VitaVitaAR

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude just... wasn't going to help?! She just attempted to pat her on the head and be done with it?! What... how... that---!

No, no, she couldn't allow herself to become distracted by that.

Fanilly took a deep breath to clear her head.

Her knights, of course, seemed to make similar points to what she'd already been considering. They needed to split their forces, but not too heavily. Sir Gerard, while noble, seemed to be taking quite an extreme stance of taking on their opponent's demonic companion entirely alone. No matter how capable he may be, and how resistant to serious injury he was, she couldn't agree to such a thing in good conscience.

Despite the fact that death held little meaning in this place, that didn't mean that they shouldn't treat these challenges as such. If this was meant to be preparation for facing a powerful mage in the normal world, then that meant that they had to approach it no differently then they would if death were still a real threat.

"I can't allow you to face the demon alone, Sir Gerard, not if we are to treat this as a real battle. But as Sir Fleuri says, it's likely you shall face her either way," she replied, before clearing her throat.

"I do believe splitting into more than two teams would be spreading ourselves too thin, so I agree with Sir Renar. With that in mind, I will be dividing you between the southern approach and the eastern approach."

The southern approach was the one she suspected to be most likely guarded by the demon. It was the one with the most cover, and the easiest climb, so it stood to reason that she was using a powerful physical defender to cover what was the easiest route up.

While the northern approach was a massive blindspot, the climb was also the most difficult, so she had ruled it out fairly quickly. Of the two flanks, the eastern flank had rougher terrain that made it somewhat more difficult but also provided some level of cover in the event of another spell.

"Sir Gerard, Sir Fleuri, and Sir Fionn," she addressed the knights in turn, "You shall approach from the South. I suspect that you'll face the demon, but provided you can keep her occupied then you will have achieved your duty even if you cannot pass her. Sir Renar, Sir Rolan, and myself will take the eastern approach, and focus on evading the mage's spells above all else."

She took a deep breath as her gaze returned to Lady Gertrude.

Persuading her to be of assistance felt like it would be a battle in and of itself, but the maid uniform-wearing girl did respond to flattery.

"A-as for Lady Gertrude, I was hoping she would demonstrate her considerable talents in overcoming a challenge helmed by what is clearly a powerful mage," Fanilly began, hesitating somewhat as she hoped she chose the right words, "Certainly, her... her incredible craft would be useful."

Gertrude's role, provided she actually helped, would be a simple one.

To unleash as many ranged spells as swiftly as possible, with the goal of releasing the widest spread of projectiles as possible. Naturally, she didn't think a mage like their opponent would be defeated by such an assault.

But she couldn't simply ignore them, either, could she? The more time she spent defending against a magical smokescreen, the less time she had to prevent them from reaching the top.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

The sky burned.

That was the only way she could explain it.

She'd been moments away from doing her best to follow the orders given to her, to strike out like a hero would and cut down the opposition to give her allies the best possible chance of escape.

But then, the sky burned.

The young girl, Eve, had become a hybrid of Sollan and Dragon, and let loose the single most destructive spell Robin had ever seen to bring down the enemy airship.

She was speechless. Practically frozen where she stood. This was all far more intense then anything she'd taken part in before. Taking out the local bandits before they could hurt anyone else was nothing compared to this.

She was shaking. Her heartbeat was pounding. Her shoulders were quaking. Even though that had been the work of an ally, she... she... she----!

No.

She wasn't a coward. She wasn't the type of person to panic, not one bit.

She was a hero. She helped the weak and judged the wicked.

And that meant she couldn't freeze up now!

Robin sucked in a deep breath and swiftly located the others, breaking into a sprint. With the airship downed, rather then pursuing her original objective it seemed for the best to cover them from any potential form of attack.

And there was another new threat approaching from the wreckage itself.

That was---

It was like a vision of the underworld. A monster emerging from some fiery pit, in human form

And yet---

Her blade glinted, light flowing up the edge and dancing as Robin sucked in a deep breath.

A monster from the underworld wouldn't frighten a hero, after all.

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

Witch's Household

---

"... If you're not drunk, then you must have taken a stroll through the Garden of False Reflections," commented Ilsa with a raised eyebrow, "Because you're talking complete nonsense."

"Huuh?"

A higher-pitched voice came from just above the house, and after a moment it became clear it originated from the sparkling lights themselves. In mere seconds, they had swarmed downwards, their true nature becoming apparent.

