Another Horizon IC

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Verek looked around at Aresia's question. His first thoughts appeared to have been a bit exaggerated, there weren't as many people as he had thought. A few of them would be workers in the building and wouldn't be joining any combat expedition. "Not as many as it seems." he replied. It appeared even if her employer liked to get into trouble they weren't crazy enough to go after this rift beast. "If they're not here then they'd have to be at the Burrow with everyone else." And the maid would be leaving to keep up her contract.

When Escellar turned to talk to him Verek couldn't decide if the question was posed sincerely or a jab at his lack of progress. Given the man's work it seemed the former, but it came on the end of a another jab. His mouth turned downwards slightly in a frown, but the conversation moved on quickly. He caught his sister's evil smirk as Escellar called her along, was that a hint of desire in her eyes as well as she followed him? He lined up after her as she signed the contract, taking the next one in the stack. A kilometer or two wouldn't be far at all for talentium users and presumably everyone her wa- Ashe wasn't. Welp, he'd probably be carrying her as they moved then.

There wasn't much more the experts had to say on the mission at that point. It was far away, shot big rocks and was a mystery otherwise. But it was time to pull back that shroud and get some information. He flashed his sister a smile as she approached with a far less devious expression, "Indeed. But we're adults now, our adventures should have a bit more excitement." Truthfully he wasn't as confident as he felt and his sister's suggestion was a superb one. Stay away from the fighting and move in when it was done to see the result. "Where did you want to go?" he asked.

He barked a short laugh as the foreign knight spoke, "Didn't you realise Elthrad? We are the distraction. No need to risk a airship, we're much more durable." Once again he was speaking with a confidence he didn't feel. Perhaps a coping mechanism to deal with the fear he was holding down somewhere? He'd only been in one proper battle before and he'd been scared to death then. He drew the talentium knife that had found its way to him in its aftermath, at least he could fight back now.
 
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Finally figuring out where the meeting would be for the volunteers to help slay rift beasts, Raiga sheepishly walked inside. Seeing Elthrad inside, he gave an apologetic smile, before turning his attention back to the bearded man talking. He was about to apologise for being late, but it seemed he'd arrived pretty much just in time. The room was certainly full of a colourful mix of people, and judging by the Talentium weaponry most possessed, Raiga was amidst a group of professionals. Just as expected, of course.

Raiga didn't doubt his own skill whatsoever, but he still began to wonder how he'd compare to some of the others in the room. It was his first time against Rift Beasts, after all, and from what his father had said to him in the past... they weren't exactly 'easy opponents'. He'd need to utilize all of his skills and techniques perfectly if he was to slay a Rift Beast without receiving a lethal injury. But he'd trained for this moment for years and years. If there was any time where he was ready... that time was now.

Folding his arms, Raiga begun to process some of the information give to him. Rift beasts attacking from afar? What kind of bullshit was that? Then again, he hadn't seen the projectile that had been launched at Danslia. It was certainly hard to believe a Rift Beast would be able to calculate the trajectory of a shot and fire... Raiga had always though Rift Beasts mindlessly destroyed whatever they came across. Now they were actually showing slight knowledge of combat tactics... it was pretty worrying stuff.

"Huh... I wonder how a Rift Beast is even able to shoot stuff like that so far. If they are 'evolving' or whatever, they've sure done it fast. Guess we'll find out when we see it." Raiga mumbled. He was new around just about all of these people, so he figured it would be best to introduce himself. "Raiga here. New in town. I was taught a few things by a man called Aiv, if you've heard of him." He said. He was confident in his Flying Drill Fist that Aiv helped him develop - without a doubt his most powerful technique. He wondered if it could be used against these 'projectiles'. Then again, if they were able to scale a city... perhaps even Flying Drill Fist in combination with his Talentium gauntlets wouldn't be able to stop them. He wouldn't know until he tried.

