Fire Rescue! [EXAM]

The fast bandit reached another outpost, and the bandit who'd been occupying the first one was heading back towards the encampment, clearly hurrying. Given how fast the spider mage was Akemi wouldn't be surprised before the man would be back to assist the boss before any of the guards, but it would be another thing Nymara would have to keep in mind: the individual thugs weren't much of an issue, but if they caught her while she was busy with the few bandits who could hold their own it could prove to be fatal.

Still, it seemed that her apprentice was doing a good job at the moment. With her fire she'd kept the other bandits at bay while she tried to deal with the boss, and while he was superior to her in raw magic ability and no slouch in martial ability either she was showing off her quick thinking and versatile moveset. Given that her fighting style would normally involve setting pretty much everything on fire the fact that she was doing so well while also doing her best to keep the collateral damage to a minimum was definitely promising for the firebrand's future development.

Akemi thought to herself, then finally relented and used a little bit of her magic. She wouldn't interfere with Nymara's fight, but since night had already fallen it was a simple matter to make the forest a bit darker, dark enough that the spider mage would have to be more careful finding his way through the area. That should slow him down enough that he wouldn't rejoin the fight before Nymara was done with the leader, and nobody would be able to tell Akemi had done anything to interfere with the exam.

While her mentor pulled some strings to buy her a little bit more time without overtly getting involved Nymara would find that her plan of throwing Wyrode off-balance was effective: rather than finishing the slash which could have split her in two the man snarled as his leg was pulled out from underneath him, although he once again showed off his combat prowess as he managed to catch himself and kick at the fire slayer rather than landing face first in the mud. Her fire blast had successfully knocked the flying daggers off-course, although a quick look would make it clear that they hadn't been affected by the heat.

Berk's water blast had rendered the grass wet, so even as Nymara's flames ended up igniting a small patch around herself the fire didn't spread, instead creating small wisps of steam as flame met water. The hostages for their part were trying their best to stay away from the fight, huddling inside their prison as they waited for the fight to end, hopefully with their rescuer being the victor.

Wyrode spat out something vile as he quickly pushed himself back upright, his sword once again floating next to him as he'd used both hands to break his fall. He ignored the mud sticking to him as he instead glared at Nymara, clearly not in the mood for any kind of banter, friendly or not.

"You're dead!"

While Nymara was preparing her own attack the bandit leader had lost his patience. Raising one hand towards the firebrand his magic spiked, a powerful sensation filling the entire encampment which made some of the prisoners cry out in fear while his subordinates all froze. From all around the encampment weapons arose: daggers from the waists of the other bandits, swords, axes, and spears stored inside the tents, and even the crossbows that had been dropped when Nymara unleashed her fire wave. While this meant that all the other bandits were now disarmed it was clear every weapon was under Wyrode's control... and quickly got into position so each one was aimed squarely at the intruder.

At the same time that Nymara began her attack a rain of metal fell upon her, Wyrode closing his extended hand into a deadly fist. Daggers whistled through the air, swords reflected the light of Nymara's flames as they sought out her flesh, spears flew like ballista bolts, and the crossbows unleashed a constant stream of sharpened metal, Wyrode's magic evidently also allowing him to reload and fire them at an insane speed.

While she was besieged by the attack from every direction it was clear that the attack wasn't as coordinated as it looked at first glance: each weapon just shot towards her as quickly as possible, Wyrode apparently hoping to overwhelm her with the sheer intensity of the assault rather than creating an inescapable web of iron and steel. Still, if Nymara didn't react quickly she might find herself a very unusual porcupine.

Current Appearance:

WC: 785
PWC: 11,607
TWC: 24,840

@Nymara

Akemi could tell that the bandit leader was burning through his reserves by this point, clearly having lost his cool as Nymara continued to cause him heaps of trouble. The man must've thought he'd everything taken care of, only waiting for the government to give in and give them the ransom money, but now this wildfire mage had disabled most of his subordinates and refused to die. This last trick of his, an all-out assault where every weapon in the encampment is used to overwhelm his enemy, was certainly a powerful one, but Akemi doubted it would be enough to finish off her apprentice.

