Fantasy Time to Make a Change (Kapowne)

[Wandering Fae]

​

Zona watched as Alex began trying to track, seemingly bummed that he wasn't getting it right away. She blushed a little, flattered that he thought so highly of her experience but she wasn't sure if all of it was warranted, maybe she just wasn't used to having people around to praise her for things. She pointed to a tree with scratches on it left by blood beasts to mark their territory and walked up to it "It's fine, you'll get it." She said, placing her hand on his shoulder reassuringly, confident that her words were true and that he would get the hang of things eventually. She then started looking for more tracks and she could see some flower petals on the ground smooshed in the shape of prints that she pointed out to him just so he could get familiar with what he should look for when searching or, things to recognize to know they either are or have been in the area. Given how these flower petals seemingly fell almost constantly like light continuous snowfall. If she could still see the print on top of the petals then it means they had been there not too long ago.

"They were here recently it would seem. We should find them soon. Course there is a way to bring a blood beast to you if you don't want to go through the hassle of tracking them down. Blood beasts have that name for a reason, two reasons actually. The first being that they aren't...technically carnivores they're hematophages meaning they consume blood as a source of food. In simple terms they're vampiric. Of course, that won't stop them from trying to tear you apart to get to it. But I digress, the second reason is because they can smell blood from up to a quarter-mile away, the closer the blood is the stronger it smells to them, so you could use blood to draw them in." She explained "Of course this has drawbacks, for one depending on where you get the blood you kind of lose the element of surprise, I mean only if you're hardcore and use your own blood to draw them in. Then if they've already eaten their fill they might not even bother to show up, bringing me to the last drawback, having to wait for them to show up. That being said it's a completely valid option." She said seeing more tracks ahead and a few broken branches on the forest floor before showing them to him.

Kapowne

 

[Kapowne]

Alex Wasn’t too surprised by the various options available when hunting blood beasts. It made sense after all. He figured it was like fishing for sharks in the ocean. Either you went looking for them, or you brought them to you with some bloody meat. Since they didn’t have any bloody meat handy, that would either mean themselves... or just continue hunting normally. Obviously the latter made the most sense.


As Zona found more tracks, Alex followed close by, hunting for tracks as well. Now that he had seen a few examples of what to look for, suddenly they were everywhere. He could tell the tracks went in a southward direction, the direction they were already traveling. Alex’s heart was still racing, never slowing, though this time not from holding hands with Zona, but rather the thrill of the hunt. He gripped his right hand into a fist as he realized he was actually excited to find those damn beasts. He knew he would have to kill them when he found them, but that didn’t really bother him. They had almost killed him before, and out here, it was kill or be killed. Back home, or here, it was survival of the fittest.

Luckily they didn’t have to walk for long, before Alex heard the distinct sound of blood beasts. The same sound he had heard the day before. But one day was all the difference he needed. He was ready! This time he would be the hunter...


Another howl to the right, another to the left. Perhaps the blood beasts had sniffed them out? Alex didn’t think too much on it though, as he slid the large gunblade off his back, holding it firmly in two hands. He’d givin it a good couple heaves last night before bed. Familiarizing himself with the weight, and the functions of the weapon. Just above the handle sat the six chamber revolver, slotted currently with six standard bullets. A long barrel traveled up the length of the broadside of the blade. And just above his right finger tips sat the small, yet heavy trigger. With his weapon at the ready, he waited for the first sign of blood beasts.

Wandering Fae

 

[Wandering Fae]

​

Zona could hear the blood beasts approaching, they would be upon them soon. Alex seemed to be at the ready. As she summoned Bellatrix as well as her now. She wanted to give him a chance to face them on his own, but that didn't mean she wouldn't be there to support him or back him up if he needed it.

"I'm going up the tree, but I'll be right here if you need me. Just try to keep track of your surroundings and make every hit count." She said, gently placing her hand on the bicep of his arm and smiled at him before letting go and warping up into a nearby tree with Bellatrix at her side.

"Bella, just heal him for me if he needs it, okay?" She said, feeling a little anxious to which Bellatrix simply bowed politely.

"I'll see to it that he isn't harmed too badly." She said "But wouldn't using Cursa be more advantageous in this situation? She could imbue his weapon with magic, blood beasts are weakest to the element of ice after all. " She said.

"He'll be fine, his sword and shotgun rounds will work just fine, besides I can't do everything for him. If we're going to survive out here together then...I have to let him learn how to handle himself. I am here for guidance and support...to the best of my ability." She said though she had to admit part of her just wanted to shoot them all down before they got anywhere near him. She wasn't sure why, of course, she didn't want him to get hurt, she didn't want anyone to get hurt but there was something different about this feeling, she felt...protective of him.

