The Contractor

job:

Lineage +100% Jewel Reward

Code:

<div align="center"><div style="width:400px;"><table><tbody><tr><td><div style="width:400px;float:left;"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/8YTWW5q.jpg?1"style="max-width:100%;"></div></td></tr><tr><td><div style="background-color:#000000;padding:10px;font:11px georgia;color:#ffffff;text-align:justify;"><div style="height:20px;width:20px;background-color:#cc0000;padding:10px 5px 0px 5px;margin:0px 6px 3px 0px;float:left;color:#f8f8f8;text-align:center;">[size=18]M[/size]</div>[size=13]iyuki




[/size]<div style="padding:15px;"><div style="width:80px;background-color:#cc0000;padding:5px;font:8px georgia;color:#f8f8f8;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px;margin-bottom:5px;margin-left:30px;float:left;">[size=13]WC: 289[/size]</div><div style="width:180px;background-color:#cc0000;padding:5px;font:8px georgia;color:#f8f8f8;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px;margin-bottom:5px;float:left;">[size=13]TAG[/size]</div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="width:400px;text-align:center;font:10px georgia;">credit to <a href="http://adoxographyv2.boards.net/user/15">nat</a> of adoxography and <a href="http://gangnam-style.proboards.com/user/4292">gangnam style</a>.</div></div></div>

It was really no surprise to Mashyuu that the siblings had left days before the rest of the team. He supposed that he shouldn't have been angry. In fact the team had only traveled to a job location together once since they had decided that despite their strange attitude towards one another and became a team. It was more surprising the the Earth Wizard that Miyuki had sucked up her pride and asked not only Itori but Mashyuu for help in some job the Guild Master had asked the siblings to go on. Mashyuu was never the type to turn down someone in need and he was't about to tell someone who had at last started to trust the rest of her team that he couldn't help bury someone of all things.

... A heavy rain picked, blocking most of Mashyuu and Rocky's vision, and forcing Mashyuu's normally spiked brown hair to fall into a bowl shaped pattern that still looked right on his head. While the sound of the water couldn't be heard bouncing on Mashyuu's body thanks to his armored greyish brown jacket and his light weight black armored boots absorbing the water drops nicely. The sound of water bounced hard off of his friend and pet, Rocky. Since the rest of Sacred Gaia had seen Rocky last the Elemental had changed a great deal. No longer did it look like a small dog, but now it stalked on four large paws and was nearly as long as Mashyuu was tall. It's arms and legs were made of thick massive stone and along it's stone back were two folded slates of stones that made up wings and a longer tail that allowed it to fly. The Earth Elemental glanced up at Mashyuu as if wanting to say something about the rain but decided against it and instead started towards where the group were supposed to meet.

Mashyuu and Rocky stepped up to the siblings and stood near the cave. The Slayer smiled at the Siblings in turn and nodded at Kaede's new shields. It seemed that since their last adventure together the team had actually gotten a lot stronger and even gained some new gear along the way. "Good to see you guys made it here alright. Itori sin't already here is she?" Mashyuu asked. He waited for a moment then considered why they were here. "So we are giving a knight a proper death? I thought we weren't supposed to kill. Is this guy undead or something?" At the mention of Undead Rocky growled and barred it's teeth while glancing around and trying to sense for any coming danger. The last time Mashyuu and Rocky fought against the Undead they were almost powerless against many of the creatures.

WC: 462

Itori didn't like the rain.

It didn't take a genius to figure out why the fox girl might not appreciate the divine gift of water falling from the heavens. As a Kumiho Itori took a great amount of pride in her ears, but most importantly in her tails. Those three tails of hers which were always in pristine condition, which she always looked after with great precision and dedication, which were covered in long fur which was as soft and smooth as silk, if not smoother, while being of a pure white colour which would help pretty much anybody who saw them. Such tails were a gift that Kumiho possessed which so far as the foxes was concerned was good proof that they were more loved by the heavens than those naked apes called humans. However those tails didn't react very well to water. Not that they were actually harmed or anything, but such a lot of fluff turned into a whole lot of wet when it was raining as hard as this. And wet fur was not nearly as attractive and comfortable as dry fur. It was heavy, it dripped water everywhere, and if you didn't watch out it would begin smelling horribly (although that was more dogs. Itori pitied all dogs, although on the other hand the dogs didn't seem to mind). In short it was just a major inconvenience all around with little to no benefit to it. Itori usually tried her best to avoid rain at all costs, but it seemed that today was not a day where she would manage that. Miyuki had asked for her help with a job, and while she could most likely have declined the Kumiho thought it would be better if she showed herself willing to cooperate, if only to thank Miyuki for helping her with her voice.

