Fantasy Extra Credit in Andul

[Arachne]

In order to save his slipping grades, Aeruhn S'umgar is willing to risk his life. Thankfully, Andul Royal Academy offers grade supplementing assignments as extra credit. These assignments are typically beast hunts, to ensure Lotheim's safety. As someone who is confident in his own intelligence, Aeruhn would rather die than study; furthermore, he wants to test his magical skill. He isn't strong enough to venture alone, as his major field of study is illusion magic. He needed people to come with him, as backup and support. To that end, he made a poster, and hung it up near the club recruitment banners in the main hall of the academy.

Now, Aeruhn S'umgar was waiting. The assigned meeting place for the group of soon-to-be hunters was the school's library--not exactly the type of place one would expect beast slayers to rendezvous at. He had arranged the meet for the evening, after all of the lectures had finished. He attended all of them, and did all assigned work. But he never studied. Aeruhn refused to. This stubbornness had cost him his position in the college's top five, but he was still telling himself that all he needed to do was to show up.

Passing time as he waited, Aeruhn tried out various illusion spells. He was sure that there wouldn't be any hunt immediately after the meet, if anyone showed up. Illusion spells also cost the least amount of mana compared to the other schools of magic. Aeruhn reckoned that he could probably cast a hundred times as many spells as any given student at the academy before getting exhausted. Currently, he was on his 27th and 28th. He cast Truth, a sense-enhancing spell that revealed illusions and traps to the target, on his left eye. Then, Cloud Judgement on his right, a spell with the effects opposite of Truth. He cast his gaze around the room, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. At first, everything seemed normal. But as seconds passed, then minutes, he began to feel sick, and grew a headache. When the door to the library opened behind him, he whipped his head around, falling out of his chair.

 

[Bellatsakha]

Kenna Vassellet wasn’t planning on doing homework any time soon. She said as much to every teacher, counselor and older student that asked. She didn’t care if she got bad grades, they meant nothing to her and she wasn’t going to feel shame over something that had no effect on what she was like as a person. Unfortunately, they did matter to the people who got to decide whether she would stay in the school. She couldn’t get kicked out, her mother would be so disappointed in her for throwing this opportunity away.

That was why she read the poster. She used to go on hunts on her own but apparently the small solo ones didn’t count for as much of the grade as she would like them to have. In a group, she could go on harder hunts and that was worth the apprehension she felt about using her powers. Everyone thought fire powers were so cool. They wished they could impress everyone with fire tricks and it must make hunting so easy. Sure, if destroying everyone and everything around you and leaving no survivors was cool.

With that thought the most prominent in her mind, she walked to the library to see what was going on with this group. She fluffed up her short black curls and adjusted the skirt around her waist, she felt like she was forgetting something but if she was forgetting it then it probably wasn’t that important to begin with. She approached the library door, a place she hadn’t been in a while, and opened it to see a boy falling out of his chair. What impeccable timing.

“Hey, need a little help there?” She said, cocking her head to one side with a smile.

 

[Dracowolf]

Damion had spent his days bouncing from group to group. Sure, he went to class and while he was not at the bottom of any he was nowhere near the top of his class either. He did better at the social aspect of things for the most part, relying on his charisma and good nature to win others over and look over his short comings. For this reason if you asked the groups of friends who had formed around the classes he attended about him, they would respond the same way, I know that guy, he's a nice guy. Or something along those lines. They rarely deemed him a friend, just saw him in a friendly light.

Typically he wouldn't pay much attention to a poster like the one he passed. It wasn't until he started on his side project and the research around what he wanted to do that changed his mind about things like this. Monster hunting was risky but rewarding, he wasn't concerned about the grade boost, though that couldn't hurt, it was the possibility of finding ways to advance his own goal. For that simple reason he arrived at the library, a place that he had frequented over the past few weeks to look at books on making permanent constructs.

Damion fiddled with a few smoothed rocks in his hands. A pouch hung at his side which only contained a few small sculptures of his. There was no way they would be going out right away after all. This had to just be an initial meeting right?

He pushed through the door, and looked at the sight before him. His ear twitched, momentarily confused at what to do given the state the boy was in and the girl who must have arrived just before him. Perhaps this wasn't the best idea, but he also was not about to back away now. "Everything alright in here?"

 

[Arachne]

The floored noble reddened, and quickly stood. He hooked his fingers into his shirt and tugged it downwards, brushed at his trousers, ran a hand through his hair; all meaningless actions that would do nothing to improve his impression on the two. Unable to keep an embarrassed smile off of his face, Aeruhn studied the two for a moment. He scanned two two with his eyes, for as long as he was allowed to while still being polite about it.

Leaning down into an exaggerated, Aeruhn greeted the two. "Aeruhn, of House S'umgar, at your service. I'm assuming that you two are here to discuss forming a hunting group." He straightened, then brought his right hand close to his face. "Cleanse," he said, more for their sake than his. Naturally, there was no need to say the spell's named. But, by doing so, he could conceal his magical school for longer. Cleanse was a Restoration spell, but it was essential for illusion magicians. It cleared the effects of most low-level illusion spells, and after casting it on himself, Aeruhn noticed the discomfort from the spells ripple away.

