Zetaark

"Hmm...that's certainly interesting. A demonstration of the potential power of the elder spirits perhaps? Or maybe something else. It's hard for me to say really. Anima spirits for those who wield them tend to be easily handled provided you are well trained. Elder spirits however...they seem to have their own goals it seems," Helena pauses, thinking a while on what she was told. "Do the elder spirits interact with you outside of those moments incidentally? I ask since other magical spirits tend to interact with their hosts at times," Helena finally asks.

"Oh, no trouble at all. To be honest I needed to vent out a bit of frustration, and that poor bandit happened to be in the crossfire. But now, it seems that the remaining brigands have surrendered, so now I can take my time and continue on with some of my research. Which...may involve you answering a few questions for me. One of which being that little act on that mage from earlier. I don't have any proper records of any such occurances, so if you could tell me what happened there I would greatly appreciate it. And of course, you can ask me anything you'd like in return regarding my magic if you so desire," Helena responds, a cheery look on her face.

Opening the chest, Belros found a tome inside, one that seemed to be dark magic. Belros acquires a Hustle tome!

"That may do. Now to see if they will cooperate," Madante says, looking towards the nearby mercenary. "You there! Your captain has been defeated and there don't seem to be many more of you left. It seem's that the captain at least wanted us to spare your lives. So I'll ask you, will you surrender to us or will you continue to fight?" Madante asks. "Not much point fighting when both our captain and the guy who hired us are both dead. Let me see about the others," the mercenary replies as he runs towards the remaining two members of the enemy force. One of them goes into the boat for a moment, then returns with another individual. All of them then came towards Madante and surrendered. "As you can see, none of us wish to fight a pointless battle. That Scion guy hired us to help him out with moving their supplies onto a boat for transport. But since he's dead, we've got no reason to continue with this. And to prove it, here's the captain of the boat back there," the mercenary finishes, releasing the boat captain from his bindings. "Well I suppose that settles things. The local authorities should soon arrive to decide what to do with you fully, but whatever it may be, I can assure you that you've made the right choice." [Victory!] Final Results: As Madante finishes with the three remaining pirates, the boat captain, a young-looking male, steps up. "Hello sir, I truly thank you for dealing with these brigands. The last thing I expected when I came to port was to get overrun by pirates and thieves. I didn't fancy myself a rather important person, but maybe I had some important cargo?" the man asked, looking towards the trio of pirates. "According to the Scion fellow, any cargo ship would have done. They didn't want to risk a passenger ship that had a bunch of people on it since who knows what could happen, but a cargo ship doesn't have much for staffing. And since the schedules were botched earlier, there wouldn't be too many people around. Speaking of the boat schedule, I think Scion may have stuffed it somewhere in one of these buildings, though I'm not sure which." the archer explained. "Really now? Well then, for now let's see about finding that boat schedule. Once we have that, we can figure out what to do next." Madante announces to the individuals in earshot.

"Well, he has been helping us out all this time. And it seems Idei and Emilee don't mind you. If you don't wish to go back to a life of thievery, then you can join us in the Royal Guard," Madante says with a smile. "I'll be leaving him under your watch then. Now as for the matter at hand..." Madante trailed off, recalling the pirate's last words. "What do you suppose we do about the rest of them. There seems to be three of the pirate's men left. Should we see if they are willing to lay down their arms?"

"Ugh..." Madante groans as he is healed from the brink by Emilee. "Thank you, I got careless for a moment it seems. I'll try to tone it down a bit," Madante says with a sheepish grin. Again invigorated by the music, Idei fires one final shot, taking down the pirate captain. "Dang, looks like that's it for me. Scion you fool, I should have never listened to you," Derric mutters before dropping to the ground. "Please...if you'll at least listen to a dying man's request...spare my men," he coughs before dropping to the ground dead. Cheat Sheet:

"Very well, I'll take the blade off your hands," the man says, taking the blade and putting it in his robes. "And no, there was nothing inside the building. It was cleaned out entirely it seems, rather recently too. Perhaps another place has the objects you seek. Now then, excuse me," the man finishes before walking into the forests and vanishing from sight.

Idei rides forward to take down the pirate captain, firing two shots. The pirate, hearing the galloping of the horse, turns around and deflects an arrow with his club, though one still slips through and hits him. "Dang it Scion, you told us this wouldn't be a difficult job. Now you're a burnt crisp, most of my men are dead, and I'm probably going to be joining them. Dang it all," Derric mutters, clearly agitated. After Karik's attempted whistle, a man exits the building Karik was in front of. "You called?" the man replies, exiting the shop. ------------------------ As Darius knocks on the inn door, a man answers the knocking. "My, you seem to be in terrible shape. And if the screaming from earlier is any indication, you probably aren't part of the group of thieves. Lucky for you, we happened to have a rather powerful healing agent that one of the local doctors brought in earlier. There's only one, but it should fully heal your injuries," the man tells Darius before going back into the inn. After a moment, the man comes back and hands Darius a bottle with some form of medicine inside. Darius drinks the medicine, and finds himself feeling fully restored. Darius is fully restored! Cheat Sheet:

And as a Lord and Thief fall, level ups for all! Rayne Belros Cadence Emilee Darius Idei Cass Karik Myrdwyn Clarisse "..." "Hmm, this is acceptable."

