The task sounded easy enough. Find the plants, take a sample from and then take it to the herbalist. What the herbalist had not said was that they tended to dwell in large groups and were a pain to deal with when close to each other. It seemed that the Slayer's usual style of just beating her opponents to a pulp was simply not going to work this time, which annoyed her somewhat. Her first half a dozen jobs had awoken a desire for blood and carnage, a desire that seemed to grow by the day.
Today, however, was not going to be a day for her to satiate that need and instead she found herself in front of a large group of the unknown plants, thorns sticking out from each one, a warning to anyone who would dare approach them. Apparently, they carried a particular poison that caused anyone stung to be in the hospital or something like that. Lena was hardly sympathetic about that and she believed that anyone stupid enough to try and touch a thorny plant was deserving of whatever happened to them. Ah well, the world was full of morons and it seemed that Beanstalk Village had its fair share of them.
Summoning her Godly powers, Lena released a wave of water which travelled towards the plants, clattering into them with great force and stunning them. She then swiftly clapped her hands, which summoned a geyser of boiling water to rise up from underneath the plants and drench them in hot water, burning them and causing them to burn. It was a simple combination but one that proved effective against them. Only one of the seven plants survived the onslaught and it certainly did not look all that healthy either. With a smile, Lena then briefly inhaled moisture from the air, before launching it as a powerful torrent of water, easily destroying the final plant, its resistance broken.
It had been as simple as she had thought it would be and without a moment's hesitation, she swiftly moved forward, pulled out a vial and pair of tweezers that she had brought for the job and gently took a sample of the largest plant. When that was done, she turned away and headed back towards the village, where her reward would hopefully be waiting. The herbalist was pleased with her work and gladly took the sample, praising the mage for her diligence. In fact, she even offered Lena the chance to become more involved in her investigation, which the ginger haired mage eventually agreed too. With a smile, the herbalist quickly jumped on the idea and got to work with her research.
It was sweet hearing the herbalist speak of her work in such a passionate way but Lena found it difficult to keep her attention focused on the conversation. The world of plants was not one that she was all that interested in but she at least looked as though she could understand what was being said. The mage had promised to help and had stuck to her pledge although she secretly hoped that there would be no need for gardening this time. She had her fill of that for the time being and even blasting the plants to nothing but limp weeds would not satiate her today. It had been a while since her last violent job and the vampire was beginning to feel the thirst for chaos once more. She had to be satiated from time to time.
A noise from outside the house caused Lena's head to snap to her left and the herbalist stopped mid word but Lena motioned for her to continue and so she duly did. The mage stood up and crept up to the window, her Slayer enhanced hearing just about making out something from the other side of the window. With a smile, she activated her magic and evaporated into what seemed like nothing, causing the herbalist to yelp in fright. In reality, she simply became molecules of water, slipped through the gap in the open window and then re-emerged outside, resulting in her appearing behind a shadow like figure who had been spying all along.
His reaction time was excellent and he quickly spun on his heel and lashed out with a rapier, which caught Lena on the cheek, causing her to bleed. The reaction was instant and the effect of blood always had the same effect on her, whether it be hers or someone else's. Her pupils dilated and a sickening smile crossed her face. He had made a mistake. As he attacked again, the mage dodged the blow and drove her knee into his stomach, causing him to recoil and leave himself open to one of Lena'a newest abilities, it looked like just another punch but it contained a great deal of her magical power as well as her physical. "Aqua's Might," was its name and it certainly lived up to it here, catching the stalker hard in the side of the head, viciously snapping his head to the left due to the force of it. She then followed it up by surrounding her fists with water and moving in to strike with a powerful left, right combination of punches, causing blood to spurt from his face too, enhancing Lena's strength.
He managed to roll out of the way before she could continue her barrage and compose himself although he looked staggered already. He started to circle and then dashed forwards but his strike missed again as the vampire managed to turn her head in time, causing him to lose balance and leaving himself open to an uppercut that the mage swiftly delivered, knocking his head back and forcing him to stagger backwards. She then began to spin in a circle and caused a cyclone to erupt from beneath him, sending him up into the air, trapped in its grip. He was hers now and used the opportunity to combine that ability with another. As the cyclone ended, he started to fall, only to be scalded as Lena unleashed a geyser of water, which he was unable to do anything about.
