Tomoe had to admit to a degree of fear when he was suddenly teleported out of nowhere. He had gone from feeling safe to a state of fight or flight in an instant, his entire world turned upside down. He had to think at this point that teleportation was an evil thing, especially when inflicted upon somebody against their will. It was a lucky thing that the Joyan had brought all his gear with him for the adventure, his pride as a swordsman not allowing him to be anything less than his best. He quickly felt the handle of the sword sheathed on his back - just where he'd left it, thankfully. An unknown, unremarkable sword. Tomoe didn't yet know its true power, but was thus all the more excited to put it to use.

Before that, he caught sight of his comrades in his peripherals. At the same time, there were monsters in the room with them, with one among them spotting the group immediately. Overwhelming heat was blasting all throughout the room, feeling fit to almost sear off the flesh.

"Where are we, a goddamn volcano- oh.", Tomoe muttered and then cut himself off, realizing that the scenery did very much reflect that of an actual volcano.

Tomoe closed in towards his allies while keeping mindful of the fact that lava was slowly rising towards them, kobold warriors were being deployed and heading their way, and kobold mages were preparing casting motions and incantations. Tomoe would make it about halfway to his fellow guild members before being stopped by a scorching fireball that he only narrowly avoided with a lunge to the side.

"Ugh! What a day.", Tomoe spoke aloud in bewilderment, gritting his teeth and trusting that the other three would be alright without him - Aegis was over there, after all.

---

WC: 303/2,000

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Equipment:

Mana/Spells:

Ultimately, all of these weren't planned at all, but Masami had apparently prepared his attire for supposedly today's quest, only to find himself teleported somewhere else that wasn't anything like the previous venue he was in. Like a doll, he zoomed through the area's premises without any expression, too startled to even give himself a moment to panic. In this place, Masami's warm upper clothing perhaps may not help, it cannot get any warmer than this. Apparently, he was with familiar faces and made him more comfortable in terms of being calm. "Good evening." he greeted, assuming that this will at least make others feel like this was normal, so that they would not panic just in case. Masami himself didn't want to panic either, being too focused over his own self-sustaining personality that he couldn't put into words what was inputted upon his vision regards the location they are in. Two of these familiar faces had Masami felt quite safe, the lich... not exactly; the boy stared at the creature, still in disbelief that such creature truly did 'exist' and was inside the guild this whole time, thinking about how it was possible for something like that to exist in Fiore (or at least, outside of Joya). Being the opposite of gullible, in a bad way, he suddenly remembered all of the rumors regards the lich and that there was no time to be hypocritical at the moment. Sooner or later, lava would envelop upon their bodies, and Masami didn't want to see their vessels being consumed by the magma. He continued to stare at the lich, however, and cannot seem to move his sight away from the creature despite not saying anything else but the vague greeting, still trying to be a bit formal about the situation, but then the boy's jaw dropped in awe over the giant skeleton, brushing all of that formality away. Oh well, we'll start trying to survive in the next few moments.

Masami's Statistics:

The only female and only non-mage of the group had been teleported so abruptly from her previous location that she actually managed to throw up upon arrival. It was a combination of the sudden motion that was teleportation and the sudden heat she found herself in. She stood hunched over, hands on her knees as she lost a quarter of her stomach contents. As she lifted her gaze she was horrified to realize she was somehow in a volcano. The first thing she noticed was the kobolds in the distance preparing to attack.

Standing upright, her right hand instantly moved to her left, fondling her ring finger. Good. She hadn't dropped it during her little arrival landing. She instantly activated her Pocket Dimension Ring's magic and was quickly clad in her equipment. Bow in hand, she looked around and spotted her teammates. At least she wasn't alone in this place. Still, she was sweating instantly from the heat that engulfed them. She promptly reached up to tie her long brown hair into a ponytail, to keep it off her skin. That should help, a little.

The first person she spotted was Masami, who was right next to her. The boy smelled terrified but spoke calmly. As he greeted everyone so casually, Rinni couldn't help but respond in kind. "Uh... good....good evening?"

She spotted Tomoe running towards them, grateful at least that their Guildmaster was here with them, having no idea the truth of the matter. It took her all but a moment to notice the Lich, and when she did she let out a startled gasp. Instinctively, she moved to protect Masami, who appeared small and frail in comparison to even her. She wasn't even entirely sure if the kid was male or female based on his appearance. All she knew for sure is he was at least her own age, maybe even younger by the looks of him, and she felt a strong urge to keep him safe.