Before the faint green glow faded from his palm, he quickly cast Truth on all of his senses. It was detectable by a faint yellow glow from his palm, but it was surely obscured by the green glow. He moved his gaze to between the two potential hunters, to give the impression to each that he was looking them in the eyes. In his peripheral vision, he could see that the woman had no detectable magic active. On the male, however... Instinctively, his eyes were drawn to the small pouch at his waist. A faint grey aura surrounded the bag, but Aeruhn didn't recognize the magic.

Aeruhn stood his chair, then started to take a seat. "Come, and join me." He let his eyes briefly pass over the two again, searching their bodies rather than their faces for signs of danger. Content, he turned, slouching into his chair. The male had about him an air of correctness and authority. There was a possibility that he'd make a good leader. And the girl? Aeruhn couldn't really ascertain anything from their short meet, other than the fact that she was definitely putting up a front of confidence.

And of himself? I'm an absolute fool, he thought. Idiot, bastard, fool. How can I presume to judge someone's character when I can't even sit in a chair properly?

 

[Bellatsakha]

“I’m Kenna,” She replied, walking into the library and eying up one of the chairs. She looked back at the other boy to see if he would follow her, “So, what’s this all about? It’s a bit of a random time to be looking for a group.”

Also, he looked like he was important so he could probably find a group without having to put up a call sheet, but she didn’t say that out loud. She didn’t know much about the social hierarchy that went on in school and outside it since she’d never really interacted with many of the noble kids as a child, it was only when she started school did she realize there was some sort of unspoken food chain.

Sure, she’d met some of the nobles through her dad’s work, but she never stayed long enough to get to know them. It was probably for the best. Her background as a common girl didn’t make her very appealing to a lot of the high-class people and the gap between their lifestyles and hers was a bit too big for her to fill with her charming personality. The only reason she was even at this school was because her dad died and one of the nobles who just happened to have an influence over the school felt bad for her family. Not to lie, it did make her feel like a charity case.

She wondered how this group would work and whether she’d fit in. She didn’t know about the other boy but hoped he was at least a little down to Earth. There was only so much rich people speak she could handle in a day and hunts took a good few days to complete.

 

[Dracowolf]

Damion simply watched as the boy, Aeruhn it seemed, righted himself. After the girl introduced herself, he made his way to the seats, plopping down certainly not one for the more formal greetings, at least not unless he had to. He figured being more casual would help put the rather embarassing start behind them all. "Damion Sveargith." He set the smoothed rocks he was fiddling with on the table, with clearly no intention of explaining himself, instead just a quick welcoming smile.

At the comment about it being a random time he shrugged, despite not being the one to search. "If you think about it, any time is truly a random time. It's just not a popular time. Although if there is another reason for it that you are indeed willing to share then by all means, go ahead. I certainly would like to know."

He relaxed into his seat, making himself comfortable, leaning just enough that his tail could flick freely. It was the way he would sit with whichever group he had chosen to join that day, relaxed like he was among friends rather than strangers, the same welcoming smile still on his face as he waited. "Also, more details would be great like where you want to start this party, you know, assuming this meeting goes well."

 

[Arachne]

Aeruhn's hair was unbecomingly long and his posture was lazy. He straightened his back a little as the others seated themselves then leaned forwards, putting an elbow onto the table. "I'm looking for a group because my grades are falling by a few points. As an... no, just as a mage," he said, "my ability to fight is fairly low. I might struggle with a wild dog." His tone lightened at the last part, and he smiled jokingly.

Aeruhn glanced at the rocks the man had places on the table. Damion, he recalled. Drawing his eyes away from their strange magical aura, he continued. "I'm from a house of lower nobility, so at a prestigious college such as this one, I'm naturally a reject. I have few friends, and those that I am close with have their own parties or aren't interested in hunts." Inspecting the two's faces, he was confident that they were listening still.

"If you'd like to join, there's a chimera hunt available that would let us gauge each other's abilities." His dark red ears pointed frontward as he waited for their response.

 

[Bellatsakha]

“Well, you’re in good company.” Kenna replied, taking a seat on the edge of the table, “I’m from no nobility and my grades are down the drain. I used to take solo hunts but there’s only so much you can do on your own.”

Hunts were probably the only part of college she enjoyed. The chance to really explore her powers without fear of hurting someone was amazing, but it came at a steep cost of being relegated to easy hunts. She didn’t blame the staff though, it wasn’t as if they knew how destructive her powers were since they’d never seen them, but it still annoyed her to no end. She’d taken some harder hunts without permission before and obviously she couldn’t tell people so she got nothing for them.

Since she’d worked solo for so long, she worried about how she’d fit into a team. Whether she’d be able to follow what other people said and not make decisions just for herself, leaving the others in the dark. She’d think about that later though. Once she could watch the other’s abilities, she’d be able to see where she could fit in.

 

[Dracowolf]

Damion listened to the proposed hunt idea and the reasons, thinking the situation over. A chimera was not on any list he had seen for providing materials that would relate to his own goals, but it sounded like there would be chances for him to find his own targets later, and it didn't sound like there was anyone else looking for materials. He nodded, as he continued to think it over.

