The First Grimoire: Final Fantasy Tactics A2


Chapter 11: "Reverse Ambush"

Grass crunched noisily underneath her feet as she strolled through the glade with light steps. Taking in the fresh, morning air, she stretched herself out and gave an impressive yawn. A small hint of a smile on her face, she straightened herself up and brushed her silvery hair behind her back. Placing her hands on her hip, she looked straight toward at her mark.

A large, green turtle–like creature was lying underneath the shade of a tree, sleeping. It's shell appeared to have been made from a series of massive shield–like scales. Yet, despite the shell's formidable appearance, a long sword was protruding from out of the turtle's back like a sharp, metallic flagpole.

"My, what a beautiful sword you have there," Adelle slowly drew the two daggers tied on her belt and assumed a battling stance, "Of course, I'll be taking it."

"No hard feelings now!"

She tore off towards the adamantite, both of her blades poised to cut at a moment's notice. Licking her lips, Adelle crouched down, ready to do another one of her trademark high–jump strikes. However, her foot did not leave the ground as she expected.

"Huh?" She looked down. Her feet–that is, her boots–were stuck firmly on the grass. Adelle strained to pull her leg up, but it was futile. The girl was stuck to the ground like a magnet.

She took a quick glance at the sleeping turtle, sighing in relief at the sight of the turtle still asleep. She narrowed her eyes, and bent down to inspect her feet. Surrounding her boots was a great amount of thick, whitish liquid. The girl took a twig and gingerly poked it.

As expected, the twig became stuck in the liquid and couldn't be pulled free.

"Cloudy Sap?!" Adelle exclaimed indignantly, "Who in the world would drop a vial of Cloudy Sap in the middle of a field?"

A loud snort came from beside her. Adelle quickly turned her head and glared at the source.

From where she was staring, a heavily tattooed Bangaa came walking out from behind a tree, immediately followed by a group of similarly tattooed warriors, numbering five in total. He took one glance at the trapped girl and began to laugh.

"Hehaheha!" The tattooed Bangaa laughed, " We finally caught up to you! Adelle the Cat!"

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" Adelle replied irritatedly. The tattooed Bangaa instantly stopped laughing and glared angrily at her.

"Don't play dumb girly! You know who we are!"

"Are you sure?" She shrugged cluelessly, "I have never seen your ugly mug before in my entire life."

"Why you...!" He stomped the ground angrily, and the Bangaa warriors behind him mimicked the action, "How dare you forget the face of the Leader of the Camoa Braves?!"

Adelle shrugged again, this time out of spite.

"If I have ever seen a face that horrid before, then I would definitely want to forget it as fast as possible. So will you please stop staring at me?"

"Do you know your situation here, Cat?" He growled, placing a hand on his sword, "You're under the mercy of Lacertus the Strong! Your life is in my hands!"

"Then will you please release my life from your hands?" She replied mockingly, "I don't even know what I have done to infuriate you."

He took a few steps forwards and stood in front of Adelle. Drawing his sword, Lacertus stuck the point against the underside of the girl's chin.

"Let me remind you then," He hissed in a low voice, "Last week, our clan was out in Bisga for a hunt. A terrible battle against a group of Ahrimans, with massive losses on both sides. And just as I was about to slay the last Eye, you appeared from out of nowhere and slain it with one slice!"

"And not only that, you had stolen all the Ahriman wings we collected as proof of the hunt! Leaving us with nothing but a group of bodies filled with wounds!"

Adelle thought back to the previous week. What the tattooed Bangaa said was completely true, she had crashed into the midst of their hunt and stole all their loot, along with several gil pouches and various magickal items they had carried on them. Despite the direness of the situation she was in, Adelle couldn't help but smile at the memory.

"You dare smirk at our misfortune?!" Naturally, Lacertus was indignant at her reaction, "Well, it matters no more! Your thieving ways will end here!"

Lacertus swung his sword back, about to cut the girl's head off with one swift slash. Behind him, his group of warriors cheered and urged him on. Adelle only stared back at the Bangaa's face defiantly. She secretly reversed her grip on her Zwillblade, and waited patiently for the sword to come.

"Goodbye! Adelle the Cat!" He grabbed onto the hilt with both hands and swung it at her head.

She swung up her Zwillblade, expecting to catch the sword in it's horizontal arc before it cleaved her in two. But...

