[F6-PP] A New Dragon <<DHA:6>> (Telrenya)

[Jomei 0]

Direct continuation from :[PP-F5] Revenge of The Dragon <<DHA:5>> (Telrenya)

Razor sharp teeth dug into the skin of Jomei's shoulder, causing the man to stumble backwards. His hands rose to the torso of the scaled beast, trying to rip it off of his person. "Get the hell off!" Jomei grunted, before the dragon finally dislodged itself and fell back into the sand. The ginger rose his hand to the wound, grimacing from the uncomfortable tingling left from the holes in his skin. Tabaluga lowered its body into the sand, trying to make itself as flat as possible like a cat hunting its prey. With another shrill screech, its small appendages began to scramble through the sand in an attempt to retreat back into the broken section of the stone. However, before it had a chance to get away, Erin shot past Jomei, her rapier striking true with four consecutive strikes at the dragon, ending its life on the final thrust. 

As the dragon burst into crystals that rained into the sand, the storm that roared around the two players began to fade. The wind subsided, and all of the gritty sand that had been picked up began to return to the Earth. Jomei let out a sigh of relief, slowly placing the tip of his blade into the opening in its holster, letting the length of the metal slide back into place. "Good work." Jomei said, turning to Erin with a nod, "That just leaves.. Four more dragons to hunt down before we can find that castle." With the storm now faded, Jomei's eyes trailed up to the blue sky above them to see that the sun had not moved much from its spot. From what it seemed, the journey and fight together may have only taken about an hour or two, still leaving plenty of time left in the day. "Looks like we still have plenty of day left.. we might as well head up to the Sixth Floor and find this next one. That alright with you?" Of course, Jomei wanted nothing more than to return home to continue the lazy day he was planning to have with Telrenya. On the other hand though, the faster Erin and he took out the rest of these dragons, the sooner he would be able to enjoy more days like those. 

"Lets get back to town." Jomei said before turning around and beginning his walk back the way they came to the walled city of Fortaleza. The duo seemed to have no trouble on their way back to town, dealing with the occasional mob here and there-- nothing that either of the players couldn't handle. During their walk, Jomei had made sure to send another message to the information broker to try and get information about the next dragon. 

[Telrenya 0]

A relieved breath of air spilled past Telrenya's lips as the storm died down, leaving a relatively calm, but still very oppressive heat looming over them. She held back a small groan, turning to Jomei when she was addressed. She nodded in kind, but hesitated again. For a moment, she considered again trying to call it off. Neither of them wanted to be doing this right now, and without speaking up she was practically letting Erin get away with his meddling. But before she could will herself to object, Telrenya was following Jomei back towards Fortaleza. She returned her rapier to its scabbard at her hip in defeat. The sooner these quests were done with, the sooner she could take a break from all this. Maybe she would put a hold on all this soloing stuff. Spencer was right a thousand times over, none of it was worth putting strain on the relationship she cherished.

The pair of players made their way to the main settlement, the heat only slightly more tolerable once they were within the city's walls, and headed for the teleport plaza. Speaking out the name of the sixth floor city, Amazon, each of their avatars would be carried off to the town in the middle of the rainforest.

Telrenya felt the forgiving shift in temperature, and was grateful for the small sense of relief. Taking a moment to catch her bearings, it was then that she realized the scenery was entirely new. Had she really not seen the sixth floor before? A new hint of unease worked its way into her stomach, hoping that her unfamiliarity wouldn't end up as a burden.

[Jomei 0]

Despite the drastic change in temperature from the Fifth Floor to the Sixth Floor, the Irishman decided to stick with the sleeveless attire he had been sporting thus far, for the humidity of the rainforest was just as unbearable to him as the hot desert sun. As the ginger stepped from the warp gate, the familiar chiming of bells drew his eyes to the now lit notification in the corner of his HUD. Tapping on the icon in front of him, the message from the information broker expanded, this time providing much more information than the prior two had. With a sigh of relief, Jomei dismissed the screen with a swipe of his hand. "Alright, so it looks like this dragon is somewhere to the west of Krycim ... Apparently the remains of the egg it hatched from were found at the base of a large tree with vines hanging down from it. A lot better of a lead than last time." he said with a chuckle. 

