent to the Nilfgaardian Throne/Empress of Nilfgaard/Witcher, Source of Magic, Walker of Worlds, and many, many other things. Ciri is a gifted swordfighter, a natural magic-user capable of incredible yet unpredictable feats of magic, and nearly a Witcher in her own right. She lacks the mutations, but her magical abilities and the training Geralt gave her make her, in essence, her own kind of Witcher.
Zenkichi Hasegawa:
A man from a world wholly different from Geralt's, but facing a war much like the White Wolf's. After the death of his wife at the hands of a powerful politician, Zenkichi tossed aside his morals, his pride, and his sense of justice to protect his daughter, not realizing the pain he was causing her. When confronted with his misdeeds and the consequences they caused, he turned his back on the man he'd become, reaffirming his commitment to justice and awakening his Spirit of Rebellion, Valjean. A man just trying to do his job and protect his family, thrust into a war infinitely beyond his meager life, the final Phantom Thief, Wolf, accepts the call to greatness and fights for more than just himself.
Inventory: A Steel sword, a Silver sword, 4 [3] Dimeritium bombs (These block the usage of magic in an area for about 30 seconds), 4 [3] Grapeshot bombs (These detonate into a deadly blast of shrapnel). Hanged Man’s Venom (A blade oil containing a poison deadly to humans and humanoid creatures like elves, dwarves and such), Draconid oil (A blade oil which is poisonous to draconic creatures), and Cursed Oil (A blade oil poisonous to cursed beings, such as werewolves, berserkers, and Botchlings). A flask containing five [three] doses of Swallow (A potion which improves the healing of wounds and the body’s recovery from them), and another containing five [five] doses of Cat (A potion which grants sight even in total darkness, as well as an immunity to hypnotic effects for around half an hour). One hunting knife, with a smooth front edge and serrated back edge. A hand crossbow with 30 [29] small bolts (mostly for hunting, but the bolts are capable of harming humans with even light armor, due to the crossbow’s shockingly high draw weight). One 30-foot length of rope. Six chunks of salted pork rations. Geralt wears a suit of half-plate armor. It best protects against attacks from blades and claws. In addition to these, Geralt also carries the alchemical ingredients necessary to create two more batches of his oils, potions and bombs (One more for grapeshot). Finally, Geralt’s Wolf medallion acts as a magic detector, vibrating when in the presence of magic, to a scale equivalent to the strength of the magic present.
Bleed Amulet:reduces his exceptional poison resistance to merely fantastic levels, but makes it harder to cause him to bleed, and mystically increases his own ability to spill his enemy's blood.
Steel Diver:A handheld torpedo launcher. The torpedoes don't seek, but they do shoot straight forward after a brief delay as if the air itself was water, and boat impressive stopping power despite limited ammunition. With 7 missiles.
ATG Missile Mark 1: A shoulder-mounted missile platform that has a 10% chance to fire a seeking missile at an enemy that is struck by the wearer's attack, when the attack makes contact. The missile deals 300% of the damage of the attack that triggers it. It does not inflict splash damage
Odysseus's Bow: Every fourth attack with this weapon triggers a chain lightning effect, damaging the target and up to 4 nearby enemies for roughly 2/3 of the bow's normal damage. With 50 [30] arrows. One Pirate Paint Brush: An incredibly rare find. At first glance it seems to have no function, but if applied at the Fountain of Dreams, it can turn anyone into a pirate version of themselves
Geralt also has a plasma pistol from Tora, which can be recharged by electricity. This item was lost when Mirage returned to Limsa Lominscuttle via Palico and remains with him.
Monsoon's Katanas and Sai: A pair of sai with no special properties. Two katanas from Monsoon, one of which has innate fire damage, the other which possesses innate lightning damage.
Outfits: Easily equipable outfits, contained in vacuum-sealed plastic bags. One “Refined Noble’s Outfit”, one “Military BDU” outfit, and one “Semi-Formal Dress Outfit”.
Name: Zenkichi Hasegawa, “Wolf”
Game Origin: Persona 5 Strikers
Appearance: A tall, fit man, befitting his occupation as a Public Security Agent, Zenkichi tends to wear the same outfit whenever it is remotely appropriate: a black suit with jarringly out of place white sneakers. He keeps his black hair about shoulder-length, and wears a simple pair of square rimless glasses.
As Wolf, the Phantom Thief, Zenkichi’s appearance changes dramatically. He wears a black ankle-length tailcoat with black tassels at the end of the sleeves with a silverish-gray collar folded up at forehead-length with a large-brimmed fedora-based hat attached on the collar with a long swordfish-like point up at the front of the hat as the tailcoat has large 'V'-fashioned lapels. He also wears a high-collared jacket coat with silver accents with matching double bandolier belts and a matching holster belt where he can keep his firearm on the right side and puts the belt around his waist with another holster belt on the left side, with black pants and silverish-gray accented black winklepicker shoes.
The host's skin has gotten a little darker, and he has a slightly stronger brow, bigger nose, and much stubblier face. His hair is a little shorter and curls up in front. His build is slightly wider. His tie is gone, and his shirt is white instead of blue, with one more button undone. His jacket is less like a suit jacket and more like a coat, with yellow patches and a taller collar. His personality is a little less high-strung. The host has gotten taller, standing at about 6 feet, 4 inches tall, in addition to gaining some visible muscle mass. His skin has darkened further, and his hair has turned a dark blue while shortening to reach his ears. His suit has been replaced with a dark blue tunic and gray pants, and he has gained some armor pieces. His shoulders are covered by pauldrons, while his forearms and shins are protected by vambraces and greaves. Personality-wise, the host has become less bound by a sense of duty to order, and more inclined to follow his own personal ideals of honor and justice.
Personality: Zenkichi is, generally, a very straightforward person, even telling the Phantom Thieves outright that they were the prime suspects in the Jail Outbreak case he was investigating, and that he didn’t believe they were actually responsible, offering to work with them to catch the real culprits. He is an intelligent and shrewd individual with a strong sense of justice, risking his life and his career to protect his newfound allies.
His fraught relationship with his daughter and the death of his wife have caused his self-worth to falter, Zenkichi spent a long while keeping his head down, focusing on his job while quietly waiting for the opportunity to strike against those responsible for what he’d lost. His Persona, Valjean, represents the desire to live a moral life and seek justice against the evil that he had once lost sight of in his desperation to protect his daughter from forces beyond his reach. As Wolf, the Phantom Thief, Zenkichi is relentless in the pursuit of justice, tearing through enemies with heavy weapons and Almighty spells. He understands that the Monarchs the Phantom Thieves hunt have traumas which induced their situations, but he does not let that knowledge give him pause in seeking to bring them to justice.
As the bearer of the Apostle Arcana (Sometimes referred to as the Priest or the Hierophant), Zenkichi represents both fairness and compassion, bringing justice to evildoers, but not condemning them as lost causes as others might.
A little less high-strung due to fusing with Devinder Crousley's Spirit.
Background: A Public Security Agent from Tokyo, Zenkichi and his daughter Akane moved to Kyoto after the death of his wife, Aoi, at the hands of a drunk driver with political influence who blamed the accident on his secretary. This incident lead to the suicide of that secretary and a tense relationship between Zenkichi and Akane, as the former received threats against his daughter’s life. In a small twist of fate, the politician protecting the killer was Masayoshi Shido, the same man who had Joker, Zenkichi’s eventual ally, arrested for protecting a woman from sexual assault at his hands.
Zenkichi, in return, kept his head down, did his job, and entrusted his superior officer to one day, when she was powerful enough, get justice in his stead. This, however, enraged his daughter, who saw the lack of action as cowardice on his part. She became a fan of the Phantom Thieves for their strong sense of justice and unwillingness to back down in the face of a fight, while Zenkichi was tasked with investigating them after a new rash of heart-stealing incidents appeared to be occurring throughout Japan. Secretly the work of Akira Konoe and Kuon Ichinose to bring true justice to the world and understand the hearts of humanity, respectively, Zenkichi immediately saw the differences between the two cases and struck a deal with the Phantom Thieves. Providing them with police intelligence and assisting them in breaking the Monarchs' chains, Zenkichi eventually Awakened his own Persona, Valjean, when fighting to rescue the Thieves from his own daughter’s Jail, where the truth of his actions was laid bare to him: by refusing to fight for justice for his daughter’s sake, he allowed the family of the deceased secretary to suffer for crimes they did not commit. Re-affirming his belief in justice, Zenkichi and the Phantom Thieves put a stop to the re-emerging Demiurge, arrested those responsible, and used the opportunity to also bring the killer of Zenkichi’s wife to justice.
Bidding a fond farewell (for now) to the Phantom Thieves, Zenkichi and Akane were shortly thereafter brought to the World of Light, their memories of understanding and reconciliation twisted and robbed from them, though the loss of Aoi still remained, Zenkichi has regressed to a semi-awakened fighter for justice, searching to bring down a conspiracy he doesn’t fully understand at the heart of Midgar.
Job: Phantom Thief
Specialty: Bruiser- Among the Phantom Thieves, Zenkichi stands out as an offensive powerhouse, capable of both dealing out damage and taking hits. He is not quite as tanky as Ryuji, but he makes up for it by being both physically and magically stronger than he is. Combined with his lack of elemental weakness, unresistable Almighty magic, and some minor buffing and debuffing ability, Zenkichi is the best all-around fighter that the Thieves can field, barring Joker with an extremely powerful Persona.
A Persona based off the protagonist of Les Misérables, Valjean represents Zenkichi’s desire to live a good and moral life after being granted a second chance. With no weaknesses and powerful offensive abilities, Valjean is a truly terrifying frontline combatant, as well as providing quality mid-range combat potential with Gun and Almighty skills, and a minor array of buffs and debuffs.