When she realized Tomoe was not charging to attack the Lich, she relaxed slightly, still scared and confused. Who was this creature? He couldn't be a part of their Guild, could he? It seemed they had bigger problems as the lava appeared to be rising so slowly it was almost unnoticeable at first, and the kobolds were already moving in for the attack. Tomoe had easily dodged a fireball, and after he had beaten her so easily that time, the young Encan was in no way worried about his safety.

She was sure the older Joyan could take care of himself. Still, though, she stayed close to Masami and the Lich, her eyes not leaving the massive skeleton as she was both awestruck and terrified at the same time. Looked like this was going to be an interesting day.

[WC 475/2000]

Stats:

Tomoe had entered into his combat instincts, ignoring any strategy that might have been relevant at all. Being thrown into an unfamiliar situation, he would in turn throw his safety to the side with reckless abandon. As one of the warrior kobolds approached armed with armor and weapons that looked well below the Joyan's standard, he couldn't help but scoff at the feral mindset that the creatures demonstrated. They didn't know what they were in for, doing whatever they pleased in blissful ignorance as if it were common for them to attack anything they saw. Tomoe thought that unless they had a trump card here, it would all be pointless in the end. He still needed to respect their willingness to fight, however; they were not cowardly creatures, and that was worth noting.

As the first line of kobold warriors approached the guild mages and one was entering into melee range of Tomoe, the Joyan's eyes lit up. There would be no mercy for enemies of Penumbral Guard.

One instant. One moment. One exchange. Tomoe sidestepped to the right of the kobold before him as he swung his axe down. The axe met rocky ground, smashing it into pebbles, and in another moment, the kobold's life was ended. Tomoe didn't even need to slash at the creature with the sword that suddenly appeared in his hands from nowhere; rather, four of the fifteen additional blades that appeared from thin air above Tomoe rained down on the kobold's head, skewering the beast in one united lunge. Without even acknowledging the creature's departure from the land of the living, Tomoe continued on towards another group of kobolds that made up their first wave.

The crimson cutthroat didn't look to see if his allies were doing well at the moment, entrusting that Aegis would protect the children if necessary. And if not, Tomoe would judge how dire the situation was by how many screams of pain echoed throughout the area from both his allies and enemies respectively. With what could almost be described as tunnel vision directed towards violence, the only things that entered Tomoe's line of sight in the heat of the moment were the kobolds he fought, their supports, and the lava. He was expending less mana than usual, and while he wondered why, he didn't question it. If someone had granted him strength for the moment, he would not have time to give them his gratitude. There was time for pleasantries once every kobold was paste on the ground or consumed by lava. Smashed into fleshy bits. Cut to pieces. Any way that a living thing could die, Tomoe didn't care as long as the battle was one worthy of him.

"On me, ya bastards! I'm right here! Ahahahaha!", Tomoe shouted with pride, dodging and weaving through axe and sword blows and even a few arrows from kobold archers further back now and again.

The Joyan's mind was drawn to the kobold casters that continued to rain down fireballs periodically. It was annoying, to say the least. And perhaps Tomoe was just crazy - he at least knew that much - but it also felt as if the kobold warriors were increasing in speed and growing more feral as time went on. There was something shady about the way their power was increasing, and he didn't know what.

---

WC: 859/2,000

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So cool. Masami simply watched the red-headed guild master go, raising a brow and having more of a confused look on his face for watching him enjoy it. The girl on the Joyan's left moved closer, and Masami didn't find this odd at all. Apparently, he seemed to be enjoying himself, being surrounded by guild members. All of these were enough to pump him crazy in joy and excitement. Thus, he lightly pinched the girl's arm to grab her attention. "Ah, you're Miss Faithe, from the guild hall before?" he was still uncertain, people could look alike anytime and anywhere. It would be humiliating if he was wrong, however. Right after, he turned to the lich's direction and lightly bowed. "Thank you for having us." really, there was no reason for Masami to give his thanks, but apparently he was used to giving thanks, even if he wasn't exactly aware of what he's thanking for. Everytime he had to look at the lich, Masami would have to stretch his neck for his head kept on reaching its limits when looking upwards. Just in time, a warrior kobold had his heavy step and were to swing his sword. Having seen almost the same scenario as before, reacting to this was sort of an easy job – just like how Tomoe side-stepped a few moments ago, Masami did almost the exact same thing, except he held Faithe's shoulder and dragged her with him, then raising his left pinky, blowing unto it right after he saw the magic circle form over – the magic circle dispersed into a burst of flame that immediately touched the warrior kobold's upper body, the boy aimed for the head's right side.

