[PP-F10] Moving Forward Together <<DHA:10>> (Telrenya)

[Jomei 0]

The few days following Telrenya's revelation of being the masked swordsman, Erin, to Jomei were quiet and uneventful. Jomei had been trying his best to remain active, with running errands for the house, or just doing what little grinding he could bring himself to do. His plans were almost always cut short, however, when the thoughts of the lie Telrenya had painted for Jomei filled his mind. Despite the thoughts still bothering him, Jomei had mostly moved on from the subject.. forgiving Tel for what she had done, and understanding her reasoning behind it all. Telrenya, on the other hand, was taking everything much harder, basically confining herself to either their bedroom or living room, not doing much aside from moping and thinking about what she had done. 

The ginger stood in their kitchen, his elbows propped atop the countertop that separated the kitchen from the living room. Olive eyes gazed into the transparent liquid that idly rested in a glass, his forefinger gently drawing circles around the rim of the cup. He could not stand the atmosphere the two had been living in for the past week-- each of them wallowing in their own sadness was not doing them any good to better themselves. With a heavy sigh, Jomei let his forehead fall to the cold counter top, letting out a muffled groan from behind his now folded arms. 

The man's mind began to wander on just what he could do to get Telrenya out of the house and in better spirits. Not only that, but Jomei knew that the two were sitting on the last of the Dragon Hunter quests.. just one simple quest away from whatever shiny reward it held in store for them. Jomei picked up his head from the counter and stood up straight, looking to Telrenya who sat quietly in the living room across from him. His lower pulled back into his mouth to be gently gnawed on as he considered the little white lie he was about to tell the girl. 

Raising his hand, Jomei opened up a random message that was in his inbox before letting out an annoyed groan. "Dammit." he cursed under his breath, before dismissing the menu, "It looks like that Dragon Hunter quest line has a time limit.. and if we wait any longer, we are going to have to start over from the beginning." Jomei worked his way around the countertop and walked over to where Telrenya sat, reaching out a hand towards her to assist her in getting up. "I know you really aren't in the mood to go.. but maybe getting out will help get your mind off of things. Come on Estelle.. Last one." he said, offering a small, yet genuine smile, hoping she would not pick up on his own fib. 

@Telrenya

[Telrenya 0]

With Telrenya's heels sinking into the corner of the couch cushion, the blonde's knees were pulled up to her chest. Her right wrist rested over the top, her hand held flat while Willow gently bobbed up and down as he hovered over the back of her knuckles. The girl was starting to make a little game of it, turning her wrist from one side to the other and watching as the wisp automatically adjusted to follow her movements. The fingers of her other hand were curled over her left knee while chocolate eyes drifted to meet Willow's glowing white ovals.

Telrenya had tried to act as if things were normal the past few days, though with as open a book as the girl naturally was, it would have been obvious enough that they were far from it even if the ginger hadn't been involved in the whole ordeal. It was hard to shake the weight of her actions, and she felt as though there was always going to be a lingering guilt that she couldn't simply 'make up' for.

Jomei's voiced frustration broke the silence and caused the blonde to blink out of her trance, turning her head towards the ginger as he approached her with an outstretched hand. "Ehh?" Her brows turned up in concern. The last of the Dragon Hunter quests was sure to be difficult, right? Was she even in the right mindset to fight another dragon? She had gotten so used to fighting in the leathers and thin steel that made up her disguise as Erin, but the thought of using that equipment again formed a fresh knot in her stomach. Still, the smile Jomei offered, paired with the dreadful thought of having to redo each and every quest they'd completed had her accepting the help that he offered to pull her to her feet.

[Jomei 0]

It took Telrenya a moment to process Jomei's request, her chocolate brown eyes shifting from his face to the hand that he held in front of her. Jomei knew what was going through Tel's mind and how she definitely did not want to go out to finish a quest that reminded her so much of her time as Erin. However, it seemed his little lie was enough to get her onto her feet. As her fingers wrapped around his outstretched hand, the small smile Jomei wore widened, and he pulled her up to her feet. "Great. We should get going soon then." With Telrenya now standing at full height in front of the ginger, Jomei's hand separated from hers and rose to her shoulder, giving her a gently squeeze. His head leaned down to plant a quick kiss on the top of the girl's blonde head before retreating to the main hallway and up the stairs to their bedroom. 

