❀ Pineapples are in my head ❀ Zenshin ❀

He had been relaxing, the summer sun being wonderful for the plants in his greenhouse the days had been long, dirt still seemed to leech into every line of his skin despite the consistent use of gardening gloves. Most knew where to find him, a small fish pond inside the warmth of the greenhouses, a low stone wall was the area where he often lounged. Trailing his fingers and occasionally food across the surface with odd little fish each shimmering creature would give up, flicking their colours around as they swarmed the food, nibbling occasionally at the tips of his fingers a soft peace crossed his face. It was only morning, perhaps no later than eleven most of the guild were well awake. The odd commotion as a couple or small group would slink into the greenhouses were normal, many came here to read or study, whilst others wanted something to draw or paint. Like himself there were those who just wished for a quiet corner upon the ship to linger with their own thoughts. He barely put a thought into those who entered, leaving a few pollen speckles to keep track of them incase someone decided to ruin his blooms. One of those who entered however walked with a purpose, a heavy step which stopped so close to him Lester raised his head to glance at the messenger. ”Sir, we have a message, it's really important.”  The note was simply written, from one of the secretarys who worked for the guild. Him and another mage had been assigned to an emergency distress signal which had been noted in the nearby village. Simply named ‘haunted village’ there had been sightings of monsters and horrid creatures wreaking havoc. A small ship would take them down to land if they both met at the bridge in front of the guild hall. With a hurried thanks he had swept up the cloak, the material had barely a moment to settle before he was hurriedly making his way towards the guild hall. The note had mentioned the other mage assigned to this protection detail. Vincent, A rank wasn’t he, teamed up with that squatter who was still in Rin’s room. Why confused him, the guild had plenty of rooms but, well if someone wanted to share it was up to them. Sharing rooms thought, it reminded him of childhood nights in a room with many siblings. More people sleeping together would lead to not needing as much heating, warmth was shared between brothers.

A couple of benches around, none of them holding the mage he had in mind, it was for the best that they had both been assigned to it, whilst his partner to be wasn’t here yet the neatly folded notice still in his hand did reveal a little more information. Plant like creatures had been spotted below, pumpkin like it was described as a Halloween like scene, with the village now not only haunted but at risk of being destroyed. Had something mutated? There was a chance someone had taken interests similar to him and started looking into the realm of plants and creatures. If so the Haunted village had not been a bad choice, anything happening there would be noted as a mysterious event brushed away due to occurring in the village which was notoriously haunted. He had a few moments before the other arrived, perhaps the note or ilac message had  caught vincent off guard. He himself had been roughly brought out of an idyllic peace. His hands ran through the mane like mop of hair, bringing it together before he nimbly worked to divide and braid it, indeed it sounded like a battle to him as they were monsters not men who he could reason with.

Vincent soaked in a rectangular tub of hot water the size of a room and relaxed his head on a small piece of smooth stone. While he didn't live on board the Crystal Swan ship, the wizard often used the rooms inside for research or... other activities due to their incredibly versatile nature. With his eyes closed, Vincent began to think of the recent stresses that had been plaguing him before allowing himself to fully relax. The research into earthen magic that I had planned on doing today can wait.... I suppose I underestimated the gripping power of a hot bath. Before he submerged himself fully, the door on the opposite side of the room burst open and a man with a satchel could be seen standing at the entrance. The white haired wizard stared at the young man who stared right back at him. This awful scene lasted for what felt like an hour before the messenger spoke up. "I'm sorry to interrupt you sir, but there's an emergency. I'm afraid that you're one of the few that can handle it. I'll just leave the note... here...." The carrier, clearly embarrassed, hurried out of the room. Must be some emergency if he barged in here like that - I could have sworn I locked the door.... The researcher waded to the other side of the pool and dried his hands with a previously prepared towel so as not to damage the note before reading it thoroughly. The Haunted Village has been besieged by... pumpkin monsters? I suppose it makes sense that the gardener would be assigned as my partner, then. I wonder if I can't get a couple of those seeds to replicate the effect in isolation...

His mind began to think on all of the possibilities presented by raising a cursed crop despite his limited gardening experience. He would have to ask his partner about it, though he wondered if he couldn't grow his own beast and domesticate it to some extent. I suppose that earth magic research won't wait after all... Vincent, more or less dry at this point, was back in his typical robed attire and was briskly walking towards the bridge in front of the guild hall. And this makes all three of the Sugar Squad members. The wizard had never once stepped foot in Lester's garden for some reason. If pressed, he might give a response relating to respecting another artisan's workspace, though he was well aware that the gardener didn't mind guests. Vincent, on the other hand, wanted complete privacy in his own work. While he had never before seen the white haired sugar slayer, he immediately knew who he would be working with upon arriving to the small ship that would be taking the two to the Haunted Village. So young and all of that power... though I suppose the same could be said about me. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you Lester. I'm Vincent Gauss and we'll be working together to stop this disaster from proceeding any further," Despite being certain that the slayer knew his name, Vincent still felt as though he should properly introduce himself to such an esteemed member of the guild. "I feel better battling these so-called 'living pumpkins' alongside our resident expert on all things plant-like." He would gesture to his partner so that the two could enter the ship and continue their chat on the way to their destination, for there was no time to waste. The damage to the village was likely already severe and their duty was, rather than saving the village, more a containment of the threat so that it couldn't spread beyond - in Vincent's mind, at least.

WC: 619

So that was him, white hair of a similar colour yet not nearly as long it simply danced across the other mages shoulders, he couldn't deny that the robes suited Vincent, flowing material swirling around a mage was somehow perfect. Every mage interested in the development and growth of information deserved to own a set of draping robes. Vincent Gauss, he was right thankfully, it would have been embarrassing if he had accidentally called someone by name that wasn't theirs, he spoke rather formally, Although he was an ace there wasn't much of a gap between himself and the other that he knew of. Nor had he defeated a great enemy, just a pretty boy with an interest in flowers and some skill he gained due to his lack of success to proceed to the next step in life. Resident expert was an apt description however, he wasn't going to be humble over his skill with pot and seeds. After all there was a reason that he was a guardian of the greenhouses. "My pleasure as well Vincent, it would be best that we deal with this promptly before it spreads any further. I do believe we've been lent a small ship that will take up down to land." With a turn he motioned towards the aircraft hovering nearby, glancing back only once to check that the other was following as he strode with purpose and speed towards their transport. It would take them to the outskirts of the village, thankfully giving them enough space between the action and their landing to get a look at things, forty to fifty pumpkin like creatures had flung themselves across the villages, roofs and flowers alike being torn apart by green tendrils.

With a glance to his side Lester looked towards Vincent. "There will be a boss in there somewhere. However I think we should clear out some of the weaker enemies. We can get used to each others fighting style and then when we fight the stronger pumpkins at least we won't get swamped" A slight chuckle as he shook his head, muttering a brief word which was almost spoken as a explanation of shock. "Pumpkins of all things." He could summon and requip yet it would be better to leave them in until they took on a few of the stronger ones. He simply stood at the large door of the ship, quite glad that the village had streetlights illuminating the pumpkin horde. "I'm thinking that maybe we should start at the edge of the village over there? Its a large courtyard, low roofs and not too many. Just a few stragglers. Clear around the edges and leave an exit route before going in?" He wasn't too sure of the experience Vincent had gained in the field. Each mage tending to take on jobs that fitted their liking this was another mage that he would have to become familiar with. He wasn't a fan of using a lot of equipment, yet somehow the two creatures had taken a liking to him, acting as pets. A slight hand rested on the green sash secured around his waste, the warm feeling of Val settling any nerves the beast would rest until he came across trouble. On the other hand a small summon crawled out from his neck, the fluffy belly of a sugar glider attaching itself to his neck. "Vincent, meet Bartholomew, he's a celestial summon of sorts. I mainly work with debuffing the enemy and buffing you. I'll work to immobilise and reduce the enemies power, they won't hurt you very much. On the other hand I'll buff us both so we can neutralise them with a simple poke. Many of my spells have a side affect of an extra heal so you'll be fine in that department. I'll probably bring out a few summons soon as well, may I ask what type of magic you use?" The enquiry was valid, however much he was curious and wished to know more about the other it would be important to know at least vaguely what role they would both play. Although this was just how he was used to doing things, many of the villagers had barricaded themselves in houses from what he could see, yet there was no problem with that as the houses were rather well built. The Haunted Village, supposedly there were spirits in the large temple at the top of the hill, none in the village left the area for fear of the spirits and their homes were built as if it were a war ground. No harm would come to them for a while by the looks of it.


Weak, Three Patch hounds: 6  (18)
Normal, Two Pumpkin fangs: 10  (20)
Strong: Pumpkin goliath: 3
Boss, Jack the rotten: 1

The member 'Lester Drynedi' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

---

'Monster Dice' :

The two wizard arrived at the village being besieged, though thankfully it seemed as though the residents were no strangers to such threats. Lester got right to business in formulating the beginnings of a battle strategy by suggesting that they clear out some of the weaker beasts before making a move on the "king," so to speak. Vincent respected this about the other white haired wizard as he would have done the same given just a bit more time. The ace continued and introduced a sugar glider as Bartholomew as well as giving the scholar a brief run down of the kind of magic in which he specialized. He's adorable.  "It's a nice coincidence that you specialize in such a magic. I'm not going to bore you with the details given that time is against us, but simply put I manipulate space and the objects in it. I use this manipulation, in part, to strengthen the use of few, but powerful, weapons. Ideally I will be no more than a meter away from our enemies." If things got particularly dangerous then the space wizard had a few, admittedly more flamboyant, tricks up his sleeve though he didn't believe that the situation would ever call for it given Lester's propensity for healing and strengthening. It's finally time to put all of that training to use. This is the first proper combat assignment I've taken since that incident with the Yōkai and even then I avoided such confrontations whenever possible. This is what I've been training for.

"The idea you gave upon arrival is quite strategically minded and I will support it wholeheartedly. It's best to deal with these hordes with our cunning and fighting small amounts of beasts in a large open space is definitely playing to our advantage. Allow me to change into something a bit more... suited to fighting." As soon as he said this, Vincent requipped his Master's Robes and the newest addition to his arsenal, Space Breaker. While his robes didn't exactly give off the appearance of "battle ready armor," they were exactly that. These threads strengthened his magical power pool, a boost that was necessary on account of the related strain that manipulating space placed on him. Without another word he ran towards the open courtyard that botanist had pointed out earlier, and, sure enough, there were three packs of what appeared to be mutated pumpkin wolves. They had multiple eyes and a vile blue liquid oozed from their maws. Vincent saw what happened to the ground on which this aforementioned blue ooze fell and promptly determined to try his best to avoid being bitten. That blue substance seems to be incredibly toxic for it to eat through stone like that...

Vincent, making sure that his partner was close, got close enough to get the attention of the three packs of pumpkin wolves which growled and snarled at him. Without much more warning, the three pumpkin mutations were upon him. The three beasts made up one unit, it seemed, and the cursed creatures seemingly knew about the effectiveness of pack hunting due to their synchronous movements. There was one directly in front of the requip mage and two behind him at his five and seven o'clock. As they were gearing up to make their move, Vincent made his by quickly lunging forward and driving his blade deep into the face of he patch hounds. It made a guttural crying sound before its glowing blue eyes faded into black. His blade was glowing a bright blue which was clearly emanating from the very same ooze that the monsters leaked from their mouths. This ooze was not only an acidic saliva, but also their blood. Quite curious. I need to be extra careful, then, if they bleed this horrible substance. My sword might be magically reinforced, but I have no such luxury. Thrusting attacks are ideal, but if I need to slash at them it should always be downwards so as not to splash myself or Lester with this wretched liquid. After he finished his brief analysis of the Patch Hounds the two behind him began their attack in unison. The one on his left began to spit that familiar blue acid while the one on his right lept to try and bite his head. In one swift movement he skewered the one jumping towards him and moved his body such that it blocked the acidic projectile. After that motion he would unsheathe his sword from the pumpkin wolf and jump forward to strike a singly decisive blow to the third member of the pack. His blade entered through the top of the pumpkin head and exited the bottom, once again ridding its cursed eyes of their blue color and leaving another waste of squash in a collapsed pile on the ground. "We should take care of these creatures as cleanly as possible. I'm sure you noticed it too - their blood is seemingly quite toxic. Being anything but perfectly refined in our dispatching of them could lead to some unfortunate accidents."