"Ungaaaaaaaah!" Lacertus was suddenly knocked aside by a brown blur. He dropped his sword and fell onto the ground with a heavy thump.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw her savior stand up and dust himself off. He replaced his red hat back on his head and quickly ran over to where she was.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Well, she didn't exactly expect this to happen, but it worked out for her just fine.

"Good morning, Luso."


"Gah!" Lynd quickly drew his sword and glared at the boy, "What has that boy done? We lost our surprise advantage now!"

"No matter, just get down there and save him before he gets surrounded!" Cid commanded, leaping out from behind a tree. He stomped hard on the ground and whistled at the Bangaas in front of him, calling their attention away from the boy. Right when they turned around, Cid felled one with a swift right hook to the jaw.

"Nice one!" Lynd yelled as he swung his sword at another one, who–luckily–managed to block it in the nick of time. Pulling back, Lynd grasped the hilt of his sword with both hands and swung it powerfully in a wide horizontal slash. The warrior quickly held up his sword to block it, but the force behind the swing was more than he could handle. He was knocked aside, and his sword was sent spinning into the air.

Immediately after their fellow warriors were taken out, the remaining three warriors quickly stepped back and drew their swords. Lynd shouldered his blade and sauntered over to Cid, who was busy dusting his hands.

"Heh. At first, I thought that setting a trap for a little girl would've been a colossal waste of time."

He pulled down his sword and faced the three glaring Bangaas.

"But I didn't expect to fight the Camoa Braves here, what luck!" He grinned broadly, "That brawl in the pub yesterday only whet my tongue. Now this is what I've been waiting for!"

Cid only sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. What a fighting fanatic...

He glanced over at Luso; he was busy trying to pull the girl free from the trap they had set themselves.

Originally, they had arrived at the Sun Dappled Trail early in the morning with the intention of ambushing the thief and taking back the stolen drill, because of that, Edyal had specially purchased a vial of Cloudy Sap and spread it around the field as a snare. The rest of them hid around the perimeter, lying in wait until their mark had made her appearance.

Unfortunately, they didn't expect that another group was targeting her as well. Especially one with such an immense killing intent.

After seeing the leader try to execute the thief, Luso suddenly broke his cover and protected the girl.

Well, I can't say I'm surprised at his reaction... Cid mused to himself, grinning slightly.

"Oy, Cid." Lynd called, pulling him out of his thoughts, "Why don't we hurry up and get rid of this rabble?"

"Aye, let's go." He drew his sword and faced the warriors.


"You brat–!" Lacertus roared, pulling himself up from the ground and glaring at the boy. "Who are you!?"

"I'm kinda getting tired of being called a brat all the time..." Luso mumbled as he tried to pull the girl free from the sticky trap, with little success.

Although he didn't really mean to tackle the guy, the sight of him trying to kill the girl riled his blood. The next thing he knew, he was jumping out from behind his rock and charging towards the Bangaa shoulder first.

"Hey, why are you helping me?" Adelle asked, watching him try to pull her feet free, "I thought you were angry with me for what I did?"

"Yeah, and I still am." Luso replied, "But I can't just sit still when I see someone attacking someone who can't fight back!"

"Is that so?" Adelle looked away. Deciding that it would be better to not tell him that she could indeed have fought back against the Bangaa in that situation. She lifted up a finger, diverting his attention away from her feet, "You might want to pay attention behind you."

"Eh?" He turned around. A scaly fist slammed into the side of his cheek, sending him flying away from the girl's side.

He skidded on the ground for a few seconds before stopping and pulling himself up. Taking a step forward, he drew his longsword and charged at the Bangaa.

"Hrrah!" He swung his sword down as soon as he got within striking distance. Lacertus parried the blow and ducked underneath Luso's arms.

"And who do you think you are?!" He yelled as he knocked Luso backwards with a headbutt to the stomach, "Don't get in the way of our revenge!"

Luso landed on all fours and scrambled to get back up. He readied his longsword again for another charge at the tattooed Bangaa.

"I'm Luso Clemens!" He yelled as he swiped with his longsword again, "And I'm not going to let you hurt her!"

"And what are you to that thief?" Lacertus replied while blocking his slash, "Her paladin or something?"

Luso spun around and aimed a stab at Lacertus' side. He quickly sidestepped and responded with a fast overhead swing. Luso only managed to dodge it by ungainly throwing himself to the side. He landed on his chest and accidentally dropped his longsword.