Her voice. It had been so long and Itori had honestly believed that she would have to lead a life of rarely speaking. That Miyuki had helped her overcome that hurdle, however incidental, meant that the fox girl was owing her an immense debt. She could have declined Miyuki's request but it would have shamed her immensely. The Kumiho suspected that if she ever told Miyuki about this debt the girl would try to wave it off, so she said nothing about it. She didn't need Miyuki trying to convince her that she didn't owe her anything when Itori knew very well that she owed Miyuki a lot. The fact that Miyuki herself didn't see it that way didn't change a thing about that. So the fox walked through the rain, feeling herself quickly becoming drenched, which she did not appreciate in the slightest. She had got herself a thick cloak to withstand the rain and changed into her human form, but still she could feel the rain persistently work its way through the thick material of the cloak. And the moment she changed into a fox her tails would immediately get drenched. Itori knew that her human form was very useful but that didn't make her any happier about basically being forced to use it, especially since it had been a while since last time. She had found a place where she didn't have to hide her true identity, and regretfully that meant that she was losing some of her willingness to use whatever means necessary to accomplish her goals. She used the term regretfully there because being able to use all tricks for the sake of the objective was a sign of discipline and self-control. Losing that because she had found a comfortable place to be was a pity, and she would have to find a way to do something about it.

It didn't take long before she noticed that she was getting closer to the location where the four of them would meet up. For one thing she could sense their souls, which each were fairly easy to recognize now that Itori had been in their presence several times. Every soul was unique, but sometimes the distinctions were very faint and subtle. Itori was good at memorizing souls, but even she had to analyse a soul for several minutes before she could say with absolute certainty that she wouldn't be able to confuse it with another soul in the future. Given that she could sense Miyuki's soul but couldn't sense her magic she assumed that the girl was once again hiding every trace of her magic with that pendant. That pendant was actually of some interest to Itori. It was a pendant which could not only suppress an immense amount of mana, but could make it seem as if the wearer had absolutely no magic at all even though their actual magic levels would blow pretty much anybody off their socks if she were to release her power at a close range. Shaking her head Itori hastened her step, slipping inside the cave before finally slipping off her cloak and using her fox fires to dry herself. Hearing Mashyuu's commentary on her absence and the goal of the mission the fox shook her head again.

"Those who refuse to kill under any circumstances are selfish. If a man wants to die a noble death giving it to him is more of a mercy than keeping him alive."

Her voice. It was still a divine voice which could quite easily enthral anybody who heard it. The only difference was that Itori was now in control of it, and was making sure it didn't actually compel the other three or overwhelm their minds with its enthralling effects. Instead of being so beautiful as to lead to insanity it was at a more tolerable level. Now it merely sounded more beautiful than any mortal voice could ever pretend to be. The Kumiho finished drying herself off before she turned back into her actual form, her black raven hair shortening until it reached to her shoulders and turned pure white while two large fox ears appeared on her head and three long silky white tails sprouted from her lower back, swaying behind her even as the fox made sure that she was no longer standing in the rain and that her tails wouldn't get wet either.

"Now, could you be so kind as to explain the request in more detail? I am afraid that I was not in the position to memorize everything when you asked me to assist."

As could be expected of Itori her accent and manner of speech were very polite and refined, fitting of the white fox always wearing that shrine maiden outfit, although today she had some additions to her outfit. On the side of her head there was a white mask with simple red decorations, a mask resembling a Kitsune. Her shoulders and most of her chest and upper back were covered by a muffler, and if one were to look inside the sleeve of her left arm they would see that a set of prayer beads had been wrapped around her wrist and forearm. Furthermore her former weapon had been replaced by one of much better quality, a completely white katana which went by the name of Shitenka, hidden inside a sheath just as white.

The spirit fox watched the other three silently as she waited for them to answer her request.

Lineage: +100% Jewel Reward, Sacrificing EXP for +100% more jewel

Code:


<div align="center"><div style="width:400px;"><table><tbody><tr><td><div style="width:400px;float:left;"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/4LzQ758.jpg?1"style="max-width:100%;"></div></td></tr><tr><td><div style="background-color:#ffffff;padding:10px;font:11px georgia;color:#000000;text-align:justify;"><div style="height:20px;width:20px;background-color:#cc0000;padding:10px 5px 0px 5px;margin:0px 6px 3px 0px;float:left;color:#f8f8f8;text-align:center;">[size=18]-[/size]</div>[size=13]?



[/size]<div style="padding:15px;"><div style="width:80px;background-color:#cc0000;padding:5px;font:8px georgia;color:#f8f8f8;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px;margin-bottom:5px;margin-left:30px;float:left;">[size=13]WC: [/size]</div><div style="width:180px;background-color:#cc0000;padding:5px;font:8px georgia;color:#f8f8f8;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px;margin-bottom:5px;float:left;">[size=13]of 5,250[/size]</div>
</div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="width:400px;text-align:center;font:10px georgia;">credit to <a href="http://adoxographyv2.boards.net/user/15">nat</a> of adoxography and <a href="http://gangnam-style.proboards.com/user/4292">gangnam style</a>.</div></div></div>

Mashyuu nodded up and down at Miyuki while he smiled. "That's true. You really don't kill often. I can't say I've ever actually seen it." The Earth Wizard let his gaze shift between the siblings until Itori walked up to join the group. The man couldn't help but smile at his friends. They were all so different and strange. But he wouldn't have given it up for the world, in a few short weeks the team had somehow become a real family in the simplest of ways. "Well I won't end his life but I'll gladly join in on a fight. Besides someone has to keep you guys alive right?" Mashyuu wanted to super kick the siblings when they finished each others sentences but the man refrained from doing it. Everyone had their own strange quirks and this was no different. Mashyuu took a deep breath and glanced over at Itori to see if she had the same opinion.