Begins with the spell Megido, an Almighty spell that deals medium unresistable magic damage to enemies in a wide area, and the attack Triple Down, which deals light Gun damage to enemies in a wide area three times. Each “shot” of triple Down can miss or be dodged.
Level 2 Ability: -Kaja Suite (Phantom Thief) - Zenkichi gains Tarukaja, Rakukaja, and Sukukaja, which can temporarily boost one ally's attack power, defense, or agility for a short period of time (roughly one minute). These buffs share a collective cooldown of one minute.
Level 3 Ability: Fury (Phantom Thief) - A self buff for Zenkichi that increases his offensive capabilities in exchange for slowly draining his vitality. While Fury mode is active, Zenkichi's attack power and attack speed are increased, and each of his sword attacks lets out a small AoE shockwave in the direction of his sword swing. His Vampiric Strikes ability still works while Fury is active, but the vitality drain is typically faster than the absorption, unless Zenkichi is cleaving through a very large number of enemies, and even then it's usually only enough to roughly break even.
Level 4 Ability: Offensive Improvement (Phantom Thief) - Zenkichi gains the attacks Deathbound and One-Shot Kill. Deathbound summons a swarm of hands from the ground to deal Medium Physical damage to a wide area two times, with each attack being dodgeable. One-Shot Kill deals Severe Gun damage to a narrow area, with a high chance of dealing Critical damage.
Level 5 Ability: Megidola (Phantom Thief) - A powerful spell which deals Heavy unresistable Almighty magic damage to a wide area.
Level 6 Ability: Heat Riser (Phantom Thief) - a superior buff skill that combines Tarukaja, Sukukaja, and Rakukaja, increasing the recipient's attack, defense, and speed for roughly 1 minute. Has a cooldown of roughly 3 minutes, separate from the individual buff skills.
Level 7 Ability: Megidolaon (Phantom Thief) - The most powerful Almighty attack available to Zenkichi, Megidolaon summons a beam of energy that causes an explosion, which deals severe unresistable magic damage to a wide area, with a high chance of dealing critical damage.
Free Ability (Tycoon Battle Reward): Agneyastra (Phantom Thief)- The most powerful physical attack Zenkichi can muster, Agneyastra deals medium physical damage, in the form of a swarm of meteorites, to a wide area three times, with a high chance of dealing critical damage. Each individual attack can be dodged.
Sandalphon's Covenant (Covenant) - At the start of trials, inflicts the "Locked Sigil" debuff on the host for 300 seconds, but grants them the "Preservation Protocol" effect. The user can change which Protocol is active (Preservation, Restoration, or Purification) by announcing its name. These Protocols activate when a Skill is used and provide a defense buff, a health burst, and a status cleanse respectively. These effects will target himself if an offensive skill is used, or the target if a support skill is used. Locked Sigil's remaining time will be reduced by six seconds each time the user uses a Skill and by 18 seconds each time the user removes an affliction from an ally. When the Locked Sigil effect wears off, the user will be granted the "Sigil Released" effect instead. Sigil Released grants the user all three Protocols at once, marked by the appearance of a halo above the host’s head.
Ike Fusion Ability: Eruption (Ranger) - Causes blue flames to build up on the host's sword when its held with both hands facing the ground. These flames continue to intensify over the course of a couple seconds, during which the host's stance is extremely difficult to break at all, until the blaze tops out. When the sword is finally plunged down, it unleashes pillars of flame that deal heavy damage and guard break. A longer charge boosts the size, damage, and number of eruptions.
Tyrael Fusion Ability: Smite (Archangel)- Calls down a blast of the host's primary element in an area to deal damage. It leaves behind a field that boosts allies' movement speed by 25% for 2 seconds. The field itself lasts for 6 seconds, the same as the ability's cooldown, though it still takes a chunk of SP to use.
Skills:
Combat Prowess (Phantom Thief) - Whether as Wolf or Zenkichi, he is a formidable foe. Boasting excellent strength thanks to his Persona, a robust health pool, and a lack of elemental weaknesses, Zenkichi Hasegawa is a great ally to have in battle, as well as a fearsome enemy.
Investigator’s Eye (Phantom Thief) - As a Public Security Agent, both before and after the World of Light’s creation, Zenkichi is an excellent detective, catching things that others might miss and being able to piece together clues with ease.
Vampiric Strikes (Phantom Thief) - Zenkichi has the ability to regenerate a small amount of life/health from each successful non-ability attack on an enemy.
Paracryptozoologist (Paranormal Investigator) - Grants a degree of strong intuition about supernatural creatures, specifically figuring out their behaviors and attributes.
Weaknesses:
Self-Doubt - After the death of his wife and the alienation of his daughter, Zenkichi’s sense of self-worth took a nosedive. Even his codename is representative of this: he chose the moniker of wolf to separate himself from the dog of the state he felt he had become. When it comes to taking care of his daughter or others, he’s quick to be hard on himself, perhaps more than is necessary.
Ties to Akane - While not strictly a weakness per se, Zenkichi’s relationship with his daughter is…less than ideal, especially given that they will be working back to the state they were at when Galeem destroyed the worlds. She can see right through him, and he strives to be somebody she can be proud of, even if he stumbles along the way. He is willing to do anything to protect her, which is what landed him in his unfortunate situation in the first place- threats against her life caused him to keep his head down, try not to rock the boat, and just deal with the corruption staring him in the face. And, of course, she can be targeted to hurt him, though that comes with the risk of angering the wolf inside and winding up in a world of hurt.
Sluggish Striker - While Zenkichi is the strongest Phantom Thief, the great size of his weapon also makes his attacks slower and easier to dodge. While his revolvers can mitigate this weakness somewhat, they also have a semi-limited ammo pool (regenerating when Valjean is re-summoned at the start of a fight) and take quite a while to reload during a fight.
Ladlubber - He is much less good at swimming. From Devinder Crousley's Spirit.
Weapon Trilemma: Sword - Decreases the host's accuracy against (but increases the damage taken from) enemies wielding polearms, including spears, lances, halberds, javelins, scythes, and so forth by 15%. From Ike’s Spirit.
Mana Hungry - Increases the SP cost of all skills by approximately 10%. From Tyrael’s Spirit.
Spirits:
Striker- Sosha A spear-wielding dragoon with a wind affinity, fiery spirit, and short cooldown. She can attack with her polearm, performing rapid stabs or a lunging stab, or perform a high jump followed up a plunging thrust that pierces defense to deal serious damage if she managed to land it. Additionally, she can be summoned to grab and carry her host prior to a landing, which will negate fall damage.
Inherited- Devinder Crousley. A paranormal investigator and amateur cryptozoologist. Found on the corpse of one of Lady Nya’gai’s victims. Grants the Paracryptozoologist Ability, along with the Landlubber Weakness.
Fused- Ike. Leader of the Greil Mercenaries and wielder of the Legendary blade, Ragnell. Grants the Eruption Ability, along with the Weapon Trilemma: Sword Weakness.
Fused- Tyrael. Archangel of Justice, ally of the Horadrim against the Prime Evils. Grants the Smite Ability, along with the Mana Hungry Weakness.
Guest List: The Phantom Thieves- Zenkichi’s allies in taking down the Monarchs in the Metaverse, Zenkichi is separated from his young co-conspirators, and in this strange new world, would prefer to at least know what they’re up to, despite them having gone their separate ways after their last adventure.
Akane Hasegawa- Zenkichi’s daughter, and the singular most important person to him in the world after his wife’s death. Zenkichi threw aside his personal beliefs to try and protect her, though for a while he only succeeded in pushing her further away by doing so.
Hector of Ostia- Marquess of Ostia, wielder of the Lightning Axe Armads, and one of the Slayers of the Fire Dragon, Hector is a noble and stalwart warrior, and a proactive leader of his territory. He suffers no fools and is fiercely protective of his daughter, Lilina. However, Hector hides from many a dark secret- he is cursed to die in battle, rather than enjoy a peaceful end.
Inventory: Claymore (manifests with Valjean), Dual Revolvers (manifest fully loaded with Valjean each fight and can be reloaded once per fight, albeit slowly), cell phone, 2,000 Yen (currency). 530 Kins (Psionic Currency, Universal Pistol Ammo x4 (Any sidearm that can be wielded and fired in a single hand can accept ammunition from this miraculous pickup for a full refill), Memory Alloy x2 (can be sold or used to forge weapons), machine core x3
Closing Statement A heavy greatsword of futuristic make. It's shorter than one might think but quite wide, capable of high destructive power if wielded with enough strength. Even its crossguard or the blunt back of its blade can deal substantial impact damage. Its weight makes it impractical to use for defense however. It deals bonus Dark damage and comes with the weapon skill Closer: After an ally attacks, an enemy with less than 30% health, increases combat readiness (a mix of dexterity and speed) of the wielder against that enemy by 35% and boosts perception for 20 seconds. Can only be activated once every 20 seconds
Hero's Sword A long straight saber, almost like a kendo stick, with an elaborate white handguard. Its laser blade glows brilliantly as a breaking dawn, its vivid red a foreboding promise to any who lurk in the dark. Wielded with dexterity and righteous resolve, it inflicts concentrated heat damage, capable of stripping armor in order to reduce defense, and its range can be extended when slashing (and especially stabbing) at the expense of some SP/mana/energy
Greatsword A coarse iron lump of an ultra greatsword. Mows down foes by utilizing its incredible weight.
Etiquette A self-defense weapon adored by the leader of the Bastards. It can be disguised as an umbrella, but it bares its teeth in the moment of attack. Social dignity can be seen not only in the ballroom but also on the battlefield. The leader of the Bastards did not lose his poise on either stage. This one-handed rapier is best suited for dexterous hands, but its canopy can provide crucial protection as well
Vest of the Dead A Protector that takes the form of an old-fashioned suit vest. It provides a surprising amount of defense but has no secondary bonuses
Can of Sham A can of high quality Shamway ham, the number 1 maker of meat-like products. The lunch of champions. The recipe is top secret and better left undisclosed. Provides a little health when eaten. Can be used to make much tastier, heartier Sham Chowder
Ammo Box A rusted metal tin that can be set down and opened to fully resupply long guns and handguns (no more than one apiece) for up to three people
Airhorn A child's toy, serving as a reminder of Galeem's cruelty.
