These two scrawny men were the researchers that requested bodyguards?

Valther had to refrain from groaning in disappointment. Sure, he expected them to be unfamiliar with combat and somewhat unfit, but these two brothers took the 'young professor' stereotype too far. Would have been nice if they had some form of their own protection... but it couldn't be helped, Val guessed.

"So, you expect me to escort you two across Norfova so you can complete your research of the area?" he asked with his arms folded, and they both nodded in unison. "Yes, while we take notes and observe the behavior of the flora and fauna in the region, we require your assistance in keeping any nasties off our backs. You have a sword for a reason, don't you?" One of the brothers questioned pompously, his voice high and slightly nasally. Yeah, I have a sword for lots of reasons, and soon I'm gonna have to add another to the list if I have to listen to these two any longer... Val grumbled and wrapped his hand around the hilt of the white shortsword. They'd already been rambling more to each other than to Val for the past hour, he was almost ready to off himself by his own sword.

"B-but!" the other brother stuttered suddenly, "W-we need more than one guard. I am certain you are more than capable of protecting both of us, b-but we want to make dead sure that we are safe from the Norfovian wilderness," he explained and Val groaned, taking a seat on the barrel that sat behind him. "Great, gotta wait for some company now... I better be getting something good out of this," he sighed and dropped his face into his palms, teasing his violet hair softly.

@Ashiore Evretto

 

Something seemed to drain out of the air as Ash stepped over the border to Norforva from Brisshal. The dead region still gave her the creeps, to be honest but if she was ever going to gain some experience and practice going on adventures, she would have to take the plunge and start going into the more dangerous areas of Falderen soon enough.

Though she could do without the incessant red flashing reminder, [YOU ARE NO LONGER IN A SAFE ZONE] at the corner of her vision, thank you very much game. Ash dismissed the warning and scanned the area nearby. Rocks and barely any weeds and not much else.

Well, at least she wasn't immediately swarmed by monsters. Picking a random direction, Ash began walking while keeping an eye out so she wouldn't get ambushed. She really wasn't looking forward to dying again, especially if this next death involved getting ripped to shreds by a bloodthirsty monster. At least splitting her skull open had been nice and quick.

Eventually, she came across a small group of people. Two similar-looking men standing and chatting with one another, and another man sitting on a barrel looking bored out of his mind. They didn't seem aggressive, and Ash was kind of getting tired of walking around by herself, so she made her way over.

"Oh, hi! What are you all doing out here? Norforva's not really the place to have a good, long discussion."

One of the two standing men looked immediately happy to see her. "Ah! My brother and I were looking to explore the region. We want to catalogue the various transformations that the region has undergone, and any strange changes to the wildlife, the ecosystems, etcetera, etcetera." He gestured to the rather burdensome packs the two were carrying, which seemed full of scrolls and books and inkwells, and not much else in the way of protective gear.

The other brother said, "We had hired a guard-" And here he pointed at the purple-haired man, "-but, ah... As you say, the region is quite dangerous. If you are of an adventuring persuasion, perhaps you could join us as well? You will be compensated, of course."

Well, Ash couldn't just leave them without any help. And it did seem like such an undertaking would benefit everyone, if the brothers managed to finish their research. "I don't have anything to do, really, so I won't mind helping. My name is Ashiore but you can call me Ash, it's nice to meet you."

She turned to the swordsman and smiled, giving him a friendly wave. "It looks like we'll be working together."

@Valther Tyrell

 

Valther looked up in relief as he heard a girl's voice nearby, a spark of light among the monotonous, white-noise bickering of the two brothers, their dialogue full of scientific jargon and horrible jokes. Val stood quickly, excited that he finally had some sane company, as far as he could tell; this girl seemed normal and really quite sweet, nothing particularly unusual about her. The brothers hurriedly explained their situation, and Val sneered at them when they motioned towards him. As they requested for the girl's assistance, Valther mouthed the word 'please', his eyes begging her to save him from the brothers.