Jomei rose the back of his gloved hand to his fore head wiping the beads of sweat that had formed. As his hand drew across his grow his knuckles brushed the orange fringe away from his eye, only for the hair to fall back into place a moment later. Turning his attention west, Jomei walked with Erin through the town until they stumbled upon the tree line. Jomei's eyes followed the bard of the outrageously tall tree in front of him, before his head drooped with a heavy sigh. "...All the trees are large... Well, at least we have a direction to go in." 

[Telrenya 0]

"Sh*t! Yo, Ran, what the hell!?" Kaminari stood with his back to the thick bark of a tree, one hand covering a gash as it pressed against his abdomen. Across from him, the noirette stood with a wide stance, her hands clutching at the hilt of a dagger that she held in front of her with arms rigid. Her breathing was heavier than normal, and her expression wild while the spinning cursor over her head flickered to an orange color. Kaminari glanced to his health  bar in the corner of his vision before he pushed off the strudy trunk behind him. In reaction, the girl tensed up further, raising her dagger a few inches higher.

"No, stay the hell away from me!" She shouted back, her right foot taking an unsteady step backwards. The blonde man's brows knit with frustration, and he scowled back at her. "Have you lost it? Cae's gonna scrap you for going orange!" His voice was sharp, but there was a mixture of concern in his outraged tone. He took another step and a half towards Kirana, but she only took clumsy steps back just the same.

[Jomei 0]

Watching his step so not to catch the toe of his boot on any vines or stones, Jomei made his way through the dense rainforest, in search of anything that looked out of the ordinary.. in this case, a large egg. "Well... a giant egg out here can't be that hard to find..right?" The ginger stopped in his tracks when he heard the sound of shouting from just beyond their position. Turning his head to face Erin, he brought a finger up to his lips, gesturing for her to keep quiet. As silently as he could, Jomei stepped forward through the foliage, peeking his head around the thick bark of a tree to get a better look of the situation ahead.

Immediately, Jomei recognized both of the players; Kira and one of her associates that she had split from. From the orange cursor above the girl's head and the large gash at the man's stomach, Jomei deduced that she had just attacked him for whatever reason. The ginger turned his head away, looking over to Erin, his teeth grinding behind his lips as he contemplated what to do next. "I can't just sit back and watch this." he finally said, before springing from behind the tree and making himself known to both of the players. "What the hell is going on here?" Jomei said, stepping into view of each of the players.

[Telrenya 0]

The longer Kirana's hostility persisted, the more nervous Kaminari became. "Look, c'mon, we gotta wait out that cursor or something, just--" As he reached a hand into the air, the noirette's glinting dagger caused his words to fall short, and his jaw clenched. Just then, both of their attention snapped to the side at the sound of rustling foliage. The players' eyes went wide, but when they landed on Jomei and the masked woman aside him Kaminari seemed to recover from the near-heart attack, as if he had feared that he would be meeting a face different from the ginger's. Still, his scowl was quick to return, and Kirana had swiveled slightly to hold her weapon towards the new arrivals. The direction of her grip darted back to the blonde, then settled somewhere in between as she wasn't able to make up her mind as to which was a greater threat.