Outfits Several easily-equipable outfits, contained in vacuum-sealed bags. One “Policeman’s uniform” and one “HAZMAT Suit.”
Bowler hat A smart-looking hat that, nonetheless, doesn’t quite fit Zenkichi’s typical style.
Name: Edelgard von Hresvelg
Origin: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Appearance:
Personality: Edelgard carries within her a deep wellspring of hatred for evil, brought about by the torture she endured under Those Who Slither in the Dark. However, her psyche is twisted deeply by that torture, and she is willing to commit atrocities in the name of destroying evil, fully aware of the irony in doing so. If she sees no better way, she will not hold back for the sake of her own morals or to keep her conscience clean. Edelgard will do anything for the ends that she seeks, which can easily rub others the wrong way.
She is not heartless, but she is more than willing to act the part for what she believes to be the greater good, going so far as to plunge her homeland into a years-long war to rid it of the influence of what she perceives to be evil organizations abusing their power for their own ends. When faced with the hypocrisy of her actions, Edelgard is not afraid to admit that such is the truth, but will not back down from her course of action nonetheless.
Ultimately, the trust and assistance of those closest to her are Edelgard’s greatest assets and most trusted treasures, as without those things, she has lived with nothing but enemies and terrible memories around her.
Socially, she can appear cold to those she is not close with, affecting a refined air befitting her status as Emperor. Secretly, she is simultaneously afraid to trust others, but desperate to find somebody worthy of such trust. If somebody irritates her, she has been known to, somewhat childishly, mockingly imitate them behind their backs. As a friend and ally, she is steadfast and loyal, willing to protect those closest to her at risk to herself, and showing a somewhat unexpected unwillingness to endanger those closest to her for her goals.
Background:
Once a student at the Garreg Mach Monastery Officers’ Academy, Edelgard was secretly working to undermine the Church of Seiros, the continent of Fodlan’s de facto religion, and the dragons that controlled it. Experimented on and forcibly implanted with a second Crest by a shadowy organization, Those Who Slither in the Dark, Edelgard had come to despise the society that the Church of Seiros upheld, and allied with that same shadowy organization to destroy it, albeit reluctantly.
Donning the identity of the Flame Emperor, she fought a shadow war against the Church of Seiros while attending the Academy at its heart and growing close to its newest professor, Byleth. When the time came, she invited her newfound confidant to witness her coronation as the Empress of the Adrestian Empire, which served as the final step in the setup of her plans. She also reveals to Byleth at this time that the Church of Seiros is secretly controlled by a race of immortal dragons who have used the power of the church to manipulate Fodlan to their ends, suppressing advancement and slaughtering dissenters, revealed to her by original copies of ancient tomes that the Imperial Palace held from ancient times.
After revealing herself as the Flame Emperor, Edelgard is able to convince Byleth and her class to join her, and together they attack the Church of Seiros and begin a war that would last years, with Byleth vanishing for five years after an attack from the Archbishop, Rhea.
After reuniting with her teacher, Edelgard is able to renew her offensive against the other nations of Fodlan, subsuming the Leicester Alliance and forcing its leader, Claude, into exile. From here, she defeats the army of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, slaying its king, Dimitri.
With the other nations of Fodlan crippled or under her control, Edelgard leads her army into battle against Rhea, who transforms into her dragon form and sets the city of Fhirdiad aflame to halt Edelgard’s advance. It is fruitless, however, and Rhea the Immaculate One is slain, putting an end to the Church of Seiros’ dominion over Fodlan. In the years that follow, Edelgard and her allies lead a shadow war against her previous allies who had once experimented on her, eventually destroying them and ushering in a shaky but hopeful order in a unified Fodlan. One month after the Adrestian Empire’s final victory, the Imperial City of Enbarr was consumed in a massive light, dragging it and all its residents to the World of Light.
In the Now: Edelgard serves as a Lieutenant in the armies of Skyworld, leading angelic strike forces against corrupted enemies, in an ironic twist of fate that once more has her serving under the command of religious authorities.
Job: Flame Emperor
Specialty: Physical Dreadnought with some magical ranged damage and healing.
Inventory: Steel shield, Emperor’s Armor, Short ax(es) (throwable, 25 uses) 3 doses of elixir (fully heals the user), Large Bouillon (can be sold for 5,000 zenny to the right dealer), Black Eagle Pendant
Lv: 1
EXP: 0/10
Abilities:
Aymr - A false Heroes’ Relic made specifically for Edelgard, Aymr is an ax of tremendous power. In addition to dealing extra damage to draconic foes, it serves as a symbol of royal power: if Edelgard faces an enemy alone, it will have a demoralizing effect on them, reducing their attack and defense somewhat.
Basic Magic - Edelgard can cast the basic spells Fire and Heal. Fire is a basic offensive spell that deals modest fire damage, and heal is a basic healing spell that restores roughly one-quarter of a target’s health. Each spell can be used ten times per combat.
Skills:
Mighty Glacier - Edelgard is an archetypal example of the mighty glacier trope. Each swing of her ax can fell lesser enemies, and she can take dozens of blows from the same without so much as a scratch.
Hammerspace - Through a clever series of pouches, straps, and a dash of magic from her advisors, Edelgard can carry significantly more than is immediately apparent on her, grabbing useful items and even weapons on her person from seemingly nowhere.
Dual-Crest Bearer - Edelgard possesses two Crests, a Major Crest of Flames, and a Minor Crest of Serios. The Crest of Seiros grants her Abilities a small amount of additional power, while the Crest of Flames heals her for a small amount with each blow dealt to an opponent, and rarely shields her from an opponent’s counterattack.
Weaknesses:
Heavy Armor - Edelgard’s armor, while useful in helping protect her from damage, is far from light. It slows her movement down noticeably, leaving her vulnerable to being chipped at by enemies with sufficient power or magic to harm her.
Magic Vulnerability - While not quite as dramatic as her lack of speed in armor, Edelgard’s armor does little to protect her from magical attacks, forcing allies to engage and take the heat off of her if she is targeted by a magic user with any sort of long-ranged attacks.
Weapon Trilemma: Axes - Decreases Edelgard’s accuracy against (and increases the damage taken from) enemies wielding swords and sword-like weapons by 15%.
Spirits: (Any spirits your character possesses should be listed here with their type)
Spirit name - Type
Rapport: (You can keep track of your Rapport here. As you level up Rapports, consider linking the posts here and listing what they give you)
Personality: Edelgard carries within her a deep wellspring of hatred for evil, brought about by the torture she endured under Those Who Slither in the Dark. However, her psyche is twisted deeply by that torture, and she is willing to commit atrocities in the name of destroying evil, fully aware of the irony in doing so. If she sees no better way, she will not hold back for the sake of her own morals or to keep her conscience clean. Edelgard will do anything for the ends that she seeks, which can easily rub others the wrong way.
She is not heartless, but she is more than willing to act the part for what she believes to be the greater good, going so far as to plunge her homeland into a years-long war to rid it of the influence of what she perceives to be evil organizations abusing their power for their own ends. When faced with the hypocrisy of her actions, Edelgard is not afraid to admit that such is the truth, but will not back down from her course of action nonetheless.
Ultimately, the trust and assistance of those closest to her are Edelgard’s greatest assets and most trusted treasures, as without those things, she has lived with nothing but enemies and terrible memories around her.
Socially, she can appear cold to those she is not close with, affecting a refined air befitting her status as Emperor. Secretly, she is simultaneously afraid to trust others, but desperate to find somebody worthy of such trust. If somebody irritates her, she has been known to, somewhat childishly, mockingly imitate them behind their backs. As a friend and ally, she is steadfast and loyal, willing to protect those closest to her at risk to herself, and showing a somewhat unexpected unwillingness to endanger those closest to her for her goals.
Background:
Once a student at the Garreg Mach Monastery Officers’ Academy, Edelgard was secretly working to undermine the Church of Seiros, the continent of Fodlan’s de facto religion, and the dragons that controlled it. Experimented on and forcibly implanted with a second Crest by a shadowy organization, Those Who Slither in the Dark, Edelgard had come to despise the society that the Church of Seiros upheld, and allied with that same shadowy organization to destroy it, albeit reluctantly.
Donning the identity of the Flame Emperor, she fought a shadow war against the Church of Seiros while attending the Academy at its heart and growing close to its newest professor, Byleth. When the time came, she invited her newfound confidant to witness her coronation as the Empress of the Adrestian Empire, which served as the final step in the setup of her plans. She also reveals to Byleth at this time that the Church of Seiros is secretly controlled by a race of immortal dragons who have used the power of the church to manipulate Fodlan to their ends, suppressing advancement and slaughtering dissenters, revealed to her by original copies of ancient tomes that the Imperial Palace held from ancient times.
After revealing herself as the Flame Emperor, Edelgard is able to convince Byleth and her class to join her, and together they attack the Church of Seiros and begin a war that would last years, with Byleth vanishing for five years after an attack from the Archbishop, Rhea.
After reuniting with her teacher, Edelgard is able to renew her offensive against the other nations of Fodlan, subsuming the Leicester Alliance and forcing its leader, Claude, into exile. From here, she defeats the army of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, slaying its king, Dimitri.