WC: 1463

HP: 650
MP: 747.5

Weak, Three Patch hounds: 5  (15)
Normal, Two Pumpkin fangs: 10  (20)
Strong: Pumpkin goliath: 3
Boss, Jack the rotten: 1

A pleasant coincidence indeed, with the other using their magic to strengthen and build on the strength of their weapons perhaps they could see this through with minimal pumpkin juice splattering. Strategically minded was what he had been aiming for after all, he hadn't been good at this sort of thing up until recently. With that in mind he had approached each new job as if there was a small brief beforehand, just spending a few moments planning to see if he could push himself. It was a slight amusement, for often he would just stand there with no plan, and go in pretending that he knew which course to take. So requip magic, some robes which were indeed more like fighting attire than the mans previous outfit. He knew by far that not every outfit was what it appeared, many of the outfits he had seen and touched had leeched magical power, and he was off, simply leaping towards the open courtyard towards a few packs or horrendous beasts. A slight smile was all the indication he gave before swiftly following behind Vincent, he paused a moment though, taking in sight of what they were about to face it was intriguing to say the least. A pack of horrific overgrown pumpkins, well he sure wasn't in the mood for pie now, perhaps a good little smoothie would be better, put them through the blender. Monkey like feet at the ends of their bulging tumorous body, although pumpkin like in appearance with that lovely orange hue and the unmistakable texture he doubted what was inside would be as endearing.

Perhaps it would seem rude however he had stayed back, not in an act of cowardice but more as to see how he fought, and how the enemies attacked. A toxic blood which remained rather corrosive even after death, they hunted in packs of three and no doubt many smaller trio's would make up their larger group.With a sharp nod at the other he let his finger softly stroke the sugar glider which was so sweetly clinging to his neck. It would be better to save Cancer for later. The tumour was after all not the best first impression, no, he wished to appear as the gentleman he was. His hair safely tucked away and both of his pets secure he could bring the watch out later, it would do no good now they could deal with these ones in a much simpler way. Glancing around he scanned the area, noting every defence, route out and pathway in. The place was riddled with gaps between houses and broken fences. Brief neon blue glimpses, and shades of orange were seen flitting in between the buildings. He could go close quarters, whilst the damage would still hurt him perhaps he could just regrow anything that was burnt away by the acid.

Two, no three packs, yet they were rather foolish indeed. Two of the packs approaching from the same little allyway, "For honor." It would work on himself nicely, now Vincent was one he considered an ally the man too would feel a warmth within him, similar to that a child feels when around their mother, protected by a great force, a warmth, the love. A simplistic blade in his hand which sat on the border between long knife and short sword he focused his gaze on two of the three packs. Six of the pumpkin like canines all clustered together. A Gentleman's Sweets, eyes softly changed shape, flowering and blooming into a little bowtie. It was an odd little thing, happened every time he used the magic. Yet that mattered not as six of the nine patch hounds found themselves surrounded by sugar, it flowed up from the ground, a molten mess securing around their legs whilst condensing from the air around them crystallising and keeping them down.  "It will not hold for long, you are protected though." A slight smile, six of them immobilised although not for long and the remaining three had hesitated. It would be best to run Vincent down as far as he could, then heal him and restore the mans mana as well. Rather lovely indeed as if they were a weapon and a power station.

It was a bad habit at times, yet he slipped into it again, thinking too far ahead only ended in being wrong. Yet it would be fun, once he brought it outthe pocket watch would soon do its work and drain the life of those he called enemies, causing them to grow old or young, or would it be better to slowly remove all mp from the pumpkin beasts, leaving them unable to move and weakened.



Weak, Three Patch hounds: 5 (15)
Normal, Two Pumpkin fangs: 10 (20)
Strong: Pumpkin goliath: 3
Boss, Jack the rotten: 1

(Used Gentleman's Honor,  Gentleman Sweets)

Not only did sugar flow out of the ground and keep the remaining two packs from moving around, Vincent felt himself overcome with a feeling of safety which was presumably on account of his partner's magic. Vincent watched at the two packs of pumpkin wolves tried their hardest to free themselves from the cooled sugar around their legs. Now that he and his partner were relatively safe, he turned his head back towards the sugar mage and commented on the current situation. "Sugar? I suppose that would explain your role in the Sugar Squad. If you have any more of those immobilizing spells I think this is going to be a relatively easy job since I don't exactly have to fight my opponents at a dangerously close range. Since you made it so that these beasts can't move I can swiftly and cleanly eliminate them." After this little intermission the white haired mage turned back towards the six pumpkin monsters which were still stuck in the ground. His sword floated away from his hand and hovered two meters off the ground over the leftmost beast relative to him. The sword turned in the air so that the tip of the blade was perpendicular to the ground and it quickly zoomed downwards into the pumpkin head below it.  His blade removed itself from the head and positioned itself in a similar fashion over the "threat" to the right of the downed foe and fell once again. This process proceeded until there were a total of nine downed bodies in front of the two Crystal Swan magi. Whatever corrosive blood there was on his weapon after the last kill would glow a brighter blue before dissipating into brilliant magical crystal that would further dissipate into the air around Vincent, replenishing the magical power he had spent to requip the blade.

There were still many more enemies to go, but at the rate things were going the two would have the cursed village cleared out in a jiffy. His sword floated back into his right hand and he crouched down. The robed mage jumped up and went about five meters into the air before coming to a complete stop which gave him the chance to survey the village for potential advantageous positions or particularly dangerous threats. All across the village he could see that there were giant towers of vines which supported giant pumpkin heads which were at the same height as him. Before he could get a good look of the area, a few of these vines spotted him and launched fireballs in his direction. He got hit by one of them before realizing he was in danger and instinctively launching himself towards the ground at high speeds before stopping himself right before his feet touched the ground so as to not incur any damage via gravity. Miraculously enough, Vincent found that he relatively unscathed due to the protection granted to him by his white haired companion. "You have my thanks for presumably placing a protection spell on me, Lester. There are quite odd looking creatures that are towering over the village in various places. They can shoot what appeared to be fireballs which makes me wonder if all of these creatures have a light affinity for fire magic. Either way, I would proceed with extra caution around enemies which seemingly can only strike in melee range." After this little observation was over, the scholar felt the ground quake once, then twice. Something large was coming in their direction. Could it be that those heads attached to vines are motile? He would soon find out that this was not the case.  

A giant pumpkin monsters that stood about five meters tall crashed through a few abandoned buildings which enclosed the courtyard in which he stood. Its head was a conglomeration of differently carved, but equally large pumpkins with menacing faces. Vines twisted around its neck and extended downwards and outwards to provide the otherwise inanimate squash with the ability to move and strike. It's... massive.... Vincent had never seen such a hulk of a monster before and was frozen in place since the moment he saw it. Where do I even begin? From where he stood it seemed as though the pumpkin Goliath's legs were likely its weak point due to their relative thinness compared to the rest of the body, but they still appeared to be quite thick. Before he could come up with a working strategy, he felt a tight grip around his ankle and was shocked as the world turned upside down and a thick vine was uprooted from underneath the stoned courtyard. It had dug this vine underground to catch him off guard and was successful. The white haired mage released his sword and it darted away from him before returning like a boomerang to cut him free from his dangling state, but before it could slice through the vines holding him the monster swiped it away and into the ground next to Lester. Vincent could see that the vine holding him was attached to the Goliath's back as he attempted to dig his sword out of the stone. Before he could successfully retrieve his weapon, the monster wrapped his massive hand around the upside down mage and was preparing to channel a powerful blast of fire magic through its prey.

WC: 2357

HP: 650
MP: 762.5

Weak, Three Patch hounds: 3 (9)
Normal, Two Pumpkin fangs: 10 (20)
Strong: Pumpkin goliath: 3
Boss, Jack the rotten: 1

It did seem to be going well, from what he could tell the offensive abilities of the other were more than adequate, although with the amount of invasion this would be no quick sweep, there was a chance they would have to fall back at some points to rest, or take on more surprising tactics if all the beasts banded together at once. It was only expected though, he only wished that he had more experience with battle before coming to something like this, there would be a point in time where sugar could not overcome the enemy. Immobilisation spells indeed, his mouth perked into a grin as the male nodded. "I have a few yes, just make sure to dispatch whatever is caught" He had a few of them, yet he preferred not to overuse them, otherwise the two would likely find themselves reliant on it. It was impressive, the way that the sword moved it appeared to be so fluid, the control over the blade was indeed rather delicate. He could have gone up, yet it was with careful actions that he decided to investigate the solom remains of the creatures, with a smooth movement of his fingers plush leaves of a dark green hue brought the cleanest and most intact of the bodies over. It was a good chance for him to take a look into how these malfunctions had come about. Yet the feeling of movement was what brought him out of a trance like state, the pollen in the air was disturbed, he had a moment of thoguth to gather the scene around him, visualisation like a map before spinning around to see the other white haired mage descend from his previous post in the sky. Fireballs had come for the other, he watched with care, ready at a moment to provide support however thankful that the other seemed to take care of himself. It was a relief, now being sure that they could take care of themselves if need be. The report was well worded, with the information necessary fully included. Fire affinity, he wasn't directly weak to it thankfully due to the hybrid of his magic, nor was he more powerful against it. The shaking of the ground was like an overflow to the sense, he was still getting used to an ability which had formed within him, perceptiveness to the point where a 3D map formed in his mind with shapes and outlines of everything in the area. He could turn it off for now.  

He had been rather relaxed indeed, yet that was before a towering beast decided to stumble through an series of abandoned builds. "Oh, well there's that" It had what, two, three faces, giant pumpkins so big he could make muffins, cake, oh so much could be done with that amount of pumpkin. "Vincent!" Well no more could be done, he just had to go for it. With a double action the sugar glider teleported from his spot on Lesters face to somewhere on the other mages body, it would provide a heal at least. He would have to keep the other defensive over time spell, especially since the other was still active it wouldn't be wise to use them both at once. Whilst he could heal and replenish Vincent if he were to be hurt or tired it barely mattered if he was about to be dissected starting with a prompt head removal!

The plants around him bunched up, a tulip digging out then bringing up the sword to Lesters hand as his own floral vine pushed the white haired mage up to where his partner was about to become toasted. A sharp and fast charred cook instead of the satisfying slow roast he adored. Oh dear, he was hungry, he launched himself up, nimbly landing on the claw like plant which he could only vaguely liken to a humans hand. with a few roots growing over his feet to secure it Lester extended the sword with care, it was hard to pass it down to where the other could reach yet he trusted the plants he controlled to keep it from dropping until Vincent could wriggle enough to get his sword from where he offered it. Yet his brain was focused on a small key tattoo on the wrist of his left, slight mutterings came forth as a black smoke emerged from the marking "On the binding of contracts signed and things carried out.." whilst some of it faded into mutterings a ribbon formed around his wrist, "thy servant called, emerge, Cancer." Heavy and black like the iron keys of old the small key strung to his wrist by the ribbon shivered. A tumorous creature bubbling forth from the black hues. Its claws latched into the pumpkins arm as Lester looked down at Vincent. A few seconds well spent yet he could feel the heat of the pumpkin charging they would be just fine fighting ontop of an overgrown pumpkin. Gentleman's Photosynthesis. The spell was simple yet he trusted that it would teleport Vincent from where he was stuck to just higher than him on the arm.

