The Cosmic Cycle
Chapter 3
Shadow's Invasion
She didn't have enough time to register everything that happened. It all just spiralled out of control over the last week, and none of them had the time to cope.
Their village of North Waters was on the smaller side, with only two hundred or so people living close to what was considered the frontier of remnant. They were so far out; the signal from the CCT tower based in Vale was incredibly weak. They'd be lucky to be able to make a call even on the clearest of days, even to other villages close by. So that often left them to deal with mail-carriers to do the deed for them, and sad as it is, it's not always successful due to wandering Grimm.
They could always use one of the four huntsman stationed at their village to guard them while they deliver any letters or packages, but that would leave them vulnerable to bandits looking for anything they can exploit, or the Grimm.
Half the time, it's hard to tell which is worse for where they are in the world. Often, one followed a few days later with the other. Often this occurred when their protectors were off on a mission; something that was well out of their control due to how far were out, and how close they are to dealing with such problems. Those were the worst weeks.
So one can imagine how this week made them feel.
*BANG!*
The large door rattled again; splintered pieces of wood flying off from their last line of defense before another guttural roar accompanied it soon after. A few of the children whimpered behind her; clinging to parents or loved ones in a vain attempt to ignore the beasts that were just beyond the iron banded door.
"Where the hell are our huntsmen?" An old man hissed quietly, staring with brown eyes at the bent and split wood on the door and floors. Shaggy gray hair hung past his ovoid face and shoulders; working just past brown full-body suspender that started at the top of his back, covering a yellow long-sleeve dress shirt. The woman's gaze jumped to him for a moment, before returning to the door.
"They're probably dealing with the larger horde right now David. They should be ba-"
*BOOM!*
"-Okay, there we go." She finished off, hearing the dying wail of whatever was on the other side of the door. Said woman had long and slightly curly red hair that curled around her oblong head; and was wearing a burnt orange turtleneck due to the weather, with tight-fitting blue jeans and knee high brown boots.
A Faunus woman with straight black hair, emerald eyes, and a long monkey tail caught her attention; subtly twitching while wandering around the church with a worried face, looking for something that she couldn't find. She wore a loose violet blouse, jeans that were loose on the lower half of her legs, and simple black dress shoes. Quietly the woman walked up to her; waving her hand towards her to get her attention.
"Is everything okay, Iris?" She asked quietly. The woman in question flinched slightly, before relaxing as she finally noticed her.
"Oh! I-I'm so sorry Alani, I'm a little lost in thought." Iris said as a small blush appeared on her cheeks.
"…Is it something to worry about?" She bluntly said. Iris stood there looking down at the ground; her hands fidgeting for several moments before letting out a small nod. What worried her most were the tears in her eyes. "What happened?"
"It's Troy… He said he was going for a walk with Lily after this morning's incident and they still haven't come back!"
"Oh god…"Alani paled, her head twisting toward the door. She didn't want to even think of it, but if there were this many Grimm around the town, then she didn't really know how much of a chance there was that they completely ignored the children. She'd go out there to get them herself but…
She was so lost in her head, she didn't realize how long she had stood there, or how she should probably start worrying about everyone here right now.
*BANG!*
Almost everyone collectively cried out in alarm when the top of the door exploded, leaving a decently sized hole that let their eyes gaze upon what looked to be the arm and hand of a primate. The limb pulled back through the hole, revealing a face similar to a gorilla, with a bone mask handing over two furiously glowing red eyes and a set of large, sharp fangs that framed its mouth.
"Beringel…" The woman muttered, her voice wavering.
Both sides stared at each other for several moments; one frozen in fear, and the other staring at the feast in front of them. Drool started to run down its chin as it let out a loud guttural roar; its mouth glowing a deep crimson. Children screamed as their parents hugged them tight. David and the woman paled as the beast slammed into the door again; almost buckling under the strain…
*Shing!*
…Before a massive blade pierced through the middle of the door, covered in its black blood.
The primate shrieked in pain and rage as it tried to remove itself from the door, only for the blade to abruptly pull away with a sickening *Schlk!*, making the beast fall away from the sudden removal of its restraint; sounding as if it had fallen to the ground if the *BANG!* they heard was any indication. They all sat in silence, simply listening to the ongoing conflict as the beast roared in anger at its attacker.
"I don't suppose that was one of our huntsmen, was it?" David quietly whispered to the woman, startling her. She didn't even hear his footsteps! Minutely, she shook her head.
"I didn't recognize the weapon." She shook her head. "Of the bladed weapons out hunters use, I didn't recognize the shape. This one was more hexagonal."
The old man nodded as he stared where the creature was moments ago, sweat dripping from his brow from how much of a thorough explanation she gave on seeing a weapon for a few seconds. "You don't think its bandits, do you?"
"In the middle of all of this?" She scoffed. "Not likely. They would have stayed on the sidelines until we were dead and the Grimm left before looting the place."
"I suppose so…"
A deep thumping shook the ground as whoever was attacking the Beringel fought; the beast letting out intimidating shouts from what she could guess. Whoever was fighting them, they were strong enough to pierce a blade through them, and knock them off kilter. After a few moments of hesitation from the explosions she was hearing, her eyes hardened with determination.
"…I'm going to check it out." She stated.
"What? Wait Alani, stop!" David quietly shouted.
Slowly, Alani quietly walked to where the blade broke through the door. It was wide enough that she could see through, if the light coming from the hole was any indication. Quiet gasps and quick, harsh whispers telling her to come back echoed from behind her as she leaned forward to peer through her new peephole.
And she could barely comprehend what she was seeing.
Several Minutes Earlier…
So, to offer a bit of a breakdown…
He had systematically took on – and won against – a mad god and an army from four worlds before waking up god knows where, found two animal children who's race go by the name of 'Faunus', fought against new enemies that collectively fall under the name of 'Grimm', and is currently rushing over to a town to protect it from what looks to be an oncoming horde of them; all while having only slept for about two hours over four or five days.