"Miss Faithe!" he shouted right after the spell, releasing her and was as if telling her to shoot the warrior kobold with her arrows while the creature was still inflicted with the Joyan's spell, obviously distracted. Then, a creature 7-meters away who looked exactly the same as this one except with a more curved sword, had started running towards them. For some reason, all of these felt... too easy for Masami? Was it because what happened before in the cold mountains became a huge leap of faith for the boy, that he would have feared his own guild master more than these humanoid creatures? He dashed, except with a reason this time, closing a 2-meter gap between him and the approaching warrior kobold. While Masami's skin was still coated in a thin layer of flame, he already had his pinky raised for another spell. He blew through it and casted a stronger burst of flame right at the head of the warrior kobold, then creating another 7-meter distance by dashing the second time and was physically closer to the lich rather than the girl this time.

Masami honestly, simply wanted to see how everyone was doing. Apparently, the lich had some strange aura around him that made Masami feel safer than he was around Tomoe. He would have a conversation with the creature using an ice-breaker topic, but Masami found it a little too overwhelming to ask the lich to protect him simply because he was thinking of a topic. Other words came out of his mouth instead, "Tomoe... really likes fighting, doesn't he?" the boy gave an awkward chuckle in the end, tilting his head a little afterwards. He didn't even doubt if this lich was an enemy or a foe, considering that Masami had already seen it before but... this time, finally getting a closer look at him felt so satisfying, as if it was a reward for all of Masami's hard work? Certainly, he appeared more noble than the rest of them because of the way he spoke, based on Masami's perception. Because he cannot handle looking upwards for a long time, Masami turned to Faithe one more time, scanning the area in her direction. All of the warrior kobolds didn't seem to be running anytime soon, some of them seemed to be taking turns instead of simply charging in. "To your ten-o'clock later, Miss Faithe!" he would have almost shouted, but then she wasn't so far away from him anyway. It was more of a friendly, playful instruction rather than a warning, merely giving her some information about a ranged warrior kobold, whom doesn't seem to be preparing about the bow and arrow attack, perhaps about 15 to 20-meters away from Faithe, Masami wasn't exactly sure. He sucks at calculating distances like this, and he only knew exactly that it was in Faithe's 10 o'clock, but at least there's some information around it.

Used Spells (-138 MP):

Masami's Statistics:

The member 'Masami' has done the following action : Spin

---

'Dice 100' : 40

The young Encan stood in awestruck confusion as she tried to take in everything that was occurring around her. She watched in stunned silence as Tomoe charged in, shouting and laughing maniacally as he annihilated a good chunk of the kobolds single-handed. He was so fast. None of them had so much as scratched him. He had so many blades summoned, far more than during their training match. Had he actually gotten stronger since their fight? She gulped at the thought. If he was dangerous then, he was even more so now. Her eyes glanced toward the Lich, still having no idea who or what he was. He appeared to be the leader of their group, the way he presented himself. But Rinni couldn't place why. He didn't attack, however, simply standing there with a calm stance as some form of unseen magic surrounded him. Maybe that was why Tomoe was so strong right now?

She was brought back to reality when Masami lightly pinched her, inquiring as to rather or not she was who he thought she was. She looked down at the smaller teen and spoke shakily. "Y-yes. You... you can call me Rinni." She stated, not feeling comfortable being referred to as Miss. Faithe even if it was technically her name. Rather the young Joyan listened or not, in the next instance, the children found themselves under attack. The boy used some form of fire magic, revealing himself to be some sort of fire mage.

He called her name as his spell agitated the kobold that had attacked them. He had pulled her to the side with him during that time, which took her by surprise and caused her to let out a startled squeak. It wasn't as though she couldn't protect herself, and she had hoped the others weren't going to coddle her simply because she was a girl. She raised her bow toward the distracted Kobold, drawing the string back. Now was her chance to prove she could hold her own.