She introduced herself as Ash and Val smiled even wider. A simple and sane name too! He wondered if there could have been anyone better to save him from the brink of insanity, but he doubted it. Val saluted Ash in return, not sure whether she'd be comfortable with something like a handshake, before bowing his upper body slightly. "Name's Valther, but just call me Val," he introduced himself also before sighing and rubbing the back of his neck, ignoring the continual squabbling of the brothers beside him. "Thank you so, so much for coming out here... I was about ready to freeze my ears off so I didn't have to deal with these two. I don't know why but I can't stand 'men of wisdom' who know little in the way of the cruel, real world," he groaned and jerked his thumb at Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

"With that sorted, let us begin our excursion!" both brothers announced simultaneously and turned sharply on their heels, jostling their bags loudly as they began to stalk off into the wilderness, their stick-like legs carrying them surprisingly quickly across the corrupted Norfovian landscape. With a sigh, Valther grasped the hilt of his ivory blade and drew it from its black iron sheath, keeping the tip aimed at an angle to the ground. He fell back behind the brothers to watch their surroundings, but mostly to escape their droning. "So, what brought you out to the wonderful wonderland that is Norfova?" he asked with a quite acidic tone; the first time he'd come to explore this region he'd been attacked by some strange crystal spiders. Who knows what might pop up this time? "As for me, those two jolly fellows actually found me lounging around in Brisshal and decided they may as well conscript a poor guy trying to take a rest. Offered me a good reward though, so it's not like I accepted the request for nothing," he admitted with a chuckle.

The brothers suddenly stopped and Val raised an eyebrow, breaking into a jog to catch up to them. "What's wrong, lose your glasses?" he jested and they shook their heads in frightening unison. "I-if our observations and theories are c-correct..." one stuttered and Valther's curiosity was suddenly piqued, "the corruption in the region... m-may be affecting the wildlife. And from our research and adventurers' tales, wolves and spiders are prominent creatures that roam this region..." he muttered more to himself and his brother than to Valther.

Biting his lip in thought, Val scanned the area around him. Corrupted spiders and wolves... maybe this task certainly would be more dangerous than he thought. Originally he suspected that the brothers wanted protection from normal creatures and possible bandits or thieves, but this brought a new dimension to the quest. Turning to Ash he smiled grimly. "Mind telling me what kind of build you've got? Might be nice to set us up a plan in case we have to stab something," he asked his companion, before raising his blade for her to see clearly. "I'm a spellblade, I use my sword and magic together, so I can deal with close and long range attacks... but I can't last long, my stamina runs out too fast," he explained and groaned as he admitted the last thing. Being a mix of physical and magical DPS meant that you used almost twice the amount of stamina you typically would as a solely physical or magical fighter.

@Ashiore Evretto

 

"Pleasure to meet you Val." When he gave a quick bow, she did one in return. "It's not really a problem, I was looking for some opportunities to toughen up a bit. This seems like it'd fit the bill."

The brothers began walking almost immediately after, though, and that was probably their cue to start marching on as well. The two brothers were leading the way through the hellish landscape, which was about the opposite of what Ash had thought they'd be doing; why lead if they didn't think they could defend themselves?

But, well, they were moving rather quickly, and it was all Ash could do to keep pace with Val slightly behind them. It didn't seem particularly safe for the brothers to be chatting with each other and taking notes as they walked, but they seemed so absorbed in their observations that Ash doubted they'd listen to her if she told them to stop.

At Val's question, she shrugged. "I'm pretty new to this whole thing, so I've been kind of staying back around Brisshal. And you know, it gets a bit boring there after a while, not much challenge to be had anymore. But before I can actually go dungeon hunting and stuff, I should probably train up a bit. I was going to hang back near the border, but this like a chance you won't run into often. And hey, strength in numbers, right?"

The brothers soon came to a sudden halt though. Exchanging a glance with Val, Ash went up to them out of curiosity and concern. Corrupted wolves and spiders, huh? That didn't sound good.

Almost at the same time as Val, Ash started looking around. She didn't see anything yet, but it was probably a good idea to stay on alert from now on.