"I have a lot of buffs active at the moment, as long as you stay withing fifteen or twenty meters of me you'll find your spells do about a hundred and fifty times more damage. Im thinking we go up, the creature will be unlikely to attack its own head, we could cut the vines off. Or if you want we could also go back and get some range between us? Scout it out more and pinpoint a weakness.
The tumorous humanoid he had summoned, cancer, stood about as high as his waist, it was crawling up, yet judging from the dark red balls forming on its body it was ready to set off. "My apologies for the fowl creature I have brought out." Indeed it was fowl. For the zodiac summon pushed out small blobs of dark red and black colours, they flew everywhere, splattering against enemy as well as the two boys. He disliked it personally, yet the sludge was absorbed into his body. His feet felt lighter as Lesters speed was buffed and he was healed, whilst it would do the same to Vincent if he was hit once or more a satisfied look crossed his face, the pumpkin would be busy enough with the damage dealing tumors, and slowing down by the looks of it.



Weak, Three Patch hounds: 3 (9)
Normal, Two Pumpkin fangs: 10 (20)
Strong: Pumpkin goliath: 3
Boss, Jack the rotten: 1

Vincent, thankfully, found himself on the giant's arm with Bartholomew clinging gently to his right shoulder. "I am in your debt, Lester" said the other white haired mage before snapping his fingers and causing his sword to dematerialize from an area near where the gardener once stood. It reappear with a flash in his right hand. He crouched down and prepared to dash up the arm and towards the head of the monster before hesitating. "Wait. Did you say Cancer? As in the constellation? As in the golden zodiac key?!" Not only did Vincent know one summoner with a golden zodiac key of which there were only twelve, now he knew two. The potential for study was overwhelming him at this very moment, but he knew that they were still in danger. "We can talk about that later. I think we should keep climbing up. If those pumpkin hounds earlier were representative of the whole of the curse, and I see no reason why they shouldn't be, then these creatures do have some kind of 'brain,' to to speak. A concentrated blow to the side of the head should be enough to bring down this titan - and to that end, I come prepared." Once Vincent finished going over the plan, he summoned sheathed his sword and summoned to his right hand his Sanguine Spear - a two meter red pole with a blade on the end. Before he could mount his offensive attack, he was struck by a rather putrid looking blob that originated from the diseased pygmy that Lester had summoned. "For some reason I expected all of the zodiacs to appear... celestial in some way. That thing is vile and its abilities match. Still... I can't complain about its healing effects." After this observation, he ran up the arm and leapt backwards as soon as he arrived at the shoulder analog on the colossus.

"Aegis... Piercer!" The mage tossed his red spear which was now coated in a fire-y red aura in a straight light at the side of the pumpkin beast's head. The head caught on fire as the titan tried to defend its vital spot with what little fire magic it could which resulted in a rather weak attempt to stop his spear. It would have been better off not trying to defend at all. This spear excelled at striking vital points because of its abilities which strengthened it by over two times whenever it collided with a defensive spell. Its increased strength, in addition to Lester's boosts were easily enough to bring the power of his spear to something quite formidable. The red weapon left a red streak in its path as it easily passed through the flaming shield around the head of the pumpkin Goliath and right through its squash interior. The fire faded from its hands, mouth, and eyes before it fell to its knees with a crash and then continued to fall onto its dark face. Blue toxin seeped out from the small hole left in its head as Vincent gently controlled his momentum such that he would land on the ground unharmed. Another snap of his fingers brought his spear back to him. "Phew. I was quite close to becoming a toasted treat for that behemoth. Unfortunately I know that I saw two others a bit further into the village. If we manage to somehow lure them out one by one we won't have to...." The white haired wizard was interrupted by very heavy quaking as two more pumpkin behemoths made their way over the previously destroyed home to avenge their fallen brother. "Or we can fight them at the same time.... It looks like I'll be using these spells after all. Allow me to show you where I spent quite a bit of my free time during my youth, Lester."

The white haired mage would spin his spear around in his right hand and dig the blade into the ground before extending both palms outward and closing his eyes. In his mind's eye he could see the inside of the highest floor of the clocktower in which he would privately study during his time in the Academy. Any creature within one hundred meters of the space mage would notice that a dark wooden floor was extending outwards from him, overriding the previously dark stone ground of the courtyard. This wooden floor would extend out for the hundred meters and then four complex wooden walls would rise up out of the ground to enclose him, Lester, and the two monsters. A giant and complex clock face could be seen letting a generous amount of light in on the northern wall of the enclosure. The ceiling high above the two magi had many beams to support the roof of the structure. "This should strengthen us while simultaneously weakening those monsters. Additionally... it allows me to use one of these." The mage held his hand out and summoned a spell tome of water magic - the kind which fire was naturally weak to. Thanks to the combined healing efforts of the most adorable sugar glider as well as the most repulsive pygmy, Vincent didn't suffer from the damaging effects of his projection, though he knew that once those sources stopped it was only a matter of time before his stamina would begin to wane.

Vincent channeled his magical energy into the spell tome and a large blue magical circle appeared in front of him. From out of this magical circle a large eastern-style dragon emerged and quickly flew up to just under the ceiling before descending just as fast and biting through one and then two legs belonging to one of the leviathans, bringing it toppling down onto the wooden floor of the clocktower. It was not yet defeated, but it was severely crippled. After this attack, the dragon would explode into a light rain which would continue to pour until the clocktower projection was dispelled. With a single sweep of his hands, both his spear and sword would leave their current positions and float in front of him. A flick of his wrist would position the combination of weapons on either sides of the downed pumpkin Goliath. A final downward movement of his hand would cause both weapons to pierce either side of its head and continue through the squishy interior until the both exited the side opposite to the one on which they both started. Another behemoth was felled. One remained.

WC: 3439

HP: 707.5
MP: 667.5 [Spells Used: Sanguine Spear | Second Projection - Clocktower]

Weak, Three Patch hounds: 3 (9)
Normal, Two Pumpkin fangs: 10 (20)
Strong: Pumpkin goliath: 1
Boss, Jack the rotten: 1

It, might actually be working a little. Cancer, well it wasn't surprising Vincent was uneasy about the bulging tumorous mass. Indeed it was rather disgusting, not a sight to see before breakfast. Not many had seen the Zodiac which he held, perhaps it was for the best after all. Its unsightly body was not something which he would expect to see after summoning a fabled Golden Zodiac key, one of twelve, his however was unsightly and rather blackened. He had read up on it of course after acquiring it, well in some ways it fit him. Others it failed him. Element of water with the symbol of the crab, spiritual colours of violets and purples whilst it's flower was a white rose or orchid. Interesting indeed his history lessons had proved fruitless as to figuring out why the key with the motto of "I feel, therefore I am." Gave birth to such horrors, unless it was his own feelings, there it was. Oh right, they could speak more later, perhaps it would be worthwhile inviting the fellow mage over to breakfast one day? No not alone that would be far to boring, Theo would want breakfast. Perfect, middle of a fight and he had settled on a plan, a boys breakfast.
So they would have an epicentre, some form of a brain which would control it, yet with these beasts, their head was so large that it had more pumpkins growing off the head. It would take a skewer the size of a mature Japanese white birch tree to penetrate that head, even so then the weapon wouldn't go straight through. Or that, a rather large red stick, with something sharp at the end. Well it was no strawberry ice cream but it would do. He was off, after a brief complaint about the non-celestial looking zodiac that was keeping him alive and fit the spear wielding mage bounded off, or well, up. Aegis Piercer, a fire like glow enveloped the spear as it was flung towards the soft fleshy skin of the pumpkin, perfectly ripe its smooth outer shell. Well it was rather spectacular, the strength Vincent gained from Lesters own magic as well as the pure energy of that spear. The creature they were standing on began to fall, descending towards the ground slowly in a rather uncouth way as it crumpled upon itself. The light in its eyes dying as if Halloween were on a raining day, two more further into the village. "Well doesn't that just sound lovely." There was not much he was doing, not much he was needed for after all, yet the sarcasm leeching from his voice indicated a distaste for how the day was going. Honestly why did they have to attack this poor village and disturb such a wonderful day. "It would be most amusing to learn about the days of your youth Vincent. I will be close by if you need me." With a glance to the side all was accounted for, yet the cancer, his cancer. Cancer, just cancer was best, it was standing there, ambling uselessly surely he could give it directive.
Well it would watch their back, he had seen the faint traces of blue glowing ichor in the darkened shadows, upon a moments closer inspection a pack of patch hounds lurked, waiting for a chance to strike. The command written in his mind attack. It was no bother, the creature could live on or aeons, he had merged their health pools, with his own being rather large as the darkened zodiac key summon stumbled towards one of the pumpkin hounds they almost appeared apprehensive, that was until the tumours were flung out. Whilst to himself and Vincent it was rather refreshing, he did however note that each pellet flung at the patch hounds was absorbed, they grew physically slower and more drained. With the patch hounds speed slowed and Cancer's magical and physical damage stacking up he grimaced at the thought of what was really behind the tumours. All he should care for was the creature was backing away the patch hounds, drawing them out and keeping the three of them entertained.

Yet suddenly a structure of sorts was formed, Vincent, the large monsters, Cancer and the weakening pack of wolves. Himself as well of course, they were all within the clocktower, yes it was wasn't it. Strengthening allies whilst harming enemies, it was rather smart wasn't it. The tombs, books of sorts, he mentioned it was a hobby from his youth. "A story from your youth, well then I shall just sit back and let the spells already in place do their work!" He would be able to immobilise another soon, there was the defence spell still in place, what else. Bartholomew was healing him. Cancer of course was still fighting, whilst he thought that they would be able to finish the fight before his summoning time was up there was a chance he would have to awaken Val from her slumbers.

It was interesting to watch, a magical circle of reasonable size appearing, from which a snake like dragon was brought forth. the way it moved, almost enchanting how it swirled towards the looming creatures in a tornado of colour. He had brought it forth from the book, and mentioned it was something of a relic from his childhood, perhaps he had grown up with those who had practised channelling their powers through texts and the written word. The style of dragon which had emerged was unique as well, not quite the dragon he had grown up with. It was a querie for later. Apparently dragons were hungry when summoned, for it had simple bitten out the legs from under one of the oversized pumpkin patches, which quite promptly tumbled to the ground -floor. Indeed this was a power he was proud of, proud of his guild mate for using such a spell adeptly. The clocktower was his space, Lester himself had no problem with standing back and watching, although the constant pain a reminder of how the idiotic tumour, golden key cancer, was flailing its limbs and pummelling the pack to death. It was more a battle of endurance, who could last the longest yet with the key having access to his own Hp it was merely a matter of letting the children run wild. The rain was pretty, yet he was happy with leaning back and watching as the two bladed weapons plunged into the head then went straight through. It was, well, rather interesting if he had to admit it. Seeing someone who was proficient in the use of more offensive magic. "That was very well done indeed, however I do think its my turn now. It may not be as fast sadly." With a slight adjustment to his sleeve the male walked forward, Bartholomew flying over to his head with a small squeak and cancer soon followed with its rambling step.