Either way, Raiga was ready for this, and he went into a more serious mindset. Damned Rift Beasts... those bastards needed to be wiped out, but that way easier said than done. The only thing he needed to work on was getting used to his fellow Talentium users, but he was sure they'd get along. Well... probably. It was about time he went on a mission after all these years. It was time to see what he could really do.
 
Alexa sighed and rubbed her temple in irritation as her teacher and his rival bantered back and forth. From previous experience, they were going to be at this for quite a while. Hell, they might even draw swords on each other, if the last time she'd watched them go at it was any indication. In all honesty, she was probably better off going off on her own and finding the other volunteers to take down the Rift Beast alongside them.

"So...hello? Rift Beast launching boulders? Are you two going to do anything?" Alexa groused, already turning towards the east, where the meteors where coming from. "No? Fine. I suppose I'll go do your job for you, then." She quipped before taking off across the rooftops in a burst of speed, making her way towards the east gate.

___

A few minutes later, Alexa arrived at the east gate of the city, only to find no one else there yet. So the other volunteers had either not arrived yet or they'd already set off without her. She contemplated simply rushing off on her own for a moment, only to be interrupted as she saw a party of armed individuals coming towards the gate, including a number of people she was familiar with. Waving towards the group, Alexa gave them a cheery grin.

"Mind if I tag along? They put a bounty on this Rift Beast yet?"
 
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Looking around, her employer was nowhere to be found. Which was actually the worse of what could happen. "No, knowing her, she will just pop up later. Or even worse, already at the beasts location." Which only meant the maid butler had to follow that group into battle. Such a hassle. Listening to the ongoing explanation now, Aresia actually made her way towards the other only person she knew in the room, Captain Obvious Charlotte. "Yo, I assume you haven't seen Alexa? Hence the reason why you're here?" That said though, it was pretty obvious that other girl was with Charlotte for some reason, probably her friend? Giving her a formal butler bow, she responded. "Aresia Resan." With that done, there wasn't much more to add and hopefully they would be soon on their way.

...

Arrving at the east gate, the maid butler wasn't wrong, but also not entirely right, nonetheless, there was her employer, waiting, instead of charging towards the beast. Which did surprise her. "I knew you wouldn't just sit still, and this on my day off." Giving off a small sigh, the butler soon gave her a greeting smile.
 
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Charlotte disagreed with Raela, but she shrugged. "It's the first instance I've ever seen such a thing. Even our textbooks scoffed at it," she pointed out, recalling the school books that were rendered outdated only a mere moments ago. The renowned expert of rift-beasts enforced her point, although she hadn't thought about the possibility that the attack was a targeted one. If that was the case, there were some pretty damning implications that would probably throw the world into an uproar again. In other words, fun stuff.

The remaining conversation didn't add much, so with a simple nod in the vampire's direction, Charlotte took her leave with Raela towards the city gates. It seemed her friend had already jumped the gun and readied her weapon, almost as if she were a bit overeager about a city-destroying monster on the outskirts of Cykes. She shrugged; it looked like her unemployed friend hadn't had much opportunity to go out too much. For Charlotte, going at rift beasts was more akin to an entertaining job, and in this case, a sense of duty to protect the institutions and community that she so valued.

The group that Charlotte and Raela traveled with was filled with familiar faces, forming a small vanguard consisting of the butler-maid Aresia, her old schoolmates Verek and Ashe, and a few others that she didn't recognize.

She shrugged at Aresia's question; she didn't really know, either. "She's probably having a chat with her old professor," she offered. But as the gate came into view, the group could see that the sole figure waiting at the exit was none other than Charlotte's friend and Aresia's employer. She'd beaten them to the chase, but she wasn't surprised, either.

Charlotte greeted her friend with a wave.

"Looks like the Dansila brigade is together again."
 
