Monster Hunting (A-rank Midgame Grind)

It was turning into a bit of a slaughter really and as Miranda and Rengar continued to make their way through the forest, neither of them had found much in the way of decent competition. Most had simply been wielding poles which was hardly going to do much against the animal pair. It was a little frustrating and not enough to dampen either Miranda’s anger or Rengars lust for blood. They needed a different sort of prey to hunt and soon, otherwise they were going to go crazy. Sadly for the moment. They didn’t seem to have much option besides killing the weaklings.

Slashing another of the weaklings, Rengar would chuckle lightly as her target's scream was cut off half way through, the fool's body crumpling to the ground. Even though the opponents weren’t much good, they were at least enough to keep her skills somewhat sharp. As she was about to turn around to face her mistress, a new scent would capture the huntress’s attention and a smile would cross her features. She sensed magic and a fairly strong source of it too. Perhaps they’d be able to give her the fight she desired? There was only one way to find out!

“I smell a mage! Let’s take them!” Without another word, Rengar would suddenly tap into her stealth form and dash off, leaving a rather bemused Miranda behind.

“I’ve told you not to do that! Get back here Rengar!” She screeched, before sighing and following her aggressive spirit as best she could. The bunny girl could begin to sense the magic power of their target too. It had a flame like vibe to it, which only caused the rabbit to smile.

(284 Words)

Recognising the voice of her closest friend aided Kalama in cutting through her wall of anxiety and confusion. Slapping herself rather unexpectedly on the head with her free hand, the blonde haired warrior would take a breath and focus on the situation at hand. For a moment, she did not say anything at all, collecting herself, before saying, “You did not tell me that there were going to be dozens of mages taking part in this little hunt. I was expecting a handful at most.” It was humiliating to have been petrified by fear so easily and Kalama admitted to herself that perhaps she was just never going to have Aoi’s gift at being sociable with people she did not.

As Aoi shot at the lizard, capturing its attention, Kalama summoned her moon blade and charged forwards, unleashing a crescent shaped blast from her weapon as she did so. A potent blow and it smacked the lizard hard in the back, knocking it off balance. It was sturdy though and did not get up, instead deciding to let loose with a powerful roar, revealing its position to all those in the area. It sounded like a rallying cry of sorts and the sounds of other reptiles could soon be heard, heading in their direction. As the one they were fighting tried to stand up, Kalama would raise a hand and deliver a powerful arc of lightning, causing it to twitch on the floor. She was uncertain as to how wise it was to let it scream but it was too late for that anyway.

It was then that the lizards kin would appear, causing the blonde to state the blindly obvious, “Another wave coming in.”

(286 Words)

If she was honest with herself, Bastila had no real idea about why she had agreed to take part in the hunt, other than the obvious. She had never been one to enjoy killing wildlife and honestly felt it to be a waste of her powers but as always, the amount of jewels on offer had won out and so the tall blonde had eventually landed on the shore. The phoenix mage had never been keen on boats and had flown instead, making sure that her landing spot was safe from the eyes of anyone else. Appearances must be kept, after all and she had an image to maintain. There were an awful lot of magical signatures around though and the motherly mage could not help but feel just a little curious. She had met very few in her journeys so far, outside those within the Hidden Blades.

Not quite knowing where to start, the blue eyed woman would simply pick a random direction and begin to walk, deciding to let fate choose who or what she would have to fight. The flyer had been awfully vague but Bastila was confident in her skills. The phoenix would have her chance at spreading her wings today, that much was for sure. It had been a while since she had let loose and she was intrigued to see just how her powers were developing. In truth, her mind was still on her and Sakura’s encounter with Miguel and his thugs and that meeting only pushed her further when it came to gaining more strength. Both for her own sake and her daughters.

