Private - Duties and ResponsiBilities

Tick-tock. Goes the Grandfather clock
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

It bellows, sounding the start of another sunrise, another day for work for her in this world.
Rising up from the sheets at the start of the noise, crowned by long purple bed hair, she gave off a soft yawn and stretched her arms up towards the ceiling.

“Right, today’s the day I manage shipment!” Removing her sheets, she hopped off be and started her daily rituals. It has been nearly a month and a half since receiving the most shocking news of her life, a condition so bad that it prevented her from returning to the reality she knew. However it wasn't a total nightmare but rather a strange dream full of wonder and fantasy, as when she was a little girl she always liked to go on an adventure to a magical place someday and meet magical creatures as told by the stories of old. At times you’d think she’d immediately forget about the real world and decided to live here instead but then the sight of families, love was a cruel reminder. No matter what she must stay positive and cling to hope that one day she will come back to the real world. For now she poses as an NPC in this world.

Looking at the body mirror, she brushed her hair and put on her ribbon, tying it tight as she could before proceeding to wear the final formality, her nurse’s outfit. “Right! I better hurry, they might be waiting for me!”

Opening Thread Theme

Who is she you ask?

Why she’s Beatrice, the Lady B.

The day started off with a rainy morning, carrying a sling bag and hiding under her parasol, Beatrice started walking the streets towards the Trade center. A set of buildings dedicated to the shipment of items and its exchange. You’d think that this design was built by the modern architects.

“Hello sir! I’m Lady B , I’ve been asked to retrieve the dispatch order from Dunnstads! Here’s the letter, complete signature!” She drew the scroll from her bag and giving it to the dispatcher.

“Bring up number 4 boys!” called out the man in charge as a bandwagon painted with a number four was drawn from its slot with two healthy horses ready to do some hard work.

“So miss, do you need an escort crew?” The man asked.
“No, that’s fine I already have a security escort of my own, they should be here soon. Mind if I go for an inventory check?” she bewitched the man with a cheerful smile, I mean who would say no to her after pulling that out?

“Not at all, it’s part of our policy to check and prevent the loss of assets. Heck if we even have the tiniest slip in our job, we’d lose credibility” he chuckled as he scratched the back of his head, feeling guilty of receiving that sweet smile of hers.

“Ah! Thank you sir!” she cheered as she climbed back and checked for the contents. After confirming the contents, she hopped out and dusted herself.

“Yep they’re all there! Not a single thing missing! Thank you so much!” But then she remembered who her escort was going to be. A warrior and one of the newly assigned dukes himself, so she pulled out her hand mirror to make sure she looks as presentable before him. He never had met the duke before but had heard of his contributions for building Castle Dormont. Safe to say that she was nervous. Course they’re not here yet probably because of the rainy weather.

“I did told them to meet at the Trade center did I? Oh no.. What if I forgot?” She was beginning to wonder if she did, she did not remember since she was attending a private call to her parents.

 

Another escort job, not very fancy but it felt good to have work to do. She spent far too much time idly traveling around nowadays, though that was due to a shortage of work that needed to be done. Despite the recent political events and the very enlightening events that happened at the Dormont Ceremony. The rainy weather wasn't doing much to improve her mood as well, drawing the hood of her traveling coat even more. However, she could hear and see telltale signs of activity soon, which was good. What was not good however, was the fact that she would be soon traveling in the rain again. Well, nothing to it. She'd been a caravan guard before and sat through all sorts of miserable weather. She idly wondered if there was some deity she could kill to have nice weather all the time, probably not.

In the misty rain, she could see what she assumed to be her contact. A blue haired woman who seemed to be expecting her. That left one more person who was supposed to help out, although she didn't know any details them. In fact, she didn't really know any details except that the shipment was for Astorea. And it was a pretty valuable shipment as well, which was something fine with her. Though she prided herself on completing jobs well, it got boring on the road. Nothing like a bandit ambush to get her blood pumping. Keeping her hood firmly in place to block out the rain, and face somewhat obscured as a result, she walked closer to the blue haired woman and said,

"I suppose you're the one who contracted me?"

 

Stokbon...the northern city and essentially capital of Brisshal, it had been nearly a year since he had been in the city his time with Lord Burren, the ruins of his once glorious manor still reined in ruins when he decided to assault it due to Lord Burren's illegal activities against the crown. Much has changed in that year, he went from a mysterious traveler with an ebony aura about him to a Duke of Astorea with much to prove. Although granted such a title by King Astor himself, he didn't need to govern since there wasn't anything to govern yet so he continued his duty as Fiend Knight of Astorea. Lady Cessia knowing of this recommended the Duke of possible duties he could perform for the crown until he was ready to rule just as the King, one such duty was escorting VIP's, special equipment and valuables to other locations and back. After he had scouted his own land in the south, upon returning to Castle Dormont he decided to take on such duties, this escort mission was no different as far as he was concerned.