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The street outside his home wasn't nearly as crowded as it had been barely half an hour ago when he left; the evacuation was moving swiftly apparently. As Araki dropped into the home's walled off courtyard he was met by the only other "child" in the family; though he didn't dare to refer to his older brother in such a manner. The taller boy spared a glance in his direction and Araki gave a friendly wave and smile in response; aloof he may have been, but he was also family. As he took a step towards their home, he was a bit surprised to see his brother raise his hand and wave him off. "Ma and Pa say to follow behind them, get your first view of a Rift Beast." With that said, Souya turned his back on Araki with a twirl of his spear. His eyebrows climbed a bit at the quick dismissal, but Araki sighed, turned around, and leapt out of the home's confines.

Given the amount of time that had passed since the announcement, Araki chose to bypass the Glass Building and head straight for the gate closest to it. Gravity's grasp seemed to lose hold of him as he flew over buildings, only touching down occasionally to throw himself forward once more. As the gate's details came into view, he made a final jump to launch himself over several streets before throwing his arms out and letting power flare outwards. He came to a halt just a few feet above the cobbled streets and touched down gently, smoothing out his clothes as he processed the faces he saw. Some of them were familiar, others were not, but the number was somewhat disheartening. His parents didn't seem to have made it here either; perhaps there were separate parties being deployed out from other further gates?

In the end he simply decided to keep quiet and wait for the group to move out. As he waited for that, his bucklers had been drawn from the waist and spun in the air around him courtesy of his magic. While he probably should have greeted Verek or Raela, it'd been a few years since he'd seen them, the pair seemed to be in conversation with companions of their own.
 
With everyone eventually rolling out, Raiga figured he should follow suit. Surely a Rift Beast wouldn't stand a chance against all these Talentium users? It was just a matter of getting to the Rift Beast without being blown up by projectiles. Taking off his gauntlets temporarily so he could sign the contract, Raiga slowly signed it, trying to be precise with the quill. Nonethless, his writing still looked like it had been written by a 3 year old. Handing the now signed contract back clumsily, Raiga stooped over to his gauntlets again.

He wasn't really sure if he cared dying in this mission. If he did, then he'd clearly not trained hard enough, and he'd have to do better in whatever next life he inherited. It was simple logic in Raiga's mind, hence how he believed in life after death somehow existed, just like his mother did. Completing this mission would probably save a lot of innocent lives, and... well... yeah, that was important and all,

Placing his gauntlets back on and tightly re-doing up the straps, other Talentium users were already making their way to the East Gate. He'd probably miss the bandwagon if he lagged behind; Raiga turned to leave, sprinting off to the Eastern Gate at his usual extremely high speed and thundering footsteps. He was timing himself in his head, wondering if he could outrun a Rift Beast if need be. Or chase one down... but, that sounded unlikely.

<=>
​
It wasn't too long before he arrived at the East Gate, skidding to a stop as dust swirled around him, before he made the dust dissipate with a flick of his hand. Whilst he wasn't sure how long a second was exactly, he thought he'd made it there in... a couple of minutes? 5 minutes? Somewhere around that. People seemed to know each other, whilst Raiga was pretty much new to this group apart from Elthrad. With his poor social skills, he decided to remain quiet, and instead begin sizing up how powerful everyone else was.

This Rift Beast had something coming to it, that was for sure.
 