"Shoot!" Luso scrambled to push himself up from his vulnerable position, attempting to reach for his fallen longsword. Suddenly, he heard the sharp whistle of a falling blade ring out from somewhere above him. Instinctively, he rolled away, and as a result, Lacertus' sword slammed down into the soft earth instead.

"Hold still, you little brat!" Lacertus pulled his sword out of the dirt and swung it at the boy again.

Clang!

"Wha–?"

"Too bad!" Luso pushed back the Bangaa's sword with his broadsword and slashed him across the chest in one fast motion. Lacertus retreated back a few steps, clutching his wound and glaring daggers at Luso.

"Two swords?!" He said angrily, "You sneaky little bastard!"

It was lucky that the blacksmith let me keep this one as well. Luso thought as he stood back up, raising his broadsword. He glanced over at where his longsword had fallen; right behind Lacertus. If I run fast, I might be able to make it there, but he might be able to attack me while I am running. Agh, what should I d–

"HGRRREEEEEEERRRRGHHHH!"

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud, inhuman roar. Lacertus, Luso and Adelle all quickly turned their heads to see what made the noise.

The adamantite had woken up.


Lynd blocked a slash from one of the warriors and backhanded another with his free hand. The warrior quickly untangled himself from the bladelock and helped his friend up. Both of them quickly charged towards the single Bangaa, swords ready to cut him down.

"You're all idiots~!" Lynd provoked as he stared down the two warriors. The warriors glared angrily at him as they heard his insult, and as a result, began to run faster. Lynd simply stayed where he was, grinning expectantly.

When the two had reached Lynd, they raised their swords over their heads. Swinging down in a massive vertical arc, the two swords fell like guillotines as the two Bangaas attacked at the same time.

"Nice try, but you're too slow!" Right before the two blades reached him, Lynd swung his sword in a horizontal slash. Once he had finished his sweep, the air around them appeared to undulate and warp. The warriors' eyes widened as they saw their swords freezing in the air, being held up by a powerful gust of wind.

"Air Render!" Lynd shouted, and instantly, the wind that was surrounding them expanded. The warriors were knocked back by the powerful explosion of air and fell back, their swords went spinning into the air like twin windmills.

Lynd snorted as he watched the two of them struggle to get up from the blow. Sheathing his own sword, he turned around and scanned the perimeter to find Cid.

"Body Slam!" Burning with a familiar flaming aura, Cid tackled the warrior down with his shoulder. The Bangaa flew an absurd distance before finally slamming headlong into a tree. Taking a dead breath, the flaming aura around Cid dissipated. He walked over and inspected the damage.

"All...hail...the...Braaaaaaves..." The Bangaa was knocked senseless by the impact. Cid rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't mean to place so much force behind his tackle.

Cid propped him up against the tree and turned back around. Lynd gave him a thumbs up and waved. His joy was shortlived, however. He was suddenly tackled down onto the ground by the last Bangaa in the troupe.

The warrior drew his sword, and pointed it at the back of Lynd's head, planning on stabbing him right in the skull. Right when he pulled his arm back however...

"Gales of ice! Encage my foe in a chilly prison!"

A sudden cold gust blew past the two Bangaas, surrounding them in a cage of icy air. The temperature around them dropped harshly, until both Lynd's and the warrior's teeth were chattering. A thick layer of ice began to form on their bodies.

Edyal calmly walked out from her hiding spot, swinging her staff around her like a conductor's baton, making trails of snow–like particles fly from the tip. She pointed the staff at the two freezing Bangaas and shouted.

"Blizzard!"

A shattering noise, sounding as if someone had broken a large pane of glass. The two Bangaas, and the area surrounding them, were suddenly encased in a massive stalagmite made of ice. Frozen in their poses, they resembled a pair of rather strange looking statues. Edyal tapped the glassy surface with her staff, testing it's hardness. She stifled a laugh at Lynd's surprised expression.

"Hm...not bad for my first time using this sort of magick." She took out a small piece of parchment and a quill, "I better take a few notes on how to control it, for future reference."

"Edyal..." Cid said exasperatedly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"My apologies, Cid." Edyal waved away his hand, "I still lack control over this type of magick, although...I am rather pleased with this result."

Cid sighed and held his forehead with his hand.


"Whhgaaah!" Luso was tossed into the air by the rampaging turtle's charge. He landed hard on the ground near Adelle. He scrambled to pick himself up, only to be knocked down by the gigantic turtle again.