"Well, can't speak much on nobility, dealt with both sides, common and not. Father is a General that sort of stuff." He didn't like to say the nickname his father had, there were those who once they heard it knew exactly of him and his heroics. Damion had no desire to bring that sort of attention to himself, the kind where people would only care who he was related to not who he is. Still, there were those who figured it out from his last name, if they knew enough about the General. "Grade wise, I'm okay but a boost certainly would not hurt. Fighting wise, I can at least hold a sword but I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Sounds like the start of a plan."

 

[Arachne]

Aeruhn listened carefully to the two's responses, nodding at each once they'd finished. Damion and Kenna, he mused. The woman hadn't given her last name, and Aeruhn hadn't heard of Sveargith. Well, maybe it was a little familiar. Either way, the two were complete strangers to him. But, Aeruhn planned for them to get to know each other fairly soon. Their first fight, against an opponent who could kill at the slightest lapse of certainty, would allow them to analyze each other intimately.

Thinking on a response to the two, Aeruhn cast his eyes around the grand library. It was the last working day of the week, so a few students were milling about, browsing books. One girl who looked particularly scholarly sat in the corner of the library, scowling at the group for interrupting her focus. Aeruhn winked at her and smiled smugly as the girl hid behind a heavy-looking book. Clearing his throat, he returned his attention to the group.

He stretched his arms underneath the table and produced from underneath an official-looking form. "If the two of you want, I've made preparations to depart as early as tomorrow," informed Aeruhn. "That'd give us almost three full days. Sign quickly, and I'll turn this in today so we can leave for today." From his pocket came a pen, and he signed his own name in a flourish before passing both the form and the pen to Kenna. It hurt his head slightly to look at her. She's certainly making her point, thought the red-headed noble as he craned his head upwards.

 

[Bellatsakha]

Kenna signed her initials, KV, in block print and handed the pen to Damion. The idea of having a team was becoming real and she didn’t know how to cope with that. Luckily, the boys didn’t seem put off by her lack of nobility so she struck gold with that, but she didn’t know how strong they were so she’d have to work extra hard to hide her fire abilities. Hopefully, she could just 'forget' to mention them. An easy lie by omission wouldn’t hurt anyone, in fact, it would protect everyone.

She didn’t have much experience dealing with Chimeras, aside from one of them attacking her village before she was born and her mother telling her the story of how her father had killed it saved them all. It was sweet, but she didn’t particularly want to be reminded of someone she couldn’t see anymore. Anyway, back to the problem at hand, she'd have to fight a creature with the head of a lion and a goat and the tail that was a snake’s head. Also, it breathed fire. She would be lucky in that respect because she could control the fire, but if she was going to pretend she didn’t have fire powers that wouldn’t be very helpful. There was plenty of time to come up with a different plan though.

 

[Dracowolf]

Damion looked momentarily had followed Aeruhn's gaze momentarily, flashing other students a quick but reassuring smile, putting his charm to quick work before returning to the task at hand. He looked the form over quickly, but not nearly close enough to read fine print, he trusted everything at face value. He took the offered pen and added his name where it belonged, not the neatest writing but legible. Returning the pen he picked the rocks he had set down up, fiddling with them in his hand.

"So, if we're really going through with this where do you two want to meet up to begin this hunt?" He'd have his own preparations to make, he'd have to choose his carved stones carefully after all. He was strong but even he had his limits and it wasn't like the hunt would be over in a few hours time. Add that with supplies, a bag without stones would already be a decent load, even with help. "I'm up for anywhere myself. So, just name it."

 

[Arachne]

Aeruhn slid the paper across the table quickly and picked it up. He stood to leave, pushing his chair in. "Let's meet by the northern gate of the city. From there, it's about half a day's journey to the town closest to the hunt." He ran his hand through his hair, then turned to leave, before stopping suddenly. It seemed a bit rude to leave without saying more, and a bit too awkward to turn back and say anything. He sighed, walking away. Before he pushed through the door to the library, he raised his arm and tossed his hand from left to right in a lazy wave.

His cape billowing behind him, Aeruhn made quick but confident steps down the stairs that led to the lobby of the school. Before he reached the bottom, he could see his sister's worried face from where she sat. As she noticed the movement and saw him, her face brightened with false anger. She stood, and stomped towards him. Her face of indignation became one of embarrassment as Aeruhn picked her up at her waist in a hug. "Sorry, Delyla," he said smugly.

As they walked back to their residence, Aeruhn excused himself by telling her of his planned hunt. Despite her protest, he told her that it couldn't be helped. A small lie, but it still stung to make. At home, he noticed that their parents weren't home. A servant informed the two that they'd be late, as they were having dinner with another family. Aeruhn didn't bother to listen to which, as he busied himself with helping his sister. In his mind, it was unfair that young Delyla had chores when they had so many servants. After their small dinner, the two headed to their estate's bathhouse, but Aeruhn was shooed away.

