Group 2: Hope Quest

[Yuki D'Avranches]

Yuki smiled at Liz, “Well we are new recruits and didn’t get much time to change before I was told I needed to come here.” Yuki did feel a bit bad for lying to Liz she seemed like a nice person and she did hope that they could resolve this situation without them having to fight. “That is good I would hate for a weapon as beautiful as your to get damage.” Hearing what Liz said she turned around noticing that Aria was not with them and also that Esper was further away from them as well. Feeling stuck between a rock and a friend she was going to try and reach out to try and stop her from harming Esper, as a morgg hound brushed against her leg trying to get to Esper.



What happened next was too quick for her eyes to follow one moment Esper was just standing there looking normal and the next he had dragon wings and scales and threatening Liz. Backing away a bit from the both of them not sure completely sure how she felt about fighting, since she thought this would have been a simple mission, find some magical armor and then leave no fighting anything that looked human. Soon she saw Aria on the woman’s back, biting into her neck.



Seeing Aria get thrown off the woman’s back and impaled with the styche Running over to Aria she did a quick assessment of the wound. Quickly dropping her bag pulled out the spare dress she had brought, as grabbed her dagger ripping into the dress to make a temporary bandage, tieing it around Aria’s wound, doing the best she could given the situation. Placing the dagger back in her boot Yuki looked at Aria and Esper before turning to look at Gabriel.



Taking a deep breath she stood up and walked towards the hounds, standing a good distance away from them just in case. Bowing her head, “I apologize for my companion's behaviour I was not aware that they would have attacked you.” Her voice expressed her deepest sadness of what just happened as well. “I am truly and honestly sorry for that and for one of your hounds to have died. I can not express how sorry I am.” Her head reminded bowed as her eyes closed for a moment, before she raised her head looking at Liz, her eyes shined with rage as she spoke her next words. “However I do not appreciate you harming one of my friends.”



Taking another deep breath calming her emotions she flashed a warm friendly smile at the woman. “How about we try this again. It is nice to meet you Liz, and if you don’t mind if it’s not too much of a trouble. Could you tell us what this room is and why those cravings are on the
walls?”

[Deleted]

Esper saw Aria strike and somehow fail to land a lethal blow. Tricky this one was...consuming souls to heal the wound. He was certain that Yuki might aggrieve him if he continued the confrontation. The wound went noticed, but Aria was a skilled healer and probably could recover from it. Too much time was being wasted here: this was a matter of war and 'Liz' was an agent of the enemy. The weapon seemed to be the main source of her abilities...perhaps a standard spell might work.

The wings fade from his back into Mysu, the threat factor not having worked and completely useless in a cave. Esper runs toward Liz shortly after Aria is flung, a fast Arcane spell running through his hands toward Liz.

"Disarm!"

Arcane energy would sweep around and try to fling the weapon with potent force out of her hands and toward the group. Esper would keep closing the gap between, to draw the attention of the hounds then disappear into the Shadows, popping behind Liz and quickly forming a katar of sharp scale and mysu energy on his right arm, attempting to impale her through the chest to decisively end this confrontation.

[Deleted]

Gabriel looked at the group amazed at the fight he was seeing. Though he knew it was serious he knew if he wanted to compete against any of them he would most likely be forced to use his overlimit skill to just keep up. Though he was able to see the fight he knew his body would barely be able to keep up. Looking back towards Yuki he knew his first priority was to protect her from harm.

Putting his staff on the side he pulled the sword from his waist and waited in stance to see what would happen next.

[lucifina]

Once Liz landed she would hold onto the barbed wire as she felt the weapon being ripped from her hand. It was futile to hold onto as the weapon was blasted from her hands. The weapon already shaking from the strike would fling and pierce into to the side of the cave.

Liz turned and was about to dodge the katar before noticing something. A huge grin appeared on her face as she was stabbed through the heart. “It’s time, … The lives of your precious city shall fill the Morgg as Helena returns to her rightful place along with the deyu.” As Liz continued to speak her last words blood would drip down from her mouth. “The pillars hold the key”. Once that was said Liz limped and fell on the ground. Once she died a large roar could be heard. A roar from a dragon along with a minor quake. It was unknown if the dragon was already released or how close it was. The roar echoed in the cave. Once the roar ended the morgg hounds saw their dead master lay down on the ground.

