[Solo | Job] Dearly Departed

The chatter of the Infinity Tavern was constant, a series of greetings, conversations, and more all jumbled into one to create an uproar within the premises of the Infinity Hydra's tavern. Magi drank and conversed while Ivana sat in the corner of a cushioned, wooden seat, her head tilted back with a book spread open on top of her features. It appeared to passing guild mates that she had fallen asleep whilst she read a rather hefty tome, the title read in over sized letters, "Purging for Purity Volume I". She slept in peace until an unfamiliar man strode into the tavern, adorned from head to toe in thin white stripes surrounded by a heavy inclusion of black. The pinstriped man strolled through the chattering wizards with ease, an urgency to his step as he approached the center of the tavern. 

"I require your attention! I seek an Ivana, err... Ivana Nightingale!" The strength of his words defeated the casual uproar of the tavern, all present turning to face him with curious looks. "Ivana Nightingale, anyone?" he asked again, his wide eyes and raised eyebrows delivering a sense of panic to the audience.

"She's right there!" An unknown voice exclaimed, a finger pointed toward the sleeping witcher in the corner of the booth with a book sat atop her face. Few mages drew closer to her to wake her and within seconds, she woke.

Word count: 234 words

After being so violently shaken by other guild members, her eyelids rose in a panicked flurry, revealing darting eyes of golden orange. "Huh, what?" Ivana questioned aloud in a worried tone, her eyes eventually coming to settle on the messenger that stood in the direct center of the busy establishment. Mages that stood closely to her simply offered a plain shrug in response before reverting their unified attention to the pinstriped messenger.

"I have an urgent letter for you, Ivana. It's from a uh... Dahlia? You know someone named that by any chance?" The messenger held up the envelope sealed with a crimson red D, waving it around briefly while he waited for an answer.

"O-oh, I do, I think I went to school with someone named that when I was younger," she spoke with her head bobbing to match, rising to whisk the letter from his hands and start to rip it open in a careless manner, "much younger..." Ivana seemed to ignore the messenger as she read over the short letter, her eyelids peeled back in shock. "I-I have to go... right now!" Ivana screamed in a hysterical tone. The aging mage had packed her bag in what seemed to be seconds, stuffing the letter in with her other items. On her way out, she gave the messenger a short bow before rushing off to hitch a ride from a guild mate.

Word count: 234 words

Begging for a ride took little time and within an hour of the messenger reaching her, her boots forced a crunch from the darkened (probably dead) grass of the Cursed Lands. Ivana had to reach the abandoned cabin that her school friend said she had been hiding within, though, a dense forest full of goblins and ghouls stood between her and Dahlia's location. The leaves were similar to those of pine but their tone warped into a sickly variation of pine green, not to forget the rotting trunk squirming with maggots. The forest's appearance didn't phase Ivana nearly as much as it probably should have. With a deep breath and a swig of water from a prepacked canister, Ivana headed in.

The aura that the entire wood produced was overwhelming, swirling hazes afflicted with shades of purple signified that to her "gifted" sight. Though, it wasn't the worst thing she had experienced, yet. Her mind raced with thoughts of rotting flesh and the smell of decay as she sifted through the brush, constantly having to whack away reaching branches. It seemed eerily calm as she walked through, everything was quiet (excluding the sounds of her footsteps against the fallen leaves and twigs). Too quiet. Ivana felt something close, within the leaves of a bush around her, she felt it watching in preparation. The leaves rustled and flames began to ignite within her palms. She was ready for whatever decided to muster the courage to show itself to her. "Hmph," she grunted.

Word count: 251 words

The member 'flowercat87' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

As the bushes rustled and the leaves flowed wildly from the creature within, a human hand stuck itself through the wall of leaves. The unknown being kept pushing through until the rest of its mangled body appeared. Eyes lost in deathly oblivion, peeling skin, and torn flesh, it was her. Dahlia had already been gotten to before Ivana could get there, she was too late.

Ivana's eyes flashed with a silver glow, a twisted aura of undeath washed over what was Dahlia in her vision. "D-Dahlia?" Ivana asked despite knowing it was her. I don't want to do this, why me? Ivana questioned as graphic depictions of what was to come within the seconds flickered through her mind like a flip book. Ivana's amber eyes were overrun by silver hues, taking what little time she had to analyze the zombified woman that stood before her.

