Wanted: Jacob Goodnight [Job | Solo]

Ah, how good it felt to work. You could get up and do something productive with your life as a mage, every now and then, and earn some money. To be fair, Vargas had not expected that it would take him so little time to get job contracts after entering Fiore, but it seemed like mages were in the need. While his previous work had involved him delivering a love letter, which Vargas had found a bit stupid, this was something worth the hassle. Apparently, there was someone named Jacob Goodnight working in the repairings in Hargeon Port. A former miner, which meant that his physique was way above what was ordinary.

Supposedly, the aforementioned man had been commiting murder, but last time he had messed up and confirmed the town's guard suspicions, which was why they had set out to hire someone to put an end to his actions. Of course, who else would be more fitting for that task than Vargas, who had a debt to repay with the Port?

-"Hm. If I were a three hundred pounds mole, where would I hide?"

[185]

For the time being, Vargas thought that the best course of action was to simply blend in with the people. He, of course, was not going to go around saying that he was some sort of hero that had come to catch the damn butcher who was indiscriminately killing people, even a guard last time. No, he was just the sword that was going to be stained so that the authorities could breathe in tranquility. Of course, the payment was abundant for a D-Rank mission, where some of the requests did not even offer jewels in return.

While Vargas was up and about and ready to help people in need, he'd need to be given an... incentive, to do so. Else, it probably was not his problem; even if his hair was white, he was not going to play the white knight in shining armor. He had better plans. The Seig made his way into the nearest tavern, hoping to at least hear something that could serve him to tail the criminal.

-I'll have one cool glass of beer, pal.

[365]

As Vargas downed the cold drink without no problem, savoring its taste and relishing in it, he tried to eavesdrop on all of the chats going around inside the bar. Well, most of them were uninteresting; just things that had happened during Hargeon's reconstruction, and the like. Almost nobody was mentioning the string of murders of the last days, which he found pretty rare... although he guessed that it was just a means of keeping calm.

He'd figure that he would need to be a bit bold about the situation and do things on his own. Judging from the information he had been given, the humongous miner did not seem to operate in a specific part of the lower docks, which meant that he would have to patrol the whole area on himself.

Of course, he was not planning on telling his intentions to those around town. It was not that he did not trust them, or that he feared they might spread the word and alert the criminal. Nope, he was simply protecting the bounty he was going to collect, while sparing them the trouble.

[551]

Not having accomplished anything, the Seig got up and exited the bar, leaving the bartender a bit dumbfounded with a simple "put it on my tab". Who in the heck was he, and how in the world did he expect him to do so if he wasn't a regular, not even a familiar face from Hargeon? Leaving the lively tavern behind, the white haired male reasoned that the best place to start would be the darkest, most dangerous looking alleys. Yes, it was way too obvious, but people did say that sometimes, when you want to hide something it's best to leave it in plain sight.

The Seig, only in his trenchcoat and without being visibly armed, slowly made his way throughout the Lower Docks of Hargeon Port, checking every ruined building, hoping to catch the assailant's attention. Given how much he seemed to weigh, he was either incredibly fat or incredibly muscular, which meant that he'd have no trouble recognizing him.

[713]

How long had he been circling the same area? The lower docks were somewhat big, but nothing he couldn't grow tired off after the third or fourth lap.
-Argh... -the male sighed in boredom, attempting to check a building yet again. That time, however, he'd have a little bit of luck.

Just as he was about to move towards the front door, someone jumped from above. Vargas, who had been caught off guard, could thankfully hop backwards, although that did not prevent the meat cleaver to partially cut his face. One second later, and he might have been the next item in the butchery.

To the one attempting to put an end to his life, a huge man indeed, that was the first time someone had avoided his killing strike.
-What?! How did you know?!
-You can try to hide, but that smell...? Ugh, gimme a break and wash your clothes and that thing after killing someone.
The male snapped the fingers of his right hand, entering Swordmaster style.

[813]
OOC: Vargas HP: 100-5=95 (took D-Rank unarmed damage from being cut, but avoiding the major part of the hit)
MP: 100%

Well, ain't that a huge target to shoot at. The so called Jacob Goodnight was indeed large, but his arsenal of weapons made him more dangerous. Vargas had been informed that it was quite a clever individual, and had proven so by attempting a sneak attack on him. The hunter became the hunted, huh?

