Jay and Aldous Find The Lost Puppy (Continued)

Continuing from: https://www.fairytail-rp.com/t6560-jay-and-aldous-find-the-lost-puppy

Spooky Forest. While it was not the most intimidating of names, compared to, say, the continent of Sin, if you walked within it, you would certainly think that it deserved the adjective. The way the mostly fifteen-metre-tall trees seem to crowd together and try to surround you, pressing on you with their ashen brown trunks towering above your head, while casting shadows on one another, with the little imps of darkness dancing about whenever the wind decided it needed to add even more atmosphere to the place. But as he watched over the canopy from the top of the hill he stood on with Mr. Jay, Aldous found that from this perspective, Spooky Forest was just well....a forest. The hill he stood on was the tallest one of many that he had used in a previous job involving a special flower in the forest, using them to search over the trees for any signs of clearing. The passing of a year has absolutely done nothing to their locations, so it was simple to find them once more.

Now, as he surveyed the forest, from the end bordering the mountains that contained the Raging Volcano, and according to special intelligence, the hub of an unnamed Dark Guild, to the other that ended close to the river that led to the lake surrounding Clover Town, the home of Blue Pegasus. Now that he had seen it, Aldous had his worries reaffirmed. Unlike the last time, where he was only searching for a flower, he had the days needed to scan through the entire region, but now that it is Scruffs that they have to find, that same luxury of time was not as available. "Searching directly will take too long. Looks like we will have to use that plan," Aldous sighed to Mr. Jay, resigned to his fate, while at the same time flexing his arms in readiness for a fight.

"We'll have to ask the Vulcans."

From the moment Jay entered the forest with Aldous he let his jolly nature slip away. He knew Spooky Forest only from stories on the road. He had to prepare himself, should he have to defend himself this would be his first real combat experience out side of sparing with his foster father. To that end he looked to his companion. Trusting someone with his life was new to him and he wasn't about to do so without learning more about them.

Jay prided himself on his naturally acute perception. It was how he had become so adept with magic without traditional teaching. With this skill Jay had been studying Aldous. Ever since Abraxis took of with Alka he had displayed a slight change in character. He seemed more on edge, tense. As for the reason he could not discern. It could be his attachment to the client's family, it could be this place, it could just be he was mentally preparing like Jay. It could be all of those or none of them.

The pair had been standing on a hill that overlooked the forest and from here it seemed tame. Aldous took his time surveying before speaking. "Searching directly will take too long. Looks like we will have to use that plan," he sighed while at the same time flexing his arms. "We'll have to ask the Vulcans."

Jay folded his arms and narrowed his stare focusing intently into the eyes of Aldous, searching for his motives. Jay respected others with more knowledge then he, which in this case was none, but was not one to accept things without question. And furthermore they still knew nothing about each other. He needed to know how he fought in order to not inadvertently get in his way and vise versa.

"Why." Jay said flatly. "Judging by your behavior talking to them isn't what will happen. And I will be honest, I have never seen a Vulcan let alone fought one." he continued not waiting for an answer. Jay relaxed his glare at Aldous not wanting to seem harsh. "I know we are racing against the clock but getting into a fight that might not lead to finding the dog could be as much of a waste as looking for him first. And if we ARE going to fight beside each other we need to at know how the others tactics so we don't blow each other up." Jay paused and motioned towards the blade visible near Aldous' waist. "Draw your sword and I'll show you something more then a simple child's game."

Jay stood there arms folded making no attempt to defend himself for a spar, waiting for Aldous' response.

"Huh, is he for real? Does he really want me to throw him off the side of a cliff?" Purgatory snorted in Aldous' mind, a little more than amused, and unfortunately intrigued, by Jay's challenge. "Not now," Aldous stated to the entity, his right hand lying on the square face of the jet-black rectangular carry case that hung from a sling over his shoulders until it reached his waist. He had no intentions of getting into a fight, not just yet. He hoped to have every advantage he could have against whatever resistance the Vulcans might bring; he had hoped that they could learn about each other through talk, not a spar. So, talk he will.

"The Vulcans are the main residents of this forest, giant apes with a brain the size of a pea, but a lot of that grey matter is dedicated to what little trickery and deception they pride themselves to have. They are also one of, if not the best, trackers and searchers in the forest within their own territories," Aldous explained, "And they have big territories, at least 70% of the entire forest, most of them close to the mountains. I know that for a fact, having ran into them several times. They are our best chance of finding Scruffs."

"They are however too smart for their own good and are little too enthusiastic into thinking that they can trick their way into victory. If we go down there and call for Scruffs and they already have him, no doubt they will already be sending some of their kin to lie to our faces that they have seen Scruffs heading in another direction, sending us on a wild goose chase," Aldous massaged the bridge of his nose as he paused for a moment, breathing in another breath of forest air. "It won't matter though, what we want will already came to us. We'll just have to beat it out of them. Beat them enough and they will start trying another form of 'deception', diplomacy and negotiation. And if they really do not have Scruffs, then that just leaves us with another 30% of the forest to look through, cutting our work down for us."

