We Are The Hunters! [Job/Private: FilFire/Akryn/Xierak/Ayato]

Xierak watched as Akryn appeared, acting far differently than normal, and ordered Xierak to kill the three men he had chosen at first to spare. He tensed at this remark and was caught off guard when Seitenshi sprang into action with another person he had ben conversing with, and the two killed the two of them, the ones that he had been holding with his spikes, the flames charred his spikes, and the blood gushed onto Xierak and his spikes. After a second Xierak released the two limp bodies that fell limply to the ground. His orange eyes narrowed to slits as he stared at his so called comrads, so eager to kill… Knowing the only thing he could do Xierak brought his claws towards the metallic medallion that hung around his neck, extending the spikes so Harper remained at the same spot.

Xierak then generated a small gravitational field around the amulet, as the rings started to slowly turn in a counter clockwise motion, each layer of the ring turning at a different speeds. Then a spherical gravity well formed around Xierak, then a second one rapidly expanded out from that lifting everything and everyone not anchored to the ground, up into the air. Then suddenly when everyone was two meters off the ground save Xierak and the two he had been holding onto, the lumbering gravity mage spoke up, “All of you who aim to kill… Come to your senses, If one gives into bloodlust… how are they any better than any Demon roaming the wastes of Sin!” Xierak went quiet for a moment working his tongue in his mouth, “I care not for the past misdeeds of a few, but if it is about one that I have come to care about…” Xierak paused for a moment thinking back to a distant memory, one that had essentially saved him from his torment, “I will care for their souls and characters, so they may not become true monsters…”

Akryn very nearly bowled right through Akeya, so fixated as he was on Harper. But something convinced him to stop and slow, and it wasn't just the sudden lack of gravity. "I fully intend to get the information we need from him first. But I can not let this man simply walk away. I have no intention of killing him. Not yet anyway." He said, pointing his sword at the so far wounded, and silent, Harper. "This man helped murder my family. My five year old sister. My mother. All of them. His boss murdered our guild leader, snaked his way in to the guild, took control, and poisoned our guild. Poisoned my family. This man is a very small fish in a very large pond. He will be punished, don't doubt that, but he will tell me exactly what I want to know first." Akryn said, before lowering his sword and stepping forward again, his eyes boring holes into Harper. "Now, Crystal wizard. Tell me where the new scorpion tail hall I-" Akryn began, before he would be sent careening, akeya likely taken with him if she wasn't still shadow. A massive, crystal battering ram appeared out of almost no where, slamming into Akryns chest as it exited the sudden magic circle. Blood spewed from Akryns mouth as he was suddenly slammed between the stone wall and the battering ram, producing a sickening crack from his body. Even as the battering ram destroyed Akryn, three dozen two inch wide shurikens appeared in the air around the entire thirty foot area, hurtling at the other four team mates. Harper was obviously far from done. "That must mean you are the infamous Akryn Motomiji." Harper said with a frown, even as he aimed the palm of his hand at Xierak and let loose a crystal lance. "There is a bit of a bounty on you and your brothers. I can figure out who the rest of you three are later. I am certain there is a bounty on all of you as well. It will be an absolute pleasure to claim those rewards, and the treasures hidden here. Now, prepare to die." Harper said, even as heavy, crystal armor began to creep over his entire body.

"Intent to kill, huh?" Daisuke judged, "All actions me and my other half hold a purpose. In these people, I saw corrupt hearts that cannot be enlightened. We leave them unconscious, they will get reinforcements to kill us. Heck, they probably call reinforcements the moment they get here. We could be watched while we speak." Ayato nodded to Daisuke's response. The way Daisuke thought always made Ayato question his presence. Was END once a human? Ayato would have to figure that out someday. Ayato was honestly getting sick of all the commentary. The group just needed to proceed onward and forget the past. If Xierak understood Ayato's current position, his struggles and his history, he could assume that Ayato held a purpose for the death of these men; not just Daisuke, and probably stronger. Daisuke still lacked a heart, so his final action in battle was often based similar to whatever Ayato would do. This was when Ayato considered Harper. "How is that poison feeling?" Ayato asked. The moment he asked this, it seemed Harper was caught off-guard. Ayato could see the decay in his blood. Slowly but surely, Harper was dying. "I poisoned Harper." Ayato spoke to Akryn quietly, "Not enough to kill him, though he will definitely lose consciousness soon." Ayato had never been so sure about defeating an enemy in his life. Harper was done for, though the group had to be careful. Obviously the one poisoned could understand their current position, and as one who probably hoped to kill his enemies before they could get out of the Ancient Ruins, Ayato predicted that Harper would get more aggressive.