And judging from Wyrode's behaviour, once this attack failed he'd be easy pickings for the firebrand.

Confident in her apprentice's victory Akemi watched silently as Nymara first had to abandon her own attack to defend herself against the seemingly endless barrage, fire whips deflecting and knocking aside daggers, swords, spears, and crossbow bolts while she dodged what she couldn't immediately disable. Even if Wyrode was in control of all the weapons at once he couldn't possibly exercise precise control over each of them. The attacks, while numerous and deadly in their speed, were also straightforward and easily dealt with once the element of surprise faded.

Wyrode was gritting his teeth as he poured even more magic into the attack, lifting up weapons which had been knocked aside to launch them once more as he saw that none of them hit their target. Sure, Nymara was getting covered in scrapes and shallow cuts, but there was no point in making her bleed if she didn't go down. The bandit leader grew visibly frustrated and angry, his expression hateful as he shouted.

"Why won't you die already?!"

Moments after that Nymara executed her own plan, as if to answer the bandit leader's furious question. The explosion knocked aside the weapons which had been flying towards her, and while Wyrode managed to withstand the shockwave he couldn't do anything about the cloud of steam that quickly filled the air, or the blazing fissures that formed as the ground groaned and tore in response to the immense heat. With fire bleeding from the earth's wounds and smoke and steam turning everything into a hazy mess the bandit leader could do little but continue unleashing his metal maelstrom on where he thought Nymara was, hoping to perforate her and put an end to her resistance now that she would have a harder time seeing where the attacks came from as well.

Instead, he found her appearing right in front of him, and the bandit leader could do little more than snarl before Nymara's fist found his gut. Her flames burned through his clothes, his eyes widening as they scorched his skin even as the force of her punch made him flinch. He tried to react to the roundhouse kick that followed, but the heat that covered everything was exhausting him on top of all the energy he'd already expending trying to put an end to the fight, leaving him vulnerable to Nymara's assault.

In the end it was surprisingly easy for Nymara to launch him, the bandit leader crashing into one of the large trees surrounding the two of them. With all the air knocked out of his lungs Wyrode couldn't even vocalise his agony as his bones creaked and cracked along with the tree, although unlike the tree his body survived the impact: splinters and huge chunks of wood flew through the air as the tree practically exploded, its massive trunk making way for the bandit leader's body to fly through and smack into yet another tree, this one holding firm.

Scorched and burned the bandit leader dropped to the ground, bile rising in his throat as pain and exhaustion blinded him. Almost reflexively he tried to push himself up, but another spike of agony went through his body. Finally he caved, his mind falling into oblivion as he collapsed entirely, the various weapons he'd been using against Nymara falling down as well, leaving Nymara as the sole person still standing in the encampment.

While not all of the bandits had taken a direct hit from Nymara's flames the immense heat she'd intentionally bombarded them with had left them weak, and seeing their leader get taken down so mercilessly sapped their fighting spirit. The ones who had been struck down by her before weren't getting up either. As for the hostages... fortunately they were far enough away that they escaped the worst of it, but even they could do little but watch as Nymara surveyed the aftermath of her battle. For now, at least, she had a moment to herself.

Akemi judged the guards who were all hastily returning to the camp, alongside the fast one who'd gathered them. Without their leader only the spider mage could hope to put up a fight against Nymara, and she suspected that he wouldn't last long either. Overall, while Nymara would still have to mop up afterwards defeating the bandit leader together with the other bandits present in the camp meant that the biggest hurdle had been overcome.

Current Appearance:

WC: 855
PWC: 12,462
TWC: 26,409

@Nymara

With all the bandits in the encampment taken care of Nymara could tend to the hostages, who'd all tried their best to remain unnoticed and uninvolved as the fire mage took out all the thugs by herself. Most of the bandits had been small fry, but the battle between the firebrand and the bandit leader had certainly caused a mess: now that Wyrode was out of commission the various weapons he'd seized control of with his magic were littered all across the place, many spears and swords sticking out of the ground or various trees while the tents closest to their final confrontation had been shredded and burned.