"So that's why we have to talk to the Vulcans first," Aldous finished his explanation, turning his narrowed eyes towards Mr. Jay, whose folded arms did little to cover up the chest that Aldous could feel Purgatory being so ready to rip open in a flash. Instead, Aldous scanned him from head to toe, noting the strong stance of his feet, the practised way his arms moved and the way that he could see through the carry case and recognize that it was for a sword. "I can see that you are a melee fighter, with a penchant for weapons. The fact that you don't seem to have a weapon on yourself suggests that you use some sort of weapon-forming magic, perhaps Requip or a certain element-make. And given your display of your coloured light, I guess you have some sort of light element added to your magic."

Purgatory huffs in Aldous' mind, his arms folded as he watched this, "C'mon, can't you just tell him I told you that he has weapons on him? Poor fellow, his little invisibility trick does not really work when you can see the magic particles gathered around him as if he is a walking lighthouse." Aldous ignored Purgatory's voice.

"So, I know enough about you from a glance," Aldous paused, smoothing his chin for a short while, before continuing on, careful about his words from now on, "If you must know my style of fighting, this sword here is just for show. I'm a long-range fighter and I have enough precision-focused spells that you don't have to worry about getting caught in explosions. However....."

Aldous hesitated before finishing the last sentence. He cannot reveal about Purgatory and his Warrior, not to a a complete stranger. There is, however, one particular spell that he had to mention in advance. "If you ever see a giant seal in the sky, I hope you have the basic common sense in you to run as if hell was coming upon you. If you cannot get out in time, then I suggest you run towards me. Now then, ready to go?"

Jay relaxed some having had question answered. Starting a fight was not his intention and was glad Aldous recognized that. "Thank you, I feel better with the knowledge you have a well thought out plan. I apologize if I came off as rude but I felt it necessary." Jay gave a short bow before continuing. "And yes I am more or less as you said, a fighter." It seemed Aldous' perception rivaled his own, a fact Jay didn't know how to feel about. "And finally, as for your fighting style, Should you be forced to use you seal in the sky I hope you would give me some warning."

With those words said Jay let loose a grin and approached Aldous and clapped him on the shoulder. "We are allies now. And you have my word I'll do my best to watch your back friend." Jay then turned and started to descend the hill at a slow pace so that Aldous could easily catch up and lead.

'Friend, huh?' Aldous thought to himself, a little surprised at the sudden designation. Years of wandering through the dark alleys of places, watching from out of sight and listening from the cover of darkness had taught him this about human nature: that 'friend' was just a mere word, an attempt at a distraction from greater deceptions and intentions. So as Jay begun to walk in front of him, Aldous' eyes were pinned to his back, half-widened at the sincerity and the friendliness behind the man's voice. It almost reminded him of his partner, the unmentionable one who he had last seen in this very forest a whole year ago.

"Careful now," Purgatory warned with a joking tone, "Don't want to get too caught up when you lose this one too." Aldous felt his rage flare, but he stuffed it back in, steeling his face before he took the cue from Jay's pace and walked to the front, leading them towards the closest border of the Vulcans' territory. The forest trees hang overhead as the two moved, their branches rattling , forcing Aldous to keep his ears alert for any sign of Vulcans taking the initiative.

When they had arrived at their destination, it would look like any part of the forest, with densely packed trees, a great deal of shade around them while the canopy hung fifteen metres above. The only remarkable thing that allowed Aldous to tell that they are right beside the Vulcan territory is the patches of heavily trampled grass, with the smell of said grass filling his nostrils, just a tree or two ahead, clear signs of activity of those large apes. "Start calling for Scruffs," Aldous instructed Jay, before cupping his hands over his mouth and giving out a loud yell, "SCRUFFS! HERE BOY!"

OOC: Rolling for Vulcans. Two will appear before us, while there will be others around watching in readiness for an ambush.

The member 'TacticalFallacy' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Aldous came to a stop in a seemingly random part of the forest but Jay knew that wasn't the case. This forest seemed like it was collapsing inwards on you at all times, like it was trying to strangle you. His hunting experience allowed him to see the signs of life that lived hear but so far he had not seen any of the creatures themselves. "Start calling for Scruffs," Aldous instructed Jay, before cupping his hands over his mouth and giving out a loud yell, "SCRUFFS! HERE BOY!"