[BCOLOR=transparent]"An increased chance of death really shouldn't be considered excitement, Verek. Do you not remember all those tales mother used to tell of the war?" Ashe was still teasing her older brother in this regard, even if her tone held nothing but condescension. "And we're going to one of the labs; we'll be picking up some runetech that'll increase our vision more than tenfold. Of course, I am having some trouble remembering which lab this is…" [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Ah but there was always excitement to be found in those tales, I remember one in particular that was quite thrilling." Verek winked at Ashe teasingly in return purposefully working his words around any thoughts of death and focussing on the better things. His expression then fell at her last sentence, "I guess we'll have to search through all of them then?" he asked, hoping she had some clue where it was.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Let's start at the top floor," Ashe had said as she began to move for the door. "I'm pretty certain we were keeping it there because of the easy access to the roof." Ashe trotted along, holding back a yawn. "Maybe you should search while I take a nap?" The gibe held some note of seriousness, as she was likely to fall sooner than later, and the thought of being dead asleep while being bombarded by some unknown type of rift-beast was the least bit troubling for the girl.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Verek turned to give his sister a stern look, "Have you not been sleeping well?" he asked, a hint of concern in his voice. It was probably a good thing they were getting this telescope then, to stay away from the action. "Are you sure it's a good idea for you to come on this mission?" As he said this he started walking towards the stairs leading up.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"I'll be fine," Ashe said, yawning fully, while waving away the notion she was incapable of simple observations in her current state. "Just the exhaustion which comes with constant runetech use, is all; not to mention the fact that we're essentially doing what I'd be doing here, just out in the field." She chuckled as they turned on to the top floor. "Now, should we split, or stick together to look for this thing?" [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Verek hmmed and put his hands on his hips, but relented protective approach and turned to look around the floor they were on. Any other building he would have said to stick together. But with all the glass it would be easy to keep track of each other and Ashe could check he'd grabbed the right thing easily. "Let's split up, but keep in sight so we know when the other's found it. I'll take the left side."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"I've got the right then!"[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]~~~[/BCOLOR]​

[BCOLOR=transparent]Verek having found the trinket they were looking for, and Ashe verifying that it was indeed the correct one; the two rushed out of the building to catch up with the rest of the group -- moving at a surprisingly casual pace for a group supposedly defending a city under fire -- as they moved to the East Gate. Upon their arrival Verek greeted the others who had joined them, it seemed their little group had grown a bit larger while they had been searching.[/BCOLOR]
 
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Elthrad ignored the silver-haired boys mocking laughter. The assembled volunteers didn't seem to be a social bunch, despite the scattered conversations amongst themselves his and Raiga's introductions were entirely ignored. Well, he wasn't here to socialize with them, but it would have been wise to get to know who he would be fighting alongside. Perhaps they were simply that confident in their abilities, this group of students. I suppose I'll just have to hope they know themselves well enough to work together, and fit in where I can, he thought, as the group departed the Glass Building.

He accompanied them to the east gate in silence, and upon arriving he saw that there were more volunteers waiting to intercept them. Elthrad grimaced with the realization that if he had known where the rift-beast was, he could have put on his armor and intercepted the party as well. Unfortunate. He felt exposed without his armor, but he was by no means dependent on it for protection. Not only did he possess healing magic, but his preferred technique made his flesh far more durable than a normal human's with the downside of being limited in its mobility.

The Dansila Brigade? Was he infringing upon an official unit then? That might explain their reticence towards him. If nothing else, it increased his confidence in their abilities. As they prepared to exit the east gate, Elthrad drew his blade and held it at his side, alert and ready for whatever might await them.
 
Though Raela was less familiar with the others that had made the leap to take on a Rift-Beast, she nevertheless greeted them with a tough, albeit wide smile. Crossing arms, she nodded in the direction of the maid that approached Charlotte, and shrugged when she had asked for a certain Alexa. As the East Gate continued to loom closer, and the over-the-horizon fire of arcane meteors aligned with their path, Raela got more and more eager to simply break into a run.

Whatever 'brigade' this was, Raela certainly felt it was like some sort of destiny. If Charlotte knew so many of these people, Raela posited the former aristocrat would be the main character in this entire story, a suggestion she withheld with a light chuckle. Raela twirled her scythe again, "narrowly" missing another person present, and rose a finger in the air, pointing out another meteor headed straight past their heads and towards the city.

"An unprecedented sight my comrades!" she shouted, "So now it must be time to make an unprecedented legend! Dansilan students, rising together to combat the strange Rift-Beast menace! Here we can make a name for ourselves, if anything. And if this Rift-Beast is nothing special... Well then," she shrugged and tapped her weapon on her shoulder, "At least we've placed our names in the basket at the Glass Building, so to speak. I know I've been waiting for a moment like this, to truly test my skills and see what my efforts have gotten me! Who else is ready to kick some ass?!"
 