Well breakfast was long gone and he was a little hungry, perhaps he could lure the creature into giving him a feast. "Valmorphanize, come to me. Vincent you've probably guessed that I am rather fond of fighting with multiple allies, sometimes I have to create or bring these creatures myself" His grin perked up a little as the green scarf on his waste soon uncurled, forming a green sloth. The sloth squeaked slightly, it was refreshing as he felt himself grow in power, it was only a weaker spell, yet every buff to his power was welcomed. "Val, boop his snoot in a moment, Cancer blob him. After this-" It had noticed the white haired mages slow and even approach, its hand raising as what started as a spark grew into a fireball, hopefully Vincent wouldn't interfere. A glowing ring formed on his finger the moments calmed, breathing slowed as the toasty flame was launched towards the mage. It was a simple spell, with the ring disintegrating upon completion. Deep reds and oranges, the brightness of yellows and whites, they changed, curled into twisting hues of pinks, whites calmed down into softening pastels shades. Within moments what had been the element of fire was now that of plant, the ball of flying tulip petals slowed only for a moment before he tilted his head, rolling shoulders, stretching back. Almost as if it were a smoothie the petals were smoothly eaten by the male. "Well that was rather nice." A flicker of the finger, within just a moment the tumorous creature expelled a blob, dark brown in hue with a sickly gunk oozing out from it, splattering across the face it sizzled slightly, the scents of roasting pumpkin spread throughout as it started to slowly take damage.   With cancer crawling up and down the tendrils he watched over it all, the zodiac was indeed not bad to have in his collection, the humanoid tearing away at the fierce vines which now hung limp. It was time, "Val, Evil boop of doom." He had given her the choice of naming it, yet he spoke the words quietly from embarrassment. In a swift movement of green and pink the creature launched herself forward, at great speed she dodged the flailing sweeps of the pumpkins claws. Zoning in and booping the pumpkins nose. A ripple of wind, the shock of the force ruffled his hair as for a moment it tottered, wavering slightly before toppling backwards. The sloth teleported back onto his waist, turning into a scarf and resting. "I do believe that was fun." With a skip and a jump, the mage wandered around to look at the large pumpkin. "Too big to take back to the guild kitchens I guess." the flame in its eyes had vanished, with cancer releasing yet another bloom of tumorous blobs, securing the fate of the Goliath creature. He healed reasonably fast, yet it was still rather worrying, yet interesting, he hadn't done a battle up front in a while. without Bartholomew or eating that creatures spell earlier he would have been much more tired.

Weak, Three Patch hounds: 2 (6)
Normal, Two Pumpkin fangs: 10 (20)
Strong: Pumpkin goliath: 0
Boss, Jack the rotten: 1

Vincent was a tad surprised to see the green scarf around Lester's hips actually turn out to be a familiar, but it wasn't too crazy considering his partner's specialty in summoning. This little sloth turned out to be quite a fighter, for he managed to take out one of the pumpkin Goliath's without much assistance. What interested the scholar more about the scuffle between his fellow white haired Crystal Swan mage was what he did to a fireball launched by the titan. He had turned the attack into what appeared to be a ball of plant matter before consuming it whole as if it was a snack. "I see... you're not just a summoner then, Lester. I had heard of the slayers that were particular to Fiore - mages who were supposedly trained by dragons, demons, or so-called gods with the ability to consume a specific type of spell, though this is the first time I've ever witnessed such a thing. Quite a strategic spell you have there to turn misaligned spells into that which you're capable of consuming." As he spoke to his companion, the walls of the clocktower would begin to crumble and the floor would begin to retract from its edges towards the mage which created it. Soon after the spell began to break down, all of the wood and metal was gone, leaving only two mages surrounded by cursed pumpkin monsters oozing their characteristic blue gunk all over the stone courtyard and destroyed house. "That clocktower was what you could call a mental projection of a memory of mine. I would spend hours up at the top of that clocktower to perfect my craft with the free time I was granted. I spent many years of my life studying to become a mage at an Academy within the Pergrande Kingdom - hidden, for obvious reasons. The clocktower was always empty and provided a private space for me to perform whatever I needed to perform. I have other spells like the one you just saw, but I'm saving them for that incredible magical energy that we can feel further into the town."

Vincent cracked his knuckles - the two were making surprisingly good time. Thanks to their complimentary magic, they were able to fell some of the stronger enemies without too much of a hassle. He mused on the prospect of perhaps taking a ten or even hundred year job with Lester due to their seemingly unstoppable combination, but figured he shouldn't get too ahead of himself and instead focus on the job at hand. Once he snapped out of his thoughts, the remaining two packs of dogs had found their way to the buildings bordering the courtyard. Three hounds sat on the roof at the scholar's two o'clock and, similarly, three hounds sat on the roof at his ten o'clock. Both packs jumped down and snarled ferociously at the mages who were up to their neck pumpkins. One snap of his fingers with each hand returned his red spear to his left and his sword to his right. With a narrow gaze, the white haired wizard estimated the distance between him and the two packs that were slowly getting closer. The closest beast was about four meters away which was perfect for him. His head turned to make sure that Lester was close by and his eyes wandered down to his waist to see that the "scarf" was back in its proper place. I wonder what other items of "clothing" turn into monster slaying beasts. I'm glad I don't have to face Lester in combat - for a supposedly supportive mage he sure does have quite a few powerful surprises hidden away. Without further ado, Vincent slashed the air directly in front of him which would cause any reasonable person to be confused or upset with him. As far as anyone knew, his weapon had the effective range of a typical sword which was about one meter. Unbeknownst to those phantom critics, his blade had a bit of a trick to it.

Vincent, through the use of his spatial manipulation, could apply his slash to any point in space within a little over one hundred meters. With this little trick, he applied the cutting effect of his slash to be right through the center of the closest pumpkin headed dog, carving a large chunk starting at the head and continuing to about the midpoint between its head and its spine. The other hounds, realizing that he could attack them without needing to put himself in danger all sprinted at him at once. I didn't expect such an aggressive counterattack! At this distance I predict the closest two on my left will leap and swiftly be put down by my two blades, but I won't be able to avoid the other three without magic. Good thing I held onto my own teleport. "Lester please stand back and do not stand between where I am and where I end up." Hopefully this warning would suffice. In an instant, Vincent released his weapons and, just as predicted, the two mindless monsters closest to him tried to leap at him, their maws full of glowing blue ooze ready to melt through his semi-protected skin. Both weapons flew up to skewer the hounds through the bottom of their pumpkin heads before the enemies could reach their target. At the same time at the two weapons hit their mark, Vincent would disappear in a black hole which would engulf his entire body and essentially "consume" him much like the earlier teleportation spell used on him by his courteous partner to rescue him from the tight position in which he had found himself.

The space wizard would tear another black hole in space a little taller than himself and identical to the one he had stepped into a moment ago. This second hole was positioned about five meters directly behind the three dogs that had pounced on his previous position. While this spell was generally intended for escaping tight situations and dealing a bit of damage to whatever tried striking him, the boosts provided by Lester made the damage associated with this relatively weak spell actually quite threatening. The air between the two black holes he had created would begin to vibrate quite slowly at first but soon it would begin to do so violently. For lack of a better word, the space between the two pitch black rifts created by the mage specializing in such things would "tear," creating a visual effect similar to that of incredibly hot surfaces only more pronounced. "Whoa!" Vincent's exclamation would precede a contained explosion which completely disintegrated the hounds. With both of his black holes gone, his head turned to the white haired summoner. "That spell is not meant to be that powerful. I actually feared that I might've miscalculated its effective range to some degree due to the strength that you grant me. I wasn't aware of that spells ability to break apart whatever it hit at such a fundamental level." The violent effect of his spell had surprised him despite him having created it, though he was not complaining after seeing the results. "Let's move further into the village. There are some tall beanstalk looking monsters that grouped in pairs towering over us which need to be cut down. But before that... it would be a shame to let good food and test subjects go to waste. I think I'll put them aboard the Crystalli."

He held his hands out and concentrated. One by one the pumpkin Goliaths and then the the hounds would disappear from the cold stone ground of the circular courtyard and be transported to Lester's garden. Vincent was reasonably sure that Lester wouldn't mind given the abundance of space and the appropriateness of the location for what were now essentially overgrown pumpkins. People would be seen running in terror away from the garden, not that the he would know. All he knew was that good food and knowledge was not going to be wasted. Eventually, the two magi would make their way to the first pair of towering Pumpkin Fangs which were vigilantly watching over the village for anyone who tried to escape. Vincent looked up at the one at the one whose base was located about a meter in front of him. "It's so engrossed in looking at the houses that it hasn't noticed us yet. Let's see how thick these vines are." Two more snaps came from his hands to recover his weapons from the inside of the hounds now lay lifeless within Lester's greenhouse. He slashed at the thick vine with his Space Breaker and... nothing happened. The monster did not even notice as his slash was deflected by the surprisingly hard vine. "I'm honestly shocked. I didn't expect these vines to behave in a manner similar to plate armor. It didn't even register that I attacked. Do you have any spells to weaken weaken the durability of a material? If not we're going to have to make our way up to the hopefully comparatively weaker head belonging to these two beanstalks." This unfortunately situation gave the young mage an idea for a spell. If he could weaken the materials too hard for him to cut with his weapon on an atomic level, he could potentially cut through even the thickest of plate armor.

As he wondered if such a spell was possible, he also wondered how hard it would be to cut through the exterior of the pumpkin heads at the top of these thick vines. He saw no reason to believe that they would be as easy to cut through as that of the hulking Pumpkin Goliaths or tiny Pumpkin Hounds and, given just how guarded these vines were, suspected that the heads might be just as, if not more defended. "Now that I think about it, if the vines are this strong, then the weak point of these creatures is more than likely even more defended. If I could cast my Aegis Piercer a few more times this would be trivially solved, but we need to use a bit more cunning if we're to take down all of these towering Pumpkin Fangs." He thought the name suited them given the fang-like appearance of their "teeth" which were carved from the same material as the rest of their head.

WC: 5175/10000

HP: 707.5
MP: 667.5

Weak, Three Patch hounds: 0 (0)
Normal, Two Pumpkin fangs: 10 (20)
Strong: Pumpkin goliath: 0
Boss, Jack the rotten: 1

Slayer indeed, well that was a topic he wouldn't approach in the midst of a battleground, even if they had cleared the area it would be quite the storytime. Not that he wished to share it with any other for that matter. He was taught by no demon dragon or god. After all they were such useless beings. he hadn't wished for the magic, it was after all a constant reminder of his failures. The inability do complete an action so simple it should have all been over a long time ago. Yet his body had defied the commands and instead absorbed that which he had placed so much faith in. A slight chuckle had escaped him upon the compliment, yes indeed he was fond of the spell. Yet his eyes were on the clocktower, which beautiful in both history and appearance, yet he was not complaining that it was gone. For the familiarity of the town had settled into his mind quickly and he could resume using the full senses that he had. Scanning the area around him knowing where every stone lay. But Vincent came from Pergrande Kingdom, it was good information. So he could bring back his weapons with a snap of the fingers, it was good to know. Yet he would have to learn a little more about the weapons, they seemed rather powerful indeed, both in raw strength and how they were used. Stand back? Well perhaps the mage had some sort of terrain, manipulation of cosmic forces only a few understood. With a brief nod he took a few steps back, the cancerous tumor as always shuffled, staying about a meter behind him until receiving further instructions.  Oh, so he had a teleport. It shouldn't have been that surprising to him, after all a teleport was one of the things considered a necessary part to any mages toolkit, yet each fighter would use a teleport in a different way, perhaps would Vincent be used to using teleports in a manner to lure enemies in before vanishing. He was shocked? The hounds had disintegrated, not that he was complaining in any way. Yet from the look patterned across the other males face it was not supposed to quite work like that. Eyebrows raised, questioning for further information as the two mages faced each other. So his buffs had worked, with a dip of his head Lester's face drew back into a smile. "It is always good to make all spells efficiently, for there is no use throwing around more magic than we need to." After all it was quite sacred to a degree, they were lucky to be in Fiore, a land of equality despite only 20% of the population being mages. Lester had no problems, there would be enough of the pumpkin creatures to share. "I have no complains, it will be well looked after onboard the ship until we can make our return." yet his mind was not on the endless pumpkin pies that could be crafted from it.