"I'm not really much for fighting, but I've got some healing and utility spells," she said, wiggling her fingers. "I can restrain and distract enemies if we get caught up in combat. And if we're going to be staying out long, I also brought my cooking utensils with me so we can stay fed. I just hope you don't mind vegetarian fare, since all I can do is grow plants and I don't think we want to be eating any animals that come from here." She tried for a wry grin at that last comment.

Turning to the brothers, she added, "It's probably a good idea for you two to stay behind Val and I. If we do run into any monsters, you should stay away from the fight."

"Ah," said one brother--Jacob? They looked really similar, and they basically did the exact same things anyway, so Ash had quickly mixed up which brother was which. He paled considerably and nodded, adjusting his glasses. "P-probably a wise idea. Jacob and I-" Ah, darn. Well, at least now she knew which brother was which. "-shall stay behind you two."

Their travel formation now set, they continued onwards. But it was only about half an hour after that when there was a slight movement a ways away, something darting quickly from behind one rock formation to the next.

@Valther Tyrell

 

Valther nodded in agreement to Ash's complaint about Brisshal. "It is where new players spawn, remember, so it's supposed to be easy. Not the best place to grind MP once you've got a bunch stored in your masteries," he clarified with a sigh. "Yeah, it's good to get some more experience before heading for the big fights. I'm still worried about tackling dungeons and I've got some pretty high masteries at this point. Was recently caught up in the war for Castle Dormont though... did you hear about that?" he asked and looked curiously at Ash, unaware that she may have been involved also; she just didn't seem the type to deal in wars.

Valther nodded towards Ash with a wide smile. "Perfect, glad we have a healer on the team. I'm sure we'll work great together," he told her and placed his free hand on his hip. "I'm expecting to take a fair bit of damage, so I'll be grateful if you can keep me topped up," he requested with a jesting wink. "Vegetarian's fine with me, I ain't picky." He nodded in agreement with Ash's statement. "Mm, corrupted dog meat. Sounds delectable," he spat sarcastically and shivered in disgust.

Val shepherded the brothers behind him and Ash, taking up the vanguard with his ivory blade at the ready in front of him, held in one hand, the tip of the blade scanning the horizon like the ironsights of a rifle. Chanting under his breath, he called a small orb of flame into his palm, sizzling and spitting idly as they began to press on into the corrupted Norfovian landscape.

Val felt the air shift across the field from them, near a strange rock formation, and he flipped the blade into a reverse grip in his right hand, raising his fingers up to his temple and activating his Investigation mode. His eyes glowed a fierce green and the game began to rip information from the area in front of him, the rocks lighting up to confirm their status as a sort of landmark, and a nametag flittering across the screen from one of the rocks, the arm of some creature sticking out the side.

Lowering his hand and gripping his weapon firmly, centering it at his target, he began to slowly approach, keeping Ash a step behind him and tilting his sword protectively. With a guttural growl and a snarl, a crimson blur vaulted over the boulder and lashed out at Val, tearing through his sleeve and grazing his shoulder. Valther skipped back and took a ready stance, releasing the fireball still floating in his hand at the opponent. It whistled through the air and struck the boulder beside the nimble creature.

Looking closely, it was a humanoid wolf, with fur the color blood, and a similar substance seeming to drip from its maw and claws. "So this is one of our famous corrupted wolves, hey...?" he sighed and continued to backpedal, using his blade as a barrier to usher Ash and the brothers behind him. A series of growls and howls joined with the wolf's snarling, and three more beasts crept around the rocks to stand together. "Well, shit... this could be a problem," he sighed and raised his sword horizontal to the ground, running his fingers across the blade and chanting, the fuller hissing with flickering flames, and he called a floating orb of frost into his left hand.

Valther

96 HP

MAX HP

83 EN

MAX EN

Conditions

Channeling - Ignite Weapon and Orb of Frost

@Ashiore Evretto

 

At the mention of the conflict over in Dormont, Ash wilted, just a bit. She didn't have very good memories of the siege, of the fear and dread that had swept through the castle, of the sheer nervousness that she felt when it became clear that most of the players had turned against Falderen, and it was made clear that there were some among them that wouldn't be too upset if any players had remained behind.