The hostages, for their part, quickly did as Nymara said: it was clear that she was here to save them, so even if her fight with the bandits had ended up being a bit messy they weren't about to pass up on this opportunity to escape. Following her instructions, they got to work freeing each other until all of them were able to move, although some of them had a harder time telling their bodies to work after fear and shock had dominated their minds for some time. They seemed hesitant when Nymara suggested that they first hide inside the tents, but given that she was in charge at the moment they slowly did as she said, climbing underneath the soaked, scorched, and shredded remnants of the camp so they wouldn't be spotted while Nymara prepared herself to deal with the remaining bandits.

After several minutes footsteps would reach the camp: Akemi had been keeping an eye on the movements of the guards, and her own subtle interference had kept the spider mage busy for long enough that some of the guards he'd alerted first were arriving before him, clearly agitated as they saw that their encampment had been turned into an utter mess: tents destroyed, comrades knocked out, hostages nowhere to be found. Their leader was quickly spotted, Nymara's dramatic finish against him having left him right next to a spectacularly wrecked tree. As the first bandit hurried over to check on their leader he was unprepared for Nymara's ambush, the firebrand's blazing fist knocking him out cold before he could even register her presence properly.

However, that also meant that she now had the attention of all the returning guards. Even as Nymara taunted them and danced around to try and lead them away from the hidden hostages these conscious bandits all swore and drew their weapons, hurrying after her without even considering what her plan was. Frustrated and angered they clearly had no plan beyond catching up to her and beating her down, which made it easy for her to herd them around... until a familiar and very fast presence joined in.

Even as Nymara was whistling to draw the attention of the bandits the spider mage would approach her from behind at high speed, his twin daggers at the ready while he crossed the distance within mere moments. His movements were quick and precise with little wind-up, striking at Nymara's legs in an attempt to cripple her and put an end to this game of cat and mouse she was putting on for the guards.

Without Wyrode's involvement Nymara would have an easier time dealing with Irvo, especially since he wasn't quite as fast as before: while still displaying impressive swiftness alerting all the guard posts must have tired him out as well. His movements were efficient, but also more straightforward as he clearly sought to overwhelm Nymara with sheer speed and disable her before she could draw out the fight and use her superior magic reserves against him. Skilled and deadly as the spider mage was, from the very beginning it had been undeniable that he didn't have much magic power, relying on efficient usage to compensate for his limited reserves.

While Irvo engaged Nymara, granting his comrades the opportunity to catch up with her, one of the guards started moving towards Wyrode instead, having been the last one to arrive. The fire slayer would notice that this one also possessed magic, and even though he couldn't possibly have failed to notice Nymara he still was running straight towards the bandit leader. Nymara's sharpened senses would tell her that he was chanting something under his breath, his magic concentrating as he prepared to do... something. Something which had to do with the leader.

Current Appearance:

WC: 737
PWC: 13,199
TWC: 27,916

@Nymara

 



When the man became overwhelmed by the heat and let go of his tools, Nymara would be left still holding their superheated edges! Knowing how much pain he must have felt in that moment the girl took advantage of his distracted state and tossed one of the daggers straight at her opponent’s clothing, pinning his sleeve to a nearby trunk! This had all been part of the plan. Having already destroyed one tree beforehand Nymara knew what it took to bring it down, and thankfully her positioning had lined up with her scheme. As the heated blade began to melt through the fabric of Irvo’s clothing that was the only moment Nymara needed before charging forwards and slamming her fist straight into his gut, sandwiching Irvo between her flaming attack and the sturdy trunk behind him! Probably shattering a few ribs in the process, the impact of her strike caused the mid-sized tree behind him to shudder and shake while the wood splintered from the punch! In a few seconds the tree began to shift awkwardly and Nymara prayed it fell in the right direction! Soon the tree began to tip with a loud creak, heading straight into the clearing where Wyrode was, but more specifically the healer next to him. If the healer didn’t move, he was going to be crushed! Leaving the bandits to their pain Nymara rushed forwards, intending to finish this test now! If the healing wizard had successfully managed to dodge she would be upon him instantly, sweeping his legs out from under him and pinning him to the ground! Bloodied, bruised, and breathing heavily Nymara looked him straight in the eyes before delivering a decisive headbutt!