Liz’s body would shake slightly before what looked like souls would explode from Liz’s body as 100s of souls would fly endlessly around the cave. The morgg hounds would go in a frenzy as the hounds would either devour any souls they can get or charge at the adventurers. Those that devoured multiple souls would grow up to anywhere between 5-6 ft their skin would turn from brown to black the more souls they ate. All the hounds would then charge at each person two would target each gabriel, aria, and yuki while 5 would surround esper three of them being black 6 ft hounds.

[Deleted]

Esper was somber about the attack behind the mask: taking a life was never a fun endeavor or something he relished in, however it was reality. This was a war. Esper wasted no time in between when the souls explodes and diving into the hounds, spinning the blades as another formed on his other arm to strike in wide arcs culminating in a Mysu breath that he would breath in a wide area that didn't face the other three members of the party. The breath causes the mask to crack around the mouth as splinters of the metal would dot the ground.

The roar made him sigh internally. 'Yes sister...yes...I'll deal with you soon enough..'

[Yuki D'Avranches]

Yuki heard the last words Liz said that the pillars hold the keep, the roar scared her as backed up a bit. Only for the souls that escaped Liz’s body to fly around the room she watched helplessly as some of the hounds ate the souls only to grow bigger in size. A small sense of panic overcame her as two of the hounds were charging towards her person, quickly to summoned her air shield watching it appeared around her, knocking back the hounds if they tried to touch her.



Inside the shield she was shaking, as she looked around for anything that would helped, since she knew that she only had a limited before the shield would give out. She could try to summon her daggers but that would require her to drop the shield and she wasn’t sure if she was ready for that yet. She notice that Esper seem to be making work of the hounds attacking him, while she was panicking inside of her shield, her mind working faster than she could think of. Looking towards Liz then towards where the weapon she once wielded landed, she might not be able to wield it as well as Liz but maybe she could use it though she would need something that would prevent her from getting harm when she picked it up.

[Deleted]

Gabriel watched as Esper disarmed and killed Liz, after hearing her last words he heard a roar before everything seemed to happen at once, next thing he knew he was slashing at hounds that seemed to be after himself and Yuki, “You had to go and kill her didn’t you, what ever happened to talking?” Gabriel said loudly as he stabbed his sword into one of the hounds, deftly taking out his dagger he held both his weapons. Having chains and armor around its body and head made them difficult to slash through normally, he would continue to fight them while standing near Yuki.

[Deleted]

The hounds were out of control, unable to tell friend from foe. Gabriel successfully stabbed one hound to its death, the other still stalking him, nipping at him here and there before pouncing at him, attempting to get a grip on his arm with its teeth. The hounds stalking Yuki pounced as well, but were knocked back by whatever shield she had put up. Angry and feral they got up growling, and one changed course, choosing to go after Gabriel instead.

One remained on Yuki, staring her down and stalking circles around her. Should she make any sudden movement, it would pounce at her again, trying to claw through the shield.

Aria's hounds remained untouched, and continued to pounce at her, clawing and gnawing on whatever they could get their teeth into.

Esper succeeded in killing two of the hounds surrounding him, the weaker of the bunch. The other four howled and growled, barring their teeth. One started charging towards him at a fast speed, while another stalked behind him, wanting to sneak up on him. The other two were ready to pounce on his sides, but stayed put.

[Yuki D'Avranches]

Yuki watched at Gabriel fought them, her eyes turned to Aria for a moment seeing that the hounds were still on her. Waiting till the hound that was stalking her was in front of her she allowed her air shield to drop as she summoned the strongest gust of wind she could image. The wind would send the hound flying towards the wall and anything else that was in front of her slamming towards the wall. She was thankful that both Gabriel and Aria were not in front of her to avoid impact of the attack but Esper wouldn’t be as lucky. “Esper move out of the way.” She yelled not wanting him to get hurt or at least avoid most of the impact.

[Deleted]

Esper watched as one hound prepared to charge straightforward, sensing the other behind. He leaps to close the gap between himself and the one behind swinging both arm blades at it's face attempting to land a mortal wound, then backflipping with a spell erupting under him causing earthen spikes to jut up and around making the terrain harder for the dogs and potentially impaling them. While mid flight he noticed Aria was seemingly unable to fight as well as he knew she could.