Their bodies resembled those of young girls, lacey insectoid wings sprouting from their backs. Their large, shining eyes regarded the three newcomers inquisitvely from every potential angle.

There must have been at least a dozen or so of them.

"Who are they?"

"Where did you find them?"

"Your names! Tell us your names!"

"Give us your secrets~"

"Come with us, come back with us! The Spiraling Trail is-"

Ilsa sighed, and waved her hand, as if to shoo them away. The small, flying figures pouted, but largely complied, now watching from a somewhat longer distance.

"I'm sure none of you mean ill, but I don't think any of us are in the mood," she said, addressing what could only be fairies, "These three just had an encounter with that one, I don't think they're fit for a walk into the fey realms."

The fairies all fell silent when they heard Ilsa mention 'that one'. No matter how childish they might have appeared, it was clear they were well aware of what she was talking about.

A few even mumbled reluctant apologies.

Ilsa gestured for her guests to follow, and approached the front door of her cottage. It was around now that Rita would be able to get a good look at the local flowering plants. Some appeared to be lilies, others roses, and still others bluebells and violets. But there was also a plant that resembled nightshade, foxglove, and other unrecognizable plants. The garden also had a shaded area, maintained by several sunshades and a rather large and expansive bush, that housed a number of brightly colored mushrooms.

Beside it sat a large tortoise, the size of a small boulder. Hanging beneath its beak was a lengthy white beard, unexpected for such a creature, and perched ahead of its eyes was a tiny, miniscule set of eyeglasses that seemed far too small for it to look through them.

Perhaps most surprising was the fact it bowed.

At least, until it spoke.

"Welcome back, Lady Ilsa," the tortoise said, in a warm, friendly voice that brought to mind images of a kindly old man, "My... what unusual guests. Greetings."

He bowed his head to each of the newcomes in turn, as the door opened on its own ahead of the Substitute Witch of the Forest.

The entrance hallway lead to a rounded interior, with a staircase on one side leading upwards, and another two hallways leading to different areas of the cottage. The first room housed a large fireplace with a cauldron, as well as a reading chair.

"I won't ask you to make yourselves at home, as I'd prefer you didn't given your shiftless appearances," commented Ilsa as she approached the fireplace, "But I will welcome you to the home of the Witch of the Forest. While you are here, you'll be under my protection. I may only be a substitute, but that should be more than enough to keep you safe until you leave the Forest of Lorkay."

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99@Rin

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

The mission's resolution was not neat or tidy.

After reporting to command, first an attempt to assist the spirit in seppuku was made. Ideally, an anomaly that could be dealt with wouldn't simply be allowed to persist unchecked, and this was by his own request. As long as he remained lucid, that made it all the easier.

However, such efforts had failed.

It appeared as if the samurai was not just a wayward spirit, but the process of deification had already begun. Indeed, he was bound to the land itself, far harder to get rid of then the average spirit.

In retrospect, this explained the presence of the komainu, even if it was only in their image.

The decision to lock down the area and begin the process of converting the spirit fully into a local deity seemed to be the best option available, but only time would tell how well it would work.

It had been several days since the mission, now.

Arisa sighed heavily, leaning on the wall. It was frustrating, really, that the mission hadn't achieved a conclusive outcome. People had died, no matter how repentant the spirit was. But they couldn't seemingly remove him for containment, and assisting him with seppuku had failed entirely.

Still, at least the area was locked down and the anomaly was registered. This was no risk of civilians entering and being caught up if the spirit forgot his own death again. Since his powers seemed limited in range, at the very least lockdown could ensure that.

Now, it was a matter of waiting and seeing what happened next.

That, and awaiting the next assignment. Arisa wasn't on anomaly containment, but agents were expected to remain on standby pretty frequently.

So she'd picked up some melon bread at the cafetria, for the moment.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

They did it.

Despite who they were fighting, despite the fact their target was a legend from the stories of her childhood, they'd done it.

She had reached Prince Erion, her sword ready to fall when she had come to a halt.

Fanilly nearly collapsed on the spot, but she managed to catch herself to listen to the Prince's words of congratulations. He may not have had any idea what their next challenge would be, but that didn't mean that it wasn't an immensely satisfying experience to be congratulated by a figure out of legend.

He may have been a magical recreation of some form, but he had the personality and memories of the original. She was being praised by Prince Erion himself.

It was overwhelming, in fact. Fanilly barely knew what to say.