With the other nations of Fodlan crippled or under her control, Edelgard leads her army into battle against Rhea, who transforms into her dragon form and sets the city of Fhirdiad aflame to halt Edelgard’s advance. It is fruitless, however, and Rhea the Immaculate One is slain, putting an end to the Church of Seiros’ dominion over Fodlan. In the years that follow, Edelgard and her allies lead a shadow war against her previous allies who had once experimented on her, eventually destroying them and ushering in a shaky but hopeful order in a unified Fodlan. One month after the Adrestian Empire’s final victory, the Imperial City of Enbarr was consumed in a massive light, dragging it and all its residents to the World of Light.
In the Now: Edelgard serves as a Lieutenant in the armies of Skyworld, leading angelic strike forces against corrupted enemies, in an ironic twist of fate that once more has her serving under the command of religious authorities.
Job: Flame Emperor
Specialty: Physical Dreadnought with some magical ranged damage and healing.
Inventory: Steel shield, Emperor’s Armor, Short ax(es) (throwable, 25 uses) 3 doses of elixir (fully heals the user), Large Bouillon (can be sold for 5,000 zenny to the right dealer), Black Eagle Pendant
Lv: 1
EXP: 0/10
Abilities:
Aymr - A false Heroes’ Relic made specifically for Edelgard, Aymr is an ax of tremendous power. In addition to dealing extra damage to draconic foes, it serves as a symbol of royal power: if Edelgard faces an enemy alone, it will have a demoralizing effect on them, reducing their attack and defense somewhat.
Basic Magic - Edelgard can cast the basic spells Fire and Heal. Fire is a basic offensive spell that deals modest fire damage, and heal is a basic healing spell that restores roughly one-quarter of a target’s health. Each spell can be used ten times per combat.
Skills:
Mighty Glacier - Edelgard is an archetypal example of the mighty glacier trope. Each swing of her ax can fell lesser enemies, and she can take dozens of blows from the same without so much as a scratch.
Hammerspace - Through a clever series of pouches, straps, and a dash of magic from her advisors, Edelgard can carry significantly more than is immediately apparent on her, grabbing useful items and even weapons on her person from seemingly nowhere.
Dual-Crest Bearer - Edelgard possesses two Crests, a Major Crest of Flames, and a Minor Crest of Serios. The Crest of Seiros grants her Abilities a small amount of additional power, while the Crest of Flames heals her for a small amount with each blow dealt to an opponent, and rarely shields her from an opponent’s counterattack.
Weaknesses:
Heavy Armor - Edelgard’s armor, while useful in helping protect her from damage, is far from light. It slows her movement down noticeably, leaving her vulnerable to being chipped at by enemies with sufficient power or magic to harm her.
Magic Vulnerability - While not quite as dramatic as her lack of speed in armor, Edelgard’s armor does little to protect her from magical attacks, forcing allies to engage and take the heat off of her if she is targeted by a magic user with any sort of long-ranged attacks.
Weapon Trilemma: Axes - Decreases Edelgard’s accuracy against (and increases the damage taken from) enemies wielding swords and sword-like weapons by 15%.
Spirits: (Any spirits your character possesses should be listed here with their type)
Spirit name - Type
Rapport: (You can keep track of your Rapport here. As you level up Rapports, consider linking the posts here and listing what they give you)
With dinner finished, both Geralt and Zenkichi found themselves heading towards the Spirit Chamber once more, determined to find those they had lost. Their paths only crossed near the Infirmary, and with a simple nod to one another, they continued to their destination, Spirits ready to trade.
Entering the Chamber, they looked to the corner that had been pointed out as Vulgrim’s domain and approached. They saw that they weren’t alone here, but instead of the old coroner Deadman, the spirit chamber was home to the very demon they sought. In the corner of the room redecorated into a makeshift fortune teller’s lair with the aid of tapestries, baubles. and cushions lounged a demon that could only be Vulgrim, a specimen of appreciable stature with huge horns, vestigial wings bound in bandages, tinkling trinkets, and a noseless, skull-like face full of enormous teeth and poison-green eyes. When he spoke, he did so in an evil-sounding drawl, chewing the scenery with every turn of phrase. “Well, hello there. I only just now got back, and I already have visitors, hm? As luck would have it, though, I’m already open for business.” He tented his claws, his fleshless face a skeletal smirk at the two men. “So, what can I do you for you gentlemen this fine evening?”
“We’re looking for someone. Or, I am. He’s looking for a few people.” Geralt responded, eyeing the demon somewhat warily. “Take it that would make you Vulgrim?” The Witcher inquired for clarification. “Geralt of Rivia. I’m looking for a woman by the name of Ciri. Ashen hair, has a scar across her eye. Her full name is Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, if that is of any help to you.” His tone was measured but not suspicious. He figured that more detail was better.
”Zenkichi Hasegawa.” Zenkichi introduced himself as well. ”I’m looking for a group of kids, call themselves the Phantom Thieves of Heart. If that’s too vague, their leader goes by Joker. I can tell you his real name if you need it. But only you. Sorry, Geralt, but they take that stuff really seriously. Already blew the lid on my identity, but I don’t wanna betray their trust.” Geralt shrugged, entirely unbothered by the exclusion.
Vulgrim gave the two a condescending, almost admonishing look. “Well, isn’t that nice…everybody’s looking for something, as they say.” He gave a shrug and rolled his eyes. “Even me. Something small, colorful, and very, very tasty. Oh, if only there was someone out there who could trade me for something like that…”
Rolling his eyes, Geralt removed the capsule containing the last Spirit he hadn’t traded away or fused with, and opened it to reveal the Spirit within. “Hope this is enough.”
For a moment Vulgrim peered around, as if trying to find the rest of Geralt’s offerings. Then he grumbled. “Hmmm…soul for a soul, eh? I’m used to more…‘lavish’ offerings.” He glanced over at one of the Spirit Chamber’s furnishings, a conspicuously empty operating table. “Now that was a feast. Haven’t eaten like that in ages…though there’s always room for more.” The demon returned his sly gaze to Geralt. “If your daughter means anything to you, she ought to fetch a high price, mmm?”
Eyes narrowing, Geralt sighed. “Could turn a few Strikers back into Spirits, I suppose. Haven’t used a few of them much. Wonder what kind of deal I’m making here, though…” His tone turned somewhat accusatory towards the end, but he shrugged. “Fine. Give me a minute.” He stalked over to the Spirit Chamber and entered it, while Zenkichi stood there awkwardly.
”I got, like, three Spirits I can give you. So hopefully that’s enough when he’s done.” Zenkichi awkwardly added, standing there while the Spirit Chamber did its work. ”But I’ll let him go first.”
When the Spirit Chamber was finished unbinding the PT Imp pack and Panther Caruso’s Strikers, Geralt exited with them in hand, bringing his total deal up to three Spirits for Vulgrim. “Alright, Vulgrim. Three Spirits for you.” His eyes were a little harder now, though he said nothing more to the demon.
“Hmmmmm…” Vulgrim made a show of thoughtful waffling, cradling his bony chin in his claws. After a moment, though, he relented. “Oh, alright. No use fleecing a man who’s already put down his bottom dollar.” Opening his maw, the demon sucked up the spirits like a vacuum cleaner, then licked his chops with a serpent’s tongue. “Mm, not bad. There were some young ones in there, heheh. As for your dear little Ciri…” He leaned back on his cushions, a smug air about him. “She’s alive. But out of her element. Stuck in a realm of neon lights and broken dreams…Night City. Also known as…Sector 04. Until recently, of course, when the death of a certain Guardian plunged that place into permanent night.” He waved a hand dismissively. “And from there, well…nowhere to go but ‘up’. Though I can’t imagine she’s gotten far.”
Geralt closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Of course. Of course they missed her in Midgar. And Night City? From what little he remembered, it sounded like a terrible place. “Zenkichi, you lived in Midgar. What was Night City like?”
Zenkichi, for his part, kept his cringing to a minimum. ”To be honest with you, Geralt…not good. It’s a dangerous place that even Turks don’t hang around in unless they have specific business to deal with. The gangs are vicious, well-armed, and they live every day knowing it could easily be their last. A lot of them are okay with that, as long as they can leave a mark on the world. I never understood it. But I’m sure she’s alright. Never heard you say anything but praise for her.” Geralt groaned a little, but nodded.
“She can take care of herself, but…it’s still not exactly ideal to have to go right back to Midgar and look through its most dangerous sector to find her, or wherever everybody wound up.” Shaking his head, Geralt turned back to Vulgrim. “Thank you. Good luck, Zenkichi.” And with that, he left to head to the bunks and figure out a plan.
”So, that leaves us, then. Like I said, I’m looking for the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, and if they’re not together, more specifically, their leader Joker.” For the information, he offered the Spirits of Cecilia, Diana, and Yuanwu.
After devouring his offering, Vulgrim interlaced his fingers and considered Zenkichi carefully. “Your little friends have been busy. They’ve been hiding out in the Forbidden Kingdom. In Shinjuku, right under the nose of one Consul J, steadily growing their numbers…as well as J’s headache. And just today, why, I heard the strangest thing. That the lady Consul herself received a special message–a calling card, of all things. Whatever is the World of Light coming to?”
Nodding, Zenkichi breathed a little sigh of relief, before frowning. ”Going after a Consul directly. That’s about what I’d expect from those kids. Bold…alright. Thanks, then. Even if that just opens up a whole new can of worms…” Waving over his shoulder as he left, Zenkichi pondered the new information. Forbidden Kingdom. I’ll have to head to the Bridge to see exactly where that is, then figure out how to track them down. Couldn’t make this easy, huh Joker?
When he reached the Bridge, Zenkichi headed straight for the Geoscape, looking over the holographic projection of the World of Light. ”Alright, so…how the heck does this thing work?” He muttered, looking around for the Forbidden Kingdom. He found it in the northern part of the World of Light, between the Frozen Highlands and the Dystopiascape. From a high level it appeared to be a blend of temperate forest, wetlands, plains, and mountains, and it bore a handful of names of a style the man could recognize as Japanese or Chinese.