It was the first time having something of this magnitude happen, sure, but the early wake-up was something he was wearily used to.
The first 'Boss' class monster he ever fought against put him through the ringer; though, to be fair, he was rather young when he did. At that age, he made a great deal of mistakes; and ended up looking like a mess for it afterwards. And that was just the first!
Anyway, he's getting a tad off track.
Flying towards the town took several minutes to make. By the time he'd finally managed to get there, he had flown high enough to offer him a full view of the entirety of the town, as well as how damaged it was. The settlement consisted of about seventy different buildings or more, with a large church within the center; though he couldn't see the symbol of their faith very well from this altitude. Luckily for him it seemed like the invasion of the town had only begun, as only the upper northern part of the city was currently in flames. Water magic would easily deal with that; though he might want to get a little closer while he's firefighting so he doesn't inadvertently steal valuables by them getting stuck in the water.
He really needed to up his elemental magic training. I mean, sure, he's been training to use elemental magic for a little over half a year, but he still needed the practice. Hopefully, when he gets back home, Greum can give him a hand with that; though he'll probably boast to high heaven about his magic again.
'Seriously, it's funny the first time you hear it, but when he does so for close to five years, it makes you want to pull your hair out.' He thought in the back of his mind until the sounds of gunshots and explosions reached his ears.
Looking slightly northwest, he found himself staring at small little flickers of light, with the sounds of a small explosion following soon after. He slowed himself down; removing the blue emanation that surrounded him to avoid catching the eyes of either the Grimm, or whoever was fighting them as he gently let himself fall to earth. A minute passed before he finally came close enough to see two individuals – Probably a group meant to defend the village – exterminating the creatures around them with a surprising amount of grace. Carefully he landed on one of the roofs not too far away from where the battle was, just in case he needed to get over there and lend a hand, and simply watched the two fighting. No use revealing yourself unnecessarily when you're a stranger in their town during an attack after all.
A large man with a shock of blonde hair was wearing Norse armor, with a Gjermundbu helm that had long curved horns, as well as iron shoulders and leggings; both of which had what looked to be either intricate brass or gold filigree covering the eyeholes of the helm, as well as the shoulders. A studded leather hauberk and boots were fitted around his torso and feet, remaining loose enough to move but offering the best possible protection; a combination that wasn't easy to achieve in leatherworking.
They wielded a large metal Warhammer, with a decently sized hole in the center of its face; much to his confusion. Despite handling a weapon as large as him, and probably just as heavy, they still moved incredibly well; jumping over a Beowolf that was a foot taller than the one he encountered by the river. A thin aquamarine corona surrounded their body when they landed. It reminded him of magic, but it felt… different somehow. As if something was missing.
With a roar, they spun at a rate faster than someone of his bulk and equipment should have accomplished; slamming his weapon into the side of the wolf's stomach, shattering the rib-like plates around their stomach, and turning their insides to mulch as their chest was almost flattened into a pancake. The beast buckled; falling to the ground as a man wielding dual Kataras with a moderate sized magazine placed just below the hilt jumped over the fallen creature, and next to his teammate. Both placed their backs to each other, letting loose a wry grin. The magazines of his weapons had a metal blade placed in front and covering its bottom; acting as a guard for the clips to make sure they didn't get knocked out by a Grimm, and to maximize the damage done to the beast.
'Holy crap, you mixed the two weapons together?!' He thought; stars in his eyes as he went into weapons nut mode. The fellow had short red hair with a small white bandana wrapped around his forehead, and dressed in a mantis-green sleeveless Japanese Yukata; with the left and right Maemigoro removed, leaving the Ushiromigoro hanging off the back of his legs. They wore brown pants made of what looked to be cloth, and leather shoes.
He focused his eyes on the two, getting two sets of text popping up.
{Huntsman}
[Midori Fujita]
Health:
100/100
%*&^:
!&*/!(%
{Huntsman}
[Magnus Ström]
Health:
100/100
%*&^:
$/ %)
"What the heck?" he mumbled, eyes narrowed at the jumbled text. "That's never happened before…"
So, from what he's seen since the Moon Lord's defeat, something like this wasn't all that shocking, though it did leave him with a great deal of questions.
'Hmm… Is it possible that this is due to the change we caused?' A light, feminine voice asked from his head.
"Probably; but if that's the case then how do we figure out what it is?" He replied. "And was it fighting in the lunar invasion that caused this, or was it simply their appearance?"
'Nothing but mysteries for us like always.'
*BOOM!*
His head flashed up quick enough to see one of the Boarbatusk's that had charged the blonde had exploded suddenly from his hammer, which seemed to have changed its shape into what appeared to be a rocket launcher. The long handle had expanded in size, the plates shifting into a tube; opening a large hole that travelled to the hole in the hammer face.
"…That. Is. Awesome!" The warrior nearly shouted; his blue corona surrounding his body again. "I wonder if he's willing to show me how he made it."
'Oh gee, I'm sorry I can't transform like the iron R.P.G. he has.' The voice mumbled bitterly, making the man flinch. 'Maybe you should ask if they're willing to trade.'
"U-um… You know I didn't mean it like that, right Callie?" He smiled sheepishly. The voice sighed resignedly, and he couldn't help but slump. Sadly, she did that quite often.
'Just focus on what's in front of you.'
He nodded minutely, looking up again to find Midori placing one of his Katar's firmly into the throat of another Beowolf, and unloading three rounds into them at point blank. He chucked the dissolving body into a Boarbatusk that was charging directly behind them, making it fall onto its side long enough for the creature to let loose a dying squeal; having a Katar thrown into its stomach. Both men ran to the corpse; Magnus covering his comrade now that he was down a weapon by focusing on the half dozen Grimm that were charging them, while Midori took aim to anything that stood in between him and his weapon.
