A Representative

Lucia waited for a long time waiting for Dempsey to arrive. With a tap of her foot, she wondered if the girl would show obediently just for the asking? Whether she did or didn't Lucia wouldn't mind but it made for a nice test to see if her training settled in just a little. Regardless, this wasn't a task she could easily take on herself which was why she waited for Dempsey to arrive with folded arms. Currently she was deep within a cave, a place that Lucia had gone to great efforts to unearth in the last few days.

Lucia

Dempsey, I need you to beat someone up for me~ It might be a little out of the way, but how about coming to help me out a little~"

Her message was relaxed, lazy and the reason why was largely because of the opponent she watched from afar. The creature itself looked like a knight, but there was clearly something wrong with it's body. While a normal knight would have some kind of skin showing, this knight had none, under his helmet was merely wispy smoke and particles that glittered occasionally. Though it had bright red eyes behind it's helm, there were no indications of flesh. More importantly though, and perhaps the most noticeable portion, was that it had no legs. As if it wore a dress, there was only a swaying fabric that hung emptily to the ground waving with the non-existing winds. It waited patiently, blade in hand, shield in the other as it glared daggers at Lucia, waiting as if anticipating some kind of action.

Lucia already attempted to fight it, that was clear from the occasional arrow here or there, but she'd given up soon after trying. The creature wasn't a raid boss, that much was clear, but it was far different from a typical warrior or generic mob up on the surface. It waited for Lucia to exhibit any kind of hostility before striking, after she fought and ran, even after coming back it waited again, as if in asking for combat, but Lucia didn't give it what it wanted, merely sitting back and blowing on her nails for her 'champion' to appear instead.

@Dempsey Fabijain

 

Dempsey had parted ways with Lucia two days prior, and set out on her alchemy training expedition with careful instructions to contact her if there was any trouble. Actually being out in the field was a great boon to her studies, but it was dirty, lonely and boring. She desperately sought distraction after distraction, and could have made quite a bit more progress had she managed to stay focused. while generally well committed to her studies, she found herself easily distracted out in the field where she typically came to hunt monsters and train. Yesterday she'd spent almost three hours clearing a small camp of kobolds who'd ventured down from the mountains to the south for some reason or another.

One by one they fell silently as she quietly stalked from one lean-to hut to the next, taking full advantage of their poor daylight eyesight and generally poor adaptation to life in the forest to practice her stealth killing technique. It was the first time an opportunity presented itself to her in game, and she was not so absorbed in her studies as to pass up easy MP

Today the restlessness began again at some time after midday, and when she recieved a message from Lucia, she delighted at the distraction. she opened her menu and quickly tapped her way to the inbox.

Lucia

Dempsey, I need you to beat someone up for me~ It might be a little out of the way, but how about coming to help me out a little~"

She read the message eagerly, hoping for promises of distractions, adventures, and perhaps even possible rewards. Her reply was quick and to the point

Dempsey

Hey! Miss ya. I'm super bored right now. I'll be there as soon as I can make it. Be careful, and wait till I get there to do anything. I'll only be a few minutes!

With that, Dempsey consulted the in-game map, and took off in a dead sprint toward her new objective. Lucia was only about two miles away, and if she was careful not to overexert, she could be there in a few short minutes. She enjoyed the physical activity as she lept and dashed across the forest floor, the feeling of being on the chase exhilarating. This continued for a good while, though she did occasionally have to slow her pace to a steady jog in order to maintain her stamina.

All too soon, the run had ended, and she'd reached the mouth of the cave. She pinged Lucia once again:

Dempsey

Can you meet me out front? I didn't bring a torch, and unlike someone I know, I'm not the sexiest mage alive, so I can't conjure light spells. Hurry! Miss ya! :-*

@Lucia Mierz

 

Checking her message again, she couldn't help sighing a little. Glancing to the creature one more time, she only folded her arms behind her back contently turning to meet Dempsey. The darkness didn't bother her, she practiced malefimancy after all, there was no reason for her to be hateful of the dark that she lived shrouded in. The small bound book at her waist illuminated the area around her with a dim eerie glow. The book itself cast a faint light, enough to see the things around her, but it hung from her hip like a lantern which was why Lucia wasn't particularly bothered. Arriving at Dempsey, she'd be able to see the glow coming, the ghastly glow of her grimoire lighting the way.