This was when Ayato found that his message could have been caught off guard. Before his eyes, while afloat, Ayato witnessed his new friend rammed a crystal Harper had formed. Molding Magic sure was versatile and dangerous, especially crystals. Thank goodness Ayato held something powerful against it, though the lack of gravity was a problem. If Ayato were to use fire here, the flames would just be redirected upwards, right? Ayato gasped as he found himself in a quick guard against a giant sword of crystal. Pushing his sword aside, Ayato found the humongous crystal scrape off the Elucidator's blade. What was used to get him up here, anyway? Ayato was still unaware. He looked over to Akryn. She was an expert in shadows and assassination. There was no way she could do something like this. Meanwhile, there was still one companion Ayato had yet to look at; the one who kept judging him and the group: Xierak. "Xierak, I have a plan." Ayato remarked, "Drop us, and Harper is down." Ayato had noticed in the past that Harper was only firing recklessly. If Harper were dropped, the poison would probably rush into him even further than before. Not only that, but Harper would probably be set off-course enough for Ayato to shoot a direct hit with his next spell. One who was aware of a change in gravity would be far superior to one set off-guard, anyway. "Go!" Ayato cheered.

Akeya was still waiting for Akryn to either acknowledge what she said or reject her advice when suddenly the lizardman holding their target up in the air started gathering a respectable amount of magic energy. Due to her sensitivity towards magic and her blindfold the half dragon quickly saw what he was doing, and took precautions. At the same time that her Shadow Dance came to an end she switched to her Shadow Form, making her weightless and intangible. Thanks to that when the direction and force of the gravity was altered Akeya was unaffected, still standing where she had been before, and now watching the leader of their group look like he was going to wallop her, at least if he hadn't been lifted into the air as well. Ignoring Xierak for now the winged ninja send a glare at Akryn, her draconic lineage manifesting itself through the intimidating effect all her glares contained. It might not be as effective on Akryn, but he should at least take notice.

"I never said we would let him go. Just that you should not let personal issues control you. Right now it is doubtful that you can still function properly as the leader of our group, seeing how you are letting yourself-"

Akeya silently reminded herself to go and thank the man who had created her blindfold as it allowed her to yet again see a nasty surprise coming. A lot of magic suddenly gathering in her sight allowed her to duck before the crystal battering ram slammed into Akryn and send him flying, crushing their leader with enough force that the half dragon mentally removed him from the fight. He probably wouldn't die, but that was certainly going to leave a mark. Seeing how Harper was now beginning to throw crystal projectiles at all of them Akeya dashed behind a piece of ruin, wondering what the best plan of approach would be. As long as Xierak kept the gravity bubble up she would have to stay in her shadow form just to stay mobile, which severely limited her possibilities. She had a couple of abilities which didn't require her to have a solid form, although she wasn't sure how projectiles would react to the change in gravity...

While still thinking about her next move Akeya caught hold of something else: more treasure hunters were coming their way. Apparently the fighting had not gone unnoticed, especially with Xierak being launched, Ayato being throw, Akryn being slammed against a stone wall and in general magic being thrown about for area of effect abilities. For now leaving Harper to the others Akeya turned around and began moving towards where the new opponents would be coming from, once again diving inside the shadows to prevent them noticing her. Harper on his own was already troublesome enough. She wouldn't let his allies get close enough to help him.

The member 'FilFire' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Xierak watched as Harper suddenly unleashed a brutal attack covering the whole area. A crystal rampart shot out and hit Akryn straight on, sending him flying, numerous crystal shurikens formed midair and went after Ayato and Akeya. Xierak so full of rage from seeing Akryn getting hit by his attack he failed to notice the spearing forming in front of him and aiming right at his chest. The blade hit Xieraks thick idea and began to pierce it causing him to lose focus on the spell cast, however before it could get any deeper he swung his arm down straight onto the shaft shattering the spear completely. Xierak’s Iris’s thinned by rage looked at Harper, “Time for a trip…” Suddenly Xierak let go of the lacky making him hit the ground as the lumbering behemoth jumped high into the air causing cracks to form on the ground. Harper and Xierak flew through the air, as they did Xierak started to use the gravitons around himself to fly high above the ground, far out of reach and sight from those he was just standing next to.