Jay began to comply but before he could make any sound himself he felt a soft woosh coming from the canopy above him. This gave him just enough warning to tuck and roll to the side while unsheathing his steel sword. He quickly stood with his now visible blade and took his stance. Riposting wouldn't work against such brutes, they didn't even have weapons. So instead Jay Requiped his mirror armor and held the shield in front of him in a defensive stance. The polished metal gave off a reflective shine despite the dark surroundings. Both Vulcans seemed very interested in his armor and he even thought he could hear a soft coo from one of them.

"Al!" Jay shouted then slowly tilted his shield back and forth until the reflected light was in the both beasts eyes.

MP: 90%

"OH-OH-OH AIEE!! BRIGHT! BRIGHT! EYES! EYES!" As Aldous noticed an unusual shine now being to illuminate the area, piercing through the shadows of the forest, he could not miss the screams of pain from the two Vulcans overhead, while their massive bodies fell from the canopy that they had tried to watch him and Mr. Jay from, only to be thwarted by the latter. As tremors ran through the ground from their weight, Aldous noticed that the Vulcans, green-furred apes 5-metres in height, were covering their eyes with those barrel-shaped arms of theirs, with tears of pain leaking out between their fingers.

They had arrived faster than he had expected. Perhaps they already have Scruffs at hand. "They have the little puppy," Purgatory stated in his mind, though experience told Aldous to be careful not to take his words for truth just yet.

"Hold up, we don't want to hurt them," Aldous raised a halting hand to Mr. Jay, remaining careful to make sure he only looked at the man from the corner of his eye, to avoid being blinded himself, "We are just here to ask them about it." At the same time, he stressed on the word 'ask', reminding Mr. Jay about the second part of plan and in turn silently telling him not to let his guard down.

"It? You looking for it? Is it important? It yours?" One of the vulcans, having finally recovered from the pain, glared down at Aldous with bloodshot eyes, its full height now being accentuated as it loomed over Aldous who approached with calm and unwavering steps.

"No, it's not mine," Aldous replied, "but yes, we are looking for it. It would be nice if you can tell me if you know where it is."

"Me saw it," The other Vulcan called out, pointing to itself, then pointing its finger towards somewhere far off to Aldous' left, "Dog went that way. You know, so you go now, stay out, this place ours."

Aldous then saw his chance and he took it without even changing his tone, "You Vulcans are such curious things, don't you know that? I always admire the way you formulate a plan, yet never bother to cover the basics." When the Vulcans looked at one another, confused, Aldous continued on, while at the same time walking back towards Mr. Jay, his back turned towards the Vulcans. At the same time, Aldous' hands were slipping into the underside of his jacket, secretly getting the Magatama ready. He gave Mr. Jay a confirming nod, before he finally told the Vulcans,"I did not even tell you what 'it' is. How do you know I was looking for a dog?"

Jay stood there at the ready as Aldous politely talked to them. He spoke smoothly and calmly while deceiving the Vulcans. Something that didn't seem all that difficult but was still impressive and amusing to watch. "You Vulcans are such curious things, don't you know that? I always admire the way you formulate a plan, yet never bother to cover the basics." said Aldous. He gave Jay a confirming nod, before he finally told the Vulcans, "I did not even tell you what 'it' is. How do you know I was looking for a dog?"

Jay grinned at the sight of the nod, and let out a barking laugh and clanged his sword against his shield once. Partly out of genuine humor at how Aldous had caught them in their own lies and partly in an attempt to distract and intimidate the Vulcan. He charged them head on shield raised bathing them in it reflective light.

The combination of distractions worked and ran past the larger ape, slamming into the smaller one with his shield. Keeping his momentum, Jay pivoted and spun around his dazed target poised to deal a strike from behind.

MP: 90%

OOC: Some of your posts are below 250 words. You might want to try to fluff them up to meet the word requirement.

As Jay charged past him towards the now stunned Vulcans, Aldous made sure that he continued walking away from them, keeping his eyes away from the blinding light-show that was definitely going to occur behind him. A glance back from the corner of his eye immediately sent him reflexively twitching away. Ooh, this may be troublesome to manage with. “If only you had brought some shades,” Purgatory joked, but his voice was tinged with more than amusement. There was also an almost excited expectation in it. “Oh wait, you do have some shades.”
No, not yet. He was not prepared to use that spell just yet.

He will just have to deal with this as best as he could without it. “Jay! Can you turn down the light?!” Aldous yelled as he extended out his arms to the side, his fists clenched and shaking in his concentration to call upon the magical particles intensifying around him. When he flexed his arms in, Aldous released a breath of relief at the two black disk-shaped seals that had manifested on the front of his forearms. If he couldn’t look at them, the Breach Disks would be his best bet.

“ARGHH! STUPID STUPID LIGHT!” The big Vulcan screeched, frantically covering its watering eyes, apparently not pleased that it had to endure this again. “TOO BRIGHT! YOU TOO BRIGHT!” The Vulcan roared and with a hammer-swing of its arm, clumsily flattened the air where Jay had just been a moment ago. A clean miss.