She held her now at the ready as the blood beasts started to close in, circling around their perceived prey. Zona nodded to Bellatrix who nodded in kind and cast a protection spell over Alex to increase his magical and physical defense. It was at this moment that one of the blood beasts stepped forward, slowly stalking towards Alex as the other started to close in from around him, it was a simple tactic, keep they prey's eyes on the one before him so he won't notice the others planning to rip him apart behind.

Zona then uses her links to contact Alex discretely without having to yell and alert the beasts to her position. "He's trying to distract you from the others, he'll attack if he gets and opening but he's just a decoy." She said.

Kapowne

 

[Kapowne]

Alex smirked as Zona’s soft whispering voice chimes into his ear through his earpiece. He’d known the two were coming up behind him, he wanted them to think they had the advantage.


“I’ve been in my fair share of fights, you know!” Alex said aloud as one of the blood beasts lunged from behind. The fight was on!


Alex rolled to the side, the blood beast chomping down on air and wisteria peddles as he reared his gunblade upward followed by a downward chop with all his might. The attack had been clunky to say the least, but effective. The blade cut into the beast with a sickening thud, almost bisecting the beast down the middle. Alex was surprised how easy it had been to make the attack. Perhaps it was all the fights and beatings he’d given other kids back home... he didn’t have time to think about it as the help from the dying beast caused the other two to lung forward, fangs barred.


Alex attempted to get out of the way, but his blade was stuck in the now dead blood beast! “Fucking-“ Alex started to say, reaching his left arm up to block the blood beast behind him. The jaws clamped right on his left forearm, but didn’t hurt. Between his armor and the shield Bella had put on him, he was fine, for now. A second bite landed on his right leg. The beast clenching it between its sharp teeth, drawing a small amount of blood, it twisted trying to take him off his feet.


With one final wrench of his blade he finally got the blade loose, pointing the tip of the blade at the head of the blood beast to his right, he pulled the trigger. A blast of gunpowder fired from his blade. The shot at point blank range was more than enough to kill the beast, however the awkward angle mixed with the fact Alex had never actually fired a gun before, the shot only grazed the beasts head. Now one ear less and a whole lot of blood later, the blood beast released his leg and jumped back, which gave Alex the time he needed to throw his left arm backwards, flinging the other mangy beast from him.


“Lets go!” Alex yelled as he brandished his weapon again, ready to finish off what he’d started with the wounded, bloody, blood beast.

Wandering Fae

 

[Wandering Fae]

​

"Oh, r-right then, I'll leave you to it. Uh, good luck out there." Zona blushed, feeling a little embarrassed, she figured she might have been worrying too much and being slightly overprotective of him. She just...really didn't want him to get hurt or for something bad to happen to him. She wasn't sure why she felt so strongly about that. Was it because he was technically under her protection? No, it wasn't that type of feeling, not one where she was simply worried about failing.

Bellatrix laughed a little like she knew something she didn't and she raised an eyebrow at the fairy before turning her attention back to the fight. He was actually doing pretty good, he wasn't an expert, but still. She actually squealed a little albeit quietly in excitement when he cut the first one down. Making Bellatrix laugh once again as if she were in on some joke she didn't know about.

"What?...it was an effective counter," Zona said, turning her attention back to the fight, a slight blush still on her face.

"Indeed it was," Bellatrix said with a smirk on her face as if she were privileged to some grand secret.

Zona became slightly worried when the two blood beasts got a hold of him, but his armor and the protection spell Bellatrix had cast on him seemed to be holding up pretty well. He wasn't panicking which was good. Still, she had the two locked in her sights and was ready to shoot them down if she had to. Itching to just lose the arrows upon them, Bellatrix puts her hands up, catching her attention.

"Hold on, now, he's not in danger yet, just give him a chance to recover," She said in an almost calming and reassuring manner.

Zona didn't know why, but she felt...embarrassed after she said this, but she stayed her hand and watched as he managed to get his sword free and get a shot off on one of the beasts, he didn't get a clear shot off but it was enough to get himself free of it and make it back off and so he could get the other off by tossing it as well. This made her smile, she wasn't exactly sure why they weren't spectacular moves or overly impressive, good for his first time, yes but it just felt nice watching him do good.

Meanwhile, the wounded blood beasts prepared to attack him, apparently, a missing ear wasn't enough to scare it away and they still liked their chances of catching their prey, but they seemed to be but wearier, stalking around him the more healthy of the two was looking for an opening, slowly creeping its way closer. while the injured one attempted to keep his attention looking for his own opening.