To his surprise Itori had spoken and not only Mashyuu but Rocky took a half step back. Not only that but Iroi didn't know the exact details of a job. Mashyuu couldn't really understand what was happening. Maybe he was going insane. Mashyuu shook the shock from his head and swallowed hard. "So really this guy just thinks he's lived on way to long and wants to be put out of his misery.... I suppose I could understand that." Mashyuu chimed in. "Dragon?" Dragon? Both Mashyuu and his ring asked. Even if the ring was a mental thing that couldn't be heard by the others. Mashyuu wen't white faced for a moment while he spoke mentally to his ring. Is this a bad thing? I can't take a full fledged dragon can I? The ring was silent for a moment. Not alone Mashyuu, you will need your friends. And a massive amount of luck. Things could end badly for you if you aren't careful. Mashyuu weakly smiled and looked at his friends. "Yeah a Dragon, no problem. We can handle it." He whispered.

When Kaede dropped down Mashyuu raised a sharp brown. He let the man with shields say his peace then walked past him into the cave while patting Rocky on the top of the head. "Come on guys, lets go kill us a knight. And Kaede, be a good night and keep the hottie safe... Both of em." His voice echoed in the cave while the team got out of the rain.

WC: 422

Itori didn't refuse the hug given by Miyuki, although she didn't exactly reciprocate it either. Instead she just smiled down at the girl until she let go and rejoined her brother, waiting for the two of them to explain to her the exact details of the job. It was true that normally the Kumiho would already know, but she had been rather occupied when Miyuki had asked her for the help, so she hadn't really caught a lot other than that they needed help granting somebody a noble death and to meet here. This could possibly be considered sloppy, but honestly the fox girl couldn't be expected to always be available every second that she was awake. She could do a lot more than humans with her mind, but she wasn't some kind of deity in that aspect. Well, no matter. The siblings had no objections against explaining what they were here to do in deeper detail, so the Kumiho just listened to them. Although when she noticed just how baffled Mashyuu was she smirked slightly before returning it to her usual gentle smile. No reason to mock him for being confused when faced with a development he was not warned or prepared for.

The explanation behind the job was...well, Itori had to admit that she had heard better explanations. Not that Miyuki and Kaede were hard to understand or telling things out of order, but she didn't really need to hear just how noble the knight was that they were supposed to kill. In all honesty the way they described the man he was too honourable and noble for it to be realistic. She could understand that he was a dedicated knight who took pride in his job and trained hard to become strong enough, but they just kept adding examples of just how noble he was. As somebody who had ages of pretending to be the perfectly innocent girl under her belt while at the same time having committed crimes so hideous that they would make the people present sick in their stomachs if they heard about them the Kumiho was rather suspicious of anybody who was described as being so flawless. Not that she considered it impossible for them to actually encounter some honestly noble person who needed their help dying a noble death, but just because it was theoretically possible for somebody to be that noble didn't mean that she wouldn't at least be somewhat suspicious. Appearances and behaviour could be deceiving. Well, they'd probably end up learning about that anyway, since they were supposed to go and kill him, and she doubted that he'd go down easily. And with how noble he was he'd most likely want to talk to them beforehand.

Mashyuu meanwhile still refused to kill the man, which made Itori feel a tinge of disappointment. She knew that most people were very adamant against killing, and truth be told killing wasn't exactly a pleasant thing. Itori had given up her innocence and ethics long ago since they kept her from using certain strategies when she didn't have the luxury of picking her approach, but she did remember that before she became used to it killing was rather difficult, since she had to overcome her own hesitation every single time and afterwards was in varying states of distress (granted those were suspended if she was in the middle of a fight. Thank the gods that adrenaline bursts were good for helping you delay emotional breakdowns until a more opportune time). She couldn't really approve of the stance to never kill at all, however. It was a nasty business, but in this case the target himself had asked for them to help him die a noble death. They weren't killing an innocent, they weren't killing for the sake of money or any other morally questionable motive. They were preparing to grant a knight his last request: to die with honour rather than being trapped in a cave for the rest of eternity, waiting for something to come along to kill him. In such a scenario refusing to kill was, as Itori had mentioned before, selfish rather than ethically just or admirable. She wouldn't chastise Mashyuu about it, but if he looked at her as she looked at him he might see the disappointment in her eyes before she turned back to Miyuki and Kaede.

When dragons were mentioned Itori became rather tense. She knew about dragons. For one thing she knew that they were incredibly strong in pretty much all aspects. They were large, which carried several advantages (primarily that they could take lots of damage and had a lot of mass and energy to throw about), they were strong, they had powerful magic, and more often than not they were quite intelligent as well. They also were extremely resilient towards any attacks which weren't infused with Dragon Slaying magic. The Kumiho wondered if the humans of this day knew that Dragon Slayers didn't really inflict extra damage onto dragons. It was more that everybody else dealt significantly less. It was a good thing that they had Mashyuu with them. Without a Dragon Slayer in the group their only way to deal with a dragon would have been to do their absolute best to avoid it. Itori most certainly wasn't one to try fighting a dragon if she could help it, and she doubted either Miyuki or Kaede would fare any better. Miyuki might manage, but she'd most likely be completely exhausted and useless afterwards. The fox nodded when Mashyuu stated that he would be able to deal with the dragons. He had behaved a bit oddly just before that, which earned Itori's attention, but she'd have to trust him to be able to deal with the dragons. Or at the very least keep them from getting in their way as the rest of them tried to reach that knight and grant him his last wish.