He bared his teeth at Harper finally coming to a stop, “You hurt Akryn…” Harper laughed and sputtered, still reeling from the massive damage he had been dealt, “So what you beast, why do you care?” Xierak let out a deep growl and extended six spikes from his chest rapidly hitting the crystal armor until it was completely broken away. Xierak then once again sniffed the air, smelling once again the smell of a powerful magical item, he looked and saw a archaic looking necklace around Harpers neck. He reached with two of his spikes and yanked it off, “Wait what are you doing you beast! That artifact took me years to find! Giving maker mages like myself the capability to cast our spells without our hands!” Xieraks eyes narrowed and let out a deep throated chuckle, “Now it is my lunch…” With that Xierak tossed the amulet into his mouth and chewed vigorously breaking apart the necklace and swallowing it.

Akryn slowly rolled over from his spot on the ground, spitting a mouth full of blood out as he did so, taking a moment to mentally count his injuries. At least four....no, five broken ribs. His sternum was likely cracked. And he counted at least two, if not three, ruptured internal organs. Not the worst beating he had ever taken, no, but it was the one he mentally berated himself for the most. Akeya had been right. So had Xierak. Akryn had let himself get to emotionally unstable, quite suddenly. He had not allowed himself to slip up like that when he had been assaulted by Malvis. He certainly hadn't let himself slip up like that with the rose mage. In all of his hunts up until now, Akryn had kept what Thorsfell had taught him close to heart, pursuing his targets with a single minded, cold hearted focus that had gotten him this far.

But he had also never gotten this close to his target. Malvis had been way, WAY beyond what Akryn was capable of at their last encounter, and the rose mage had vanished after Akryn had taken him down. Both had been able to slip away with their secrets intact. Looking back, Akryn supposed that was a big part of it. With effort, Akryn rolled over to his knees, spitting up more blood as he did so, and slowly began forcing himself to his feet. Harper was far to dangerous to question about Scorpion Tail at this time, especially if it put himself, and his friends in danger. Even now, Xierak was engaged with Harper, alone, in the sky. Akeya had slipped into the shadows, but was almost garaunteed to be close by. And the other one......seemed to be having a serious mentality split. Still, Akryn grinned to himself as he extended his left arm out, pointing his finger up and aiming at Harper in the sky, before reaching up with his right hand and grasping the air, pulling it back as if with an arrow. As he did so, the air around Akryn would begin to swirl viciously and focus into a cone, with the tip resting on Akryns extended finger. He could find the vault without Harper. He would find his foes without Harper. Because his friends would be much safer. Without Harper. "Xierak! Drop him."

"Damn..." Ayato complained as he descended from the sky above. It seemed Xierak wished to confront Harper on his own, which honestly made Ayato smirk after complaining. White flames were unleashed beneath his feet to keep Ayato upright and harmless from sky-to-ground impact. There was a plan established to launch Ayato's third of four legendary spells in his book; the higher-classed ones, at least. However, usage of that technique at this point would be completely pointless as the spell could not ascend. Well, perhaps it could, though Ayato did not intend of using it anymore. Daisuke, on the other hand, had disappeared, leaving Ayato on his soul. The two souls became one again, and Ayato's book was restored to its most powerful, current form. END was back.

"We should continue onwards." Ayato suggested, "Two of us, that is. The other should stay in case something goes wrong with our companion up there, don't you think?" Ayato sighed. He wondered just how confident Xierak felt at the moment. He could be angry, though Ayato could not judge, if that were the case. He had been in the same situation several times before, and did not plan on getting in a foul mood once again. Sometimes, of course, he had no choice due to pressure, but that was another story. He was not involved in a fight, at the moment, and was put in an awkward position of watching someone fight another individually. Ayato could hardly see anything from this distance, and was honestly nervous about ascending back up to Xierak's location with his flames. This could be the true battle; Xierak versus Harper. All four Blue Pegasus guild members had done brutal damage to Harper already, and slowly, Harper was deteriorating on the inside from the poison. Eventually, Harper would fall unconscious due to temporal heart failure. Victory was assured, though as Ayato predicted before, Harper must have realized this. He was probably in his most aggressive mood at this point, and ready to kill whoever stood in his way. Ayato could not bear to watch, and so he ran ahead. "We have to find what Harper wants! Distract him!" Ayato remarked. It was true. The four needed to find the treasure, though it was obvious Harper would see them from up high if they did so. After some thoughts, this actually turned out to be the plan. Harper seemed to have no expertise against gravity, so Xierak had him in the perfect position. Now was the time to find that treasure, and run as far as possible with it while Harper had no chance of interfering. Perhaps more reinforcements would be called, but that was it. The boss was practically defeated, and beaten with ease, in that matter. Blue Pegasus seemed to always prevail over any and all enemies that stood in their way. Albeit, Ayato still considered the worst-case scenario. If Harper were to drop, Ayato indeed had that spell ready to catch him off-guard, so both he and Harper had to be ready. "It's time to finish this!" Ayato thought in his head. He was sprinting in the right direction, though it wouldn't be too easy finding the treasure.