Idei, being again invigorated, rode up to take down the mage, firing two shots. The mage retaliates with thunder magic before he is shot down, but the barrier around Idei, while not at full strength, was still enough to null the effects of the thunder. Rayne flies by everyone else and throws a javelin at Scion, striking him and wounding him. Scion tries to retaliate with one of his knives, but his aim is off and it misses his target. [Enemy Phase] "Looks like you've decided to hide in that forest. So be it. I think I'll do the same and pick off your friends while you sit there and watch," Scion cackles as he goes towards the forest, his sights set on Darius. Scion Moves to I3 and attacks Darius Hidden away in the forest, Scion strikes Darius with his knives. While the magic around Darius mitigates some of the damage, he still takes quite a bit of damage. Darius tries to retaliate, but his dark magic fails to locate the target in the forest. "Derric, come over here and lets finish off these punks!" Scion snarls at the pirate captain further away. "You crazy? I don't know if you noticed, but most of our men are down and out. It's been fun, but I'd rather cut our losses now and live for another day. Boys! Get to the ship, we'll hold out there!" Derric yells out as he runs towards the boat. Derric Moves to L14 Mercenary 3 Moves to J16 [Ally Phase] "I didn't ask for very much on this trip really," Helena starts muttering as she walks towards Scion, anima swirling around her. "I just wanted to check out the island, find out about the local magic, maybe find someone proficient in dark magic if I was lucky, and be on my merry way. Instead, I get to be stuck here for a week longer than I was supposed to, I have no idea when I can get off this blasted island, and now you're trying to off the only dark mage I've ever managed to find," Helena stops near the forest, her eyes glimmering as the anima around her swirls wildly about. "Seeing as you think that forest can protect you in some way, how about I show you exactly how wrong you are," Helena growls, visibly irritated along with the anima around her. Helena Moves to J2, activates Nature's Spirits, and attacks Scion With both the added strength of the anima spirits and her unbridled rage, Helena unleashes a storm of fire into the forest where Scion was, burning him and the forest around him. "Not like this! I was supposed to take out the traitor and return to the guild a hero!" Scion screamed as the flames engulfed him. "Rico would have given me a promotion, I would have gotten rich, everything would have been perfect. Mark my words Belros, Rico will find you, and he will make you pay for what you've done! Mark my words!" he screams before he succumbs to the flames. Helena then calms the fire, making sure it didn't spread to the nearby buildings, then looks over to Darius. "Well now that he's dealt with, I do believe you shall be fine, though the poison may sting a bit." "Seems you're trying to escape. Not on my watch, and not before you tell me about what you did to the boat schedules!" Madante yells as he charges in. Madante Moves to L13 and attacks Derric Madante charges in, striking the pirate captain with his blade. However, in his haste, he did not notice Derric swinging his club around, smacking Madante right in the face and knocking him unconscious and gravely injured. "Should have left well enough alone boy. If you care, some of the buildings may have something for you," he tells the unconscious Madante before looking back towards the boat. Turn 5 Darius takes 4 damage from the Poison Idei's Barrier fades Anthropomancy Wanes Shield of Agony Fades away Karik Heals for 2 HP Helena's Spirits fade Cadence Heals for 7 HP Cheat Sheet:

Constellar Rain (INT damage (8) ) upon the Waddle Dees

Karik throws his hatchet at the pirate, striking him badly on its first trip. As it comes back to Karik, he makes one more pass at the pirate, this time taking him down. As the hatchet comes back, Karik notices that a key came along with it. However, Karik was already carrying quite a bit, so he needed to drop off something. Cheat Sheet:

Rayne flies in to engage the thief in combat, throwing a javelin at the target, striking them. In the next instant, a second javelin flew towards the thief, striking her dead before she could even respond.

"That's fine by me," Ecquis replies, stepping out of the tent and stretching a bit.

Riding up, Idei finishes off the wounded archer with a single shot before falling back slightly. Cheat Sheet:

Having woken up from the noise from outside, Ecquis hears about a trip to the city. Deciding that going wouldn't be too terrible of an idea, he starts to nudge Maya awake. "Seems like we're going to the city shortly. Care to go?"