Seeing how there were 3 of them it made her think back to when she met Alex and that there were 3 blood beasts left out of the lack of five that attacked him yesterday. Could these be the same beasts? Did they recognize him? In spite of the fact that she was the one who killed the two from yesterday and injured the remaining 3 could they have been mad at him for simply being present? Did beasts even hold grudges or were they simply not in the habit of letting prey escape twice? Perhaps the felt sense she wasn't around they could get him now...then again she might have been thinking way too deeply about the thought process of a monster. Most likely they'd we're just hungry or defending territory. No need to overthink it.

Kapowne

 

[Kapowne]

One again he blood beasts tried the same tactic, despite the fact that it had gone so poorly the first time around. He assumed the earless one before him must be the alpha or something, because it always put itself directly before its enemy as a decoy, while he others attacked from behind. Likely an excellent tactic against primitive beasts. Alex may not be the smartest guy around, but he wasn’t stupid. This time he took the offensive first.


Alex leapt forward, the wounded blood beast snarling loudly as it prepared a counter attack, seemingly forgetting that steel bears teeth. With a right diagonal slash Alex caught the blood beast between the teeth. His blade severing the beasts lower jaw clean off. Alex spun with the momentum, knowing the blood beast would take the opportunity to attack him now. Sure enough the blood beast was already midair teeth and claws barred for bloodletting. Alex was the faster though, his gunblade slamming into the side of the neck of the beast, killing it instantly.


Alex slid the weapon free from the blood beast and turned back to the still writing beast on the ground behind him. It was fatally wounded, and looked to be in excruciating pain. Alex felt a familiar pang inside of him, the excitement of seeing an opponent in such a pathetic state, of seeing someone he dominated so completely. He felt a wicked smile creep over his face as he approached the blood beast... perhaps he’d have some fun with it before he killed it? The wicked thought crept through his mind, followed by others even more dark.


As he knelt by the beast though, he caught it’s eye, pleading and weak. Alex could practically feel the pain in its eyes. Something about the beasts pain quickly brought clarity to him, this had been a battle of wills, a battle of experience. This beast had done everything it could to kill him, and he in turn did everything he could to kill it. Alex rested a hand on its wounded head, his stomach feeling sick with guilt now. Ashamed that he’d had such dark inclinations before.


“I’m sorry. I will end this pain for you.” Alex whispered to he beast, tearing up his blade once last time before bringing it down in the pitiful monster. “Thank you for this experience.” Alex added, staining up and wiping the blood from his blade before turning back to Zona.


“Hey! You gonna come down here and congratulate me in my first completed mission or what?!” He yelled out, a wide smile across his face.

Wandering Fae

 

[Wandering Fae]

​

Zona continued to watch the fight play out, pleased that he was doing so well and that she had taken Bellatrix's advice to allow him to recover. He seemed very pleased and a lot more confident than he was when they started and he couldn't find any tracks.

As the last blood beast lay dying, she watched curiously as Alex slowly approached it, from the angle she was sitting she couldn't see the wicked smile that was temporarily sprawled across his face.

"A completely legitimate counter, wouldn't you say?" Bellatrix said, grabbing her attention away from him for a moment to look at the fairy, a confident smile on her face as that was somehow calming and smug all at the same time as if to say 'see? I told you, he's fine.' Making the young selkie blush a little when she heard his voice calling out to her from the ground.

"Yes...indeed it was." She replied back to Bellatrix, clearing her throat a bit nervously, feeling like she had been caught doing something. Thing is, she had no idea what she had been caught doing yet had the strange and distinct feeling that Bellatrix somehow did.

She took a deep breath calming herself a bit, regaining her composure before jumping down from the tree and walking up to Alex, a smile on her face, clearly very proud of him and gave him a congratulatory hug, wrapping her arms around him and looking up at the human boy happily. "Congratulations on completing your first mission, you did pretty well. You didn't require assistance or a single heal." She said. In spite of this Bellatrix did take the liberty of using a basic healing spell to heal the bit of damage he did receive from the previous battle.

"So, where shall you two be going next?" Bellatrix asked, hovering in the air next to them.

"Well, that's up to Alex," Zona said. It was his first day and she wanted him to be able to choose how he went about it and give him some control over his life. He was in a very strange situation, being dropped in a place he knew nothing about and she felt...no she knew that feeling some control would be very helpful in the long run. After all, she too was familiar with the feeling of not having control, it was a very big part of why she was an adventurer. "So, what's next? Sylph Tails or Mesmers?" Zona asked looking up at him, not realizing she hadn't quite let him go yet as she was looking up at him, waiting for his answer.