He fell to the ground, bloody, burned and confused, unsure of where he was. All he could do was try and crawl away but Lena was having none of it. She raised her hand and fired a net of water, which captured him, immobilising him the moment it struck. He rolled around, trying to escape his bonds but to no avail. The mage was not yet finished and created a whip of water, which she soon cracked across his back, resulting in him crying out in pain.
"Lena! He's had enough," the herbalist barked, rushing to the mage's side, "He can provide us with...."
Lena paid no heed and started to inhale, before unleashing a powerful stream of water from her mouth which he was unable to dodge because of the net. The attack hit him with its full force and he rolled around no more. His life was over.
Walking over to the body, Lena swiftly searched him and discovered an odd assortment of items, which she swiftly passed over to the herbalist, who was still shocked by what she had just witnessed. Despite this though, the herbalist still offered the vampire more work, once she had the time to go over her newest set of data.
First it had been weeds then it had been a stalker and now it was animals, odd looking animals. They all had strange purple lumps covering them, which the herbalist had confirmed were due to the weeds and had apparently turned them all feral. The herbalist was in a complete state but there was not the slightest hint of concern that passed across the vampire's features although she quickly volunteered herself to handle the problem.
She was hoping for a decent scrap but instead ended up having to face up with a few infected chickens which caused her to react with simply a raise of her eyebrow. They came forward in a frenzy towards her but Lena simply used one of her spells which caused a geyser of hot water to spring forth from the ground, causing severe damage to them as well as burning them for even more damage. The birds were so feeble that they could only just survive that and a couple of kicks from her easily finished them off. Not exactly a challenge but as she continued to make her way around the edge of the village, her enhanced sense of smell picked up a far stronger scent, one that seemed to be coming towards her.
Reacting quickly, she jumped backwards, just in time too as a massive creature charged past her, missing her by a whisker and ploughing into a nearby tree. Roaring in frustration, it shook its large hard and then turned to face the mage. It was a massive bear, coated in the same lumps that the chickens had been, its eyes focused entirely on her, eager to rip her to shreds. With a grin, she charged forwards, leaped up into the air and dashed towards the creature as it in turn charged towards her. They clashed with a bone crunching sound but the mage was superior in strength and managed to knock the bear back. Taking advantage, her hands soon became surrounded with water and she dashed into melee range, precisely where she wanted to be.
The bear attempted to lash out at her with its massive claws but it was just not swift enough to keep up with the Slayer. Her strikes were not only more powerful but more accurate too, scoring again and again, causing blood and pus to erupt from the infected creature. The sound of breaking bones could soon be heard as Lena pummelled it with vicious punches to the head and body, always managing to duck underneath or evade the bear's blows before retaliating. She ended her powerful combination with a mighty blow, catching it hard in the jaw, a horrible crunching sound revealing that she had broken it with the strike. It would not be feeding again, that was for sure but in reality, it would not be doing much of anything again. Not if she had her way.
It reeled back from the ferocity of her blows and Lena used the space in order to summon a crossbow of water, which she quickly fired at the bear, catching it in the side and draining its life to replenish her own. It sent a pleasurable tingle down her spine and caused the bear to roar in anger and pain. She then began to spin in a circle and caused a cyclone of water to rise up and capture the creature in its clutches, before inhaling a large amount of moisture and unleashing it upon the creature, scoring a direct it and flinging it out of the cyclone and sending it crashing to the ground. It rose once more but she then fired a net of water to send it tumbling back down. To finish it off, she then created a whip like strand of water and began to whip the beast sadistically, enjoying every scream and grunt of pain until it cried no more. With that, she would again return to the herbalist and report her latest dealings with the infected creatures. The woman was pleased with the results and even offered Lena a room for the night, knowing that the next day would no doubt be another packed one.
The next morning, Lena was tasked with a job better suited to a scientist more than a mage if she was honest. She had to explore the forest, scan infected plants and bring back samples if possible. It all sounded rather monotonous but she had agreed nonetheless. She had come this far and felt that she was in too deep to abandon the herbalist and her partners now. Besides, they were offering a reward as always which had only sweetened the deal. Besides, if she was lucky, perhaps there would be a few more infected animals exploring the land that she could have a go at.