"None of your business." Kaminari snapped, his reaction unclear as to whether or not he recognized the Irishman from the small grove tucked away in the streets of Taft. He glared at Jomei before turning his attention back to the girl several feet across from him, trying in vain to urge her away. "Ran, come on." He hissed, "Get your sh*t together before this mess gets any--"

"Is this--still, a game to you?!" Kirana shouted, her words broken apart by shaky breaths. Her body was still stiff, panic mixed into her manic expression. "I can't do this anymore!" She exclaimed, the point of her knife drifting back towards the blonde as she put her focus on him, all but ignoring Jomei and Telrenya. Kaminari looked as though he was about to protest some part of her outburst, but she spoke up again to cut him off. "Let him kill me! I deserve it! And--and then you two can find someone else to, push around--to do, your dirty work, s-someone who can live with the guilt--"

"You think I enjoy this?!" It was the man's turn to interrupt Kirana's flood of thoughts. His garnet eyes shot back at her with their own venom. "You think I wanna see you thrown over the edge? Come off it!" His hands balled into tight fists at his sides.

[Jomei 0]

The ginger's brows slowly rose at Kaminara's dismissal of Jomei, and for a moment, he considered doing just that--making it none of his business. He know nothing about the blonde man in front of him and, for all he knew, he was a wise mouthed thief who deserved whatever was coming for him. However.. his conscience would not let him sit there and let him get murdered by Kira. So instead, Jomei chose to completely shut the man out, and turned his attention to the angry looking woman instead. "Kira.." Jomei said in a soft voice, the girl's name finally coming back to him from their meeting on Christmas, "You don't have to do this.. It's not worth it. Just walk away from him.. and put the knife down." Jomei spoke cautiously, taking slow steps towards the girl, his palms facing forward to show that he meant her no harm. 

Jomei's gaze switched back to the blonde as he moved closer towards the girl, his brows lowering, turning from a look of concern to one that was much more stern. He didn't know what the hell he did to piss of Kira this much, and judging by their last meeting, he probably deserved to get his ass handed to him.. but his words to Kira seemed to become a bit more pleading.. more scared for his life. "I thought you were done with these guys anyway.." 

[Telrenya 0]

Kirana flinched at the first part of her username. It was often what she heard called out, most usually at a time shortly after her betrayal. After she had gained the trust of another player, painting herself as weak, friendly, peaceful--whatever was needed to grow close to another person in the shortest amount of time. The raven-haired girl's attention darted back to Jomei, along with the direction of her dagger when she registered him taking slow movements to close the large gap between them.

The corner of her mouth twitched upwards while a broken chuckle escaped her lips, quickly evolving into a short, dry laugh. "Nobody's done with Cae." She said matter-of-factly, as if the Irishman would know exactly what she was talking about. As if he knew that the scene in the backstreets of Taft was all just an act. Her brows narrowed slightly, bitter defeat present in her violet eyes while her arms lowered a few inches. "I don't care if I get tossed anymore. At--at least I can go on my own terms. It'll be, because I chose for this to happen. H-he can't control everything..." The already-broken girl felt a hot moisture pooling at the corners of her eyes, struggling to fight back the tears as a wave of despair washed over her.

[Jomei 0]

Olive eyes trailed down to the dagger that now pointed towards him, causing him to halt his approach towards Kira. The man kept his hands up at the ready as he simply listened to the girl mention the same name that her blonde counterpart had mentioned -- Cae. Jomei thought back to their first meeting, the dead end at the end of an alley where they went to rescue the cat. There were three players there.. Kira, Kaminara, and another who was awfully quiet.. Was that Cae? Or was there another Jomei did not know about. His attention snapped back when he heard the tone of defeat in her voice, the shaky dagger lowering towards the ground. The ginger's frown hinted genuine concern for the girl, who was on the verge of tears at the entire situation.. trying to fight back breaking down in front of the other three. "It's your life.. you have control over what you do. But that doesn't mean you should throw your life away like that.. Like I told you back in Taft. Just get away from all of this. Start over.. I-I don't know the whole story but.. I know that you can just go back to living a normal life." Jomei's gaze turned back to Kaminara, who seemed to be healing a bit from the wound he had taken at his abdomen, "I've heard you both mention his name now.. Who is this Cae? And why the hell does he have such a control over your lives?" The ginger took a quick peek over his shoulder, seeing that Erin was still standing there.. which was a relief. He only could have imagined the girl continuing on to find the dragon on her own, or even deciding that this drama was not worth it and go back to town. If things really went sour, he was happy to know she was there to have his back. 