Kapowne

 

[Kapowne]

Alex took a second to catch his breath before considering Zona’s question. Pulling a rag from his bag, he wiped his still partially rusted blade clean if the beasts blood.once that task was complete he returns the blade to its hook that lay waiting on his back.

“Well, I suppose it should depend on what pays better right?” He replied, pulling out his phone in order to check the listings again. “Looks like mesmers pay a bit better, so we should take care of them.” He replied, perhaps feeling a bit over confident now. He knew of course it had been a sloppy hunt, but he’d survived and that’s what counted. “You said you thought mesmers were easier anyway right? So it’s probably best to go with them.” He added, trying to humble himself a bit.



“What do you think we should do? You are the expert here after all.” Alex winked over at the younger adventurer.

Wandering Fae

 

[Wandering Fae]

​

Zona let him go and listened to what he had to say, again feeling flattered that he put so much stock into her opinion and experience even though it was his choice. When he asked her what she thought they should do, she nodded "Mesmers sounds like a good idea to me, but I'll warn you, they're a bit tougher than Blood Beasts in the sense that they're bigger, heavier and have armored skin whereas blood beasts are faster and have more slashing and of course claws and fangs to hold onto and tear apart their prey." She said before pulling out her phone to find them in the bestiary to show him what their tracks looked like. "Now, let's see if you can track a little better now." She said, gently and playfully hooking her insect finger around his for a brief moment to guide him in the direction of where Mesmers had been sighted and started off into that direction.

They were off to a great start. Who knew, if things kept going well they might even have the car paid off today and be able to start working on making some credits for themselves. "Ah, that reminds me, I need to get those reserve tanks filled too," She said aloud, snapping her fingers as if she had just remembered, it seemed to be more of a rhetorical thought, just a mental note, being that the frontier was mostly uncharted rest stops weren't always close by so it was a good idea to carry around extra fuel. She started to wonder if she should buy more tanks, she currently had 2. Maybe when they made it go Lyra she could buy reserve tanks that held more fuel and look into an upgrade for the car.

Kapowne

 

[Kapowne]

As Alex and Zona traveled to their next destination, which according to the hunter listing, was west of their current location, in a large open glade beside a small rocky mountain. Heavily armored and horned.... they sure sounded more difficult than the blood beasts, though that might just be because there had only been three blood beasts.


“Since these guys are a bit tough, I’m assuming we’re going to have to work together this time?” Alex asked, deciding thy might as well try to think of some kind of strategy.


Back home whenever he got into fights, he would just overwhelm and overpower anyone who got in his way, but here... well, things seemed a bit more complicated. with Zona’s help this would probably be fairly easy, but he still needed to improve his fighting style, and he already had a couple ideas on how to do that.


“You shoot magic from a distance right? So I guess I should go in and grab their attention right? Make sure they are good and still for you to take out.” Alex considered aloud, not wanting to leave all of the work for Zona. He had to do his fair share, and since eh already owed her so much, he had quite a bitch of catch up to do. “Don’t worry, I won’t let a single one lay a... hoof? A horn? Anything On you!” Alex added with a confident smirk, perhaps trying a bit too hard to make her laugh.

Wandering Fae

 

[Wandering Fae]

​

"I Suppose working together would be a better plan for this and you're not really equipped for long-range combat yet so...I guess that plan works." She said, laughing a little at his corny joke, not really because it was funny but it was...cute that he tried. It was in that category of being so cute it was actually kind of funny.

"My hero." She said patting his back in both a joking and appreciative manner and summoned Cursa. The protection spell Bellatrix cast would last 30 minutes but it was a very basic defense spell and Mesmers hit harder so she was aware she might need to step up her game for him.

"So the plan is, for you to grab their attention, while I take them out from a distance. I'm going to ask that you try your best not to get hit so Cursa and Bella will help you out as best they can since I won't be up close they don't really need to worry about me as much." Zona said. "So before you go, I'm going to need that boost Cursa." She said summoning her now.

Cursa smiled, stretching as she interlocked her fingers, cracking her knuckles before she cast 3 spells. The first was an enhancement spell that increased attack and movement speed that came in the form of a faint white aura, the next was a spell that improved attack power represented by a red aura. Lastly, she enchanted her boy with a fire affinity, the bow was covered in a burning red aura, flowing in a way that it seems as though it had been freshly forged in fire. She then repeated the same spells on Alex and his weapon as well.