The bedroom was illuminated by the natural light of the the sun pouring in through the tall glass door to their balcony, leaving Jomei to not switch on the lights as he entered the room. Immediately stepping towards his desk, Jomei brought a hand upwards to open his menu's yet again. The man created small swiping gestures to scroll through the various selections. He had not noticed if Telrenya had made her way up the stairs to follow him or not, since his back was facing the open doorway to their room. Yet that did not stop Jomei from uneuipping his casual clothes, leaving the man in a simple pair of grey underwear alone for a moment. In a quick flash of white light, Jomei's equipped his battle attire, consisting of a pair of slim fitting black pants and a sleeveless black turtleneck, adorned with a silver chest piece, shoulder piece, and knee guards. Over his shoulders, a long green trench coat fell into place, followed by Oathkeeper appearing at his hip. 

Jomei turned to see if Telrenya had entered the room once he had dressed, before turning his attention to Adere, who sat idly in the corner on her perch. With a simple nod, the owl spread its wings and quickly closed the distance between itself and ger ginger companion, landing atop his armored shoulder. "Ready when you are love." Jomei said with a smile to the blonde.

[Telrenya 0]

She smiled softly at the gentle affection he showed her, feet automatically carrying her to follow him down the hall and up the stairs to their bedroom. Willow floated along behind the couple, curious eyes trained on them all the while. Telrenya stood just past the door's frame, opening her own menus and staring blankly for a few long seconds once her inventory was laid open in front of her. She was lucky that the leather armor and silver facemask she had been sporting, though the latter had been destroyed, didn't have any notable stat bonuses tied to them, allowing her to look over the other suitable combat attire she carried. She frowned lightly at the icon that represented the star-themed outfit Ruby had gifted her. It wouldn't have been her first time taking up arms in the uniform-like clothing, but it hardly felt appropriate.

With a few hesitant selections, her casual houseclothes disappeared and the white-and-gold battle regalia that she had worn so often in her earlier levels appeared on her form, followed promptly by the black scabbard at her hip that held the golden blade of her rapier. With Adere taking flight to take her perch on Jomei's shoulder, Telrenya's chocolate gaze turned to Willow, who had just seemed to lose interest as they floated slowly towards the opposite end of the room. "Hey, c'mon," She called softly to the wisp, giving a sideways nod of her head to beckon the familiar over when their bright eyes turned back on her. Willow drifted quickly back to their owner, looping over Telrenya's shoulder before disappearing into the square of the girl's back. She looked back to Jomei, forcing as confident a smile as she could manage in return. "Right, let's finish this."

[Jomei 0]

Just as Jomei had summoned Adere to his shoulder, Telrenya looked to Willow. The small spirit had other plans, as it drifted away from the two players who prepared themselves for battle. It was not until the blonde had regained the wisp's attention, did it return to the girl. Jomei could not help but let out a small laugh at the exchange the two shared. The relationship between Telrenya and Willow had really blossomed since the first time Jomei had met the small familiar, which brought a warmth to his heart. Shining a similarly confident smile back to Jomei, the two headed back down to the main floor of their house and out into the streets of Taft. 

With the all too familiar path to the Teleport Gate in the center of town out of the way, the couple warped down a single floor to the town of Yomi, which very much differed from the previous, sunny floor the two had chosen to live on. The tenth floor was dark and damp, yet an eerie blue glow from the radiant mushrooms and crystals that scattered the floor made it possible for them to see. It had been so long since the man had taken a trip to this settlement, that he had nearly forgotten what its terrain was like. With eyes locked on the roof of the cavern above him, Jomei took a step down from the platform that housed the teleporter, his chest collided with the back of an NPC. "O-Oh, I'm sorry about that." As the entity turned to face the ginger, it let out an unintelligible mumble as it looked upon Jomei with lifeless, black eyes. Jomei felt a chill run down his spine before the NPC shrugged off the ginger's bump and continued on with its day. Jomei's shoulder's dropped as he let out the breath he did not realize he was holding in. "I-I forgot that.. all the NPCs here are undead" he said with a shaky, nervous chuckle.

The two traversed one of the four bridges that led out of Yomi, the lake below them reflecting the same blue aura as the lights above them. "You know, despite this still being one of the beginner floors, I never really spent much time here.. The undead NPCs always gave me the creeps.. and its not like theres too many quests here worth taking. Aside from that.. chilling banshee quest." As the two continued down the path, they were met with a fork in the road. One moved along the base the cavern wall, while the other led up a path to a higher ground. Tugging Telrenya's hand, Jomei led the girl towards the path leading up the cavern wall. "Come on, lets see what we can see from up there." 

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya, who had been equally as distracted with the sights of a floor she had never seen before, gave a small start when the man at her side had bumped into another figure. She blinked with surprise, expecting the stranger might respond to the disturbance by scolding the players or something of the like. Instead, the undead creature set its eyes on Jomei with a short groan, causing Telrenya's whole body to go rigid. They were still in a town, right? Was this city overrun with monsters? Her mind ran wild with questions and theories before the humanoid NPC shambled off and Jomei informed her that it was simply that--an NPC.