Shortly after knocking Luso down, the adamantite turned it's attention towards Lacertus. With a speed completely unfitting it's appearance, it managed to crash straight into the tattooed warrior's body, blowing him clear across the glade. The adamantite reared up it's head and let loose another loud roar.

"Ah great..." Adelle watched the turtle–like creature stamp it's foreleg on Luso's back, pinning him down, "All that yelling and shouting must've woke it up. This is going to complicate things."

Sighing hopelessly, she raised up her Zwillblade. Bending down slightly, she placed the finely honed edge of the dagger against the soles of her boots.

With a quick slash, she cleaved the thick soles into two halves, with the bottom half still stuck in the sap. Taking care not to step in the gunk again, Adelle nimbly leapt off her soles and landed on the grass. She tapped her now–shorter boots on the ground and frowned.

"My poor Galmia Pepe boots..." Her expression hardened and she held up a clenched fist. "I'll have to ask those Camoa Cowards for compensation!"

The silver haired girl turned around and faced the rampaging turtle. She drew her Khukri and held it in her off–hand, wielding both daggers at once. Placing two fingers in her mouth, she blew her distinctive high–pitched whistle to draw the adamantite's attention away from stamping the poor red–capped boy into dust.

"Hgrrr?" It turned it's head around, and in that instant, Adelle pounced. Spinning both her daggers, she deftly reversed her grip on both and delivered two quick cuts on the beast's face.

"HGRREEEEEEEEEEEERGH!" It reared up from the pain of the attack. Taking this chance, Adelle quickly dashed under it and picked up Luso. She pulled him out from under the adamantite right before it crashed down on it's forelegs again.

"Agh," She groaned slightly, "You're heavy! Aren't boys like you supposed to be light weight?"

"Oof! Who are you calling a boy?!" Luso shot back, trying to free himself from her grip, "You don't look much older than I am!"

"Oh, stop struggling!" She replied, giving him a quick bop over the head, "And go pick up your sword! That adamantite won't hold still for long!"

She dropped him nonchalantly on the ground and quickly leapt away, keeping both of her blades out. Luso pulled himself up and rushed over to where his broadsword was dropped.

"Dammit, I lost track of where my longsword fell!" Luso picked up his broadsword and looked around. A small glint of silver from behind the adamantite's legs caught his eye, "Aha!"

He dashed around the adamantite, giving it a wide berth. This did not go unnoticed, and the tutrle quickly turned around and roared at him. It began to paw the ground with it's forelegs, readying itself for a charge.

"Hey, don't look away!" Adelle dashed next to the adamantite's face and swung her arm around her, cutting the side of the adamantite's cheek with her Zwillblade. Unfortunately, the cut was too shallow and the adamantite simply knocked her away by swinging it's head towards her.

Luckily, her distraction gave enough time for Luso to reach his longsword. Swapping his broadsword to his left hand, he picked up the longsword in his right.

"Agh!" He nearly fell over from the combined weight of both swords, "Okay, holding two big swords in each hand...bad idea!" He quickly sheathed his broadsword and held the longsword with both hands.

He faced the adamantite and dashed towards it. He raised his sword and brought it down–hard–on the adamantite's back.

"Are you an idiot?" Adelle shouted as she watched his attack bounce off the shell uselessly, "Why in the world are you attacking it's shell for? Aim for the head!"

"I wish you could've told me that earlier!" Luso righted himself ad he landed on the ground, raising his sword again for another strike. Unfortunately, the adamantite wasn't about to give him another chance.

It suddenly opened it's mouth wide. The shield–like scales on it's bad began to clack together noisily as it began to vibrate intensely.

"HGRIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!"

A horrible noise came billowing out of it's throat like a tidal wave. Shockwaves of sound emitted from the adamantite's body and blasted through the entire glade, even knocking several small trees backwards and shaking up the larger ones.

"Aaaaagh!" Luso could feel the powerful shockwave blow past him, but that wasn't what was hurting him. His longsword, which he was holding in front of him, was beginning to vibrate uncomfortably. His hands were becoming increasingly numb as he tried to hold on to the rapidly shaking sword.

"Dammit, it let out a Resonation!" Adelle shouted as she quickly dropped both daggers onto the ground and covered her ears. Her own hands were also badly numbed by her own weapons and couldn't stop trembling.