[Telrenya 0]

Kaminari seemed to have recovered a bit from snapping at the girl, returning back to his general frustration as Jomei continued to involve himself. Still, if it meant getting his 'partner' to come to her senses, he held his tongue for a while longer. When the ginger had turned his attention on the man, Kaminari's gaze seemed to shift to another glare almost on instinct. He paused as the question was presented to him, garnet eyes slowly drifting from the Irishman, to Kirana, and back. He grit his teeth. He could feel the weight of his own life at stake if he loosened his tongue, but then again, how much worse could things get?

"Tch." He scoffed with defeat, taking a step and a half in reverse until his back hit the bark of the tree he had earlier leaned against with an expulsion of air. "Caesura. He's our 'leader', or the one who pulls all the strings." He picked up a hand to rake his fingers through short, wild blonde hair. "We're basically his closest lackeys, but he has connections all over the place. And the last person who tried to leave..." His volume dropped, casting a nervous glance at the still-shaken Kirana before shifting back to Jomei in hopes that he got the picture.

Telrenya's gloved fingers fidgeted in front of her torso. The whole situation had spiraled out of control, but she could feel the slightest ripple of relief when they seemed to grow at least a bit cooperative. The masked woman took a couple of small steps forward so that her presence was more clear, but found herself gnawing gently at her bottom lip as she couldn't think of the right words to offer.

"I dunno if you've ever tried getting away from a guy who knows everything about you, with plenty of resources and way too much time on his hands. Cae doesn't slack off. He hasn't gotten by all this time 'cause he lets everyone that double-crosses him live." Kaminari finished his explanation with a persistent scowl.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei's features softened as Kaminara returned a glare at Jomei. He wanted to help them, truly.. despite whether they were lying thieves or not, for it really sounded like both of them were only in this situation because their lives depended on it-- whether they live or die being determined by this Cae character. After a tense moment, Kaminara gave in to Jomei's asking, and told him about the leader of their trio. A man with information about both of them and connections everywhere they looked.. sounded a lot like a certain dual wielding play killer who had thought he could control a few players lives in the same way. "Hm. He's not the only one. I can tell you that.." Jomei said, trying to keep the thoughts of that day meeting Death Adder out of his mind, his hand unconsciously raising to his chest where the blades of Michael and Lucifer pierced through his chest. 

Jomei brought his other arm up, crossing both of them about his chest. His eyes shifted back and forth between the other two players as he pondered on what they could do, "Well, obviously you need to think of some way to get him off your backs. And running won't help because you say he has eyes everywhere.." Jomei's hand rose from the crook of his arm to his face, holding his chin between his thumb and knuckle. "Have you thought about finding enough people to rise up a force against him? Possibly even a guild to join that could help protect you from him, or even fight him?" 

As Erin stepped beside Jomei, he turned to look at the masked woman for a moment, his eyes locking onto the small lapel pin of their guild symbol. His eyes rose to meet where her's would be behind the mask, the corner of his lip curving into a smirk before turning back to the other two, a bit more determination in his voice. "How about this.. We will help you take care of Cae. Not just the two of us.. the Holy Dragon Alliance. But know this.." Jomei said, looking at the two with a much more stern look, "We will work to get him imprisoned, especially if he killed another player.. But we are not working to draw blood as well.." his gaze slightly dropped to the earth as he spoke in a quieter tone, "I.. already had to take two lives.. I'd prefer not to take another.." 

[Telrenya 0]

With the conversation playing out in front of her, Kirana's mania seemed to gradually subside. The girl pulled a shaky hand away from the hilt of her dagger to hurriedly rub at the corners of her eyes, wiping away the onset of tears that had formed. Each of the players seemed to take on a similar expression--Kaminari one of skepticism and Kirana of disbelief--as they listened to Jomei think aloud, going over possible angles and options that might be used to solve this impossible problem.