"It's quite a useful anima trick, I'll have to tell you more about it later," Helena smiled, her panting from earlier lessening. "Oh, and do me a favor? Please don't die on me alright?" she asked Darius as he went off. She then focused her attention to Belros. "And you, please try not to get yourself offed again. I really don't want to have to deal with that again." Focusing his magic, Darius strikes the thief, taking him out in one shot. Scion, who was watching the ordeal, decided to respond to Darius' inquiry. "I see he didn't tell you all anything. Figures a traitor like him wouldn't mention his past or what he did. A guild of thieves we were once, and we all looked out for one another. At least, until he betrayed us," Scion snarled before looking back at Belros and the lady who had assisted him. "As for you Bel, the rules have changed a bit since you left. But don't worry, I'll finish my business with you after your friends are out of the picture," Scion remarks. Cheat Sheet:

Inspired by Madante's rally, Myrdwyn runs her lance through the knight, decimating his armor and felling him in one blow. Cadence, hidden in the forest, throws a knife at the pirate, who does not see it coming and cannot find the source. Cheat Sheet:

Invigorated by the dance, Rayne flies back and finishes off the thief in one strike. Idei rides forward and fires off his first shot, striking the mage and wounding him. The mage tries to retaliate with his magic, but the barrier protecting Idei nullifies the magic. Protected, Idei fires off one last shot, finishing off the mage. [Enemy Phase] Archer 2 Moves to L2 and attacks Belros Running forward to weaken the spy he attacked earlier, the archer fires a shot at Belros, wounding him. Belros counters with two knives, each hitting their mark and bringing the archer to his knees. "Well well well, look at who we have here. It's Belros the traitor! I'll be honest, when our group got stranded out here, the last thing we expected was to run into you. But here you are now. I see you have some friends with you, but do they know the truth about you? I doubt it," Scion grins, cackling as he pulls out his own knife. "Rico told us all about you, and he told us to take you out if we find you for what you did. I've had to make quite a few gambles in trying to get off this island, what with sabotaging the ship schedules so that we won't have any interference when we leave. But even with this interference, I'd say my gambles were worth it. Know why? It's cause I'll be able to leave this island knowing that I took down a traitor of the guild. Now DIE!!" Scion Moves to K1 and gambles against Belros Gambling on one deadly strike, Scion threw his knife straight for Belros' chest. With his prior injuries from the archer, Belros was unable to evade and was struck down in one blow, the knife going right through him. Belros, gravely wounded, falls to the ground. "Heh, that was almost TOO easy," Scion remarks before looking at the pirate captain. "I've done my work, now deal with the rest of these people so we can get off this island." Mage 3 Moves to M10 and attacks Myrdwyn Hearing the call, the mage steps forward and strikes the nearest enemy with fire. Myrdwyn tries to avoid the magic, but is unable to move fast enough to dodge the flames. Knight 3 Moves to J9 Mage 4 Moves to J11 Derric Moves to K11 Pirate 3 Moves to Q11 Thief 1 Moves to P10 Thief 3 Moves to J2 [Ally Phase] "Well today just keeps getting better and better doesn't it? No matter," Helena sighs before walking over to Belros and looking at Darius. "I was a bit distracted beforehand due to the sudden swarm of enemies, but I must say I was quite intrigued by the magic you performed on that mage from earlier. I don't have the time I'd like to ask you more about it, but instead I'll show you a trick I learned from my own research," she told him before returning her attention to Belros and begins to concentrate for a moment. Once done, she grabs a vulnerary from her robes and starts to pour it onto Belros' wound. As she does, the area around them begins to swirl with anima, first sporadically, then focusing on the wound that Belros acquired in a glow of red and green. After a few moments, the wound begins to close up and the glow around the spy began to wane until it faded entirely. A few moments later, Belros begins to stir and open his eyes. "There, that should keep you from dying at least. Though get another injury like that, and I can't guarantee anything," Helena states in a panted breath, slightly fatigued from her previous action. Helena uses a Vulnerary on Belros "Bel!" Madante gasps as he sees the thief leader strike Belros down. Before he could respond however, more enemies began to approach. "We don't have time to deal with small fry like you!" Madante Moves to M9 and attacks Mage 3 Running towards the mage, Madante swings his blade down with force he has yet to exert previously. In one motion, Madante fells the mage before he can even cast a spell. Turn 4 Cadence Heals for 7 HP Karik Heals for 2 HP Anthropomancy fades further Idei's Barrier weakens Cheat Sheet:

Constellar Rain (INT damage (8) ) on Waddle Dees and Waddle Doo

Riding up with lance in hand, Rayne manages to land a severe hit onto the thief. The thief retaliates with a knife, but the feathered down of Beau mitigates some of the damage. Cheat Sheet:

Idei rides up to fire at the thief, who in turn throws a knife in retaliation. Surprisingly, the knife and arrow collide, causing each to miss their mark. Idei then retreats back into his own group. Cheat Sheet:

"And what exactly is that last bit supposed to mean hmm? Ugh, forget it, you're not worth the time of day. As if this trip could get any worse," Helena moans, clearly not amused by the spy's antics.

"You seem to be popular for all the wrong reasons it seems," Helena sighs, appearing to be visibly frustrated. "For your sake, this better not go south for us all. If it does, you'll be answering to me. Got it?"

Inspired by Madante, Myrdwyn flies in and finishes off the knight with a stroke of her lance. Cheat Sheet: