Erebus was back, and after his recent stint at the tournament, was turning heads as he arrived. Armor padded to his chest, with a long draping cloak cape over his shoulders. His hair was short and tinted blonde with pink toner, his face decorated by tattoos that traveled around his body and exposed flesh. Two daggers were sheathed at his waist, one being a common traditional fighting weapon. The other enchanted by the Wind. Between his lips, a small pipe emitted a black smoke.

His fingers exposed, yet one had a large skeleton head, the Bone Ring. Two dangling earrings gleamed with a green light that reflected something greater than royalty, perhaps that of a diety. He awaited in the Tournament lobby for a duo of young girls he’d recently met and quested with. Today was no different, though, they were going to be partipcating in his misdeeds.

Erebus recently defeated the tag champions with Esperia. That meant there was a whole vacant slot for interim, and while the two dispatched their opponent, Erebus himself would be partaking. However that wasn’t the premise of why he wanted their help, no— Erebus wanted about 60% more than he was offered simply to partake. He had a plan to make extra coin today.

“Pretty soon, they’ll be arriving.” Erebus would say into a walky talky, an unidentifiable quest giver permitted his philosophy, so long as the charges weren’t linked and he was assured his bet today was a wise investment. Erebus could not promise that technically, but gladly encouraged that the decision was sound and his investment would be secure. The only thing left? Wait for the girls.

279/1500

A very quiet courier had delivered the message to Ikanbi that day. No dismay, she was on the way, for she too had pockets that needed to be gilded with gold and jewels. She needed money, and she needed it badly. The trips she needed to take out and about were going to require tremendous amounts of funds and she just didn't feel right using money from the family business.

And so, here she was. Ikanbi had made her way to the tournament location. She was entering in with her friend Sia into a smaller division for the more novice fighters and would be mages. She wasn't entirely sure how well she would be able to hold up, but surely, she could at least one one match or two? As she walked around the area, she observed many fighters and quietly noted whom she thought was threatening and whom she thought was merely a pushover. Eventually, Ikanbi spotted Erebus, and decided it would be worth her time to catch up with him. She made her way over, smiling both gingerly and genuinely towards him as she drew closer.

She extended a hand in greeting, aiming to shake his forearm rather than his hand. "It is good to see you again, Erebus, Sir." Ikanbi said politely in Fioran. She made eye contact with him and her face turned slightly red before she asked him, "Do you know anything about my first opponent?" It surely wouldn't hurt to ask, and if anyone was going to have dirt on the contestants, it would surely be someone such as Erebus, would it not?



269/1500

So it was then that the old sleeping slumbering witch stirred and woke to start a new day. A tournament? How quaint, she supposed, and donned a black dress and set out for the streets. Sia wasn't entirely sure she was ready for a tournament of any sort, but the money she might gain had certainly caught the ladies eyes. She walked slowly and with intense purpose, sticking to the side of the streets and taking in her surroundings quietly.

She was to meet up with Ikanbi and a yet unnamed associate and if things went well, they might all come out on top with a rather handsome amount of money. Truly then, they were a conspiring unit of troublemakers, the three of them. Sia neared the tournament area and immediately found Ikanbi, for she certainly stuck out compared to the rest of the crowd. "Hello my dear." Sia said softly to her before also turning her attention towards Erebus. "Ah, so perhaps you are our contact then?" Sia asked him quietly as the three of them moved around to converse with less prying eyes and ears.

"I am not sure I am ready for combat yet, but here we are, I suppose a trial by fire isn't a terrible way to stretch my legs." Sia smiled as she spoke, "I'm sure it'll come back to me after a little while, but I haven't really been in a fight since before I got cursed." She said to Ikanbi and Erebus. "My powers are not what they used to be, and my magic here is...fickle." She said.

She turned to Erebus. "At some point, I may wish to learn a little more from you. My summoning magic hasn't quite been working as intended lately. Something is off, but I'm not quite sure what."


302/1500

Erebus was pulled from his intention to thieve by the soft touch of Ikanbi, he turned his head back, as she gripped him. It was then that he realized how different his strength was to hers, but as a hardened war criminal and world hero, Erebus was not at odds to compare his progress to fresh bright journeymen. Ikanbi would no doubt stand as equal someday and Sia too, whom Erebus looked to focus on as Ikanbi blushed.

His attention turned back to her when she sought answers to questions, he paused and looked straight. A curious expression on his face, a snide evil snark grew wide across the Summoner’s lips. “Actually, I might.” He said slyly, his own fingers, filed sharp at the nails and painted black, took Ikanbi by the hand and coming upon Sia, another arm, of which they wouldn’t see would appear at Sia’s back, pulling her along. Should she have avoided him, that was fine but should his arm slip her back, his strength would knock her down alone if she didn’t keep a pace with him. As his strength can be considered a moving juggernaut at 180 base to her 3.

Around the lobby corner where the three of them were alone, Erebus quickly tilts his body and looks to make sure the coast is clear one last time, whilst also letting Sia speak. When she finishes, he turns back and offers the two females his usual grin.

“Firstly, don’t talk so down on yourself. We’re the type of people who were made for this shit.” He reasoned, as if to send her a morale boost. Of course she probably was on point with her analysis, no one knew themselves better than the person. However, he could see a fire in both these girls, and being a gambler by nature. Was willing to wager they were tougher than their doubt foretold. “But yes— I am the mystery contact, last week I murdered the tag division champions escorted by Esperia. A demon witch who gives me issues from time to time.” He spoke as if to evoke that she was a friend, however his facial expression and tone would indicate that he found her trailing him every few years a tad bit overbearing.

After all, he didn’t like more powerful entities telling him no.

Authority and refusal to obey it led him this far. Besides the grisly murder itself, it was likened to the God Blood in him. He was unable to refuse an act of War, which was now a characteristic of his nature— he was not suggesting it a good thing. But he did derive pleasure from domination, and that was nothing short of sadism— at it’s most basic principle.

“To answer you back on your question Ikanbi. Yes, I do have information but by giving you it, you are embracing the art of deception here.” He courted the question as if to say they were better than needing it and then followed up with a short laugh. “I’m just kidding. Info is meant to be shared right? You’re fighting a Adventurer, he carries two swords with effects I can’t exactly recall. His partner is a Spellsinger.” Erebus inhales smoke through the pipe in his lips, he turns around, before exhaling and blowing a small black cloud away. “... Summoning, I know a little about it. It’s a tricky magic, haven’t figured out how to take off the debuff yet.” He spoke... then quickly changed the subject, as without knowing your full potential. You could not be able to feel the effects of the performance drain you’d exhibit being a summoner.

“Sure. I’d be willing, but you’ll owe me. Now, for what I’ll be doing. Certain challengers competing have left their gear sitting until their matches,” Erebus reckoned without a doubt. “A few legendary items resold could spot us some extra change, you two leave that to me. You guys are young, I’m sure they won’t even notice or assign you Bounties.” He then spun around and made off. Intangibly losing his color like that of a ghost or a hologram, the Rogue phases behind a wall. Escaping the girl’s sight with one step backwards.

After coming out of the other side, the Rogue began his grand theft in the opposing direction. Heading for a locked chamber within the confines of the building, what Erebus left out was that the gear being stolen was the actual gear their opponents used. Making them previously S-rank threats. Sia and Ikanbi would face these foes at a B-rank level, completely and utterly without items to protect themselves.


Phase - 100MP
CD: 1
1065/1500

In no time at all, Ikanbi was whisked away by the dashing rogue known to most as Erebus. To others? A menace. To Ikanbi and Sia? A blessing. Ikanbi was known to walk on the grey line of morality, typically known for being good, but always keeping the most questionable sort of company. She preferred her life this way. Good and evil were such subjective terms. Who was she to judge Erebus for the way they lived their life? No one. Ikanbi was no one, and so there was no way she should judge him.

Erebus spoke to the two of them in greater length than Ikanbi had expected, and she quietly listened to him and absorbed it all. Every ounce of information, every word, every body movement, she took it in like a good book. Her path was made clear, when Erebus spoke, Ikanbi listened, and Ikanbi didn't usually listen to people often. Erebus took the two of them by the arms and were made to waltz off away from the crowd before he really went into it. She listened intently as he detailed their opponent's as well as one other person of interest. Esperia? The name sounded nice, though Ikanbi noted that Sia's interest was immediately more piqued at the mentioning of Esperia. Apparently the name had run a bell for her, and Ikanbi noticed Sia paying closer attention to Erebus' words now than she had been before.