As for the other Vulcan, it too felt its eyeballs expand into its head, pressing into its brain, just like Jay’s shield suddenly smacking into its abdomen. But the contact did more than give the Vulcan a little more annoyance. “THERE YOU ARE!” Delighted at the touch of the source of all of the annoyance, the smaller Vulcan howled gleefully as it extended one giant hand at Jay, ready to warp its chubby fingers around his entire bottom half just as the man pivoted himself to aim for its compatriot. Its other arm instinctively reeled back to throw its heavy slug once it had its prey within its grasp.

Enemy
Strong Vulcans (2/2, blinded)

Status
Health: No injuries
MP at 100%
Preparing Breach Disks

OOC: Which ones and I will work on them.

As Jay spun around the smaller Vulcan the ground shook. Apparently his opponents were more then annoyed by his tactics and swung violently at the ground where he used to be. Jay swung his sword at the hamstrings of the smaller ape with two quick slashes. Hopefully this would disable him enough to ignore him until the larger one was dealt with. Jay then laughed a large hearty laugh to taunt the Vulcan. "Ahahaha, what's the matter monkey man? having trouble hitting me?" Jay then made a small jump backwards to put him out of reach of the more than likely heavy armed swings that would soon be coming his direction.

It was at this moment he heard his partner shout at him. “Jay! Can you turn down the light?!” Hm, he had not thought about how the contrast his reflective armor would effect hi friend in this environment. But he couldn't just remove the armor either, not against such hard hitting enemies. Jay knew what he could do and with a grin used another spell. "Now this will surly mess with these tricksters." Jay thought to him self as he bent the light around him making him and his blinding light vanish from the forest. He then slowly side stepped away from the now wounded Vulcan towards the larger one.

HP: 100%
MP: 80%
Invisible: Duration 3, Cool down 4

OOC: Your second, third, fourth and even your last one in this thread, along with your last one in the last thread, do not meet the 250 word requirement.

His back turned towards where the close-quarter fighting was occurring 15 metres away, Aldous could not see what was going on, but as the Breach Disks, two circular plates of swirling black energy hovering just a little away from his palms, begun to tug at him, he knew that he had his targets locked on. “Keep them engaged, Jay!” Aldous instructed with a yell, though the prompt yelp of the smaller Vulcan falling to its knees as its hamstrings were slashed by Jay’s quick swordsmanship suggested to Aldous that his instructions were rather redundant. Keeping his eyelids tight shut, Aldous spun around, his arms sending the Breach Disks slicing towards the Vulcans, one for each.

For the smaller Vulcan on its knees, it did not need much engagement from Jay, for the quivering back of its legs sent jabs of pain that distracted enough. “Gyah! Stupid little hum-GRAH!” The Vulcan was halfway through its sentence when the Breach Disk found its mark, driving its buzz-saw-like edge into the Vulcan’s torso. As it was in the middle of cutting right through the Vulcan’s hide, the disk slightly shrunk upon itself for a short second before promptly bursting into a crescent-shaped wave of fiery purple-black conflagration, the ravenous flames streaking all across the Vulcan’s bare chest and up to its neck. As smouldering flesh filled the air with their putrid odour, the Vulcan was convulsing on the ground, with most of its chest reddened to a well-done crisp, but it was the original cut by the Disk that bore the worst damage, as the cleavage in the Vulcan’s hide had allowed the flames to seep straight under it, incinerating the flash around it into ashen blackness, while globule-like blisters, like the bubbles you see on lava, had grown a little further away. Screaming in agony, the Vulcan was beating on its chest with its log-like arms, as if somehow ‘massaging’ burns would mitigate the burn.

As the other Vulcan, a little further away from Aldous, spotted its brethren suffering this fate, it instinctively noticed the second Breach Disk coming for it. “Bad! Disk bad!” The Vulcan stated the obvious as it ducked, lowering its shoulders to let its head sink to almost ground-level, while the Breach Disk sailed right over in a clean miss. “Hah, human miss!” The Vulcan taunted at Aldous, whose eyes were now fully open, having realized that Jay had suddenly vanished. “Smash! To bits smash!” The Vulturn made another yell of bravado as it readied itself to leap at Aldous, but its sneer vanished when Aldous gave it a confident, mocking nod. He knows something.

And that was when the Vulturn, too, realized that Jay had vanished from its sight, while its head was now near the ground and fully exposed to the edge of his keen blade.

Aldous pointed towards the larger Vulcan with three fingers, ready for when it makes a move.

Enemy
Strong Vulcans (2/2; 1 burnt badly with cut hamstrings)

Status
Health: No injuries
MP at 90%
Preparing Breach Lines

(OOC: I'll edit them soon.)