-I don't know who you are, but you've made a great mistake coming here looking for me.
The meat hook was flailed towards him, but that time Vargas ducked, avoiding the strike.

-Oh, really? But I'm happy that you finally decided to strike. I was beginning to feel a little ignored! -the D-Rank mage stated. Through his arm, a magic pulse was discharged, just as a blade materialized on his right hand. It was a knife, not as large as Jacob's, sure, but it had something strange: red vein-like patterns that glowed, impatiently.

Vargas propelled himself forward with Ghoul, slashing the man. However, as he striked, his enemy proved outstanding reflexes as well, and imitated his backhop, partially negating the damage. Regardless, Ghoul feasted on his blood, leaving a mark that did not look like a cut, but more of a bite.

-What the hell is that thing? Did it... bite me?
-Oh, don't sweat it. It gets a little cranky when its hungry... but you are here to fix that, right?

[1036]
Vargas HP: 95%
MP: 90%
Ghoul's passive has dealt 0.5 D-Rank damage, apart from the D-Ranked hit. Swordmaster increases the damage properly.

Vargas would take the intiative right after that, sending yet another surge of power throughout Ghoul, which suddenly grew tremendously in size in the blink of an eye. Its corporeal form restructured, expanding and growing to resemble a monstruous maw with two rows of tusks following the length of the blade. As the transformation took place, Jacob's face would feature a horrorized expression; he clearly had no experience with magic, and a weapon suddenly growing many times its size was quite scary for him.

The D-Ranked mage smiled, then dashed forward, just as Goodnight threw him his meat hook. The Seig skillfully dodged it, proceeding to make a brutal upwards swing with Ghoul's empowered form. Though the Butcher tried to block it with the cleaver, the impact force was so great that he was sent flying away. At the very least, while that had caused some damage, Ghoul hadn't been able to consume part of his flesh with that strike.

[1196]

OOC: Vargas: 95% HP, 90% MP. Used Consume and Adapt, which is now on cooldown for 2 posts. Striked the foe, but was partially blocked.

Vargas made the mistake of lowering his guard and trying to follow with another move, for Jacob employed the force he had been launched with in his favour. He made sure to strongly grip the chain, which got instantly tense. Thus, the hook also flew backwards, driving itself into Vargas's upper back with tremendous power.
A growl of pain escaped his mouth, coupled with a couple drops of blood.

-Guh...! Not going down that easily, aren't we? -the man smiled, eager to continue the fighting while getting the damn hook off his back. Not wanting to fall for the same trick again, Vargas brought down his weapon in a heavy strike, destroying the joint between the hook and the chain.

In the meantime, Goodnight had gotten up, and was now rushing against him with both his meat cleaver and carving knife; it was impressive how he could use the former with one hand given its size, but he was a strong man.

[1358]
OOC: Vargas's HP: 80% (-15% from a critical strike)
MP: 90%
Destroyed target's meat hook. Ghoul has one post remaining.

Jacob would try to deliver a combination of hits using both of his blades, although Vargas employed Ghoul's new size and bulk to stop them, even if he did not prevent getting a couple of small cuts. The Seig counterattacked with a circular swing, this time managing a clean hit, sending his target to the side. However, activating its true form had rendered Ghoul unable to consume that blood.

Plus, the peculiar weapon was reaching its time limit. -Well... this ain't working as well as it should. -the Seig lamented, dismissing the weapon to let it rest for a while. As Jacob rose yet again, with a bloody stain on the right side of his ribcage (courtesy of Ghoul), Vargas smirked. If they were going melee, he had the perfect weapon.

That time, his target did not move, probably not wanting to risk it. Thus, Vargas was able to freely reach forward with his hand, attempting to "grab air", and instantly, a surge of wind emanated from his shoulder, manifiesting itself as a beam of light that took form as a long spear. Vargas grabbed Asag, spun it a couple times, and adopted the proper wielding stance.

With his free hand, he dared the foe to come at him.
-Hey, what's up? -he stated, a bit arrogant.

OOC: MP: 80%. Dismissed Ghoul, summoned Asag.

Well, Jacob was far cleverer than it seemed he was, for he did not fall for his taunt. Well, as of that moment, it would be wiser not to approach Vargas, for the wind aura that was had formed around him was not exactly a light breeze. As he stood still, the criminal could see how the strange air current sliced the part of the pavement the Seig was standing on.