He went on to detail how he intended to perform a heist of sorts and if everything went according to plan they would all come out on top all the better for it. "I so like the way you think, Erebus." Ikanbi finally said in Fioran as Erebus finished detailing the plan to the two of them. "Okay, let's get to work." She watched as Erebus phased through the wall. "Oh I have got to learn that." She said to Sia, nudging her a little as she spoke.

Ikanbi made her way towards the tournament fighting grounds and prepared herself for the worst. The first of the matches was, admittedly, much easier than she had expected. With nothing but a knife to her name, Ikanbi carefully and meticulously wore her first opponent down, a long, boring, tedious battle that went on for what felt like ages. Neither Ikanbi or her opponent were worth much of anything to speak of, and even with Sia's help the fight was...lack luster.

Spells? Hardly used. Between the four of them in combat, Ikanbi and Sia spent most of their time darting about left, right, up, down, and even sideways, scrambling about the field as best as they possible could to avoid being obliterated by their opponent's more powerful spells. Eventually, Ikanbi managed to close the gap on the weaker of the two opponents, and landed a nice clean hit with her little knife. She was almost surprised, but followed it up with an unarmed strike, stepping between her opponent's legs and dropping her hips as she pivoted, brining her knife, off-hand, and her opponent downwards to the ground and knocking the wind right out of them.

She turned, eyeing the other combatant that Sia was dealing with, and made sure she wasn't about to take a cheap shot in the chaos of her own brawl. Luckily, she found that Sia was dealing well enough on her own with the other combatant and so Ikanbi turned her focus on them as well. Inching forwards, she too began to assault the other combatant, ganging up on them with Sia and a furious volley of knife thrusts and slashes. She found trouble connecting though, and saw quickly why Sia was having such trouble with her target. This one was much quicker, and far more agile than the other.

Eventually, it didn't matter. The odds were just stacked too high against them, the combined might of Ikanbi and Sia was too much for one opponent to deal with and Ikanbi finally landed a clean hit, forcing the target to stumble backwards and fall prone. Ikanbi respectfully thanked the two fighters for their round and she left the arena for the time being, readying for the next match.

This next match was the one she was worried about, truthfully, for the opponent's before had certainly been small fry. She remembered the plan however, Erebus' dirty, wonderful plan. Either way, she would be getting some money for the days efforts. Fine by her.


1012/1500

With a gasp, Sia was whisked away quite quickly by Erebus, whom manhandled her with great ease. She struggled to keep up, but walked as briskly as she could with the rogue turned summoner and when the three of them were off to the side on their own she listened to the plan with Ikanbi, allowing Erebus to detail off information not only about their combatants, but as the general workings of the tournament. So, it would seem a great many of the fighters left their equipment unattended in between matches. How barbaric. It was almost as though they were asking for someone such as Sia and Erebus to ruin their day.

And ruin it they would, or at least Erebus surely would, if his plan were to go as intended. It was a good plan, a great plan even, and Sia knew that with Erebus at her side she could not possibly be stopped. Interesting then, she thought to herself, how fortunate that her and Ikanbi had bumped into him for previous work. Erebus was, truly, proving to be quite resourceful and witty. Excellent. It was then that Sia heard Erebus mention the name Esperia and Sia's eyes lit up like fireworks. "Now there's a name I haven't heard in quite some time." Sia said softly to him. "I am quite fond of that one." Sia said to Ikanbi, in reference to Esperia. Sia stared into Erebus' eyes, captivated by the dark charm of the man before her and his dark and mischievous intentions. "I am afraid you have more confidence in me than I do." She admitted to him.

Though, perhaps he had been on to something. Indeed, Sia had not been able to correctly practice her magic for quite some time. It was a burden, a curse, but one she still had to deal with for now. For whatever reason, she just could not summon anything. Nothing, at all. Why? She had not the slightest clue, truly. It had been weeks. No...Months. It had been months since Sia had been able to successfully materialize anything out of magic at all. Not a glyph, not a poof, not a spash of water, nothing. Summons were just out of the question for this tournament. How unfortunate.

Still, Erebus plan to steal the opponent's equipment would likely work in her favor. She reached into her bag and grabbed an apple, taking a bite from it before too offering a bite to Ikanbi. Erebus became somewhat ethereal, and before her very eyes he merely passed through the wall they had been standing next to. When Ikanbi mentioned needing to learn how to do that, Sia hastily agreed.