She let out an identical sigh as the tension spilled from her and the two continued their journey. "I had no idea..." She started with the realization that the city was naturally inhabited by undead creatures. "Mm, yeah, I've never been here at all." She admitted, eyes beginning to wander over the glittering cavern walls in the distance once again. They stopped for a moment, caught at a fork in their path, and Telrenya followed after the Irishman as he pulled her along. His choice of words, however, had her brows turning up as she cast a concerned look at the back of his head. "O-oh, okay," She saved any protests as she followed his lead.

[Jomei 0]

With a small hum of a laugh, Jomei looked over his shoulder at the concerned looking blonde behind him. "Don't worry, I'm sure nothing here will really cause us too many problems, and the path looks like it leads back down to join with the other one.. so we are still heading in the same direction.. hopefully.." Turning his attention forward yet again, Jomei continued up the narrow pathway, his hand reaching behind him and clenching Telrenya's hand in his own. Olive eyes watched the dimly lit path in front of them as they continued up the surprisingly calm pathway. His grasp on Telrenya's hand tightened for a moment as he felt a small rumble beneath his feet, followed by a series of other shakes in some sort of pattern-- the motion almost seeming that of footsteps. 

The path they walked on finally leveled out, giving the two a sight that.. was not what Jomei was expecting. The trail up the cavern wall had led them away from the town, so the view of the calm lakes and water falls in the distance were not what they were currently looking at. Instead, the two overlooked the Stygian. Sharp, jagged rocks jutted out from various points in the lake, a number decorated with a fresh set of bones which the rocks pierced directly through. Slowly moving around the rocks and through the water were creatures of varying sizes and types -- though all undead and decaying, as the NPCs in Yomi were. Off in the distance, the eerie sight of the floors large prison, Tartarus could be seen, truly adding a sense of dread and depressing to their romantic view. 

"That...." Jomei started, placing his forefinger against his pursed lips as his brows lowered, ".. I wasn't... Hm.. Maybe we should have just gone ... the other way" The man turned his chin slightly, giving Telrenya a sidelong glance. "Lets just.. keep going then." Moving back down the side of the cavern and through the tunnel at the end of the path, Jomei and Telrenya caught a glimpse of their destination. The dark stoned structure stretched up multiple stories, almost matching Aincrad's pattern of starting off large and shrinking in diameter as the top peak is reached. Red, torn up banners depicting the face of a dragon hung on either side of a large stone slab that served as a doorway. The entryway showed no seams in the center, or any sort of hinges to swing the door open, and upon trying to push on the stone, they would soon find that it was not budging any time soon. In the center, however, were nine slots, all of similar size. "Looks like this is the place..."

[Telrenya 0]

Jomei's words of reassurance did little to ease her mind. She quickly continued to wonder whether or not the Irishman knew the exact location of this castle they needed to reach, or if they were going to have to scour the floor to locate it. With the idea of some sort of time limit still gnawing at the back of her mind, she really hoped it was the former. But as Jomei pulled her along the taller path to reach its peak, they stopped a moment to take in the sights the floor had to offer--which were far from peaceful and settling. Telrenya stared out over the inner-caves of the tenth floor with eyes wide, moreso with distress than wonder.

It seemed as though the unpleasant view was just as unexpected to the man beside her, and the blonde had difficulty shaking a thought as he urged them along down the rest of the path. It really didn't seem like he had chosen the path to the taller ridge as a means of surveying the floor to find their destination. Rather, it felt very similar to times when they would go out of their way to get a good vantage point and simply enjoy the view along their adventures. If they were in a hurry, why would they bother to stop or let themselves get distracted beforehand?

Finally, just as they'd reached the front of the hidden castle, Telrenya took on a small frown. "Nick... How long did we have left to find this place, anyway?" She asked, her curiosity burning too brightly to keep the question to herself.

[Jomei 0]

Olive eyes scaled the castle's ascending walls, as he took slow steps towards the apparent entrance way to their final destination. Once the peak of the structure was out of his line of sight, his vision dropped again to the slab of stone in front of him. With an extended hand, the ginger gently ran his finger tips along the surface, drifting over the small spaces made to hold some sort of item-- nine to be exact. It did not take long for Jomei to piece the information together, and lifting his hand to access his menus, Jomei took out the last of the gems they had collected and fit perfectly into place. 

Before he had a chance to take out another of the dragons' loot drop, Telrenya's question had stopped Jomei. Eyes closed, his lips curling into a sly smirk before letting out a single chuckle. Dismissing his menus, Jomei turned to the blonde, shrugging his shoulders, "All the time in the world actually." Jomei's feet carried him a couple of paces towards Telrenya, before he brought his arms up to cross at his chest. "There was no timer. There never was. I told you we were running short on time so that you.. we could get out of the house, where we were just .. wallowing in our own sadness. It wasn't healthy for us, despite it seeming that everything was okay. I knew the guilt was just.. eating away at you, so I lied to get you out of the house." 