Once Lady Cessia had offered him his current duty of escorting a young woman from Stokbon to Astorea transporting some sort of valuables, Seto immediately took off, wasting no time, wanting to finish this mission quickly so he could return to his other duties that required his attention. The Trip from Castle Dormont to the city of Stokbon was quiet and uneventful and it wasn't long however, only taking two days thanks in large part to newly constructed cobblestone highways built between the powers of Astorea and Brisshal to promote trade. Of course it had to rain today, on a day that required him outside of all places, Seto lowered his head as he sighed before looking up at the grey cloudy sky, to him it didn't look like it was going to stop raining any time soon. Wiping away the rain drops from his face with his left ebony gauntlet, Seto walked down the cobblestone street that was seemingly abandoned due to he rain and after a few minutes of walking through the streets, he found himself at the local trade center as he was instructed to goto to meet his contact, Beatrice, a young purple hair woman.​

Opening the door to the trade center, his head turned as he looked for this purple hair girl he was supposed to meet. Looking around the lobby, soon enough a purple hair girl popped into his view and a tall, red haired Yladian next to her.....she seemed familiar to Seto, he wasn't quite sure where he saw her from but he knew he did from somewhere. He stood there, doozing off for a minute in his thoughts asking where he had seen her before? He flashed memories from his spawning all the way to the ceremony, of all the time he had been on Terrasphere, he had only had contact with two red haired women before, Alia and
Stelluna whom he battled alongside during the end times with Azog. Snapping his head back on the red haired woman for a moment, it came to him, it was Stelluna! Why didn't he see it sooner? he pondered. Shaking his head, he walked over to the purple hair girl presumly as Beatrice and Stelluna, looking to Stelluna first. "Lady Stelluna, it's been quite some time since we seen each other, at least to my knowledge anyway, since the time we battled alongside each other during the battle with Azog, it's nice to see I'll be working with someone I can rely on."

Keeping his serious expression on his face and laying his hands on his waist, he turned his attention to the purple hair girl he presumed to be beatrice.​

"Miss, I will presume that you are Beatrice, my contact? As pertaking of my duties as a Fiend Knight of Astorea, I am here as requested....hmm although I must admit we do not have much luck today with the rain, it doesn't look like it's going to stop any time anyway. Enough of my rambling, I am Seto Kurama."​

 

After sometime both of the people who she was supposed to meet have arrived, meaning that she did specify it on her post. Thank God that would have been embarrassing if she actually had forgotten, her poor heart couldn’t take that. First was a red head knight who seemed to have much experience, although she hasn’t heard her name before, she was then introduced by Duke Kurama that the warrior’s name was Stelluna or Lady Stelluna. To have her address that way means that she had earned the nobleman’s respect.

“Indeed, I am Beatrice its nice to meet you both Lady Stelluna and Lord Kurama” she bowed to them in respect and acknowledging their status as high classed individuals. Facing them both made her nervous but she was able to cover it up easily and stood her ground. “I’ve been tasked to deliver this parcel over to Astorea containing provisions and medical supplies. However I’m worried about the bandits and monsters that had recently taken residence near the trade road, it’s the autumn season and specific monsters tend to grow more hostile, or so I have been told and it really got me concerned but since you’re here I feel a lot safer!”

It was nice to have powerful people to escort the bandwagon to Astorea, she just hopes that its not considered some waste of talents. There are glory seekers in this world nowadays who wanted a challenge and a mere escort job pales to that comparison. Then again they could have declined if they didn’t want to or it was probably because there were no such jobs as of this moment.

“Well then now that we’re all here, shall we get going?” She clasped her hands together and gave them a sweet smile. The rain would soon turn to drizzle as the bright sun would pierce through the clouds. “Hop on the bandwagon! Better not keep the folks there waiting!” She cheered as she climbed up to take the reins. Soon they’d be on their way, exiting StockBon and on the road heading towards Astorea. She would be humming a tune as they would ride through the drizzle weather, it was only until they discovered that the road was blocked by a landslide.

“Oh no… this was the trade route…” This never happened before but she was quite worried about taking alternative routes. There are a few rangers facing the area already.

“Sorry miss the road’s blocked, it will take us time to dig this out so you might need to go to the alternative routes.” Those words were a pain, as much as she’d agree, they can’t afford to delay the delivery of the parcel.

“…. Heh.”

 

"Lady Stelluna?"

After her two party members had introduced themselves properly, two things came across as odd to her. First off, she definitely wasn't nobility or a knight. She would need to clear up any misconceptions before they set off, she wasn't the type for fancy titles anyways.

"Both of you are mistaken, I hold no titles."