A few large, bear-like Grimm came tearing around a corner – Whether or not they could sense they're comrades, he didn't know – and ran full speed at the duo. White spikes ran halfway down their spine, with two large spikes protruding from the front shoulders, and two smaller ones from the knees of its hind legs. Like all the other Grimm he encountered, they had a bone mask that covered its upper face, with similar red markings adorning it.
[Ursa Minor]
(Grimm)
Health:
2000/2000
The warrior whistled, staring at the new enemies and their health. So far, they were the strongest type he'd seen since coming to; even more so than the beings from the Lunar Invasion, shockingly. He doubted that was all of them though. No, more than likely there were aerial and aquatic types of Grimm he hadn't encountered yet. True, he might be overthinking it in some areas, but it was better to assume the worst in this case than hope for the best.
One of the aptly named Ursa swung its claws at the Viking; cleaving the ground when he dodged out of the way before switching his weapon back into his hammer form, and giving a hard swing into their lower jaw. Meanwhile, Midori jumped over one of the beasts; shooting for their eyes, and even managing to succeed a few times much to the creatures misfortune, before his weapon made the harrowing *Click!*, signaling an empty magazine. He landed, and deftly, he switch out his cartridges from muscle memory, all while dodging multiple attacks coming from the Ursa and Beowolves.
The man couldn't help but nod at how efficient he was. He knew how hard it was to multitask between dodging an enemy attack, and switching weapons several years back, though since he didn't really need an ammo magazine the closest parallel he could draw was switching weapons to their magazine swap or the Vikings weapon shifting.
Midori pulled his weapon out from the half-dissolved Grimm and turned sharply, bending his body backwards to avoid the claws that swiped at him before righting himself and immediately unloading more rounds into their eyes. The Ursa roared, their head turning skyward in an attempt to avoid more projectiles impacting their sight, and giving the man enough of an opening to lunge at them; piercing their throat with his blade all the way down to the guard. He let out one final roar, pushing his blade until it flow out from the side of the beast's now half-exposed throat. The abomination fell over dead, the lights going out from their eyes as the man ran while shooting, attempting to disturb the Beowolves that were close to overrunning his teammate.
"Not bad." The man mumbled, watching their fight. "They've clearly been fighting these creatures for a while then if they can handle them so easily."
'Err… if that's the case, then how long have we been asleep?' Callie replied with concern. The man froze for a moment before his brows furrowed in worry. He never even considered the possibility. Was this town and biome in an area he once knew of? And if so, how old was the town?
"…Hopefully not too long." He replied quietly.
In any case, it was rather neat to see two fellows fighting so well together. He didn't have that luxury himself, so it was always interesting to see how people who weren't as physically and magically fit as he was fought an enemy; whether or not it was separately or together.
The two fought almost seamlessly between each other; Magnus laying out the heavier hits with his Warhammer on the large enemies to disorient them long enough for Midori to lay out some lethal strikes. The smaller enemies they dealt with individually, easily slaughtering them; keeping themselves back to back to avoid any surprise attacks that they might attempt to pull on them. The man smiled, admiring the level of teamwork they possessed.
"Hopefully I won't end up on the receiving end." He said jovially.
'You probably just jinxed it you know.'
"Oh hush you."
A small sound could barely be heard over the din of battle cries and explosions. He looked around in an attempt to see if the voice was located somewhere around the area, but was unable to find anything that hinted towards it. The warrior looked back at the two for several moments; gauging whether or not they would need him before nodding his head in satisfaction with what he saw, turning and jogging. The warrior jumped from roof to roof by pouring a little mana into his legs to make sure he crossed the gap. Sure, he could have flown, but he didn't really want to make himself anymore of a possible target than he already appeared to be; what with him being a complete stranger that was armed. Still unable to hear it after several moments, he decided to try another trick of his.
He sent a small amount of his mana to his ears, heightening the sounds coming from around to obscene levels. He winced slightly when the sounds of gunfire and explosions became more prominent, but he did need to see if there were more enemies coming towards them in case he needed to take care of them along the way. When he still couldn't make it out, the man slowly walked in the direction he heard the noise; jumping from house to house in hopes that if he got further from the fights occurring behind him, it might make it easier to find wherever this other noise was coming from.
"-un li-!"
A voice could be heard in the distance. The man jumped onto a building across the street and tried again.
"-amnit, I can't reac-!"
A woman could be heard more clearly, but he was still pretty far off from wherever they were. He closed his eyes and focused, trying to pinpoint where the voices were coming from.
"-run, get to them N-!"
"Found them." He said, opening his eyes and heading east. They ran fast; worried about the panicked undertones the woman he heard was speaking with. Hopefully, he could get there quick enough to lend a hand; hell, at this point he really wanted to simply fly there and save time.
Paranoia on the battlefield is an absolute Bitch at times.
He sighed quietly, instead opting to land on the streets and pushing mana into his legs again, bolting at high speeds. He kept his eyes peeled while continuing to enhance his hearing; making sure he was running in the right direction.
"-get to them in time!" A deep, masculine voice said.
"Get out of here Lily!" A young voice said. The man's face paled. It couldn't be them, could it?
"No! Troy!"
"I SAID GET OUT O- Glck!" The boy abruptly stopped as a *CRACK!* came to his ears. Unknowingly, the man's eyes had shifted to blue as he turned a corner. He increased his speed as he unsheathed his blade.
"TROY!" Lily screamed.
"Damnit!" The female voice swore. "Arun, hurry up!"