The neutral expression that had taken over Jomei's face as he revealed his true intentions curved into a small smile as he closed the distance between the two a bit more with another two steps, "You lied, I lied. There. Now we are even." With a sigh, Jomei continued to move forward until he was at an arms length from Telrenya. His arms uncrossed, his right hand placing itself on the woman's exposed shoulder. "Estelle.. I understand why you feel guilty.. I do. But if you keep beating yourself up over it, you'll never forgive yourself, like I have." His hand slid from her shoulder up the curve of her neck, until his palm tenderly rested on her cheek."I'm willing to move on if you are." 

[Telrenya 0]

Disbelief coated the woman's expression for several long moments as Jomei revealed the truth behind his white lie. "Huh...?" The word slipped out in little more than a whisper as he continued to call them 'even'. She felt the weight of his palm on her shoulder before it moved to her cheek, and her expression finally shifted. Her brows turned up and she suddenly had to fight against the sting of tears that tried to accompany the crooked smile that stretched between her cheeks. A short, broken chuckle escaped her, and with a single motion, Telrenya took a step forward and threw her arms around the Irishman in a tight embrace. "Thank you, Nick." She spoke softly with the side of her face pressed against Jomei's chest for a few more seconds.

She would eventually pull away a bit, lowering her hands to the man's waist while she lifted her chin to meet his gaze. "I... I think I needed that." She admitted before a new look of concern took over her features as something continued to weigh on her mind. A small piece of the aftermath that she still hadn't figured out how to address. "Just... What you said, about holding me back... That's not it at all." She started, her eyes dropping several inches while she tried to pull her messy thoughts together. The blonde let out a tiny sigh. "My brother and I were bullied a lot when we were kids. He always stood up for me, even got into fights sometimes," A breathy chuckle paired with her words at the bittersweet memories, and she gave a small shake of her head. "And Nick, it means so much that you want to keep me safe. Y-you're right, I... I would risk my life for you, too." She carefully grasped at the fabric of the forest-green cloak that fell past his sides. "I was just, frustrated, and scared. I didn't want to watch myself go back to hiding behind others like I couldn't fight for myself, too."

[Jomei 0]

Jomei's mind twisted on the worst case scenario from lying to Tel about the quest having a timer. With the way she had been feeling about the whole situation, she could have thought that the ginger was making a joke out of her predicament, or not caring as much as he should have been. For that short moment, he half expected Telrenya to step back and yell at him for being stupid. It was when Tel's lips twitched, curling into a small smile, did Jomei realize he was overthinking it was too much. Throwing her arms out in front of her, the blonde stepped into Jomei, wrapping her arms around him, and holding him tight. It was not until she expressed her thanks in words did Jomei return the hug on the girl, moment before separating again. 

The space left between the two was not much, Jomei keeping his wrists resting atop Tel's shoulders. As her eyes rose to meet his, Jomei's own gaze fell upon her chocolate brown eyes, not able to hold back a smile, despite her now concerned features. The ginger listened as Telrenya went on to explain one of the true aspects that drove the girl to don the metal mask and become Erin. His smile faded as she revealed that she had been bullied as a child, needing to depend on James to defend her for most of her life. "Estelle I.. I had no idea. I'm sorry." Jomei apologized again, more out of empathy than out of guilt. "Well, if it makes you feel any better.." Jomei said, a half smile returning to his lips, arms pulling towards him so his palms curved around the woman's shoulders, giving her a gentle squeeze. "You've definitely proven to me that you can hold your own.. Even though I didn't realize it was you" he chuckled before continuing, "Of course.. I'm still going to protect you, just because of how much you mean to me.. And your life.. well.. will always mean more to me than my own. But now I know I won't have to worry.. and that we can fight by each other's sides."

 

[Telrenya 0]

"Mm, it's okay." The woman's head shook lightly side to side. "It's not something I've ever really talked about. We were a couple of blonde kids that moved to Japan. We looked different, and couldn't speak the language fluently, and...well, kids are mean." She looked back on the rough transition of her childhood with a half-smile and a shrug.

His continued encouragement and vow of protection caused Telrenya's cheeks to take on a faint tint of pink. "Nick... Thank you." Her smile grew a bit wider with the light blush that persisted, and she soon picked herself up onto the balls of her feet to meet Jomei's lips with her own in a short kiss. The Irishman's little white lie, along with the following exchange, did well to ease her mind that had been remained troubled for so long. It felt as though a stubborn weight was finally nudged the rest of the way off of her shoulders. A smile stretched into a grin on the blonde's face as she lowered back down to her height. Her fingers tightened around the pieces of his cloak that she had been holding onto, the backs of her fingers gently pressing against the man's sides through the fabric while her shoulders raised with a hint of excitement. "Now, ready to take down whatever's waiting for us in that castle?"