And then Kaede approached her. Itori stared at the male sibling with an expression which made it clear that she was curious what he had to say. It seemed his dislike for her had diminished somewhat, but his behaviour made it clear that he still neither liked nor trusted her. Itori didn't mind too much. She did have abilities that could make his life hell, so a measure of distrust was only healthy and sensible. When the man instead willingly bowed his head to her and admitted that he had been wrong the Kumiho was rather stunned, although she managed to recover quickly enough that Kaede, if not the others, shouldn't notice. From her perspective he actually was still uncomfortable around her, but if he was at least willing to try and not act prejudiced towards her she would welcome it. Granted, she would first want to see how well he managed before she'd return to treating him with the same kind of gentleness that she'd use for, say, Miyuki. Well, maybe not Miyuki. That one deserved special attention if only because of what she had done for Itori.

"I will have to observe your behaviour from now on before I can decide whether I forgive you or not."

A complete and utter lie, since Itori didn't feel the need to hold a grudge towards him anyway. Grudges were for if somebody had personally affronted you. You didn't hold a grudge towards a specific person for proving themselves not much better than the average human, afraid of something they didn't understand and deciding that if they couldn't understand it they should hate it. However maybe saying that would help Kaede behave, and the Kumiho was all for having everybody on her team behaving and cooperating.

She prepared to follow the others deeper into the cave when she stopped, feeling that something was off. She wasn't entirely sure what, but she had the feeling that there was a presence which didn't belong there. She could neither pinpoint what presence or where it was, but the feeling persisted. The fox girl looked around, tried to find some clue, but eventually had to give up and follow the siblings and Mashyuu. She would have to keep an eye out. The presence she felt was a bad one, and she wasn't about to die in here while trying her best to help grant a knight his death.

Mashyuu and Rocky walked into the cave, leading to a clearly man made maze. The Earth Wizard had gotten accustomed to leading the way in this group, he even stopped minding the fact that he was the one who was often hit with surprise strikes from time to time in the group. When he thought of Itori, Miyuki and Kaede the looked at each of them like a close personal friend. Each of the Wizards.... Were they all Wizards? In fact now that Mashyuu was thinking about it he had never actually seen anyone in the group aside from Itori use any magic. How did one get into Sabertooth without being able to cast a spell? This thought alone plagued Mashyuu's mind for a long while. Maybe he had missed something, did Kaede and Miyuki only know spells that buffed themselves and their combat prowess. Maybe they used requip and that was how the pair had a new set of weapons at the moment? "Damn it...." He muttered under his breath as the Siblings passed him up and he fell behind the group without realizing it.

Rocky on the other hand was watching everything, sniffing the air and worked stone ground. At one point the stone animal fell back and sniffed Itori panted happily and trotted back up to Mashyuu. The stone was it's natural terrain and for the first time since meeting Mashyuu and becoming his personal guardian the Gargoyle felt like it was at home. As Mashyuu fell back the now tall dog like mass of rock followed suit.

Be on guard here Mashyuu, I can't sense any extra presence around you yet but that could simply be because who or whatever you are looking for is simply stronger than the bindings and restrictions on the ring that has my soul trapped. Ux, the spirit in Mashyuu's ring warned the Slayer. Mashyuu furrowed his brow and spoke up while everyone started to slow down and stop. "Don't you guys think it's weird that this guy wouldn't be waiting for us to kill him closer to the door?" Mashyuu asked while the siblings seemed to find the small fox pet again. It was like the thing was always around. "Hey, does that thing.. Niinii, have any skills in combat? I don't want to see it get hurt in here." Mashyuu asked.

Just as he finished his question the wall next to him started to seemingly bubble with a strange arcane ooze. Mashyuu turned to look at it while Kaede tossed the large stone. Suddenly a massive set of flailing Tentacles shot out of the bubbling ooze and lashed out wildly at the group. Mashyuu took a step back in fear while Rocky jumped at one and slashed at it with the Stone animals sharp rock claws. It wasn't clear if the strike did any real damage though as the same appendage soared at Mashyuu and slammed him into a wall, holding the Earth Slayer at bay... "What the hell are these things!?" Mashyuu shouted while driving his elbow down into the same small wound that Rocky had delivered to one of the two long Tentacles.

WC: 531

As usual Itori followed the other three, letting them take the lead as she kept a wary eye out. She was not the type to lead or command: she didn't have a personality which suited somebody who led others. She was a trickster, a manipulator, a clever fox. She might have the good looks to draw the attention of others should she want to, she might be able to pretend, but in the end she just wasn't that kind of person. Instead she was the kind who observed, pondered, and planned for herself.