Dahlia's black hair had fallen out, only small patches had remained. Her eyes were empty and her features were frozen without emotion. Her once delicate skin had turned sour, sickly green in color and peeling like a molting serpent. The rest of her was covered in bite marks, her clothes torn and ripped. Dahlia took a step forward, revealing her rotted teeth to Ivana with a snarl.

The evoked silvery flame persisted and began to gradually grow in size. Ivana let out a huff and rolled her shoulders before preparing to let loose her spell. "You're not Dahlia, no, not any longer, you are forsaken by even death itself. I'll put you in your place, fiend."


Word count: 260 words

The two combatants stood amidst the deathly glade of the forest surrounding the abandoned cabin, their eyes locked onto each other with a focus as intense as the rivalry between light and dark. Ivana's left hand was held at her side, her palm facing the foggy skies above with a silvery flame starting to evoke above it. Ivana's forehead pounded and her heart raced as the flame began to grow in size at a rapid pace.

A muffled growl came from the zombified woman, her insipid figure twisting and contorting in minuscule spasms before she lunged forward toward Ivana's unprotected torso. Dahlia's lips curled back mid-leap, baring her rotted teeth like some kind of animal.

Ivana jerked her body back, the flame following her palm closely. She had just narrowly avoided her decaying opponents pouncing maneuver with finesse. The forming fireball flickered and crackled, a smoldering orb becoming apparent with the shining brilliance of a speeding comet. Ivana reared back her arm, then launching the fiery sphere to whiz toward Dahlia's torso.

Fireball.

The connection between the undead's chest and hissing fireball was almost instant due to the short distance between them, the tattered and torn dress singed to a crisp in the center where she had been struck. Dahlia stumbled back toward the bush behind her, the innate purity of the magic had been extremely damaging to her body, an unfelt searing visible where the spell had hit. Dahlia's dried, flaky lips parted to release a beastly roar in reaction, she pressed against the burn on her chest with her hand before lowering herself into a crouching position, her legs bent in preparation of something...

Word Count: 261 words

Stats
Ivana's HP: 100/100
Ivana's MP: 90/100
Abilities Used: Fireball, Searing Silver
Damage Taken: n/a
Durations: n/a
Cooldowns: Fireball - 1 post, Searing Silver - 1 post
Passives: Head Shots, Holy Forces, Eyes of the Witcher, +25% to dark beings
Buffs: n/a
Debuffs: n/a

Dahlia's HP: 47.5/100
Abilities Used: n/a
Damage Taken: Fireball (16 + 25% = 20 x 2)= 40, Searing Silver (5% of 100 + 25% = 6.25 x 2)= 12.5
Debuffs: Searing Silver - 3 posts

The decaying hunk known as Dahlia pounced once again, leaping toward Ivana after being bashed with the devastating ball of argent hues. Dahlia's putrid frame soared from few feet away with masterful agility, easily toppling onto Ivana. Growling and gurgling, drool dripped from her detaching jaw and onto Ivana's features.

Ivana's lithe, aging frame crumpled underneath Dahlia's tackling jump, pinned beneath her. Shit. Ivana thought as she started to struggle beneath the enraged zombie's weight, her fingers curling inward to form fists with both hands. Ivana went to toss a punch toward Dahlia's jowls with her left fist, and then her right, one only connecting shortly after the other. "Get off!" She demanded as she began to enact her fury onto Dahlia with her fists.

As saliva dripped from the undead's maw, a left hook slammed into the side of her face, causing it to jerk violently to the right. Moments after, a right hook followed through from the old witcher, causing the seemingly exanimate creature's features to be smacked back into their original position; staring down at Ivana. Dahlia let out a grumble before going to plunge her teeth into Ivana's left shoulder which caused her fetid locks to hang down onto Ivana's features and her head to somewhat bow down mid-action. As she did so, the burn across her chest would flare with a silver glow, causing unfelt damage.

The screams of the hoary-haired mage filled the clearing around them in reaction to her flesh being bitten into, a sickly contamination forming around the bite marks. "Hmph, that won't be there much longer." Ivana commented in a smug tone before a shiny gray ember was called forth into existence atop her finger tip. The embers came in a swarm shortly after the first, ultimately engulfing her hand.

Enchantment of Embers.

The light surrounding Ivana's smoldering left hand caused Dahlia's head to turn and take a glimpse at what was happening behind her. As the zombified woman did so, the deathly infection she had inflicted seemed to be defeated by Ivana's body, disappearing to only leave the bite marks.