[Jomei 0]

Jomei nodded his head slowly in understanding, listening to Telrenya explain why she had not told him of the prior bullying in the real world. The man could not hold back a small chuckle, his head cocking slightly to the side. "Take it from the ginger that moved to Japan, I know exactly what you mean. Way I saw it.." the man started, picking a hand up off of her shoulder to run his fingers through her blonde curls, "They were just jealous that they couldn't have different colored hair like us" ending with one of his playful winks.  

With another expression of thanks, the girl lifted herself up to reach Jomei's level, her lips softly connecting with the ginger's to exchange a short kiss. The smile she wore on her face only seemed to stretch wider with each moment, his heart skipping a beat as it brought a warmth and joy to him. For the week that followed the fall of Tel's plan of disguising herself, her smile had become a rarity. It wasn't until today did he see a genuine smile that was not forced, and now he watched as it stretched farther across her blushing cheeks. 

"Ready as I'll ever be" Jomei said with a confident smirk before turning to the stone slab that separated the couple and whatever lurked within. Jomei and Telrenya each took out the gems that they had earned from defeating the young dragon hatchlings, slipping them into their place upon the doorway in front of them. As the last gem was placed, the two took a step back. The stone wall began to crack, webbing out from the center of the gems towards the edges, and before long, crumbled to the ground to reveal the inside. Turning to look at Telrenya once more, Jomei's palm pressed into her's, lacing his fingers with her own. Offering one last smile, the couple marched their way past the rubble and into the foyer-like room.

The large, circular room that Jomei and Telrenya moved their way into was dark, the only source of light coming from the open doorway they had stepped through. That light was soon snuffed out, accompanied by the sound of something heavy crashing into place behind them. Jomei's grip on Telrenya's hand tightened as he brought his other arm across his body to take out Oathkeeper. A single pyre ignited in front of them with a powerful flame, bolted to the center of a tall, stone pillar. One by one, more flames began to light up the room, illuminating the circle made of nine obelisks. 

[Telrenya 0]

Flames danced beneath the forms of each of the nine Dragon Knights, casting long shadows that flickered against the curved stone walls behind them. They stood, still as statues, staring down at the two players behind their plated helmets. Telrenya felt a chill run down her spine as she felt their gazes pressing down on her, her grip on Jomei's hand tightening in kind. The room was still, stuck in a suffocating silence while the girl slowly slipped her hand away in order to take hold of the hilt of her own rapier.

With the players' weapons drawn, a final light source sparked to life above them, the ten candles of a massive chandelier serving to illuminate the rest of the large chamber that was to serve as their battleground. Telrenya's eyes shot between the idle knights as they stood tall in their impressive armor, each one uniformly wielding a downward-pointed straight sword whose blade was tucked away behind an ornately-designed kite shield. Behind each statuesque figure, nine large tapestries ran down the walls. Depicted in each, a dragon. Similar to the various hatchlings they had fought and defeated, their woven scales matching the color schemes of the knights that stood before them. The illustrated dragons, however, were clearly different than the small creatures they had faced before. Instead, these dragons were adult--fully-grown versions of the hatchlings that had been hidden away on each of the previous floors.

Now, with the room alight and their challenge unveiled, a sudden movement would catch their eyes. The knight clad in brilliant green metal jerked to life, pulling his sword to the front before dropping from his tall pedestal. Heavy boots crashed against the stone floor, and just after the knight had straightened himself, he promptly dropped into a low stance. The light of the flames that surrounded them danced reflections off of the large emerald embedded in the center of the Dragon Knight's shield that was held at the ready. Telrenya cast Jomei a sidelong glance. Drawing in a deep breath through her nose, her chin tilted down in a quick nod to signal her readiness, and a small smile crept across her lips. "Mind if I take the first shot, darling?"

The woman fixed her sights back on the Emerald Dragon Knight. In one fluid motion, she lowered herself and pushed off the stone floor with the immediate activation of her charge skill. Dashing in to close the distance between herself and the stalwart knight, her eyes worked rapidly to find a hole in the monster's defense. With none to be found, Telrenya pushed to the left and started with a single empowered thrust of her blade against the top half of the warrior's shield. The force of the blow caused the knight to stagger back, rewarding her with the opening she wanted. Thirteen more successive strikes pierced the knight's armor and steadily drained away his hit points. In retaliation, Rhaegal's sword swung across his body, sending sparks flying as it clashed with the golden steel of Celestial Dawn to shove the rapier away. Telrenya stepped to the left again when it sliced down through the air where she had been standing, and the girl suddenly found herself on the defensive. She dodged two more slashes, but by now the knight's back was practically turned on the Irishman. Perfect. "Nick!" She called out from the other side of the armored figure. Another clash of blades, and then she faltered. Rhaegal's sword shot forward and pierced the woman's shoulder, ripping past the blue glow of Willow's protective barrier.

