Fantasy Land of Destiny

[Kylesar1]

"Give me a second." He went over to the paralyzed silverware thrower. "You can't buy a thing with sweets here. The only thing I take is coin." he said


Heading back to Alice, he spoke. "Let's see your warrior side." He repeated his procedure of jumping in the air and peppering her with arrow fire driven by his Godspeed potion. She'd deflect some if she didn't deflect all.

 

[Fearlesslygeek]

The arrows shot towards her, but she could see very slight inconsistencies in his shooting patterns. Alice side stepped away from incoming arrow and as quickly as she could, made her way to what she observed as a blind-spot. She made sure to be quick on her feet and not let her frustration and stress get the best of her.

 

[Kylesar1]

"Hmmm." Aantum said when landing. She could do quite well in battle. However, this was far from his best. He summoned and threw a Smoke Bomb. It exploded near Alice and released an extremely thick white smoke. He summoned another potion, Detect Life. Draining it down, Alice instantly became outlined in red. He blew another huge flurry of arrows through the smoke before Godspeed wore off. The arrows didn't disturb the thick smoke as they traveled.

 

[Fearlesslygeek]

Alice dropped to the ground and rolled, she couldn't see Aantum or his arrows but she certainly heard the twang of his bow "Damn it that was close" she muttered as the tip of an sliced the back of her neck, barley missing her. She bounded back to her feet and began to run in the direction of the arrows, evasively sidestepping with hopes of confusing the old man.

 

[Kylesar1]

Alice was running along with the arrows. With Detect Life, Alice was at a disadvantage. Aantum stroked his beard in thought. He shot another flurry at Alice, and another into the air. The gas was spreading rapidly, so for the most part, the arrows were covered by the smoke. He felt the slower shooting due to the lack of Godspeed. He decided to take a different approach. He summoned a Steel Wall Potion and a Hercules Potion, and drained them simultaneously. That was 3 in all. His max


Summoning a Weakening Bomb, he threw it slightly in front of himself. At the rate Alice was coming towards him, it'd explode and she'd inhale it before getting to him. Inhaling the gas would weaken her to where her sword would practically weigh a ton.

 

[Fearlesslygeek]

Alice inhaled the gas and began to feel her muscles go slack and her pace began to slow, she gasped for more air as she grew tired. Realizing that she wouldn't be able to work her heavy sword in her weakened state she dropped it and pulled out a small dagger. Alice stood and waited for Aantum's next strike, she had no idea where he was so her best chance was to be on the defensive and wait him out.

 

[Kylesar1]

Alice stopped in the gas, an obvious sign of inhaling the Weakening Gas, emphasized by her dropping the sword. Aantum snapped his fingers and the gas dissipated. "It's over, Alice. Under the Weakening Poison, all I'd have to do is shoot a couple more arrows and it's a done deal. I think you can see by now why I became the General of the Imperial Army. With my potions, I can adapt to any situation, and with my poisons, I can throw anyone in a Lose-Lose situation." He repeated the procedure of cutting her with the dagger with Antidote and the Healing Ring restored her wounds.


Now for his verdict.

Spoiler

"You've shown a side to a warrior rarely ever seen, and all present in great warriors. You're intuitive, but quick on your feet. However, you suffer a common problem with warriors I've worked with in the army: You're doing the extreme side of things. Think back to the first fight. You went all offense and no defense, getting your ass handed to you. While you certainly did better in the second fight, you took it to the other side. All defense and no offense. You have to find a middle ground. The correct solution was when I was firing from the air, to work your way to me while sidestepping/deflecting arrows. Even if you took a couple of hits, you'd be in close, thus ready for my landing. The blind spot was farther from me, putting you in a worse position, even if it seemed like a good one."




"I shot arrows from the air and stopped you in your tracks, then proceeded to make you dance. As a Warrior, never let long range users get comfortable doing what they're doing. If an Archer can stand there and shoot for more than a brief period, you're not attacking enough. A more offensive solution is some sort of projectile. Basic Magic or Dagger Throwing is the best bet. This should serve as a distraction as you get closer. For defense, you should get Light Magic Armor. It minimizes speed loss, allowing you to dodge, while protecting your weapon using parts from arrows and Magic in case you do get hit."