The forest was pretty much devoid of anything to be fair and she spent almost an hour simply wandering through the place, her scanners at the ready in case she encountered any of the plants. However, it did not seem like her luck was in and after a while, she began to feel just a little irritated by the lack of plants and began to ponder if perhaps she had been sent on a wild goose chase. Yet, there was a strange sense that seemed to push her onwards and she simply refused to return empty handed. She had not failed a job yet and she was not going to start now. Her pride was in the line.
Fortunately, a loud roar soon brought her out of her irritable thought train and she turned to find a group of infected bears staring a hole through her. Grinning, she swiftly surrounded her hands of water, activated her water body ability and dashed into the fray, firing water and fists in all directions. The battle did not last all that long and it was startling as to just how much blood Lena was able to shed in that short amount of time. It was an absolute massacre, with cyclones, geysers and her powerful spinning blades quickly defeating her opponents. By the end of her opening barrage of spells, only one of them remained and a powerful blast of water from her mouth was enough to finish it off, leaving her victorious.
After the fight was concluded, Lena continued with her search until her scanners soon started to haywire and it was then that she began to slow her pace and started to explore the area more thoroughly, eventually coming across five different sets of plants. Examining with a speed that baffled even her, she swiftly pulled out a notepad and began making notes on each plant, as well as scanning them for their magic alignment. It took quite a while to complete but by the time she was finished, she had identified each one and harvested three which could be tested.
Once she was done, she swiftly returned back to the herbalist and scientist, who swiftly paid her and thanked her once more for her help. Before rushing off once more to examine the vampires latest plans and come up with their next move. In all, it took them about an hour before they returned and set Lena on what was to be her final job for them.
There was an ominous feeling to the forest that had not been there before, as though something was sapping the life out of everything that dared to enter it. Each time she had returned to this forest, the feeling had increased but now it was at a completely different level. Yet, it had little effect on the ginger haired mage as she dashed through the undergrowth, heading directly for the source. Her job for today was simple, find the cause of the corruption and tear it to shreds. Just how she liked it. This was the fifth time now that she answered the call of Beanstalk Village and at this point, she was totally sick of the place and wanted nothing more than to leave for good. On the other hand, she always felt a compulsion to finish what she started and this was no exception. The unknown quantity of what or she would fine only spurred her onward. It would all come to an end, today.
However, she was soon forced to come to a halt as she came across a group of undead creatures stumbling towards her. They appeared to be zombies of some kind although they moved so slowly that they seemed unlikely to be much of a threat to her. All she did magic wise was to activate her dual pair of support abilities and rush headlong into them, lashing out with water enhanced punches and kicks to the rotting opposition. It was not even close to a challenge and the vampire tore through the foul creatures like a hot knife through butter, sending them back to the hell that they had spawned from. She mused to herself that their creator would be a greater challenge although in the back of her mind, Lena was beginning to think otherwise. What she longed for was an opponent that she could fight at full strength but that was starting to seem unlikely. A weak minion usually meant a weak master after all.
Soon enough, she came across a robed figure who was at least quick enough to fire a trio of jet black spheres towards her. Rather than try and dodge them, Lena simply leapt up into the air and hurled herself towards him, surrounding herself with water and catching him hard in the stomach, sending him crashing backwards into a tree and falling to the ground. His attack had not even penetrated her defences that her spells had granted her and the expression on her face was more of disappointment than anything.
Before he could recover, she inhaled deeply and unleashed a powerful torrent of water from her mouth which pressed him up against the tree again before eventually causing it to collapse. It was just too easy and rather than wasting any more of her magic power, she simply shrugged and dived on top of her fallen foe, pummelling him with blows from both fists and turning his face into a bloody mess. Her eyes soon began to glint from the pleasure of it all and it was long after that he had stopped breathing that she finally stopped striking him, leaving him as nothing but a stain on the forest floor.
After a quick search of his robes, Lena swiftly turned away and dashed back off into the undergrowth, her eyes still glowing with the lust of battle. As disappointing as the fight had been, she had at least been able to nourish her carnal desires for at least a short amount of time although she knew that it would not satiate her for long.