He wandered happily, taking in surroundings and slowly adding depth to the mental map of the village he had. it would be best to let Vincent take lead for now, judging based on the manipulation of matter and space with his weapons and the previous clocktower there were situations in which the mans magic would work best. Where as his own was more focused on aiding. With a motion of his hand Lester motioned for his senior to take the lead. Thankfully the creature didn't notice the failed attempt to harm it. "Yes, i do believe I have a few spells, I will immobilize it as well. Don't attack until you see I do, just so you know all the spells are cast. I might attack behind its 'knees' as well." He took a moment of thought. The pumpkin fangs, so aptly named. There were many of them, yet they traveled in pairs. If they focused on one then it might be easier, due to their size it would be unlikely that the fangs would be able to do much harm to the two mages. Either that or one would harm its partner in the process. There were at least eight pairs he could see or sense, perhaps more. It would be best to clear the entire town before going after the king. Both the previous Gentleman's honor spell was still active on Vincent as well as Reciprocal defendat he would be well protected for now. If the creature didn't feel the attack earlier then it would not feel this. It would be a bad idea to focus too much on one, for sure they were powerful however with many more to fight after he would be better off buffing himself and Vincent rather than debuffing the enemy. Hmm, but then again, sweets. He could use Cuppediae privavit, oh and meadows, floral fields full of bounty yes using Tectum pratorum as well! He could halt the two beasts from regenerating Health and Magic power. "Oh Vincent here! It'll buff your magical damage" Flore coronam, it was an interesting spell, as with cupped hands a flower crown grew which was smartly placed upon the man's head, looking, well rather odd.

"Now if we're ready! Only focus on this one, ~" For a hundred meters around him tiny sugary ferns grew from the ground, dark green and looking delicious he plucked one up, happily munching away. The two fangs were promptly immobilized, and would take some extra damage than normal. Oh Bellaria vitis, an interesting spell, with cancer now lumbering towards the enemy as he himself pointed a hand toward the first. A vine sped forward, wrapping around the creatures leg and knee he jerked it, using the thick rope like plant to guide him towards the crook of the knee as he could feel it working. The nature of the spell was not only mobility, but it drained the creatures health, gifting it to him. When he was close Lester happily hummed, a lengthy knife was drawn from its place of keeping at his waist the blade digging into the back of the pumpkin fangs knee. He was perched above where the incision was made, the fluid blood seeping out pulled down by gravity. Yet it seemed that the creature had noticed, he could see the muscles tensing as it attempted and failed to move. "The immobilization will wear off soon" They had about a minute left, a slight sweat had started to bead up. Indeed it was tough as he sawed through what appeared to be a plant like tendon or ligament. With the vines finished their work of healing his own strength whilst depleting the others, he could move to the other being. Hands spread, as the vines took him over to the second creature, brows creased slightly, two more were just outside of his 100 meter range. Yet they were simply standing there watching.

"Don't attack this one" He spoke loudly, for now he was sitting on the second Fang's head, it was immobilized of course, with a few flowers grown over his legs to keep him attached Lester motioned to the two outside the zone. "I have a spell that will make this one attack those two, do what you wish." He hoped that the mage would finish off the first Fang, which would collapse anyway due to its knee being chopped into. But would the mage join him on top for a fun ride or would be choose to attack the two other beasts? Flinging a lollipop into the air it floated towards the general direction of the fang he was seated on the sweet was soon stuck inside the pumpkin fangs 'mouth'. Causing it to shiver slightly, within moments his previous immobilization would be over, although the ferns would still remain. And after that? Well, two fangs versus two mages and a pet pumpkin fang


Weak, Three Patch hounds: 0 (0)
Normal, Two Pumpkin fangs: 10 (20)
Strong: Pumpkin goliath: 0
Boss, Jack the rotten: 1

A flower crown now sat upon Vincent's head. According to Lester it would strengthen his magical power, but from his perspective it just seemed like a silly little accessory. He wasn't about to argue, though, as ht other white haired mage on this job had exceeded at strengthening him so far, so he had no reason to believe he was simply kidding about the true power of this accessory typically associated with little girls. Lester had, in addition to the flower crown on Vincent's head, created a huge field of ferns which were not only edible, but evidently tasted given the plant mage's reaction upon biting into one. These ferns not only stopped the giant towers of vines and pumpkins from moving around, but also weakened them - just the perfect spell. From the looks of it, the gardener from the Crystalli was up to... something, for he only wanted the space mage to attack one of the two Pumpkin Fangs - the one upon which Lester was not sitting. Trusting the white haired mage enough by this point not to compromise the mission, the warrior mage complied and began to manipulate his weapons once again. The spear would have a hard time darting through the plant's exterior vines which served to protect the comparatively weaker muscles inside while it sword hacked away at a different part. He made sure to attack at very specific places along the base of the vines so as not to cause the monster to fall onto any houses that were still intact - instead, once he had inflicted enough damage to the Pumpkin Fang it collapsed in place like a building. Vincent had essentially did the equivalent of a controlled demolition of the Fang which caused it to fall vertically where it stood.

He sighed a sigh of relief upon seeing that he had indeed attacked it properly. It was a bit tricky due to the fact that he needed to not only rush, but also control two weapons with different specialties at once. That kind of precision under pressure could really put a strain on him if he did it for longer than he did, but thankfully this was not the case. Now that the Pumpkin Fang that did not have Lester's blessing was defeated, Vincent decided to join his companion atop the head of the other monster. The wizard leapt up to the top of the Pumpkin Fang's head to be greeted by what appeared to be a... floating lollipop that was making its way towards the mouth of the beast upon which the two Crystal Swan magi sat. "That's the spell you spoke about? You three of the Sugar Squad really fit your team name. Elvira and I chose our team name on something of a whim, haha!" Vincent was quite amused to see that the device to override the will of a monster was shaped like a piece of candy, though figured it suited Lester given his membership of the trio of sugar magi. "You know it's actually perfect that you managed to take control of this one. I'm not only an... admittedly amateurish swordsman, but I'm actually a proficient marksman." Once Vincent informed the sugar slayer of his proficiency in the bow, he sheathed his sword on his hip and the spear on his back. In his left hand, a black bow materialized. "With a vantage point like this I would be surprised if we couldn't take out all of the Pumpkin Fangs before you inevitably lose control over this one - assuming that your spell is on something of a timer of course. For all I know, this Pumpkin Fang is your pet now."

Vincent stood still as the immobilization came undone and focused. He took a deep breath in and raised the black bow in his left hand and aimed it at the head of the Pumpkin Fang to his right. The archer carefully pulled the string of his bow back and a powerful dark aura began to exude from his body. This aura was enlarged by the flower crown as well as Vincent's own boosts to his ability. The wizard estimated that his spell would be about three times its normal strength which was more than enough to take out one of the towering pumpkin creatures. An incredibly large black arrow would form out of the dark aura that was now being channeled into his bow and, upon believing his aim to be correct, Vincent would release the string. The black arrow would shoot like a star across the top of the Haunted Village, leaving a black and tricky to spot streak in its wake as it quickly flew towards the brain of one of the tall combinations of vines and pumpkin. A booming shockwave would also radiate away from him as soon as he fired, though it wouldn't be strong enough to knock anyone away thankfully. The arrow easily pierced through the incredibly protected "skull" of the Pumpkin Fang which gave off the impression that it was not protected at all, though the marksman knew better. While he wasn't shocked that he arrow had passed through the head with ease due to it being among his most powerful spells, he was still quite surprised at just how easily it appeared to pierce the exterior. Now there was the other Pumpkin Fang next to it which couldn't react at its companions sudden expiration.

After witnessing Vincent's arrow, it decided to launch a powerful fireball towards the head of the beast on which Vincent and Lester rode. This powerful fireball was met halfway by a fireball launched by their "pet" Pumpkin Fang which caused an explosion over the village the force of which could be felt from where the white haired mage stood and the other sat. Vincent crouched down and leapt high into the sky whiled firing a barrage of five arrows that all hit different places on his enemy's head which caught its attention. It fired another powerful fireball at him which was precisely was he had wanted. As he hovered in he air following his jump, he would quickly move towards the right as if he was "shoved" by a strong force in the air. These powerful shifts would continue as he got closer and closer to his prey which still tried in vain to track his movements. Once he made it onto the enemy Fang's head he realized that he had managed to completely turn it around. "Perfect! Fireball here!" he said, waving his arms towards Lester and shouting what it was he wanted from the allied Fang. It seemingly understood what he wanted as it charged up another fireball attack which flew through the air between the two monsters and managed to hit the monster on which Vincent's stood right at the back of its head. With a smile, the mage jumped backwards and as he flew back towards Lester at the top of the Fang's head he fired three arrows at the weakened part of the enemy Fang's head. These arrows pierced through the weakened and cooked pumpkin and all continued through the soft interior until they struck its brain in three different places.

This essentially had the effect of turning it "off" for lack of a better word. The fire left its eyes and mouth and it simply stood where it died. He hoped that it wouldn't fall over, but if it hadn't already it probably wouldn't before they could properly dispose of it once their job was over. Vincent managed to maneuver his way through the air until he made it back to the top of the pet Fang which had now garnered the attention of the others - evident from the fact that sixteen approached from all eight different sides, all of them traveling in units of two. "Well Lester it looks like we've really got our work cut out for us. They're feeling threatened by us, it seems."

WC: 6507

HP: 707.5
MP: 617.5

Weak, Three Patch hounds: 0 (0)
Normal, Two Pumpkin fangs: 8 (16)
Strong: Pumpkin goliath: 0
Boss, Jack the rotten: 1

Vincent joined him, perching atop the creature with ease it was quite the sight that lay before them. They did fit their team name indeed, he had chuckled slightly at the comment, remembering briefly how they had met and then the three mages had started hanging around together. Not yet deciding on a team name until the perfect idea had just appeared. Vincent and Elvira's team, they were the sword one, Rapier wit. It seemed fitting considering that from what he had seen the man in the team often fooled around with a blade. Not that he knew much about Elvira's magic past her summoning skill, team names were indeed odd. Whilst some made perfect sense due to the union of mages within others seemed to be more far fetched as if it were a dream or a conjuration of words.  It was perfect that he managed to take control of it? Brows raised in question, which was shortly answered with a brief explanation of Vincents weaponry preferences. A marksman, well it would suit their purposes well to be placed up here. How the other white haired male kept all the weapons on him Lester would never know, a spear on his back, sword at his side and now a bow in his hand surely mobility would be hindered to some degree. Although being able to materialise the weapons into this spacial plane he would have to be able to dematieralize them. Unless at the end of every battle he just had the weapons left over, storing them on endless shelves. The thought was an odd one indeed,  yet he was glad as with a marksman at his side Lester would be able to happily sunbathe and relax up here, he was rather happy with the amount of mp he was regaining, the air full of pollen with every breath he could get just a little bit more. Perhaps another spell would be best to use, not anything major. Perhaps that unpredictable one. Mmmh, it was an interesting thought. He doubted their ability to take out all of the pumpkin fangs before his spell failed, but hopefully it would nicely to take out a couple. He would be able to use the spell within a few minutes of the last one ending as well, it was a cute wee thing. Often one that he forgot, one he should pay attention to more. A soft upbeat tune played through his mind as he started to hum softly, three words briefly shone throughout his mind 'Arcus meus dulcis'  the spell was cute, then beautiful, a wrapped sweep appearing above his head as the spell grew and developed, slowly at first the sweet began to spin, unravelling into a storm of blossom with colours spanning every shade of the rainbow. The tiny petals exploding out they streamed forth, colliding with Lester and Vincent mostly, however a few of them went to seek out cancer and the creature that they sat upon. It was strengthening, mentally as well as in actuality, for the spell was one that would increase their magical damage. Something much needed.