But she wasn't so overwhelmed as to miss the blue light in the sky.

She tried to open her mouth and yell for the knights to scatter as fast as possible, but they'd been far too distracted, and---

Fanilly had no idea how it felt. She hadn't the slightest idea what the process of her whole being eroding away by such a powerful spell was like.

It had happened so swiftly.

Suddenly she was standing there, perfectly fine once more.

... If she hadn't been so distracted by the Prince's praise, would she have been able to evade the blast? Would she have been able to warn her knights? Was that part of the test?

As she began to internally curse her own failure to pay attention, she noticed the drifting form of the missive as it descended towards them.

Their test---

It was just a particularly destructive way to get their attention.

The second test was to reach the top of the hill.

The Knight-Captain steadied herself, taking a deep breath as she cleared her head.

"Sir Gerard is right. We should take advantage of the time we have to scout the perimeter of the hill," Fanilly began, trying not to show any sign of being shaken. Her hands trembled slightly, but she wouldn't allow herself to falter, "Any routes with more potential cover are a blessing, but I doubt that we'll have too many advantages."

This was meant to test them against a powerful mage, wasn't it? A singular target whose range outstripped nearly everyone there, who could attack in ways that bypassed armor.

"Fighting against a powerful mage at range isn't simple, but there's some obvious tactics we can make use of, especially since our only task is to reach the top of the hill. To begin with, we should split up as much as possible and approach from different angles. While she may be able to switch targets quickly, if we remain apart it will be difficult for her to strike more than one of us with a single spell, or block any of us from climbing."

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

Forest Shrine

---

The green-haired girl gave a blank, incredulous stare at the medusa and the goblin, for a few moments rendered entirely speechless.

"You don't know where that was?" she exclaimed, "Then how did you even-you must be drunk. It'd explain why you're such an odd group, too."

She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily.

"In case you needed a refresher, that ruined shrine is given a wide berth for a reason," she continued, her right hand still on her wooden staff as her left rested on her hip, "And the creature that attacked you is why."

Averting her eyes for a moment, the girl grumbled something under her breath that was barely audible. But given her goblin nature, her large ears adapted for hearing faint noises, it was possible that Rita would just barely pick up her voice.

"-not that staying away from the shrine is enough these days..."

The girl let out another sigh before directly addressing the trio once more.

"Listen, I'm not thrilled about this, but I can't have a set of drunk lunatics dying on my conscience," she began, "And I think Relki wouldn't leave me alone if I just let you try and find your way out by yourselves."

As if on cue, a raven alighted on the tip of her staff. It regarded the assembled figures before it, tilting its head.

"So, follow me. I'll take you someplace safe for the night and then show you the way out in the morning. Got it?"

The girl turned and started to walk away, then paused and looked back over her shoulder.

"Since you seem so ill-informed, I'll introduce myself. I'm Ilsa, Substitute Witch of the Forest."

The raven let out a caw, and Ilsa glared at it for a moment. Eventually, she let out a sigh.

"And that's Relki. For some reason, she won't just tell you herself. Now, come on."

With that, she turned and started to walk away. The forest was no longer so dark and intimidating, with the departure of the creature, but the patches of dead plants where its hooved feet hand fallen remained. Still, the birds had returned, and the idyllic and peaceful-seeming surroundings no longer held a scrap of malice. Certainly, there were likely dangerous creatures living in the woods of a more ordinary sort, but it still seemed to be a pleasant enough place.

If one could forget the deer creature.

After a few moments of walking, the forest cleared slightly to reveal a stone path with grass growing between it, leading to a cottage across a small wooden bridge over a stream. It had a small garden out front, flush with blooming flowers, and something small and sparkly seemed to be flitting around above the rooftops and about the garden.

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99@Rin

From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

"This puny girl says she can beat me? I'm sorry, but I can't say I'm convinced."

Her opponent clearly doubted her capabilities.

It was true, she wasn't operating at a hundred percent now. However, she hardly needed to to defeat someone like this.

"Then I suppose you're going to be surprised," she said, flatly. It wasn't really a quip or a joke, more of a statement of fact.

The man shrugged and readied his training sword and shield.

Youmu narrowed her eyes slightly. He really wasn't taking this seriously, was he?

It was his mistake, she supposed.