And second, as far as she could tell, she never introduced herself to Seto. That worried her, did her name get spread amongst the players in their mysterious game somehow? Now that she thought of it, both of these people had that distinct air about them. Seto was for sure part of the system, but Beatrice seemed to be new. Was this some sort of setup or initiation? Abandoning the job now would be suspicious for sure, so she would play along for now. An open road would be terrible for her to fight the both of them, but, if she could convince them to somehow travel in the woods or some sort of forest she stood a chance. It's much harder to hunt someone down when there was fire and smoke everywhere. Hopefully though, this was all just blown way out of proportion and she got some kind of reputation for standing with Roland at the front lines. She pushed such thoughts from her mind, for now. She'd just have to be on her guard and, well, she'd have been a lousy guard if she couldn't do that. And one thing she definitely wasn't, was lousy at her job.

Luck seemed to both favor and curse her this time, as the typical open trade route was blocked. An alternate path would be needed, it seemed like she would be getting her wish of a forest after all. It could get difficult, but they certainly not impossible. The trees would also somewhat stifle the rain, which was definitely a nice bonus. Even if the rain had gotten better, she didn't want her spear to start rusting in a fight. She hadn't really been keeping up on maintenance, due to her lifestyle. Turning to her two companions, she said,

"I suggest we move through the forest trails. The terrain's much worse but it'll be fast."

 

It was nice to meet a fellow player who showed respect or courtesy, something many lacked in this day and age, he understood it was only a game and all but it was still the polite thing to do in most circumstances. It was obvious after her bowing she gave off the aura she was nervous but she did try her best at least to hide it. "Why be nervous?" He thought to himself, sure he was a duke, infact the second most powerful man in Astorea technically but he was simply a Duke of a large amount of land, nothing to really brag about or that demanded such respect besides in the courts of nobles. His curiosity was quenched on what they were going to devliever when she told the both of them they would be protecting this large package containting food and medical supplies. It wasn't exactly what he had thought orginally but netherless he was given this duty and he would see it through to the end. Beatrice was right to be nervous on her own, thinking bandits raiding her of her supples for Astorea but to him, that wouldn't be a problem since he and Stelluna were here and the both of them have seen their fair share of combat and knew how to battle or else they wouldn't be here standing infront of Beatrice.

"I appericate you showing the correct courtesy my beautiful maiden but it is not required since am like you and Stelluna, I am not a figure like the King....at least not yet. You do not need to worry about such pitiful bandits and monsters, me and the red haired warrior here have both seen our fair share of combat before in this world. I particularly excell at killing large beast, hence why I carry such a long specialized blade. Worry not, we shall protect you and the supplies destined for Astorea, I give you my word on my oath to the King fair maiden."​

hBeatrice seemed to take his words fine as she asked the two If they were ready to go, Seto simply nodded to Beatrice before getting in the back of the wagon. By her excitment, Seto could tell she was excited for the journey ahead of them, he was curious how native she was to the reality of the world they have lived in, she reminded him of Sola to an extent but he swore on his grave Beatrice used her head more than Sola did! It was than Steluna stepped in from her silence, trying to explain to him and Beatrice she wasn't a noble, Seto in returned raised an eyebrow at the red hair woman.

"I am more than aware Stelluna considering am the Duke of Southern Astorea, it's my business to know all the nobles in the lands. When I called you a Lady as a title, it was a title out of respect for your performance during the battle of Azog. Thanks to your valiant defense with Roland, you manage to hold the line long enough for the others to take down Azog. I know very well your not the Hero or Noble type so when I called you a Lady, it was respect out of that, not nobility. I meant no ill intentions or disrespect to your character, from this point forward I shall now exclude the title from now on as per your request."​

He didn't particularly know Stelluna much at all honestly but everyone that survived the battle with Azog had earned some renown somewhat and had their own reputation for the masses to know, this was common knowledge but perhaps to the dozens of survivors that had fought with Azog. No matter what, there wasn't anything he could do with it it. Returning back to what was happening the present, Seto laid against the side of the wagon and closed his eyes as the wagon made it's way through the streets in the drizzling rain until he heard the nervous voice of Beatrice speaking of having bad luck with the route she wanted to take than a man's voice told her the road was blocked since they were digging something out.
Stelluna than mentioned after the men finished talkng that the three should should an alternate route into the edge of the Adecus Forest most likely, no doubt she wanted to spill some blood due to her reputation. He wasn't exactly the same but he had gone without any proper extertament sicne he had became a Duke, some bandits might change that at the risk of scaring Beatrice to death.

"I see no real issue with the forest trails that will most likely take us into the Adecus forest. There will most likely be some bandits or some beasts but that's something me and Stelluna can handle. The main highway to Dormon is the fastest but ambushes are prone to happen frequently for traders and caravans on the Highway, only travelers have any safety traveling on it. It matters little to me which route we take. I leave it upto you two."​

 

Hearing that both of them had accomplished incredible feats made the nurse a bit more nervous than ever. Was the duke always this poetic in his words or does he have to because he’s one? He seem to be trying to flatter Stelluna a lot ever since he came. Beatrice could only assume that he held some romantic views towards her for that excessive mass of compliments and mentions but remained silent, keeping her own thoughts to herself.