"Okay, Bella and I will stay back here, you'll still be in range of her magic so, if you need healing or protection she can still give it. You, however, are going with Alex, Cursa." Zona said looking up at the obviously confident little fairy.

"Very well, as long as I get to play too," Cursa said, lying atop his head until they were ready to go.

Bellatrix simply sighs, shaking her head and casts a barrier spell, for a moment a sphere of magic could be seen around him that quickly disappeared. It would block a fair amount of damage if there was a number it would be about 18% with the added effect of reflecting damage back into the attacker once the barrier was gone as a final defense.

Zona looked towards Alex to give him one last piece of advice before they started. "Just a tip, you don't have to hit them directly, just strike the fairy dust. So...do you have any other ideas, you'd like to go over before we start?" She asked, looking up at him. She had this feeling, she felt, nervous, yet excited this would be the first time they actually worked together.

Kapowne

 

[Kapowne]

Alex looked back at Zona inquisitively, trying to figure out what she meant by ‘fairy dust’ knowing she’d probably explained cursa’s abilities last night, in fact he knew she had... but he’d gotten a lot of information in the last day. From what he could remember, cursa was something like a... damage assistant? Alex couldn’t remember the exact name she had used. But from what he understood, she helped Zona do more damage to her enemies. Perhaps the idea behind the fairy dust was something like that? “strike at the fairy dust? What do you mean?” He asked, deciding that A refresher wasn’t a terrible idea. He also took the opportunity to start getting ready. Blade in hand, replaced the rounds he had spent in the last battle. He had a feeling he was going to use more of them this time, considering he’d come up with a few ideas from the last battle.

Wandering Fae

 

[Wandering Fae]

​

"Well, I don't know if you could see but when we met, Cursa made clouds of fairy dust that looked like swarms of red butterflies. That's what I'm talking about if you see a swarm of butterflies just swing your sword into it. Her fairy dust has different abilities so it won't always be blast dust, but simply put striking the first dust causes a chain reaction and will cause an area affecting attack on enemies caught inside so you don't necessarily have to risk hitting the mesmers directly...okay?" Zona said, making sure he understood what she meant this time and started to get ready herself, making sure her links were still active so she could stay in touch with him and taking note of the types of arrows sbbe was able to buy the day before thinking on rather or not she needed them or not. "I'll try to make sure they don't cause you...too much trouble." not said giving him a sweet smile and a small laugh. Cursa raised an eyebrow at this and looked to Bellatrix who simply gave a knowing smile as if to say 'what are you going to do,?' to which Cursa gave a mischievous smile and an equally knowing giggle.

Kapowne

 

[Kapowne]

Alex nodded at the explanation, he’d be lying if he said he totally understood the concept at play here. But Zona and cursa seemed fairly confident in the idea, so he decided it would likely be okay. With the plan hatched, alex’s weapon reloaded and ready for a fight, it was time to do just that.


“Alright, time to get to work, get off your lazy ass and show us what you got!” Alex lightly swatted cursa off his head and gave her a mischievous smile, to which she returned, followed by sticking out her tongue at him.


Alex started to turn towards the small herd of mesmers plodding in the distance, but stopped in his tracks. “Hey... be... uh.... be safe alright?” He added awkwardly. His face a light shade of red, which he tried to hide by angling his face upward and away from her shorter stature.


With his message given, he cleared his throat and turned back to the battle at hand, running off almost at a full sprint. ‘Be safe? What are you a moron? She’s been doing this solo waaay longer than you... and you have the gal to tell her to be safe??’ Alex quietly chastised himself as he ran over.


The mesmers quickly understood what was going on, and began to threateningly stamp their feet and swing their massive horned heads. Warning him to stay away. “I’m not going anyway you ugly unicorn!” Alex shouted as he pointed his gunblade at the ground behind him and slammed his trigger. The recoil from he shot gave him a surprising little boost as he timed it with a jump into the air. The closest Mesmer had not been expecting that at all. Alex continued the momentum of the recoil as he swung his blade up and then back down into the neck area of the mesmer. Alex was surprised even more though by the fact that his attack had barely left a scratch on the armored beast.


“Holy shit! Zona wasn’t kidding about the armor!” Alex groaned as he prepared his weapon for a return attack, though he found that the other four mesmers were already in position surrounding him. ‘Well at least the plan is working so far... they are definitely interested in me..’ Alex thought as he slowly turned about within the circle, waiting for cursa’s fairy dust or one of the mesmers to attack.