"I'm trying Coral!" The now named Arun replied frantically. The man lessened the flow to his ears; their voices almost sounding as if he were next to them. His eyes jumped from street to street at every intersection he passed, yet still couldn't find where they were. Frustration took over his mind as he contemplated the risks of flying before a war-cry, followed by a loud explosion and a plume of smoke drew his attention, running as fast as his magic would allow while still keeping enough on standby for combat. He already wasted a half of it from both flying here and trying to find where they were, which was pretty good in his case, since he honestly thought that he'd waste a damn sight more of it in a fruitless search.
'Small blessings, I guess…' Callie petered off. The warrior simply nodded; more worried about what implications lay behind that small explosion. No more words were said from either, but both had come to the same conclusion. Whatever was happening there was dire.
Half a minute passed before he could see the house that had lit on fire up close, but just before he turned the corner, he found himself staring at the body of a large, bald man in an alley that had blown through the hole in the wall. Sheathing his blade, he ran to them, and winced when he found half of the guys forearm was missing; cleanly cut off from an attack or what looked to be his flight through the building, if the large smoking hole the back of the house had was any indication. The wound was bleeding profusely; a large puddle of blood having formed despite only a couple of minutes having past.
{Huntsman}
[Arun Phan]
Health:
40/100
%*&^:
)/!(%
Current Ailments:
[Bleeding]: Cannot regenerate health!
[Weak]: Defense, melee damage, melee attack speed, and movement speed have decreased! Rest to remove this ailment!
The warrior's lips turned into a thin line as he reached out and shook the man in an attempt to see if his soul was still with them and got a small groan in response. The man let out a small sigh of relief. At least he was still able to respond slightly to outside stimuli, so that was a small bonus. He acted quickly; putting away his weapon and pulling out a gray cotton shirt he carried on him for a change of clothing, and tore the lower half into strips before tightly wrapping them around his stump. After pulling hard on the last strip to make sure it wouldn't budge he materialized a bottle of alcohol, ripped the cork off with his teeth, and poured it on the wraps. Arun hissed in response; his remaining hand clenching in pain, and getting a small nod of satisfaction from his response.
"Yeah, I know it sucks bud." He said solemnly. "Happened to me quite a few times too."
His own body had regeneration that solved the issue with lost limbs, but he didn't believe Arun had the same thing. Both he and the town would be seriously hampered if he remained like that; especially if invasions like this were the norm. He already had a plan in mind to deal with the issue, but he wanted him awake to lay out some terms. It's all well and good to help people, but he really didn't want to make himself into a target in whatever country he might be in.
Gently, he place Arun's body over his shoulder, being careful to avoid jostling his wound too much. Once he had a good hold on his legs and back, he flew onto a roof that was a few houses over from the one that was currently wreathed in flames; slowing his descent with his wings. Once he landed, he slowly removed him from his shoulder, placing him on the ridge to make sure he wouldn't come sliding off at any point while he was away. Hopefully, the guy wouldn't get eaten by a wandering Grimm now that he was out of the way of battle; considering he hadn't come across any aerial Grimm yet.
Only when he was done did he finally come out of his tunnel vision, hearing the sounds of metal being slammed against, and the voice of the woman roaring against her attacker; more than likely thrown into a berserk state after what happened to her ally slash friend. Slowly he walked over to the edge of the roof, and nearly went bug-eyed at the sight.
The woman – Coral! Right, her name was Coral. – was currently managing to fend off several Grimm of different varieties that were attacking her at once with a spear, and what seemed to be small crystals on a spinner at the top of the shaft much to his confusion; all of them with different colors ranging from red, dark blue, yellow, and white. Several Beowolves and Ursa, and an even larger version of the bear were attacking her, though the big one was certainly a sight to look at. Unlike its weaker variant, this one was a great deal taller. Bone plates covered its hind legs and back, with numerous large spikes covering the entirety of its back; standing on their own around at about the height of an average human. Small spikes seemed to even be growing from its forepaws, leaving the warrior imagining a tank walking on four legs.
[Ursa Major]
(Grimm)
Health:
2562/3000
'Huh… A lot more powerful than the Lunar Invasion, aren't they?'
"Yup. That's quite the jump in health. I can only imagine how strong some of them are if these are the footsoldiers."
A scream diverted his attention. Turning his head, the warrior's breath hitched in his throat and his pupils turned to pinpricks.
The two kids he saw in the forest were cornered; boxed in at the door to an indented building. Lily was desperately tugging on the door to get away from the five Beowolves and Ursa Minor that surrounded them. Unfortunately the door made thick to protect property from would-be thieves, wouldn't budge to an eleven-year-old-or-so girl. As for whatever the other two, and probably the two he'd just come across as well with they're strange powers they wielded, he wasn't sure; but he knew for certain that these kids had nothing of the sort if his stat check was any indication. Beowolves surrounded them; snarling at the girl who covered her unconscious friend in a vain attempt to protect him from harm.
He didn't have much time to act. All battle plans he could think of, even maxing out his speed to jump to the children's aid might result in them being attacked the moment the wolves heard him coming. They may be a little stupid, but they are animals, and chances were they had a good sense of hearing. The moment they heard him coming, then all bets were off. The only possibility he could think of that might work would be something he never fully tested. The only thing that closely resembled it in how it worked was a wormhole potion; it was what he based his idea off of. But if he screwed up, there was all manner of things that could occur, with a massive explosion that takes out a portion of the town being the worst of them.
There wasn't much choice though, they'd die otherwise.
'Elemental training, don't fail me now…' The man thought, sweating as he closed his eyes and placed the tips of his fingers together; forming a circle between his thumb and index finger. He took a deep breath as mana started to flow from the center of his being, and out towards his arms; turning from blue to purple the further out it went. The outline of an eight-point star slowly formed between his fingers; with the diagonal points being slightly shorter than their counterparts. Slowly, the man separated his fingers, leaving behind a small magenta circle, followed by a ring of runes and another circle; all of which were hollow. Eight small points decorated the outer ring, referencing the inner star.