As she drew back the string, a mana infused arrow materialized. She aimed at the Kobold's head and released. Just to be sure it stuck, she released three more, ending the kobold's life. She watched as Masami, engulfed in flames, dashed toward another Kobold in the distance, leaving her on her own. She was fairly close to Aegis but still kept her distance nervously. Tomoe was the farthest away from her, which after what she'd seen of his strength she was grateful for. She took note of their positions. The Lich: Defense. Tomoe: Offense. Masami: Magic. Herself: Ranged.

At least they were well balanced. She noticed Tomoe having trouble with some Kobold Mages in the distance, and decided to help him take a few out as she raised her bow, aiming carefully so as to not accidentally hit who she assumed to be her Guild Master. She fired three arrows, each one at a different Kobold Mage, aiming for their heads. No sooner had she fired the third arrow, she heard footsteps moving heavily behind her and caught the scent of a fast-approaching kobold warrior.

She spun around, barely dodging his attack as his ax was embedded and stuck in the ground. She summoned her Arcing Blade from her ring's Pocket Dimension and used it to quickly stab the Kobold to death. She then heard Masami shout to her, and as she looked up she caught the scent of yet another Kobold. She turned in the indicated direction just in time to spot a Kobold readying an arrow, aimed toward her. Too bad for the Kobold she was faster.

Rinni wasted no time aiming her bow and in quick succession launching 5 arrows at the Kobold easily dispatching the poor thing. She then spotted a Kobold charging toward Masami and she lunged forward, clearing 25 m/s easily, pulling out her dagger to stab the kobold in the heart, kicking its body aside afterward. She nodded toward Masami, deciding the two of them should team up as Aegis and Tomoe were both more than capable of handling themselves.

[WC 1,167/2000]

Stats:

Spells Cast:

The member 'Rinni Faithe' has done the following action : Spin

---

'Dice 100' : 28

Tomoe would take note of the rising lava that, while slow, still risked his life if it would continue. Sadly, its ascension wouldn't halt, and such a thing forced his hand. Prioritizing survival over the butchering of his foes for the moment, Tomoe retracted his blades to gather near him. They would spread out in a circle pattern 1 meter from him, and as he began pushing the line to rise to higher ground, the fifteen Caelum swords rotated around him at 20 m/s while maintaining the 1 meter distance from him. The result was a whirlwind of steel and blood, to which any kobold foolish enough to approach would meet a swift end. It was like shredding paper into strips, the kobolds becoming as brittle and plentiful as ripped parchment if they dared close in on Tomoe. Other than the support he was receiving in the form of some burden removed from his mana pool, he knew he would mostly be alone dealing with his share of the enemies. He was fine with this knowledge, because it meant he didn't need to worry about either of the kids walking into a stray sword and cutting themselves open.

"It's better this way.", muttered the lone swordsman fighting for survival, finding his way up rocky outgrowths until he finally made it to another large platform that was raised higher than the previous one.

Fighting alone was for the best, for someone like him. He often inspired fear, more than he did confidence, after all. That was okay. He was strong enough to maintain the image that he was among the strongest that there could ever be, at least in his own mind and in those of the inexperienced. He wasn't a gifted mage and not necessarily a skilled swordsman, either: in the end he was someone who dealt with his foes promptly and mercilessly. He would simply need to acquiesce that his role was one of an executioner. For as long as he was the fragmented existence that he was, the individual known as Tomoe Tanaka had no other identity.

"That's fine.", Tomoe muttered once more, stopping his circular formation to halfheartedly block an incoming fireball.

One of the fifteen levitating Caelum swords moved to block the fireball, taking the blow and being shattered like glass. It faded from existence, leaving no trace behind. Fourteen swords remained summoned, and a fifteenth in the man's right hand. He didn't worry nor rage for his lost weapon, as he knew it was an easily replaceable and nameless sword that could be returned to him again at any time. For someone so willing to grit his teeth and fight alone, Caelum's magic was perfect. As two more warrior kobolds approached while a kobold archer shot from further back, this idea was only made more clear.

Caelum Sword Magic was a power that allowed one to draw out an entire squadron of soldiers by oneself. He was quite legitimately a one-man army. Two of the remaining fourteen telekinetic blades rushed forth, each spinning horizontally and slashing at the feet of the two warrior kobolds. With the expected reaction bringing them to their knees, another pair of floating blades were ready to meet them as they fell and cut apart their throats with unrelenting speed to match a propeller. The archer would take aim in fear - the very emotion that Tomoe had grown accustomed to drawing from people - and his shot would not aim true. It met the flat of another Caelum sword, which dissipated while blocking the arrow's shot that would have made contact with Tomoe's head.