Wandering Fae

 

[Wandering Fae]

​

Zona looks up at him blushing a bit herself although she couldn't see it because of how he was angled and he probably didn't notice hers either. "Uh, thanks...you too." She said as he began to run off.

He did well enough he surely got their attention that was for sure, as they surrounded him Cursa quickly flew around him and the Mesmers leaving behind swarms of pale slowly blue butterflies, cold mist falling from their fluttering wings. This was the fairy dust, ice dust to be more specific, all he had to do was cut his blade through the dust and it would cause chain reaction that would frost over the mesmers, slowing their movements and weakening their armor, making them much easier to kill.

Meanwhile, Zona stood ready, watching as she drew her bow and prepared a spell for the right moment. Very tempted to fire upon the beasts now as they surrounded Alex. However, she took a deep breath, calmed herself down and stayed her hand. They were partners in this, even if she was showing him the ropes, she had to trust him to do his part without panicking. She drew back her bow, creating an arrow of burning fire but she did not shoot it, merely let it sit and charge, around this arrow we're magical glyphs and symbols coiling around it. The spell was ready, all she needed was her shot.

Kapowne

 

[Kapowne]

Surrounded, cursa wasted no time to leave her fairy dust behind her as she flew around the entirety of the circle. Alex though, was surprised by how tall these mesmers were, which meant Cursa had to leave the fairy dust fairly high up as well. Alex was keeping his guard up as he tried to think of a way to get up there to slash it. The icy mist that drizzled down was cool and refreshing though, and made it easier for him not to panic. Cursa really was nice to have around.


Alex saw his opportunity as one of the mesmers dashed forward, head low and horn posed to slam him in the chest. Alex had a Better idea though, spinning around to face the beast, he pressed a foot firmly onto its horn, using the monsters momentum against it, leaping upward above its head, above the whole small herd. The whole world spun around Alex as he clumsily tried to slash at the fairy dust, barely managing to cut through it as he landed square on his rear end.


The chain reaction was much more intense than he’d expected though, small explosions of ice and snowflakes going off in a circle around him. The mesmers wining loudly and bucking about as their natural armor was frozen, the extreme and sudden cold doing some damage itself.


Leaping back to his feat, Alex quickly attacked the mesmer who he had already tried to cut. This time he fired a round just as he made contact. The impact was astounding, the beasts armor cracked and bled exponentially, but the subsequent recoil was more than Alex had expected as well, spinning him around placing his back towards the heavily wounded Mesmer.

Wandering Fae

 

[Wandering Fae]

​

Zona stood at the ready fairly impressed with Alex's quick thinking and creative maneuvers, he was still pretty clumsy but her was learning and improving at a pretty good rate. Seeing that the chain reaction had been triggered and the mesmers were startled by the ice explosions trying to adjust to their new icey temperatures, shivering and finding it hard to move with their joints frosted over. It also seemed that their armor had weakened, just as planned. The time to stroke was now.

Locking onto the mesmers surrounding Alex, she released the flaming arrow into the sky only for the arrow to split and turn into several spiraling arrow-like flames that rained down upon them piercing their now weakened armor in order to strike them down or at least severely injure them. At the same time Cursa flew another perimeter around the mesmers leaving behind the familiar red butterflies from the first time he met her, this was blast dust, not to be confused with fire dust that was slightly different. The chain reaction from this dust would cause a heavy impact explosion that would cause the mesmers to stagger as well as causing a decent amount of damage. If they weren't dead after Zona's spell they surely would be after the next chain reaction if Alex could trigger it.

Kapowne

 

[Kapowne]

Alex was pleasantly surprised to see fire raining down from above, fire that he knew had to be Zona’s. Mesmers cried out in pain as they were either killed almost instantly, or so severely wounded that they could hardly move. It was time to clean up house, and cursa’s new red fairy dust signaled the end.


This time Alex knew exactly what to do. With his plade pointed to the ground he jumped as high as he could, firing his first shot as he reached his apex, giving him a a double jump of sorts, and used that recoil to spin his upper body forward into a somersault, bringing his weapon downwards through the blast dust, igniting it into a chain reaction of explosions. Alex spun towards two full rotations more, the world turning incoherently as it did, making him realize this was likely a reckless maneuver... effective... but reckless...


With a loud crash, Alex landed face first into the hard ground, to which he quickly sat up, happy for the barrier that Bella had cast on him, but more importantly searching to see if Zona had seen his less than cool, faceplant. He quickly met her eyes in the distance, but hoped she hadn’t seen. The corpses of the mesmers were still pretty big after all....