Her journey back to the scientist was uneventful and after explaining the situation to the group, he was quick to praise her once again, before paying her for completing the task. He spoke at length about the curse and of the robed figure but Lena paid little heed to it. She was tired of this story and longed to move on. When he had finally finished, she quickly took her leave, before he could ask anything more of her. She was done with this.
(3136 Words)
Today, however, was not going to be a day for her to satiate that need and instead she found herself in front of a large group of the unknown plants, thorns sticking out from each one, a warning to anyone who would dare approach them. Apparently, they carried a particular poison that caused anyone stung to be in the hospital or something like that. Lena was hardly sympathetic about that and she believed that anyone stupid enough to try and touch a thorny plant was deserving of whatever happened to them. Ah well, the world was full of morons and it seemed that Beanstalk Village had its fair share of them.
Summoning her Godly powers, Lena released a wave of water which travelled towards the plants, clattering into them with great force and stunning them. She then swiftly clapped her hands, which summoned a geyser of boiling water to rise up from underneath the plants and drench them in hot water, burning them and causing them to burn. It was a simple combination but one that proved effective against them. Only one of the seven plants survived the onslaught and it certainly did not look all that healthy either. With a smile, Lena then briefly inhaled moisture from the air, before launching it as a powerful torrent of water, easily destroying the final plant, its resistance broken.
It had been as simple as she had thought it would be and without a moment's hesitation, she swiftly moved forward, pulled out a vial and pair of tweezers that she had brought for the job and gently took a sample of the largest plant. When that was done, she turned away and headed back towards the village, where her reward would hopefully be waiting. The herbalist was pleased with her work and gladly took the sample, praising the mage for her diligence. In fact, she even offered Lena the chance to become more involved in her investigation, which the ginger haired mage eventually agreed too. With a smile, the herbalist quickly jumped on the idea and got to work with her research.
It was sweet hearing the herbalist speak of her work in such a passionate way but Lena found it difficult to keep her attention focused on the conversation. The world of plants was not one that she was all that interested in but she at least looked as though she could understand what was being said. The mage had promised to help and had stuck to her pledge although she secretly hoped that there would be no need for gardening this time. She had her fill of that for the time being and even blasting the plants to nothing but limp weeds would not satiate her today. It had been a while since her last violent job and the vampire was beginning to feel the thirst for chaos once more. She had to be satiated from time to time.
A noise from outside the house caused Lena's head to snap to her left and the herbalist stopped mid word but Lena motioned for her to continue and so she duly did. The mage stood up and crept up to the window, her Slayer enhanced hearing just about making out something from the other side of the window. With a smile, she activated her magic and evaporated into what seemed like nothing, causing the herbalist to yelp in fright. In reality, she simply became molecules of water, slipped through the gap in the open window and then re-emerged outside, resulting in her appearing behind a shadow like figure who had been spying all along.
His reaction time was excellent and he quickly spun on his heel and lashed out with a rapier, which caught Lena on the cheek, causing her to bleed. The reaction was instant and the effect of blood always had the same effect on her, whether it be hers or someone else's. Her pupils dilated and a sickening smile crossed her face. He had made a mistake. As he attacked again, the mage dodged the blow and drove her knee into his stomach, causing him to recoil and leave himself open to one of Lena'a newest abilities, it looked like just another punch but it contained a great deal of her magical power as well as her physical. "Aqua's Might," was its name and it certainly lived up to it here, catching the stalker hard in the side of the head, viciously snapping his head to the left due to the force of it. She then followed it up by surrounding her fists with water and moving in to strike with a powerful left, right combination of punches, causing blood to spurt from his face too, enhancing Lena's strength.
He managed to roll out of the way before she could continue her barrage and compose himself although he looked staggered already. He started to circle and then dashed forwards but his strike missed again as the vampire managed to turn her head in time, causing him to lose balance and leaving himself open to an uppercut that the mage swiftly delivered, knocking his head back and forcing him to stagger backwards. She then began to spin in a circle and caused a cyclone to erupt from beneath him, sending him up into the air, trapped in its grip. He was hers now and used the opportunity to combine that ability with another. As the cyclone ended, he started to fall, only to be scalded as Lena unleashed a geyser of water, which he was unable to do anything about.