When Jomei went on to present his offer to them, the duo exchanged a look as if they each had the same thought enter their mind. The blonde was the one to voice them, "Are you crazy? If you and your friend," His eyes darted to the woman standing beside him before turning back to meet his olive gaze, "don't want a whole world of trouble, you're better off forgetting this ever happened." His voice dropped to a dissatisfied mumble as he tore his gaze away. "And it'll be my head if anyone finds out about all this." Garnet eyes trailed over Kirana, weapon now held loosely at her side and an orange cursor still rotating steadily over her head. He held a hard stare at the girl, fighting an internal battle of sorts for several long moments before his jaw clenched again. The blonde man brought the side of his fist to the bark of the tree behind him in a quick motion, letting out a huff of air a second later.

Kaminari shoved his hands into his pockets and turned his shoulders towards Jomei. With a few short strides he moved himself to stand in front of the Irishman, eyes lifted a couple of inches to meet his. He seemed to study the man a second, still hesitating before speaking up with a distasteful frown. "Fine. If you think whatever Alliance you have is good enough to take him down without getting us all killed..." The man ripped a hand from his pocket, holding it between Jomei and himself.

[Jomei 0]

The Irishman's gaze rose to Kaminara again as he began to go over just how crazy Jomei's plan sounded. Jomei would listen without faltering though, keeping eye contact with the man's garnet eyes as he continued to go on about how it could end up getting them all killed. "We will take care of him. I promise.. " The ginger rose his hand up from his side to tap on his chest plate, which had the dragon-like symbol of the Holy Dragon Alliance engraved in its center. "I started this guild with the idea of protecting anyone who needed it.. And I'm not going to let another two players go around and get themselves killed because of this manipulative bastard. So whether you don't think we will be able to handle it or not, that's on you.. But just know that I do not go back on my word." Jomei made sure what he said was heard loud and clear by the two players.. yet even in the end, after the blonde had stepped up to Jomei and decided to let him get involved, his voice still didn't sound too grateful. With furrowed brows, Jomei rose his hang, finger pointing towards Kaminara's chest, "That's not exactly the way to talk to someone who's willing to risk their life and guild just to save your sorry asses." he spoke in a quieter voice, directly to the blonde as he brought his own hand down to shake Kaminara's hand.

Once finished with the man, Jomei turned from Kaminara and faced Erin, his eyes shut. "I'll speak with the rest of my guild about it. And we will be in touch. I'd suggest both of you just try to get away from all of this. Don't get involved with this Cae anymore if you don't have to." Jomei turned due west yet again, "Let's go find that dragon." Jomei said to Erin in a slightly pestered voice as he passed her. 

[Telrenya 0]

Kaminari's expression grew sour with Jomei's scolding, but the short-tempered man worked not to press his luck any further. With a swipe of his hand, he opened his menus and seconds later a friend request would find its way in front of the ginger. He turned, walking over to the noirette who seemed to have calm down enough to properly function. "C'mon," He gave her an impatient glance before Kirana seemed to realize what he was after. She used her free hand to repeat the same motions, and the ginger would be left with a request from each of them. The blonde then reached out to take the girl's hand, pulling her along as they moved to head back the way Jomei and Telrenya came. "Thanks." He offered in as sincere a tone as he could manage as they passed the duo.

Telrenya tensed up as Jomei urged them along with their original objective. Things seemed to be almost as out of hand as when they arrived on the scene, just now their entire guild was going to be involved. A long silence stretched, which wasn't out of the ordinary for the two while they worked to track down some trace of the next hatchling. But words were burning in the back of Telrenya's mind. "Uhm," She finally spoke up, the nonsense word serving as a commitment for her to continue after a second's hesitation. "I, I just wanted to say, what you did back there..." She could feel a heat burning on her cheeks behind the veil of her mask. For a moment it was as if she were back to her old shyness, and she did her best to swallow it down. "it was, well, amazing."

