Brone Heavyaxe had sent word to Yuurei to meet him in front of the cave opening at the base of the Dawncliff. They had taken up the request of a wealthy benefactor that already had laid claim on a chamber of very valuable gems within the Dawncliff mines, however a miner hired by the benefactor had spotted a giant cave spider that had shown up and ran the miner off. Because the miners refuse to re-enter the cave, the benefactor decided to hire mercenaries in order to rid the cave chamber of the spider so that the miners can return to work and extract the gems.

The dwarf had rode Geri, the tempest wolf, all the way to the cave. Gnicholas, bored from spending most of his time in the library decided to join the dwarf on his quest. Benimaru, never having anything else to do, chose to follow by floating through the air. The ravens, always flying above Brone, joined in on the quest as well.

"Giant spider, huh?" Gnicholas said as he picked up a random rock from the ground as the lot of them simply stood in front of the cave opening. Waiting for the guild leader to arrive.

"Nothing to fret about" Brone stretched his arms, readying himself for a fight though he believed the fight wouldn't be difficult at all. The gnome however stared at the dwarf with a raised eyebrow; though he was proficient with magic, he wasn't sure about fighting monsters, for he lacked any experience in the matter, but it seems the taller bearded creature might have seen danger of all kinds. From what he had read in the archives of the guild, the members of this guild have faced against monstrous situations which included dragons, demons, and vampires along with creatures he himself had never heard of.

Benimaru floated over to Brone and hovered by his head, a bit of a soft wind as if a whisper brushed his ear and the dwarf turned to look at the mask that was imbedded into the shield. The mask was inanimate, the mouth didn't move and the eyes were simply painted on, but there was something about it that seemed... alive. The shield and sword were animated, however unbeknownst to anyone in the guild as to how it was possible. Even the gnome, who was very clever in his own right couldn't really confirm whether it was an enchantment magic or not, but it seem like the most likely situation.

They continued to look out to the west, waiting.

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Yuurei was finishing work in his office when he had gotten the message that Brone had a job for them. Mr. Cliff needed them for something other than mining. He was intrigued, and when he found out what it was, he would chuckle a bit. He would lean on his chair before he got up from it. It would spin around a bit as Renji would look over at him as he was wondering what was going on.

“I thought you stopped doing jobs?” He asked Yuurei waiting for an answer.

Yuurei would chuckle because he was right about that, but there was a reason why he was doing them.

“Well, Brone wants me to go on a job with him. I figured I might as well go on a job if I’m asked to go.” He said to Renji.

The Exceed would nod as he understood this. He would climb onto Yuurei’s shoulder, and he would wait for him to make his move. Yuurei would open the window and he would leave for the mines. It wasn’t hard for him to make his destination and he would see the group of companions with Brone. He saw the two crows in the air, and he would descend to the ground.

He would land as he would look on Brone as his friend.

“This time you will be the one to take out the creature within the mines.” He said to Brone as he would look at every one.

“Brone, have you noticed that you didn’t have any companions at the beginning of your journey, and now you have a bunch of them surrounding you.” He said to him as he always knew that Brone had a problem with him not having an Exceed.

Yuurei would look over to the mine and would crack his neck and he would feel Renji climbing down onto the ground. It would seem like things were going to move forward.

“Alright guys let’s be on our way and get things going.” He said to everyone as he looked at them.

Yuurei was fine with this, and he would enter the mine first. Still, he figured he would let Brone take the lead this time.

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Brone watched the direction of the main road which was on a descent from his position, waiting for any sign of Yuurei to appear over the horizon. Benimaru had tapped the dwarf's shoulder using the hilt of his sword. Brone brushed the oni sword away, but when Benimaru tapped him again, he turned to face it. He noticed the oni mask was facing upward, so he followed it's gaze and noticed Yuurei was descending from the sky.

"Becoming more angel-like every day, huh?" Brone chuckled as the nephilim touched down on the solid ground. Gnicholas had pulled out a tiny notebook and began writing in it. Muninn flew down and hopped over to look over the gnome's shoulder and noticed he was writing down information about Yuurei and speculations about angels. Gnicholas pulled his book away when he noticed the peeping-bird.

"Good" the dwarf walked up to Yuurei and stared up at him with a smile. He enjoyed hearing Yuurei giving him the chance to make up for the last mission they were on when Yuurei had defeated the giant shark with one hit before the dwarf could even fully prepare for the combat.