It was a bit surprising, but Aeruhn reasoned that it was definitely about that time. His sister was a woman of marriageable age now, far past bathing with him. After Delyla finished, he went in, then packed supplies for the hunt. The next day, he left before his sister or his parents had risen. Aeruhn waited at a bench near the northern gate. He was half an hour early, and the first one to arrive. The plain leather guards he wore over simple-looking clothes, paired with the earth-colored pack sitting next to him made him look like an adventurer rather than a noble.

 

[Bellatsakha]

Kenna watched the noble guy walk out the room briskly and stated, “He seems nice.” When he’d gotten out the door. She wasn’t quite sure if she was being sarcastic or not.

“I’ll see you later then,” She said to Damion, he seemed a lot more down to Earth than Aeruhn but she didn’t want to make snap judgments about someone’s personality based on a five-minute conversation. She hopped off the table and walked away, turning around before she got to the door and making her skirt twirl, “We can decide which Chimera head we want to keep. Personally, I’d like the lion. It’d look good above the fireplace.” And she left without hearing whether he answered or not.

She got out of the building as soon as possible and all but ran down the steps. She ran down the street, weaving her way between all the people walking down the paths until she saw a large cart carrying tools into the rich parts of the city. The man driving it was her local blacksmith and him and his son would alternate between who drove to the rich parts to drop off parts they’d made. The poorer part of the city, where all the common people lived, was a bit too far away for walking so she’d hitch a ride with people who lived nearby who knew her. It made the trip a lot easier on her feet.

Her small village was rather run down as it was her mother’s hometown, but their house was one of the bigger ones as her father had paid it off in full before he died. Unfortunately, when her mother had remarried, her new husband took the money and ran so they were back to living paycheck to paycheck.

However, she wouldn’t be stopping at home because there was somewhere else she had to go first. The local hospital. She opened the doors and the smell of sanitization washed over her like the calm ocean breeze. If that smell ever stopped, she didn’t know what she’d do. She smiled at all the staff she knew well and ambled her way to the ward her best friend was in, although she doubted Kirsi would consider her a best friend after what had happened. She opened the door quietly even though Kirsi couldn’t hear her.

She looked at the girl laying on the hospital bed in a coma, “Hey, how are you? I know you can’t answer, but maybe you can hear me. I’ve heard of that happening before with people that have been in a coma for fifteen years and you’ve only been in it for seven. Anyway, I’m going on a group hunt tomorrow.” She smiled to herself, “I know you always said when we grew up we’d go on them together, but I have a really good feeling about this one. I don’t think I’m going to use my power though. I’ll admit I’m a little scared.

I can’t risk that again.” She shook those memories out of her mind, “We’re hunting a Chimera, isn’t that cool? It’s just like dad used to do, except he was strong enough to do it all by himself. I hope I’ll be strong enough to do it alone someday, it would be awesome if I could have stories as cool as dad’s.” She sighed, “Maybe when you wake up we can hunt together. Until then, I’m going to make do with what I have, perhaps make some friends along the way. Don’t worry, none of them will be half as cool as you.”

With that, she stood up and left the room. She couldn’t spend too long there because it brought up so many memories, both good and bad, that it made her unbelievably sad and all she wanted to do was lie down and reminisce. She left the hospital in high spirits and walked the streets home, her preppy uniform standing out amongst the crowds of commoners. Often she would get mistaken for someone from a rich family who got lost when she was visiting other villages so it was nice that everyone knew her here.

She pushed open the door and yelled, “Hey guys, I’m back.”

Two pairs of small footsteps hurried through to the living room yelling her name. Brylee and Amara, her mother’s backstabbing money-stealing husband’s children, stood in front of her with wide eyes as she put her satchel down on the table and opened it revealing a box of biscuits and cakes she’d stolen from school. She opened it and gave it to the two giggling girls. They couldn’t afford many luxuries so Kenna would steal some of the expensive sweets from the cafeteria to treat them with. Rich people's food was always so much tastier.

“Dishes sweetheart.” Her mother called and Kenna rolled her eyes before piling up the dirty dishes on the dining table and bringing them into the kitchen for her mother to wash.

Dinner was always a rambunctious affair in the Vassellet household. With two young children who refused to eat their vegetables and a teenager who refused to shut up, the dining room was full of voices shouting over each other and an exasperated grown-up trying to keep control of it all. They ate the left-overs from the day before as well as some wonky bread the farmers couldn’t sell so gave them for cheap. The younger girls wore themselves out by running around and Kenna helped with the chores before practicing her fire control in an open field far away from the village.

It was dark by the time she finished and her mother had just put the girls to bed. Usually, Kenna would take that time to chat her mother’s ear off about the day, but she decided to call it an early night so she’d be ready for the morning ahead. The next day would be a trial run on how she’d be able to manage to have such destructive powers whilst maintain her abilities as a warrior, so it was kind of a big deal. At least for her own mind. Proving once and for all she couldn’t handle herself around other people would open up a world of possibilities and she didn’t know if she was ready for that.