"Yeah," she said, somewhat more quietly. "I remember that. It was a... strange experience. I didn't really expect something like that to be able to happen in game." Well, from how things sounded back then, remaining with Falderen hadn't seemed like a popular choice. No need to let it slip that she stayed behind, just in case Val had some strong opinions about that option.

Ash snapped to attention when the growls started, though. She saw Val activate Investigation Mode, which was probably a good idea. She pressed her own fingers against her temple, watching the information bloom into existence in her vision as her eyes glowed blue-green. Huh, she'd probably have to start using this more often. It would probably come in handy sometime.

[Bloodied Wolf] read the label as the creature rounded the rock formation, partially avoiding the fireball that Val launched its way. So this was the corrupted wolf that the brothers had been talking about.

She was fairly confident that they could handle this one, at least until three more came into view, prowling in a perimeter around them. "Oh no," Ash said, wincing. "You two had better stay in the middle," she said to the brothers. "Keep an eye out for them, make sure they don't get behind us."

Well, Ash wasn't intending on letting them get surrounded, anyway. The ground in Norforva was harsh, entirely unlike the lush and verdant fields of Brisshal. But she scribbled the runes of her favorite spell in the air, watching the green marks glow briefly as she felt energy drain through her fingertips. It was a bit more than she normally expended, probably because it took more effort to grow something in a landscape such as this.

Red-brown vines laden with thin, sharp thorns burst from the rocky soil and wrapped around the legs of three of the wolves. They yelped lightly and jerked against their restraints, struggling to free themselves. She wasn't quite able to coax enough magic to restrain the fourth one though. But at least it was already injured, so hopefully Val would be able to fell that one quickly so they could work through the rest of the wolves one by one.

"Let me know if you need healing!" she called to him. "But I'll have to drop the vines to heal, so they'll be able to rush us."

Ashiore

100 HP

MAX HP

70 EN

MAX EN

Active Spell - Tanglefoot (3 targets)

@Valther Tyrell

 

From the sounds of it, Ash had been involved in the war as well, and Valther raised an eyebrow curiously. However... there was a possibility she had been on the defense, as he hadn't seen her once around the siege camp. Not wanting to risk the friendship they were already forming, he left the topic in the dark, honestly not caring which side she was on. "I have a feeling that won't be the only event of that scale, either. I expect more wars in the future," Val mused, scratching his chin in thought.

As the Bloodied Wolves crept out from behind the rocks, Valther checked behind him to see the brothers shaking in fear, their knees wobbling weakly. How often had they really been out in the field? It was painful just to see them so terrified. "You two just stay there, we'll handle this," Val called over his shoulder after Ash, turning back to face their opponents.

Still channeling the flame upon his sword and the orb of ice, Val watched as Ash began to draw some green emblem in the air in front of her, before vines lined with sharp thorns erupted from the earth, incarcerating three of their four enemies, and they snarled and snapped in protest against the sharp bindings that tore at the flesh of their limbs.

"Huh, didn't know you could cast spells like that. You gotta teach me how to do that after I'm done here," Val flashed a quick grin at Ash, before ducking low and shooting off towards the lone wolf that Ash had failed to grasp. Pushing his palm outward, the orb of ice shot forth and exploded in front of the creature, coating it in a thick layer of frost. With a wild, lethargic lunge, the wolf raked its claws across Val's uninjured shoulder, gouging a deep gash into his flesh, and Valther was sent into a spin from the force of the strike. Regaining his footing, he switched his weapon into his off-hand and clutched at his bleeding shoulder. Had the creature not been slowed, that strike could have dealt a much more deadly blow.

Frost lumped over the wolf's eyes, obscuring its vision, and it whimpered while trying to remove it. Taking advantage of the situation, Val struck out with his blade, plunging the flaming sword into the creature's side, through its ribcage and out the other side. Howling and screaming, the wolf made an attempt to escape, but Valther's shout of "Exsolvo!" halted the creature's efforts.

The flame on the blade fanned out in both directions, leaping off the sword like a set of scissors and slicing through the monster's body, cleaving it in half and charring the flesh of the two halves. The creature fell apart to the earth in a crumpled heap, and Valther backed off quickly, making his way back to Ash.