ID#: 96635 | BD: 4(+4)(-2)=6 - Hit! Over Radiation (x14) +charge Active | MD: 7(-3)(+2)=6 - Hit!
(12 base) + (3 charge) = (15 DMG) x (14 sword art) = (210 DMG) - (50 MIT) = 160 DMG

• Telrenya: 654/720 HP | 59/72 EN | 12 DMG | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 59 MIT
• Jomei: c:
   
• Rhaegal the Dragon Knight: 140/300 HP | 125 DMG | 2 ACC | 2 EVA | 50 MIT | 24 Bleed

[Jomei 0]

Atop each of the stone obelisks stood a knight, donned in dragon-like armor, wielding a sword and shield. Though their eyes were not visible behind the faceplates of their helmet, Jomei could feel all of their eyes, staring down at them. Olive eyes shifted from knight to knight, their shadows , that were projected by the flickering flame of the pyres below them, stretched up the wall behind each of them. Soon, the entire room was illuminated as the candles of a chandelier above them ignited in a similar fashion to the torches at their level. It was then that Jomei took note of the styles of each of their armor, matching the banners they stood in front of-- each knight represented one of the dragonlings they had quelled. 

The sight of the knights loyal to the dragons reminded him of the obsidian armored knights who followed Tesseleth into battle. Jomei only hoped that these nine did not share similar stats to those Dragon Knights. The sound of armor plates tapping against each other brought Jomei's attention towards its source, the green clad knight who represented the first of the dragonlings, Rhaegal. Stepping off of his pedestal, the knight's boots pounded into the floor, and it prepared itself to fight against the two players. 

With Telrenya's request, a singe brow rose as he turned his chin to face her, noting the small smile she wore on her face. The Telrenya that stood next to him was no longer the girl who feared going out into the wild on her own, or the one who could not put a dent into the thick skin of a Treant. Telrenya looked brave and confident, one who no longer wanted to stand on the sidelines and be protected... one that no longer needed to stand on the sidelines. "Be my guest love." Jomei said, returning the half smile, wanting to say a lot more, but figuring now was not the time. 

Jomei watched as the woman shot forward with speeds nearly matching Jomei's. With an initial strike, she opened up the knight's defenses and knocked its health about halfway down. The knight was soon to retaliate, attacking back and piercing the woman's shoulder. "On it!" Jomei shouted back as he shot forward using his own charge skill. The sound of his boots pounding against the stone floor was enough to draw the knights attention, and its gazeless helmet turned to look over its shoulder at the oncoming ginger. Jomei made a quick diagonal strike upwards, the knight turning its body to dodge the attack, followed by a duck to allow Jomei's rapier to soar just over its head with a downwards cut. With one last cut at the knight's legs, his armored enemy pushed off of the ground and jumped right over the sword, missing Jomei's attack again. Once his boots hit the floor, the knight quickly turned pivoted around and bashed Jomei away with his kite shield.

ID: 96668 | BD: 1 (Charge used)

• [1] Telrenya: 654/720 HP | 59/72 EN | 12 DMG | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 59 MIT
• [0] Jomei: 1270/1270 HP | 137/139 EN | 17 DMG | 4 ACC | 4 EVA | 52 MIT | 2 Savvy | 38 B. Heal 
   
• Rhaegal the Dragon Knight: 140/300 HP | 125 DMG | 2 ACC | 2 EVA | 50 MIT | 24 Bleed

[Telrenya 0]

Rhaegal's straightsword was as quick to leave Telrenya's virtual flesh as it had been to pierce through her. The knight hadn't given into her distraction as she'd hoped, turning just in time to defend against Jomei's assault. The woman's dark blonde brows narrowed, and she hurried to punish the knight for taking his attention off of her. Celestial Dawn came down in a diagonal slash across her body, but before it had made contact with emerald green armor Rhaegal spun with his shield that had just knocked Jomei off balance and swiftly deflected the woman's blade.