“Hey! Good shooting!” He yelled out to her, rubbing a small bruise on his forehead, though it did little for his bruised ego.


Wandering Fae

 

[Wandering Fae]

​

Zona, in fact, did see him face plant and winced when he made impact almost as if she could feel it, but figured it might be embarrassing for her to say she actually saw it so she pretended not to and just waved to him and shouted to her. "Thanks, you did great out there!" She shouted back and started to walk towards him, taking out her phone wand confirming the job had been done and the pickup crew could come out and collect the bodies as they needed Mesmers for meat. She marked the location on the map for them so they could find it, it would take them long to come and collect what they needed.

"Well, you seemed to be learning pretty quick, those were some pretty nice moves out there, a little reckless but still...looking pretty good out there." She said with a smile. She brushed her hair back a little trying her best not to blush as she realized how that might have sounded as Bella once again healed any damage that he may have sustained during battle, being a firm believer that if one can go into a fight at 100% then why not?

"So...I guess, the only ones left on the list are the Sylph Tails, so I guess we can take care of them and then...break for lunch?" She said, almost asking in a way. "Unless you'd like to eat now, we've been making, great time today, there's not exactly a rush." She said as Bellatrix and Cursa watched on in amusement and awe that the complex and fascinating spectacle that was the mortal courtship process.

Kapowne

 

[Kapowne]

Alex checked his phone for the time, 1115am. Pretty close to lunch time. “Yeah, let’s find a cool spot to hang out and rest for a bit. Maybe we should climb up that mountain a bit for a nice view while we eat? Like.... diner and a show?” Alex chucked, not really sure why he felt like trying so hard with Zona, but rather than continue honking about it, he took her hand in his and lead the way towards the small, dry, Rocky Mountain. He couldn’t feel the softness of her hand as thy walked due to his gloves, but he tried not to think about it too much, since he could tell he was blushing as he did... The gravel and rocks groaned and slid beneath their feet as they traveled, but they made quick work of the walk.


After only a short while they reached a decent vantage point, a large plane of grass with the forest of wisteria trees in the distance. He sun was directly overhead now, revealing all the splendor and beauty the world had to offer.


“Tell you what. We don’t have any views like this back home...” he said aloud as he sat down, his feet once again hanging off the edge of the small perch they were on. Another smaller herd of Mesmer galloped through the plane, clearly making a wide berth of them and their mountain. The warmth of the sun felt good, and Alex couldn’t help but lay back and close his eyes and just bask in it. “Have to admit, this place is pretty nice.”


Wandering Fae

 

[Wandering Fae]

​

Zona could feel herself blushing when he took her hand, thankfully he wasn't looking back as he lead her to the small rocky mountain to have lunch. She put away her bow and walked with him until they made it to their venue, getting a good view of the forest from where they sat.

She smiled watching Alex lay back and relax, basking in the sun as he enjoyed their break, noting how nice it was out there. She nodded though he couldn't possibly see her with his eyes closed. "It is...pretty beautiful out here. I can see why they want to settle, it'd be a nice place to live...once it's safer that is." She said and reached into her bag pulling out the lunch she had bought them at the diner before they left after breakfast. Two meat pies about the size of a sandwich in the shape of a large hot pocket and some fries. She took out her mask flask, this one seemed to have a reddish-orange color that seemed to glow, the element within was clearly fire. She merely opened the flash and gently blew on it, near the food and it warmed the food back up, it wasn't hot, but it was warm. She then twisted the flask back shut and pulled out two bottles of something to drink that said pixieberry apple juice and kupoberry lemonade. She then cut the meat pies in half and lunch was finally served.

"So, I didn't know what you'd like so I got us meat pies. They both have Dual Horn steak in them but that one also has Leukorn steak, while this one has Garulessa steak in it." She said, placing the two bottles next to the plate, allowing him to decide which drink he wanted when she realized he probably had no idea what she was talking about and laughed a little feeling embarrassed because he likely had never seen or heard of those creatures. "And...they don't have those in California either...do they?"

Kapowne

 

[Kapowne]

Alex laughed as Zona realized he had no idea the kind of meats she was talking about. “No, we sure don’t. But that’s okay. I’ll try anything once.” He said as he picked up the meat pastry. It was crisp and tasted very good. The meat was tender, and the gravy that filled inside was delicious. “I might even try anything more than once if it’s all this good!” He added as he quickly devoured the whole thing.