Sia joined Ikanbi for the first round. Their opponent's were admittedly not much better off than she was, as it turned out. How fortunate for her and unfortunate for them, for things would surely only get worse for her opponent's once she regained her powers. For now though, she settled for using just a staff. A plain, unenchanted staff, meant for melee combat and nothing more. She bounced it back and forth between both of her hands idly, being quite bored as she waited for the match to start.

Immediately, Sia was bombarded with spells. She frantically ran around, narrowling avoiding what she had assumed would have been her death. She was in over her head. She was a summoner with no summons, unable to cast even the tiniest of magic spells in the moment. Stressed and duressed, she frantically did what she could to stay alive. Eventually, through great perseverance, Sia watched as her combat partner managed to make quick work of one of their opponents. Suddenly, the tide of combat changed drastically. What had been laughably one sided before with Sia and Ikanbi desperately running around like wild animals just to stay alive was now a proper witch hunt.

Sia closed the distance. She stepped forwards, weaving to the left as a fireball whizzed past her dangerously close. She could feel the heat against her face and arm. "That was a close one." She thought to herself, before sending her staff into her target's ribcage and immediately following up with a strike aimed at the head from the same side.

1010/1500

Erebus was off like a bandit, he infiltrated the storage with little issue, and put the guards down with aggressive sleeperholds. Strangling the oxygen from them with little more than rear naked blood chokes. His forehead pulsed and for a moment he felt a rush of dopamine, the facets of violence were enchanting to him. Upon getting inside, Erebus begins removing weapons and relics, before ultimately cleaning up the place and leaving the girls with a much easier game on the outside.

Some fifteen minutes after he’s finished there...

Erebus can be seen in the top of the bleachers, throwing back popcorn. His eyes watching the two fledgling mages. Both were soft on the eyes, and yet— it was their tenacity that Erebus drew a connection towards. They deserved to grow without his influence and yet, here he was... Corrupting their minds and readying them for the world with his shiesty strategies.

Hey? Winning is winning, and at the end of the day. Getting paid was why they were here, Erebus pays a special attention to Ikanbi and Sia as they synergize, it dons on him just how successful their style would be if Sia can access her summons. Placing a hand at his chin, he runs through ways he might help her later.

When the girls finish off, they are awarded Interim Tag Division Belts. — Erebus awaits them in the lobby. Where he’s already funneled the gear to Oak and been given their bonus. He waits for them there so they might all have a last word before their next adventure. He also seeks to give them their cut, and warn them about potential bounty hunters that might track them in the future for misdeeds they total up.

“Congratulations ladies.” He says firstly, two hands extend fat brown money bags, their names written in black ink across the bag. “Not only did we flip the gear for profit, you guys gained a bit of recognition in the coliseum. Reputation is everything ya know.” The rogue jested, ironically having a bad one himself. Then again, they were becoming favorites quickly and the Tournament Organization was already asking about their next return. “... and Sia, find me in Oak City. I’d like to train you and see if we can restore your powers.”

Erebus was short on his exit, however— he has to make sure the stolen goods reached Caius’ black market. For now, the girls were in contact, with knowledge of his whereabouts if they wanted to take more jobs. Having taken gear to the black market, it would no doubt catch the eyes of the law. On the bright side? They all made more than double they would’ve today. Can’t argue with the cash, right?

-Exit-

1530/1500

So it was then that the next round was soon to begin and Ikanbi found herself a bit more worried, admittedly. She just couldn't shake it, this odd feeling, this weird, sickly sensation in her gut. What if they got caught? What if the stakes were too high? What if she girl bossed too close to the sun after all? What if Erebus turned on them. She cleared her mind, taking long, deep breathes and grounding herself in the environment around her. She smelled the dirty, the sweat, the grit, the vigor. "It smells like teen spirit in here." She said to Sia with a hearty laugh and adjusted her necklace.

The two of them giggled over the thought together and Ikanbi began working on Sia's hair, fixing it back up from the previous altercation they had just had within the arena. It didn't take long, Ikanbi was actually properly trained as a stylist, it was a useful skill for her to have on her long trips across the continents as a merchant. She was delighted with how soft Sia's hair was and the brightness was just most marvelous.

She finished the task, and made idle chitchat with Sia and some passing strangers that had stopped to flirt with the two of them. Ikanbi rolled her eyes but was otherwise quite polite about it. After a moment, Ikanbi left Sia to her own devices and made her way back to the fighting grounds. The match was soon to start.