It was at that point that new enemies began to cut Ayato off. He readied his sword and book. It looked as though the spell would have to be used for these guys instead. Just as the others, these people had weaponry prepared, while Ayato was all alone. Some went to go after Akeya and Akryn, while most stayed with the storyteller. "I don't have time for you anymore..." Ayato muttered. His smirk turned into a light grin. The flames beneath his feet disappeared. It was time Ayato had a nice little fight with real threats; multiple dangers. Harper was too easy considering four were on him, simultaneously, though at this point, Ayato had a quantity to deal with individually. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Ayato whined, "You can either surrender now, or later!" Ayato's sword burned off as he slashed downwards. The eruption of the spell, Burning Soul caused great chaos as it moved swiftly towards one enemy. The opponent was caught in flames, and engulfed, resulting in the others dispersing. "Hey, you cheaters!" Ayato shouted while the rest of the group also intended to go after Akeya and Akryn. Ayato felt like approaching the path of the treasure further, though it was obvious he was still being watched. "I'll just stay right here then." Ayato concluded. It was at this point the enemy he harmed got back up again. "So you wanted to fight me alone, huh?"

Akeya watched the new enemies as they approached the location where Ayato, Akryn, Xierak and Harper were still busy. Well, where Xierak had flown up together with Harper, and where the other two were doing...something. The half dragon had left them to deal with the new enemies before seeing what those two were doing. Maybe that hadn't been the best plan ever, but then again, leaving them alone with Harper wasn't a good plan anyway. If it hadn't been for that gravity bubble she could have tried to fix that situation before going over here. As it is she hoped that they wouldn't go ahead and kill the man who had all the information they needed to know to complete their main objective while she was held up somewhere else.

The new group of enemies once again consisted of three rookies, with a more intimidating man at the front. Well, intimidating in general, not intimidating for Akeya. Seeing how Harper had been using the same formation it was likely that this was common procedure for this group of treasure hunters. The leaders and more competent treasure hunters would have a squad of newcomers and lower ranked members of the group as backup and to give them instructions. A simple yet effective tactic. Of course, it did mean that they became more vulnerable to ambushes, but they're treasure hunters, not mercenaries or bandits. While they might encounter other treasure hunters, they weren't really in the kind of business where fighting organized groups of enemies was part of everyday life.

While Akeya was still trying to figure out the best way to deal with this group Ayato suddenly appeared, apparently also having decided to leave Harper to Xierak and Akryn. Personally this worried the half dragon only more. Akryn had shown that he had an intense hatred for the leader of the treasure hunters, and Xierak, well...the winged ninja had no idea what was up with him, but the fact that Ayato, whom she trusted to the extend of letting him take care of capturing Harper alive, had also abandoned that job worried the shadow dragon slayer. Although that just meant she had to hurry up and dispatch these adversaries before returning to where she had last seen Harper and her other two allies.

Ayato took the approach of attacking the enemies head on, although he only hit the more powerful looking of the treasure hunters with the flame wave that he unleashed. The other treasure hunters scattered while the one hit stood up, preparing to fight Ayato and keep him busy while the others headed for where Akryn was probably waiting for Xierak and Harper to come down. Judging that Ayato should be able to either win or at least keep up with his opponent Akeya instead trailed the other three enemies through the shadows. Once she had a clear view of them from behind while still being hidden by the shadows she concentrated, two dozen small black spheres forming in the air around her. After a couple of seconds they were all ready, leaving Akeya another series of seconds to aim them all carefully before launching them, immediately running after them towards the enemies herself. Seeing how the enemies weren't mages and also weren't expecting an attack from behind the orbs all hit, at blurring speed slamming into the backs of their heads in groups of eight. While the rookie treasure hunters were still reeling from the assault Akeya sprinted at them, jumping while using her wings to decelerate in the air. Once she was above the one in the middle her tail lashed out, wrapping around his neck while Akeya spun around her horizontal axis. The man didn't really have the chance to defend himself as he found something wrap itself painfully tight around his neck, after which he was pulled into the air by his neck only to be slammed back into the ground afterwards. Landing on top of the first rookie hunter Akeya kicked him in the head to make sure he stayed down before turning towards the two other enemies, who were carefully approaching her with their swords. Looked like she'd have to beat these two without any tricks.