Stelluna suggest that the Bandwagon must move through the forest trails, while the terrain maybe rough, it is indeed much faster and from what Kurama had just said, neither paths are safe. So it comes down to the forest trail where there will be a few minute’s travel of riding otop boulders and such, although not a very good idea at first but she must deliver the supplies on time if she were to gain some favor with Astorea. Not because she wanted some status but because she wanted to know what its like to work with the foundations of a Kingdom.

“W-well we can’t be late but I suppose the bandwagon can take on a few boulders. Right, let’s go!” The horses would slowly make their way into the forest trail with a minute’s pass of a bumpy ride before riding down to stable grounds. If they were to go through this way, it wouldn't take them long to reach the Adecus forest just as the Duke spoke of. The atmosphere was humid due to the previous downpour earlier as branches and thistles would poke the bandwagon as they pass. Pines would accidentally fall into the wagon as they go and birds would tweet a wonderful greet as they pass through. There were bears nearby, passively watching the supply cart go by and for what seems to be 5 minutes, they would have reached an actual road towards the Adecus forest.

What all of them had predicted would soon come true afterwards.

There were two huge boulders blocking the road and a man in between, 2 men on either side of each boulder and a line of 3 men with swords drawn, two snipers both left and right, hiding in the trees and 5 more emerging from the shrubs from behind. The Bandwagon was completely surrounded and Beatrice was starting to get afraid of the situation.

“Aaaha… Hello?” She shivered at the sight of their weapons drawn as if they’re just about ready to attack.

“There’s a toll fee, didn’t you know that missy?" Said the thug between the two boulders as his men slowly surround the bandwagon.

“Aha I’m sorry but I don’t want to cause any trouble but---“
“Neither do we, just give us the fee and we’ll let you pass” said the bandit, cutting off Beatrice’s sentence.

“O-oh dear..” Beatrice was close to tearing up, she wanted to scream but she couldn't. She just sat there frozen and afraid of what might happen. Unfortunately for these bandits they aren't aware that she’s not alone.

 

Stelluna gave @Seto Kurama a quick nod then shrugged, acknowledging his statements. It was good to hear that there would be no mixups on this topic. She would rather be known for her name, rather than some title she didn't care about. Hearing that the group would go along the forest path was also pleasing to her, although if they were going into the forests, it would be best to not rely too much on her Pyromancy skills. She might have to reconsider some of her techniques later, they tended to be a bit too destructive when fighting in forests or other areas with flammable material. Given that they would be traveling in rough terrain, and thus not risk going too fast, Stelluna felt that it would be a safe bet to be on foot. It would let her get into fighting form faster if needed and she wouldn't need to trust any animals.

She trailed behind the caravan, looking more akin to a stalker rather than an escort. She would rather avoid pointless conversation if she could, it would let her get the drop on any enroaching bandits. Speaking of them, she could see a group of thugs ahead. Well, no reason to delay preparations. Covering her left hand with a blazing, furious glow, she pressed it against her chest. Avarice, Might, Pride and Cunning, the core of dragons. She could feel her blood start to burn as the spell took root.

Draconic Fervor

The urge to crush, destroy, conquer and prevail started to build up. To Stelluna, these bandits were barely worthy of her attention. There would be no challenge in slaying them, they would be ground to nothing beneath her heels. To add these bandit's deaths to her name was a disservice, in her eyes. Like an ugly painting amidst a beautiful gallery, it detracted from the display rather than add to it. But she had a job to do, and there was no better cure for frustration than destruction. Drawing her spear, she aimed for the one addressing @Beatrice. It would make for a better first impression.

Cold Blood

She raced across the forest path before sending a vicious spear strike through the bandit's chest, mid sentence. She pulled the spear out before sweeping his feet and jamming it into his back. The bandit was weak, but still alive, she sensed an opportunity to end the battle as quickly as it started. Similar to what she had done to the marauder back in the frozen waste, she sought to break their spirit.

Blood Price

Before anyone could react, she hoisted him high upon her spear and sent a jet of fire along it, burning him alive. She let the lifeless body drop to the dirt before giving a brief flourish of flame along her spear. She was careful to not let the fire actually spread onto the forest, that would be more likely to destroy the things she was supposed to suspect.

"Anyone else looking to pay my toll?"

