Just another day in Errin, the sun starting to set, Ewecca begninning to rise, the power of mana flowing through the magically inclined. Deep in the Karu Forest Ruins, members of the guild Defiant had just defeated the boss after many hours of struggling through the clutches of countless monsters. First to speak after the death of the horse keeper was Zetsuzaki.
"Dudes...that was fucking awesome..." Zetsuzaki laughed wildly while setting his Dragon blade on his back, the torch light glinting off the shining silver blade and dark metal of it's guard. He opened one of the 4 treasure chests in the next room with a sigh of contentment.
"That was crazy. I'm sure glad i finished upgrading my dagger before we got here. And that i fixed my shield...even with it that last fucking horse hit me hard!" grumbled Jozepi, stowing his daggers in small sheathes on his back, putting away his bastard sword and shield and stretching out with a painful grimace.
"SIT. NOW." yelled their guild officer, Sylar. Jozepi quickly sat down and let her bandage his wounds and use her magic to heal him. He got up with an appreciative smile and thanked her, opening another of the treasure chests and collecting his loot.
"So guys, who needs anything repaired after all that? i pulled in quite a haul of cash down there..." the guild leader, Laithen, walked over to another chest in the room, opening it and putting his loot in his bag, turning towards the rest of them stretching a bit. "I'd say that dungeon went pretty well, you guys did good."
While Sylar collected her loot they all checked their equipment and once they were all satisfied that everything was in good running order they touched the statue in the center of the room and were transported to the ruin's entrance. Together they walked slowly outside and wandered in no particular direction.
Eventually they reached a wide clearing where the ground was marked with the symbol of an animal. They each called out their pets and healed and fed them as necessary. Jozepi brushed down Vyia, his horse, while Sylar did the same with her own.
"Guys, im gonna go get some firewood so we can set up camp for the night." Jozepi climbed onto his eagle and it took off into the air, carrying him to a stand of trees that he could easily chop. He carved and cut the wood as best he could and brought it back, quickly lighting a roaring fire that they all sat around with a relaxed sigh.
"You know, it's kind of weird that i didn't see any monsters while i was flying. i stayed pretty low and i can usually see some beasts wandering the tree line, even this late at night. Any idea why nothing was around Laithen?" Jozepi asked his guild leader, a curious look on his face.
Laithen thought about it a moment then shrugged, laying back next to Sylar and rolling over to join her in sleep. Jozepi and Zetsuzaki shrugged and layed down next to one of the sleeping horses for warmth, Jozepi's eagle and Laithen's thunderbird roosted in a nearby tree, and the 2 griffins asleep near their masters.
Among the various snoring coming from around the campfire, a faint roar could be heard, but none noticed, to deep in their sleep. some time around midnight, when Ewecca was at it's peak in the sky, the ground shook so violently that even the massive trees of the forest swayed, shaking the large birds from their roosts and waking the rest of the group. While everyone looked around for the source of the disturbance Jozepi called down his eagle and took flight with it. Laithen and Sylar followed suit on their Griffons and Zetsuzaki with his Broom. they all hovered in the air, seeing something large approaching the clearing under the cover of the trees.
They quickly landed and readied their weapons, Laithen and Jozepi transformed into their Dark Knight forms, Laithen an Infra Black, Jozepi a Black Knight. Sylar followed suit by changing into her Champion form. Laithen hefts his mace and shield while Jozepi and Sylar raise daggers. Zetsuzaki quickly loads water crystals into his Alchemy cylinder, hefting his shield on his other arm and raising it so it covers most of his face. Aufsteigen and Diarc fly in circles over head with the 2 griffons while the horses stand next to their masters.
With a small rushing of air a cloud of birds and small animals rush out of the woods moments before a deafening roar splits the air, glancing at his friends, Jozepi puts away his daggers and lifts his sword and shield.
"Guys, something BIG is coming, and i think it's gonna hurt." Jozepi said, glancing back at alfy and ahead at Laithen.
"You're probably right bro, but hey, just think of the shit it's gonna drop when we kill it" laughed Zetsuzaki moments before a hulking mass of flesh charged out of the woods.
With roars of battle they each charged toward the beast, Laithen charging an ice spear to launch at the beast while Zetsuzaki fired his alchemy magics at it, the blasts of water causing the beast to stumble back. Jozepi Sylar mounted their horses and charged forward, Sylar jumping off and glowing white as she touched the ground and teleported to the monster with her final hit skill, landing over a dozen blows on it's leg before Jozepi reached it with the other 2 horses and joining in, slashing at it with his blade.