"Come on now, not every mage can generate light silly girl. Hurry along now, it's been staring at me for a while." Lucia complained a little gesturing for Dempsey to join her, lifting an arm up to ruffle her hair affectionately as she usually did. Trying to sweetly encourage her to do her best as well. Glad to see dempsey charging towards her willingly, it seemed like her effort had paid off enough at least. While she ruffled her hair, Lucia turned to lead her back through the cave. There were strange things along the way, skeletons ripped apart or zombies that had been gunned down by arrows like a porcupine. Some armored skeletons with shields were even still rusting and corroding into dust as if time were passing by insanely quickly around them. Lucia led her down slowly towards their target. It was the wight knight she explained before.

Gesturing towards the knight that still seemed ready to fight, as if asking for a duel, Lucia gestured again. "This is him, i need some stuff from him, and this cave as well." She explained with a bright smile, behind the knight's back the cave continued on into darkness, Lucia's destination was no doubt past there, but getting past the knight was different from the other common soldiers. It was a quest that could only be completed in terms of a duel. If she tried to fire on it from afar, it would become a ghost and chase her with a sword until she died. "Go on, have at it~" She said with a sweet smile even as the monster boss looked ready to rip anything apart.

 

Dempsey smiled and leaned her head into the womans hand as she scratched her head, then turned her attention to the task at hand. She was confused as to why Lucia was unwilling to engage the un-dead thing though. It seemed to be stronger than the common fodder that lay scattered, broken, and beaten throughout what she'd seen of the tunnel thus far, but not by any incomparable magnitude. Without access to the details of the quest at hand, she could only speculate. Regardless, she was in the mood to fight anyway, and this looked like a worthwhile challenge.

She spent a moment getting lose for the fight to come by bouncing on her toes, shrugging her shoulders in a circular motion, then settling into stance and cracking her neck loudly. She knew such bravado and showmanship had no effect on the un-dead, but she felt the need to do so anyway, if only out of habit. She began closing in slowly and spoke to the skeletal warrior "Time to be dead again, buddy. You ready?"

The knight responded with a fast, tight swing of its sword that she dodged, but not quite as easily as she would have liked to. Dempsey was hoping to do a bit of show boating to impress Lucia, but that was going to have to wait. This was a real fight, and she'd have to take it seriously in order to prevail. Undaunted she feinted, waited for the thing to flinch, and followed through with a crushing blow aimed at its shield. She'd learned that skeletons especially could be disarmed simply by breaking the bones in question, and depriving this one of it's shield would be the deciding factor; One good shot to the torso would likely do the trick, but that wasn't going to happen until it's shield was out of the way.

For a few moments, the two traded blows, with the skeletal knight maintaining it's defense, and the Felis always managing to dodge at the last second. The thing lunged forward and was dodged as to be expected, but this time it over-extended, having slipped from it's footing on the smooth stone cave floor. Dempsey took full advantage by throwing a downward stomp at it's knee, shattering the leg at the joint. As it fell forward she threw a knee upward onto the bottom things shield, sending it upward with crushing force into its jaw and completely dislodging the jaw bone from the knights skull. Her onslaught ended as her opponent fell forward, and was unable to recover before it's skull was crushed under Dempsys foot with a loud dry crunch and a savage cry from the Felis woman. She brought her foot down viciously several times, until the tings skull had been pulverized to pea gravel and powder, then finished with another shout of triumph.

She took a step back and paced a half circle around the un-lifeless heap with an intense light to her eyes, half expecting it to rise and rejoin the battle somehow, but it remained even more lifeless than it had been moments before, and slowly began to disintegrate into fine white dust. Dempsey took a moment to catch her breath before turning to Lucia with intense eyes and a hard set jaw, still reveling in her victory. The unnerving expression melted away slightly, replaced with a predatory grin that was probably still a bit unnerving, but much closer to what Lucia generally expected to see from her companion.

"That wasn't too bad... It was pretty good for a skeleton."

she paused, giving herself a moment to free herself from the grip of adrenaline and endorphin before continuing.

"So, why could you just blast that thing on your own? I thought you were all about messing with the undead and stuff?"

@Lucia Mierz

 

Lucia only sighed heavily shaking her head a little, Dempsey didn't seem to understand the trouble real undead would pose. Instead, she stayed back from Dempsey, not wanting to get too close as she continued to watch. "Wake up-- It's a fake!" She shouted loudly trying to reach Dempsey but not daring to get too close. The girl seemed a little dazed and overly excited, but a Wight knight would never be so simple. Wights were not simple undead, they were powerful spectors, higher up on the totem pole compared to wraiths and their various companions. Lucia tried to cut Dempsey off before it was too late.