Jay continued to slowly side step while semi-crouched. He was making sure to move as slowly and quietly as he could to maintain his illusion. He has hidden from view but not other senses. To that end Jay also was paying careful attention to what little wind was passing through the thick and dark woods so that he might remain downwind of his adversaries. A skill he learned from hunting wild game. Lucky where he wanted to be avoid detection was the general area behind the Vulcans. Perhaps that is how they were found by them in the first place as Jay reflected Al's current position and his own previous one as upwind.

His attention was focused intently on the back of the larger Vulcan, ignoring the now injured and flailing smaller one. Taking a brief moment to look over his targets shoulder at his partner he saw him standing with his back to himself and the Vulcan. In Al's hand small balls of dark magical energy was forming before they enlarged to swirling disks. "Keep them engaged Jay!" he said as the smaller Vulcan took a knee to support himself due to his injury. Then, without warning, Al turned to face the Vulcans and his magic hurtled towards them. A moment later the smaller Vulcan was hit by the attack, and it seemed to be still, resting against his chest before cutting deep and then exploding in a deep purple flare. The ape howled and beat his chest in response. And at the same time the second missile was flying towards the larger Vulcan.

Seeing his smaller companion's fate as the result of Al's magic, the larger Vulcan crouched so low so fast it seemed he dove into the dirt. The dark disk barely missed and kept going, headed strait for Jay. Time seemed to slow down as Jay put himself into motion with a large grin. This is exactly what he was hoping for by positioning himself behind his enemy with the type of combat style Al claimed to use. Jay ran towards the standing Vulcan and approximately 10m behind his target Jay took his mirror and planted it into the earth. Without breaking momentum, he rolled to the side and continued to sprint forwards. As he did this the dark energy disk struck Jay's shield and bounced back the way it came. The Vulcan was slowly rising from is lowered stance, probably thinking the danger had passed, and still had his attention aimed at Al who was now pointing at him with three fingers. Still half way back to standing up, the dark disk Al had launched plowed into back of the Vulcan with enough force to knock him over. The Vulcan hit the ground hard and a moment later the magical attack detonated. Jay leapt into the air and landed on the Vulcan, plunging his sword into the wound. As the smoke puff cleared Jay could see the full damage Al's magic did. The wound looked like cooled magma and smelt of brimstone and burnt hair. Jay's nose curled at the scent and then shouted, "Hold Aldous! I am on top of him." He dispelled his invisibility and he remained there with all his weight on his sword to keep the Vulcan pinned while he waited for what might happen next.

HP: 100%
MP:80%
Invisible: Manually ended, Cool down 3

“Good job,” Aldous nodded in acknowledgement of Jay’s moves, frankly a little surprised that Jay had that kind of brutality, as seen with the Vulcan he had pinned down, its voice, wracked with pain arising from Jay’s sword being plunged into its wound, thundering throughout the forest. Letting his fingers fall back down to his side, Aldous withheld on his next spell, instead walking up towards the weaker of the two Vulcans, its shaking having lessened by now, while its voice was now letting out breathless moans, much more different from its more severely injured companion. “Keep the other one pinned no matter what, Jay. And be ready. It’s more than just us who heard those cries,” Aldous stated, while he stepped onto the heaving chest of the smaller Vulcan, until he was looking down on its rather terrified face.

“Now then, where is he?” When the Vulcan attempted to summon up some courage in the form of a glare creeping in, Aldous promptly planted his booted foot right on top of the Vulcan’s Breach Disk wound, its flesh so burnt that he could hear it cracking like charcoal. As the Vulcan uncontrollably released a sharp monkey cry, its jaw jumped in an attempt to clench its teeth, but Aldous had already whipped out his Magatama Revolver, a massive revolver, and jammed the barrel that was easily the width of his arm straight into the mouth, reaching to the very back of its throat. “I said,”  Aldous cringed as he began to grow impatient, embers intensifying within him at the continued sight of the dumb beast, “where is he?”

“Sscupit hueman,” The Vulcan spat back, its words muffled by it being unable to articulate with its lips, but when its eyes flitted down to the barrel in its mouth, Aldous knew that he was close to breaking the beast. “Yo dond threaten me.”

“Oh really, you call this is a threat?” Aldous rhetorically asked, before promptly revealing his second revolver from behind his back and pointing it straight at the shoulder of the other Vulcan, who by this stage of the interrogation had managed to reel in that ridiculous screaming. “Little Vulcan, the next time you refuse to tell me where your puppy is, I’ll shoot your partner’s left shoulder. If you still refuse to give me the information I want, I’ll shoot his right shoulder. I’ll then go for his feet, then his knees, followed by his hands and then the elbows. By then he’ll be so numb with pain that shooting him won’t do
any good, so then I’ll shoot you.”