She awoke in the morning to her mother opening her shutters and batting her head with a tea-towel. Today was the day. She pulled on her trusted pair of brown leather trousers and black boots along with a dark t-shirt and two arm bracers that she buckled tightly. She had a thin coat with billowing sides that held all her weapons in tight clasps on the inside, but when it fell at her sides they were almost invisible. In case she lost her cape, she had a sword tucked into her belt as well as multiple daggers stashed inside her boots, down her trousers, on the underarm of her arm bracers and a razor blade underneath a decoy bandage in case she was tied up and had to cut the ropes.

Some would say it was excessive, but she preferred to think of it as being prepared. She kissed her mother goodbye and waved to her sisters who were still eating breakfast before heading off with the farmer’s eldest son who was going to pick up some tack from the other side of town but had to pass by the northern gate.

As he approached the meeting place, she saw Aeruhn waiting and everything suddenly felt a bit too real. She jumped down from his cart and saluted him as he rode past her, yelling that he would see her soon and he wished her the best of luck. She took a deep breath, turned around to Aeruhn and approached him with a brave smile, “So, you ever done anything like this before?”

 

[Dracowolf]

Damion waited for a moment as the other two left, shooting Kenna a quick smile at the head comment, half tempted to call cheat on taking the lion head first but decided against it, he could get into such teasing later. He stretched momentarily, shot his gaze around the room a few times, gave quick greetings to those he recognized. Leaving the library was much the same, he greeted and was greeted by others who recognized him, he even paused to laugh at a terrible joke, otherwise he made his way out. The halls were emptying after all, more and more slipping out for the night. He was perhaps one of the last on the grounds, enjoying the company of those near his age. Still, eventually he had to go home.

It wasn't a far walk, though there had been many options before for him to take other means than walking. His father owned military horses and other options, and they'd been offered before. Somehow he thought showing up and dealing with any creature that looked ready to charge without fear was a mistake, it would change how others saw him after all. It would be like having a massive sign that simply stated that his father was General Silverbolt, the man who fought with lightning and unmeasured power, at least that's how he was described.

Damion approached the home, not the most gran in the world but still good enough to make a statement on their class. He could hear sounds even from the outside, other officers all gathered to discuss future plans and relive the glory days. He hesitated for a moment, he honestly did not want to go inside right away but he couldn't think of anything else waste time. With a deep intake of air, he puffed out his chest for a moment, mentally preparing himself before letting it out. Damion straightened his back and put on his smile before walking inside, "I'm home!"

All at once he was pulled in every direction, men wanting to talk to him about his father's exploits his father grinning away at the praise. "Did you know your father once-" "Your father saved my life-" "So, when you are enlisting?" The last one caught him more off guard than the usual ones. "Not any time soon, I have my studies to focus on."

"You know your old friend, what's his name... You two used to be together all the time... Anyways he just enlisted."

He had to force his smile more than ever before, trying not to show his shock. "Leon enlisted?"

"That's him! Leon!"

"Well... I hope he does well," It would take a while to process that.

"Far better than those books." The men roared with laughter at that, although a few admitted that the academy served other purposes.

"Actually, rather than just focusing on books, I signed up for a group hunt."

The room fell silent at that, everyone exchanging looks then staring at him. His father's face was unreadable. The general shock allowed him to slip away, off to his room. He ran his hand over his carved statues as he enjoyed the privacy before staring at the stone hawk he kept. "Can't believe you'd do that, bud." He flopped onto his bed, "At least not without talking to me."

Damion woke with the sun, early mornings were nothing new to him and it was already hard to sleep anyways. He started to pick out carved creatures that wouldn't be too much to carry. He hesitated a moment before grabbing his hawk plus his pouch of polished stones. He stuck to small creatures, figuring the temporary creations of rocks trying to hold themselves together would be enough to be useful enough, the smaller carvings were good at scouting and being distractions. Once he had everything together he got ready to head out but found his way momentarily blocked. A suit of silver armor was left out, along with a leather one, he looked them both over and found a note wishing him luck. His hand ran over the silver one, one of the finest blacksmiths must have worked on it. "One day, maybe." It may have looked great but he wasn't ready for that, and his father must have known that given the leather armor out. His gaze traveled along the metal one last time, and down to where a sword lay strapped to it. "That however..." He grabbed the sword, "Will be most helpful, and so will you." His gaze was back to the leather armor.

It took him a few minutes to get the armor on and to get his cape fastened properly, along with supplies and his bag of rocks. The packs were heavy but his use of rocks meant he already was used to carrying them, so it was only the added supplies that he had to adjust for. He strapped the new sword to his side, it had never seen battle before and he was hoping that the first one it encountered wouldn't be the last. Besides, it was more in case his creations were not enough. His traveling cape covered up the bags of rocks and the sword fairly well, so it was hard to tell how much he was carrying. He rolled his shoulders, adjusted his straps making sure nothing felt like it would become too much for him, then he set out.

He was the last to arrive, the time he spent getting the armor on ate away his time, but he knew he wasn't too late. His confident smile returned when he saw the two from the day before there. "Hey, glad to see you both again."