'BringmethereBringmethereBringmethere-' He chanted in his head, placing the center of the star solely on the empty area in front of the children and Beowolves. Mana came out of him and into the circle in droves; the floating markings slowly filling in. It took over half of his remaining mana over the period of five seconds; though it felt like an agonizingly long time with lives on the line.
The world suddenly shifted as he moved from one place to another, ending up from on top of the roof to just a little ways off, right next to the Beowolves.
Everyone there froze for a moment. The girl looked at him wide-eyed; tears running down her cheeks. Coral stared at him incredulously, probably wondering where the hell he came from. Even the Beowolves that now surrounded him stared slack-jawed.
The warrior opened his eyes, blinking a few times as he looked between the girl, the Grimm, and what he assumed to be another Huntsman- or Huntress in her case.
"…Huh." He uttered, pleasantly surprised it worked without any noticeable drawbacks this time considering he didn't use a chant. "Well then."
He shoved his hand out toward the Grimm, his mana turning green as another circle with the symbol of a gust of wind appeared from the palm of his hand. An explosive gale forced the Grimm back, giving him and the kids a large expanse to work with. Using that wind spell to that strength had with a quarter of his already limited mana, so he had to be careful of how he used it. He quickly looked back to the children behind him, and realized his eyes must have turned blue again when the girl gasped; hugging her friend closer to her. He gave her a kind smile, trying to placate her fears.
"Don't move, alright?" He said gently, getting a small look of surprise from her. "I'll make sure they won't hurt you two again."
Their growls brought his attention back to them. His brows furrowed as he scowled; materializing Excalibur again, and holding it in the same way that he did when he took out the group of Beowolves in the forest.
The Ursa charged at him, looking to be intent on tearing at him with his claws. They only got about halfway before it found a sheath burrowed through its head, and a quarter of the way through its body. A Beowolf jumped over the falling corpse with the intent of a surprise attack, only to be met with him effortlessly flying next to them; lopping off their head as he passed. He had fought at speed far beyond the movements of these Grimm. They honestly looked to be sluggish in comparison to fighting the lunar god. He landed on top of the decaying Ursa's corpse; a blue corona surrounding him as he gave the beasts a hard look.
"Come." His voice echoed with power, his mana amplifying the sound of his voice to intimidate them.
The Grimm charged him at once. Even a few that had been attacking Coral turned their sights on the larger threat with the intention of ending him with sheer numbers.
Poor bastards didn't know who they were dealing with.
The warrior turned into a blur from where he was standing; a small hole ripping through the dead Ursa's corpse. The creatures skidded to a stop, trying to track where he was running. They didn't need to, since a moment later he came into focus again just off to the side of the far right Beowolf.
A kick sent them hurtling into another seconds later; both of them coming to a halt next to one of the other five Ursa's, and causing the others to look to their position, only to find him gone before another was abruptly sent flying. One of the Wolves snarled, swinging its hand to their left, only to have it grabbed by the man suddenly appearing. He sent them with a wallop towards the ever-growing group of Grimm, before pulling out his Beater rifle in his empty hand and pulling the trigger. Multiple volleys of standard and explosive rounds came one after another, covering the area in a thick smoke while the explosions rang in the threes ears; of which Lily covered hers from the cacophony.
The remaining Beowolf he failed to throw into the pile attempted to blindside him by biting into his arm, but unfortunately for them the armor underneath the long coat he wore neglected to bend to the beast's whims, and broke most of its teeth. The wolf howled in pain, a claw making its way to their mouth, only for part of their arm and head to be promptly separated from the rest of their body by the blade he still wielded in his right hand.
The Grimm surrounding Coral had stopped attacking her, watching the carnage a single man was causing with ease against several of their own all at once. The man took note when he saw a thin pink corona surround her, with some of it pouring into her weapon. One of the crystals on the shaft – the red one in particular – lit up in response, before coating the blade of the weapon in flames. His eyes widened by a fraction; letting go of the trigger, but still keeping the corner of his eye on the smoke just in case a few of them managed to somehow avoid the superheated plasma, and had a front row seat to the woman letting out a war cry of her own as the spear piercing through the Ursa Major's skull with relative ease. It must have been burning at a high enough degree that the part of the mask that was under direct contact with the blade had simply melted, thus allowing the spear to puncture into its brain. Though it did raise the question of how the blade could resist the heat of the flames without melting itself. Maybe it was enchanted with heat resistance?
The beast let out a small guttural groan before falling onto its side; the spikes on its back pinning two of the Beowolves that were unfortunate enough to be next to it. They struggled for a few moments until the flaming blade of the spear decapitated the two of them. The flames of the spear abruptly went out; the shining red crystal turning dull before breaking apart into dust. He raised an eyebrow in surprise and intrigue due to the flames suddenly stopping instead of petering out, and that the blade of the weapon wasn't glowing from being superheated.
'Fire magic maybe?' He speculated. Coral stared at him for a second until her eyes began to widen in surprise and what looked to be dread.
"Look out!" She shouted, pointing to the far left. His eyes widened slightly as he pivoted on his feet, finding himself staring down the oncoming maw of an Alpha Beowolf that had sneaked up on him. The warrior dropped his sword, shifting his body to the right to avoid the mouth. The beast turned when it landed, lunging at him again only to choke as they were gripped rightly around their throat. Its mouth hanged wide open, trying to take whatever breath it could while it swung their claws at him until a foot kicked them into the air, followed by a glowing green projectile.
*BOOM!*
The upper half of its body violently exploded; small giblets flying off in random directions. All that remained of them when they landed were the heavily burnt and slightly melted legs. He let out a small whistle at the damage. It did more harm than the Boarbatusk he met in the forest. Maybe it was because he aimed for the front of its head rather than the center of its body?