The dwarf walked into the dark mine with the gnome following after. As for the ravens and Geri, they stayed behind, not much of a fan of caves. For some distance, Brone had navigated the tunnels, remembering the map layout since when he had last traversed the area. The sound of the heavy footfall echoed throughout the tunnels and mixed with water droplets in the distance. Every so often Brone would call back to Yuurei to watch his step whether they were descending over walking through unstable ground.

"Keep to the walls" Brone called back as he pressed himself against the eastern wall as he began to slowly walk across a narrow ledge. He also noticed a series of large silk webs that were within this chamber and especially down below the ledge they were walking across, though he didn't say anything and wasn't even sure if the others could see it. As for Gnicholas, because he couldn't see in the dark, he had hid himself within the hood of the dwarf's cloak.

Once they were fully across and entered a safe tunnel, Brone began to notice more spider webs that were covering the ceiling and as they entered further, the webs were thickening.

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Yuurei had heard Brone’s joke about becoming more angel-like every day. He didn’t even use his wings, but he did make sure that he used his cape more often. He would give Brone the lead on this and he was quick to take the lead on this job. He would move around as he was following his friend. It wouldn’t be a hard thing to do as he had been here many times as well. He would make sure that he didn’t get in his friend’s way, and he would hear him when he had given him advice.

Renji was behind Yuurei as he was making sure that he didn’t get left behind. He also made sure that he stood close to him as they didn’t have their lit hardhat.

“I’m still the same old me, Brone. I just used my cape to navigate here. It was the fastest way to get to where I needed to go is all.” He said to Brone as he kept moving behind him.

Renji would shake his head when he heard these two talk about Yuurei.

“I don’t think Yuurei could become more angel-like if he wanted to. It seems like the other Seraphims dislike that he even exists. Of course, I’m sure Yuurei will put them in their place if they keep coming after him.” He said to the two of them as they continued walking.

He would see that they were walking on a ledge now. That was fine as he would move through it without much of a problem. He would use his cape if he would fall, so this wasn’t scary. Renji wasn’t bothered by this either because he knew that Yuurei would save him if something stupid and unfortunate would happen.

When they got to the end of the place, it would seem like they would be able to proceed. The only problem was the webs that were all around the place. It would seem like they were getting closer to their prey, but were they really the hunters? Yuurei was on guard as they were walking together. He would make sure that he couldn’t be caught off guard.

“If I sense any danger coming, I will let you know alright?” He said to Brone.

He wasn’t sure if the creature they were hunting would appear in a way they would be able to see it. He also remembered that Brone could also see the monster coming as well. He knew that his friend would be fine with this and kept moving. Renji kept moving close to Yuurei as he didn’t want to get caught off guard because he didn’t have what Yuurei had. It would be his fight today and after they would be able to go on another quest and work together to take out the problem right?

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Gnicholas caught Renji's statement concerning the Seraphim disliking Yuurei. From what the gnome had discovered when reading through the diaries and reports in the archives, Yuurei had obtained angelic powers, there was also a situation where Yuurei and Brone had to fight off an actual angel, "Didn't actually know angels existed before hearing about this" he said as he continued to hide within the dwarf's hood.

Brone continued to lead the way through the tunnels, from the coordinates given to him of the destination and noticing the silk webs continued to thicken down the correct path, he could tell the spider had made sure to set up a nest where they needed to secure; so a fight was most likely inevitable. Eventually, the webs were so thick, Brone and Benimaru had to caught their way through webs that hung from the ceiling and stretched from wall to wall, the dwarf using one of his axes and Benimaru using his sword.

After traversing another set of tunnels, they had entered a large chamber where the walls were covered in thick webs that stretched all throughout. Though through some of the thinnest layers, Brone could spot gems upon the walls, "We're here" he whispered as he slowly drew forth his two axes, Spellcleaver and Beowulf's axe. As he looked about, trying to find their target, he summoned for both his spears into his extra hands. Even though he could see through the darkness, there was no sign of a giant spider, that is until something entered his instinctual senses. Something large was coming close from up above, so the dwarf tumbled out of the way before the giant spider slammed onto the floor where Brone was but a moment ago.

The beast was larger than any human and wider than a pair of wagons, but this put fear into the dwarf, for he growled as the spider hissed and started to move closer to Brone, it's many legs moved between one another, bringing it's body closer to it's intended next meal.