Within the ten meter range of Caelum's swords was Tomoe's domain, a place of swirling metallic hell that few would want to step into. Thirteen telekinetic blades and one in Tomoe's hand - a damaged armory, but not one to be concerned about. Without a single physical command as Tomoe charged towards the archer kobold, a single Caelum sword found its way impaled through the creature's head and out the other side before he could even retrieve another arrow. It was precision as cold as ice, and Tomoe smiled as he continued on his warpath towards the next line of warriors.

"Keep lookin' my way, idiots! Your new god has arrived! Heh.", Tomoe shouted out with confidence, knowing that any living thing to enter a ten meter radius of him would become mincemeat in seconds; he would thoroughly draw the attention of many enemies to himself exclusively as a result.

Tomoe was a target that the archers and two remaining kobold mages would wish death upon before he could be allowed to advance further, and the Joyan warrior hoped that he'd been drawing sufficient enough attention for the rest to do what was needed without the worry of being swarmed as hard. He didn't consider himself a hero for doing such a thing, and he wouldn't ask anybody for their gratitude. There was nothing to it other than the fact that the only thing Tomoe could offer in the heat of battle was his own life.

---

WC: 1,707/2,000

Stats:

Equipment:

Mana/Spells:

The member 'Tomoe Tanaka' has done the following action : Spin

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'Dice 100' : 85

'Ah, yes. This lich... they really can talk!' Masami wanted to suppress such emotion, but he couldn't help but almost expand the night sky with sparkles in his eyes. He would almost pinch Rinni Faithe and tell her to become amazed with him, but that's definitely an act for next time –  maybe they an enjoy having fun with the creature in moments where they aren't dying, or sacrificing anything of the sort. Because he had been surrounded by his own guild mates, these things really didn't hurt Masami's capacity of fear, that this lava isn't so threatening 'less it finally touches their feet. 'I guess these types of creatures worry too...' after the thought, he simply watched everyone else fight. As obvious as that, these warrior kobolds are no match for this guild team, apparently the boy wasn't feeling any sort of use until someone near him almost dies.

Even Rinni was doing well, apparently. He felt protected when the girl charged in to save him, although he was already going to lunge off either way, he couldn't help but admit that the girl was fast thus nodding with each other. 'Ah, I could just play the flute...' Masami exaggeratedly pouted, touching the inside pockets of his overcoat, grasping for an extendable flute from Joya, only to hesitate, 'ah, I might get scolded.' Might as well just help someone out, he wouldn't want his team members to think that he's trying to become some emperor and being protected. Believing that most of them are better off fighting alone had left the blond in an absolute lack of choice – Masami being the one who needs to rely on someone... wait, rely on someone? That was exactly it!

Once again, he gently pinched the girl's arm to catch her attention. "Hey, I've got an id—ow!" a struck of fire had hit Masami in the head causing him to slightly lean forward. When he turned around, three of the warrior kobolds reacted to Masami's response in laughter. 'These guys...' once again, Masami had engulfed himself in a thin layer of fire and dashed, not sure how many times, but enough to reach those fellas who were making fun of him (Hint: it was only once, because Masami sucks at calculating distance). When he was closing a 10-meter distance from them, Masami decided to run instead. Now that he was getting closer, he soon realized that two of the warrior kobolds had swords in their hands, then one of them who was in the back seemed to be the one who casted the spell. That was the only one Masami wanted to hit, because they were being mean and annoying, thus kissing the tip of two fingers then pointing at the group of kobolds, releasing a spell that pushes them forward. They probably didn't even realize that Masami casts more spells than he could actually use his body to fight, and now they were going to collect like a sandwich.