 

[Arachne]

Aeruhn reached up and scratched one of his ears gently, his tail twitching a little. He stood to greet the woman. Kenna, he recalled. He stood and made an uncomfortable and exaggerated bow, obviously not used to the weight on his back. He straightened to greet her. "No, I haven't, Kenna. Might be hard to believe, given my..." The noble's ear twitched as he held out his arm in an obvious examination. "... muscular build," he continued, smiling at his own joke.

The two talked politely until Damion came. Aeruhn's tail ceased its' movements, and he turned to greet him. "Nice to see you could make it," said the red-head. He paused for a moment, wondering if he had sounded sarcastic. It's no big deal, even if I did, thought Aeruhn.

At the insistence of the cocky young noble, Aeruhn paid for three seats on a carriage headed their direction. His face showed its' dismay with no small amount of subtlety when he saw the seats. In reality, about two of them could comfortably fit in the produce cart. "We'll all just have to sit on the big guy's lap," he jokes, gesturing in Damion's direction.

Despite his teasing, Aeruhn laid himself flat across some boxes of produce to allow the other two room to sit. It wouldn't be comfortable, he thought as he tossed his bag elsewhere, but I'll make do. A few times during the ride, he attempted to break the ice, bringing up idle chatter to the two. The topics died out after a few minutes of discussion, and finally Aeruhn stopped, allowing an awkward silence to develop during the ride.

Helmsfud, where the three finally arrived, was a small village towards the north. Past it, there were only a few more cities and towns before the Fae territory transitioned into unmapped, monster-filled lands. As was the case with most villages in this region, most of the citizens were farmers. They worked tirelessly every day, and still were poor.

Aeruhn led the two through the door of an establishment called "The Watering Hole." It wasn't a clever name, but it said what it was on its' sleeve. The small bar was almost empty, since it was midday in a poor area. There was only the owner and the three students.

The illusionist cast a knowing look at Kenna and Damion, smiling with amusement, when the owner referred to Aeruhn as the other two's servant. Not clearing up the confusion, he played the part. Doing so helped him gather information on the chimera quicker, at the cost of a bit of his pride. Unexpectedly, the bar owner stopped Aeruhn as he turned to leave. The older man pushed a bottle of cheap liquor into the noble's hands, and tried to give him a few copper coins. Aeruhn laughed, accepting the bottle but letting the coins fall to the floor. As the three left, Aeruhn tossed a gold coin his way. It was a bit demeaning, but he had been sympathetic towards the young mage.

Now outside, Aeruhn addressed the two. "We've got a general idea of where to start looking. Are the two of you prepared?" His question was met with strange looks. Aeruhn tucked the bottle away in his pack, then moved his hand in a circular motion, suggesting for one of them to begin speaking. His ears pointed forwards as he waited.

 

[Bellatsakha]

Kenna raised her eyebrow, “That sounds ominous.”

The ride there had been a little awkward but there was still time. She wasn’t one for silence but it felt weird being around two strangers for a long amount of time in a confined space. She attempted to start a game of I spy but it didn’t go over too well as there wasn’t much to look at; there were only so many times you could spy grass and house before it got boring. That and they were all in their late teens so perhaps it was a bit immature of her. She blamed her sisters for restricting her choice of games. It wasn’t like she could play chess with a 6-year-old.

Aeruhn’s reaction to the guys at the bar surprised her. She expected him to huff and fuss about them for mistaking him, but he just went along with it. She didn’t blame them, she would’ve assumed he was low ranking as well with the way he dressed, the change was drastic from their first meeting.

(Hey Arachne , just a little comment on your previous post. I felt like it was a bit rushed and that Dracowolf and I didn’t really get a chance to react to the situations as they were happening. Idk if this is just me being a bit nit-picky, but I kind of prefer there to be more interaction between the characters. You can still control the plot, NPCs and settings but it felt like you were kind of controlling our characters as you were writing the whole scene out without our input to the situation. It kind of felt like we weren’t part of the scene, at least to me, I don’t know about Dracowolf . If you could give us a chance to respond as the plot moves on, that’d be much appreciated.)

 

[Arachne]

(My bad. I did rush things a bit, and I should've slowed down or asked you guys your opinions on a time skip. I felt that the interactions were going to be boring and tedious to get through, but I'll give you guys room to work with in future posts. Thanks for letting me know. Also, feel free to do whatever you want with the setting and the plot as well. If you're alright with just mirroring, thats fine too.)

 

[Bellatsakha]

(I think you can still write long boring parts like 'They journeyed for 40 minutes in a carriage and stopped at a pub where some guys mistook Aeruhn for a servant.' but I think if you said 'the silence was awkward' it implies that all the characters felt it was awkward when another might have enjoyed the silence. If you said 'The silence was awkward for Aeruhn' then it doesn't feel like you're talking about the other characters. Even if that's what you meant in the first place, it kind of puts me in a tight spot as a writer because I feel like I have to agree with what you wrote. Thanks for understanding. An OOC thread is great, I just felt like I'd put this response here to make a little easier to follow.)

 

[Dracowolf]

At the sight of the cart, Damion momentarily wondered if he should have seen about acquiring a few of the military horses, but while he could have gotten one for himself he wouldn't have been able to get two for people he had just met. Perhaps down the road he could use his connections to help them out. For now, he simply took his place with his relaxed smile, seeming to just enjoy the open air. He didn't mind the occasional silence, the way things fell away. It wasn't like the silences he shared with his friend back home when they just spent time together, a comfortable and welcomed silence of just enjoying the presence of the other. He didn't know these two well enough to have that. Eventually he got out a few smoothed stones and fiddled with them, rolling them in his hands. The fidgeting as they went allowed him to ignore the silence and just enjoy the sights, even if they did seem to all be the same.

It took him a while to get the feeling back into his legs properly, a few stretches and such once they had come to a stop. "Not looking forward to that ride back." He mostly muttered it to himself. First information, the bar, a few strange glances, he didn't correct anyone because simply, Aeruhn hadn't tried to.

"It would be a little silly to come out here and not be prepared right? I mean, we all knew what we were about to get into, right?"

 

[Arachne]

"Anyone have any experience in tracking?"

Earlier, Aeruhn had decided to take a path leading to a forest in the north-east. It wasn't until he had reached what he felt was the center of the forest that he spoke again. Now, he had stopped. "I'm not lost," he offered weakly.

Since we're stopped anyways, Aeruhn decided, I might as well rest some. He dropped his cheap-looking pack and rummaged around in it for a moment. From it, he produced a small drinking flask and a blank map. He drank quickly, then stowed in back away. The map, however, was kept out. As he had done on the journey to where they were now, he listened as he worked. This meant that his progress was slow, but it allowed him to stay attentive. He guided his thought towards his magical center: his heart. From the pressure built up there, he reasoned that his reserve of magic was lower than usual. He would be able to cast as many illusion spells as he could mentally handle.

Despite being an illusion-focused magician, Aeruhn had branched out. Most illusionists also took on aspects of more destructive schools of magic. Aeruhn hadn't. Instead, he opted to learn some restorative spells instead. As a result, he wouldn't be able to beat either of his party members in a fight. He wouldn't even be able to kill a rat.

Since he had less experience with healing, Aeruhn knew that he could only cast spells of that category a few times. Today, he was weaker. He might feel weariness after using a single spell. So, he couldn't use it if a fight started.

Still, I have my illusions. Slowly, making sure that he didn't either lose track of the others' conversations or make a mistake in his casting, he channeled a spell. "An alarm," he said for the benefit of his companions. After he had spoken, a small ring of faint orange gas expanded, then circled the group after it had stretched about 50 foot. Slowly, it grew transparent.

"I'm an illusionist," Aeruhn explained. Should've told them earlier, he thought as he looked at Damion's face. Then, he asked something that he should've asked beforehand as well. "What arts do you two practice? Hopefully, they're more helpful in tracking than mine." But, the noble knew that they wouldn't be. Magic had nothing to do with such a skill. And, he mentally noted, the two definitely wouldn't know any enhancement spells.

 

[Bellatsakha]

Kenna was enjoying the trip. She didn’t know if Aeruhn knew where he was going, but they kept passing trees that looked like faces and she took great joy in pointing them out. One of them even had a bump that looked like a cat’s head.

The worry from before had disappeared as the adrenaline had set in, that was one of the many things she enjoyed about hunts because it was like entering another world where all she had to focus on was the job at hand. Unfortunately, that meant many times she’d come back to realize the situation had gotten worse, but it was fun while it lasted.

She did have quite a bit of experience finding her way through forests, but for her that meant running through the forest at light-speed, planting sticks along the way and climbing up trees to see how far she’d gotten and she didn’t think the others would appreciate having to do that. Her methods had become a tad unconventional since she’d gone solo.

Aeruhn did a weird spell that made some orange gas stuff that Kenna didn’t understand. She wasn’t exactly the most cultured when it came to other types of magic and she didn’t think she’d be able to understand it even if he explained it. She was more of a hit-and-run type person than a create-a-plan type like she suspected the boys were. That was good since she didn’t even know where to start in leading a team so she could just wait for one of them to tell her where to attack.

“I control fire.” She said, and damn she was bad at following plans, “But I don’t have to use it much. It’s not good to use magic so much that you have to rely on it to wipe your ass. I mainly use weapons,” She opened her coat to show the many inside straps holding various knives and other sharp objects, “And I get by pretty well with them. Then again, I’m more of a person hunter than animal hunter so it might be a bit different.” She closed up her coat, “I’ll still use fire if I have to though.” She acted as nonchalant about her powers as possible as if it was just a choice she made one day.

 

[Dracowolf]

A grin crossed Damion's face. "Well, I mean, I'm not that impressive with magic, not bad in a general scrap though, put a sword in my hand and I'll hold my own. When it comes to tracking though, that's another matter." He crouched low to the ground as he pulled one of his bags off his back and dug into it, pulling out his prized stone carving, the hawk. He looked at it affectionately like it was the greatest thing he owned, though that came from the hours he poured into carving it to get it just right.