Brone normally wouldn't go all out for a fight in the beginning, but he felt he needed to match Yuurei for what he had done during the last mission, so he tapped into the power of Shaka Zulu's Assagai which caused the magical energy to surge within him, causing his body to grow until it reached eleven feet tall, just over the spider's height; his body covered in fur and his face more feline as his white hair fell, resembling a white mane.

The lion-dwarf positioned himself, readying to strike, he needed to defeat it in one blow.

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Yuurei would continue to follow Brone. He was trying to figure out where the spider was, but there was no sense of danger, and there was no vibration coming from any direction. He was starting to wonder if there was even a spider in this place. It was with that or something else had gotten the spider already. His thoughts had gone everywhere at this point and suddenly he would hear Brone’s voice. He would nod as he understood where they were, and the next thing he could feel was something moving. He chuckled a bit as he spoke too soon. It would seem like the monster they were going to take down was coming in hot.

Yuurei would move out of the way at this point as he would lunge out of the way of the creature. It would hit the ground missing everybody that was there. Renji was being held by Yuurei for a moment before he let his friend down and looked at the spider.

It was huge and scary, but it was nothing they couldn’t handle. He was going to step forward to take it on, but then he calmed himself. He remembered he told Brone he could have the next one that they had to take out. He would relax as he waited for him to handle this.

He would look over to Breone and he would see that his friend would start transforming. He stepped back a bit as he felt this was too much. It would make him shake his head as he wondered if the spider could handle Brone in this form.

“Don’t you think that’s too much Brone?” Renji asked waiting to see what would happen to the spider now.

Yuurei would chuckle when he heard Renji asking that question, but he didn’t mind that he was doing this. If this would get the job to go by quicker, then he was okay with him doing anything he wanted.

“If Brone wants to go this route, then he can. If he can take it out with one hit in this form then that is all that matters.” He said to Renji.

Yuurei figured they would be able to take this thing out and then after that, they would be able to get rewarded. It would resume working within the mine, which was what everybody basically wanted.

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Gnicholas had figured out Brone had transformed into his lion-dwarf form, despite hiding in the hood of his cowl, so he decided to reply to Renji's statement that he had heard, "Yuurei managed to defeat the shark in one hit, so Brone wants to make sure there is little chance the spider would survive his own one-hit attack" it seemed as if his hood was talking; Gnicholas choice to stay in the safety of the hood while scribbling down into his tiny notebook.

Now that everyone knew that he intended on defeating the giant spider in one hit, Brone was more obligated to get this job done such, so he choice to push his strength further, so he raised his golden axe into the air and cried out a war cry which echoed deep into the tunnels. The cyan magical energy surged and coiled with white energy which enveloped the lion-dwarf, increasing his strength further.

The spider found it's moment to strike and lunged forward. Brone lunged forward as well. When the two collided, the spider managed to sink it's teeth into the fur of the lion-dwarf, but it didn't stop him from swinging his golden axe which dug into the body of the spider and ripped through it from side to side, all the while Brone was turning on his feet, making sure the blade traveled all the way across the large body, then when he finally reached the other end of the spider, the body was then split in two, but the large dwarf didn't stop, the momentum he had caused him to spin all the way around which activated his axe's other spell, conjuring up a tornado where he stood. The wind slashed the body of the spider to ribbons while it was sent flying throughout the cavern; the wind also destroyed and cleaned the silk webs. By the time the spell stopped, the cavern was cleaned of the webs and of the spider, albeit the spider bits laid upon the floor.

"Now we're done" the dwarf reverted back to his regular form with a smile on his face as he made his way back to the front of the mine opening.

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[Exit]

Yuurei would look at Brone as he was waiting to see how this would unfold. He didn’t listen to Gnicholas as he figured that was the case. Renji would listen to him and he understood that when Yuurei brought it up.

They would watch him cleave the spider into two before a tornado would destroy it into bits. It was a bit too much, but at least there wouldn’t be any signs of baby spiders coming out of this thing. It was even better as there were no webs around them as well.

Yuurei would clap a bit as he was impressed to see his friend had the strength to rival him. It was good to know that he was on his side and that he wouldn’t ask for a better team like Brone. He would hear Brone’s words and he would nod as if he was agreeing with him. They were done here, so it was best they go get rewarded.

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[exit]