“That is a threat. See the difference, Vulcan?”

Long before this moment, the Vulcan that Aldous was talking to possessed a frozen expression, bearing the look of an animal shrinking before its natural predator. A look upon it urged Aldous to remove his revolver from its mouth, for he did not want to get the Magatama any more contaminated than necessary. “Y-Yesss…we s-saw it. Tried to catch. T-T-Too fast, too ssmall. Little dog-g-gie gone, to river…N-N-North of here, not far. Swear, we not h-h-hurt it. J-Just c-curio-”

BANG! An ape’s limb went limp onto the forest ground.

“Was it curiosity that made you beasts take apart my friend?” Aldous asked, his revolver smoking from its shot, the wisps wafting over his darkened face and his furnaces of eyes, as he proceeded to unleash two more shots into the dead Vulcan’s head. Or what little was left of it, when he was done. Stepping off its body, Aldous avoided letting his boots fall into the slowly expanding crimson pool, while he took deep breaths to disperse the inferno welling up within him. What was he doing? Why was he getting so emotional?

“Kill the other one, Jay. We got more incoming and I don’t want to take too many at the same time.”

Enemy
Strong Vulcans (1/2; 1 burnt badly)

Status
Health: No injuries
MP at 90% (Regen by 4 posts)

Spells
Breach Disk x2 - 4

The member 'TacticalFallacy' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Jay noticed Aldous's sudden emotional response. It seemed to him that there was more to Al's motives then his concern for the family back in Hunting Village. And it wasn't hard to figure out exactly what that was based and what was said. “Was it curiosity that made you beasts take apart my friend?” It was clear to Jay that Vulcans or this forest had taken someone from Al. This is dangerous for him. Should he get overly emotional he could put himself or me at risk... I'll make sure he doesn't act overly rash. Jay's thought were cut short by Al addressing him. “Kill the other one, Jay. We got more incoming and I don’t want to take too many at the same time.”

Jay looked at the pinned Vulcan. It was still except for ragged painful breaths. It's head to one side and the one eye that wasn't to the ground was wide open and stared at Jay with intensity. There was anger and fear there. And a pleading, as if asking for his life sparred with stare. Jay did not wish to kill the Vulcan. He would spare those he could. But to spare this one now would be foolish. Jay understood the necessity and agreed with Al's reasoning. So with a heavy heart Jay slowly withdrew his blade from the ape's back by planting his armored boot on one of its shoulder blades. He kept his boot there to make sure it remained pinned and then pressed the point of his sword to the back of its neck. The Vulcan struggled in vain briefly before continuing to stare at Jay. Jay stared back firmly as if to say "I'll make it quick". Then with a powerful thrust Jay stabbed the Vulcan through the neck severing its spine. And so it died.

HP: 100%
MP: 80%
Invisibility: Cool down 2

As he felt the ground begin to shake under their collective footfalls, Aldous knew that subtlety and stealth was no longer a concern for the approaching Vulcans. It would be foolish to simply rely on Jay alone to take them all on. “It’s going to be close-combat from here on out.” Yes, he needs to keep thinking this way: calm himself down through logic. Aldous took another deep breath and nearly choked on the rusty smell of blood drowning every crevice in his lungs. He willed himself to ignore it, holstering the Magatama revolvers while removing the box in which Cloud Penance resided off his shoulders.

“Back-to-back. I’ll funnel them with my ranged spells, make sure they don’t swarm over us at once. When one rushes us, take it down quick and I’ll let the next one through.” Clipping open the massive container, Aldous lifted off the top to reveal an equally massive greatsword, its blue steel blade bending the rays of light around it into a bright sheen, while its onyx hilt was ornate with the pattern of sharp leaves embellished on it. Planting this weapon into the ground in front of him, Aldous was ready at his position that tried to avoid coming under any of the trees towering above them. That would be giving those Vulcans too good of an opportunity to just let gravity do the work and stomp on them.

After whatever Jay did, the tremors begun to intensify, Aldous feeling his teeth shake within his jaw. Sound waves bouncing off the tree trunks, a discordant mixture of high-pitched monkey hoots and boorish snorts begin to echo from all around them. The rate at which trees high above let go of their leaves increased ever so slightly and the ones already on the ground added to the noise under the influence of the tremors, sifting over one another as if a rake was running through them.

And then for a moment, all went quiet. The vibrations had reached an intense peak, before instantly dropping off. “They’re here.” Aldous raised his fingers towards the tree canopy, his eyes narrowing for a target. The brush was too heavy, however, even for him to see the Vulcan’s well-known bulk. “No choice. I’ll have to use it.” And with that said, Aldous allowed his fingers to reach towards his own forcibly unblinking eyes, their tips just touching the very skin of the cornea. When he drew this seal, it was not without the usual quick, effortless grace. No, it felt more mechanical, more unnatural; while a person can draw all sorts of fancy lines in the air, when he has to do it right into his own body, like branding a tattoo, one has to constantly fight that innate instinct to avoid the pain.