Now that Masami and the three kobolds ensured a 2-meter distance, Masami dashed to the left, then behind. He was meeting face-to-face with the fire mage, warrior kobold, thing – then he finally blew through the pinky finger. It felt nice doing that payback, feeling free to inflict pain because these guys aren't even humans, anyway. "Gotta need some help here!" he shouted while lunging to the sides, attempting to avoid their attacks. Because Tomoe had attracted teams of warrior kobolds, the leftovers had their eyes on Masami, especially the archers on that side. 'New god...?' Masami questioned right after listening from afar, getting his right cheek scratched by the tip of the sword, causing the light scar to bleed. Once again blowing through the finger, he released a burst of flame before dashing two more times, just so he draws closer to his teammates. "These guys are starting to get annoying." frowning like a child, he muttered this out as if complaining to the seniors about a bully. Now that those archers are focusing about a hundred arrows upon the people Tomoe left, he walked a little backwards, making sure that he is closer to his teammates. "Tell me when to cast a defensive spell." he said this as if whispering, but loud enough for even the 8-foot lich to hear. Things were getting exciting.

Used Spells (-83 MP):

Masami's Statistics:

The member 'Masami' has done the following action : Spin

---

'Dice 100' : 63

Rinni was doing quite well so far against these things, she just hoped she had enough mana for her bow spells. Well, at least she had her dagger to fall back on. The Lich was becoming less scary and more intriguing the longer she spent time near him, and his voice was surprisingly calm and soothing for a giant skeleton. Tomoe is the one that scared her at this point, as he seemed to be losing it. To be honest, the Ranger felt safer with the young boy and giant skeleton than she did him. And it was a strange concept since she knew Tomoe longer than she knew them.

To be honest, she wished Lucian was here, just in case she'd lose herself again to her werewolf instincts. Or even worse, transform and attack Masami. She was guaranteed that she couldn't hurt the other two, but she was afraid of harming Masami. Maybe she could take the pent up bloodlust out on the kobolds, it was well worth a try, right?

She raised her bow and fired an arrow into the skull of a charging warrior. She then fired another arrow at a ranger that thought he could get her first but was sorely mistaken in his attempt. It was starting to feel like these damn things would never stop coming. And it was getting hotter as the lava slowly rose. She and her comrades were sweating so much the smell was making it difficult to keep track of the kobolds. She sniffed the air just in time for a warrior to lunged from behind with a sword. She staggered, barely dodging the attack and losing her balance.

"Shit!" She cried out as the Kobold loomed over her, ready to bring the sword down into her chest. She blocked the blade with her dagger, struggling under him as she wiggled and growled in desperation. Getting her feet positioned at the creature's sternum, she managed to kick him off her and get back on her feet. She stabbed the Kobold just as she heard Masami start to speak to her, only to be interrupted by a fireball to the head. It didn't seem to bother him so much as it annoyed him. Maybe because he was a fire mage of sorts?

Either way, Rinni took this opportunity to retaliate and fired 5 more arrows, taking down four Kobolds as Masami did his thing. Then the boy said something weird. He asked to be told when to use a defensive spell. Was he talking to her with this request? What defensive spells did he even know? Another Kobold charged at her with an ax and she had barely managed to dodge, parrying with her dagger awkwardly.

She stabbed the Kobold and kicked him back. She then looked to Masami, panting from both the intense heat and exhaustion from combat. "Now!"

[WC 1,657/2000]

Stats:

Spells Cast:

The member 'Rinni Faithe' has done the following action : Spin

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'Dice 100' : 39

The member 'Aegis' has done the following action : Spin

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'Dice 100' : 79

No death wails from any allies yet. Good. That meant less work for Tomoe to clean up later and less on his mind overall. Aegis was the ultimate protector, in Tomoe's eyes. If an ally died while under Aegis' defense, it was a hopeless battle in the first place. He placed great value on the lich's ability to protect, and knew that he could keep them relatively safe from rabid beasts like these. It was in the process of this that Tomoe felt an impact at his back. Sticking out of the rear of his left shoulder but not piercing through the leather hide of his armor was a crude wooden arrow with a stone arrowhead. Despite its laughable craftsmanship, it did manage to bury itself decently well into his armor. Not enough to cause pain, but enough to annoy. Taking that into account, the kobolds weren't very well armed but they were definitely physically powerful. An arrow as shoddy as that could only have burrowed as much as it did with superior physical strength from the archer themselves.

Impaling another warrior kobold halfheartedly with four Caelum blades to his face, the Joyan warrior turned with a glare to the archer that had managed to sneak to his flank and get off a cheap shot. Tomoe Tanaka was the only one allowed to make cheap shots around here.