The Knight's blazing red eyes would suddenly appear, from the side. It's blade raised up high as it advanced. Lucia felt greatly worried, The knight had never had legs from the start, it's billowing dress like outfit fluttered in a windless breeze from start to finish as it advanced like a ghost. It's shield was sturdy, rather then fragile, it gave off an eerie glow making it clear it would be difficult to take out with a few solid blows let along a single one. It's sword on the other hand when swung produced a faint screaming or crying sound as it flew giving it a terrifying appearance. Far from a low level mob, it was a mini boss that guarded the harrowing ground Lucia tried to intrude upon.

Though it wore a robe, it had plate covering it's chest and arms, swinging down the wight knight wouldn't be an easy opponent as it made an effort to cleave into Dempsey's side while it was distracted by the fantastical sight and dream she'd just experienced. Exactly what she'd been fighting in it, Lucia couldn't say or know, but she only hoped the girl wouldn't be distracted enough to receive it's blow head on. Lucia herself didn't want to receive the creature's attacks while draining it's energy to defeat it, she didn't expect Dempsey's survivability in such a crisis to be higher then her own.

 

Dempsey was fortunate to already be in motion when the attack came, though she could only barely protect herself from the attack by lunging to the side and tumbling along the cavern floor. She was completely and utterly confused by what was going on. She just killed that thing, and it looked completely different a second ago. No time for that though, because she was forced to dodge again, this time tumbling backwards. Apparently the events that had transpired over the last few moments hadn't happened, and she was too busy trying not to get killed to process that right now.

"what is that thing?!"

Of course she had a general idea, enough so that she was more than a little upset she'd been set upon it by a friend she trusted without so much as a word of warning. She didn't have time to look back to Lucia, but desperately hoped she was working on some sort of solution to the problem at hand. She knew that powerful undead such as these were almost always unfazed by normal weapons, and also boasted great resistance to most magical attacks.

 

Lucia only chuckled a little seeing Dempsey alright and safe, she could feel a little lighter now that the danger had passed in the instance. Not being bothered by the danger after she escaped it. "It's a Wight Knight- a higher level undead compared to the simple skeletons and zombies. A Wight is very smart and clever, inducing fear and false hope as it goes. Though this isn't the strongest undead species, they're middle of the pack among the top ten, just below vampires, Liches and Gheists." She explained with a dry laugh. Wights weren't a simple opponent. If she could fight them on level ground she'd be able to wear one out, but the problem was, if they wanted to flee, she couldn't stop them from doing it. They could fade in and out of being real, it was only ever when you fought them in a duel that they would fight to their end. "Just do your best! It's a creature that would only accept a fair fight, just don't die." She urged sweetly beckoning to the girl kindly.

Though the more Dempsey retreated and made guesses, Lucia tried to correct any suspicions and confusion that might come. After all, when it came to undead, who would know better then Lucia who studied it religiously? "It doesn't have legs, so don't bother aiming low, no matter how heavy it is it won't slow down so trying to debilitate it isn't a good idea. Same rules as zombies apply, the brain or head is what you need to take out but it's strong-- you won't take it so easily. Wounds will always be superficial at best-- It's not a Wight King so you don't have to worry about strange bizarre attacks but don't clash with it, it has inhuman strength." Lucia confessed everything she knew about it. Aside from not having legs, it wasn't much different from a super charged skeleton with high quality weapons and armor. Instead, it was only when you tried to do something dishonorable or unfair that it would bring out it's invulnerable powers.

 

"So I can kill it without magic?"

the question was more rhetorical than not, but the confirmation of her suspicions would go a long way toward reassuring her. She she still found the task at hand a bit daunting though. The lack of feet made using her opponents footwork to predict it's movement a bit difficult, and she had a hard time gauging her opponent in other ways too. the heavy armor made it difficult to evaluate and anticipate incoming attacks before they were launched, and the lack of eyes made reading her opponents intentions based on where it looked equally impossible. She would have to rely purely on instinct and reflexes for this fight, which made her uneasy at best.

She wasn't sure if she was up to this level of challenge yet, but it was not in her nature to back down from a fight she had a chance of winning either. Though still not happy with being foisted into combat with such a powerful opponent without a word of precaution or warning, she forced thoughts from her mind and focused at the task at hand. She suspected that the Wight took advantage of fears, anxiety, and other powerful emotions to weave it's illusions, and did her best to defend herself by entering an almost meditative state, focusing entirely on the ebb and flow of combat.