"Crusta..." he whispered while still clutching his bleeding shoulder, and frost extended forth from his feet, curling backwards like a wave and creating a sort of shell in front of them that could hold off the beasts for a short time. "I need healing, that bastard got me good..." he grumbled and let his hand drop, covered in his own blood.

Valther

57 HP

MAX HP

46 EN

MAX EN

Conditions

Bleeding - Reduced healing, DoT

@Ashiore Evretto

 

Ash kept her attention divided between making sure the wolves wouldn't break free and keeping an eye on Val's condition. He dispatched one of the wolves with a stab of his blade and a burst of flame that cut the beast in half with surgical precision. The smell of burnt fur and flesh filled the air as that one dropped, and Val retreated closer, a hand on his injured shoulder. The half-dome of ice went up between their group and the wolves, and Ash got to work.

She sent one last burst of energy through the vines, sharply yanking the wolves down to knock them off-balance. Hopefully it would buy them some time as she swiped her hand in the air to bring up her spell menu, already scanning the list for an appropriate healing spell. She found it after only a minimum of searching, letting the game take over her movements as she drew the runes for that one in the air. Another vine grew from the ground near them, this one a pale green and topped by a large blue bud. As the vine reached full height the flower bloomed, petals unfurling in a spiral and showering Val with sparkling pollen.

She watched his health meter go up slightly, but not enough for her liking. But two wolves had rounded the left side of the wall. There was also the sound of the last remaining wolf throwing itself against the barrier, snarling as each attempt set the ice shaking.

One of the wolves leapt forwards, snapping jaws headed straight for one of the cowering brothers. "Watch out!" Ash cried. She lunged in between them, bringing her staff up in an attempt to block the wolf's strike. She winced as its fangs closed around her forearms but it reared back as Ash sent an involuntary blast of magic at its face.

Swinging her bleeding arms around, she smacked the reeling wolf with the wooden quarterstaff as hard as she could. It didn't appear to hurt it much--and it certainly hurt her, she thought as the impact reverberated through her bones--but it was enough to make the wolf dart backwards, snarling in warning.

Ash warily eyed the two, pushing the other wolf battering the ice wall to the back of her mind for the time being. How to best deal with them? Her spell list still floated at the corner of her vision and she ran through each of them, wondering how it would help.

Ah, skimming the spell descriptions, Ash found one that looked promising as a distraction to keep the wolves occupied. She hadn't tried that one before, but there was a first time for everything. And boy would this be the mother of all stress tests for trying out a new spell.

As [Feral Link] began taking effect, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the wolf that had bitten her. At first she felt like nothing had happened, but when she opened her eyes in disappointment, she saw was looking up at her own body, which was staring blankly at the ground.

She looked down, startled to find herself on four bleeding paws. Anger filled her mind at the thought that she was the one who did this to her. Her body hurt her, had invaded her territory along with the three other delicious-smelling intruders, she was so hungry and so angry that her prey was fighting back, angry that one of them had been killed, mad and furious-

-wait, what was she thinking? She wasn't a wolf, she was Ashiore. And she had a reason for doing this in the first place, now that she could think straight again. She directed her wolf body to turn around and then pounced on the other wolf, sinking her teeth into its neck. Blood filled her mouth as the other wolf yelped, then snarled, and right before it slashed at her wolf body with its own paws Ash let the spell drop, feeling her consciousness snap back to her own body like a popped balloon.

...Ohh. That felt weird. Rubbing the side of her head, Ash winced as she settled back in her body and mind. But it looked like it worked, and the two wolves were biting and ripping at each other, their earlier aggression against the group of humans forgotten in the face of a more immediate threat.

She glanced around once more to check on the status of the battlefield. Val's wall was still up, just barely, and interestingly enough, it seemed like the flower was still present despite her casting another spell. She stumbled towards it--whoops, looks like she still hadn't quite registered that she was bipedal again--and some of the tension in her shoulders faded as the worst of the wounds on her arms began to close up.

"Step back under the flower whenever you need healing!" she called to Val. Looked like he hadn't gotten any further injuries since she'd last seen, but there was still that other wolf to take care of. And after that, possibly the survivor of the two fighting wolves.