He fell to the ground, bloody, burned and confused, unsure of where he was. All he could do was try and crawl away but Lena was having none of it. She raised her hand and fired a net of water, which captured him, immobilising him the moment it struck. He rolled around, trying to escape his bonds but to no avail. The mage was not yet finished and created a whip of water, which she soon cracked across his back, resulting in him crying out in pain.
"Lena! He's had enough," the herbalist barked, rushing to the mage's side, "He can provide us with...."
Lena paid no heed and started to inhale, before unleashing a powerful stream of water from her mouth which he was unable to dodge because of the net. The attack hit him with its full force and he rolled around no more. His life was over.
Walking over to the body, Lena swiftly searched him and discovered an odd assortment of items, which she swiftly passed over to the herbalist, who was still shocked by what she had just witnessed. Despite this though, the herbalist still offered the vampire more work, once she had the time to go over her newest set of data.
First it had been weeds then it had been a stalker and now it was animals, odd looking animals. They all had strange purple lumps covering them, which the herbalist had confirmed were due to the weeds and had apparently turned them all feral. The herbalist was in a complete state but there was not the slightest hint of concern that passed across the vampire's features although she quickly volunteered herself to handle the problem.
She was hoping for a decent scrap but instead ended up having to face up with a few infected chickens which caused her to react with simply a raise of her eyebrow. They came forward in a frenzy towards her but Lena simply used one of her spells which caused a geyser of hot water to spring forth from the ground, causing severe damage to them as well as burning them for even more damage. The birds were so feeble that they could only just survive that and a couple of kicks from her easily finished them off. Not exactly a challenge but as she continued to make her way around the edge of the village, her enhanced sense of smell picked up a far stronger scent, one that seemed to be coming towards her.
Reacting quickly, she jumped backwards, just in time too as a massive creature charged past her, missing her by a whisker and ploughing into a nearby tree. Roaring in frustration, it shook its large hard and then turned to face the mage. It was a massive bear, coated in the same lumps that the chickens had been, its eyes focused entirely on her, eager to rip her to shreds. With a grin, she charged forwards, leaped up into the air and dashed towards the creature as it in turn charged towards her. They clashed with a bone crunching sound but the mage was superior in strength and managed to knock the bear back. Taking advantage, her hands soon became surrounded with water and she dashed into melee range, precisely where she wanted to be.
The bear attempted to lash out at her with its massive claws but it was just not swift enough to keep up with the Slayer. Her strikes were not only more powerful but more accurate too, scoring again and again, causing blood and pus to erupt from the infected creature. The sound of breaking bones could soon be heard as Lena pummelled it with vicious punches to the head and body, always managing to duck underneath or evade the bear's blows before retaliating. She ended her powerful combination with a mighty blow, catching it hard in the jaw, a horrible crunching sound revealing that she had broken it with the strike. It would not be feeding again, that was for sure but in reality, it would not be doing much of anything again. Not if she had her way.
It reeled back from the ferocity of her blows and Lena used the space in order to summon a crossbow of water, which she quickly fired at the bear, catching it in the side and draining its life to replenish her own. It sent a pleasurable tingle down her spine and caused the bear to roar in anger and pain. She then began to spin in a circle and caused a cyclone of water to rise up and capture the creature in its clutches, before inhaling a large amount of moisture and unleashing it upon the creature, scoring a direct it and flinging it out of the cyclone and sending it crashing to the ground. It rose once more but she then fired a net of water to send it tumbling back down. To finish it off, she then created a whip like strand of water and began to whip the beast sadistically, enjoying every scream and grunt of pain until it cried no more. With that, she would again return to the herbalist and report her latest dealings with the infected creatures. The woman was pleased with the results and even offered Lena a room for the night, knowing that the next day would no doubt be another packed one.
The next morning, Lena was tasked with a job better suited to a scientist more than a mage if she was honest. She had to explore the forest, scan infected plants and bring back samples if possible. It all sounded rather monotonous but she had agreed nonetheless. She had come this far and felt that she was in too deep to abandon the herbalist and her partners now. Besides, they were offering a reward as always which had only sweetened the deal. Besides, if she was lucky, perhaps there would be a few more infected animals exploring the land that she could have a go at.