The Dragon Knight put up an impressive fight, his attention shifting between the blonde and the ginger in order to dodge, deflect, or otherwise shrug off their assault for several long seconds. In a flash, the creature switched to the offensive, eyes that were hidden away behind his helm locking back onto Telrenya. The girl took a half-step back as the knight's steel blade glowed a brilliant green. She tried to keep up with the increasing intensity of his attacks, using the flat of her rapier to fend off the swift slashes that she couldn't move her body out of the way from in time. She winced with the appearance of tiny gashes on her avatar, proof that her defensive maneuvers couldn't keep up.

The tip of the knight's blade raised to the sky with the finale of his attack. Bringing his weapon straight down, Rhaegal feigned a simple slash and instead brought the weapon aside him, slicing across and digging the edge of the blade into Telrenya's left side. She let out a small, involuntary cry and was knocked off balance with the force of the blow, her arms taking the brunt of the fall as she hit the concrete floor. The large red gash at the side of her ribs seemed to fester, and a quick glance to her vitals showed the presence of a status effect. Wincing slightly, the girl propped herself up, trying to keep her nerves under control with a half-forced jest. "A-alright... Next time, maybe you should take the lead." She managed with a short chuckle.

@Jomei

*No Action Taken*
ID#: 96924 | MD: 10 - Critical Hit!

• [1] Telrenya: 586/720 HP | 60/72 EN | 12 DMG | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 59 MIT | (Bleed 0/2)
• [0] Jomei: 1270/1270 HP | 137/139 EN | 17 DMG | 4 ACC | 4 EVA | 52 MIT | 2 Savvy | 38 B. Heal 
   
• Rhaegal the Dragon Knight: 140/300 HP | 125 DMG | 2 ACC | 2 EVA | 50 MIT | 24 Bleed

[Jomei 0]

The Emerald Duelist stumbled backwards, a hand raising to his face where he had been smacked with the metal shield. Letting out a small groan, the man shook his head and watched as the dragon knight retaliated, moving to the offensive and striking Telrenya with powerful force. The relentless assault kept the blonde from being able to counter and attack herself, and with downward cut performed to throw Tel off guard, the knight brought his green glowing blade to his side, before letting it cut deep into the blonde's hip.

Telrenya's pained cry was enough to send Jomei into a fury. Ginger brows lowering, Jomei launched forward, his boots pounding against the stone floor as he ran at their target. The tip of Jomei's rapier scraped against the concrete, igniting in a burning flame-like aura of gold. Reaching his left hand across his body, Jomei gripped the handle of Oathkeeper with two hands, ripping the blade up the side of Rhaegal, leaving a deep red gash that penetrated his armor. The initial strike knocked the knight off guard, dealing a significant amount of damage as well. Still with a fire burning in his eyes, Jomei delivered the rest of the Over Radiation sword art with powerful, precise strikes, seeming to cut the armor to bits with each cut. With one last thrust to the center of its chest, the knight burst into pixels. 

Taking in a deep breath through his nostrils, Jomei turned to Telrenya, who had propped herself up on the ground. "What, giving up on joining me on the front lines already?" Jomei said with a chuckle, making it obvious that he was teasing Telrenya about her comment. Reaching a hand out to help the girl up to her feet, he had not even noticed the sound of pounding metal boots against the floor.. those belonging to Zylara, the next knight. Jomei's eyes widened as the sharp end of the knight's lance pierced him through his chest before tossing him off to the side. The ginger's body his the ground with a thud, letting out an involuntary groan as he pushed himself up to a kneeling position. "That... was a cheap move." 

ID: 96925  | BD: 10 Big Crit! | Over Radiation 14x17(+2 Crit) = 266(-50 MIT) = 216 DMG | MD 9 126(-52) = 74 DMG

• Telrenya: 654/720 HP | 59/72 EN | 12 DMG | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 59 MIT
• Jomei: 1196/1270 HP | 128/139 EN | 17 DMG | 4 ACC | 4 EVA | 52 MIT | 2 Savvy | 38 B. Heal (Bleed 2/2) (-74 DMG) 
   
• Rhaegal the Dragon Knight: 0/300 HP | 125 DMG | 2 ACC | 2 EVA | 50 MIT | 24 Bleed 216 DMG
• Zylara the Dragon Knight: 300/300 HP | 125 DMG | 2 ACC | 2 EVA | 50 MIT | 24 Bleed

@Telrenya

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya filled her cheeks with air, brows narrowing as she flashed an exaggerated pout at the man's teasing. Her stubborn expression was quick to break, however, as she was overtaken by a small chuckle. "You know me better than that." She shot back. Before she had taken the chance to accept Jomei's hand to help her to her feet, Telrenya felt her heart stop for a fleeting moment in her chest. Chocolate eyes went wide at the sight of the spearhead protruding from the man's chest before he was jerked to the side. Behind where the Irishman had been standing, a new, almost identical Dragon Knight stood, clad in crystalized armor with a faint, dull yellow glow.