Okay, Hidden Kingdom, in Shinjuku…there. Zenkichi thought, pointing to the spot on the map and sighing. It wasn’t far from Midgar, all things considered, but it was far enough away that they’d never have run into each other without Vulgrim’s help. He was surprised to see a place from Earth on the map, somewhat, but more surprising was the giant hole that was Japan. He remembered Goldlewis seeming surprised he was from there, but…to see it here, without the distraction of a conversation about what came next?
It rattled him. Hard. What would he tell Akane? Did he tell Akane? There wasn’t really a reason to, as it wasn’t even the Japan they knew. If it came up, he’d mention it, he supposed. For now, it was time to settle down and think of his next move.
Having left the Spirit Chamber, Geralt made his way straight to the training center. He wanted to try to get an idea of what had changed before going out into battle again. While being a bit later, Roland would end up joining Geralt, as well as Blazermate although the latter came more to make sure people weren’t getting hurt with their new training.
First, Geralt transformed into his Ardor Blossom identity to see how much the dragon Spirits had affected him. The first thing he noticed was that he was quite a bit larger, probably about 7 and a half feet tall. His skin was darker, and felt rough to the touch, like scales. He was still unarmored in this form, though he wondered if his skin would mitigate damage in this form. He could feel horns growing out of his head and wings on his back, and he noticed that his hands were once again clawed, like when he had originally fused with the Harbor Water Demon.
“Not bad.” He nodded, before a ball of flame appeared in his hand and was launched at a target, scorching it. “Seems to function about the same as before. Just to see what those dragons gave me.” After throwing a few more fireballs to get a feel for his new body shape, Geralt followed a newfound instinct and lifted his leg, stomping harshly onto the ground. When his foot impacted the floor of the training center, a series of dark explosions burst forth, knocking out a wide swathe of targets. “Oh.” He simply exhaled, blinking. “That feels like the power of a dragon, alright. At least, what a human could handle of one’s power.”
A few moments after, Geralt suddenly returned to his normal form, a grunt of confusion escaping him. “Huh?” He questioned, focusing on Ishmael’s transformative ability with no result. “Oh, don’t tell me…” He sighed, looking up at the ceiling above him. Could he only handle so much power in his Identities now? Trying the LCCB Assistant Manager Identity, he was pleasantly surprised to see that that transformation still worked.
It didn’t look or feel terribly different from how it had before, though that was to be expected. He fired off a few shots of his pistol to get a feel for how to use the weapon properly, before deciding to take another minute or two to get some target practice in. He wasn’t quite as accurate as he’d have hoped, but his skill with the hand crossbow translated somewhat well to the pistol. He had to adjust his aim lower, as the bullets traveled much faster than even the quarrels of his over-tuned hand crossbow, but otherwise it wasn’t terribly dissimilar.
At around this time Roland and Blazermate came in, with Sectonia instead touring the ship to let others bask in her platinum splendor. Roland had been watching Geralt for a bit of the tail end of his little transformation and skill work, before silently deciding to join him and practice his own new tricks. Granted, unlike Geralt, he didn’t have too many new things to try with his new, blue skinned physique. Blazermate waited until the two boys were done with their fun, since she’d need them to kinda… fight each other a little bit to test out her things. With some time having passed, Geralt transformed into Ardor Blossom again, breathing a sigh of relief when the transformation occurred without a hitch. “Didn’t take too long to come back, at least.” He muttered, before stomping once more to see if that was the trigger. This time, however, nothing happened. Taking a deep breath to exhale his building frustration, Geralt paused and thought on it. How did that ability work? Last time, he did it after feeling the instinctual desire to do so, though that hadn’t appeared until after he’d scorched a few targets with fireballs. Was that the key? Damaging something, even something as simple as a practice target?
Roland meanwhile tried his new Ink powers. Well, the first one that involved summoning a spirit. What he wasn’t expecting was the spirit to look like Angelica. He did read in that book about Grimstroke’s sorrow over losing his wife, but he wasn’t expecting it to morph to match Roland’s trauma. Although this spirit was more… corrupt wasn’t the right word. Dripping with ink was more accurate. That and just being some sort of ‘summon’. He’d have to get used to something like this, but he for sure wasn’t going to mention anything about what this spirit represented.
Phantom's Embrace: Roland summons a phantom that quickly moves towards a target of his choice within 10m, latching onto it when she arrives. Once latched the phantom damages and silences the target while attached. If the phantom lasts its full 5 second duration, she deals heavy damage as she rends the target and returns to Roland, resetting the cooldown of this ability. Enemies can attack and destroy the phantom, ending the effect on them if they manage to kill it. Notable spirits and above deal triple damage to the phantom. It takes 9 attacks to destroy the phantom. 36 second cooldown.
Now’s the time to test these things, Geralt thought, tossing out a few fireballs to scorch up a series of targets. After hitting about five, he followed through on another new feeling, and this new attack summoned a swarm of 14 shurikens, which flew threw the air and knocked over a large swathe of targets. “Huh. Not bad.” On top of that, he somehow felt invigorated, as though he’d had a good meditation session. He didn’t quite know what that was about, but he continued his testing, firing off more fireballs before he suddenly returned to normal once more. “That was about twenty-five to thirty seconds. Must be time related, then.” He surmised, though it wasn’t exactly a well-tested idea. He only had so much time before he needed to be on the Bridge, though, so it’d have to do.
Drawing his steel sword, Geralt twirled it with a flourish before slashing the blade, sparks emitting as it just barely touched the ground, and a battle cry escaped his lips. “Demon Fang!” He cried, and a burst of blue energy travelled along the ground, crashing into another target and sending it crashing back to the ground. “What.” Geralt simply uttered, before scrunching up his face. “Did I just call out an attack? What kind of weirdo did I fuse with?!” He complained.
Still, it didn’t seem to be a bad attack. He attempted to do it again, though this time the irrepressible urge to shout the name of the attack did not come, and he hummed. That could be worse, he supposed.
New Ability/Power: Basic Spells (Paladin) - Grants two basic spells, First Aid and Luminant Scythe. Each spell requires two seconds of uninterrupted channeling to cast, and require about as much stamina as casting a Sign. First Aid heals an ally for 25% of their maximum HP, while Luminant Scythe summons two angled rings of light to surround an enemy, along with four orbs of light which all crash into an enemy, dealing medium holy-aspected damage.
Lifting his sword, Geralt began to channel energy, a circle of light emanating from his feet, and he uttered a chant. “Come forth, sacred spirits! Luminant Scythe!” As he finished the name of the spell, he swung his sword until it was parallel to the ground, and a veritable light show appeared around the target he pointed his sword at, battering it with energy until it was violently blasted back to the ground, clattering loudly against the floor. “Oh. Oh, that was…actually powerful magic.” He wondered what Yen would say to that. At least he didn’t have to face her as a woman.
Roland meanwhile was trying his other inky attack, a swelling of ink around him that… didn’t seem to do much of anything. He’d have to wait for Geralt to back off the training dummy before he went to see what this move did with some ‘targets’ around. It was pretty clear at that point though what this move did, it sucked the life out of whatever enemy was near the ink, causing it to grow and eventually explode in a shower of ink.
Geralt stepped back, giving Roland a nod and a gesture to let him know that he had the floor. “Looks like ink off a quill.” He commented about Roland’s new abilities. “Blazermate. Came here to test your fusions as well?” The Witcher inquired, giving the Medabot a glance up and down.
”Uh huh! Well, that and also making sure people don’t get hurt in here. You never know with these powers and all that.” Blazermate said ”So it seems yours went well. I wanna try mine, but I think mine are more support based so uh… Might need you two to hit each other a little bit.” She continued, looking at the gemstone emitting a warming light from her right hand.
Geralt hummed, nodding in reply. “Makes sense enough, I suppose. With how much I’ve been fighting lately, it’s almost like I’m on the Path again. Or a Skelliger, given how many friendly spars we’ve had so far.” And some of those spars were just as bloody as they were for Skelligers. The only thing he hadn’t done yet was go fisticuffs with somebody, though given how tough the Seekers were, he wouldn’t be an easy champion like he was on the continents. “Roland, when you get a minute, Blazermate wants us to fight so she can try out what she has.” He announced, solidly throwing Blazermate under the proverbial bus, with a ”Hey!...” from the bot.
Roland pulled back from trying out his new ink powers, something that reminded him a bit of what some gangs used for enhancements back in the City, and said simply. ”Well, if the little schoolgirl wants to see two men fight for her amusement…” Roland said, giving Blazermate all sorts of sass due to her request, seeing if that’d make the bot a bit embarrassed. It did a bit, but seeing blush on a bot was basically impossible so he let that sit a bit before saying ”Yeah. I guess we can do something light. Although we shouldn’t go too hard. Who knows then that Consul Z will jump us again.”
”Hey, you know it's kinda hard to test what healing abilities do if people don’t get hurt you know!” Blazermate said, retorting at last. Roland waved her with a “yes yes” sorta gesture before agreeing to do a little bit with Geralt.
“Alright, then. Just something simple, rough each other up a bit, then let her do her thing.” Geralt said, rolling his arms. “I’ve got a few things I could try out, but it seems like some of them take a few seconds to do. I’ll stick to the quicker stuff right now.” Once they were both in position, rapidly crossed his arms in front of his chest and swung them apart, a blade of Hydro energy appearing in each hand as he launched forward into a flurry of rapid blows, fusing them into a large twinblade mid-flurry.
Roland followed in kind, conjuring his twin swords to meet Geralt’s hydro blades. It was clear right away Roland’s new physique made him a bit slower, with him losing a few of his clashes with Geralt. The rapid slashes he could match with, but once the blade was fused that caused him to get hit. He felt like he got hurt more on top of that, but without having fought Geralt before, he wasn’t sure of that. He followed up though by pulling out his hammer and giving Geralt a few defensive swipes with it. It was around this time he noticed himself getting a bit faster, as if his new body just needed to warm up when entering a battle. A bit annoying, but it couldn’t be helped. On his last defensive smash, Roland decided to use another of his new abilities, empowering the attack and bashing through Geralt’s guard to deal some damage. Only Geralt and Blazermate could see the attack was infused with magic, with Roland unaware of that fact.