 

[Fearlesslygeek]

Alice said nothing but nodded, picked her sword up from where she dropped it, and stepped out of the circle. Admitting defeat was something she found incredibly difficult, but she knew that she had been beaten fair and square. Alice knew she had lots to learn, what Aantum had told her made sense to her she now just needed a way to apply it. throughout her life she had faced bandits and thugs but non had the skills that Aantum possessed. "I'll get him back one day" Alice thought to herself "Get knocked down get back up"

 

[Kylesar1]

"Marcos! Get ready. You're next." Aantum's voice boomed. "Same rules. Physical only. No assistance."


@Leuffteria

 

[BloodThunder27]

"Indeed, the Baby is healthy and is doing well. Midwives do predict a boy, yes. But Grandson or Granddaughter, I will accept him or her with open arms. Whether he or she desires to become a Warrior like their dear Grandmother is up to them." The Queen replied to Gerus when he expressed that he is hoping that her Grandchild will be a Son. Although she'd appreciate another Warrior in the Family, she believed that everyone had a right to forge their own path. She then watched as the young man got ready for a fight, to which she simply folded her arms. But when he was dismissed from fighting, she was taken aback. "You should be more respectful to your elders." She said firmly. But when asked about having connections to more powerful people, the Queen now looked a bit more annoyed. "Maybe. I would love to lead my men into battle once more, but my Family comes first." Sadly, she wasn't going to help him in a selfish endeavor, instead she'd probably lend a helping hand to Aantum and his party of travelers...Not that the arrogant young man needed to know. She continued to observe their sparring matches.


When her little sister's Weasel ran off, Lucy came up to her. "Little guy is pretty interesting sometimes. Its a wonder what he's thinking." She smiled, holding onto her belly. She felt something hit the palm of her hand. Perhaps the unborn baby was kicking at its mother's touch. She looked down at her belly and smiled. "Awww, there you go again." She patted where the baby kicked before returning her attention to Catherine. "Well, should we follow him?"


@Kylesar1


@Leuffteria


@Hunnyhelp


@Fearlesslygeek


@Andrea Logan

 

[Iwana]

Marcos took a deep breath. The first thing he did was put as much distance between him and Aantum as possible - if he had any hope of not getting beaten up too much, then that hope lied on how well he sustained that distance. He had no chance in close combat and he couldn't use the element of surprise here.


He took an arrow out of his quiver and aimed, with his keen eyes carefully observing Aantum's movements. He couldn't miss a still target and moving ones weren't such a challenge either, but he knew Aantum would find a way to counterattack his infallible aim.


@Kylesar1

 

[Kylesar1]

"Hmm. You're taking too long to fire." Aantum threw another Smoke Bomb and drained another Detect Life and a Hercules Potion as his other 2 wore off. He moved to the side, near to the edge of the smoke, but still under thick cover. He summoned some daggers and threw them at him from the smoke. Driven by the Hercules Potion, the 3 flew at an insane speed, then he moved to the other outer edge. He had one more potion he could drink before his max.


He took one good look at how the elf held the bow. The perfect posture and that concentrated look. He obviously had great aim, but archer's biggest weakness was obscured vision. No amount of great aim will make you hit if you can't see.

 

[Iwana]

Marcos released the arrow but he could only make a rough guess of Aantum's position in the smoke. Three daggers flew to his direction with unbelievable speed and his reaction was mostly on reflex. He moved aside. He avoided one but the other two grazed him, at least one had gotten him good enough to require stitches if it weren't for Aantum's magic circle. Marcos pushed that thought out of his head and forced himself to think he was fighting someone with a real intention of killing him.


He couldn't imagine Aantum getting shot, really, but he also wondered if he should aim as if he were trying to kill the old man.


He aimed near the center of the area covered with smoke but didn't release the arrow. He waited for Aantum's next move, a bad habit developed after years of mostly standing at a reasonable distance and waiting for his targets to move, actively chasing after them only on rare occasions.

 

[Andrea Logan]

Caterina looked over at her sister and shook her head. "Usually if he goes off alone, that means he definitely doesn't want me to follow. But even though I worry, he always comes home safe.", she says. Caterina looks down at Lucy's baby hump and smiles. She couldn't believe she was going to have a nephew. Even though she was still quite young, she was going to be an aunt.