-You've got some fancy weapons. I wouldn't mind taking them from your corpse. -he said, licking his lips. Well, that was pretty disgusting. -Hah, sorry, but these things are quite whimsy when it comes to who can wield them. Now, if I had a watch, I'd be condescendely looking at my wrist at this moment, so care finishing this once and for all? -the Seig taunted him once again.

Seeing how Jacob would only take a couple steps and approach carefully, he'd be the one to attack, although instead of rushing in, he'd leap up to mid-close range, from where he could easily attack with his long weapon. Vargas would try to stab the man, and although he did well avoiding the first couple strikes, he was unable to dodge the rest.

Plus, the wind was cutting his skin already, without giving him a breather from the offense. Getting over the pain, Jacob attempted to stab Vargas with the knife, but he blocked it using Asag, and leaped backwards.

OOC: Gust Aura is dealing extra damage. MP and HP remain unchanged, for now.

Both men breathed, wondering what each other's next attack would be. Vargas was beginning to think that the battle was a bit harder than he had originally anticipated at first; he certainly did not expect that guy to be a capable fighter. No wonder he had ended up killing so many people in Hargeon... normal port guards probably didn't stand a chance.

-I would really love to keep playing, but I need to get down to my next job as soon as possible. What they'll pay me for bringing you to justice ain't really worth this much trouble.
So, what do you say we... wrap things up around here? -the man said, menacingly, albeit without stopping smiling.

He rose his spear, holding it horizontally with both hands, and after breathing for a second, he began spinning it with increasing speed. At first, Jacob didn't notice anything, but the attack would soon become evident.

The spear's rotation was creating a small scale tornado with Vargas as its center. At first, he stood there, dumbfounded: all sorts of loose materials, scraps, and debris that were in the vicinity were being sucked into the wind gust... and soon, he too felt the pull.

-You bastard...! -the butcher raged, throwing his meat cleaver towards him. Vargas made a complaining "tch" sound as he braced for impact. The cleaver would make full impact, although the tornado partially weakened the impulse. Still, its blade partially dug on his chest, which hurt like hell.

However, that, although damaging Vargas greatly, would not prevent him from continuing his attack. Shortly afterwards, Jacob would find himself flying, being drawn towards Vargas with no more means to defend himself.

Vargas smirked as he saw Jacob flying towards him. However, he had to make sure to end that battle fast, or else the loss of blood could be fatal, given the area in which the cleaver had struck. Gripping his Asag with full force, the Seig would then release his Wind Raid: a single circular sweep in which the wind was released, fully hitting the murderer and sending him flying, colliding against the nearest wall.

As the attack's effect ended, Vargas would pant heavily, knowing that he had sustained way too much damage. However, Jacob seemed to be down for the count. Not knowing whether he should touch the cleaver, he'd wait until the guards had arrived... for he supposed that the ruckus caused by their fight would have not gone by unnoticed.

Effectively, five minutes later a group of three men arrived, carrying the same uniforms he had seen before while in the tavern. While they were pretty grossed out and concerned about his wound and wanted to tend to him, the white haired man dismissed them, and told them to focus on the murderer.

-He's... not dead. I'd say he's only... in sleep land for a little while. Hah...hahaha -he attempted to crack up a small joke, only to cough some blood when he laughed softly. Asag vanished from his hands He would be asked whether he could walk, so he could go with them to the nearest doctor.

However, the authorities had done bad lowering their guard, for unbeknownst to them, the butcher was rising once more, picking his trusty carving knife. Vargas, who was trying to stand up, noticed.
Jacob Goodnight had made three fatal mistakes. The first one had been killing those people. The second one had been attempting a second sneak attack. And the third one was to think that the Seig had no means to hit him from afar.

In a flash, he pushed the guard aside, dismissed Asag and suddenly summoned his demonic bow, Daeva. He noticed the world partially slowing down, for he was preparing his Snipe Shot. Afterwards, the Swordmaster took aim at the criminal's knee. With a smirk, the grayish-blue eyed man would simply mutter one word.

-Bingo.

The arrow flew, piercing the knee, as Jacob fell to the ground letting out a roar of pain. Now he would be unable to get up, which meant there would be no trouble apprehending him. Well... he had made his part, yet the payment would have to wait until he had recovered... those wounds looked real nasty.

-Take care of... beefcakes here. I... I think I need a pizza.

[MISSION ACCOMPLISHED]