Well, with the two guys hurt, Blazermate tried her first new move, Divine Star. She shot a holy bolt out at the two which didn’t seem to do anything. However once it reached down the shooting range and came back, it had grown into a giant light wave that washed over the two boys and herself. The healing was stronger than her medigun, but it was more in a burst instead. Seeing that Roland was on the losing end of the exchange, since he tended to take some time to wind up, Blazermate tried another trick of hers and as Geralt went for another blow, she used Disruption on him. Roland now being suspended in a weird black bubble and Geralt’s attack completely missing him. This bubble lasted for 3 seconds before Roland came back, but instead of 1, there were 3 Rolands all going after Geralt now. Two of them were illusions, but they did do real damage. Roland was as surprised as the other two about the illusions, but shrugged.
The Hydro blades were rather quick, but once Roland got back up to speed and pulled out his hammer, Geralt was put on the back foot instead, taking a powerful, magically-enhanced blow to end the exchange before Blazermate intervened with a heal. Once Geralt saw the bubble of energy protecting Roland, he backed off a little, shocked to see three come out, and he dismissed the Hydro blades in favor of his lightning-infused katana. Skirting the blade along the ground, he shot out a pair of Demon Fangs before rushing in, hefting the sword and plunging it into the ground just before the three Rolands were on him, crying out “Guardian Field!” as a field of blue energy appeared to give Geralt some extra healing while keeping the Rolands back with the threat of punishment.
New Power/Ability Advanced Artes: Grants two more advanced abilities, Guardian Field and Holy Lance. Each ability costs roughly the stamina required to cast two Signs in short order, slightly exhausting Geralt after use and requiring a period of roughly fifteen seconds before he uses any costly abilities again, otherwise he risks severe physical exhaustion and an even longer period before he can use abilities. Guardian Field creates a ten-foot diameter field of blue light around Geralt, which damages enemies and heals himself and all allies within for 10% of their maximum HP over a period of three seconds. Holy Lance requires five seconds of uninterrupted channel time, after which it summons six lances of holy light, five around the target and one above. The five lances rapidly crash into the target in succession, each stunlocking the target in place for about half a second, and the final lance strikes into the target with tremendous force, knocking them up and back.
Roland himself hopped out of the way, making it clear to Geralt who was the real one while the Roland illusions, under the command of Blazermate, dove into Geralt’s attack and took the attack.The illusions had no fear of death, although that was more because Blazermate was testing them out to see what they did, and as such they took the whole holy field. They also didn’t swap weapons or do anything advanced, they just hit Geralt with their hammers until they finally poofed.
Disruption: Blazermate can use this on an ally or enemy within 10m, banishing them from the battlefield for 3 seconds, making them invulnerable but unable to act. While banished, whatever is banished has their positive buff durations paused, while debuffs will still tick down. When they return, 2 illusions will spawn alongside them that last 14 seconds that deal 60% of their physical damage under Blazermate's control. Illusions take triple damage. 20 second cooldown.
Divine Star: Blazermate fires out a thin bolt of light in front of her. This bolt damages and piercest through enemies that it hits. When it goes 20m, it grows into a wave 10 times bigger than the bolt and returns back to Blazermate, homing in onto her. This heals anyone it passes by including Blazermate with how much it heals on return increased by 25% for every person that gets healed by it. 10 second cooldown.
Before the two could get ready for another go, Sectonia entered the room in a gesture that yelled “Gaze upon my brilliance!”. She was still in quite the good mood and from the looks of things, she had been touring the ship a bit on her way there, making it clear to everyone she was beautiful and wanting their adoration. Blazermate gave her a clap, with Roland being half and half on her posturing. He didn’t know this bee queen much besides the minigames, so he wasn’t sure how he should react to her but gave a polite clap just in case. Blazermate made sure to give the two guys a top off as Sectonia showed off, but once she was done, she said. ”I’m here to test these new powers now that we don’t have to test them in the field. I assume the three of you are the same?”
Geralt nodded, though he was breathing a bit heavily thanks to the beating he took from Roland and the taxing use of Guardian Field. Putting his hand up, he stood to his full height, took a deep breath, and released it, immediately looking much heartier as he regained control of his breathing. “Yes. Roland and I were sparring so that we and Blazermate could test some of her new abilities, and since so many of them revolve around healing magic, it made sense to do it all together.”
As he started to regain some of his stamina, Geralt hummed, another instinct tugging at him. He held his sword aloft, and chanted a new spell. “Divine energy, fill me. First Aid!” As he cast the spell, restorative energy suffused him, restoring a good chunk of the damage he’d taken immediately. “And it would seem one of the people I fused with had something along those lines, as well.”
”Hey, I had you!... but good to know you can do that. If only Big daddy B could do that.” Roland looked at Blazermate and said, a bit worried. ”Who?” with Blazermate giving a bit of a giggle saying ”Bowser. Wait til you see more of him. He likes adopting kids left and right. He even tried adopting a sea monster! It didn’t work out, but boy did he try!”
Sectonia let out a single cough to get attention back onto her. ”Now then, I will give it a go if you could stand aside.” Sectonia said, fiddling with her new abilities. At first she tried her new Reaper’s Scythe ability, but noticed upon the dummy it did barely any damage. She let out a little ”Huh…” when this happened, a bit unsure of what happened. She did note that, as she used the ability, the surrounding death in the area seemed to focus on the dummy so… perhaps it would be something that she couldn’t use in good conscience in a training session. She did note that the dummy was completely locked down before the scythe hit though. Her second ability she decided to try the Death Pulse, which unleashed green skulls that radiate out from her in a limited area, the skulls homing in on Roland, Geralt, and Blazermate, Sectonia just being outside the range of the attack for the dummy.
Heartstopper Aura: Sectonia has a passive aura that causes all enemies within 12m to lose 1.2% of their max health every second. This bypasses spell immunity, but can be reduced by spell resistance. Stronger category spirits have some innate resistance to this ability.
Reaper's Scythe: Sectonia points at an enemy within 10m and stunning for 1.5 secs, bypassing CC and magic immunity (Strong enemies are interrupted instead.). At the end of the stun, the scythe of the grim reaper comes down upon them, dealing damage based on how much health is missing. This damage can be reduced by magic resistance. 110 second cooldown.
Instead of causing damage though, these skulls healed the three as well as the pulse healing Sectonia herself. She’d have to wait a little bit before getting closer to the dummy, getting an idea of its limited range but finding that it did damage to her enemies, and healed herself and her allies if they were nearby. One very notable thing about these skulls was that they moved kind of slow. Still fast as a projectile, but weirdly slow at the same time as if someone who was fast enough could outrun them.
“Huh, I wouldn’t have expected that to help…” Geralt muttered when the healing skull hit him. A skull felt sinister, though it might have simply been a thematic thing with whoever that ability came from. “I think I’ve gone through everything I’ve gotten.” Geralt mentioned to the others, but he looked at Blazermate. “We didn’t get much done for you, however. What else do you need?” He asked outright. Instead of having her on the sidelines for a spar to clean up the aftermath, they could just whack each other a bit and have her heal them between, perhaps.
While Geralt was asking that, Sectonia was busy trying to figure out how her power from her dragon fusion worked. She’d try a few various poses with no success other than a faint ‘poof’ of glitter which really wasn’t something she was hoping for in an attack. She even took this opportunity to hit the dummy with this short ranged ‘glitter’, but nothing came of it. A bit annoyed, she decided to use a bit of her Radiance powers for once and blasted the dummy with rays of light and skewered it with swords of light.
Blazermate shrugged, saying. ”I’ve got one more I wanna try, but it's a bit weird. I kinda don’t get it, but something tells me it's good.” Blazermate decided that, since she was going to try another support power, moved in between the two boys and behind Sectonia, who was still blowing off a bit of steam on the dummy. She channeled some of the light in her hand, then raised her hand in the air and nothing happened. She did this a couple times until she started to say ”We stand together as one!”. Once she started to say this phrase a giant holy dome encased everyone and healed them for a significant amount and would make them immune to damage, although only Blazermate could notice that last part. It didn’t last long, only 3 seconds, but it looked really cool.
Holy Word : Salvation : Blazermate raises her hand to the sky and conjures a large, bright dome with a radius of 5m. Blazermate and every ally within the dome is immune to all damage while the dome is up (But no other effects such as crowd control, debuffs, or the like), and heal 30% of their hp over the dome's 3 second channeled duration. 80 second cooldown.
Sectonia meanwhile, after relieving herself of her frustration, decided to focus and try her attack one last time. This time however, as she had charged it up by using light attacks, instead of glitter, a large, very powerful beam of light came from her hand, dealing some heavy damage to the dummy and impacted the back wall, scorching it as the beam collided and eventually fizzled out.
”Huh… why did it only work when I said something?” Blazermate said, scratching her head. When everyone was quiet about it, Sectonia piped up. ”It was probably some verbal spell component. If what you did was magic.” Sectonia said, nonchalantly answering Blazermate.
“Looked pretty magical to me.” Geralt replied, somewhat sarcastically. “Though with some of you, it’s hard to tell machines from magic.” He added in admission. “Still, good progress overall, I suppose. Thank you all.” Nodding at Roland, Blazermate, and Sectonia, he gestured at the exit to the training center. “We should probably get going to that meeting, though.”