The forest was pretty much devoid of anything to be fair and she spent almost an hour simply wandering through the place, her scanners at the ready in case she encountered any of the plants. However, it did not seem like her luck was in and after a while, she began to feel just a little irritated by the lack of plants and began to ponder if perhaps she had been sent on a wild goose chase. Yet, there was a strange sense that seemed to push her onwards and she simply refused to return empty handed. She had not failed a job yet and she was not going to start now. Her pride was in the line.
Fortunately, a loud roar soon brought her out of her irritable thought train and she turned to find a group of infected bears staring a hole through her. Grinning, she swiftly surrounded her hands of water, activated her water body ability and dashed into the fray, firing water and fists in all directions. The battle did not last all that long and it was startling as to just how much blood Lena was able to shed in that short amount of time. It was an absolute massacre, with cyclones, geysers and her powerful spinning blades quickly defeating her opponents. By the end of her opening barrage of spells, only one of them remained and a powerful blast of water from her mouth was enough to finish it off, leaving her victorious.
After the fight was concluded, Lena continued with her search until her scanners soon started to haywire and it was then that she began to slow her pace and started to explore the area more thoroughly, eventually coming across five different sets of plants. Examining with a speed that baffled even her, she swiftly pulled out a notepad and began making notes on each plant, as well as scanning them for their magic alignment. It took quite a while to complete but by the time she was finished, she had identified each one and harvested three which could be tested.
Once she was done, she swiftly returned back to the herbalist and scientist, who swiftly paid her and thanked her once more for her help. Before rushing off once more to examine the vampires latest plans and come up with their next move. In all, it took them about an hour before they returned and set Lena on what was to be her final job for them.
There was an ominous feeling to the forest that had not been there before, as though something was sapping the life out of everything that dared to enter it. Each time she had returned to this forest, the feeling had increased but now it was at a completely different level. Yet, it had little effect on the ginger haired mage as she dashed through the undergrowth, heading directly for the source. Her job for today was simple, find the cause of the corruption and tear it to shreds. Just how she liked it. This was the fifth time now that she answered the call of Beanstalk Village and at this point, she was totally sick of the place and wanted nothing more than to leave for good. On the other hand, she always felt a compulsion to finish what she started and this was no exception. The unknown quantity of what or she would fine only spurred her onward. It would all come to an end, today.
However, she was soon forced to come to a halt as she came across a group of undead creatures stumbling towards her. They appeared to be zombies of some kind although they moved so slowly that they seemed unlikely to be much of a threat to her. All she did magic wise was to activate her dual pair of support abilities and rush headlong into them, lashing out with water enhanced punches and kicks to the rotting opposition. It was not even close to a challenge and the vampire tore through the foul creatures like a hot knife through butter, sending them back to the hell that they had spawned from. She mused to herself that their creator would be a greater challenge although in the back of her mind, Lena was beginning to think otherwise. What she longed for was an opponent that she could fight at full strength but that was starting to seem unlikely. A weak minion usually meant a weak master after all.
Soon enough, she came across a robed figure who was at least quick enough to fire a trio of jet black spheres towards her. Rather than try and dodge them, Lena simply leapt up into the air and hurled herself towards him, surrounding herself with water and catching him hard in the stomach, sending him crashing backwards into a tree and falling to the ground. His attack had not even penetrated her defences that her spells had granted her and the expression on her face was more of disappointment than anything.
Before he could recover, she inhaled deeply and unleashed a powerful torrent of water from her mouth which pressed him up against the tree again before eventually causing it to collapse. It was just too easy and rather than wasting any more of her magic power, she simply shrugged and dived on top of her fallen foe, pummelling him with blows from both fists and turning his face into a bloody mess. Her eyes soon began to glint from the pleasure of it all and it was long after that he had stopped breathing that she finally stopped striking him, leaving him as nothing but a stain on the forest floor.
After a quick search of his robes, Lena swiftly turned away and dashed back off into the undergrowth, her eyes still glowing with the lust of battle. As disappointing as the fight had been, she had at least been able to nourish her carnal desires for at least a short amount of time although she knew that it would not satiate her for long.
Her journey back to the scientist was uneventful and after explaining the situation to the group, he was quick to praise her once again, before paying her for completing the task. He spoke at length about the curse and of the robed figure but Lena paid little heed to it. She was tired of this story and longed to move on. When he had finally finished, she quickly took her leave, before he could ask anything more of her. She was done with this.
(3136 Words)