Right now she was mostly wondering what kind of things they would encounter. The knight who wanted a noble death was certainly located in a rather dangerous place. For one thing there was that presence Itori had already noticed at the entrance, a presence which made her feel uncomfortable even though she could not pinpoint it or figure out what exactly it was. The only thing she could say with certainty was that it wasn't anything that she liked or approved of. However that didn't say a lot, since Itori had a firm understanding of what she thought was acceptable and what wasn't. The fact that she felt such a...worrying presence without being able to discern it properly or even figure out which direction it was from her own position left her troubled, even if she neglected to mention it to the others. She wasn't entirely sure why she wasn't telling them, since if she was picking up signals of there being something dangerous they should also be in the know so they could be prepared. Maybe it was because they were heading into a cave system to find a knight who wanted to die fighting. They were already prepared for trouble, so telling them more might only bother them. Maybe she just didn't want to reveal that she could pick up on things like that. Maybe she thought they would think that she was just nervous and making things up. She doubted the last one, but she still couldn't be sure what exactly was keeping her from just explaining that there was an unnerving presence nearby. The best she could do was keep her sword at the ready and keep her senses sharp.

As for Kaede, she had already dismissed him from her thoughts. The fact that he had apologized and said that he wanted to try better in the future was good, since it meant she didn't have to worry about him behaving foolish just to spite her. However beyond that she hadn't found his opinion very important. What he could do with his opinion was a lot more important than what he actually thought, so if he had adopted an opinion where he wouldn't cause any trouble for the Kumiho she would just be happy with that and leave it be. Of course Kaede (and Miyuki) wouldn't be happy if they realized that their fox companion was rather uncaring of the male's opinions and feelings, so she would still have to pretend to be genuinely relieved that he no longer feared her. Even if that fear was completely justified. For Itori helping humans help her out was pretty much par for the course. She hadn't done it with Kaede yet, but his fear that she might manipulate him was more a sign of being aware than needless paranoia. Not that she would tell him. Wary targets were easier to manipulate in some ways, but a whole lot more irritating in others. Besides, just because the Kumiho didn't see the problem with manipulating humans didn't mean she didn't see the difference between manipulating humans to benefit both parties and manipulating humans to benefit only herself. As long as Kaede wasn't on his guard around her it would be easier to get him to do things which would be beneficial both to himself and Itori. In some way the fox girl could be said to be looking out for the male by neglecting to confirm his suspicions.

Due to her senses being a lot sharper than humans (even those with already abnormally sharp senses: if you were abnormally good at something which your kind is normally bad at it doesn't mean you can match somebody whose entire kind is by default really good at it. And as mentioned before Itori came from a really good lineage) Itori noticed that something was ahead of them, signified by her ears swivelling in that direction and twitching. The others would have noticed were it not for the fact that the Kumiho was following them, so they would have had to look around to see that suddenly their fox companion was paying a lot more attention to what was ahead. Itori kept silent, seeing how Kaede and Miyuki had already picked up on the sound before it became worrying. Waiting together with the others Itori raised her eyebrows when the little furry creature they had found in the forest suddenly showed itself, followed rather quickly by Kaede and Miyuki fuzzing over it. She was rather curious how that little thing got here. As amusing as it was to see the normally reserved Kaede get all absorbed and giddy about the arrival of the little one (now named Niinii) it didn't really get rid of the fact that they were in an old dungeon which contained at least several dangerous entities. Niinii suddenly showing up like that was rather strange.

However she wasn't given a lot of time to think about that. Mashyuu had already posed the interesting question of why the knight was making them walk deeper inside the dungeon instead of greeting them near the entrance if he wanted to die so badly. And Itori had the strong suspicion that Niinii was not a creature capable of fighting against the things living here. From its appearance it was most likely an omnivore who both ate nuts and plants while also hunting insects and other small animals. However in here they would not be shown anything but more dangerous things, as proven by the fact that suddenly one of the walls surged before two large tentacles shot out. Which instantly, literally instantly earned this place Itori's hatred.

The Kumiho had lived a long time. She had seen a lot of things, done a lot, learned a lot. There were a lot of things she liked, a lot of things she disliked, a lot of things she found useful even if she had rather they weren't, and there were things which she really, really, really wished just didn't exist. Demons were a good example. Demons did not have a single good quality to them. They were almost literally incarnations of negative emotions and thoughts. They ate souls (as a Kumiho Itori especially disapproved of that. She wanted to use those souls), they caused misery and misfortune, they were nothing but bad news. If they could all disappear and never return Itori would become a whole lot happier as a person in the knowledge that one of the most dangerous and hateful of things in this reality was no longer present.

Another thing she hated with every fibre of her being was tentacles. She wasn't even completely sure why. It seemed to be an instinctive hatred, something carved into her bones. There may not be a logical explanation or even an illogical one, whenever she encountered anything with tentacles she got the very strong urge to annihilate it utterly. Disgusting, horrible, awful, distasteful, utterly repulsive tentacles which should not exist, and which would not exist if the Kumiho had any say in it. If somebody wanted to doubt Itori's hatred of tentacles they might be convinced upon learning that Itori, the gluttonous chef with quite literally an endless appetite, who had spent ages gathering and learning as many recipes as possible for all occasions, only knew very few recipes which included tentacles, and was very bad at preparing them. She could make them edible, mayhap even tasty, but compared to the rest of her cooking they would be naught but failures. And she would refuse to eat them herself. She could, with great reluctance and difficulty, prepare tentacles for somebody else, but in the past she had actually gone so far as to create the illusion of her eating just to avoid drawing suspicion when she was given food which included tentacles. The tentacles she always secretly got rid of, along with everything which had touched the tentacles.