She planted her right foot firmly forward, drawing the bokken parallel to her head into ko gasumi as her other foot slid back. It had been some time since she used one of the wooden blades, but it was still a familiar feeling in her hands. Now, she usually trained with Roukanken and Hakurouken as opposed to using any substitutes. Even if she were sparring, with Spell Card rules in play there was no risk of serious injury.

Regardless, it wouldn't be a problem in the least.

Youmu moved. Her speed held back by her spiritual injury was still enough to clear the gap between herself and her opponent in the blink of an eye.

He would thrust his shield as she approached, straightforwardly. The half-phantom could see it playing out, in her mind, an instant he tried it in real life.

It would be followed by a strike, likely a thrust or a downward slash.

She wasn't there for either blow.

His wooden shield struck nothing but air. His wooden sword cleaved emptiness.

He wasn't totally lacking in skill. Youmu could see his eyes following her. He was aware she'd feinted, even if he was struggling to respond to her position now on his left-hand side.

All he could do at this range was swing his shield in hopes of making contact.

Youmu stepped back, and before he could recover immediately stepped back in past his shield.

The bokken's tip pressed against his throat.

"You've lost," Youmu commented, simply, the bokken pressing lightly to the flesh of his neck.

She'd shown him.

But apparently, he didn't think that was enough.

"You little---!"

His attempt to swat her with his wooden sword was fruitless.

The dull thunk of the bokken striking him over the head, a blow that Youmu was certain would have split his skull in two had she been wielding Roukanken, heralded the true end of the duel.

"Nnng... d-damn it..." he stammered, clutching at his head and sinking to his knees.

It wasn't the most exciting duel, but at least she'd shown him how badly he'd misjudged her.

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

@Nyahahameha: After way too much delay, formally accepted!

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

@Nyahahameha: Blah, I'm sorry. Part of it is that I'm so used to using discord that I forget about the OOC, but I'll admit your character concept is a bit unexpected and I'm still not 100% sure about it.

I'll send along a link to the discord server, that should make things easier. I should have done it a lot more quickly.

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

Ruined Inn

---

"Not everyone here has whatever your strength stat is and a warhammer, you know."

As much as I'm glad she used it and crushed the undead, I really hope that the girl in the white robes and armor isn't going to go assuming everyone has whatever freakish layout she has going on.

My strength stat is the bare minimum and I don't have anything aside from my staff. I can't say I favor my chances in the same situation, so I'm hoping I don't have to put that to the test.

... Did the other elf just tell me not to cry?

I wasn't going to cry! And I'm definitely not now!

Am I?!

I can't help turning away quickly, embarrassed. Did I seriously---

I'm an adult. A grown man!

... Well, this body isn't a grown man's, though I'm definitely not a child. There's no way I was on the verge of tears and didn't even realize it, right?

Is it really because the hormonal balance of this body is different then I'm used to? That I'm simply not used to dealing with the ways a small elf girl emotionally responds to things? I know it can't be the same as an adult male human's, but---

Aah, I don't even what to think about the fact I might have just nearly cried in front of a bunch of strangers!

At least I can distract myself by answering his questions.

"I-I'm making a lot of assumptions, but-"

Wait wait wait.

Did he offer to hug me?!

I feel like the stare I give him is probably enough of an answer to that, but I'm not about to let it go.

"I'm an adult. And a stranger. Do you seriously offer to hug adult strangers all the time? Please tell me you don't."

Sucking in a deep breath, I try to calm myself. My heart's not beating quit so fast, and I can easily avoid looking at the dead zombie.

"L-like I said, I made a lot of assumptions, but..." I pause a moment. It really is a lot of guesswork, but it's what I have to go off of. Two of us are elves, we're all dressed up in robes and armor, and magic clearly exists.

"I'm guessing this world is a fantasy setting," I continue, "Something out of story about elves and dragons and magic."

The only thing we don't have right here was the dragons, after all.

At least I hope so.

"So it doesn't run on the same principles as the world we were born in," I add, "These undead are probably animated by magic. Rather then dying, it's more like a car breaking down. If your car irreparably breaks down, you're going to leave it, right?"

If magic is making it move, then it doesn't need the brain to stay intact. But a broken spine or destroyed limbs means it can't move anymore.

"That's probably what happened."

I take a deep breath and glance at the rest of the cellar.

"We should take what we can and get out of here. I doubt the whole world is like this, and we don't have any source of clean portable water anyway. So, we need to find a way out of this city."

@PKMNB0Y@Aku the Samurai@SilverPaw@RolePlayerRoxas