Start it did, and Ikanbi immediately had to maneuver around the arena in a most obnoxious sort of fashion. She found herself running, lunging, jumping, sprinting, and rolling to meet the tasks. The adventurer before her and Sia was a menace, even without weapons. They quickly advanced on Ikanbi and Sia as the Spellsinger bombarded the two of them with spells from afar. Ikanbi darted left, Ikanbi then darted right. She took a heavy blow from the Adventurer and was knocked backwards but began to roll as she fell. Gasping for breath, she recovered to her feet just in time to leap out of the way of another spell from the spellsinger. This was proving more troublesome than she had originally anticipated, for sure. Still, the money would surely be well worth it.

Ikanbi focused, gathering her resolve and clearing her mind. She steadied her still beating heart and thought of calm waters. She took a step forwards and saw her opening. She delivered a swift strike to the adventurer's neck, catching him off guard as he was dealing with Sia. She followed up by kicking at the back of his leg, causing his knee to buckle and his weight to topple to the side. She capitalized on the situation immediately, and immediately grappled the adventurer and held him from behind, using him as a human shield as she began to move towards the spellsinger.

Eventually, Ikanbi choked the adventurer out, and tossed his limp body directly into the spellsinger before furiously unleashing a volley of knife thrusts into the spellsinger's body.

Ikanbi left, meeting up with Erebus and having a brief discussion about the day's work and collecting her winnings.


1542/1500

The first round had gone well despite her lack of magic use and so Sia breathed a huge sigh of relief. Leaving the arena, she walked out with Ikanbi, retrieving an apple from her bag and handing it to Ikanbi before retrieving another for herself. She took a large bite and looked around at the other contestants, wondering if she could find Erebus within the crowd. To her, he did stick out. To her, Erebus didn't blend in at all. Why? Probably because the dashing rogue turned summoner just did things in just the right to tickle her fancy. His presence was enough to pull her attention from most anything, she supposed.

She sat down on a bench and finished her apple, but was quite antsy. Sia was on edge, anxious. Not having her magic just wouldn't do, truly. Ikanbi began to fix Sia's hair, taking down Sia's ribbon before retying it for her. "Thank you dear." Said Sia to Ikanbi in Fioran, though when two strangers walked up to them to compliment them on their fight, Sia got incredibly quite all of a sudden. She didn't say a word to either of them, she just smiled and nodded while Ikanbi did all of the talking. "These idiots have no idea what I'm capable of," she thought to herself silently. Eventually, the two strangers left and so Ikanbi and Sia were left alone to their own devices for a little while.

Rising from her seat, Sia made her way back to the fighting stage with Ikanbi. Their opponent's were, as Erebus had informed them, an adventurer and a spellsinger. Normally, Sia had to admit, she would definitely have been outmatched here, but Erebus had been so kind as to relieve her opponent's of their weapons, a blessing from the mischievous man that Sia did not take lightly. Sia spotted Erebus in the crowd and smiled immediately without even thinking about it. "Damnit." She said out loud, turning noticeably red. Sia made eye contact with Ikanbi. "Sorry I can't help it he's hot okay?" The two of them laughed about it a little, but were quickly cut off as a whiz of lightning sailed towards them. Darting out of the way, Sia maneuvered around the opposite side of the arena of Ikanbi at first, before meeting back up with her more center stage. The two of them focused their efforts on the adventurer first, slyly positioning themselves in such a manner as to make the spellsinger's job incredibly difficult.

It was hard for the spellsinger to even attempt a clean shot without risking hitting their ally in the process, which is exactly what Sia wanted. When Ikanbi landed her surprise attack, Sia swung hard with her staff, meeting the wooden stick with the side of the adventurer's head just as Ikanbi had kicked out their knee. Collectively, they dealt a rather heinous series of blows to the adventurer, effectively incapacitating him before using him as a shield to close the distance on the spellsinger and finish the job.

Sia rejoiced with Ikanbi when they won. She left with her and met up with Erebus, excitedly gabbing about the fight. "Thank you so, so much for your help, Erebus." Sia said to him softly, but avoiding eye contact entirely out of embarrassment. "I will...probably take you up on that offer. Not being able to produce even the simplest of effects is becoming very tiring."

1582/1500