He looked around the area, looking for other targets that might've been creeping around corners or dark alleys. Finding none, he turned towards Coral, who had entered combat with the last two Ursa in the area; though not without keeping a wary eye on him.
It was understandable, really. Guy pops up out of nowhere and starts absolutely destroying Grimm left and right with nary a sweat; at least to her point of view at any rate. He'd have to do his best to show he meant no harm to any of them.
'It would've helped if I pocketed my wings methinks.'
'Probably.'
The gun vanished as he looked down to find the blade laying a foot in front of him. He slid his foot under the hilt of the weapon and kicked it up into his left hand; grabbing it by its middle due to its size. He would have levitated it into his hand, but he had the sneaking suspicion that he would need to save what mana he could.
Grabbing the hilt of the blade with his right hand, a pink aura started to manifest over the blade as it was pointed skyward. He nearly swung at one of the Ursa before noticing movement in the shadows behind Coral; and with what he could make out, it didn't look friendly. The man quickly swung his blade in the direction of the alley, and charged towards that direction in case the beam missed. True to his luck, the beast seemed to possess a level of intelligence that one wouldn't believe was under such an exterior and jumped out of the way, only to have a blade penetrate its skull seconds later.
He wondered how a creature could manage to balance itself on two legs with a body like that, and cringed when he heard a small *Boom!* go off in the alley.
"Didn't really think that through…" He mumbled, turning around-
-and finding a spear pointed right at his throat.
"Who or what in the hell areyou?" Coral demanded, her accented voice as sharp as the blade pointed at him. He slowly raised his hands in placation while his eyes wandered to the Ursa she was fighting moments earlier; finding one of them decapitated somehow, while the other seemed to have been sharply pierced through its skull despite her not having her fire gem.
"Easy there love!" He spoke calmly, his facial expression neutral for the most part, with the exception of a small smile. "I'm not here to hurt anyone! Rather I came here to help if you'll let me."
"Pardon me if I'm not too likely to believe you right off the bat." She snapped, pushing the tip of the spear onto his skin, and making his head lean back to avoid getting his head turned into a kebab. "I take it you're trying to make a quick buck in all of this chaos for you and your bandit buddies."
A look of utter confusion broke onto his face. Gently, he shook his head in the negative.
"I honestly have no clue what you're talking about." He stated. The man pointed a finger in the direction where he came from. "I was walking through the forest when I saw a large horde of Grimm running through the trees. They even ignored me being there and kept running, so I figured they might've found a better target than myself and came running."
The huntress stared at him for several moments, likely gauging the validity of his story before gesturing to his wings.
"And those?" She asked. He chuckled, giving the tendrils a small flap before settling down.
"Wings. Hope you don't mind them."
"More concerned with the way they look, friend." Coral emphasized. "I doubt anyone on Remnant has seen wings like that before."
She gave him a hard stare with her pink eyes; the spear starting to pierce through his skin.
"So I'll ask again. Who or what the hell are you?"
"An alien."
The sudden and surprising answer made her stumble for a moment, and she stared at him with an exasperated expression.
"I'm being serious!"
"So am I." He stated bluntly, grabbing the spear between two fingers of his left hand and moving it away from his throat. The woman struggled against his grip for a few moments, until it was abruptly yanked from her hands. He'll admit she certainly had a grip if he had to use magic to disarm her. The weapon was held aloft between his fingers until he gave it a gentle toss into the air, and grabbed hit from its shaft and thrust the butt of the weapon to the ground. "I know it's hard to believe, don't get me wrong, but I am telling the truth."
They both stood there in silence. Coral appeared to be trying to process the insanity of what he just admitted to with wide eyes and sweat dripping down her brow; periodically staring at him and the two weapons he was holding. Meanwhile he took the time to get a good look at her stats and armor.
Her armor reminded him of French 19th century armor used by the cavalry, complete with blue tunic with a magenta underside folded up from the front and back to avoid impeding the legs, and white breeches with black boots that ran up to just under her knees. Lace cords hung off of yellow, rope-like shoulder pads that ran under a full-body breastplate, with magenta fabric lined with gold seemed to be layered underneath the armor, poking out from the shoulders, neck, and waist. A stylized brass wolf insignia was etched into her left breast; possibly representing her family symbol or some belief of hers; with a white belt, and a sash wound under her left armpit and over her right shoulder, and a few moderately thick lace cords of different lengths that went from her left shoulder and onto the top of her breastplate. She wore a helm with a magenta plume that ran down to her shoulders; with a brass band that looped under her chin to keep secured. Locks of light blue hair poked out from the corner of the helm, framing her pink eyes and face rather nicely.
{Huntress}
[Coral Fortier]
Health:
85/100
%*&^:
!&(/ !)
"Let's say for a moment that I believe this alien nonsense." She stated frankly, gaining his attention. "What are you here for?"
"Besides the obvious reason of not wanting orphans and widows to start popping up when I could have stopped it?" He replied curtly. "I'd rather not have any more guilt on my conscience, if you don't mind."
"What do yo-" She began until they heard the sounds of wood and stone breaking. They turned and stood back to back, looking for whatever might be coming to them; and by the sounds of the damage being done, it was either fast or big. Quite possibly both. The woman growled to herself. "Mind if we put this on hold for the moment?"
"Sure, no probl-"
Then they heard Lily scream
Both sets of eyes jumped over to the girl, who was dragging a half-conscious Troy from a large black and white armored scorpion that was charging towards them.
The beast had five sets of eyes and two large mandibles; both of which were encased in a thick-looking white exoskeleton that consisted of multiple bone plates and ran across its upper body, stopping just short of its glowing orange stinger. Eight then, yet surprisingly strong legs carried it along, which was surprising considering it had to lug around a body its size, along with the two massive pincers that were double the size of its head. More than enough to crush a child like a grape.