(271 Words)

The brunette continued to make her way for the area in question she had wanted to go. The feeling of warm heated air and the scent of smoldering earth and molten levels of heat was her goal. And though she did anticipate the idea she may get in over her head, this was an area that she felt comfortable in trying to overcome. Granted, the idea that she could surely go ahead with being in a forested area where anything could potentially be nothing but burnt away led her to the probability of beginning a forest fire and frankly... that was not her goal. God only knows what could happen if she tried such a thing, so she had given that idea up and decided the next best option. But, the young teen paused for a moment to look out to the sea. This was the first time that she had even been on a beach and looked out to the ocean.

Captivated almost by how the world painted itself in such a majestic and wonderful view had bought a stranger enough time to approach her. With a raised brow, the brunette looked over to see a girl looking toward her with a small smile. ”Umm.. I suppose so.” For a moment, the fire slayer turned herself to look over the girl, looking her over in a bit of confusion. ”You look a little familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?” She asked, looking back to the sight of the horizon and then over to her volcanic destination. ”And I hope you aren’t afraid of a little fire.”

268 words

The cursed brunette didn’t really expect much of the same either. If anything, the yelling was a little much, however she wasn’t going to berate her over that. Not after the way she saw how the curse affected her ability to socialize with others. ”Y’all think I took headcount on this? Girlfriend, I was just as shocked as you we- aight, maybe almost as surprised as y’all were.” Letting out a small sigh, she would simply put her energy into the current fight she had begun to interrupt. With her couple shots connecting, Kalama quickly followed up with a devastating strike to the chest. With that, the lizard they had attacked let off a sudden scream of sorts, or perhaps a rallying cry. Whatever it was, the sound of rustling bushes caught the attention of the farm girl either way.

As she turned her back to her cursed companion, a crashing sound of thunder ended the life of the lizard quickly. What she didn’t expect had been the half a dozen emerging lizards surrounding the two. ”I got these three, y’all get the others.” The officer suggested, taking an aim with her now and firing. Not going more than 5 meters, the shot seemed to miss the intended target and her eyes widened. ”What...” Muttering, she would aim once again, this time realizing the view had begun to blur. After a bit of range, the sight was becoming darker, blurrier, and in the next several fired, barely managed to hit once. ”What.. what in the hell is goin’ on?”

259 words

Taylor finally braked on her advance towards what looked like a huge anthill, soon to reveal itself to be the emergence of an army of vermis - worm-like monstrosities with hostile intents towards them. They hissed and growled, or they made the sounds simulating that, as Mura raised a hand to greet Taylor with a half-hearted salute.

“Good to see that you’re helping out here too,” he complimented her proactivity. After Taylor explained that she wanted to test the waters with these worms and see what her magic could do to them, Mura nodded and decided to join up with her, unsheathing Harusame and standing next to the fellow swordswoman. “Guess I can, since I’m here and all. Uh… try and keep up with your brav-“

He just wanted to give her an incentive to, y’know, do well and put lots of effort into her combat - not because he doubted her dedication, but because… well, because he found it a responsibility for him as Guildmaster to draw out effort from his guildmates. It was like being a parent; sometimes, they asked their kids to do better even though both were aware of their dedications to studies, training etc. Mura wasn’t a parent, though, so until he became one, he couldn’t stand with that comparison and call it authentic or reasonable coming from him.

But alas, he didn’t even need to say anything. Taylor had already unleashed her electric surge upon one of the worms, cooking its internal tissue to instant death with a ridiculously high voltage. One more dug itself up from the earth and approached her, but Mura had already leapt towards it to refine his own sword skills a little. With a non-powered Harusame, he cleaved through its mouth and cut open its torso all the way down to the middle of its body, the two sides falling to the ground without life.

Then, his eyes went back to Taylor… wanting to see what she would do next.

3rd MG WC: 331
@Taylor Akerley

"Mmmm~" came a delicious hum, seemingly from thin air.

And indeed, from literally thin air, he appeared! As if summoned by Baird's last words-- there was truly no better phrase to count as his summoning-- something was happening nearby. Right behind the two male Buzz Killers coalesced a form, at first nothing but a few foggy particles but quickly gaining enough substance to show a cloud patterned after the galaxy beyond itself. Two glowing orbs of gold peered at them for no more than a second before the ball of gas exploded into the familiar purple-haired man. How he traveled when in his space dust form was a mystery he never felt compelled to explain. Was he already in the area for some reason or could he just detect interesting scenarios between his friends and warp there instantly? Was he just everywhere at once when he felt like it? A frightening concept, but it was far from impossible. He wasn't of this world and could basically do whatever he wanted.