Itori's fur immediately began to bristle as she hissed and drew her sword faster than she ever had before in the company of the other three, without any hesitation or doubt immediately lashing out at the tentacles even as she evaded them with her usual elegant movements. However rather than keeping her distance the Kumiho went on the full offensive, which might cause the other three to become surprised as they bore witness to a white and red blur swirling and weaving around the tentacles as Shitenka sliced through the thick twisting appendages again and again, the Kumiho's entire being having focused on the complete annihilation of these tentacles. Itori was fast, she was skilled, she possessed an incredibly sharp and skilfully made sword, and this time around she was very, very enthusiastic in using everything she had to chop the tentacles up.

While Mashyuu was being tossed around like a rag doll the other members of Sacred Gaia sprang into action like a tornado of fury. Mashyuu was actually upset that he happened to be the one that got captured and that he couldn't get a real strike in on the strange appendage that had a firm grip on his waste. Suddenly Itori made the save on Mashyuu, striking the base of the tentacle repeatedly and forcing it to drop Mashyuu to his knees. The Earth Wizard slumped down to his forehead and took deep breaths of air while the room spun around him. The ring on his finger started to laugh at the Wizard while Rocky stood behind Mashyuu and growled at the tentacle and defended the Dragon Slayer.

Mashyuu crawled away from the combat and rolled to his back, motion sickness had set in on the Wizard and he was struggling to not vomit all over the ground. "Gah! Why am I sick right now!?" Mashyuu shouted and tilted his head then vomited all over the stone floor. Mashyuu groaned and wiped his mouth dry while pulling himself up and looking at the appendage that Itori had dealt a massive amount of damage to. "Itori move! Earth Dragons Exploding Spike!" He shouted and pulled his arm forward. From the wall next to the tentacle a long thin stone spear shot out and impaled the tentacle. A moment later it exploded in a violent burst.

After the spell went off Mashyuu felt his stomach turn and he fell back against the wall, holding his gut and slipped down the wall. He swallowed a ball of snot and looked as the siblings announced a "Switch" tactic he had never seen them use before but it looked effective. If the entire team could get on a page like that Mashyuu doubted that the group would ever lose a battle. Then again they had gone unbeaten thus far as a team.

When the battle was over Mashyuu clapped and Rocky came over to help him up. The Slayer drew a short breath and looked about. "I guess that's why the guy hasn't actually come to meet us. But why not just fight a bunch of those until they took him down? Things aren't adding up. Or he could go fight this dragon that is apparently in here. I gotta be honest guys, I think this might be a clever trap."

Carefully Mashyuu looked about the hall and nodded down the way. "Maybe Itori should lead, she isn't wearing any sort of armor, and she is naturally silent, compared to someone like me or Kaede. Plus her senses might be more of a benefit up front while I watch our backs to make sure we aren't ambushed." Mashyuu suggested.

WC: 468

Itori didn't care what Mashyuu and the siblings were doing. For now she didn't care about the job or anything else. Even that dangerous presence in the back of her mind only served to make her more focused on dealing with this problem right in front of her. This tentacle that had suddenly sprouted out of the wall and had begun attacking them together with its twin. At first the fox was rapidly slashing both of them, but now that Miyuki and Kaede were taking care of one of the tentacles the Kumiho switched her full attention to the other tentacle, readying her sword as she once again went on the offensive. She rarely was very enthusiastic when it came to physical violence. She had always seen it was beneath her, something for the uncultured barbarians to use to establish dominance between each other. For the cultured and more intelligent people a battle based on skill and power of mind was much more suitable and tended to result in a lot less of a mess. It had been said before, but Itori wasn't really a pacifist. A pacifist was somebody who avoided violence primarily because they either didn't want to hurt another or because they held the belief that violence was harmful to the soul (or something along those lines). Itori didn't really agree with that. She wasn't afraid of hurting others, although she didn't seek it out. She also didn't think that violence somehow tainted her. It just felt like she was doing something that belonged to low-born weak-minded oafs.

But right now she didn't mind any of that. She already knew that this tentacle wouldn't really care for illusions, and the melody she was hearing from it gave her the feeling that it wouldn't be affected by her usual tricks either. Which left her sword, and for some reason the fox felt very satisfied as she began to cut up the tentacle at a very rapid pace, constantly avoiding its disgusting form as it reached for her and tried to grab her. Her white blade looked more like a stroke of white light the way that it kept weaving through the air, the Kumiho herself a streak of white and red as she danced around the tentacle, stepping in to slash at it before avoiding its counter-attack, then repeating that over and over, from time to time getting several hits in before the tentacle could even react. Her face, normally calm and gentle, was twisted into a mixture of disgust and sheer hatred, and her fur was bristling as she began to focus on the base of the tentacle, no longer feeling like giving it the opportunity to fight back. Thankfully the tentacle also couldn't react quite as well as long as the fox was so near its base, which meant that once she had reached that location after dancing through the tentacle's attacks she quite quickly managed to separate the tentacle from the wall, after which she jumped back and let Mashyuu finish it off.

