An Unlikely Duo

As Zar finished off the last enemy, he slowly fell backwards onto the ground, becoming a shadow stuck to the ground. He used this time to rest up for the next batch of pirate scum who were out for their intruder's blood and those who dared disturb a ripe party of booze and smokes. Some pipe tobacco would be nice right about now, but he'd neglected to bring any on this quest when he was preparing for it. However, he still had the carved sea salt pipe within his pocket and, with a little shadow manipulation, was able to produce a 'puff' of shadowy substance to entertain his absence of real tobacco to enjoy as was intended. He was always thankful for the gift of being one with shadows, an ability that had a practical use in most situations. This mission has shown that it's suitable for more than just combat as Zar freely walked through the shadows to locate the position of the pirates to begin with, allowing Lynn and him to come as far into their base as they have and catch them somewhat off guard. Even though a few of the pirates were ready for them when they finally made it close to their outpost outside the base, they couldn't touch Zar with their measly physical weapons. Not a single one had anything magical that could do harm to his body, making him nearly invincible in this fight against the regular pirates.

His tactics have improved greatly since his last time out on a job, using his superior movement to confuse the enemies he fought, corralling them together and beating them all down with speed and precision thanks to his many abilities that covered a wide area of targets. For the most part, it had merely been showing off his capabilities to his guild master to prove he was a reliable guild mage to have on any job the fellow members of Sabertooth might ask him to accompany them on in the future with a good recommendation from the master herself. He wondered how far he'd be able to go in this new guild of his, whether he'd make it all the way to the top of the bracket, or be stuck under a ceiling that he couldn't break through. Zar's own abilities and cunning would give him the answer he sought as time went on in the guild and more experience accumulated within him. These would all come in due time as his ears picked up the vibrations of multiple foes coming his way.

Zar continued to conceal himself within the ground as the looming mob of pirates carelessly marched into his line of sight, giving off an intense aroma of beer, puke, and unwashed garments that almost brought tears of disgust to his eyes. Holding back the urge to puke and give himself away, he waited for them to walk right atop him where the bodies of their comrades used to be, and unleashed his attack, launching his dark greed spell directly under them. It blasted them onto the ground and continued to leech off of them as they squirmed in despair, being taken over by the shadows that had befallen so many of their brethren. While they continued to suffer in agony under his torment, he produced his greatsword and began to slice them to bits at his feet, watching the blood collect onto his sword, stripping them of their lives and allowing the shadows to consume their bodies. When Zar finished his task of distracting the enemy, he quickly hurried toward the sounds of battle where he suspected Lynn to be. He could hear the confused shouting of an unknown assailant as he came closer to the pirate base, already decorated with a few dead pirates by Lynn's hand no doubt. Just as he got to the base and began to search for Lynn, men began to shout again as someone had just been killed near the base. He reached out into the shadows to find out where she might stow herself away and surely enough found her within the confines of a shadow, making it easy for him to rejoin her efforts in defeating these foes. He teleported directly beside her and immediately hushed her in case she were to jump from his surprise appearance. "I've taken care of all the enemies that came up the hill and I didn't see any others on my way down here so these must be it, along with the captain," Zar said, speaking in a soft voice as to not draw attention.

From his alarming appearance before her, Zar could tell Lynn wasn't exactly pleased with him appearing from nowhere when she'd only left him mere moments ago against the enemies that were closing in upon them. What she didn't realize was how weak they were compared to his own strength in the magical field which gave him all the assets he needed to eliminate each one with precision and no mess to clean up afterward. He was a very thorough combatant. Perhaps in another life, he could have been an excellent assassin for higher, but as it stood now, he was a member of Sabertooth and would continue to bring glory to his guild till the day he died. If anything his quick completion of his personal mission only meant that they were finally about to wrap this job up with one last push into the enemy held territory and finally get the treasure they'd been looking for.