Word Count: 350 words

Stats
Ivana's HP: 60/100
Ivana's MP: 80/100
Abilities Used: Enchantment of Embers, Innate Purity
Damage Taken: Dahlia's Bite = 40
Durations: n/a
Cooldowns: Enchantment of Embers - 4 posts, Innate Purity - 1 post
Passives: Head Shots, Holy Forces, Eyes of the Witcher, +25% to dark beings
Buffs: Enchantment of Embers - 3 posts
Debuffs: n/a


Dahlia's HP: 25/100
Abilities Used: Dahlia's Bite
Damage Taken: Two Normal Attacks = 10, Searing Silver (5% of 100 + 25% = 6.25 x 2)= 12.5
Debuffs: Searing Silver - 2 posts

Ivana's fiery left fist tensed, then it went to rear back, away from Ivana, winding up a punch by doing so. She was still pinned underneath Dahlia whose head had been turned around to obtain a glimpse of the light that had been emitting from the evoked embers that surrounded the witcher's fist. In the short moments before the undead whipped back around to finish off the job, Ivana's entire body trembled and shook, her right eye shutting tightly before opening suddenly, seconds after. As her right eye snapped open, her typically amber orb shifted to an inverted azure blue hue, an unnatural ability having been triggered within her.

Other Half.

Dahlia raised her grimey hand of sickly green, dirt embedded beneath her yellowing finger nails and placed it onto Ivana's neck, slowly applying a pressure to it in an attempt to end the gray-haired mage's life with a hint of sluggish agony. Dahlia let out a distorted bellow of laughter as she did so, tapping her feet against the soil beneath them. 

The edges of Ivana's mouth tilted upward in a small grin before she slammed her fist down onto the back of Dahlia's head with a brute, almost barbaric strength to it. An immediate limpness allowed for Ivana to take another breath, the cursed vessel atop her now put to rest, hopefully, forever. Blackened blood spilled from the caved in skull that now lay on her chest, staining the fur of her coat and the blue denim of her shorts. She wiped the tainted fluids from her body with her unenchanted hand, using it to rise into a fighting position on her feet as well. Ivana kicked the rapidly decaying corpse to the side, the leaves of a bush enveloping it slightly.

"Well, anyone else want to take a chance against me!?" Ivana shouted, her booming voice, full of rage, echoed throughout the hazy forest around her. Undead critters and malevolent haunts heard her call, some rustling the bushes around her. None of it frightened her at the moment, she simply stood in a fighting position in the center of the glade, awaiting an opponent who could rival her fury.


Word Count: 362 words

Stats
Ivana's HP: 60/100, with an additional 100 after her true HP is gone.
Ivana's MP: 80/100
Abilities Used: Other Half
Damage Taken: n/a 
Durations: n/a
Cooldowns:  Enchantment of Embers - 3 posts, Other Half - 10 posts
Passives: Head Shots, Holy Forces, Eyes of the Witcher, +25% to dark beings
Buffs: Enchantment of Embers - 2 posts, Other Half - 5 posts
Debuffs: n/a

The member 'flowercat87' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

Through the leaves came a coyote, teeth bared and ears folded back to portray a vicious aggression toward the witcher. The matted fur that ran along its entire body was scattered with patches of dead fur, a slight dark green hint to it all. The lone canine's eyes were a glowing yellow, contrasting from the darkness the rest of its body provided. It was evident it had been tainted by the curse sweeping the nearing town that Dahlia had once resided in.

Ivana reached her foot outward, closer to the corrupted coyote she came with each small step and with each step, the louder its gnarling became. Embers had still been dancing majestically around Ivana's fist and with the grace of a sasquatch, she charged toward it. Like a bull galloping toward a matador's red sash, she surged toward the wolf, her elbow bent with her fist back in preparation to pummel it.

The coyote lowered itself as Ivana committed to her aggressive advance, its ghastly fangs being revealed in hopes of intimidating the charging woman into disengaging from combat. Ivana showed no immediate signs of fear, causing the coyote to retaliate, leaping with its fangs at the ready to shred through the tender flesh of Ivana's ankles. 

Ivana's fiery fist crackled before she was in range of slamming it into the canine's temple and within the moments before they would have collided in a savage clash, she did so. Ivana let out a ferocious roar as she biffed the coyote with the primal rage that the canine she pummeled beneath her fist probably would have possessed.