He could feel it, they slowly began to lumber and move towards each other, he would have to choose his next spells wisely, whilst he could buff themselves past oblivion would it be best for him to start attacking? Sixteen of them were still left when Vincent returned to his side. "Indeed I do not expect this to be an easy fight. Although I would be threatened by us as well so do not be doubtful in our strength." A slight smile as he indicated to one of the falling blurs in the background, its knee gnawed off and head battered in by a rather familiar tumour. yet as the felled foe landed on Cancer he could not help but wince slightly, honestly was the Zodiac an idiot? Just because it didn't get hurt it didn't mean that he didn't get hurt. No matter, eyes flickered briefly, fourteen left was going to be quite something. Their current ride had been buffed up so he could at least down one, perhaps keeping two busy. "Over there, Cancer can take that one to the north, I'll keep those three busy, this guy will be able to take two. Thats six. Do you want to take on three or four for now. Just keep moving and fall back to me if you get too hurt, I have another immobilisation spell that'll keep them busy for the next minute. It'll debuff them too" With a brow raised he formed a few gobstoppers in his hand, Saccharon catarracta: compact little sugar balls, rather lovely. A minute or so of free attacks, after being flung high above them they exploded into a shimmering mass of sugar, immobilising all fifteen of the Pumpkin Fangs.

With a slight wave he teleported onto a building next to the closest Pumpkin fang duo, vanishing and reappearing with a sudden lily blooming up around him. These two first, he could get into the third afterwards.  Two hands briefly glowing in one formed a candy apply, whilst the other was a bright strand of toffee. One for each, Increasing damage taken and then dealing a full rank of damage, Dulcis lacus, the candy apple was flung forward, slamming and boring into the eye socket of the first it simply shuddered. Straightening against his spell yet of course the creature was immobilised. Not that he would be able to use the spell for a while again it was a helpful one. Candy apple and toffee strand, it made quite a duo. For Salvis sanguisugae was already wrapping around the others neck, slowly growing into every crevice of it horridly carved pumpkin head.  Roots grew from where he stood, bridging between the two he had already attacked. With a slight sigh the mage let himself rest for a moment, molten sugar and nectar briefly swirling over the man leaving a slight sparkling trace as it healed. Perhaps in the future he would have to look into getting more offensive training. Whilst they weren't doing badly by any means he would prefer to have a weapon of speciality for the future. He had approached with care, yet that didn't mean the blade was any weaker, coated in the tumorous gunk from cancers blobs which had been thrown out he found himself able to smoothly cut away. What was it called again? Oh yes a lobotomy, well with his blade neatly slashing into the top of the head he doubted the thing would live long. Nails dug into the scalp as he pulled away at the 'lid' unlike jack-o-lanterns these beasts had something like a brain, not an empty pumpkin head with a candle.

Not exactly swift but the white haired male had granted it death. The corpse would of course collapse slowly, no longer a living enemy his immobilisation would slowly wear off leaving it to sink down in a pile of green and orange. He couldn't idly sit by when there was the toffee one there, badly damaged it oozed the blue blood like bile from every incision his toffee strands had made when they had grown into it like roots. Cancer was dealing with one, whilst it was still alive he did take a moment to glance over it, down to about half health or something it wouldn't be long before the idiot creature pummelled it to death. When a frozen enemy was faced with a rather vicious tumour what else could it do but die?  
Oozing 'blood' his tumour coated blade dug in, slowing his descent until the male stood firmly upon its shoulders, not that the weapon would get much of a break as it was soon plunged repeatedly into its neck, sawing away at where the root like spinal cord was. Barely any blood came out as he was simply severing all connection it had to the rest of its body. As the enemy could still feel, and indeed the creatures could feel to some extent it was either the damage or the shock that killed it, for even a support mage with a knife could do damage when the enemy was debuffed and he was buffed.

Stumbling slightly as he jumped to the ground Lester's gaze and mind went back to how everyone was doing, Vincent capable as always was no worry, yet perhaps it would be good to heal the mage, or perhaps would be need more mana? Movement in the background indicated Cancer had finally pummelled the enemy to death, bludgeoning it with bare hands before casting out his tumour blobs, a couple reached lester, a refreshing heal despite the appearance was indeed welcomed. As were the other two deaths. Lollipop pumpkin, it had been under his control so the beast had swamped the other two of its kind, battering them with fiery hands and sending balls of the hazardous flame towards them it seems one had been felled by the Lollipop stricken beast whilst the other was felled by a rouge tumour after being driven to a close death. Was that 10 left? Two by himself, two by the lollipop beast, and one by cancer. Vincent's, he would have to check up on him. Feet gently lead him across the ground eyes gazing the sky for a bow or blade wielding mage jumping around. "Vincent! I can heal you up if you need it, the immobilisation will last for another few minutes but the lollipop is about to wear off." It was a finicky spell. A nearby two story restaurant having outside stairs lead him up to the roof, stretching slightly just in time to see the lollipop spell wear off and the Fang shudder to a halt as it was once more considered an enemy and promptly immobilised by the faint sugary sprinkles which fell from the sky. These enemies weren't as powerful as the goliaths thankfully, yet the indeed did come in a large number.


Weak, Three Patch hounds: 0 (0)
Normal, Two Pumpkin fangs: 5 (10)
Strong: Pumpkin goliath: 0
Boss, Jack the rotten: 1

Vincent nodded as his magical power was further amplified by the sugar mage. Now, he estimated that he was doubly strong, which, in addition to the flower crown, provided him with the quite the increase to his magical prowess. This increased strength is going to be necessary to deal with this massive influx of opponents. Wait... what's that? The two wizards would be able to feel a very dense, and very threatening magical force headed in their direction - no doubt belonging to the one who put this curse upon the village in the first place. "I would much rather fight the fiend by himself - so we really need to finish up here." Not only was he made stronger, but his opponents were made weaker; if there was any ideal time to strike, now would be it. The space wizard launched himself from the head of the Pumpkin Fang which the two would be losing as an ally in the near future and towards a pair to the northeast which, like all of the others except their own, could not move. He drew the bowstring back and fired off three red arrows at both creatures which seemingly had little effect given the lack of reaction they seemed to prompt. This didn't discourage him for, when he landed on top of one of the two Pumpkin Fangs, he fired at the nearest one until he turned its head to look at him and it appeared as though he was charging up a fire attack. The robed wizard, of course, smiled before jumping backwards and causing the antagonized Pumpkin Fang to fire its powerful ball of fire right at him which, much to the dismay of the cursed pumpkin on which he stood, meant that the attack tried to travel straight through the "temple" of the beast.

With the remaining Pumpkin Fang, the white haired wizard drew his bow and carefully stared down its sights as he stood at the base of the monster. He placed four shots into the vines towards the bottom of the Fang which it would ordinarily use to move around before putting his bow on his back and summoning his sword to his right hand. Thanks to the assistance provided by Lester's spells he felt confident enough to try and slice through the vines in front of him. Without missing a beat, the man slashed the sword in the air in front of him like a lunatic while applying the actual effect of the blade about three to four meters ahead of him so that the thick vines would potentially get cut. Much to his surprise, the sword slashes did appear to be working and, before he knew it, he had damaged the foundation of the Pumpkin Fang enough to cause it to collapse in place. It was as if he had utilized controlled explosives to get the job done. Two down... but there's still another eight. That one who put this curse in place really wanted to make sure that this place would be completely annihilated. A sigh preceded the white haired wizard launching himself from the collapsed creature and its blazing and wilted companion to another pair. To bring down these two as efficiently as possible.... I suppose I'll simply repeat the strategy that I just employed, but let's see if I can't get them to attack each other at the same time... Vincent ran towards one of the Fangs and quickly ran up its thick vines which composed its body. Using a simple manipulation of space associated with his Bow of the False Hunter, climbing up any surface was trivial for the wizard and it wasn't long before he made it to the bottom of the pumpkin head.

He leapt from these vines that served as his platform and, whilst in the air, fired magical arrows at both of the immobilized beasts which served to get their attention. Both, as predicted, charged up fire attacks. Vincent's current position in the air was quickly changed as soon as the orbs of flame left the shoddily carved mouths of the cursed beings as he launched himself towards the ground to dodge the attacks. These two attacks flew past each other and towards the center of both twisting masses of vines which made up their bodies, setting them both ablaze. This fire would spread upwards and downwards which, soon enough, turned both of the pumpkin creatures to nothing but ash and pumpkin heads. Vincent, at this time, noticed something peculiar. The remaining curse afflicted pumpkin creatures, in their immobilized state, were watching him and studying how he finished dispatching four of their kin. Are they watching me? Learning? I'm beginning to suspect that these monsters aren't as mindless as I thought... The mage himself had a bit of a personal code against the killing of creatures that could show that they had about as much intelligent as a human and, while the Pumpkin Fangs didn't seem to be at that level, did seem to be, at the very least, observant. This observation was more or less confirmed when, while standing at the base of the third pair that he had leapt towards, Vincent could get them to launch fireballs from their mouths like the previous monsters. Instead of using fires, they used their massive network of vines to attempt to simply overpower the space mage in numbers.

He had managed to deftly avoid many of the thorned tentacles that had sprung up from underground by feeling the difference in vibration strength in the ground under him, but even eventually he was caught by not just one, but two Pumpkin Fangs. The white haired mage could feel every tiny razor sharp thorn pierce through his robes and into his skin where they would deposit a toxin of some kind. His blood would begin to burn as an additional injection of that familiar blue ooze was added by the Fangs. I... I need to free myself before I simply die of poisoning. Despite his desires, though, the thick vines around him simply seemed to tighten indefinitely and he felt as though, if they continued any further, the structure of his body would begin to crumble. Vincent closed his eyes and concentrated to create a dark grey magical circles in the skies above him and his enemies. A similarly colored aura would shoot down from this circle and surround the mage before a powerful shock wave completely dematerialized the vines surrounding him which allowed the white haired mage to slip back down to the ground. The spell he had just cast lightened him and allowed him to travel at speeds that were much faster than he would normally be able to travel. His spell was not intended to cause the devastation that it did to the Pumpkin Fangs, but thanks to his partner they were nearly defeated. Despite his additional speed and strength, he felt his coordination was quite lacking which could undoubtedly be attributed to the overwhelming amount of poison that was coursing through his system. Thankfully, he actually had one spell for such an occasion. Vincent used his spear to keep his balance before pointing a hand towards the body vines of one of the nearly dead Pumpkin Fangs.

Water emerged from the vines, causing them to dry up. This water was dirty and, after a brief incantation from the nearly unconscious mage, became crystal clear. The space mage wasted no time in bringing the water to his mouth and drinking all of it as quickly as he could. Once all of the water was in his system, the glowing blue and green that was present in his veins and arteries quickly faded away so that he was back to normal. With a deep breath and a nod to himself for developing a spell to counteract poisons, he sent his spear and sword into the skies and through the weakened squash which served to protect what he presumed was the brain controlling the accursed beasts. They, like their companions before, fell to the stone ground on which they stood. I need to be more careful - I only have one of those antitoxins in my disposal, though I'm reasonably sure Lester has something to cure me if I happen to miscalculate again. Still, until I'm absolutely certain I need to proceed with caution. Hopefully he's within earshot... "Lester! We don't have much time before what presumably laid this curse on the town gets to us! Get your vile creature to take out the final two Pumpkin Fangs, for that will allow us to focus on the more important threat!" After this attempt to relay his current plan to his white haired gardening expert, the white haired bowman launched himself towards the final two enemies of this type which he would be fighting.