And what pain it was. As his vision was obscured behind his fingers drawing over it, Aldous could imagine ants running through his bones, wreaking havoc over every tissue they could find, pulling it apart for their queen. Hellish bees with stingers unusually as thick as his fingers were stabbing their abnormal weapons through a thousand spots all across his body. Hole-like mouths of worm, spiraled with spiked teeth, were now swallowing his limbs whole, their mandibles peeling his skin from his flesh. And when his breath began to gasp, grasping for relief, demonic air seeped into him and with their chilly, noxious fumes suffocated him. It was almost too much, almost enough to make his fingers dig even deeper and rend his eyes to pieces.

“Oh come on, landlord. Can’t handle a little Dark Magic?” Someone mocked in the back of his mind, laughing over popcorn as he enjoyed the show.

Yet, somehow, despite the mockery, no, because of it, Aldous remembered through it all what he wanted to do, what he was supposed to do. And that made all the difference. What had just felt an eternity of drawing now flashed by in a sudden instance. Its job done, Aldous’ hand fell to his side, limp from the exertion.

“I see them. I see them all,” Aldous murmured under his breath, his eyes darkened below his hair. “There are four, Jay. Two of them are weaker, more juvenile, less developed. You can identify them from the others by their fur: it’s lighter in color. Target those first. One’s right of you, in the canopy. The other’s in front of me. I’ll have that one. The stronger ones are to your left. Not as strong as the one we fought before.” This vision. He never had seen anything like this. “Weak anatomy points: back of their legs, under the elbow, armpits, under the chin……eyes. If you wish to give a killing cut, do it at those. Avoid taking their forearms head-on, the hide there is too thick.”

Yes, not anything quite like this.

Enemy
Strong Vulcans (0/2)
Weak Vulcans (2/2)
Normal Vulcans (2/2)

Status
Health: No injuries
MP at 80% (Regen by 3 posts)
View of Purgatory activated - Last next 3 posts

Spells
Breach Disk x2 - 3

Jay withdrew his sword from the Vulcan and walked toward his shield to retrieve it. It remained bottom half dug into the ground. When he planted it here he made sure to do so that it would be perpendicular with the ground so that it would reflect Al's magic missile directly back since it was traveling, to the best of Jay's perception, parallel to the ground. That part he was correct about as it ended up working but upon inspection his shield now tilted slightly back. A small crevice of exposed dirt proof of its changed angle. It seemed to Jay that there was a great deal of force behind those things and were not just pretty to look at. Nasty spell... Jay said to himself while lifting his shield out of the ground. He gave a quick glance to inspect for any tarnishing that make have occurred from the rebound and found nothing.

No sooner had Jay retrieved his shield then the forest began to quake. Jay and Al shared a glance, "It’s going to be close-combat from here on out. Back-to-back. I’ll funnel them with my ranged spells, make sure they don’t swarm over us at once. When one rushes us, take it down quick and I’ll let the next one through.” Al said while he switch weapons from his guns to a massive sword that seemed to be made of cobalt. Jay wondered if he crafted it himself.

Jay crouched into a combat stance as the forest stopped shaking. “They’re here. No choice. I’ll have to use it.” Al said aloud. Though it seemed more to himself. Jay didn't much like the sound of that and watched him carefully. Al took his finger up to his eye and hesitated for and instant and then he let his left hand fall limp. Jay let his attention return the forest as Al spoke again. “I see them. I see them all. There are four, Jay. Two of them are weaker, more juvenile, less developed. You can identify them from the others by their fur: it’s lighter in color. Target those first. One’s right of you, in the canopy. The other’s in front of me. I’ll have that one. The stronger ones are to your left. Not as strong as the one we fought before. Weak anatomy points: back of their legs, under the elbow, armpits, under the chin... eyes. If you wish to give a killing cut, do it at those. Avoid taking their forearms head-on, the hide there is too thick.”

Jay grinned devilishly at the news. He sheathed his sword and requiped his lance Quicksilver. Jay pointed with his weapon towards the Vulcan corpses and shouted at the trees, "Behold our wrath! Do you dare challenge us? Come at me and the same will befall you! WAHAHA!" He stood his ground as the taunt succeeded and all three of the Vulcan on his side rushed him. A fire glowed brightly in his eyes and his grin intensified at the sight.