Xierak and Harper hovered in the spot in the air, both of them had unwavering Gazes however one of their Gazes were steadily weakening. Harper’s breathing starting getting more and more hoarse, “You know you Friggen beast… you will never win… you and your pathetic friends, will never truly win. As long as my men and I draw breath we will get that treasure in one form or another.” Xierak let out a low growl, and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck with his right claw unraveling his spikes and returning them to their dormant state. He then pulled Harper closer and whispered into his ear, “There… you would be wrong… for I am certain, while I do not trust them, they will defeat your men… and watch as you fall…” At these Words Harper’s eyes widened with fright as Xierak raised his arm up ready to throw him into the ground. He then stopped however, “On second thought… you hurt my only friend… I will personally put you six meters under….”

Before Harper could even react Xierak started to fall back flipping upside down as he started to fall with Harper held just below him. The fell through the air picking up speed, the wind whipped passed them, Harpers screams and curses were muffled from the harsh winds they faced going down, Xierak however, closed his eyes and waited the impact.

After a long moment the two made impact with the ground, a large resounding crash rang out as it happened. Harper and Xierak crashed through the ground into a hidden underground area of the Ruins, as they did, their impact caused a chain reaction that started the collapse of the ground in the area everyone had been fighting. Roughly 50 meters wide, and 20 meters deep with the rubble of the collapsed infrastructure, as hallways and rooms littered the walls of the crater, one seemed to shine with a special radius, Xierak however… was buried under the rubble along with Harper.

Akryn watched in utter horror as xierak slammed into, and then through the ground. And did not come back out. "XIERAK!" Akryn screamed, struggling to his feet, before falling again, his gusting spear still in effect. He let out a groan of pain before rolling, seeing Akeya. Her! She could do it! Without a second thought, Akryn raised his hands, aimed, and fired. The bolt of spiraling wind ripped through the air, slammed into the side of one of Akeyas targets, and then tore its way out theother side, with a beautiful spray of red. The other assailant turned in utter shock to watch his friend collapse to the ground, before six small, yet very painful, bolts of wind would begin pelting him, forcing him back and away.

"Akeya! Akeya, help Xierak!" Akryn shouted, sounding almost desperate, as he forced himself to his knees again, spewing more blood from his mouth as he did so. He was beaten, fighting just to stay conscious, and if he did not get medical attention soon, he could very well die. But he did not care at the moment. His best friend had just taken an absolutely monstrous blow himself, and Akryn couldn't get there. But Akeya could. Akryn quickly began charging up a powerful, focused orb of wind in one hand, and began funneling magic into his gale glove at the same time. Akryn was an absolutely deadly fighter, and could shred most opponents in a close to mid range fight. But his wind magic was a ranged type, and an extremely effective one. Even as he collapsd back to lean against a wall, he grinned with red, bloody teeth. Even if he couldn't walk, with Harper and his lieutenant out of the fight, these sidekicks would be easy pickings. Well.....the one left, who was eyeing the wizards around him and backing away, obviously reconsidering this trip.....

Once Ayato began his brawl with his opponent, the ground crumbled beneath the two. "ETERNAL FLAME!" Ayato called. His body shrouded in white flames, Ayato's body also enlightened to his fullest. With top speed, he grabbed his enemy's neck, and ran with him in deep grasp while dashing through breaking boulders. Fire also summoned itself beneath Ayato's heels to boost him while he could ascend himself further, and hopefully proceed out of the radius of this earthquake. The flames engulfed Ayato's opponent while he was in the storyteller's hands, giving him no room to touch the Blue Pegasus wizard. Ayato finally stopped after the sound of the earthquake ended, only to look back and see a hidden corridor. "What a coincidence..." Ayato commented. The ground beneath half-revealed this corridor, which seemed much like a hideout, actually. This had to be the place where the treasure was located.

"You're going to tell me where my objective is..." Ayato stated, "Either that, or I suggest to the Council that you receive life imprisonment." Obviously Ayato had no power to actually assume how long a criminal should stay behind bars for; he was only testing his enemy while the fight was already over. Unfortunately, Ayato's condition was quite critical. He was starting to feel low of magic power, while he also looked to his side, and saw that the hunter had shot him two times in the stomach, the wounds healing from Ayato's lineage. Though the lineage healed such things, the pain was left over. Ayato was going to drop soon, and so he needed to do the group one last favour. His Eternal Flame was charged at its maximum for this one time, Ayato once again seizing control of his half-conscious enemy, and used him as a shield to burst through the boulders guarding the corridor. He was going to make the location of the treasure clear! His energy drained significantly though his speed was quite enough. The sheer force of this upgraded spell mode was both crushing and melting down the obstacles. Meanwhile, Ayato was feeling weak. Right at the moment when Ayato was coming close to Xierak was when Ayato stopped, the man he held knocked out. "I-I...didn't...kill...this time." Ayato muttered to his comrade. He opened quite the pathway for the other three, though the boy struggled to move. Ayato dropped, though thankfully still conscious. This was truly the last of his enemies, at least. Harper looked defeated after his own impact too, though when did Harper hit the ground. Heck, even Ayato was surprised to see that Xierak wasn't as harmed as Harper from the fall. "Be careful with the vault." Ayato added.