Taking a wide look across the area that had been scarred by Lynn's Ice magic, freezing the landscape into a winter horror show of mangled and broken corpses lying around as far as the eyes could see. Even with the mounds of crumbling corpses she still had left multiple pirates alive to gaze in horror at her works before turning her attention onto them. Large chunks of ice rained down from above onto the hapless souls, crushing those directly under the massive pieces and sending the others flying from the concussive forces of these solid objects smacking the ground. They tore holes the side of two grown men into the floor boards down into the ocean water below, leaving no doubt in Zar's mind that anyone hit by these would be killed instantly; well anyone not a powerful mage anyway. When the screams and shouts of the damned pirates began to die to little more than the gust from the blizzard, Zar went through the mound of bodies, poking each one with his sword to make certain they would cause them no further trouble. One by one, he tallied up the bodies and added the ones from earlier, adding up to over twenty odd pirates taken out by two lone mages. It was quite the accomplishment, especially at his low standing. Now all that's left was the inside of the pirate hideout and their inevitable meeting with the Pirate Captain.

He entered alongside Lynn, slowly entering the inside of the pirate base, and finding the interior to be quite the sight for anyone appreciative of art in its entirety. The bar was adorned with many great paintings of ships, the ocean, port cities, light houses, and even a few pictures of beautiful women stacked on the walls. These were all most likely stolen from people over the ages of this pirate crew's run of the seas, but that would all be a thing of that past after Zar and Lynn were done ransacking the hideout and finished dealing with the captain. No longer would these pirates terrorize good people, young or old, sick or healthy, and anyone else who heard the fate of these pirates would think twice before ever trying to set up a crew here again in the future. It would be far too hazardous an undertaking for anyone to attempt competing with the likes of Sabertooth and all within it with our reputation grown from this job alone.

After he had finished ranting to himself in his mind, Zar did what any self-respecting man would do in a pirate inn and raided the pantry of all its fine liquor and beer brew to celebrate the occasion later back at the guild. Once he'd stuffed all the fine booze into his shadows for safe keeping, he continued to search the hideout for any more things of merit worth confiscating from the pirates, and of course the location of the captain who ran the place. From his search on the floor they entered from, the only thing noteworthy he found were multiple sleeping quarters for the would be crew and latrines where they had once relieved themselves on a daily basis... he hoped. As he was coming back to rejoin Lynn, he heard something fall from the floor above them, shattering on the wood flooring and echoing throughout the building. He exchanged a glancing nod with Lynn as he slowly made his way up the stairs through the shadows, making sure to stay completely out of any light source's path lest he give himself away to whoever caused the crash upstairs. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, he found the captain dressed in a long dark robe and pirate hat, a skull and bones symbol with the bones being replaced with scimitars. He was a large man, eminating vast amounts of magical energy in all directions, overwhelming Zar with his very presence. It was such an intense feeling that he could feel himself being mesmerized by the power that flowed freely from him in a torrent of anger. Desperate to rid himself of this, he quickly made his way to Lynn, calling her upstairs with a whisper in her ear before he headed back to his original spot.

Unbeknownst to Zar, the captain had felt his presence as easily as Zar felt his and was waiting for him the exact moment he re-appeared where he had been spying on the man just as he became material again, and thrust his fist directly into his gut, sending him flying into the next room and coughing up blood from his insides. He was already back onto Zar before he had time to recover and hoisted him up by the scruff of his neck, grinning happily knowing full well his power was greater than Zar's. "I was wondering when my uninvited guests would be so kind as to reveal themselves to me. It's been a long time since anyone's ever given us as much trouble as the two of you have been, but it's a welcome challenge aside from my visible frustration." He turned his head toward the stair case and shouted loud enough for anyone in earshot, and possibly outside, to hear him clearly, "No need to be shy, there's plenty of room in the embrace of death for you as well. Please come join me and your friend in his last moments in his miserable existence before I snuff it out forever. It would be such a waste if none that were close to him were present when his life was taken from him at such a young age."

The pirate's proclamation of Zar's death gave him just enough time to sap enough of his life force away from him and into his own body for his wounds to heal and allow him to teleport out of his grasp, slamming his blade butt into the back of his skull, sending him into the ground, and backing up into the captain's quarters to prepare for his retaliation. When he was a far enough distance away, he decided it would be in Lynn's best interest if Zar kept the man occupied until she was able to catch him off guard and finish him herself. He knew from the first punch and the quickness that he was recovering from the blow Zar had dealt him that he was far beyond his power level, and would kill him as soon as he began trying. The only real option he had at his disposal was that of insults, and as many annoying attacks he could throw at the superior pirate mage.