[Jomei 0]

What did Jomei get them into? Including his whole guild to stop a single man that scared the hell out of those two? He knew that he could possibly hold his own against Cae, maybe Ruby and Erin as well. But he immediately regretted putting the rest of them in danger against this guy, a player who's level was still completely unknown to Jomei. The ginger let out a heavy sigh as he shook his head, before Erin's voice caused him to stop in his tracks. The man turned to face her, a look of curiosity on his face as he gazed into the metal mask that hid the girl's features. As he waited for her to go on, he noticed something he had not before --her black, shorter hair tied up in a low ponytail that hung off of her shoulder. Black hair.. Jomei thought to himself.. I thought Spencer said that she was a ginger.. It was a thought that was pushed into the back of the man's mind as Erin complimented the man on his act. Jomei simply replied with a chuckle, shaking his head, "It was stupid of me.. I don't even know how strong Cae is, and how many other's would back him if we decided to try and take him down. What if I just signed up the entire guild for a suicide mission?" The ginger turned his attention forward again, "But like I said to them.. I don't go back on my word... We are really going to have to think smart to figure out how we are going to pull this off.." 

Continuing forward through the dense rainforest, Jomei saw what looked to be a slightly wider tree than the rest. From its tall branches, vines entangled with each other fell towards the ground like green bars to a cell, encasing the trunk of the tree. "I'm guessing this is the place.." Jomei concluded, before pushing away a bushel of the vines with his hand. Atop some of the tree's roots that pushed through the grassy earth were large pieces of egg shell, with no dragon in sight. Slowly, the man's hand worked its way across his body, before his fingers curled around the handle of his rapier. "Keep your eyes peeled, its probably still in the area." 

[Telrenya 0]

Stopping when he turned to face her, Telrenya felt a twinge of uncertainty. She dropped her gaze a bit. What if they really were getting in over their heads? As if to counter the thought, a rush of confidence filled her and her shoulders picked up along with her chin. "But what you said was true! That's the whole point of the guild, right? We have to stand up to people like him, or nobody else will!" She retracted only slightly after the bold words left her, as if she might have overstepped some sort of invisible boundaries. Her hand moved up to run her gloved fingertips over the pin affixed to the cloth beside the thin metal pauldron on her left side. "Either way, I'm with you. And I'm sure everyone else is willing to do whatever they can to help. You're... You make a really good leader, better than I could ever be." She admitted.

When the pair of players had moved on, Jomei seemed to have found their first solid clue. Sections of the egg's shell were scattered slightly at the thick base of the tree, and Telrenya ran her sights along the forest floor in search of any kind of trail that might lead them to their target.

Eventually Telrenya's eyes caught movement and she reached for the rapier at her side. "Found you." Drawing the weapon forward, she locked eyes with the dragonling scampering across the forest floor. Enywas was hardly any larger than the last dragon they'd face, but its more rounded body made it look even more innocent. If she wasn't so keen on taking the dragon down and getting back home, she'd stop to think it was rather cute.

This time she made the first move. Telrenya lowered her stance, taking only a second before pushing herself forward. She charged at the monster with her blade held close to her side, the steel beginning to radiant with energy. Fourteen thrusts were delivered, but not all pierced the creature's flesh. Its scales were thick like the bark of the trees that surrounded them, practically deflecting several jabs of her thin blade. Enywas beared its teeth, letting out a high-pitched, rolling growl at the woman before it shot forward in kind. The baby dragon launched from the ground, silvered wings unfurling behind it to carry it high into the air. Telrenya stumbled backward slightly at its unanticipated approach, her eyes watching as it flew several feet into the air above her. Quickly reaching a peak, Enywas' wings folded flat and its chin curled inward. The jade hatchling fell back to the earth at a surprising rate, and Telrenya didn't manage to sidestep in time. The dragonling's hardened skull collided with her left shoulder with enough force to send her reeling. At the moment of impact, a soft blue glow signaled the woman's familiar--the wisp's aura serving to protect her from some of the damage. 'Thanks Willow...' She thought with teeth clenched as she worked to recover from the blow.