Several flashes go through his mind..she would not fall. One of the few things from his old life would not die here. A haze begins to come over him as his eyes behind the mask turn red. The draconic attributes almost seem to grow bolder as he charges through the hound at the rear, sliding a blade along it's side with vicious force and pounding and leaping through the air with a deafening, beastial roar, impaling the closest hound to Aria, and striking the hounds near Aria with an intense, frenzied blood lust of slashes.

A deafening roar is released upon one especially violent strike against the neck of one of the hounds. Signs of Kray Blood Rage might be evident if any were familiar with the race. A mysu field begins to spark and manifest around, though the effect isn't obvious.

[Deleted]

Gabriel looked at the hound that seemed to change target to him, swinging his sword at the hound as it connected he felt the chain preventing the sword from going any further in before bringing his dagger closer and aiming between the eyes stabbed his dagger. He then noticed a large gust of wind before seeing one of the hound that was after Yuki get pushed back. “We need to get out of here”

As Gabriel said that he felt the quakes at his feet continue to increase making it somewhat difficult to stay balanced without focusing on it.

[Deleted]

As the signs of the release were rapidly coming. Esper's focus began to return. The hounds before him...they were trivial. He had to actually...use power. Even if it might alert Elena...no. She would not have this world.

A purple luminescence surrounds him as time twists around him, rapidly accelerating his attack as he began to carve, cleave, and cut the closest and more dangerous hounds in a matter of seconds with a fury inspired strength. As the rest in the back approached he hopped in front of the rest of the group and created a wall of light behind him.

"Do not move forward until this is over." he commands. At this point his left arm returns to a human looking one as the scales and draconic features fade into a soft glow of energy going back into the body. He then takes the blade on his right arm and slashes his left forearm as a storm of shadow mana begins to erupt around him. Unnatural winds blow as he thrusts his left arm forward, his blood spraying everywhere.

"Darkness Lives" his voice booms. The shadows in front of them would animate, vaguely hand like features might be detectable barely where the light meets shadow. The remaining hounds would find themselves rended, torn, and savagely ripped to shreds as the mana infused blood brings the darkness to life to destroy all deemed an opponent and in front of the barrier.

A short time later...the hounds would be annihilated to the last, pulps of flesh the only sign they were ever there. Esper kneels momentarily, drained from the incanation.

[Yuki D'Avranches]

Yuki watched as the hounds were pushed away from her, looking around she didn’t get a chance to focus as watched some of the hounds die before her eyes from Epser’s attacks. Soon the only thing that she could see was a wall that stretched as far as she could see blocking her, Gabriel and Aria. Seeing Aria down, she ran over to the woman taking out her spare dress she used her dagger and cut strips out of her dress and did her best to tend to Aria’s wounds. It wasn’t the greatest job given that she wasn’t a healer but it do for now.



She jumped a hearing voice says darkness lives, picking up her dagger she held it shakely in front of her, scared for her life and everyone else.

[Deleted]

The hounds were gone. Killed, destroyed, torn apart by the power coming off of one of their party members. Such power.

The party had a moment to rest. To move forward with their mission. Nothing was coming to attack them right then, with Liz dead and the remaining hounds oblitorated.

Just for a moment.

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Reaction time: 6 days. (August 27th)

[Deleted]

Esper stands up after recovering a bit. He runs over to Aria and looks at her quickly, checking her over. "...Ton Ereh, uoy lliw eb yako Aira.." he says as he holds his hand down under her as a circle of mana is drawn. To teleport her to the castle, she might be trampled or otherwise violated or looked at too closely. But her island...he could sense a few people there...people who would make sure it's tended to, her beau for one.

"I'm sending her to her home, where she will be treated." he says to the other two who likely didn't understand the Novian variant he spoke just now from his initial time. Without any further ceremony, Aria would be teleported to her island's keep as close to a couch or bed as he could manage.

After that, he would go to where Liz's corpse was, rifling through the pockets and relevant orifices to see if anything relevant or useful was there, then approaching the door where she was first found attacking it. He holds his hands up as light spheres begin to fill the room and he looks around for drawings and other information that might be relevant. The soldier of Helena said something about the pillars, but he was skeptical since it could very well set a trap. Regardless, he would analyze them, looking for anomalies or weird mana or just basic hints of how they might interact with the door.

The thought of brute forcing the door came to mind, but that could well enough set off a trap. Then again, Liz didn't seem that worried about it.