Finally the area had gone quiet. The only noise was the small flicker of fire from the few patches of Nymara’s battle, but aside from that only silence. Nymara began to move back towards the tents but at a much slower pace. “That was… Quite the workout..” She’d grumble to herself between raspy breaths. “A- Alright everyone it’s safe to come out now.” She’d say to the tents. Understandably many of the hostages were too fearful to move during the battle, even if Nymara had urged them to make a run for it. Still, her priority was to make sure they were safe and for the most part that seemed to be the case. “Is anyone hurt or injured? I ain’t much of a healer but I can wake my friend here to fix ya up.” She’d say with a slight laugh as she referenced the unconscious bandit who had tried to heal Wyrode. “Oooh.. Ouch, okay laughing hurts.. Good to know.” She'd say, holding her side for a moment. “T- take five minutes to gather your bearings, but we should get out of here soon.” She’d tell the group. “I’ll just be resting over here.” The girl said, walking over to the fallen tree and slumping to the ground next to it, leaning her back against the wooden trunk. It was only then that Nymara began to take a look at her wounds. For the most part it was nothing serious, just some shallow cuts and bruises, though the deep gash in her waist had only gotten darker in color since the fight dragged on. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off the pain was becoming quite prevalent. Nymara couldn’t remember the last time a fight left her feeling this exhausted. That was probably why this whole thing was a test, she just hoped Akemi was satisfied with the result. Of course there was also the matter of her darkened skin, which still seemed to be affecting her. She looked at her arm curiously, hoping her mentor would be able to shed some light on this shadow. 

1689 Words | PWC: 16,165/2,000 | TWC: 29,364

In a way, this was the part of the test which was most important. If Nymara managed to prevent the bandit with the healing magic from reaching the leader she'd be able to successfully take care of the entire group, but if the spider mage managed to keep her occupied long enough for Wyrode to be restored to consciousness Akemi would have to step in: she could tell that Nymara couldn't handle the weapon mage a second time, not while Irvo was also present.

Which would be a shame, since so far the firebrand had done very well. Truthfully even for an A-Rank mage this mission would have been a difficult one, as this group of bandits had some surprisingly competent spellcasters. Akemi imagined that this Wyrode had gathered the others through various connections. From what she'd seen so far the man might be a criminal and easily provoked, but he was neither a fool nor incompetent. Possibly a former member of Fiore's military branch.

Well, she'd leave it up to the Rune Knights to deal with that. The assassin resided in the shadows as she watched Nymara deal with the few remaining bandits, relying on her firepower to push Irvo back so she had the opportunity to dispatch the mooks which sought to assist the spider mage. As night had fallen Akemi could now move freely without being noticed, her being spread throughout the dark as she focused on the bandit mage approaching Wyrode. He was swift on his feet, his hands calloused and his built sturdy. He looked like he was more comfortable holding a tool or a weapon than tending to patients, so magic wasn't his forte. Perhaps even if Nymara couldn't immediately disable him she'd have enough time to dispatch Irvo before the healer succeeded in tending to Wyrode.

Fortunately, it looked like her apprentice realised that she didn't have the luxury to focus on Irvo. Where before she had been more precise and controlled she was now going all out on shutting down the spider mage, even going so far as to accept his blades digging into her flesh if it meant catching him and knocking him out for good. The spider mage glared as Nymara caught his blades, his expression grim before the immense heat the firebrand was channelling into his weapons forced him to step back, cursing and reaching for a backup dagger before Nymara interrupted him. The glowing hot dagger pierced the sleeve of his tunic and stuck him to the tree. The heat caused the bark to immediately blacken and char, fiery embers lighting up.