Like a gladiator who had just defeated their opponent, she tossed the corpse to the side for the other animals to devour, as well as going to stomp closer to where she had pushed Dahlia's body toward. She peeked her head past the thick trunk of a wicked tree, in search of her next foe on her way to the cabin. 

Word Count: 328 words

Stats
Ivana's HP: 60/100, with an additional 100 after her true HP is gone.
Ivana's MP: 80/100
Abilities Used: Normal-Heavy Melee Attacks
Damage Taken: n/a 
Durations: n/a
Cooldowns:  Enchantment of Embers - 2 posts, Other Half - 9 posts
Passives: Head Shots, Holy Forces, Eyes of the Witcher, +25% to dark beings
Buffs: Enchantment of Embers - 1 posts, Other Half - 4 posts
Debuffs: n/a

The member 'flowercat87' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

Before Ivana continued on her self-laid warpath, she grabbed hold of Dahlia's discarded corpse's shoulders with a grip of iron, dragging the body with. Pushing through the gloomy aura of the forest floor and strolling underneath the wretched and warped branches took little effort when Ivana had been set into a state of all-out attack. With the focus of defeating whatever lie in her way and pummeling whatever it may be to a pulp, she was willing to square off against any being that dare confront her before she confront them and it was moments until she had gotten what she wished for.

A pair of wispy auras tip-toed around in Ivana's peripheral view, unknowing that her sight had been able to detect their malevolent vibes through hazes of darkened purples. Before choosing to make their true appearance known to her, they attempted to play sinister tricks that luckily, had not fooled Ivana. "Help! Ivana, no!" Dahlia's voice rung throughout the enraged mage's head, the duo of trickster spirits chancing possession over her. 

Ivana had had enough, her eyes released a silvery radiance as her wild-eyed glare snapped toward the two ectoplasmic beings of a colorless transparency that flittered and danced around her. Letting out a huff, argent sparks and metallic-hued embers began to gather within her palms as she set them close together. Candlelight sized flames evoked nearby to be absorbed into the growing mass of magical energy that manifested within her hands. Sweat dripped from her cheeks and her eyes periodically shut before her curled fingers suddenly release, unfurling to spew out a constant wave of silvery fire toward the duo of ghostly tricksters.

Conic Flames.

The blazing brilliance that had unleashed onto the ghastly beings before her was unlimited in power in that very moment, the intensity of the flames, the weakness of the beings of twilight, and other factors created a very satisfying strength to Ivana's magical arsenal. A delighted grin briefly flashed as she watched the flames lick and wash over the usually intangible spirits but immediately after, Ivana was back on track. Trudging on with the corpse now slung over her shoulder, toward the abandoned cabin that Dahlia strayed from. Somewhere within the labyrinth of Ivana's rage-induced mind spoke, questioning, Why... why did she leave her hiding spot? Minutes later, as the sun had begun to rise over the infested lands she traversed, she arrived before the empty cabin, with a forced grunt, the azure color to her eye began to fade. Upon vanishing, it revealed her typical golden orange eye. 

"I guess it was just made to happen," she shrugged as she pushed open the door to the cabin, still carrying the corpse before realizing it had become difficult for her to once again and the pain of her unattended bite wound washed over her nerves. Setting it down on the broken flooring beneath her feet, her eyes scanned the room, finding what remained of her possessions and where she had spent her time cradling herself in fear. It all struck Ivana with a sadness she could not avoid, tears welling in her eyes as she glanced back toward the corpse. "I-It's okay, Dahlia, your son is still around... I'm sure of it." She reassured the putrid body, looking into the empty eyes that started up at her unintentionally. Before leaving what she had decided was Dahlia's Cabin, she gathered Dahlia remaining belongings to take with her, including a decent amount of Jewel (5,000), clothing, and other small family heirlooms that she had packed with her before her untimely death. As she headed out, she stared back into the cabin with a tear and sorrowful smile, "I'll see you again someday, Dahlia White, I'm sorry it came to this..."

Word Count: 626 words, 2906 words total

Stats
Ivana's HP: 60/100
Ivana's MP: 70/100
Abilities Used: Conic Flames
Damage Taken: n/a 
Durations: n/a
Cooldowns: Enchantment of Embers - 1 posts, Other Half - 8 posts
Passives: Head Shots, Holy Forces, Eyes of the Witcher, +25% to dark beings
Buffs: Enchantment of Embers - Expired, Other Half - Dispelled
Debuffs: n/a