Ashiore

84 HP

MAX HP

45 EN

MAX EN

Active Spell - Healing Pollen (3 uses remaining)

@Valther Tyrell
(OoC: I'm using the healing rules from the last boss fight, so +14 HP for you)

 

Val stood back-to-back with Ash underneath the flower, sighing in relief as he felt his health begin to rise, his muscles easing up and the pain beginning to dampen. He winced each time the wolf smashed its blood red body against the wall of ice, his mana taking a beating each time the shell did, having to concentrate on keeping it stable. Val wheeled around to assist Ash with the wolf she'd intercepted, but she was perfectly competent by herself. A growling echoing from behind him, Val flicked his blade into a reverse grip and struck out, the blade grazing across the chest of the third wolf, a strike just frightening enough to cause it to back off cautiously.

The distinct sound of magic being cast whirred into life behind him, and Val watched as a strange, green energy passed from Ash to the wolf she'd been dealing with, and although her body still stood, she seemed to be unconscious. What the hell was she doing?! Val stepped beside her, prepared to fend off the wolves from both directions. To Val's surprise, the wolf in front of Ash turned and leaped behind the wall, tackling what he would assume to be the one attacking the frozen barrier. Sighing heavily, relieved that it was now distracted, he let the mana in the ice wall fade, allowing it to weaken somewhat

The wolf on Val's side went for another cheeky strike, and Val pushed his palm out forward, shouting an incantation and releasing a small, localized explosion in the palm of his hand, not large enough to deal any damage but enough to frighten the wolf a second time and buy some time for the two. Valther whirled around to look at Ashiore, and her head snapped back suddenly, like she'd been possessed. Stepping up behind her, Val wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she stumbled back to help her balance herself, and he smiled softly. "Good thinking with that possession thing," he praised her, before turning back to face his foe.

Running his fingers across the blade of his sword, he whispered an incantation, frost erupting from the fuller of the weapon and wisps of frost spiraling from the edges. With a primal shout, he swung his blade towards the Bloodied Wolf and the frost leaped off the white steel, slashing into the beast's hide and sinking deep into its flesh, the ice rapidly freezing its muscles until it stood as a frozen statue. With a swift step and swing of his blade, Valther crashed his sword into the ice wolf, shattering it into frozen pieces across the grass.

"Assuming one of those bastards ends up on top, we've got one more to deal with..." Val panted and clutched at his still bleeding shoulder, the healing flower above dealing with his minor scratches and bumps, but the wound on his arm persisted; the bleeding seemed to be affecting his healing. "Let's just hope I don't bleed out faster than you can heal me..."

Valther

64 HP

MAX HP

34 EN

MAX EN

Conditions

Bleeding - Reduced healing, DoT

@Ashiore Evretto

 

Ash gratefully took advantage of the support that Val offered her after she snapped out of trying that move. But she quickly straightened, giving him a grateful nod and a quick, "Thanks," as she steadied herself. Ooof that possession trick really took a lot out of her. She stayed back a bit as Val took care of the one wolf, watching as frozen wolf chunks scattered across the ground.

For the moment, it didn't look like either of the two remaining wolves would bother them; there were still growls and sounds of struggle nearby. Val's ice wall was nearly gone at this point, and soon they'd be able to see what remained of the last wolf. In the meantime, Ash took a step forwards and called on more magic to patch Val up.

Looked like healing a DoT effect was still beyond her abilities. Hopefully they would be able to deal with the wolves soon and leave combat so the status effect could be taken care of. In the meantime, she'd just have to keep his health topped up so that he wouldn't run out.

At last the sounds of struggle seemed to stop, and Ash exchanged a glance with Val. Listening closely, she could hear quiet whimpering. Staff held up in front of her, she carefully crept around the ice wall, bracing herself just in case.

Though she needn't have bothered. One of the wolves was very obviously dead. The remaining wolf wasn't much long for the world either, going by its physical condition. Blood soaked into the rocky ground, making the entire area slippery. Ash winced as she approached the wolf, which bared its teeth and snarled, but remained where it was on the ground. It wasn't as if it could move, not with how its two front legs bent in towards each other.