 

Stelluna nodded and shruged him, she must have understood what he had meant than since she was trying to bash his face in, he couldn't say the same for other warriors he had met in the past. Through their conversation, It seemed the two women were able to agree on going a certain route, the forest trails which were orginally presented was chosen as their destination which seemed to please Stelluna greatly. He couldn't exactly tell by her body language or facial expression but like himself, she looked like the type that had wanted to see some action. Besides that Elder Troll had fought before the ceremony that made him into a Duke by the King, he hadn't seen any combat so this was a good thing, he would finally find some entertainment in his work now. Seto couldn't help but notice Beatrice's enthusiasm seemed to be really high with wanting to perform this quest and finish it but why? For viewing her as a newer player, he was curious what was her drive, what did she have to prove? He figured he find out soon enough by just staying close around her for now, she would probably tell him anyway If he asked her. Stelluna being the person she was decided to tail behind the caravan, most likely to not look like a guard and to cover their flank, there was also the point she wasn't much of a talker, niether was he but he could tell she always was professional, he couldn't say the same for himself sometimes.​

It wasn't long before they were outside the city and into the Adecus Forest trails, he had thought of taking a nap but well......that wasn't possible with all the bumps in the road thanks to those pesky rocks. Even without the bumps, he wasn't even sure If he could rest with it being so damm hot, wearing this armor protected him yes but he often sweated more as a result despite not being a sweater. At the very least, the downpour did stop so he wouldn't have to worry about being wet although he wandered If he would have rather be wet or sweaty? Both are crappy physical conditions If you asked him. The damm sudden appereance of tree branch's falling into the wagon and poking at him were not a great feeling and there wasn't he could do much about it, at least it was over when Beatrice located a road he and Stelluna had mentioned pior but of course in the distance it wouldn't be so easy as Beatrice would like. Ahead of the three were two boulders blocking the road with a group of lowly bandits in the way, now this was he was talking about! Looking over his shoulder, he saw Stelluna already on the move, moving in for the kill, it was time for him to move in, glancing to the ground and than the tree's around them, he would leave the ground troops to her, he would take out the snipers. Standing up as the wagon came to a halt and Beatrice began talking to a bandit, she was obivously scared out of her mind opon seeing their weapons drawn, luckily for her, Stelluna and himself meant business. Placing his left hand's index and middle fingers together on his forehead, he glaned on the sniper in the tree, gathering his energy into his two fingers and focusing on his targets, he immediately dissappeared, teleporting himself on the same branch as the sniper, it was safe to say he cought the bastard completely off guard. Using the shock to his advantage, he quick drew his Odachi with the both of his hands and smashed the blade down vertically into the Sniper's pain, causing him cry out in pain as the blade ripped into him, nearly cutting him in half. This was one dead Seto thought as he kicked the corpse of the sniper off the branch, landing head first into the ground on the side of the road.

Looking to the other side of the road was the other sniper still in position whom tried to fire off a few arrows at Stelluna but missed horribly, it was time for that sniper to die......horribly. Gripping the hilt of his Odachi tightly, Seto quickly gathered the energy from his body and changed it nature to maleifmancy, dark energies whom he harnessed and imbued into his Odachi which took form around his blade. With no hesitation, he raised the blade up high before bringing it down quickly​

​

Reality Slashes!​

creating three vile, magical slashes take took form in succession as the the flew in the direction of the Sniper, ripping right into the sniper, shredding him to nearly nothing and taking out a portion of the tree with him, causing it to fall to the ground next to the opposite side of the road. teleporting himself yet again, he brought himself in front of the Wagon and gently swung his blade to the ground to elminate blood from his blade. It seemed Stelluna managed to kill a few of these weak bandits herself with a few corpses laying on the ground besides the two he killed himself. He got their just in time as she asked the bandits If any of them were willing to pay her toll, he slightly chuckled at her comment, wanting to see If anyone of them had the balls to challenge her. Turning Serious again, he turned to Stelluna.

"They were only weaklings but good job anyway Stelluna, maybe If they had a few dozen with them, this might prove amusing, anyway I elminated the Snipers, If you wish, I'll let you slaughter the rest of these idiots."​

​

He realized he had probably scared the living day lights out of Beatrice whom was probably still sitting in her spot. Turning around to face, there in fact she was, seeing all what he and Stelluna had done, he would be surprised If she hadn't wet herself. Sighing as well shrugging he turned his attention to Beatrice.

"I apologize for the scene you just saw, as you can see, me and Stelluna are clearly warriors whom take's no BS from anyone but it seems the road will now be open and clear of those weak bandits, It looks well be able to continue once me and Stelluna eliminate those boulders in our way. If you have any questions, you can ask afterwards."

@Beatrice ​

 

Just as the bandits were approaching forward and Beatrice on the verge of succumbing to fear and surrender, a pole weapon was thrown from out of the blue, impaling the one who addressed Beatrice, it came from Stelluna as the bandit’s words were cut short, probably the last words he would speak as she hoisted the body up in a way that would make Romanian hero Vladimir proud. A stream of fire shot up towards the sky as the body was charred from skin to bone to the point that it became unrecognizable.