Jeremy huffed and sat down. "When its my turn I'll show these guys how to beat Pops. I've seen Pops fight plenty of times.", he said. Jeremy picked a piece of grass and twisted it around. He looked up to see Spiffy running off. He grinned and said to himself, "Where's the little weasel going now?" Jeremy whistled softly and Runny came flying up to his shoulder. "Go follow him and see where he is going.", he told Runny. Runny nodded and flew off.

 

[Fearlesslygeek]

"You seem quite confident in your abilities" Alice snorted at Jeremy's comment. After her embarrassing defeat, Alice wanted nothing more that to see Jeremy be humbled. She had always been a sore loser, but she felt that this guy was a little bit over confident "what are you going to do if Pops throws in a move that you've never seen before, and changes things up?"

 

[Kylesar1]

Aantum shook his head in disapproval. He should end this. He summoned the bow. He shot a huge flurry into the air, and another at Marcos. Disappearing the bow and summoning daggers pretty much simultaneously, he then threw a flurry of daggers driven by the Hercules Potion.


There's no way he's dodging all of that.


@Leuffteria

 

[Gabauchi]

You had to admit, Aantum was good. With a slew of weapons of various types, as well as potions for pretty much any situation, his versatility made him a veritable opponent. You were attempting to devise a plan, but all you had so far is that this battle would require you to be almost on full offense. You sat down, deep in thought, musing on your approach.

 

[Hunnyhelp]

"Mam' I am terribly sorry, perhaps you don't recognize me," he said, pulling back his hood. "I am neither young, nor man. And that huff puff over there is certainly not my Elder." He then stepped back and took a bow. "Of course it's fine if your don't recognize me, your advisers most likely put me on low profile and don't both your with our tribal borders to the Southern Sea." Although he tried his best he did not successfully hide his astonished and hurt face as he said this, it appeared that as time when on, more and more people forgot about the Elves living inside the Kingdom's own borders...


 
"And my Queen I understand your battle lust, I still feel it inside me today, and I know certainly my people feel it also. It has been such a terrible time for them, right after the Great Elven War, they were destroyed and absorbed into the Empire, further weaken and forced to make peace with our enemies, even forced into the ansetrial lands of other," he pauses and shutters at the terrible thought," beasts. The Mother Tree is the one that hold that magic that our people can call upon to defend ourselves from future threats, but sadly it has been poisoned," he said with a sigh. "As this man says he is the best for his 'world' then I fear I will be soon forced to travel to the Far West, to the High Elves to retrieve the potion."

 

[BloodThunder27]

Lucy smiled at her little sister. "If you say so." She was still cradling her ever-growing belly. Just one more month and she would be a Mother and she couldn't wait. She knew that Caterina was going to be an Aunt, hopefully she was looking forward to it. Of course, Alyson, her Mother was not looking forward to being a Grandmother, but overall, most of Lucy's Family was happy for her.


When the Man revealed himself to be an Elf, the Queen was astonished. It wasn't often she saw Elves, if she did, then they'd just be passing through and there wasn't very many of them around anyway. When he said that he could understand the battle lust and explained what his situation was, the Queen began to wonder. "Well, you don't have to go alone. It is better to fight with allies by your side. To me, the importance of an Ally's Survival is just as important as the demise of an enemy. You'll need all the help you can get. But I cannot really do anything until my Daughter has her baby."

 

[Iwana]

Marcos knew he couldn't dodge everything, but he wasn't willing to give up just yet. He ran as fast as he could and avoided several arrows and daggers. But not all of them. He couldn't see them from afar but once they were out of the smoke his eyes could easily catch up. Avoiding getting hit was the real problem. After dodging as many as he could he used his arm as a shield to block the rest. The leather under the long sleeves of his shirt didn't fully protect him but at least it lessened the force of the collision.


It still hurt and he gasped in pain when they dug into his skin. His arms were shaking when he lifted his bow but his archery skills weren't that lousy that some instability would prevent him from shooting two arrows on a row towards the smoke's direction. He crouched down and pulled the projectiles out of his arm, spilling blood on the ground.