The phrase 'putting something out of its misery' was a common enough one. Ash herself had jokingly said it--with herself as the subject, naturally--after receiving a bad test score. But Ash looked at the wolf, bloodied and torn half to shreds, and then at the staff in her hands, and found that she couldn't do it. The thought of bludgeoning a wolf to death wasn't... well, it didn't seem like the kinder option.

"I don't think it'll go anywhere anymore," Ash said to Val. "We could... probably just leave it... It won't be attacking anything else with those injuries."

Unable to look back at the gory scene once more, she retreated, going back towards the brothers. During the brief but intense struggle, she didn't have the time to check if they were uninjured. She found them standing back about where she'd left them, and sighed in relief. Any further injuries to the brothers was a problem she didn't think she had the reserves to handle right now.

"Are- are the wolves, ah, dealt with?" one asked. Tiredly, Ash nodded.

"Yeah. They're uh, they won't be a bother anymore." She ran a hand through her hair and checked herself over. She wasn't too hurt, but her energy reserves were approaching a dangerously low level. "Valther and I aren't doing too well, so we should probably find a place to rest for today. We could start a camp and continue on tomorrow."

@Valther Tyrell

 

With a sharp exhalation, Valther let the wall crumble into chunks of ice, dissipating into a mixture of mana and water in the gnarled grass at their feet. The barrier demolished, the two could see the aftermath of the battle between the wolves. One had been torn to bloody ribbons, undeniably dead. The other was still whimpering and growling, its broken body unfit for any kind of strenuous activity, and would likely die on its own soon.

Val could understand Ash's fear of clobbering the creature to death; such an ending would be far too brutal for the battered wolf. Raising his blade towards his face, Val sighed in indecision; he couldn't bring himself to finish the job with a blade either. He had to make the monster go peacefully.

Approaching the prone beast, Val stood by its flank, even as it snarled and snapped at the air in warning. Extending the blade out, Valther pressed the tip softly against the wolf's chest, not quite hard enough to draw blood. He quietly choked out the incantation "Frigus," and the steel of his weapon sang as it chilled, frost creeping across the blade thinly, before spreading like an infection into the wolf's chest, creeping into its body slowly yet calmly. With one final breath, the wolf laid limp as the cold grasped its heart and took its last inch of life.

Valther breathed out heavily, his breath floating out as a cloud of white as the mana within his hood chilled, and he carefully slid his cold blade into the sheath at his hip. "Requiesce in pace," he muttered and turned back to face Ash, a simper crossing his lips. As she checked on the brothers, he turned to scout the area ahead; nothing but forestry in the distance, and Val didn't like the idea of hiding in a dark forest possibly full of wolves.

Raising an eyebrow suddenly, he turned to face the rock formation; it was rounded and enclosed enough that any firelight could be hidden from any distanced hunters. "The rocks the wolves came from would do nicely as a campsite," he called over his shoulder to Ash and the Grimm brothers, but seated himself underneath the giant flower, bathing in its healing pollen until he felt rested enough to move any particular distance.

"When we get there, if you can summon up a small tree or something, I can cut it down and use it for firewood. Leave the firelighting to me. As for you two..." Valther scowled at the brothers, before shaking his head. "Never mind about it... just stay out of trouble," he warned them and they looked at each other in confusion, before shrugging and beginning to banter once more, now that they'd safely gotten out of dodge.

@Ashiore Evretto

 

Grow a tree. Okay, yeah. Sounded simple enough. Ash wandered over to the rock formation that the wolves were hiding behind, making sure that the brothers weren't wandering about. It appeared that Jacob was observing the wolf corpses and Wilhelm was making his displeasure very clearly known by standing very far away from the grisly remains. Well, at least he was still within sight.

Ash wandered over to a nearby tree and found what looked like some dropped seeds on the ground. They didn't look like the seeds of any trees she knew but there didn't seem to be anything sinister about the surrounding flora, so it seemed safe enough and easier on her energy to coax an existing seed into growing. She wasn't about to take such a risk with the food they were going to eat later, so she'd save energy where she could.