Telrenya's body moved on instinct, bringing her to her feet that pushed off the stone floor as she charged towards the armored creature. No sooner had Zylara turned his eyes on her, the blonde's shoulder rolled forward and collided with the heavy chestplate of the monster. Her smaller frame had done little to jar the enemy, Zylara having barely lost any of his footing as Telrenya's grip on her rapier tightened at her side. Her jaw clenched with the flaring of her rare, protective temper, and the ineffectiveness of her attack didn't help to quell that flame. As she was forced a step and a half backwards, she raised her weapon against the quartz knight, gripping the hilt of Celestial Dawn with the blade held steady in front of her.

ID#: 96999 | BD: 1 - Critical Fail!

• [0] Telrenya: 562/720 HP | 59/72 EN | 12 DMG | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 59 MIT | (Bleed 1/2)
• [0] Jomei: 1196/1270 HP | 128/139 EN | 17 DMG | 4 ACC | 4 EVA | 52 MIT | 2 Savvy | 38 B. Heal (Bleed 2/2)
   
• Zylara the Dragon Knight: 300/300 HP | 125 DMG | 2 ACC | 2 EVA | 50 MIT | 24 Bleed

[Jomei 0]

As an immediate reaction to Jomei being tossed away, Telrenya sprung into action against Zylara. Rushing forward, the woman tackled the armored knight, forcing it a step back, but no more than that. Where her attack seemed to do nothing more than pester the knight, it did take its attention off of Jomei, leaving its back open to him. "Hm, bad mistake." Jomei said with a chuckle under his breath as he picked himself up again. Using his own Charge skill, the ginger moved in a blur, shooting forward and throwing his own shoulder forward. The man's taller frame crashed into the armored Zylara, this time knocking it off balance. 

Following up with his shoulder tackle, Jomei spun on the ball of his foot and used the momentum to thrust his rapier forward through the back of the Knight. As he returned his blade to his side, Jomei continued the assault with even more stabs and cuts, knocking its health deep into the red. With one final cut, the suit of armor was knocked to its knees for a moment, offering Jomei a short misconception of victory. 

The ginger's moment was cut short when Zylara spun on his knee, swiping Jomei at his legs with his lance. The blow Jomei took at his ankles knocked him to the ground yet again, and as the knight stood yet again, it turned once more orbiting the lance around its body, before delivering one last uppercut, dragging the sharp end of its pole arm across Jomei's abdomen.

ID#: 97051  | BD: 4(+4 Acc)(-2 Eva)= 6 Hit | Charge! | Over Radiation: 14x17(+5 Charge) = 308(-50 MIT) = 258 Dmg | MD: 9 126(-52) = 74 DMG

• [0] Telrenya: 562/720 HP | 59/72 EN | 12 DMG | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 59 MIT | (Bleed 1/2)
• [1] Jomei: 1136/1270 HP | 119/139 EN | 17 DMG | 4 ACC | 4 EVA | 52 MIT | 2 Savvy | 38 B. Heal (Bleed 2/2) (+38) (-24) (-74)
   
• Zylara the Dragon Knight: 42/300 HP | 125 DMG | 2 ACC | 2 EVA | 50 MIT | 24 Bleed (-258)

[Telrenya 0]

Another trading of blows between Jomei and Zylara, and Telrenya took her first opportunity to rush at their opponent once again. With the knight's health so low in the red, her brows narrowed slightly with the confident preparation of a weaker sword skill that she counted on getting the job done. The flat of her blade pulled in close to her side before she lunged forward with four consecutive thrusts at the body of their target.

But to her dismay, the knight's lance flew across his body to clash with the edge of her blade and knock it aside. Each time she pulled back for another thrust of her thin blade, the knight expertly deflected the blow, sending sparks flying with each collision of steel. It was difficult for Telrenya not to let the frustration of the battle overwhelm her--rarely, if ever, had she had trouble hitting any of the dragon hatchlings they had faced in the past, and yet now she was struggling to hold her own half of the fight against just the first two Dragon Knights. As the status effect that had lingered on her inflicted the last of its damage, she spared only a fleeting moment to glance at the empty space that had been created in her health bar.

ID#: 97086 | BD: 3(+4)(-2)=5 - Miss!

• [0] Telrenya: 538/720 HP | 58/72 EN | 12 DMG | 4 ACC | 3 EVA | 59 MIT
• [0] Jomei: 1136/1270 HP | 119/139 EN | 17 DMG | 4 ACC | 4 EVA | 52 MIT | 2 Savvy | 38 B. Heal (Bleed 2/2)
   
• Zylara the Dragon Knight: 42/300 HP | 125 DMG | 2 ACC | 2 EVA | 50 MIT | 24 Bleed