[Death Stalker]
(Grimm)
Health:
5000/5000
"Lily!" Coral shouted, a moment away from charging towards them only for the spear being lightly thrown to her, making her utter a surprised yelp. She looked back at the man, seeing him place one foot behind the other, as if he were about to launch himself forward.
As it stood, she wouldn't be fast enough to reach them. For him though, he could probably boost himself to them easily enough, but it would sap him of the rest of his mana.
…
…Well, nothing new there.
His vision blurred as he launched himself forward, leaving behind a small crater with a loud *Crack!*, further surprising the woman from both. He got between them just as its stinger made a beeline for them; the girl again sheltering her friend with her body despite Troy's quiet pleas to run. A *Clang!* reverberated throughout the street as metal met bone; a small quake able to be felt by both of them. Its tail went flying back while the man skidded a few steps back himself, showing just how strong of an attack he defended against, much to his own surprise.
'Holyhell, these blighters are powerful!'
'Focus, idiot!'
He moved his sword barely in time to block its right pincer, noticing in the corner of his eye its left pincer pulling back. Taking that as its queue, he quickly brought around his sword to defend against it, only to narrowly move and deflect its stinger suddenly launching at him again. The warriors eyes widened in shock; registering a couple moments afterward, as well as sending its other pincer wide with another swing, that the beast pulled a feint on him.
It was intelligent.
His eyebrows furrowed. If this was the case, then it would be better to consider these Grimm equal in mind to a human being if he was intending on surviving this, and any other encounter. The beast surprised him with that attack, but it wouldn't do so again.
It started to pull back one of its pincers again, and he acted to place his sword to parry the attack, only for its stinger to again come flying at him. Unfortunately for the Stalker he wasn't about to fall for the same trick twice, and deftly jumped to the left. The stinger pierced through the cobblestone; half embedded into the earth. Its pincers attacked him with amazing speed considering its size, but he had a feeling it would scramble to attack him while attempting to pull its tail out, and easily avoided them. His weapon let off a glow again, only this time it stayed with the blade instead of being waved off. The warrior lunged towards the beast, eluding another attack from it before gripping the hilt tight as he thrust it towards its face. The blade penetrated its exoskeleton, part of the blade buried within its flesh.
The beast shrieked as it flung its claws wildly, forcing the man to move out of the way to avoid being hit while it was berserk; leaving the blade rooted in its body. The stinger tore through the ground; a large stone still attached to its tip for a few moments before it ripped a large hole through a house.
"Bugger has some strong armor there…" He muttered to himself, failing to find an opening with how the Grimm was flailing around and breaking apart houses like twigs. He already had a plan in mind if Excalibur couldn't get through its armor, but-
"Need a hand?" He jumped slightly, turning around to find that Coral had managed to sneak up on him, standing a little ways behind him to his right. What does it say about him that a man who regularly fights literal monsters on a daily basis got snuck up on by another human being because he was lost in thought?
He's done that a little too much lately. Either that or he's still pretty damn tired to have missed that.
…Maybe both.
"Can you take care of its pincers for a few seconds? I need an opening." He asked, reaching his hands through the kaleidoscope. The woman's eyed widened a fraction at the sight. By the looks of her reaction, she had never seen anything like this before, not that he could blame her. He was the only one he knew of that had access to an inventory that could materialize and de-materialize items in any way he saw fit, making him into a walking arsenal, castle builder, and pack mule.
"…What the hell are you?" She questioned with awe in her tone. He let out a smirk and raised an eyebrow at her; finding her reaction priceless. It wasn't often that he was given the chance to say this.
"A Magician."
His hands felt the shaft of the weapon he was looking for, and he pulled at it dramatically, just for shits and giggles from the way she was acting.
A Large golden shaft with a white plate at the throat of the handle came out from the shifting lights, which expanded exponentially as the head of the weapon had finally come out after a couple seconds of pulling.
Her slack-jawed expression was beautiful. Now he knows what Greum feels like when he talks about magic the way he does.
The head of the weapon was a half n half of a hammer and axe, though he would consider it a Warhammer and Battle Axe due to its sheer size, not to mention that the entire weapon stood a head taller than he was. The bit of the axe was at least two and a half times the size of its golden cheek, and was sky blue, whereas its hammer counterpart was the inverse; being gold on the face and sky blue on its neck.
[Stardust Hamaxe]
Durability: 14939/15000
60 Damage
Average Swing Speed
+4 Range
The warrior gave the weapon a quick twirl in his hands, making the hammer head face forward and leaned it on his shoulder.
"Can you guess what I'm intending on here?" He asked playfully, smile so wide it hurt. She stared at him for a few moments before the answer seemed to dawn on her as she let off a smirk of her own.
"Hammer meets nail?"
"Hammer meets nail."
"I really wish my weapon hadn't been destroyed earlier…" She sighed before letting off a small grin. "…But I suppose this will do the job just as well."
Carefully watching her step, she strolled down toward the rampaging beast; keeping an eye on its flailing limbs. A hand reached up to the crystals before spinning it; the dark blue crystal landing under what appeared to be an arrow located at the edge of the blade.
The beast finally took notice of her, and with speed he hadn't seen such a large creature manage they swung their claw, leaving a large gaping hole where she once stood. She encased herself and the weapon in her pink aura again; this time with the dark blue crystal lighting up in response as she swing the weapon onto the pincer. It didn't penetrate, much to the man's confusion for a moment, before his eyes bulged as a thick sheet of ice started to encase its limb. The beast took notice too late; shrieking as they tried to tear it from the ground to no avail. Its stinger came flying from out of nowhere, forcing Coral to jump out of the way, and slammed its free pincer in attempts to free itself from its binding.
Taking the chance when he swung his claw down on the ice again, she activated the dust crystal, and froze its remaining claw on top of the other. The Death Stalker screeched at her, Coral smirking all the while.