ID#: 95176 | BD: 7(+4)(-2)=9 - Hit! Over Radiation (x14) +Charge Active | MD: 7(+2)(-3)=6 - Hit!
(12 base) + (3 Charge) = (15 DMG) x (14 Sword Art) = (210 DMG) - (60 MIT) - (30) = 120 DMG

[H:1] Telrenya: 624/660 HP | 53/66 EN | 12 DMG | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 59 MIT
[H:0] Jomei: :stuck_out_tongue:

Enywas: 230/350 HP | 95 DMG | 2 ACC | 2 EVA | 60 MIT | Reduces DMG taken by 30

[Jomei 0]

Turning forward yet again to continue their journey to find the remnants of the dragon's egg, Jomei's eyes were immediately drawn back to Erin, after she confidently called out to Jomei again, restating the mission statement of the guild - the protection of Aincrad's people from monsters and players.. in this case, the latter. The ginger's mouth hung agape with wide eyes, not expecting the reaction from Erin, who was usually keen on keeping quiet during these adventures of theirs. Olive eyes slowly closed along with his lips as a smile spread, his cheeks coated with a light pink blush from her compliments on his leadership. "That.. mean's a lot to hear, Erin.. Thank you." Jomei responded in a soft voice. 

Continuing onward for a short while longer, the two finally had stumbled upon the hatching place of their next target.. though the dragon itself seemed to elude their field of sight. Erin spotted the dragon first as the small, rounded creature scurried around on the forest floor. The masked woman sprung into action, trying to sink her blade into the beast, yet its hard scales prevented her from being able to do so. In retaliation, the dragon flew up into the air above Erin, before throwing its body into her like a cannonball. 

"Alright, my turn." Jomei said as he watched the dragon's motions, waiting for an opening. Once it was clear of any shrubs or trees, the ginger shot forward with his Charge skill. As his rapier began to glow with a gold aura, he thrusted the blade forward, making contact with the tough scales of Enywas. One after another, Jomei landed succeeding hits, which seemed to do a bit more damage than Erin's attacks, yet it was still not enough. With only a sliver of its health remaining, Jomei quickly stepped out of the way. "Finish it Erin!" he called to her. 

_______________________________________________________

ID: 95117 | BD: 6(+4)(-2) = 8 Hit | Charge! Over Radiation: 14x17(+5 Charge) = 308(-60 Mit) (-30) = 218 DMG

[H:1] Telrenya: 624/660 HP | 53/66 EN | 12 DMG | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 59 MIT
[H:1] Jomei: 1210/1210 HP | 122/132 EN | 17 DMG | 4 ACC | 4 EVA | 2 SAVVY

Enywas: 12/350 HP | 95 DMG | 2 ACC | 2 EVA | 60 MIT | Reduces DMG taken by 30

[Telrenya 0]

If her right hand hadn't been occupied with the handle of her rapier, she'd have used it to clutch her opposite shoulder. A light tingling feeling spread throughout the top of her arm, and Telrenya was thankful for a moment, not wanting to consider how much her health might have dropped if she didn't have her new familiar's protection to guard her.

The woman was allowed a second to recover when Jomei hurried forward with his own attack, dealing a considerable amount of damage to drop Enywas' health bar far into the red. Her stance lowered again, blade held at an angle out to her side. "Right!" She called back, pushing against the foliage of the forest floor to approach the baby dragon once again. She shot forward with the same motions as her initial attack, the tip of her blade running through the dragon's hardened scales. No matter its improved defenses, the little health Enywas was left with disappeared and the hatchling shrieked before it burst into shards of light around her sword.

