Still in the Shadows (Job/Aura)

"I was only mostly dead."

"COME ON!" On his journey to his next destination, the young mage decided to make a stop to attempt once more in vain to somehow reawaken his old powers. Previously all of his attempts were made in a passive state with no evident danger nearby, or some kind of stimulus. While at the current moment there was no danger, he still attempted to physically warm up his body and give his experiment one more try. He stood shirtless, several meters off the beaten path, and swiftly delivered several punches to the air. He followed this up with a high roundhouse kick, and a crushing hell into the ground. Shortly afterwards, pretending as though there was an opponent, he pulled himself back before rushing forward to deliver an uppercut. He had been going at this for several minutes now, with no success or avail in activating his power, and he was on the brink of giving up. He gave it one more attempt, going through his flurry of attacks once more. While his strength and speed were nothing to be too impressed by, especially by higher up mages, his skill and precision were ultimately unmatched. After tiring his body once more, he focused his magical willpower and clenched both of his fists. He channeled in a bitter hatred, and attempted once more: "Black Devil!"

Once again, nothing happened. Defeated, Deniel only groaned, and sunk down to the ground, resting his back against a tree's trunk. "Great..." After a few minutes of resting his body and groaning out of frustrating, he once again continued on his miniature journey. It was frustrating to him, without a doubt; what seemed like only yesterday he could fly across the world in a matter of minutes, and go wherever he wanted, do whatever he wanted. Now he was reduced down to this. At the current moment he was on his way to the Hunter Village, seeing if he could pick up a relatively easy hunting job, and see if his powers would fully activate if he were placed in some kind of danger. The more he practiced and attempted, however, the more he began to doubt himself, and contemplate whether or not he'll ever be the man that he once was. He sighed, and opened his mouth to speak, but quickly held his breath back; once again, he reminded himself that he had no one to talk to anymore.

After trekking on for another hour or so, he finally reached the Hunter Village. Not much to his surprise, there were bounties posted everywhere, groups of hunters rallying and discussing plans, and things seemed pretty uptight. There was no imminent threat or danger, but the people in this village lived for the hunt. Gazing around for a few moments, he made his way to one of the closest hubs in the village, inquiring about any easy hunts in the nearby area. He was given a lead to a group of Vulcans that had gotten more daring in the past few days, and took to stealing from villages. "Why hasn't anyone dealt with them?" Deniel inquired out of curiosity; he had no doubt in his mind a group of Vulcans should prove easy enough for him to defeat, even in his current state. But that's what shocked him about them. Why were they still going about? "We've got our mind preoccupied on current things... but if you could do some pest control and take care of these things, we'd be greatful." Deniel ultimately agreed, figuring that a group of vulcans was a decent place for him to start, and see if the thrill of battle could get him on his feet again.

Not sticking around the village for much longer, he made a quick journey to the forest where the Vulcans were last sighted, looking for any signs to see in the forest itself so he could track them down himself.

Notes

"I was only mostly dead."

A testament to his skill and previous body of knowledge was effectively tracking these Vulcans in the forest nearby. There were obvious signs to look for when tracking down Vulcans, specifically their large footprints and slightly destructive nature. The afternoon sun was held high, brightening up the woods so he could still make out some things that would perhaps be invisible to most's eyes. He tracked down a collection of several footprints, all traveling together in a singular direction, followed by a few broken up tree branches. He wasn't certain what they were up to, but it was obviously Vulcans based on their footprint sizes. There were quite a few of them, and some of them had larger footprints than others, signaling that were were perhaps young ones among adults in the traveling group. The pacing between their feet implied that they weren't in a hurry to do anything at the moment, perhaps relocating themselves. "Means they're not expecting to be hunted. I can get the element of surprise." He shook his head, awkwardly realizing he had been talking to himself out loud, and not just in his mind. Focusing once again, he continued on the path ahead.

After a few more minutes of following both their footprints and signs of their presence, his ears and senses caught hold of a battle already underway. It could have perhaps been the vulcans themselves fighting among one another--perhaps for competition--which could ultimately work in his favor. He hurried his pace, and crouched low to the ground at the same time, careful as to not alert anyone or anything of his presence. As he got closer, it was more apparent to him that the Vulcans weren't fighting each other, but something. It was completely possible someone else had decided to take on the hunt as well, in which case teamwork would be invaluable. Ignoring the traditional forms of tracking, he followed his ears and sense of Magical power, picking up on it very shortly. Eventually his eyes caught view of the fight, and swiftly his himself behind the trunks of the trees. He peaked out, and moved only when he knew no one would notice him, seeing and listening in close on the fight that ensued. A woman was fighting a group of Vulcans, young ones to be exact. They were small in stature, and obviously not mature. This was unusual... young Vulcans would never travel without adults.

He was no hidden behind a trunk close by, the Vulcans having their back to him, and he listened in. Obviously the woman was at a hefty advantage, going as far as taunting the three primates into giving her a challenge. He cautiously peaked around the corner of the trunk, gazing out to see how things were; he saw the backs of the primates, and the woman in front of them. What had alarmed him, however, was that there was another one in the vicinity; an adult. The three primates in front of her made no move because they were keeping her back to the adult Vulcan creeping up behind her, and preparing to attack. Making no more hesitation, Deniel quickly sprinted out from the trunk of the tree, moving his legs as fast as he could. The primates were larger than him, in spite of his height, and it was just enough to give him leverage. He leaped onto the shoulders of the middle Vulcan, jumping off of it and diving right towards the Adult Vulcan that had been creeping up behind her. "Watch out!" He called out, and clenched his palm into a fist. A maroon red glow of Magical energy surrounded his right arm, and changed its form into a black reptilian and jagged scaled arm. He came crashing down onto the Adult Vulcan that had prepared to attack the young woman, delivering a punch with all of his strength, as well as backing it up with a spell that enhanced his melee power.

The attack hurt the Vulcan a lot more than it had hurt him, but it didn't deny the fact that it hurt like hell for him to deliver a punch like that. He landed on the ground with a roll to help break his fall, staggering the adult Vulcan briefly, and provoking the yonger vulcans to begin attacking once more. The Adult let out a very brief, yet quite loud, cry. "He's calling for more... get ready!" He stood up tall once more and clenched his right fist, standing up to the much taller adult Vulcan in front of him, and even letting loose his own battle cry. This was more of a reflex than anything, due to the fact that he was used to this Take Over consuming his whole body, and a mighty roar escaping. Instead, what came out was quite vicious, but human nonetheless, and did nothing to faze the Vulcan as the two of them began to engage in physical combat. The young mage was very swift, nimble, and skilled beyond anyone at his power level. His power was gone, but his skill was not, and as a result, he moved in a very fluid and graceful way, avoiding the Vulcan's attacks with relative ease, and delivering strikes with the utmost precision.

Of course, this single Adult vulcan had taken up all of his attention, and while the young ones--obviously weaker than the woman--began to attack her once more, the area was quickly surrounded by several more Vulcans, both young and adult alike. The two were surrounded, and the only way out was to fight their way through.

Notes