Akeya raised both her hands, one aimed at each of her adversaries. They were lowly ranked treasure hunters, so she should be able to beat them without using too much energy. However there were two of them, and from the time that she had to liberate those slaves Akeya knew very well that two armed opponents could be a real nuisance if they worked together, regardless of their individual strength. Proper caution would have a lot better results than trying to rush the job.

Of course, the situation changed when Xierak caused the ground to begin collapsing, at which point Akeya had to prioritize not falling over beating these two opponents. Jumping up the half dragon unfolded her wings, staying airborne as she saw the ground fall inwards, centering on where Xierak and Akryn fought Harper. Most likely something had gone wrong with Xierak's gravity magic while in the air, causing both him and the senior treasure hunter to fall. Or he had done it on purpose, in which case the winged ninja certainly was curious about what kind of reasoning the spiked man might have had.

Meanwhile it looked like Akryn had indeed completely recovered from his little period of hatred. Or rather, it seemed that seeing Xierak fall like that had made him realize that there were more important matters than getting revenge. Rather than avenging his dead allies he could try his best to protect those that were still alive. When Akryn pleaded her to help Akeya stared at him for a moment before nodding, leaving the two adversaries to her leader Akeya dove down to the middle of the collapse, although she had to brake suddenly when Ayato also showed up nearby their fallen ally. Looked like he was running low on energy. Luckily the last still conscious enemy was being taken down by Akryn. Landing near Xierak Akeya first began to remove the rubble using her enhanced strength, then carefully grabbed her ally and lifted him, checking on his physical state before laying him down somewhere where he wouldn't have to worry about any more rubble. After that Akeya began to also dig Harper out when she smelled something, her nostrils flaring beneath her mask. She smelled a hoard.

Xierak slowly opened his eyes as he was lifted up by someone and then placed on the ground. His mind blanked for the time he had made impact with Harper, and needless to say, he was in rough shape. Numerous nubs across his body(fifteen in total) had deep gashes into them from pieces of rubble tearing through them, his right arm, was bent oddly obviously broken, as well as covered in blood, from the man he had just crushed from the force. From Various parts of his own body he was bleeding, his blood silver in color was thick in its own right. He laid there his eyes halfway opened, the orange glow of his eyes still showing the deep ferocity that showed his unwilling to go down without a fight.

He coughed a little, a bit of his silver blood dribbling from his mouth, “Well… Remind me not to try something like that ever again will you…” He weakly reached up with his left hand and touched the small amulet that hung around his neck. He relaxed a bit, the tip of his claws feeling the layered rings of the Graviton Amulet. His gaze then shifted towards Ayato and he glared at him, and then he spoke up, his deep voice strong and grating, almost threatening, “Not a word of what I am to anyone… No one else should know.” Xierak although trying to put up the strong façade grimaced on the inside, for not even he, knew what he was, just felt the fear of being called a monster… singled out and attacked… something he most certainly didn’t want to live through again. Xierak then tried to lift his right arm but let out a sharp growl of pain as he bared his sharp teeth, “I think I am going to feel this for a while…”

"On the contrary. Everyone should know. Be yourself Xierak, and what others think be damned."Akryn said from the edge of the cave in, holding his ribs, and leaning against a wall, blood dribbling down the side of his chin. "And I hope you feel this one later. Will remind you not to give me heart attacks like that." Akryn rasped out, before slowly making his way down the rubble to their level, the expression on his face and the slow speed of his movement a testament to his injuries and pain. But he some how made it down. "Last guy ran off. I guess he didn't wanna tangle with a group that shredded his boss and allies with such apparent ease." He said with a bloody grin. He was not a pretty picture.

"I hate to admit it, but that fight was rough. Damned Harper cheated. Speaking of which, where is the bastard?" Akryn asked before slumping against the wall and slowly sliding down to the ground before spotting his foe. "Ah there he is. Xierak, make sure he stays put will ya? Akeya, do me a favor and watch for more. I doubt there will be extras, but I don't want chances. And Ayato......you watch Harper. Xierak, help me move." Akryn said, extending an arm out towards his friend. "Lets find that treasure stash."