His hand glowed for just a moment before he ran it down the hawk's back. The magic seemed to seep into the rock itself creating faintly growing runes before the creature came to life, moving and stretching. It began to look around, tilting its head much like an actual bed. "I specialize in construct magic. My father specialized in lightning but at best I can only do tiny sparks, but when it comes to constructs, I can do a little more. Unfortunately I specialize only in rocks." Most construct mages could at least create something temporary out of nearly any material but excelled at one, Damion could only rely on his rocks. "But carving them like this is easier on my magic than just trying to form them from the basic raw material. Not sure why, maybe it's the time I put into the carving that helps, I'm not sure."

"There's also a few more tricks though." He put the bag on his back and stood up, the stone hawk resting on his arm. "Like this." He launched the hawk, much like a proper falconer and sure enough despite being made of stone the runes glowed bright and it took to the sky. "I can't do the flight thing with many and certainly nothing large but, I can do it with him." Although he wouldn't admit it could be taxing if he let it fly all day. "He can be our eyes above though and certainly can track for us." He whistled and the stone hawk returned to his arm, surprisingly graceful. "So, there's that."

 

[Arachne]

Fire and control, thought Aeruhn. Well, he definitely felt ill-prepared. Compared to the Kenna, his preparations had meant nothing. As an illusionist, he should've been practicing some form of martial arts. Her offhanded jab had been pretty effective on him.

"That's... very impressive," he'd said in response to Damion's constructs. His voice wasn't disingenuine. Honestly, Aeruhn had been shocked that the bird had even moved. Construct magic was complicated and required intensive study. Even so, most magicians of his school could only cause surges of the earth. Very few could animate the inanimate, and for him to go to such lengths... Doubtlessly, he was of higher lineage than Aeruhn.

The red-head cast his eyes around the forest as they talked. The sun was definitely on its' way downwards. It was summer, and he judged it to be 6 in the afternoon. In this region, during this season, he guessed that they had less than two hours of light to work with. There'd be no point in heading back at this time to find a room in the town. By the time they would arrive, any places offering rooms would be closed. So, having finished his brief rest, Aeruhn asked the others to help him find a place to camp.

"Help me find somewhere with rocks for a pit," he had told them. Where he dropped his pack was a part of the forest where the underbrush didn't grow. He built a small firepit using some of the rocks and jokingly offered one to Damion. Their camp overlooked a small valley in the forest. Down the lowest parts, a small, murky stream could be seen. The sound of the water could also be heard and made Aeruhn a bit drowsy.

Sitting in front of the pit, Aeruhn made a short gesture with his hand towards Kenna. But he recalled her statements about magical reliance. In that hand was a shiny and angular piece of metal used for creating sparks. In his other, he had a flat black piece of metal. Idly, he rubbed an edge of the black metal against the shinier, creating a small shower of sparks. He grated the two against one another rapidly, and the small pile of kindling lit.

"Anyone want to take a watch? I know we're out in the middle of nowhere, but the beasts out here could attack." Waiting for a response, he rummaged around his bag until he freed his bedroll from where it had been tangled. He unfurled it, and sat on the plush fabric, scowling at the expensive bedroll. It would be filthy by the time they got back.

 

[Bellatsakha]

Damion’s bird was very pretty. He must be so pleased with his powers, being able to create incredible things like that. What she wouldn’t give for creation powers like his instead of destructive powers that killed everything it touched. She was being a tad melodramatic in saying that, in fact, it didn’t kill anyone, only severely disfigured them and left them in a coma. But she wasn’t bitter.

She put that train of thought to one side as nothing good could come out of it and instead focussed on the sounds and smells of nature that she loved so much. The sunlight had begun to dim and Aeruhn suggested they stop and set up camp. She let him dictate what the group would do even though she could probably stay up for hours still but in this situation, she wasn’t the only person there and different people had different needs.

Whilst the boys set up camp, she looked through the trees, examining the surroundings. There were lots of high vantage points for her to spring sneak attacks and she was small enough to be able to hide behind the tree trunks and go unnoticed. She wondered what kinds of beasts would be around those parts. Erymanthain Boars were common everywhere and she knew how to take them down, but if something like a phoenix came out then she’d be in trouble since she couldn’t exactly use fire on a fire bird.

She contemplated what would happen if a dragon came out of hiding. The side of her mouth twitched downwards at the idea of the entire forest on fire and two human-shaped corpses burnt to a crisp. She was getting ahead of herself, it wasn’t even dragon season yet and she doubted they would come to a place so close to human civilization. Why was she worrying so much? She never worried when she was out hunting alone so why all of a sudden was she getting visions of people dying in a fiery blaze?

Apparently, Aeruhn agreed somewhat with her as he asked for someone to keep watch and she immediately volunteered, “I can. I’m not going to sleep any time soon and I’m used to hunting through the night anyway. Who am I waking up halfway through?”

As hyped up on adrenaline as she was, she couldn’t go forever and she wasn’t sure which one of the boys would be the best pick for the overnight watch. On the one hand, Aeruhn didn’t have much combat ability, but that meant she and Damion would need to be at peak performance so it wasn’t ideal for them to lose sleep. On the other hand, she bet Aeruhn was the strategic type though and he would need a full night’s rest for his brain to work properly, she knew that from personal experience. She was so glad she wasn't the leader.