She covered up the seed with some soil a little bit past the entrance to their camp for tonight and concentrated on making it grow. Accelerating a process that would normally take decades was difficult but she eventually found a steady rhythm of encouragement. She gave herself a bit of a break when the young tree reached chest-height.

Okay. She could grow the vegetables for dinner later, while Val was working on the fire. She'd worry about that in a bit. The brothers hopefully had the sense to pack some bedrolls, but Ash wasn't expecting to go camping in Norforva so she didn't have anything. It didn't look like Val had a sleeping bag either. So maybe she could try to... make giant leaves that acted like blankets? Grow some soft springy grass to act as bedding?

Impromptu camping trips were not good ideas, Ash thought, even when they weren't in hellish blood magic-infested wastelands.

Deciding that life would be a lot easier if she finished up with her first task, Ash turned her attention back to the tree. It took nearly fifteen minutes until she had a decently-sized tree ready to be turned into firewood.

Wiping her brow, she settled back against the rocky wall and kept an eye on the brothers. Wilhelm was still standing as far away from his brother as he could manage while still being in speaking distance. But he had gotten over at least some of his squeamishness as he was now excitedly writing something down in one of the dozens of notebooks that he kept in his pack.

To be fair, that was just about what she expected.

As her energy slowly began regenerating, she started conjuring up some vegetables. If she was going to cook enough for four people, she'd need quite a lot of ingredients. Might as well get started now.

"Anyone allergic to soy?" she called out. Hey, it was one of the few vegetable-based sources of protein she knew. She'd have to read up more on vegetarian cuisine when this was over and done with. But for the meantime, it'd have to do.

 

Ashiore awoke the next morning to a horrendous, "NOOOOOO!"

She startled awake, jerking back and almost slamming her head against the makeshift wall. Her idea of using a springy kind of woven mattress semi-worked, in that she woke up only somewhat sore, rather than feeling like she was developing arthritis over her entire body.

Blinking rapidly to try and clear her vision, she sat up, head swinging this way and that to try and find the cause of the scream. Not Val, he seemed as confused and surprised as she was. So then...

Oh. Yep. That was either Jacob or Wilhelm, she was a bit too groggy to figure out which one was which at the moment. Both of them were kneeling next to each other, staring at a black lump on the ground. One of the brothers was furiously whispering to each other, glaring so hard that Ash imagined they could burn holes in the other's face.

"How could you Jacob, why weren't you more careful about the inkwells-"

"Me? We agreed that you would be the one keeping all our notes, why didn't you look after them?"

Huh. So, they weren't ambushed in the night. But it looked like both brothers were just moments away from tearing each other limb from limb. Exchanging a glance with Val, it looked like the two of them were on the same page about making sure the fighting didn't get any worse.

"Hey!" Ash shouted, getting up and hurrying over to the brothers. It felt juvenile, but she had to literally put herself in between them--avoiding stepping on whatever the vaguely brick-shaped black thing was in between them--and stared sternly at... Jacob? Wilhelm? Twins. "What's going on? This isn't the place to start arguing with each other."

"Our notes are ruined! We have no more books and no more ink!" one said, gesturing violently at the black thing in the middle. Now that Ash was closer, she could see that it was a stack of soggy notebooks, all completely stained black. "The inkwells tipped over during the night and destroyed all our research! This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't-"'

"Me?" The other brother bristled and opened his mouth to retort, but Ash put a stop to that real quick.

"Stop! No more yelling at each other. What's done is done." She looked back at the books, which were truly well and ruined by this point. "There's no more point in going on now, right?"

"We can't write without books or ink," one brother muttered sourly. "We'll have to turn back."

Ash exchanged a despairing glance with Valther. "Fine. We'll get you to one of the towns near the border, but no arguing on the way back."

--

God. Ashiore was glad to be back at Brisshal. After seeing the brothers off at the nearest town, she looked back at Valther. "It was nice meeting you! I wish we could've met under less... eh, you know. Less grating circumstances. But we should keep in touch and meet up again sometime!"

And hopefully, the next time around, the Brothers Grimm would be someone else's problem.