While most might have some sort of empathy or sympathy for the sight of one friend clearly having a break down of great magnitude, Iris Esperanza displayed none of that. Baird's demand for what others might call self-destructive or unhealthy behavior was something Iris understood well and would have no problem obliging. How silly Baird was to ask Ahote for either of those things! "Both it is, handsome~" he purred, slipping right in between the two and swinging a fist with the force of someone who also dealt with difficult emotions with masochistic tendencies. Whether it connected or not was irrelevant, since he'd follow it with an equally forceful kiss.

[wc: 280]

So this girl wasn't a fanatic or even remotely paid attention to magazines and what not? Well, there was a decent beginning to this. Something more peaceful and relaxed in having a fair chance in knowing someone without the bias of being known as even a minor celebrity, most likely second or third to the Wizard Saints and guild masters of the many guilds around. "I guess so, but I'm sort of glad to hear you don't know me from off the top of your head." She replied at first to the younger of the two teens, looking down a bit while she seemed a little distracted. Curious as to what she was looking at, her eyes gazed out to the ocean and took a moment of silence despite her next question to wonder what the girl was thinking. A bit of a hard read, but with some time she could do better.

With a light smile, Sakura looked over with a smirk and pounced forward a little to catch up to the brunette. "Hardly." She replied, continuing along. "And i'm Sakura... Do you mind if I ask if you're out here on your own on purpose or did you intend to meet someone?" She tried her best to avoid bringing up age or height issues. Having her own experience in the field, she was afraid to step on the wrong toes, however that was something that was very much easier said than done. "And I just need to make sure you're alright too. Who knows what exists on this island, so if you have a phobia or so and we come across it, I don't want you to freeze up out there and risk us both."

291 words

"See anything, Grappa?" Jellisha asked while she was forcing her way through the dense foliage nearby their landing spot. Her sister would be trailing behind her slowly, keeping hold on her scanning device while keeping the sensor pointed forward. "These readings are off the charts!" she announced just in time to be met with a branch swing towards her face. While she wasn't quick enough to completely clear the attack of branches, the girl received a mouth full of leaves for her troubles. She spat what what was in her mouth while fumbling and nearly dropping the device in both of her hands. After that display, she peered back over at Jellisha's slow progress through the forest and continued after her tiny legs moving forward. They had already landed in a pretty remote area compared to everything else, so there was little reason to allow her sibling to lose herself in these wooden boroughs of this strange island. Jellisha would come to a fork in the trail where there stood a giant bulb of...something or another. The two Generals would sit and stare in amazement at the majestic piece of fauna. It was akin to one of those strange, giant flowers whose petals almost seemed to radiate their royal colors proudly. While it did likely make sense that it was to ward off anybody from coming nearby, the scanned didn't seem to detect that anything was going on with it just yet.

"Let's break here." Jellisha huffed and leaned down on a tree trunk nearby, wiping her forehead of sweat. "It's been like 10 minutes and I feel like I jogged around the castle five times." Grappa dialed a few things on board her scanner while looking around her curiously. Odd, there was a massive signature nearby but no signs of any kind of animal or life that she could tell. "A-Ah! Something's here! I've never seen a magic signature in something not human!" Her sibling's rest was immediately cut off as she spun around, knife still in hand and at the ready to be sent into something foolish enough to approach. The two huddled together, emerald eyes would face down at the device while crimson ones darted from one way to another. Silence was constant, both girls hearing something rustling. Movement was pushing aside leaves, causing branches to shake yet no signs of any bear, wolf, or even a really upset rabbit could be seen. Yet behind them, leaves would begin to unfurl, petals rearranging themselves to resemble menacing fangs. Glistening white barbs inside would hunger for another meal. It wasn't until the ravenous cry behind them that the two would jump back in time to prevent themselves from getting snacked on.