As he flew through the air, vines were erupting from the stone and heading towards him. Vincent, expecting such a response, quickly shifted his position in the air so that he was at the side of the still Pumpkin Fang and had it lined up with the one behind. With his bow now drawn and his position in the air as still as it as going to be, he channeled a great deal of energy in to his next arrow. A torrent of vines erupted from underneath him as he charged his shot, but he still managed to use what he referred to as the bow's "Final Shot," for it involved infusing an arrow with so much magical power that it would break the bow. A booming noise would emanate from his weapon as it disappeared and an empowered arrow flew through not only one of the cursed squash monsters, but two. After this attack, both of their heads went limp and the fire that was contained inside their heads burnt out. In his focus to fire the arrow just right, the mage hadn't noticed that the vine coming towards him had successfully managed to wrap around his left leg and inject him with a smaller dose of the poison he had just finished getting out of his system. Without hesitation Vincent maneuvered his floating sword to chop off the thorny appendage that didn't put up much resistance due to its owner's deceased status. He knew it was only a matter of time before the toxins began affecting his combat abilities and thus decided to try and confirm his suspicions about his partner. He hastily launched himself through the air until he was next to Lester once again - though now the sound of a flock of angry crows could be heard and a feeling of dread permeated the air. "Lester, I've been poisoned. Fighting that monster outside in a weakened state would not be ideal - would you happen to have any antitoxins in your magic?" While his robe was stained with blood around the holes where he had been grabbed earlier, the wizard felt as though the poison was a much more pressing matter than the minor blood loss.

WC: 8354

HP: 500
MP: 582.5

Weak, Three Patch hounds: 0 (0)
Normal, Two Pumpkin fangs: 1.5 (3)
Strong: Pumpkin goliath: 0
Boss, Jack the rotten: 1

He could feel it, they both could, the deep feeling within the turning of the stomach which indicated a larger opponent on the horizon that they would have to take down. It was a feeling that he had grown familiar with over the months he had spent as a mage, they had best wrap it up quickly lest the battle become one much harder than it currently was, for something that had the power to control these other creatures was nor an enemy he wished to face whilst fighting off these pumpkin fangs. Vincent had taken care of a few of them, quite neatly indeed, it was almost a little shocking at how they had progressed, those three giant pumpkin like Goliath had been creatures of great strength, at least fifteen if more more of those dogs. Canine like hounds that had hunted in packs of three tearing away at any flesh they could clamp their jaws around. It had been quite the job they had taken on, these 'fangs' as they had been dubbed, not easy. Reeking of magic their blood like ichor didn't bode well for any prospects of harvesting food from them, perhaps there was a way that creatures could grow large amounts of harvest-able food? Much like sheep who were shorn of wool if there were animals with vegetables growing on them, they could be grown and harvested. Perhaps it would just be foolish to think about that sort of thing at a time like this, what brought him out of the state of mind was his name, called by the other mage who had an appearance similar to his own. He was right though, that presence they had felt earlier was just an indication of the strength that was going to be attacking them soon. A whirlwind of power and energy, of green and orange would soon be swirling around the duo lashing out for blood. 'Vile Creature' well said indeed for the name cancer was surely an awkward one to screech across the battlefield. Brows drew together as he glanced once more over to Cancer, the hideous thing was powerful for sure. "Yea, I'll get cancer to sort that out." He had already settled on it, with one hand he motioned towards the first of the fangs and cancer, the tumorous creature being teleported onto the head of the beast where it would wreak the most havoc. A single blob being flung towards the second it would initiate the damage over time effect, not that the initial hit was any less dangerous. Oh no, despite the golden key being coated in a sickening blackness he silently gave thanks for it as the smaller blobs were flung out in a flurry of vermilion red.

A couple of the blobs exploded into him, dropping yet another heal onto the mage as he converted some of his health to mana which was spent fuelling the immense amount of spells that he had been dropping. Just like the creature which Vincent was finishing up fighting, he could feel the stinging of pain, health slightly draining away in sudden bursts as he glanced over to see Cancer being barraged by the other two, it wasn't much of a damage to him considering the healing over times that were active yet that didn't mean that he could feel it. Useless at time, the tumour was just bludgeoning one of the fangs to death whilst the other hit both Cancer and the first fang. With a roll of his eyes Lester summoned a staff into his hand, slightly over a meter the knolled wood looked aged in a way that was far from hipster. He would have to activate both of the abilities and then use its four melee attacks all at once to get his summon out of the bind. Quite a literal bind indeed judging from the vines that were flailing around in the air. Ranuculaceae a soft glow appeared as for a hundred and a half meters around tiny white orbs floated up, emitting such a soft light that it was one of the spells where he felt truly like a mage, glorious and holy, an architect of the heavens with the world at his fingertips to carve into something wonderful. The Pumpkin fangs in the area all shuddered slightly, taking the first round of damage from his weapon, it was luckily a spell that he didn't need to focus on, once cast it just sat there, damaging and damaging until suddenly there was no enemies left in the heavenly flower. It was at this point that by his direction cancer switched from the first opponent who was sufficiently damaged to the second, perfect, just in time for Alstroemeriaceae. The names of the abilities only getting further and further down the line of unpronounceable yet, as his fingers brushed across the wood of the staff there was a sense of just knowing, knowing their names and what they did just by understanding how the staff worked, it was beautiful really. This one was a little weaker, yet it took a few moments to gather up the swirling petals, they rose around the end of the staff, forming a large globe that began to pulsate with a red light. It was ready, cancer as well had began tearing away at the second pumpkin fang whilst the first managed to regain its footing from where it had been beaten down earlier.

The staff was powerful, he wouldn't deny that. Suddenly he thrust it forward, the red ball of petals splitting off into two, only growing larger as they encountered the two enemies. He only had four shots with tree trunk, it was an odd weapon indeed as if he had used up tree trunk then the staff would be no more than a foam stick, dealing no damage not even melee. With the staff still pointed towards the two enemies the mage let out a soft sigh as a green magic circle appearing on the ground inbetween them, four large tree trunks bursting out of the magic circle, three of them slammed into the second pumpkin fang and one into the first. Not that he could see it as both of them were surrounded by a whirlwind of petals which continued to hide them, that was until he heard a slight thump, and the petals simply floated to the ground waiting for the next creature classed as an enemy to wander within range. Cancer came slinking back to him as the slayer turned back to Vincent, who was quite promptly flying through the air towards him with a look of worry. "Vincent stay still a moment, from what I can feel we have a few minutes before the boss creature comes so don't worry we have time." Creases formed on his forehead as he drew his brows together, tearing the robe slightly to get a better look at the wound. Antitoxins, yes there were a couple of spells that specialised in the removal of such horrors. Sana Nectare, perfect. His hand rested over the wound as both the mages would feel a soft warmth, the toxins drawing out slowly as if he were bringing it out with the thinnest of needles, he could feel the toxin almost acidic. Something quite painful indeed. A shiver fell down his back as the last droplet of it was extracted, Vincent's body soon accumulating a coating of slight sparkles as every scrape and scratch vanished, he wouldn't be able to stop anything larger from scarring over, yet at the same time it was a spell used to replenish nutrients and vitamins that were low within the body. bringing every single part of Vincent's body up to its full function. For the best, considering he could see a slight glowing pumpkin head making its way through the streets towards them from their position in the courtyard.

"It comes, I'll have Cancer distract it, Bartholomew go over to Vincent. My sloth will also awaken for this fight. Do not worry about your health." He spoke softly, yet there was an urgency to it as the sugar glider crawled up onto his own shoulder waving its little arms towards Vincent as if it was asking to be picked up and for its fluffy little belly to be scratched.


Weak, Three Patch hounds: 0 (0)
Normal, Two Pumpkin fangs: 0 (0)
Strong: Pumpkin goliath: 0
Boss, Jack the rotten: 1

"Ah I knew I could rely on you, Lester. You seem to have a spell for just about every situation. I feel as though all of my energy has returned to me!" Vincent knew a few basic spells to increase the regeneration rate of one's stamina, but none like this. The feeling could best be described as euphoric. Once again, the adorable little sugar glider poised itself on the space mage's shoulder - a sign of a difficult fight ahead. It wasn't long before the Haunted Village started to get hot - very hot. Sweat began to bead on the mage's forehead before dripping down his face. This is undoubtedly simply the omen of that creature... the leader. "Oh yes it is I, Jack the Rotten! I'm quite impressed with how far you two have gotten. That being said, prepare to be dead, for this transgression won't be forgotten!" The rhyming scheme of his speech was not only immediately noticeable, but also quite shocking. It made this big bad villain appear just the slightest bit... comical. The white haired scholar wondered if it was an aesthetic choice of if the cursed being was forced to adopt such a method of speech by some unseen force. These musings were cut short when the squawking of hundreds of crows rang out from out of sight. In an instant, these unseen birds materialized in an energetic flock around the pumpkin headed Jack. A keen eye would reveal that these crows, like all of the other monsters that he and Lester had fought thus far, were tainted - cursed. Instead of one eye on each side of their head, each member of this defensive flock had three; their feathers were sharper than normal and they have three rows of tiny sharp teeth on the top and bottom of their mouths.

Vincent took a breath when he saw just how many crows it was. "Alright Lester here's my plan. Bartholomew and I will draw away those crows and pick them off slowly while you and Cancer deal with Jack. If push comes to shove, I have a... let's call it experimental spell that - if it works the way it should, should allow us to deal with both the pumking and his minions at once." The white haired mage knew that the king of the curses wasn't quite to wait very long before launching his attack and, shortly after Vincent relayed his current plan, did exactly that. Before the two of them even knew it, the flock of mutated black birds were upon them and looking for a meal. These birds were quick and Vincent knew that if he was going to pick off the birds before they did the same to him, they would need to be slower and they would need to be weaker. To this end, he leapt away from his white haired companion with the sugar glider hanging on tightly and held his arm out. The hundreds of birds instinctively began to chase the prey that had decided to run from them, or so they thought, but he simply needed to put a bit of distance between him, the pumpking, and the group of birds trying to destroy the two Crystal Swan mages. Crushing Field. While this wasn't the spell he alluded to a second ago to Lester, it would serve a dual purpose of both weakening the entire flock as well as the king of the beasts himself. In a two hundred meter radius around him, all enemies would have their mobility cut by about a third as well as their health squeezed out of them as the space itself began to crush on them. The bones within the cursed birds would start to creak at the massive increase in force being applied to them from every angle.

Now they they were flying slower, the space mage would have a much easier time dealing with the absolutely absurd number of enemies which presented themselves alongside the jack-o-lantern with delusions of grandeur. This spell took a lot out of him, but this was manageable due to the rejuvenated stamina provided by his partner. Some of the weaker crows in the flock would simply perish outright due to the increase in strength granted to him by the master gardener of Crystal Swan, but still most of the crows persisted in their assault despite their weakened state. Vincent had hoped that they wouldn't all fall under his pressure. His red spear and short sword both floated at a reasonable height behind him. These weapons broke their steady position when the mage decided that it was just about time to get the final fight started properly. Both weapons launched forward in front of the mage who had, at this point repositioned himself to be just a bit further away from Lester and Jack in order to give himself a bit more room to fight. The house on which he stood appeared to be abandoned, thankfully. The collateral damage that this face-off with the one who started this mess was likely to be great. Whenever the flock got too close, Vincent would simply reposition himself to what he believed to be other abandoned buildings while continuing to slice through the crowd of black birds with a particular emphasis on those which attempted to speed past their brethren and try to challenge him head on. Just when he believed everything to be going relatively well, the sky lit up in an orange tint. In the distance, the scholar could see that the rhyming demon seemed to be channeling some sort of spell. Before he knew it, the entire landscape of battle changed.