@Kylesar1

 

[Kylesar1]

Looks like Marcos got it into his brain that Aantum had every intent to kill. Detect Life illuminated Marcos pointing in his direction in bow drawn posture. Detect Life didn't illuminate the bow or the arrows, but it was plainly obvious where Marcos was going to shoot, as the only logical place is where the arrows came out.


Aantum moved to the far opposite side of the smoke, sure he'd dodged the arrows. The smoke and the arm damage messed with his accuracy. He shot a bunch of arrows in the air and waited a moment until they started to come back down at Marcos, then threw a bunch of daggers. These were driven by the Hercules potion, then it wore off


Smoke Bombs with Detect Life was his greatest asset in battle, and not many people knew how to counter it. He had the definitive advantage. It was only a matter of time until Marcos fell. That Advanced Healing Ring wasn't activating until either he activated it or the wounds got lethal


It was a shame though that he'd have to tell them how to counter it though.


@Leuffteria

 

[Iwana]

Marcos would have dealt the next wave of projectiles using the same method but he was feeling too dazed to shoot another arrow. One of Aantum's arrows or daggers must have hit an artery on his arm because his entire shirt was stained red. He didn't drop his bow but he lost his balance and fell on his knees and due to that he avoided getting hit too much. An arrow and a dagger still stabbed on his arm though and he gritted his teeth to stop himself from making a sound.


He was certain he wouldn't be able to get on his feet after that. As much experience as he had with a bow, he couldn't do anything against someone with official training and who knows how many years of experience.

 

[Hunnyhelp]

"Of course my queen, I still have..." he started as he saw a fellow Elf get attacked by the man. He was quick to his feet and ran into the arrows quickly falling to the ground as the boy was saved. He gasped as the arrows pierced his chest, thankfully he was of Drucid, and soon magic began coursing through his veins healing the damage caused by the arrows. "Let the Elf go," he got through as he got up and slowly (and painfully) tore out the arrows, leaving holes in his skin, where the Golden Derpud (Elven Blood) leaked, before it was able to be healed. "No use of familiars, but let me use the only weapon I know of, let me use magic as you use it inside your bottles."

 

[Kylesar1]

Marcos fell, and didn't even try to get up. It was over. Aantum snapped his fingers, dissipating the smoke. Marcos looked horrible. He was already laying in a pool of blood. Marco's injury must've been lethal, because the Ring activated against his will, healing all his wounds. The blood and the heavy smell from said blood disappeared.


Sir Arrogance jumped into the arrows, taking a bunch of hits. He then spoke. Huh. So he did care about something. That mattered not though. Aantum spoke menacingly, with the authority that shook the entire army into shape. His army general was showing. "Too late, Arrogant Ass! You just took all those arrows for nothing. I wouldn't tell you not to use magic for no reason. I told you earlier: 1 fight with magic and 1 without magic. No one who refuses to cooperate is worth my time. These rules aren't up for negotiation. Period. My property, my sparring session, my magic circle, my rules. Either pay the fortune for that potion, or leave me the hell alone." He had zero time to waste with this elf. He gave 0 damns about how much authority this elf has, or his current situation. At the end of the day, he needed Aantum far more than Aantum needed him.


The only way he was changing his mind was if the Queen intervened.


He helped Marcos to his feet, Ignoring Sir Arrogance. "Your biggest weakness is not taking initiative. Archers don't have the luxury of standing there waiting for something to happen. If they get on the defensive, they'll lose a good 95% of the time. I don't know if you thought I wouldn't try to kill you, but I only fight with the intent to kill. If you end up on the defensive against me, you'll be dancing or dying. Your posture is perfect, so you must have great aim. Just shoot. I'm not an animal. Stop waiting 30 minutes to get the perfect shot, or you'll die." Marcos was a hunting archer, while he was a war archer, so he understood Marcos's flaws in battle. That doesn't excuse them though


"The solution was to shoot arrows into the air, so that they land in the smoke. That would've forced me out the smoke, putting me on the defensive, allowing you time to aim for an actual shot."


@Leuffteria


@Hunnyhelp

 

[Iwana]

Marcos nodded his head to let Aantum know he understood. As he processed the information inside his head he walked past the other elf "I don't understand why you would do such a foolish thing, but thanks anyways." he said, this time not bothering to sound more formal than he felt comfortable with.


@Kylesar1 @Hunnyhelp