"All yours!" She shouted, noticing him jump forward already; flying over its restrained limbs while dodging its stinger. He spun his body as he began to fall to earth, sending its stinger flying when it jabbed at him again. With a grunt, he swung his hammer at the blade.
*BANG!*
The Grimm's body convulsed for several moments as Excalibur has pierced its brain, buried three quarters of the way. Its legs gave out from under it, its body hitting the ground with a *Bang!* that could be felt like a small tremor.
Meanwhile, the man was currently attempting to get to his feet again as his eyes spun, leaning on his weapon for support.
"Note to self: keep some mana on standby on the off-chance that I need to swing really hard." He groaned as the world was spinning around him. "Oh wait, I already do that."
Giving his head a light shake, he pocketed his Hamaxe, reaching forward for his blade. The man gave it a pull but it didn't budge, so he placed his feet firmly on either side of its head, and pulled as hard as he could.
'Pulling the sword from the stone, eh?' Callie said cheekily.
"…You were waiting to say that to me, weren't you?" He mumbled quietly, trying not to draw too much attention to himself.
'…Maybe.'
He chuckled lightly for a moment before trying to yank it the rest of the way out.
*Schlk!*
The man yelped as he lost his support from the blade, and fell to the ground with a grunt of pain, followed by a small groan.
'Oh quiet down you big baby, you've had worse.'
"Ahh shove off." Slowly getting to his feet again, he gently took to the air to get over the fading body of the Grimm.
When he crested over the ice, he couldn't help but smile at the sight of Coral tightly hugging the kids. Landing next to them, the woman jumped slightly before rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand, and looked at him with a small smile.
"I suppose some thanks are in order." She said, bowing. "Had you not appeared when you did, then I fear these children would not have survived. You have my thanks; both as a huntress and a protector of this village."
"There's no need." He smiled sheepishly, waving it off. "Quite frankly, I'm just glad I could get here in time."
"U-um…" A quiet voice petered off. He turned to find Lily looking at the ground with a small blush. Her sweater was gone, instead showing a lilac shirt with the image robin birds flying around its front. Troy appeared to have his head cushioned with her sweater, acting as a pillow. "Thank you for saving us sir."
With her expression and face the way they were, he could've stared at her for eternity for how cute she looked and acted.
'Hnnnnghh!'
A small grin adorned his face as he reached out and tussled her hair. "Don't worry about it; I'm glad I could help."
He pulled back his hand, watching as she touched her hair with her hands slowly, as if in surprise. She looked down at the ground, making him wonder if he did something wrong only to find her eyes peeking at him through her bangs, a shy smile accompanying a flushed face.
"Umm… did I do something wrong?" He raised an eyebrow in confusion, tilting his head slightly.
"Not really." Coral said in a non-committal tone, though the evil smile she had on her face sent chills down his spine.
"Ooookay then…"
"To get back on topic though…" She started, her voice turning as serious as her expression. "How did you find us?"
"I followed the sound of the explosion you guys made, as well as the smoke from whatever fires burning from that house over there." He replied honestly, pointing at the house currently wreathed in flames. Whatever he said seemed to trigger a response with the way her face paled and pupils shrunk.
"Oh god… Arun!"
Oh right, he almost forgot about him with all the fighting…
Now he feels bad!
"Easy there." He said calmly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He's Fine… for the most part. I put him on top of one of the houses so he wouldn't get eaten while I wasn't looking."
She sighed, visibly sagging at confirmation of his survival, before she froze.
"…What does 'for the most part' mean?" She asked. The grin he had on his face vanished almost immediately.
"Its… better if I showed you."
With that he took to the air, searching for the building he deposited the man upon, and finding it moments later. He landed next to Arun, gently flipping him over and cradling the large man in his arms; taking care not to irritate his bandaged stump. Carefully, the warrior jumped from the roof, falling to the ground at a snail's pace; his wings fully extended to slow his descent. By the time he landed and placed his body on the ground, the two had caught up to him, and the reactions he got to the injury made him want to rewind time if he could.
Coral's body trembled in anguish and rage at the sight of her comrade. Her eyes shined in the light of dawn, showing him unshed tears. Lily sobbed next to her, tightly clutching at the fabric of her arm as tears ran down her face.
"It's all my fault…" Her voice trembled. "If we just stayed in town after our fight, none of this would have happened…"
"Don't go blaming yourself for what happened, little flower." Coral chided gently. "You couldn't have known this would happen. If anything, it's my fault for not thinking of this possibility. I'm team leader…"
She petered off, turning and hugging the girl close, her head bowed in shame. Meanwhile, the man stood by awkwardly; his mouth a frown as he looked on, questioning whether or not to tell them about his charm. If he did he would only make himself stand out more than necessary, and considering the way she reacted when she saw his abilities, they might try to take his items by force. If he didn't then he'd have to deal with his head and heart berating him for doing nothing when he could have helped…
'Ahh screw it.' He thought sharply. "Actually, ther-"
*BOOM!*
The ground trembled as a loud explosion ripped through the air.
Have I ever told you how much being late on my writing pisses me off?
Cause it's a lot.
Apologies on how long this took to make. It wasn't intended, but I kind of suffered from writers block, as well as having to deal with life outside of this. Words can't explain how bad I feel taking this long.
Luckily I have an idea of what I'm doing for the next several chapters. Nothing set in stone yet, but enough to keep the chapters coming for a while.
Anyway…
I know I sound like an old record, but the magic you've seen here will be explained the further into the story you get.
Yes, the sound effects are a bit egregious now that I look back on it, but I'm a sucker for Michael Bay movies I guess.
Coral's armor was actually an inspiration take from the Cent-Gardes Squadron of the Second French Empire. Interesting stuff, history.
Feel free to critique the story or give me corrections if I missed anything. And by all means, ask me questions if you feel the need to, I got no problems with it.
Stay Sober!