“Y-you bitch! I’ll GET YOU FOR THAT!” Then suddenly the appearance of another warrior appeared. It was Duke Kurama with a blade already stained with blood. When did he leave the bandwagon? For sure Beatrice could have noticed him leaving out at the very least but that’s not the concern here. They’re still facing against ten more of them.

“Screw it! Activate the invocation circle! We’ll have to turn it up a notch! See if you like this!” Magical veins started to materialize from the boulder, streaming down from the top down to the ground as they would soon transform into bulky figures. They were Golems, however small and were looking mean, Beatrice squeaked, the horses were also frightened and startled by the sudden transformation. To Beatrice’s fear she had to calm the horses down but had every intention of hiding within the bandwagon but seeing as both Stelluna and Kurama are outside and ready to fight, she would hold to dear faith and hope that they would triumph.

The Golems would split off and start attacking both Stelluna and Seto, accompanied by 1 or 2 brigands to combat them. However there were still bandits coming from behind, while the two warriors were up front, they’d try to steal contents and make off with it as fast as they could, taking whatever they can carry.

“H-hey! Stop!” Beatrice released herself from the reigns and rushed inside the bandwagon, trying to grab hold of a crate that’s being carried away by a bandit.

“Get lost!” Shouted the bandit as she was kicked off.
If only she could fight like Seto and Stelluna… she wouldn’t be entirely useless.

“….. what a scary woman… and that guy.. the duke was it?” It was then revealed that duke had the ability to either traverse across the battle quickly in a blink of an eye and can send off projectiles drawn from their melee attack, powerful enough to shred a tree. The red head commanded the evocation of fire magic and is a pole arms user. It was a dragon and a fiend fighting together to defend Astorea’s supply crates.

The fox must reassess, they aren’t forces to be trifled with.

A little blue bird landed on his shoulder, accompanying him on his watch.
“I know little guy, a wise man avoids danger but what prize would it be if I hunted one of the greatest and most powerful players in the game no?” The little bird would flew away as if disagreeing with the idea.

“Huh…a man can dream”

 

Golems huh? This bandit group wasn't just any ordinary group. They had access to skilled Astramancers or Geomancers, bad news either way. It didn't seem like the mages were around however, considering the acute lack of magical bolts or clods of dirt coming her way. Seto obviously held much greater offensive power than she did, so she decided to draw the group's attention. She lifted the charred corpse she had created earlier before giving it another stab and throwing the body at the bandits and charging right afterwards. That would get their attention. Almost instantly after she reached the line of brigands and golems, they struck at her. Most of the attacks she managed to deflect or dodge but a few did get their hits in. That was fine, she didn't mind taking a few blows if it meant she was in a better position to strike back. While the golems were surprisingly agile, they were still automatons and thus lacking in technique. She ignored them for now, confident in her ability to mitigate or avoid their blows and focused on the squishier and much more appealing targets, the bandits.

There was no time to break their spirits, and they seemed to be committed to the fight so Stelluna dropped the executions and focused on breaking their bodies. Her strikes were precise and focused on maximum efficiency. While most of bandits fell easily, some of them proved to be better trained than the rest. They blocked her strikes and pushed back, behind the relative safety of the Golems. Well, the last of the bandits were out of her hands for now, until she could draw them out or Seto could finish them. She did something she was worryingly starting to do more of, desecrate bodies. While it didn't serve as an immediately useful thing do to, it practically ensured that their eyes would be kept on her. The time for words has passed, and all that was left to do was finish the fight and figure out a way to take down the golems. She had a feeling her spear would break before they did, and she didn't nearly have enough strength to melt down any of them. At least, without melting her own arms of in the process.

 

Seto sighed in dissapointment, watching the highwaymen as they refused to be routed, instead continuing the offensive by activating some magical cirlce? Seto wasn't sure at first what to make of it but soon enough magical vines began sprucing out of the ground from underneath the boulders to form magically created Golems. From the back of his head, he heard Beatrice squell behind him, probably out of fear, the horses were filled with fear as well with all the comution they made.​

"Stay here Beatrice, don't do anything reckless, there's no reason for you to die today......You will get your chance at a heroes death one day but not today"​

He didn't even bother to look back, he knew she was there hiding in the wagon, he wouldn't expect her to do much else honestly since she was still new after all to Terrasphere. Both of these so called Golems that were unleashed opon seemed to want to split up to attack him and Stelluna seperately, Seto didn't like that idea at all. Looking to his right he could see Stelluna was distracting the enemy, throwing corpses at them or she was having too much fun, he shrugged on that thought, didn't matter to him, she was doing her job, he do his. Since she was handling the bandits basically, he thought he would eliminate the Golems himself to cut it down evenly amongst the two. He was gonna have to work fast with one of them with an escort was attacking Stelluna already, she deflected or dodged any attacks thrown at her. It was time to move, putting the same fingers as before on his forehead, his body dematerialized quickly into nothing, using the sounds of battle to his advantage, Seto materialized again, this time in mid air above the Golems. Watching the Golems agile on the move somehow despite their weight and Stelluna slaying many of the highywaymen they were facing, with one hand Seto teared the energy from his blood veins and raced his energy into his hand, imbuing his Odachi's blade with his dark energies, the blade became consumed by the same energy he harnessed. He smirked, bringing his Odachi to his right side, slightly behind his head and neck, he used all the strength he commanded in his body, swinging the blade horizontally.
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Currupting Smash!