HP: 100%
MP: 70%
Invisibility: Cool down 1

As he finally managed to come to terms with what he is seeing before, Aldous raised his head, allowing the light to rend apart the shadows his hair cast over his eyes, allowing them to be seen by all. Embedded over his irises, glowing in black-white contrast, were what looked like upside-down tridents and hovering just a centimetre from each eye was a spinning black gear-like circle seal, with its outer edge spiked with swords. Whenever these strange new eyes focused on the something, the circle seemed to shrink or enlarge like the lens of a lacrima camera. Even more unnerving was how the eyes no longer moved in synch, instead acting very much like a chameleon’s, with each eye capable of looking at a different thing simultaneously.
When Jay gave off his taunting words, undoubtedly attempting to enrage the Vulcans into carelessness, Aldous had to agree that it was a clever move and as the Vulcans launched themselves from the thick canopy, their massive bodies in mid-leap casting shadows down upon the two, he immediately grabbed hold of the advantage. His left eye spying the two larger Vulcans, with their darker fur, he aimed two fingers from one hand towards them, one for each. He did not want to spend too much against them, just to keep them from engaging in close. At the same time, his independent right eye was already keeping track of his particular target: the weak Vulcan that was now charging forth from the bushes. For this one, he allotted two fingers with his other hand, aiming a little down.

And so he fired, his allocated fingers poking in the air, drawing purple-black dots that instantly erupted into screeching lasers that cut through the air. Pebble-thin, these beams of dark light induced the air around them to boil and twist and when they struck the spots that Aldous had targeted on the Vulcans, their ravenous concentrated energy chewed through the worthless flesh. For the two stronger Vulcans, the Breach Lines drove their way through one of their armpits each, shredding muscle and tendons as the associated arm, no longer supported, fell limp. In the midst of their cries, the Vulcans stopped their advance, landing a little under 8 meters away from the mages and already in the midst of taking steps back as they attempted to tend to their wounds. The weak Vulcan with them, despite a glance of apprehension at its hesitating brethren, kept up its bold charge, landing right in front of Jay, with its weight sending displaced air rushing forth from it in a brief gust. Its roar throwing spittle at Jay’s face, the Vulcan reeled back an arm to strike at the man.

As for the weak Vulcan Aldous had targeted with his other two fingers, its feet, critical to maintaining its dash up towards him, were now perforated with pencil-thin holes. As it suddenly became too painful for the Vulcan to continue its run, the beast attempted to stop itself, but as it dug its feet into the ground, the injury only got all the more aggravated. Stumbling with pain and unable to balance itself, the Vulcan was incapable of stopping its already held momentum, as its uncontrollable body lurched forward towards the awaiting Aldous. In a single movement, Aldous read and predicted the Vulcan’s eventual path through his eyes, pulled out Cloud Penance, stepped forward and with both hands sending the great-sword into a vicious uppercut straight through the Vulcan’s chin and more. The two halves of the bifurcated head skidding to a halt just inches from his feet, Aldous barely paid the dispatched Vulcan another glance as he turned to assist Jay with the rest on his side.

Enemy
Strong Vulcans (0/2)
Weak Vulcans (1/2)
Normal Vulcans (2/2, both injured with an arm disabled)

Status
Health: No injuries
MP at 76% (Regen by 2 posts)
View of Purgatory activated - Last next 2 posts

Spells
Breach Disk x2 - 2
Breach Line x4 - 3

"WAAAAAAARGH!" Jay bellowed back at the mighty roar being spat his face. "That more like it!" Jay lifted his lance to strike and caught the Vulcan already swinging with his eye. With quick thinking and enhanced speed thanks to Quicksilver, he took a step forward and smashed his head against the Vulcans in a audiable headbutt. This caused it to stagger and fail to finish its swing. With a clear opening Jay dashed after it and with light speed stabbed both armpits with his lance. The Vulcan flew into an even bigger rage and flailed from side to side to swing his now limp arms. Jay was able to easily deflect these weak blows with his shield whilst back peddling. Hahahaha, your strikes are like wet noodles little monkey man! Taunted Jay, Why don't you get some help from the two behind you eh? Then it might be a fair fight!

The smaller Vulcan growled low, clearly angered beyond thought, and charged again. Jay lifted his shield and caught the ape on it. With out the use of its arms it was attempting to ram Jay with his chest. Being blocked from this it now started to chomp at Jay over his shield. Heh, I like you. You're cute he said calmly and then slammed his shield downwards into the Vulcans feet. As it howled in pain Jay swung the blunt end of his polearm as hard as he could at the ape's neck. The Vulcan gurgled and fell over still alive.

At some point in that fight the other two Vulcan had built up their courage and charged too and were upon Jay as the weaker on hit the ground. They might both have use of only one arm each but there was still two of them and stronger then the previous. They struck alternatly with heavy swings that allowed Jay little more then to avoid and block them as he slowly retreated back towards Al.

HP: 95% (minor wounds and fatigue)
MP: 70%
Invisibility cool down 0