While Jellisha had cleared the swipe in full, Grappa would currently find the strap attaching the scanner to her shoulder underneath one of the fronds. As the monster beast brought its paw back to itself, Jellisha dove to grab her sister's arm and begin to pull. "Get your own damn dinner, you stupid plant!...Ngh!" The tug of war between them was fierce, the girl's heels digging into the soft earth below while slowly pulling back to reclaim her sibling. "Get offa me! We're not that edible! I promise!" Once her legs had touched the ground again, she joined her sister and doubled the efforts of pulling the scanner away. It was a great match between the three, but the monstrous plant either decided to cut its losses or relent its catch away. With a massive shove, the girls were sent tumbling backwards through shrubs and a blur of green foliage until finally coming to rest a few seconds later.

Grappa would remain on top of her sister, undamaged but a little worn from being throw across the forest. The scanner was in pretty decent shape all things considered, though the strap needed readjusting as it was wide enough to fit over a boulder now. Jellisha groan and sat up while trying to get her eyes to stop spinning. They found themselves nearby two others currently in the forest. A pretty heroic looking boy that appeared to be bleeding badly and...a dark skinned woman that looked cold. Wasn't she freezing out here dressed like that? Ever the twin to make a first impression, Grappa would rush towards the man with a concerned face. "Ah, are you okay?! Did you need evac of any kind?...Whatever that means. Jellisha! This guy's bleeding!" Jellisha would simply continue to sit down and wonder why she was fated to live such a busy and often hectic life. After another moment, she stood up and would make her way over towards the group. "Hey. What's going on here?"

WC: 784

@Pimwadee @Ling

Relieving the icy beast of all its magical power, Birch did the same to his general life force. Once he was done, a shriveled up behemoth dropped but made no sound on the ground. It simply puffed into dust before it touched the first leaf or spec of dirt. The blond man composed himself somewhat, forcing the darkness creeping over his body to recede and disappear. He didn't have any qualms about losing himself in his violent selfishness, but now that he had a more even distribution of elements, he could do some real damage.

It seemed the area around him was still void of human life for several hundred meters, though he didn't care about that either way. It was just lucky for them, is all. Behind him, a massive golden design appeared, seeming like something between a magic circle, a star chart, and a constellation. Within its rounded borders was a cosmic scene. Milky bands of light showed thousands of colorful galaxies, like something of a beautiful dark rainbow. The man walked through the forest with all the regalness of the prince he once was, but he was far more dangerous now than he was moments ago.

The circle moved from behind him to the ground beneath him. The cosmic scene changed to one of a black hole instead. Every single thing within one hundred meters of him sucked right down into the terrifying phenomenon, plant and beast alike while the man hovered in the air unscathed.


wc: 250

The sudden appearance of another person spooked the heavily breathing creature just as Percy whirled in a panic to face it. Not noticing the quick change, he was shocked to see a woman standing there. Had that been her breathing that way? While it was great that he wasn't about to be mauled by some monster, it was a different but still as powerful panic he experienced. Women were definitely not Percy's strong suit, but then again, neither were people in general. At the very first glance at her in the shadows, he thought it was Madi. She was dark complected like the friend that had seemingly vanished off the face of the earth as soon as he paid for her apartment, but it was quickly apparent that this was someone new. Raising a hand to his chest as if to hide any visible beating, he sighed and started to calm as much as he could. It was just a lost woman. Nothing he couldn't handle, right?

"We're on S-Shadow Island," he answered, silently cursing that persistent stutter that appeared every time he was the least bit nervous. How did she not know where she was? She was wincing and seemed to be in pain, so maybe she'd received a hard knock on the head and lost her memory? "Are you o-okay, miss?" Percy asked, genuine concern creeping over his face as he approached her. He had some first aid supplies in his bag. In fact, he was already slipping to medical professional mode, mismatched eyes scanning her body for injury.

[wc: 260]