Akryn then stopped, turning to look at Harper proper. His body anyway. "Damn. I had questions for him." Akryn said, frowning deeply. Yet another chance at vengeance, slipping away like smoke. Likely for the best though. Akryn had seriously let his emotions take over there, and if he was going to lose it so easily from just one, single chance, how wouldhe possibly react when true chances came along? No, he neededto mature more, and he knew it.

"Y-Yes sir..." Ayato responded with difficulty. He was still in an incomparable amount of pain to all other brawls he had been in with the exception of one in which he thought he would have been defeated for sure. He held his stomach roughly and pressed against his upper chest as it pounded violently. "Harper...as if you stood a chance against us...pfft." Ayato laughed, "This is our treasure." Ayato was focusing a lot on the Crystal-Make mage. He had never seen a power like his before, and was curious as to where he must have developed this power from. The crystal shield Harper once used to guard his own heart was no longer present while the boss was defeated and crushed against the ground, but rather completely absent. Now that he mentioned it, Ayato could no longer trace any magical energy in Harper, whatsoever. Could he have been a fake? Not like it mattered anymore. The storyteller felt like this battle was exactly his best, yet he still accomplished everything he had to, at least. "I suppose this is all the Magic Council asked for..." Ayato assumed, "Thank goodness..." The lineage within exponentially boosted Ayato inside, reducing his injuries bit by bit. Normally the process would have been instant, but since there were numerous injuries to take care of at once, the process was slowed. That, and no matter what Ayato could heal, he still felt the pain behind, and suffered it, regardless. Ayato used the last bit of power in his Eternal Flame Mode to stand upright, which allowed the lineage to work at its maximum.

"I wonder what the other three are going to do after this..." Ayato wondered, "Everyone has their path to cover, right?" It was clear Ayato was kind of bored considering how much he was currently talking to himself. Harper even was no longer a person for Ayato to share his words with, no matter how hard Ayato tried. The boss of those treasure hunters was probably beaten more than the rest. From what he had seen, Ayato could conclude that he hated the opposition the least. He laughed again. Was Harper that much of a thorn in people's side? If so, he definitely deserved a long time elsewhere, where nobody could ever see his face. Ayato even despised looking at the defeated leader. While he found that unleashing his anger with stomps on Harper's face would be nice, it was not necessary. "Hopefully they find that treasure quickly so I have less of this agony to deal with once I'm home." Ayato wished once more, "Let's also hope that everyone feels safe after this, right? You damned Harper..." It was safe to say that Ayato would most likely never return to a place like this again unless for another mission- even then he would not feel good at all. A future trip would only make the storyteller recall this madness. "I wonder what Xierak's warning was about earlier..." The boy muttered.

Akeya raised her eyebrows as Xierak mumbled something about how he shouldn't ever try to do that again, and how he would appreciate it if somebody helped him remember that next time around. Not knowing whether that question was rhetorical or not the winged ninja just nodded, although when he warned all of them not to ever tell anybody about his appearance, only to have Akryn disagree with him, Akeya spoke up.

"I have no reason to spread information regarding your nature, so I won't. However if a situation arises in which such information could be important I will not withhold it. Also, if your reason for hiding your nature is a fear that others won't accept you if they know, you must realize that they will figure out eventually anyway."

With that Akeya nodded once again as acceptance of Akryn's orders, spreading her wings and jumping up. She could continue to stealthily move about, sensing the presence of any potential hostile presences in the area, but by now they had already gone far past the point where secrecy was of a higher priority than efficiency. Any treasure hunter that hadn't fled by now would have caught onto the fight, and would be heading over here. Better for Akeya to take the high ground where she could see them coming. Once she was high enough the half dragon began to fly in circles, scanning their surroundings while the others took care of Harper and the treasure below. Honestly Akeya felt kinda grateful for that one. If she had been one of the ones with as duty getting the actual treasure she might have slipped back into that train of thought regarding hoards. Up here she could focus on acting as a sentry.

While flying around Akeya also had some time to think, mostly using this time to review their mission. It had been both a good and a bad mission. The enemies that they encountered were quickly dealt with, even the leader himself couldn't do much but struggle against their combined onslaught. That was good. They also managed to find the treasure vault quickly, which was another positive point. However there had also been mistakes. Finding the vault so quickly was good, but they mostly found it by being lucky enough to be standing on top of it when Xierak broke the ground into pieces. Akeya wasn't a fan of being lucky. It implied that ones survival depended on good fortune rather than skill. Beyond that they, as a team, had not been too efficient. Infighting had occurred, or at least a disagreement severe enough that one of them felt it necessary to suspend everybody in mid-air so they could calm down.