The spider mage was quick to forcibly pull himself free, tearing the pinned fabric from his body, but that small gap had been enough for Nymara to close the gap once more, this time blasting him from point blank. The force of her fist striking his guts, flames and all, made all the air leave his body nigh-instantly. The only sound he could make was a choked gasp as agony blazed throughout his body, centred on his guts while bones shattered and flesh charred.

At the same time the tree behind Irvo also got ruptured, flames eating away at bark and wood even as cracks opened up and splinters flew in every direction. The spider mage had already fainted by this point, the pain of Nymara's attack too severe for his brain to handle. The tree slowly tipped over until it fell straight towards Wyrode's fallen body. Where the trunk encountered the branches of other trees it crashed right through them. A prolonged groan of breaking wood resounded throughout the area, along with numerous sharp cracks as branches got smashed apart.

Thovis, the bandit capable of healing, noticed what was happening in time to get out of the way, but that also meant he had to leave Wyrode behind.

The ground shook when the tree hit the ground, scattering burning splinters in every direction. The sound was somewhat muffled as the soil absorbed the impact, but it was still a very loud thud. Akemi, having foreseen that this would actually crush the leader if left alone, had quickly grabbed him from the shadows and pulled him just far enough to the side to guarantee his survival. The hostages were understandably spooked, halting whatever else they might've been doing to stare and back away from the spectacular finish of the fight.

Well, almost. The firebrand responsible for the wooden giant's collapse still had to take care of the last bandit standing. The healer might have avoided the tree, but as he hadn't seen Akemi pull Wyrode to safety his concern for his leader distracted him for long enough to let Nymara close the gap, pin him down, and knock him into unconsciousness using her own skull.

And with that, the bandit camp was completely wiped out. Akemi watched silently as Nymara tried to convince the hostages to finally prepare to leave before finding herself a spot to rest.

"All things considered I'll say you fulfilled the objectives."

Stepping out of the dark as if she'd always been there Akemi appeared before Nymara, ignoring the gasps from some of the hostages to focus on her apprentice. Remaining standing her golden eyes went across the firebrand's body, taking note of her injuries as well as the strange darkened state she was currently in.

"Although it looks like you got lucky... I highly doubt you were expecting that to happen."

"That" referred to the same thing Nymara was also curious about. While it had certainly been useful, possibly even life-saving, it definitely wasn't something the firebrand had done on purpose. If it wasn't for that... well, the fight could have gone very differently.

After several seconds Akemi shrugged and motioned with her bandaged hand, wisps of dark seeping out from underneath the wrappings. The fires that remained after Nymara had quite literally dropped a burning tree to keep the healer from reaching the leader were swallowed by the night.

"No casualties, no forest fire, and all the hostages are free to go. We'll still have to escort them back to civilization, but that's a mere formality at this point."

With the bandits no longer a threat the forest itself shouldn't pose a challenge, especially now that Akemi had stepped out of hiding. Squatting down in front of Nymara Akemi pointed at her numerous injuries, especially the large gash.

"We'll have to take care of those quickly. The one with the spider magic also used poison, and even a dragon slayer can't ignore that forever."

She wasn't really worried, but it was a good reminder for Nymara that there were more dangers than just blades and fists. She gave her apprentice a light smile, reaching up to pat her on the head once before straightening up.

"Congratulations, you've passed your exam. I'll take over from here."

Not that there was much left to do... collect all the bandits, bring the hostages back to civilization, deliver the bandits to the Rune Knights, return Nymara to the guild for treatment, and hand in a report on the entire incident. Compared to the life-and-death encounter that Nymara had forced her way through that was all tedious rather than intense, but someone had to do it.

Current Appearance:

WC: 1,211
PWC: 14,410
TWC: 30,575

@Nymara