After taking that moment to collect herself, the battle was truly joined. She began testing the enemy, throwing a feint and searching for clues and reactions she could use later, still not quite ready to commit to a full on attack. Her opponent was not so reserved, and she was forced to sidestep a downward stroke. She retaliated by following through her spinning sidestep with a hard kick aimed at the torso of the things right side.

 

Lucia nodded back crossing her arms as she nodded. Wights were dangerous creatures after all, it was natural to be apprehensive about them, but this one was merely a knight. There was no reason to hesitate in the face of such a creature. As long as there was a will there was certainly a way. Lucia didn't want to join Dempsey though, purely because the moment she joined the fight, the Wight would use everything it had to strike back against them making it a foe they wouldn't be able to deal with.

With Dempsey giving it her all though, Lucia wasn't worried, she had faith in the girl after all. Though to add more reassurance, she couldn't help letting her know there was a way out. "If you can't do it, it won't strike at you from behind until you do, it wants a fair fight after all." She explained hoping tat Dempsey wouldn't feel too sour about this, What was deeper within that dark space was important to her, her avatar needed the things back there to be able to progress properly.

The more Dempsey'd fight the wight though the more she'd begin to see holes in it's combat ability. It didn't seem to use complicated or fancy skills to strike with, instead preferring the raw power of it's blade and shield. Like a muscle head it didn't have complex tactics or attack patterns. The feint was something it fell for, but at the same time it didn't seem that the reason was because it was stupid, but purely that it was still learning how to deal with a foe like Dempsey. When struck by the kick, the creature would bend like a bow after being thrust back, though it was clear it received some damage based on the sound of the impact, there weren't many visible signs. Instead, it slowly bent itself back, swinging it's sword forward once before targetting Dempsey once more, trying to imitate her previous attack, it made an effort to feint with a sharp sword swing before thrusting it's shield forward trying to learn from Dempsey.

 

Having landed a solid attack, she began to gain confidence. The thing was quick to move, showed little adaptability, and was obviously unaccustomed to her style. the thing learned quickly enough, but didn't quite understand that the difference in speed between itself and Dempsey was great enough that emulating her style would be ineffective at best. Being that the wight was a swordsman first, and legless second, she didn't see how her skill-set would translate at all, except that it was frustrating that her opponent was inherently immune to a large portion of her techniques. she'd calmed down a bit, and called out to Lucia

"Alright. I think I can handle this. Just... Be ready. Just In case."

She sidestepped quickly, and the Wight was slow to respond as she'd predicted, as she'd predicted. Instead of mounting an attack though, Dempsey dove to the floor, rolled underneath the thing, and rose behind it. Having been warned about attaching it directly from behind, she instead paused an waited for the thing to turn to face her. When the moment came, she threw a fierce snap kick at it's left torso, hoping to catch it unprepared for such a sudden attack from an unexpected direction.

((I meant to send this a billion ours ago, but I forgot to hit send!!! sowwie))

 

Lucia nodded back, glad that Dempsey seemed a little more willing. Wights were a dangerous foe, it was why Lucia had been forced to stop at this point rather then proceeding in deeper. If it were in a wider space, she'd have some hope, but in the closed cave the gate keeper wight was a difficult fight for er. Trying not to dwell on it, she hoped that things would work out. She happened to chose Dempsey for her flexibility and strength as well, "Don't worry if anything goes wrong, we can run." Lucia advised thinking that Dempsey would be able to fight more earnestly if she knew this wasn't a life or death scenerio only. It wasn't an instance after all, it was a field boss which made it a bit easier.

When dempsey slid under it though, it's robe wafted from the air as she slid by. While she was getting up, she'd notice something bizarre-- when targetting the Wight from behind, it's movements would become strange, as if turning itself inside out, she'd watch it's face come through the back of it's head as it used such a bizarre method to turn around like a spector. Fortunately, she didn't try to strike it, it's mystical tricks ended there as it flew forward with it's shield up trying to crash into her with it's armored body not worrying about protecting it's sides.

 

She blinked, surprised at the things strange movements. She should have known it wouldn't be that simple though. She attacked regardless, feeling that she had enough of an idea of what she was up against to overcome this opponent. she was faster, and that meant that as long as she was careful, she'd be able to pick the thing apart, even if it meant it would take a while. She started with a quick double kick, the first aimed at the things sword arm, and the second at the wights torso, intending to strike before it could recover.