Retracting his entire armory to his side once more, the fifteen phantom swords of Caelum followed Tomoe as he made a double lunge towards the archer, closing the distance in what felt like a mere stride. If the fear of death had a face, it was the expression plastered upon the kobold archer who didn't even have enough time to retrieve another arrow from his quiver. The only thing that a warrior had against a long-range fighter was speed and temperament, and Tomoe always ensured that he had both. In one instant a smirk spread across the Joyan's face. And the next?

Death.

Tomoe jammed the Caelum sword in his hand towards the archer. Falling backwards in a panicked jump, the archer's feet hadn't even once more touched the ground before the crimson cutthroat had made his follow-up attack, his eyes not changing from surprise at his initial missed strike. Archers were supposed to be nimble, after all. A dodge was to be expected; they trained for such things, at the very least. What they didn't train for, however, was Caelum's fury.

All at once, the fifteen blades of Caelum descended upon the archer at 20 m/s. The archer's vision was in slow motion, gazing upwards at falling steel. Thoughts of his family, his friends and his comrades probably flashed into his mind at his last moments. Tomoe couldn't read minds, so he couldn't be certain, of course. What was obvious was that the archer's final thoughts as the heel of his right foot touched ground in that painful moment of realization was that such acts of bloodshed were unnecessary by anyone's idea of the word.

With a look of grim acceptance, the kobold's right foot had fully made contact with the ground by the time the swords had reached him. All fifteen at once, the creature was viscerally and hastily ripped to shreds and dismantled like someone taking apart a bicycle. After another second, there was no longer any expression at all. His corpse was pushed backwards from the sheer force of the attack and promptly knocked off a cliff and into the lava below.

It was a reminder to Tomoe, caught up in the moment with a look of glee upon his face, that the lava was continuing to rise ever so slowly. His time on the platform he was on wouldn't last forever.

"Anyone else need a trim?", Tomoe shouted out, the reaper in his eyes as he looked towards the approaching squadron of kobold warriors who began to back away, unnerved.

As beasts, they responded well to overwhelming power. Such things as the pecking order were thus obvious to them, even if they had evolved beyond common four-legged beasts. Tomoe retracted his blades, all fifteen of them pointed towards his new enemies with their spirits already freshly destroyed at the brutal demise of their ranged ally.

---

WC: 2,000/2,000

Stats:

Equipment:

Mana/Spells:

The member 'Tomoe Tanaka' has done the following action : Spin

---

'Dice 100' : 52

For someone used to the winter, this sort of heat isn't something Masami could handle 'less he has a fan in one of his hands, but this venue's no way of having any sort of fan or vents, and the thought was making Masami dizzy enough to have a want of fainting. It would have been nice if he experienced the same occurrence back in the Avvar Mountains, where heat felt completely nonexistent for some reason, but lacking the confidence for that had caused Masami to hesitate. However, compared from when they first 'teleported' in the location, the noise pollution had definitely lessened; the lava was the opposite.

Although he heard Rinni's signal, loud and clear, Masami hesitated when he spotted a rather larger warrior kobold whom was right beside the two, wherein Masami immediately pulled the girl then blew through the pinky of the other hand until it was as enough as Masami thought that it would be. The fire caused some smoke and the boy lunged backwards, then releasing the girl he was trying to protect. However, the same warrior kobold charged through the smoke with a large axe held in his two hands, sharp eyes and had a face more similar to that of a bull compared to the rest of the warrior kobold. If Masami were to judge, this creature appeared more of a "warrior" than the rest; the warrior kobold had a 5-meter distance from Masami and Rinni but the creature kept running despite of his heavy weight, and Masami well-heard the pulling of bowstrings right behind them.

Five? No, ten... twenty, that would be a good number, at least. Twenty possible archers in the back, Masami had only assumed because he couldn't move his eyes away from that single warrior kobold who seemed to survive such a damage, even if Masami had already dispersed a burst of fire... a huge, burst of fire, in which the warrior kobold received albeit appeared as if it wasn't hurt at all. Thinking that Masami was no match, he stood there, thinking of a way to escape rather than to attack. Would it be find if Masami acted as bait and ran to Tomoe, who was at the other side of their location? Now, Masami didn't want to look so selfish as to give someone else the job to exterminate a target. Thus, Masami took a few steps backwards, then gently tapped Rinni's nape with two fingers, just to fix some distance.