"I didn't think I had to resort to this, but!" Adelle stood her ground against the shockwaves and extended her right hand forwards. Her golden eyes began to glow a bright red as she glared at the screeching adamantite. She opened her mouth and began to speak in a low voice.

"Billowing from underneath the earth! Raze the greenery with searing flame!"

From inside her shaking palm, a small red glowing orb materialized.

"Burn with the heat of an inferno!"

She clenched her hand and crushed the red orb, sending small burning sparks scattering all around her. When she opened her hand again, a full fledged flame had appeared, and was now raging inside her palm. She brought her arm back and prepared to throw it.

"Fira!"

With a powerful swing, she propelled the flame out of her hand and fired it towards the adamantite. It carved a burning red trail as it traveled through the air. The burning flame tore through the onslaught of shockwaves and struck the adamantite squarely on the shell.

Instantly, the flame burst in an immense, fiery explosion. Fire raged all over the top of the adamantite, consuming it's entire shell in flame. Ultimately, however, the fire did little to pierce the tough defense of the turtle's shell, and quickly went out, revealing next to no damage to the adamantite at all.

"And you were just telling me to not attack the shell!" Luso shouted at her sarcastically.

"Oh shut up, you try casting magick in a situation like this!" Adelle yelled back indignantly.

Luckily, the sudden explosion of fire on the adamantite's back had managed to shock it enough to prevent it from screeching any longer. It turned it's head over to glare at it's attacker. The adamantite opened it's mouth again and prepared to attack with another screech. Taking this chance, Luso grasped the handle of his longsword the best he could with his numbed fingers and ran towards the distracted adamantite.

"Hyaaaaaaagh!" He raised his longsword high overhead and swung it down with all his strength. With his longsword still vibrating from the adamantite's screech, it managed to cleave straight through the tough beast's head as if it was made of butter. The adamantite's head fell off it's severed neck and rolled away, it's mouth still wide open.

Exhausted, Luso dropped his longsword and fell back onto his his butt. His hands were at their limit, he didn't know if he could even make a fist now.

"Ouch!" Nope, he couldn't. Despite this, he began to laugh elatedly. He just managed to defeat a gigantic turtle Just wait until Cid hears about this!

Adelle also dropped onto the ground, giving a loud sigh of relief. She rubbed the sweat off her forehead and glanced at her right hand. The skin on her palm appeared to be slightly darker, charred from her amateurish attempt at casting magick, "Tch..."

She looked up to see how the boy was doing, ...What is he laughing about? What a weirdo. All he did was cut that adamantite's head off, nothing to be proud about! Feeling strangely angry, she contemplated shooting a fireball at him to stop his laughing, until she saw something loom up from behind him.

"Luso!" She shouted urgently, "Watch out behind you!"

"Huh?" Luso looked up. A thin, silver line was dangling above his face, and a shadowy silhouette of a Bangaa.

"Hehaheha! Hiding while you brats finished off that adamantite turned out to be a good idea after all!" Lacertus chuckled. He was holding his sword point–first above Luso's face, ready to stab down at a moment's notice, "Now that the damn shelling is out of the way, I can finish you off without any distractions! And then I can move on to taking out that damn Cat!"

With a loud cry, he thrust his sword down. Luso instinctively closed his eyes.

"...Luso, what are you doing?"

"Eh?"

He opened his eyes. Two, large red fingers were holding the sword point from turning his head into a shish–kabob.

"Cid!" Luso swiftly rolled out of danger's path and pushed himself up. Cid was standing beside Lacertus, holding his sword with nothing but his fingers. He sighed and scratched his head with his other hand.

"Really, Luso? You cleave an adamantite's head off and yet, you allow someone to try and pierce your head?" He berated with a slight tone of humor in his voice, "You're right. I do have to start training you again."

"Who are you?" Lacertus demanded, trying to wrench his sword free from the Revgaji's grasp. "Don't get in my way!"

"I'm sorry, but that is impossible." Cid effortlessly flicked the Bangaa's sword away. Lacertus became wide – eyed as he watched his sword spin multiple times in the air before sticking into the dirt a few feet away.

"I can't let you try and hurt my clan member like that." He balled up his fist, and a small red glow began to envelop it. "It wouldn't look good on me, the leader of this clan!"

One swift, burning uppercut, and Lacertus was sent flying. He landed on his head and flopped down next to his sword. He fell unconscious with his tongue lolling out and his eyes spinning.