It seemed to Dempsey that Lucia had responded to her previous bravado and showboating over the last few days, because this was nothing to be taken lightly. The fact that she'd chosen Dempsey for a challenge she herself was not up to the task of completing also filled her with a certain satisfaction, and she would have to make a point of discretely rubbing it in, at least once. Only once though. For all of Lucias good points, she didn't take well at all to being provoked or criticized. She'd have to work on that someday, but this was not the time for that nor anything besides focusing on not being impaled while she worked for another opening.

 

Lucia watched on with high hopes, as if she could already see the world beyond this cave right before her. Though dempsey didn't know exactly what she was looking for, Lucia knew the horrors of what she was trying to get her hands on. Wights were a powerful denomination of undead, one that Lucia hoped to one day have as her left hand. More specifically, she wanted a king to join her someday, but at her current level she wasn't anywhere near strong enough. The secret to acquiring her subordinates was deeper within, but getting there would be far too difficult alone, it was for that reason she really needed to rely on Dempsey.

Though when the double kick happened, the Wight was clearly struggling just a bit more then the previous attacks. The blow to the sword arm not disarming it, but at the same time making it swing wildly to one side. The second kick at the torso showed more damage then the previous blow to it's armored chest. It's armored torso was damaged finally, the plate cracking and fracturing here and there. Like a spider web extending out, it's shoulder was even a little damaged from the cracks, but at the same time it's chest was much more roughed up. Though while the Wight was recoiling, it began protecting itself more thoroughly, with it's shield in front as if sensing danger it finally decided to defend rather then attack, but that only made it clear Dempsey's efforts were working.

 

Dempsey found a great deal of encouragement in realizing she was pushing the Wight back finally. Simply to drive home the point that she was not to be taken lightly, she delivered a savage overhand punch into the things shield. She doubted it would have any real effect besides maybe pushing it back a few inches, but it was a out of habit that she focus on wearing down an opponents shield arm. Against a human, such an attack would be effective in a drawn out fight, causing pain and fatigue that accumulated over time, until a foe simply couldn't properly manage their shield. In this case, she doubted if she'd accomplished anything besides making a lot of noise.

It felt good and that's what mattered. She was about to close for what would be the killing blow on a normal person when she was caught off guard. The unreadable nature of her opponent had finally caught up to her and she was caught completely off guard. She'd pressed he advantage too far and was caught by a downward stoke as she readied another powerful kick. As the blade came down, she couldn't dodge in time, and it was all she could do to raise her off hand defensively in time. Though a killing blow was avoided, she caught the flat of the wights sword, and she dropped to a knee, momentarily dazed.

 

Lucia continued watching while rubbing her hands together, she could practically feel the goal already. as if it were right before her she couldn't help moistening her lips as she watched Dempsey throw a punch into the shield. Though the savage fist did little to cause serious harm to the wight, it was pushed back, without the traction of having feet on the ground it couldn't drag itself forward easily with just it's weight. Much like Dempsey's suspicions though, the wight wasn't bothered, it had a near inexhaustible amount of rest, undead were naturally a species of creature that would not be fatigued no matter the situation. It was always vigorous, like a machine. For those who were able to exhaust it's energy supply though, it was a powerful way to combat them, it was the method Lucia herself would have used had there been more space to run or keep it chasing her, but she couldn't make that happen with a Wight who was fighting as a guard.

Seeing Dempsey becoming dazed by a sudden mis-step though, Lucia couldn't help sighing. The wight was deeply injured though, if it was now she should be able to fight it right? The only problem was, once she stepped in, conventional combat wouldn't be as useful. Debating only lasted until the Wight lifted it's weapon to try and finish her off while she was puzzled and dazed. With a vague grimace she pulled out her bow slowly trying to sneakily draw an arrow. Her brow furrowed deeply as she lifted her bow up aiming it at the wight before finally loosing it at the Wight as it was planning to make a move. The arrow itself was black from it's head to it's fletching, but when it struck the wight's body it melted as if it were made out of black water. A glance would be enough to show that it was melting the wight's helmet and head, but it wasn't fast enough. With a Ghastly call, it turned towards Lucia, it's body slowly becoming ethereal like a ghost as it flew towards her like an apparition. Lucia tried to keep as much distance as possible as she flashed a few quickly and frantically formed hand signs gesturing at the wight beginning to drain it's energy. She only hoped it would fall before reaching her.