All in all, they did get the job done, and without any casualties and achieving all objectives, but they could have been more efficient about it. Akeya wasn't sure what the others were going to do, but she was going to train some more after this. She managed to hamstring Harper, but only because Ayato had created an opening. She needed to increase her offensive ability, and preferably by increasing her speed so that she could deliver her superhuman strength to the enemy without giving them too much of an opportunity to fight back.

While flying Akeya slowly began to notice that she was itching. Or rather, the skin on her forearms was itching. And on her lower legs. Actually, now that she was paying attention to it most of her body felt like it was on fire. Hovering in place the half dragon tried to figure out what was going on. She couldn't sense any magic nearby, and she hadn't eaten anything from around here. The only thing she could note was that her own magic appeared to be spiking, flowing over her skin. Unwrapping the blue cloth covering her right hand and forearm Akeya's eyes widened at what she saw. Where first there had been smooth olive skin, the skin she had been born with, tough dark blue scales had formed on her arm. They looked almost exactly the same as the scales that already covered her wings and tail. Dropping the wrappings Akeya also revealed her left arm, where the same was happening. Her hands were also now covered with the scales, although a lot more delicate. Her nails also looked like they were sharper than before. Flexing her hand the half dragon studied the altered appendage, after which she inspected the rest of her body that she could get a look at while flying high up in the air. Her lower legs and feet received the same treatment as her forearms and hands had. There were also scales in other locations, although it seemed that her limbs had changed the most. Quickly flying down to retrieve the cloth that she dropped so she could wrap it around her arm again Akeya found herself having trouble keeping an eye out, or even thinking about the hoard. This new development would require a lot of study...

Xierak rested his head against the ground, he was tense at Akeya’s response but lacked the strength to do anything further, He took a deep breath and winced smelling the foul odor wafting up from the center of the crater that was still piled up with rubble. Xierak coughed a little bit but swallowed any blood that was trying to come up. He then let out a deep growl, and gritted his fangs, he then began to sit up slowly but surely, making sure to watch how his right arm moved. He finally managed to, as he did he took a moment and caught his breath. He then looked down at his right arm and frowned, it was indeed broken, but not only that it was covered in Harpers blood, making his expression darkened.

I am not a monster… I am not a monster… Xierak took a few moments repeating that in his head until he quietly said it outloud, “I am not a monster…” He then shook his head, which made him cringe when the shaking went down to his right arm. That caused him to remember Akryns request to find the objective, and thankfully, Xierak had the right nose for this job. He took a deep breath and started sniffing the air for that one smell that always made him giddy, the smell of candy. He closed his eyes and continued sniffing the air for a long moment, when he then caught the smell of powerful magical items. He closed his eyes and continued sniffing until he faced the source. He then opened his eyes and saw a large pile of rubble that seemed to be connected roughly to some of the ruins in the wall, he then extended out his left claw, he pointed at the area and concentrated his magical power there, he then flicked his claw upward and the gravity was suddenly reversed on the pile sending rocks upward as well as few things that were glinting in the light, he then closed his claw and caused a zero G field, “The artifacts has been found…” He then nodded feeling like this was a job well done, minus the injuries of course.

Akryns breath caught when Xierak used his gravity magic to move the rubble and reveal the room beyond. A treasure trove was an understatement by any sort of stretch of the imagination. A museum would have been more fitting. But still would have fallen extremely short of the truth. "Xierak, do not eat any of this. I will buy you food later." Akryn said, pushing off of his friend and taking a step forward before stopping and looking up at Xierak. "Oh. And you are not a monster my friend. We did what we could to arrest him, but it is far from an evil thing to remove such a thorn from the world. Harper has, and would have, hurt many innocent lives. As a man who has suffered at his hands, thank you." Akryn said before turning back to the treasures before him.

Every single item was on brilliant, beautiful display. Weapons that even he could feel power emanating from. Pristine and elaborate armor on mannequins, with rich histories inscribed on to golden display plates. Books of knowledge, lost to the ages for so long. Akryn caught his breath as he stopped before one display, a large glass case, housing a blue, striking demon mask. It was ordinary looking enough, the type seen in any sort of parade. But what caught Akryn was the mark on the display plate. A blue and white shield, with silver wings crossed over it. It was a very familiar, and almost sacred, mark to him. "Onii Motomiji." he whispered, reading the name on the plate. Onii had not been the mans real name of course, but it was a name Akryn knew well. An ancestor of his, one who had made many legendary, and powerful items. "This is it. This is the vault." Akryn said as he dropped to his knees slowly. They won.......