Blowing a remnant of the red flame away from his fist, Cid extended a hand to help Luso up.

"Wow..." Awed, Luso allowed himself to be pulled up as he stared at the KO'd Bangaa. "What was that, Cid?"

"This?" He pumped his fist up, "Just your everyday enhancement magick. Nothing special."

"Can I learn a thing like that?" Luso asked eagerly.

"Aye, but I suggest you go ask Edyal about it. She knows more about magick than I do."

He patted Luso on the head and laughed.

"Oh...and before I forget." Cid suddenly drew his sword and turned around. He pointed it at the exhausted girl on the ground. "You there. Cough it up."

"Cough what up, pray tell?" Adelle replied, glaring right back at him fearlessly, "I haven't eaten much this morning, so I might have to warn you that there isn't much in me to 'cough up'."

"Funny, but you know what I mean." Cid's eyes narrowed, "You owe us a massive debt! You stole that drill from us! And that means you practically pilfered around a few thousand gil!"

She cupped her chin with her hand and tilted her head, apparently trying to remember what he was talking about. After a few minutes of thinking (which only served to fuel Cid's already–rising anger), she finally clapped her hands together and gave a small "oh!" as a sign that she remembered.

"That drill? Well, there's a slight problem with your request." She pointed at the two soles lying in the puddle of sap. "I've used all the gil I got from selling the drill to buy these boots, and now these boots are ruined as well, so..."

"You...used it all...?" Cid gaped in disbelief, "You...used up...thousands...of...g..."

He held up two trembling hands and began to shakily count his fingers. Apparently, the idea of one girl being able to spend thousands of gil was incomprehensible to him.

"There's no point in robbing a gil–less girl such as I, no?" She said, raising both of her hands up as a sign of defeat, "But how about a deal?"

"A deal?"

She nodded and pointed to the fainted Lacertus behind Luso, "As you can see, I seem to have made some enemies for some reason."

I think the reason is obvious, you know... Luso thought to himself.

"So, this is my deal." She stood up and placed a hand on her chest, "I'll join your clan and work off my 'debt' as a clan member. And in return, you provide protection for me if I ever get targeted by any unscrupulous individuals like that Bangaa over there."

"What?!" Cid and Luso exclaimed together.

"I don't think of it as a bad idea, don't you think?" She drew both of her daggers and struck a pose, "You get an extra body to help you out with whatever you need done, and I get a bunch of bodies to help me whenever I get attacked! It's a win–win situation!"

"Rrrghh..." Cid scratched his head as he attempted to reach a decision within his own mind. Either hire the thief and probably make back his gil, or forget her and abandon all hope of getting thousands and thousands of gil back.

"So, do we have a deal?" She held out a hand for a shake.

In the end, Cid's inner desire for his gil to return overpowered his better judgement. He grasped her small hand, albeit grudgingly, and agreed to the deal. Breaking the handshake, Adelle clapped her hands together enthusiastically.

"Then it's done! Good to meet you, clan leader!" She turned her head over to look at Luso, and smiled at him, "And you too, Luso! I hope we can cooperate in the future."

"Yeah...hey, wait!" A sudden realization hit Luso, "I've never told you my name before! How did you know?"

"Oh, hm..." The silver–haired girl pointed at his side pocket, "I took the liberty of learning your name from your little diary there."

"W–what?!"

She took a few steps away and replied with a wide smile, "You know, writing in the margins of books is a very rude act. Remind me to never lend you any of my books!" The cat–like thief giggled began to walk away nonchalantly.

"Hey, wait!" Luso shouted as he began to chase after her.

Cid scratched the back of his neck as he watched Adelle deftly dodge Luso's tackle, and swiping his hat away from him at the same time.

I wonder if I made the right choice...?

He strode over to the slain adamantite and withdrew the sword embedded in its shell.


A/N: Dual wielding two large swords isn't a very intelligent idea. Have fun nursing sore muscles and/or breaking your arms. Also, small little disrepancies between this chapter and actual mission it's based on (Wanted: Ugohr). First: Ugohr is actually a 'Great Tortoise' type enemy that doesn't have that distinctive sword stuck in it's back, second: Great Tortoises don't learn Resonate, and third: Adamantites are actually called Adamantians...and they don't have any of the attacks I've written here. All of these traits are actually relegated to the final type, the Toughskin.

Why did I decide to point this out? I hate plotholes.