The beast roared in pain and kicked both of them away and stepped back to examine this new threat. They each now saw that it was some kind of massive snake like monster with 3 large legs supporting it's weight. It stared down at them with evil eyes and hissed angrily, it's head darting forward at Sylar. Moments before it makes contact however, Laithen launches his spell, the spear hitting the beast in the head and freezing it solid, the ice creeping down to the base of it's long neck and then shattering, causing the beast to fall to the ground.
Zetsuzaki lets out a cry of victory and claps Laithen on the back as his Armor vanishes and he walks over to his wife and helps her up. Jozepi and Sylar both follow suit and let their own armor vanish and they all stand in their normal attire, staring at the beast.
"Well, that was easy" Laithen laughs, sheathing his weapons and relaxing.
The others follow suit and stare at the hulking form for a moment before settling down again. Just as they finally relax however, the beast's body moves and it stands up, the shattered stump of it's neck bubbling a moment before 4 more heads shoot out of the still frozen hold where it's long neck used to be. They each grow in length to match the one Laithen destroyed and hiss angrily at the group.
With a cry they all jump up and ready their weapons, but not before the creature they now realize is some kind of hydra swipes it's tail in from the side and knocks them away. Laithen raises his shield and charges in, becoming an Infra Black once more and slamming into the monster, bashing his mace into it's ankle while Jozepi follows him, transforming as well and drawing his daggers, going into final hit and running up it's leg, reaching it's back he starts slashing at it with his daggers. Sylar quickly tries to heal the group, providing cover for Zetsuzaki while he fires more alchemy magic at the beast, the attacks stumbling the hydra every few hits.
With a roar it kicks out, knocking laithen back and one head reaches around and snatches up Jozepi. Zetsuzaki quickly draws his dragon blade and jumps forward onto his broom, riding it forward and up, slashing in a wide arch that severs the head holding Jozepi and nearlly severs another. Jozepi lands heavily and rolls to the side, raising his sword and shield as his daggers land a few feet away. they all stand back, watching as another 4 heads grow from the splitting neck that Zetsuzaki caused.
"Guys! We need some kind of plan!" Jozepi yelled, hearing the woosh of air that signals a trans and knowing Sylar had added her own Champion to the equation.
"Jozepi, have Aufsteigen attack the heads with my Diarc, Maybe the distraction can buy us a few minutes." Jozepi nods and orders Aufsteigen to follow the thunderbird into battle. Zetsuzaki's broom also flies up, darting in and out of the heads to distract them.
"Guys, we're gonna need the speed of our mounts, lets use them!" Jozepi yells as he jumps onto his Vyia. The others nods and Laithen and Sylar jump onto their Griffons, Sylar gesturing for Zetsuzaki to use her horse.
While the Griffons take to the air, Jozepi and Zetsuzaki charge at the beast from it's flanks, Jozepi brandishing his sword and slicing through the flesh at the back of the beast's ankle, Zetsuzaki blasting it's heads with his water alchemy. Sylar and Laithen fly around the beast, stabbing and slashing at it's back and necks, careful not to sever any.
Laithen notices that the neck Zetsuzaki had almost severed is slowing down and starting to droop, the wound it had tried to recover had caused it to become crippled.
"Guys! Wound the necks!" He cried to his comrades, who all nodded and began to put forth their best efforts to do so.
Zetsuzaki kept blasting away with his alchemy until he got close then he began climbing up the beasts leg, balancing on it's back and slashhing at the nearest neck, accidentally severing it and causing several more heads to shoot forth.
Jozepi jumps up as well, stabbing into one and slashing out of it with his blade while Sylar flies through the swarm of snake like heads on her Griffon, disabling several. The 2 birds manage to blind most of the heads before they get wounded and are forced to land.
With a mighty roar the beast tumbles over to the ground, narrowly missing the horses that are still circling it. Zetsuzaki and Jozepi both jump down and stare at the monster, leaning their swords on their shoulders. Sylar and Laithen land nearby and walk over, watching it writhe around.
Zetsuzaki walks over with a look of disgust and stabs his dragon blade into the beasts chest. With one final lurch, it falls still and crumbles into dust.
"Well...that was fun you guys" Laithen laughs softly and cancels his trans, the other 2 following suit.
"Riiiiiiiight...but never again" mutters Jozepi, sheathing his weapons and picking up his daggers.
"Anybody need healing? If so im going to need some mana pots, that battle wiped me out" said Sylar, searching her bag for some.
"Dudes...im so pissed...that thing didn't even drop any loot!" Exclaimed Zetsuzaki in dismay, causing the rest of the group to burst into laughter.
FIN.