Fire, quite literally, began to rain down from the sky - colliding with buildings both abandoned and occupied. The village was soon ablaze while Jack laughed merrily during his confrontation with Lester and his pet monster. Vincent knew there would be collateral damage, but the extent to which the cursed pumpking was willing to go in order to be rid of him and Lester was unexpected. The scholar's focus was broken away from the flock of birds he had been keeping at bay and shifted to the balls of fire that rained down from the orange and chaotic heavens. It was as if the air itself was beginning to combust around him. One firey explosion after another came from around him and eventually one managed to hit its target, knocking the tactical mage forward into the flock. Instinctively, Vincent grabbed Bartholomew and placed him underneath his robes in order to maximize the likelihood that he would escape from this unfortunate situation unharmed. With both of his weapons back in the hand of their owner, Vincent swung wildly at the hungry mutant birds clawing and pecking at him from all sides. If he didn't get out of this situation soon, then this would be a death by a thousand cuts - or pecks as is more appropriate for the situation. Due to the fact that Vincent now found himself in the eye of the storm of crows, it didn't really matter that they were slowed and weakened. If there ever was a good a time as any to use that spell, it would be now. Upon concluding this quick thought, Vincent closed his eyes and stopped flailing, simply deciding to focus and take the attacks from the crows directly. The stone and dirt paths around about a three hundred meter radius around the spatial manipulator would change much in the same way as they did when he cast the projection of the clocktower.

In place of the carefully laid stone bricks, the ground in the aforementioned range would change to be a sand colored dirt. While all the houses would remain where they were, the ground underneath them would appear to be littered with the corpses of fallen knights. Anyone within a sizable distance of Vincent would see that their environment had changed from a Haunted Village to that of a battlefield at the conclusion of a bloody conflict between knights and some unknown party. This was the third projection that the white haired wizard had gotten ready enough for battle and what he had appropriately dubbed as his "dream." If I'm not in a position to get away from these beasts, then they too cannot escape from me. Once again at the conclusion of his thoughts, a mass of bladed weapons appeared in the sky around the surrounded mage - one for each crow which remained. These bladed weapons ranged from long swords to scimitars to spears and all appeared to be quite generic. Even so, these blades were all created by the Vincent himself and thus all contained great magical power. Without any further hesitation he commanded all of the floating weapons to descend on his aggressors. In that instant, every bird was skewered to the top of the roof on which he stood his ground. Vincent removed Bartholomew from underneath his robes now that the coast was clear and placed him back on his shoulder before collapsing to his knee. Despite his current projection being quite powerful, it took quite a toll on him. He wasn't used to projecting so many objects at once and thus found himself to be lightheaded. It didn't help that there were deep bite marks and scratches all over his body.

I can't believe I managed to pull that off.... Vincent looked around and saw that there were countless swords embedded in the roof of the abandoned building on which he currently rest. He could feel how little magical power he had left as a result, but he was thankful that there weren't any more crows to deal with. Now his partner could deal with that cursed being without any unforeseen interruptions. It seemed as though Jack believed Vincent to be handled, for no firey explosions of the air seemed to occur around him like they had done before the crow swarm swallowed him whole. Now is my chance. I need to make sure that the people of the village are safe.... In spite of his weakened state, Vincent made his way to his feet and stumbled towards the edge of the roof before falling off and manipulating the space around the ground in such a way so as to slow his descent. One by one, he began to create small, localized vacuums around the fires that had formed as a result of the firestorm caused by the same being that had started this mess. Once all the fires were put out, he hurried to the buildings which were affected. He made sure to knock as hard as he could on the door and ask as loudly as he could if there was anyone injured by the sudden attack designed to cause as much destruction as possible. Vincent had managed to put out the flames before they could do any serious damage to the surprisingly sturdy buildings of the village for the most part, so most houses he visited were fine. The ones that weren't, though, had their front doors broken down so that those inside could evacuate their collapsing home and potentially find shelter with another member of the village whose home was in better condition. "Go back to Lester, Bartholomew. He's going to need you more than I do. I think I'll just take a bit of a rest here." With that, Vincent leapt up to a building and sat on the roof to watch the rest of the battle between Lester and the pumpkin king. As much as he would like to help, he was simply too drained to be of any use. It was up to the sugar flower slayer to break the curse.

WC: 10315/10125

HP: 100
MP: 57

Weak, Three Patch hounds: 0 (0)
Normal, Two Pumpkin fangs: 0 (0)
Strong: Pumpkin goliath: 0
Boss, Jack the rotten: 1

A slight chuckle grew from his throat, a spell for every situation, well it certainly seemed like that at times, a spell for every situation was a good way to put it, for his magic was diverse. Yet there were times he yearned for something a little more specified, perhaps one day he would find his niche and settle in. Yet the time for those thoughts was over as apparently he was left to deal with the ragged leftovers that formed the creature which had laid a curse across this land. Cancer was about to leave, he could feel the strained connection weighing down, "cancer" it released one last set, the tiny tumorous balls absorbing into his legs allowing a healing power to flow within, whilst he had no doubt the monster before him was feeling something more like pain due to the lumps of horror which pummelled into its flesh. Before the creature left it had one last move, one last shock to the system as he kept the creature busy with a single tumour, bright red in colour it splatted across the pumpkin like face, obscuring the vision and starting the damage over time effect. Yet he could go home, it was rather feminine, the ribbon around his wrist moved slightly , weighted down by the key that was attached to it, yet even that grew lighter. Cancer, the tumorous humanoid flowed back into the small golden key which was caked in a black sediment, It was refreshing, with that abomination off the field it was just him and the sloth which carefully circled herself around his shoulders and waist much like a backpack. It was time to start, he had a brief few moments whilst this jack was silent and blinded- something he would later realise was so precious. His lapel shone briefly as a Gentleman's Boutonnière appeared, draining the enemy of mp. Spectacles appeared softly across the bridge of his nose as little numbers began to form, the enemies strength, his own too. It had come off cool down earlier whilst they had been fighting however he didn't wish to use up all of his spells before fighting this creature, jack-o-lantern, jack for short. It fit, a horrid little name jack made the slayer think of naughty children and horrid little snotty boys who broke pencils and played pranks. This was a jack he could stop, this was a jack he could immobilise and halt in its tracks. Gentleman's Sweets, once again it condensed from the air, pooling up from the air the mild damage it dealt was nothing compared to how it halted the thrashing creature, even its jaw was constricted tight. It was a rather ugly way of doing it, for none of his spells were based purely off power the most he could do would be battering it slowly to death. It still had mists of its health, yet luckily for the white haired mage it appeared that the creature regenerated magical power rather slowly compared to humans. Perhaps if he could reduce or remove most of the magical power so Jack had to reply on physical attacks, due to the extensive passive buffs he had he himself was happily sitting at about three quarters mp and two thirds of his health, it was a wondrous little thing these glasses, also a small list of things off to the side, spells that were still active. Which explained why jack wasn't regenerating anything- Cuppediae privavit and Tectum pratorum were both still active and blocking off any hopes of regeneration for the creature who by the looks of it was building up to attack him. A heat rising from within the creature indicating the fiery storm that was brewing as he got the ring around his finger ready t activate. Surely there was another spell in his abode that was worth casting.

Whilst the oversized pumpkin creature build up its firestorm the florist cupped his hands, a small triangular glower grew as he whispered motivation and love towards it, the beautiful thin blooming and spinning, its petals breaking off their sunset colours shot towards jack who grew angry looking but kept building up the cursed storm of flames eating away at the air. He had been wearing his gloves for a while now, so he could use those- that being said even with his resistance buffs and shields there was no way to get through this unscathed. If he could just change the fire storm to a leaf storm then it would do less damage against him, a crease formed between the males eyebrows as he realised the spell was too powerful for him to eat as a slayer without still getting damaged.

The pumpkin shone briefly as the fiery storm came, the cackling of jack only made him more worried. Flames lost their heat, swirling slightly and banding together their colour changing from the brightest of star golds to that of a deep autumn leaf, crisp and harsh the leaves sliced at the male who braced himself, one knee of the ground his cloak across his face he took less damage than most normally would have, thankfully the slayer within him was helpful for something, yet that hadn't stopped the sharpened nature to leave small lacerations across his skin. At least Vincent was managing to keep the birds away, although he didn't dare take his focus off jack to see if his partner was okay, Bartholomew landed on his shoulder, the sweet little creature warming his heart and giving him health. Vincent was probably okay then, drained, but well enough to give him the sugar glider.

Gloves, yes, he had to fight it. They already had two amounts of damage stored within, could take a total of 5, then it would all be released to be two and a half that of a normal spell. The spectacles perched on his nose told him everything, wonderful really almost as if he were in a game. so he just needed to survive three more attacks before hitting back, judging from the multitudes of debuffs the enemy had and the buffs he had, he was dealing at least three times as much, and there was already that petal spell, the immobilisation acting on the creature to increase the spell damage it took. His shield would last another hit, maybe for part of the second, it would allow him to add to the debuffs hopefully. Then finish it off. Raising himself off the ground Lester straightened himself, bouncing briefly on the tips of his toes before highly jogging around the area, A flying fireball, there, it had a pumpkin inside it for extra damage. Sudden stop and change of direction yet he wasn't expecting the vegetable to change direction as well, A slight gasp escaped him, the man lurching to the side slightly from the impact, yet there was a slight sigh of relief, for the shield that passively came with his magic had done its job and the glove had absorbed more magic. He had to start the debuff spell now before another pumpkin missile was thrown his way by the cackling muttering boss.

Hands forming a gun a single dart of sugar was fired towards the creature, exploding and shattering against it into grains which rewarded him with the fire from its pumpkin head angrily lashing in the wind. Spell damage taken increased, there, and the immobilisation would have been strengthened too. Yet they were only physical immobilisation, it didn't stop the creatures flames from breaking off any flying towards him. It caught the end of his ponytail, singeing the ends into a horrid smell as a sharp crack was felt down his spine, the pumpkin connecting. He had barely regained himself when another oversized fireball shot towards him. He spluttered, coughing slightly with one hand pressing into his side a slight grin cracked across his battered face. The last few minutes having taken its toll yet the glove on his other hand was crackling with power. Really now, he was hurt, his ribs hurt and a bruise would have been forming across his back which was still covered by a blackened coat, lanky legs brought him closer, the next fireball was still on charge up as  he slammed the glove in, hitting what would have been a lower leg bone he grabbed it, the damage transferring to the pumpkin beast and only growing in power as his buffs stacked up on it, the enemies defences already lowered he managed to rip out the bone , using it slightly to prop himself up. What was that? The pumpkin staggered back, its leg collapsing beneath it a few undecipherable words flowed out, vague mutterings before a crackling laugh echoing despite the body which was condensing into a ball of flame. "Vincent- Lets, maybe lets just go and sit somewhere- I think this ball is gonna explode"  He looked tired, weary eyes flickering over the landscape to check they were left before he made his way towards the other male, yet he just looked up where the mage was seated on the roof, not wanting to climb up there. It would be nice to go home, they could wander over to the ships, maybe have a slight sit down, rest and hope that nobody saw them returning. His hair was a mess after all. "You feel like coming down from there? I have a big bone to take home, you think it'll fit in that little ship that brought us down or we could teleport back up" Teleporting up would take them to the guild hall, the ship would drop them off where ever, decisions decisions. A blast of heat could be felt from behind him, turning to look back at where he had killed jack. The fireball having exploded it caused no damage, instead the darkened patches were slowly clearing, pumpkins returning to normal the glistening toxic blood was turning into water and seeping away, so it was gone. The curse clear and they were free to return home at their own leisure, unless Vincent wanted to ride off into the sunset on a white horse together.



Weak, Three Patch hounds: 0 (0)
Normal, Two Pumpkin fangs: 0 (0)
Strong: Pumpkin goliath: 0
Boss, Jack the rotten: 0