While the Seekers piled out of the room housing Spirit Chamber, Zenkichi belatedly realized he'd forgotten one step of the process, shaking his head in annoyance. Can't believe I forgot to do that Striker thing. The capsule containing the Spirit he'd gotten from Kamek sat in his hands, and just as he was about to step forward to get back into the Spirit Chamber, Sandalphon beat him to the punch. He nodded as he leaned against the wall, waiting to see how she'd come out.
Geralt, meanwhile, took the time to leave the majority of his legion of Strikers in the 'dugout', resulting in only the Judicator and Monsoon being available for him to call upon until he chose to exchange them later. He did not wait to see what Sandalphon emerged as, leaving as soon as he was done with a nod to the detective.
When Sandalphon emerged from the chamber, Zenkichi's eyebrows climbed. She was actually shorter than he was now, though he knew better than to mention that directly. "Oh, man, Goldlewis would get a kick out of that." He joked, giving the archangel a small smile. "It looks good. Definitely different from your original look, but also not? I was never really a fashion guy, it's kind of hard to explain." Chuckling as he reflexively rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, he nodded. "Forgot something in the chamber, so I hung back a bit. Don't let me keep you, Sandalphon. See you at the meeting?"
Naturally, Zenkichi wasn't the only one who noticed the newfound height difference. Having previously looking down on the detective, physically if not metaphorically, Sandalphon now found herself peering upward to meet his gaze, then coolly inspecting his altered form. If anything, his changes seemed more radical than hers. One would be hard-pressed to recognize the man as Zenkichi Hasegawa with his new appearance, and Sandalphon couldn't help but wonder what his daughter would think. Regardless, she still possessed her halo, which technically gave her the edge in height.
"Thank you," the archangel told him after a moment, her pupils briefly becoming stars as she returned his slight smile. Even if she didn't mean to emote more, her increased capacity for expression would be plainly evident. "I believe you look good as well," she added, being a little more direct than her counterpart. "It feels somewhat strange to look up at you now, but I don't mind it. There's something almost...angelic about you. I can only speculate, but perhaps one of your spirits happened to be of holy origin."
She ran her hand through her hair, shifting her weight slightly. For Zenkichi, subconscious displays of awkwardness or discomfort were old hat, but this was something new for Sandalphon. "I did consider going to freshen up, but I do not mind you keeping me for a moment longer, if something concerns you. I could assist you in recovering what you lost?"
Oh, that's adorable Zenkichi thought as Sandalphon's eyes transformed into stars for a moment when she replied to him, and a little bit of blush snuck through, even on his now-darkened skin, when she complimented him directly. Conflicting memories flashed for a moment, before being blinked away at Sandalphon's comment about sensing something angelic in him.
"Could be. Can be hard to tell with the Spirits, but one of the ones I fused with definitely seemed to have something like that going on." He replied, nodding slightly. When she offered to help him find whatever he had lost, he shook his head. "Ah, not quite like that. I traded with Kamek for a Spirit, and wanted to bind it to be a summon like some of the others have. Nothing too important, but figure'd I'd get it out of the way before breaking the news to Akane that I look nothing like her father anymore."
Frowning slightly, Sandalphon nodded as she realized her misunderstanding. Still, she wasn't about to move on just yet. Though Zenkichi mentioned the dissonance in an off-handed way, she was determined not to let that slide. Her sense of humor might be highly limited, but she knew that humans didn't just make jokes to make others laugh; they also sometimes joked to mask pain or misgivings. If she couldn't help out in one way, maybe she could lend a hand in another
"I see. If you're concerned, you could always try a different methodology of spirit usage. After observing the Koopa Troop, I am confident in my ability to correctly utilize the device they referred to as 'the Snaktivator' to localize spirit mutations to certain body parts. While our objective demands that we strive for more power, I believe it prudent that we endeavor to preserve what is important to us."
Zenkichi paused for a few moments, thinking it over, before nodding softly. "That's...a good point. Kamek did a quick demonstration on it, but I guess with how hectic everything was, it didn't occur to me to ask about it. Might be a good idea to track them down and see if I can get a redo...though I'll probably do that after the meeting if I do. Thanks, Sandalphon." Smiling more fully and gratefully, he turned his head over to the Spirit Chamber again.
"Definitely still planning to bind that summon, though. As long as we don't do more than two, shouldn't affect anything, at least." He added. "I'll see you at the meeting, Sandalphon. Thanks. For everything you've done for us. For me."
The archangel bowed her head, her halo dipping slightly as she did. "You're welcome, please think nothing of it." She paused for a second, considering her phrasing. Did she want Zenkichi to think nothing of it...? After a beat, though, she straightened up and gave him a tentative wave. "Goodbye for now." Then she turned to go, headed toward the showers. Though uneventful and less efficient than Sandalphon might hope, this exchange struck her as a positive interaction, and if trivial talks like this continued she couldn't imagine herself being too displeased. Her conversations with Zenkichi, Pit, Geralt, and the others had been highlights of her journey as a Seeker thus far. Hopefully, by the time the looming meeting concluded, none of them would think less of her.
After Sandalphon was gone, Zenkichi entered the Spirit Chamber and activated it once again.
New Striker Spiritbound Sosha A spear-wielding dragoon with a wind affinity, fiery spirit, and short cooldown. She can attack with her polearm, performing rapid stabs or a lunging stab, or perform a high jump followed up a plunging thrust that pierces defense to deal serious damage if she managed to land it. Additionally, she can be summoned to grab and carry her host prior to a landing, which will negate fall damage.
He didn't feel very different once it was done, but he did feel something, so he wasn't terribly concerned about it. He'd have to ask the others how they did it. With his business concluded here, he left the Spirit Chamber’s room and headed to the bunk area where he’d left Akane before, shooting her a text to let her know he was on his way.
Peaking his head into the room she was in, Zenkichi called out to his daughter. ”Don’t freak out, it’s me. I fused with a couple Spirits, though, so…sorry about that. I know I look a lot different.” Stepping into the room fully, he rubbed the back of his head with his hand. ”How’s Maru?”
“Holy crap, dad, you’re dark! And tall!” Akane shot out of the sofa she was sitting on, eyes wide as she looked at her father. “I’m sure Sandalphon was happy about that.” She snarked, turning away a little and folding her arms. So much was changing, and she hated it so much. Even if this ship was kind of cool, she was starting to understand why her father buried his head in the sand a bit. This was all so much, and she couldn’t do anything to help! Unless…she used her streaming skills?
“Umm, forget about her, actually, dad. Do you remember back when we lived in Japan, how I did that Phantom Thief streaming?” She hated talking about her obsession with the Phantom Thieves with her father, or at least she used to, until he tried being a good dad again. Kind of.
”Uh, yeah, I do. Why?” He asked, ignoring the comment about Sandalphon. It couldn’t have been easy for her, so he didn’t let it bother him.
“Well, I wonder if they have anything like that here? Like, to get people to rise up and fight back! Like the Phantom Thieves did with their calling cards!” Akane’s hands where held up to her chest, determination plainly visible in her eyes.
Chuckling, Zenkichi shrugged. ”Dunno, but propaganda is pretty powerful. We could ask the Lost Numbers at the meeting if they have anything like that. If not, maybe you could put that technical know-how to use with Tora and Poppi. Help them build gadgets or program stuff.” He didn’t know exactly what went into streaming, but he knew it had to involve a bunch of tech support and troubleshooting.
“I’m not really a programmer, but I guess?” Akane shrugged. She wasn’t really the engineering type, but if it helped, it helped. “Just lemme know. And, dad? You look…I dunno, kinda weird. But like…cool, too? That’s gonna take some getting used to, so don’t go and turn into a woman like that old grumpy guy did.” Zenkichi chuckled at the mention of Geralt, shaking his head.
”Actually, he just turned back into a man a few minutes ago. We got a bunch of Spirits at the carnival and used this weird super-soldier chamber on the ship to fuse with some of them.” Zenkichi explained, thinking that at least he wouldn’t go fusing with a bunch of female Spirits and risk becoming one himself. ”You good if I head on to the strategy meeting? I can text you when it’s done and we can hang out and look around the ship or something?”
Akane actually smiled a little at that, nodding. “Sure, dad. This place is huge.” Nodding, Zenkichi left the bunkroom and made his way to Bridge for the meeting.
As everybody gathered and activated their Fulton devices, Geralt grimaced. She'd already been dreading this, but now that it was time to do it, nearly every part of her wanted to rebel against it. The only solace was the inevitable unconsciousness that blissfully rendered her unaware of the insanity that was this decision. Almost as soon as the fulton pulled them upwards, Geralt blacked out. Zenkichi, following in her footsteps with a gulp and a sigh, was out moments after.
When they came to, it was back aboard the Avenger. Some of the others marveled at the technological masterpiece before them, while others were more focused on the current goal: use some of these Spirits they just got! Neither Geralt nor Zenkichi were opposed to the idea, so they went along with the others without complaint. They'd be gathering for a meeting afterwards, likely to decide the Seekers' next destination(s), but for now it was off to the Spirit Chamber, whatever that was.
Fitting name, Zenkichi mused, when the group arrived at the Spirit Chamber, the strange machine at the center of it all taking most of the group's attention. He wasn't sure what Alcamoth had been like, but hearing this thing be described as like it, but 'creepy' gave him a few ideas, none of which he was sure was entirely correct. Still, as Deadman began to give his explanation, he almost agreed with her. It was a little creepy, but nonetheless extremely useful.
Both he and Geralt hummed ever so noticeably at the mention that the Lost Numbers had no Spirits, though that tracked based on what Dawn had mentioned earlier. They weren't part of Galeem's 'database' or whatever they had called it, which posed some incredibly awkward questions about the people who were a part of it. What, exactly, happened to Spirits when they faded being the first.