From the side of the blade came out a rip of reality with a magical slash taking form yet different from his last attack. This time it was far longer and thinner, vile in the color of purple with lighting shredding around its surface. Seto's attack raced from the edges of his blade, through the air and right into the Golem right on top of his position. Smashing itself against the bulky, rocky surface of the Golem, the Golem's surface wasn't strong enough to keep his attack as Seto's attack slashed itself through its body. Upon reaching its core, the magical slash self-destructed itself, causing an explosion to off within its people. The aftermath of the explosion was great as upon it's ignition, the explosion created a shockwave, throwing back anyone who didn't brace themselves for it. Unfortunately, the explosion also caused the Golem itself to explode into many many pieces, causing its insides to be thrown in all directions. Many of the bandits were thrown off guard what had transpired, as a result, many of them were taken out or knocked out from being hit by large pieces of heavy rock. Even though Seto was in the air albeit falling, he still was in the blast zone. Calling upon his energy once more, he imbued his blade again with his energy and cleared his mind. A moment of silence and breathing control went a long way for parrying against so many attacks at once. As the rocks flew at him, Seto carefully with grace swung his blade horizontally and vertically many times over as the rocks continued to come at him, after a few seconds of cutting rocks nonstop or parrying them with his blade, he found himself on the ground tired.

He Saw Stelluna in the distance, she looked fine by his eyes and even If she wasn't, she was a strong woman, she would do fine with the bandits or what was left of them, many were knocked out or killed outright by the shrapnel from the explosion of the rocks, there was still the other Golem but that thing looked slightly stunned from the explosion.Turning his back towards the wagon he saw a Beatrice defeated mentally, seeing a few highwaymen trying to escape in the distance with their cargo, he wasn't going to have that. Using his energy reserved, he teleported himself some twenty or thirty feet away from his old position and materialized in front of the highwaymen carrying a few crates which seemed to make them fumble back on their behind, dropping one of the crates. "Die Scum......Enjoy your ride to hell weaklings." With his cold demeanor and the serious tone of his voice, there was no hesitation from him at all, performing a heavy uppercut slash, his blade tore into one of the highwaymen immediately, killing him on the spot before bringing his Odachi back over his head and letting loose, using the momentum of the blade falling to stab the unlucky bastard in the chest. The third highwayman seeing what happened to the two dropped his crate and ran back the other way, panicking for his life. Seto in response chuckled quietly as the highwayman ran away before speaking up loud enough for him to hear. "Run......run as fast as you can dog, only a man can kill me and you are certainly no man.....just a scumbag that needs to be erased from this world." With his fu out of the way slightly, he looked back in Stelluna's direction and saw the Golem was still standing, he assumed Stelluna would need his help in bringing it down, he figured Beatrice could get these crates and load them back up in the wagon while he and Stelluna handled business as usual.​

 

Much to their surprise, these bandits were still no match even with their golems. From a third party’s perspective it look as if Stelluna was some kind of arena boss and the brigand were a bunch of players trying to defeat them for loot and treasure in which that was the intention to begin with. The only problem is that the warriors defending the bandwagon were just so skilled and ruthless, members of their party started to fall one by one and without their snipers, they cannot pin Stelluna down to have the others suppress the fiend knight.

They tried different attack patterns but stelluna stood fast and head strong buying enough time for the Duke to react. He displaced from the bandwagon to mid-air between the golems. Channeling dark energies, the duke made his offensive and performed a draw slash that would have pierced through the thick hard rock and destroyed the golem, sending stones flying and hitting some of the bandits. The shockwave was powerful enough to stun nearly most of the remaining party of thugs, the other golem was stopped dead in its tracks, slowly regaining sense of what had happened to its kin before going on a rampage, attacking Stelluna.

The duke teleported again this time at a far distance just to stop the thieves that were stealing the crates, and just in the nick of time too. He mercilessly cut all of them and allowed one to escape, running for his dear life hoping that the duke doesn’t kill him dead. Beatrice would emerge from behind the bandwagon to see such a sight and covered her mouth seeing such savagery, swallowing what she was about to throw up. It took her a moment to try and process all this but she must know that this isn’t real and that these people are just NPCs.

Still… what if they were real humans? Would she be able to stomach that? As much as it pains her to do so, she’d ignore that they exist and grab hold of the crates, putting them back in the caravan. Her face was pale not because of the situation but of its results. Would she end up like them one day? How painful was death in this world? She already had considered herself dead in the real world and she didn’t feel anything at all but what of the world here? She shook her head and focused on retrieving those crates, mustering whatever strength she had to put them back in the bandwagon.