"I'll be your rearguard." he said, distancing his fingers away so that he would be able to slide them from his neck down to the palms then tapping the wrist twice, something he successfully did when he was training with the guild master in the mountains. Then, upon pointing the same fingers unto Rinni, he made a thread-like substance out of fire and struck her. Perhaps it would hurt, but Masami hope that it wouldn't sting anymore as it wasn't supposed to. The thread vanished upon its contact with Rinni, giving her jade marks under one eye and another mark on her nape. Now, Masami was sure that she would be able to handle this.

Then Masami faced the back, just in time as the archer kobols released hundreds of arrows, supposedly filling up the whole area. While they were still at that wave, Masami made steps backwards so that he'd close a distance with the girl, then clapped twice. And, as expected, a Nakizo mask set aflame, now tasked to protect the two from any upcoming damage. It would hold as much as it was supposed to hold, but then it might not be enough so he'd have to heavily rely on Rinni. "The lich, what was his name?" Masami uttered in a rather still and relaxed tone of voice, "He was rather kinder than I imagined." of course, Masami felt everything that he did. The casting of spells via words, something familiar, something that came off of a theater script. As much as the boy was dependent on the girl, Masami had realized that it was okay to depend on the rest of his team. In a few moments, the arrows would hit and the large warrior kobold would finally strike. Thus, Masami kept his eyes opened and smiled, praying in his mind that they would still live, because he was finally learning how to depend on people.

Used Spells (-300 MP):

Masami's Statistics:

The member 'Masami' has done the following action : Spin

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'Dice 100' : 23

This fight so far was showing Rinni one thing. And that was she had picked a good Guild to join. While Tomoe, the apparently strongest and fastest here, took on the brunt of the kobolds, she had Aegis and Masami supporting her in various ways. It was quite helpful, being as she was the only one there with no innate magic abilities. Finding people you could trust that had your back, that was important and rare.

The first act of support she received was feeling a bit of extra weight on her head and looking up to spot a cotton ball had latched itself to her. She assumed it to be someone's pet, possibly the Lich's as she was pretty sure Masami didn't have a pet and Tomoe was too far away and she hadn't seen him with a pet thus far and her own pet was with her parents right now (thankfully). Still, it was funny to think something so small and cute belonged to someone so big and scary. She realized why it was there when it released some sort of healing magic to help her recover from the kobold's attack.

"Thank... thank you!" Rinni called out to Aegis appreciatively, also thanking the creature on her head if it understood her. She then returned to combat, feeling revitalized, stabbing a nearby kobold in the head with her dagger.

The next form of support unexpectantly came from Masami of all people.

I'll be your rearguard.

"Right! I'll watch your back as well! Be careful, Masami!"As Rinni prepared for another attack, she felt a tingle on the nape of her neck. It didn't hurt, but it caused her to shiver slightly and it felt warm. It must have been cast by Masami. She felt another not too long after. She could feel the effect of the spells already and realized her guildmate had put a couple of buff spells on her.

"Thanks." She started, but was interrupted swiftly by the archers raining arrows down on them. She looked up and gasped as she took off running to dodge the arrows, she lunged forward to try and get out of the arrow shower and barely managed to move out of range. Feeling a twinge of pain she noticed a couple of arrows had been embedded in her Ranger's Cloak, which wasn't the best but offered enough protection to keep her alive.

She sighed looking at the slight rips caused by the arrows and turned toward the kobold archers in annoyance. They thought that could outshoot her, did they? As they readied for another attack, Rinni prepared her own bow, aiming toward each Archer. She was drenched in sweat by this point and couldn't help but notice the lava had risen a good bit since the fight started. They needed to end this now before it was too late.

She quickly drew and released her bow in rapid succession, feeling the amount of mana this would consume, but determined to end as many kobold archers at she could reach. She had to stop them from doing another arrow shower like that first one. Each arrow she fired found its mark in the head or heart of an archer, the creatures gasping and groaning as they fell to their deaths one by one, a few bodies landing in the lava with a splash.

Rinni was breathing heavily, the heat and exertion of her mana pool slowly getting to her. She needed to get out here before she was cooked alive, but where was the exit? These kobolds never seemed to end. This was almost more than the Ranger had ever had to face. In fact, it was the toughest battle of her life next to fighting Tomoe.

[WC 2000/2000]

Stats:

Spells Cast:

The member 'Rinni Faithe' has done the following action : Spin

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'Dice 100' : 40