"What a sad day it must be when a great pirate captain is outsmarted by a mage of considerably less strength than that of his own, and to add insult to injury, is caught off guard enough to be slammed into the ground in the same instance. What with us slaughtering all your men, stealing your booze, and thoroughly beating your ugly mug to a pulp, today is just not the day to be a low life pirate scum," laughed Zar, bellowing loudly throughout the building. The captain, gritting his teeth and turning red from frustration, exploded in rage at the mention of booze, glaring menacingly at Zar. "You kill my men, ransack my hideout, and you steal my bloody booze?! There will be nothing left of you sorry milk drinkers when im through decorating the walls with your entrails!" The captain's power suddenly spiked upward, causing the room to shudder and shake, throwing glassware and ceramic vases on the ground, shattering into pieces and being dragged toward the pirate captain. He clasped his hands together, shouting something about making cannons just as a cannon appeared aiming directly at Zar, ready to fire directly into him. Knowing full well the damage a cannonball could inflict on a person, Zar activated his powers and melded into shadows just as the cannon shot at him.

Just before a large glowing black orb shot out from the cannon and sailed toward Zar, who had transformed into his shadow form, was less afraid of the attack then he had been before since its physical properties would pass right through him, but something was off. He wondered for a moment why a mage would possess such a crude magic that wouldn't affect anyone with resistances to physical attacks. Just like that, it clicked in his brain what he had just uttered; it was still magical, so his form would only reduce the impact of the magic fired from the cannon, and not pass through him like everything else they had encountered. By the time he had realized this, he was barely out of range of the cannon's blast before it struck the wall next to him, sending shrapnel into his leg and propelling him into the wall opposite of him, causing his head to spin rapidly and pain to shoot up from his wounded leg. He hadn't felt pain like this in quite some time, the mind-numbing feeling of bone and flesh being ripped from his body was a real occurrence in his life now, one he wouldn't live to reflect on if Lynn didn't come to his aid in a timely fashion.

Total WC: 10,482/12,000

(Lynn didn't want the treasure)
With the pirates all eradicated, and the room's contents all for their's to take, Zar began looting the captain's quarters of anything that wasn't bolting down. During this frantic comb-over of the room, he stumbled on the locked drawer of the pirate's desk and smashed his fist into the lock rather than spend time looking for the key. In it, he found the map to the treasure they had been sent to look for. He laid the map out on the desk and traced around it with his finger, following the dotted line from where they were to the X that marked where they had decided to stash their pirate treasure on this island. According to the map, it wasn't far from where they entrance to the base was and Zar showed the map to Lynn as they made it back to the surface. From the entrance to the pirate den, the map told them to start heading back into the jungle and to start digging near the edge of where we first entered it. Zar half expected to find more guards hanging around the dig site, but it would seem they truly had killed off all the pirates in this location. Hopefully, it would be a great enough deterrent from any other pirates trying to make trouble for the citizens of Hargeon Town.

The map directed them to the trunk of the largest tree on the island situated above the rest of the forest, overlooking everything else. Its roots sunk deep into the earth and one might speculate from where it was located that it was connected to the rest of the jungle and the island itself from this location; the perfect spot to hide some buried treasure to dig up once it was time to sell it off. Zar began to dig, the sun beating down heavily on them as he worked tirelessly to bring their goal to the surface. With each patch of dirt, he dug, the hole grew deeper and deeper, swallowing Zar further into its depths. He'd already gone 12 ft deep into the sandy ground with not the slightest sign of anything being buried under the tree. He was about to give up and start digging somewhere else when his shovel made a clanging noise upon the surface of something. He dug around what he'd smacked his shovel on and found the roots of the tree hanging onto something hidden by the roots that had grown over it. With a swift flick of his greatsword, the roots cut away from the treasure chest, and Zar was able to bring it to the surface. He smashed the lock off the container and opened it up. A bright glimmering light emanated from the chest, blinding Zar and Lynn to its contents until their eyes adjusted to it. Inside was something unexpected to both of them; a shimmering ' One Piece' swimsuit. This was the legendary treasure men had fought and died over? Zar couldn't believe it and laughed heartily at their find. He shoved the one piece into the chest again and hopped on Zlatan to head back into town. When they arrived, the old man greeted us graciously and paid us our wages, but also allowed us to keep the one piece for ourselves as an added bonus for our work. We thanked the old man and set off for the guild hall to tell the story of our grand adventure for the One Piece.

Final WC: 12,134/12,000