They were quite heavy tho.

 

How does one bring down a magical golem? The first and usually easiest way was to kill the caster who had conjured the being in the first place. While it usually didn't die straight away, they were normally weakened. The second, was to destroy the physical form. Quite tough considering what the golem was made of, but doable if one had the right tool. She had a copper spear. That was definitely not the right tool. The last was to somehow disrupt the magic that ran through, that either took a brave, lucky fool or a master mage. Bravery was something she had, luck and foolishness? Not so much, but she was always willing to try new things. Well, not really but she was running out of options.

Now, if she were a mage, where would she put the proverbial power source? Probably somewhere in the back, to be hard to reach. Luckily, the golems weren't all that big so with a bit of... creativity she could probably get to where she needed to. The golem in question provided this sudden bout of creativity by sending its fist right at her. Rather than dodge as she did with previous blows, she took the strike as gracefully as possible while climbing onto its arm. That was definitely a dented plate, unfortunate. And possibly a few broken bones to add injury to more injury. She shook off the wound as best as she could and simultaneously infused as much magic as she could into her spear, the only way she could guess to disrupt the animation was to force something into whatever system the mage had created. While she was no wizard, she was blessed with some magical might. As the golem started to draw its arm back, she took advantage of the increased momentum to start towards the back. She was wrong however, there it was, on it's shoulders was some sort of engraving, pulsing with energy. If that wasn't what she was looking for, well, she didn't have the time to reconsider. She jammed her spear into it and hoped for the best. Instead of exploding or whatever violent reaction she anticipated, the beast just fell over like a tower in a siege.

A few of the unlucky bandits were crushed in its fall and the rest of them started to run away in fear. She wasn't in a condition to chase after them so she let them go, if Seto wanted to hunt them down, he could do it alone. Right now, all she wanted was a place to rest and recover from her wounds but she now was not the time, she still had a job to do. Healing could wait until later, though she suspected that majority of the journey would be relatively peaceful compared to the explosive start. Speaking of the job, how was the cargo doing? She turned back to see Beatrice loading boxes back in. It was probably fine, better than nothing at the very least.

 

The Duke grew tired somewhat, having used a moderate amount of his energy in his ranged sword attacks and the constant teleporting, the urge to lay down and rest was great on his body but he knew couldn't rest when he saw Stelluna doing battle with the other golem and appearing to have trouble routing the magical beast, he would have to jump in aid her in the battle wether she would like it or not.Putting his eyes on Stelluna in the distance, he laid his fingers once more on his forehead, focused his energy his into the tips of his fingers and imangined the imanginary plane before him. Within the few moments, his body deconstructed itself, disseappearing again into the wind. Driving into the battlefield at lighting speeds as If he was lighting or was the sound of battle itself, his body reemerged on the otherside of the battleifled from where he was previously, spawning a dozen or so feet from the golem and Stelluna. He got to witness the golem he didn't destroy from a short time ago attack Stelluna.

Unfortunely he wouldn't be able to move in time, Seto had to watch Stelluna take the golem's strike head on albeit at the same time climbing on it's hand! What the hell? Was she crazy? She had to be! He didn't understand why she was doing that when she was wounded as well. She only managed to impressed him more as she rammed her magical infused spear into one of the arms of the Golems, causing it to fall on it's back and killing any who were behind it. Whatever bandits remained began to flee from the scene, they had obviously lost the battle they had tried to win so hard and If it was anyone else, they most likely would had succeeded. Knowing it was over, he could now attend what needed to be done, he had thought of killing the survivors but than he would be wasting his energy on something that wasn't necessary.....no instead Stelunna needed his energy more than a bunch of dogs he figured.

Walking over to Stelluna, he laid the palm of his right hand over the wound on her body."Don't move, this will only take a moment, I can't have you injured now."
Seto spoke in his cold tone, the palm of his left hand resting on his chest, slowly he began gathering the energy in his body and rushed it up into the palm of his right hand. The nature of his energy turned from the neuturel state that was found in all living things to the vile and dark nature of the dark magic he held in his hand. The pruple aura took form, consuming his hand but yet it did nothing to Stelluna, slowly but surely he transfered his own life force from the finger tips of his fingers into Stelluna's wound, closing and healing the interior bleeding as well as her bones that were healed. It took llonger than he had expecting, taking a few minutes than he had expected but it was done. After this event, he needed his own rest as well aftering transferring his own life energy into Stelluna but he couldn't have a wounded party member on the team.

"I transfered some of my own energy into your body to heal your wounds. Your bones and any interior bleeding you had should be gone now although I would take it easy for right now otherwise your wounds will reopen and I can only use this ability so many times considering it uses my own life force in the process."
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