Telrenya let out a sigh of relief. Even with the occasional surprise, none of the dragons themselves seemed to have posed a significant threat to the duo as of yet, and they were already over halfway done with the chain of ten objectives. After retrieving the jade gemstone from the rainforest floor, Telrenya straightened her spine, bringing St. Andrew's Bane to its scabbard. She let out a steady breath in a sigh, just glad to be finished with the task. "Six down." She said in a small voice, turning the polished gem over in her fingers.

ID#: 95178 | BD: 6(+4)(-2)=9 - Hit! Over Radiation (x14) Active | MD: Dead
(12 base) x (14 Sword Art) = (168 DMG) - (60 MIT) - (30) = 78 DMG

[H: 2] Telrenya: 624/660 HP | 41/66 EN | 12 DMG | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 59 MIT
[H:1] Jomei: 1210/1210 HP | 122/132 EN | 17 DMG | 4 ACC | 4 EVA | 2 SAVVY

Enywas: 0/350 HP | 95 DMG | 2 ACC | 2 EVA | 60 MIT | Reduces DMG taken by 30

Edited February 2, 2018 by Telrenya

[Jomei 0]

With the ginger hopping out of the way, he allowed enough space for Erin to slip by, finishing off Enywas with a single attack. The dragon let out one last pained shriek, before Saint Andrew's Bane plunged past its bark-like skin, causing the monster to burst into shards of data. In its place, a small jade gem was left, which Erin picked up and placed into her inventory. "And three to go." Jomei responded to Erin's comment about how many dragons they had defeated. He was thankful that the end of this long quest line was finally in sight so he could focus on another important matter he had been thinking about and planning for himself and Telrenya. 

Letting his rapier slide back into its scabbard, Jomei turned to Erin once again. "How are you feeling? Dealing with those guys before got my adrenaline pumping." the ginger chuckled, "I think I can go for one more dragon if you want." Determining which way would lead them back to the town, the ginger turned in that direction, taking a few steps past the low hanging vines, "Either way, we should head back. Should hopefully be a clear walk back to the town." 

With his hands loosely placed into his pockets, the duo made their way back towards the main settlement. With a soft smile on his face, Jomei's chin turned to face Erin. "I just wanted to say thanks again.. for what you said before.. My last guild that I was a part of.. The Velvet Room.. I help found it, but my old friend, Lowenthal led the guild for most of the time. After he left us and joined the Knights of the Blood Oath, he left me in charge... Sadly, the guild fell apart after a short while, and I blamed myself for the longest time.. that I had let down Lowe and my other friends. But.. thanks to you guys, this new guild has really flourished.. and it's become something that we can really be proud of." 

[Telrenya 0]

With her hands now free, Telrenya brought one up to press against the bright red area displayed on her avatar. Her thumb rubbed against the cloth that covered the joint, as if trying to massage away the faint tingling sensation. It wouldn't speed up the process of her health regenerating, and so she gave up after a few seconds, simply letting her hand fall back to her side. Despite their momentary participation in the battle, Telreyna was both surprised and relieved to see--if only for a moment--the familiar hue of Willow's natural glow protecting her. She had been starting to think the creature had vanished permanently, although regardless of whether or not she'd had the chance to introduce her new friend to the Irishman, she was also glad that the wisp hadn't decided to make an appearance. All the better if it stayed that way.

When Jomei addressed her, Telrenya simply nodded. "Yeah... I'm just glad we were able to help before anything drastic happened." She admitted in a small voice. Along their journey to Krycim, he brought up a topic that she recalled Jomei touching on once before. She bit down on her bottom lip, staring quietly at the forest floor in front of her feet as she walked. She took in a deep breath, feeling her heart beating faster in her chest while the words she wanted to speak came forward. "I... Of course I don't know what your old guild was like exactly, but... Well, I think you make a great leader. The people in it... We stand by you because of your ideals and your bravery, not because of power, or fear, or terrible things like that." A heat burned on her cheeks behind the thin metal that covered them. "Your selflessness, and kindess... I think it's something that all of us really admire."

Thready Summary!

• Telrenya: +3 SP, +600 col
• Jomei: +3 SP, +600 col