Putting those morbid thoughts aside, Geralt and Zenkichi took part in some quick trading before things really got underway. Geralt traded one of his capsules to the dour-looking thief, Therion, and gave one to Goldlewis with an apology, "For what happened in the fight with those Chimeras." Zenkichi, meanwhile, traded a Spirit capsule with Kamek, marking their first interaction. He still had no idea how to deal with his own knowledge about Bowser and his family, though he got the feeling Rika wasn't related to them by blood. With how Spirits worked, though, that was all it was.
With the Spirit Chamber back up and running thanks to Nadia, and some valuable info having been granted by the Magikoopa, all they had to do was wait their turn. Geralt was looking over her capsules, thinking about what to do, while Zenkichi already had a pretty good idea.
Eventually, Geralt's turn came, and she stepped into the Spirit Chamber with a deep breath, ready to see how much she'd change.
Spirits Fused: Tartaglia, Flynn Scifo, Barbatos (Ardor Blossom), Shinobi (Ardor Blossom) Spirits Defused: Harbor Water Demon Powers Lost: Lightning Infusion, Breaching Bastion, and Bombing Flight Weakness Lost: Big Deal
Tartaglia: This spirit confers the ability Foul Legacy: Raging Tide, which allows the host to enter a melee stance endowed with weapons of pure Hydro energy. This allows him to execute quick attacks with dual blades, or stronger attacks with a joined twinblade. All attacks in this stance apply the Wet status, and critical hits apply Riptide, which deal additional Hydro attacks when triggered. This spirit also confers the Weakness Self-imposed Self-improvement, which makes him much more inclined to choose the weapon he's least proficient with when starting a fight
Flynn Scifo: This spirit grants the ability Demon Fang, which sends a cutting shockwave along the ground to deal unaspected slash damage. This spirit also confers the weakness Disaster Chef, which automatically ruins any food he cooks, making it downright toxic to those without sufficient poison resistance
Barbatos: This spirit grants the ability Ground Shaker, a powerful stomp that unleashes a wave of heavy dark explosions forward, although it must by charged by dealing damage. This spirit also grants the Weakness Shapeshift Limit, which puts a timer on how long the host can remain in his Ardor Blossom Identity before reverting to default, incurring a cooldown before the host can become Ardor Blossom again. While this timer normally lasts 30s, taking damage decreases it according to the damage taken
Shinobi: This spirit grants the ability Shuriken Shower, which summons a rain of 14 shadow-infused ninja stars in an area, though this must be charged by dealing damage. The 14th star deals 58% more damage, and this ability also energizes the host and nearby allies, decreasing stamina usage and boosting stamina regen. This spirit also confers the Weakness Light Bane, increasing the damage taken from the light element by 25%
The host is slightly taller than normal, thought not by much. His hair is a pale strawberry blond, and his armor is now a suit of half-plate, with his legs and arms covered by leather underneath the plates on his thighs and forearms. He looks a bit more youthful, though a tinge of madness still peaks through his bright, blue eyes. From the shoulders of his gear extend two half-capes of a slightly translucent white material that is mistakable for silk when dry. Personality-wise, Geralt is a bit conflicted. He seeks to do what is right, and while he does not agonize over following orders, he has a bit of a rebellious streak in him, and revels in a challenge.
As LCCB Assistant Manager, the host is adorned in riot gear, wielding a riot shield and a pistol. His orange-white hair is voluminous, flowing down to his hips.
As Ardor Blossom, the host has gained a noticeable amount of size, his skin has darkened and become hardened and scaly. His armor has transformed into a heavy tan jacket with a black undershirt, and he wears orange pants beneath it. His eyes are a bright orange, while his hair has become a darker orange. In this form, Geralt has rudimentary draconic wings that can be used to lengthen his jumps and buffet enemies with wind, but not fly. He has grown large horns on either side of his head, and his hands end in vicious claws. His demeanor is more dour and quicker to anger in this form.
Stepping out of the Spirit Chamber with the Harbor Water Demon Spirit in his hands, Geralt looked at himself, gently patted himself down, and breathed a tremendous sigh of relief. "Finally, I have a...I'm a man again." He quickly corrected, not wanting to be too vulgar, especially in front of Junior. Stepping out of the way to enjoy his new identity and get used to his new armor and appearance, he looked at the other Seekers before his eyes paused on Nadia. A quick memory from the Deep Blue Seaside flashing through his mind, he gave the faintest ghost of a smile before approaching.
"Nadia. Seem to recall you having an eye on this." He simply said, holding the Spirit of the Harbor Water Demon out in offer. "I think you'd make good use of it."
As they spoke, Zenkichi stepped into the chamber, anticipation building through him.
Spirits Fused: Ike and Tyrael Ike: This spirit grants the ability Eruption, which causes blue flames to build up on the host's sword when its held with both hands facing the ground. These flames continue to intensify over the course of a couple seconds, during which the host's stance is extremely difficult to break at all, until the blaze tops out. When the sword is finally plunged down, it unleashes pillars of flame that deal heavy damage and guard break. A longer charge boosts the size, damage, and number of eruptions. This spirit also confers the Weakness Weapon Trilemma: Sword which decreases the host's accuracy against (but increases the damage taken from) enemies wielding polearms, including spears, lances, halberds, javelins, scythes, and so forth by 15% Tyrael: This spirit grants the ability Smite, which calls down a blast of the host's primary element in an area to deal damage. It leaves behind a field that boosts allies' movement speed by 25% for 2 seconds. The field itself lasts for 6 seconds, the same as the ability's cooldown, though it still takes a chunk of SP to use. This spirit also confers the Weakness Mana Hungry, increasing the SP cost of all skills by approximately 10%
The host has gotten taller, standing at about 6 feet, 4 inches tall, in addition to gaining some visible muscle mass. His skin has darkened further, and his hair has turned a dark blue while shortening to reach his ears. His suit has been replaced with a dark blue tunic and gray pants, and he has gained some armor pieces. His shoulders are covered by pauldrons, while his forearms and shins are protected by vambraces and greaves. Personality-wise, the host has become less bound by a sense of duty to order, and more inclined to follow his own personal ideals of honor and justice.
Stepping out, Zenkichi hummed as he looked himself over. "Oh, that's a hell of a tan. Like I spent all summer in Okinawa." He joked. Overall, the appearance change wasn't too bad. He even got some armor out of it. "Oh, wait a second. Oh, I'm taller. Oh wow." Chuckling, he quickly got out of the way of the next person, running his hand through his hair. "Like, I wasn't short before, but now I am tall. I feel like an American." Looking over his other Spirit capsules, he sighed and decided that was best left for later. Maybe that Vulgrim guy would have something for him, or he could try to get the giant Bee lady to let him use that stuff to get better things from his Spirits. And fusing that vest would be useful, just so he didn't have to worry about it...
When Geralt opened her eyes again, it was back on the roulette table, with Ballyhoo getting ready to bring the Seekers into yet another game. Sandalphon, however, interrupted the magical MC, much to the surprise- and consternation- of some of the Seekers. Her quick explanation that they would be charged for the next game and any after, however, got the Seekers' immediate thanks for sparing their wallets such a horrible fate.
When the group was deposited back in the Big Top, Geralt and Zenkichi both took a moment to get their heads on straight. They'd done a lot of gaming, and a lot of teleporting, much to the Witcher's annoyance. At least, for now, it was over. Geralt stepped away from the others and took a series of deep breaths, shaking off the teleportation fatigue. Zenkichi, on the other hand, was staring at the Orb Machine that had been mentioned. It was, basically, a big old Gachapon machine that allegedly gave out Spirits. That would be useful, though Zenkichi hadn't really done anything with any Spirits so far, just fusing with that one guy, and basically crushing everything else, even Konoe. Though, he wouldn't want to fuse with Konoe anyway, either for the megalomania, the delusions of heroism, or the trauma.
While the others lined up to get Spirits, Geralt went to the barber and decided to get her hair cut and styled into a short ponytail, not unlike one she'd used herself as a man back on the Continent. While the color was a bit more vibrant now, it was not terribly different from how she'd previously styled it. "Thank you," Geralt simply offered, furnishing the cost of one token. Compared to the potential of a Spirit, a haircut felt a bit costly, but she also wasn't terribly keen on having to handle a dozen Spirits.
Zenkichi had gone straight for the outfits, grabbing a simple black suit like the one he wore normally, a policeman's uniform, a HAZMAT suit, a smart-looking bowler hat, and a cute little tiara (for Akane). He got a bag for his purchases, and then got in line to get some Spirits from the Gacha machine. "Man, a Gacha machine, huh...been a while since I played with one of these guys." He casually mused, hands in his pockets. "Reminds me of home."
Geralt had also picked up a few outfits, one a refined noble's outfit not unlike she'd been forced to wear to King Bran's funeral. It was more suited for a man, but she could make it work, assuming the Spirits she got didn't tip the scales back that way anyway. She also picked a strange-looking outfit that was described as a "Military BDU". She didn't recognize the random-looking patterns on it, but it seemed interesting enough to take. Finally, she got a more modern-looking semi-formal outfit, consisting of a button-up shirt, pants, and a charcoal gray sports jacket before joining the line to get Spirits from the Orb Machine.
As the others got their orbs and mingled, Geralt thought on what she overhead Sandalphon and Dawn talking about. Another Consul. They've really stepped up their activities against us. Can't say I blame them, with five Guardians already down. Must be worried by now. It was to be expected, she supposed, that Galeem had more agents than the seemingly uncaring Guardians. They did little beyond stay in their domains, as far as she'd seen. Though part of her dreaded the idea that they'd start acting against the Seekers alongside the Consuls. It was no matter. They'd fight them if such a thing came to pass, as they fought them already.
Finally, the pair had grabbed their six orbs each, not taking much time to examine them carefully. They could do that onboard the Avenger. While a few people complained about not standing to fight, Geralt nearly rolled her eyes. They'd all fought a Guardian today, half of them fought two Consuls, and she had a feeling the Under team likely had to deal with one, or at least their schemes, as well.
Running to live and fight another day was the smart move.
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