Once that tentacle was dealt with Itori turned to deal with the other, but saw that Miyuki and Kaede were already finishing that one off. Itori looked down at the tentacle she and Mashyuu had just dealt with, her gaze filled with raw disgust and hatred before she turned away and walked over to Miyuki and Kaede, flicking the tentacle's awful blood from her blade by flourishing it before sheathing it. As always her blade was sharp enough that it had only gathered a couple of droplets, so a mere flourish was enough to clean it. Itori wouldn't tolerate any part of that tentacle staining her sword. She steered clear of the two now limp appendages, not wanting to get any closer than was necessary even as she forcibly returned her expression to what it usually was, although she didn't see the harm in letting the other three see at least some amount of disgust at the tentacles. Nothing which betrayed just how much she hated the damn things, but enough that it would be clear that she wasn't happy with the idea that there might be more of those in the dungeon.

When Mashyuu commented on why the knight wouldn't just fight these tentacles to the death, or possibly the dragon that was supposed to live in this place the Kumiho shook her head, once again glancing at the tentacles.

"Any sane creature would stay as far away from these...things...as they were physically able to."

Of course maybe Itori's personal opinion of the tentacles was making it somewhat difficult for her to be reasonable about anything concerning them. Her mind was very firm on the idea that any form of tentacle was always disgusting and horrible, and that it could never be anything but bad, negative, awful, something which shouldn't exist and which should be annihilated and removed from existence as quickly as possible. This hatred wasn't something she could just ignore. She wasn't even sure where it came from. It really was as if some kind of divine entity had carved the idea 'tentacles=bad' into very foundations of her mind.

"The dragon might be able to grant him death, but I doubt that he would recognize the dragon as a fellow warrior, and most likely desires his last fight to be with an entity which would show him proper respect and which he could respect in return."

At the suggestion of putting Itori in front the Kumiho immediately shook her head. She didn't feel like that at all, and Mashyuu's reasoning wasn't convincing her, as she quickly made clear.

"My ears will not become sharper if I walk in the front, and I would rather not be the one leading the group, especially since as you yourself already mentioned I am not armoured. It would be more prudent to have the two of you, who are capable of defending yourselves, protecting the front and the rear so Miyuki and I aren't in danger of being taken out before we can properly react."

The NPC roll was killed by the siblings, so this one's hoping we get something that isn't a 1hit death...

橘ナミネ と 橘楓 carried out 1 launched of one Monster Dice :

The member '橘御幸と橘楓' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

The entire team seemed to jump at Mashyuu for his suggestion and the man couldn't seem to get any sort of help. Even Rocky whimpered behind the still ill Wizard. "Oh not you too Rocky!" Mashyuu cried out. Mashyuu made a half hearted smile and raised his hands high in surrender. "I'm not trying to insult anyone or anything thing like that. Just tossing around some ideas. You guys should really lighten up." Mashyuu replied and strolled into the back, falling into line with the others. Rocky stood at his friends left. Why on earth did Mashyuu even bother opening his mouth? All he really wanted to do was suggest a plan of action instead of standing around with everyone placing their thumbs up their rears. The thought actually made Mashyuu chuckle under his breath. The Dragon in his ring scolded him about suggesting a woman take the lead but at least Miyuki didn't berate him the way the others had. It was strange seeing her come out of her bubble the way she was, and Itori was even speaking. Mashyuu still couldn't really get over that.

Kaede took the lead, bringing his shields up to defend against anything the group might run across while Mashyuu kept glancing over his shoulder. "I doubt anything is going to attack us from behind... And if they did I guess I could throw up a wall or some pillars first." Mashyuu mused to himself and Rocky. The stone dog looked over it's shoulder at the Wizard and yawned softly. "Oh you knock that off Rocky. You're hitting things just as much as I am and we have a dragon to kill. So be on your guard." Mashyuu ordered the stone animal. Rocky raised a stone brow but soon the pair both went silent as the line stopped.

In a flash of movements the siblings struck out and Miyuki attacked from above, bringing her blades down in a cross X pattern and knocking a strange mole creature out in a single blow. Mashyuu started to golf clap as the two spoke about moving on before anyone else could show up.

Behind Mashyuu the ground started to rumble and the Slayer twisted around with Rocky, the red and black leather of Mashyuu's gloves creaked as Mashyuu formed fists and started to snarl. The Mole came up out of the ground and slashed it's sharp claws at Mashyuu, thanks to his ring he was able to predict the movements. "Go ahead, I have this scrub. I'll be right behind you guys." Mashyuu called out, not wanting the others to have to deal with such a petty creature.

Swiftly Mashyuu twisted into a spinning back fist strike but the mole was easily able to counter by simply ducking. Mashyuu cursed under his breath and thought of what could actually take this thing down without expending magic. Even with his slayer speed the girls were a little faster than Mashyuu was and it was proving to be the difference maker in the small scuffle he was having.

It was then that Mashyuu understood. He let his arms go slack as the Mole came in with a stabbing attack. It's claws lunged for Mashyuu and he bent his elbow swiftly. A stone wall launched up out of the ground and caught the monsters hand while a small stone floated to his finger and hovered there.