“So people want to live out here Huh? I didn’t realize that’s why adventurers had jobs.” Alex said as he watched the shadow of a rather large beast slowly walk within the forest. In the back of his mind he wondered what it could be. “So our job is to make things a little more peaceful around here so people can build houses and stuff then?” It seemed like easy enough work, but things could probably get pretty dangerous, especially alone. If he hadn’t had Zona and cursa in that last fight, he definitely would not have fared so well.

Wandering Fae

 

[Wandering Fae]

​

"Well, that among other things but that's the main reason, the kingdoms are...safe and luxurious but they can only hold so many people before it gets kind of cramped so they persuaded people to settle uncharted lands. Thing is I think that's the initial reason people come out here because they feel like they need to like there's no other choice. Then they get out here and see how amazing everything is and decide that maybe...they want to be out here and that it's worth the risk to be here." She said taking some fries and ate them, looking out over the forest, watching the creatures roam by, she thought she could see a lake somewhere out there, a shimmering pool of blue out amongst the trees. " Safety is practical, but it sure is boring." She said as if she were quoting someone and laughed.

She smiled, laughing a little as Alex completely devoured the meat pie half he had, seemingly enjoying it very much, but she couldn't really blame him, adventuring did tend to build up one's appetite and meat pies were delicious "I guess that's another bonus to all of this, you get to try some pretty good food and since they're discovering new monsters and plants all the time, they can make new stuff people have never even tasted before. You could eat a thousand meals and probably never eat the same thing twice...not unless you wanted to anyway." She said continuing to eat more of her meat pie, she didn't quite wolf hers down, but she supposed he had been more active than her today, but still, she did eat her half of the Leukorn meat pie at a decent pace, the dual horn made a great pairing and the few veggies they did have inside didn't ruin the flavor at all, it just kind of complimented everything and enhanced the flavor.

Kapowne

 

[Kapowne]

“You know, that’s not a bad idea. No better way to get used to this place than to just eat everything and explore everywhere!” Alex replied, feeling a burning sense of adventure. Everything here was so magical, and so new, he wondered if he would still feel this way in a month, or a year? For some reason the idea of being here for a year didn’t disappoint him all that much. Sure, he still wanted to get home, but he didn’t have any leads as of now, so the best he could do was just keep at it!


Alex and Zona continued to chat for an hour or so, before they decided that it was time to get back to work, they did have to finish their work and get back to the save zone before dark after all. Alex took a moment to re familiarize himself with sylph. According to his bestiary they were air spirits who were commonly rather peaceful, though they could get rather mischievous around humans. Their tails, which consisted of log feathers that sprouted from their backside, where quite valuable for alchemy potions. Giving magical resistance, haste, and other various properties. Alex felt weird about killing something that didn’t harbor any actual ill will towards him, but a job was a job and if they didn’t do it, someone else would.


“So Zona, you ever fought any Sylph? The bestiary says they can be tricky and hard to catch. Though with your bow, I’m sure that isn’t a big deal.” Alex asked, somewhat answering his own question.


Wandering Fae

 

[Wandering Fae]

​

Lunch was nice, and the view surely didn't hurt the experience. She could literally spend hours talking to him and never get bored, even if they weren't really talking about anything significant 100% of the time. Though it's not like they couldn't, California seemed like an entirely different world from Avalon, hell the way everything seemed so new to Alex, if she didn't know any better she'd totally believe it was. She wasn't sure why she felt like this lately, but she just really enjoyed being around him?

As Zona put their stuff away, she listened to what was being said and looked at Alex a bit confused and laughed a little when she realized what had happened, but she tried not to laugh. "I mean I have but I tend not to take those missions cause...I don't like hurting them and usually, I just try to knock some feathers off that's all the listers really want and their tails will grow back anyway, but...not everyone feels the same way." She said, seeming kind of sad about it "But, I think you may have misheard me. I said Sylph Tails, they're these big bugs, with slightly armored shells, nowhere near as strong as a Mesmer's skin but still, they have eight legs with claws at the end of them, eights eyes, 3 rows Alf sharp teeth with pinchers and a venomous stinger at the end of their long long tails...they also spit webs...which is why I hate them, they're…and yes that includes demons. They are literally Umbra's minions." She said clearly exaggerating, but she clearly was not fond of them either. "They call them sylph tails because their tails and pitchers are the same color as sylphs or so the story goes. Truth is when you discover a new monster, you get to name it and those names don't always make sense…like...puddings...I mean I guess they're both soft but one is a poisonous slime demon and the other is delicious." She said and walked up to him to take a look at his phone "Why do they have a listing for sylphs out here?" She asked curiously, wondering if he had simply misheard her and went straight to the bestiary or if he actually found a listing for it.

Kapowne