As the mole tried to pull itself free Mashyuu strolled around to it's side and pointed his finger. "Rock Bullet." Mashyuu whispered and fired the stone into the monsters head, knocking it out in a single blast. Gently he dusted off his hands and nodded to Rocky. "Alright, lets go catch up with the others. I don't want them fighting that dragon alone." Mashyuu suggested and took off to catch up with the group.

WC: 647

Itori was glad that Kaede and Miyuki backed her up on the objection of her being put in front. However it surprised her that Kaede would also bring into the argument the fact that Itori did not like fighting. Not that she thought that she had been keeping it properly hidden, but she didn't think that he would actually keep that in mind. Well, it was appreciated nonetheless. The Kumiho herself was more focused on the fact that if she was in front the two more defensive oriented of the group, Kaede and Mashyuu, would not be able to help her if they did get ambushed and she happened to be in the front. Granted Mashyuu's reasoning was based on the idea that Itori would be better at seeing enemy attacks coming if she was in front, but the fox girl preferred to let Kaede do his job of using those shields of his to protect them from incoming hostilities over walking in front and trying her best to detect everything before it reached them. Especially since she could do that while Kaede did his thing even if she wasn't in the front.

Once it was decided that they would go with Kaede in front, Miyuki behind him, Itori after her and Mashyuu in the back in case something tried to attack them in the rear the fox girl smiled at Miyuki and Kaede as thanks for helping her out. She really would rather not be in the front. That was asking for trouble. While walking she swivelled her ears in case she could catch the sound of something approaching. Which didn't take too long to actually bear fruit as both in front and behind some strange oversized underground mammal rose up and attacked them, although both the siblings and Mashyuu didn't have much trouble getting rid of those. They didn't appear to be magical creatures. They were just large, and that was basically it. Not a real threat like those tentacles (Itori's fur bristled briefly at the thought). These guys just lived in this underground system and didn't like it when people just walked straight into their home as if they owned the place. As long as they didn't appear weak or too aggressive they shouldn't have trouble with these strange moles. Badgers. Honestly she couldn't figure out whether it was a mole or a badger. After several seconds of thinking about this problem she realized that it wasn't important in the slightest and she was thinking her time.

And then Itori came to an abrupt halt, her entire body going stiff as she picked up on something which was a lot more important than whether some strange furry creature was a mole or a badger. She didn't even notice it with her ears, but with one of her other strong sensory abilities. One which didn't belong to any part of her body. Ever since she had entered this place she had felt that there was a strange presence here, one which made her uncomfortable. She couldn't tell what it was or where it was, but she was sure that there was something here which she wouldn't want to meet if she could help it. She hadn't told the others about it because with so little information they couldn't do anything aside from being worried, which wouldn't help them. She would just tolerate the presence and hope that it'd go away, or if it didn't go away that she got some clue about what it was so she could find a way to deal with it. If she found more information she could also inform the others without it being nothing more than an unnerving warning. Now she was no longer so sure if she wanted to know more about the discomforting presence.

Several souls had just disappeared. Not just disappeared from her range: they no longer existed. She could tell the difference. Something had taken those souls and either destroyed them or consumed them. And she would be a lot of money that it was that strange presence that she had been sensing inside the dungeon since the very beginning. Which rapidly increased the threat level from 'suspiciously dangerous' to 'certainly lethal'. Of course the tentacles and the mole-badgers could also in theory kill them, but dying was nothing compared to having your soul consumed. If you died through normal means you might be forced to depart from this world, but you either went to whatever afterlife suited you or would reincarnate, depending on what fate had in store for you. And even then you could be brought back, although the longer you were dead the harder it was to get a hold of your soul and give it a body to inhabit (being reincarnated was both an advantage and a disadvantage in that aspect. If you were reincarnated you couldn't be given back your previous life, but at any point in your new life you could be granted the memories of your previous life. If handled correctly). Either way, it was not the end.

But a soul that was consumed or destroyed did not get to be reincarnated, or visit the afterlife, or be resurrected. To have your soul be pulled apart through any means was a real end, damage which could not be repaired unless one managed to grab a hold of all the pieces before their disappeared. Which was nigh impossible, since a soul which was no longer whole didn't last long before it fell apart completely and dispersed on its own. A destroyed soul could only be regained through the greatest of efforts, and even then the chance was slim. That was the kind of thing you would have to ask a god for help with, using up one wish which you might have gained from helping the god with something substantial. Itori herself had destroyed souls in the past, but it was by far the most horrible thing she remembered doing, and finding something else which was also capable of it made the fox girl inclined to turn tail and immediately leave this place.

"There is an entity in this place capable of either annihilating or assimilating souls. I had been sensing the presence of humans, weak and of no importance to us, but I was also sensing the presence of something else, and just now the souls of the humans disappeared, and not because they distanced themselves from us."

Even if she didn't have anything else to tell her allies, informing them of the fact that there was something in there which could annihilate souls was something Itori had to do immediately. That was such a big threat that even if it made them nervous she couldn't allow her allies to walk into that threat unknowing of the true danger.

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

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'Monster Dice' :

(Rolling for next set of monsters before my post.)

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

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#1 'Monster Dice' :


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#2 'Monster Dice' :


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#3 'Monster Dice' :