Now this was the enthusiasm Raiga liked to see. Watching the female who was wielding an impressive looking scythe, a grin appeared on Raiga's face. This was exactly why he was here - to test his skill! Helping civilians was important too, but-

"Hell yeah - you bet I am!" Raiga shouted in reply with a clenched fist, probably getting too excited in the heat of the moment. With that, he was one of the first to sprint off, leaving dust behind him. (Kids these days, eh?)

No time was to be wasted. With the others, Raiga sprinted ahead at full speed from the East Gate, determination striving him even faster than usual. He was usually an extremely mobile sprinter, but he'd realised he was going especially fast today - barely even breaking a sweat. Perhaps he was just excited, or determined. Probably both. Trampling grass behind him with his Talentium boots, Raiga was leaving most of the others behind already... not a big surprise. Somebody however wasn't too behind. It wasn't exactly a sprinting competetion, but they sure could move quick. Turning back to face ahead, wind was a blue against Raiga's face. This air... it didn't smell like the sea and dust like his now abandoned home. Even if he died on his first day here, it'd be better than staying on that grave-littered island...

Shortly, the plains became increasingly dense with trees, lime grass lengthening into larger clusters around Raiga's feet. Nimbly hopping over undergrowth and swerving past trees as he ran, leaves soon became a roof from the sun above his head. Various foliage, some of which he hadn't seen before, came in clusters of various greens. Beautiful, sure. But he wasn't here to sightsee. Picking up even more speed, he was thankful for his based Talentium boots. They made the chance of him tripping on foliage very unlikely.

After a while of running, Raiga looked across to the other person running closely behind him. He was impressed they could keep up.
"Not bad!" Raiga called over, before turning his attention back to the front. Gack! That was close; he'd barely dodged a tree trunk. Eventually, the forest became more sparse, fanning out into plains once more.

Wincing as he looked up, Raiga realised he wasn't in the shadows of the trees anymore.

Something was ahead.
 
As the group moved out, Araki quickly found himself at the head of the charge and, in fact, pulling away from the others with ease. It might have been the fact that he glided over the land, taking one step for each of their dozens, or they were simply slow. Whatever the case was there was only one individual in front of him, and it wasn't anyone he had spoken with just yet. The thought of slowing down to arrive with the others was one he dwelled on for a moment, but the streak of red overhead pushed him to pick up the pace rather than slow down.

It couldn't have been more than a few moments since he left the gates of Cykes before the grass plains rose up into a dense forest. With an annoyed sigh and click of the tongue, Araki was forced to pay attention as he began to ping pong against the thick tree trunks. Branches and greenery were forced out his way by a shell formed around his body, and though his path was much more erratic Araki's speed only dropped marginally. He just barely managed to hear the call given he'd yet to touch the ground in the forest once. "You as well!" Araki responded, though unable to really see the other individual. A few seconds later and Araki's eyes narrowed as all sunlight seemed to vanish, the shadows solidifying into one.

Momentarily afterwards, when he broke through the forest's edge, spraying leaves and splinters everywhere, Araki realized why that was.
 
It was, from their position, big enough to blot out the sun.

Breaking out of the foliage, the two young martial artists would be greeted with the perpetual, mudlike darkness that was the trademark of all rift-beasts, right above them. It was of a dull, rough texture, as if carved out of stone, and glowing red lines raced up and down its body. Six pillar-like appendages firmly rooted the monster into the ground, the earth around it appearing as if it had crusted over. Fallen trees, no doubt having been toppled over by the shockwaves of its artillery magic, created a natural ring around it, made of the same leaves and branches that Raiga and Araki had to push through in order to make their way into this area.

The entire ground was cracked and lifeless, a clay-like complexion that was completely different from the grassy fields they had crossed to reach the area. For just a moment, they could feel the chilling grasp of death as the monster's body shifted, acknowledging their presence, before that disappeared. It was certainly a powerful, massive being, enough that it had no qualms with ignoring their presence.

Though it was hard to make out what the monster's back was, a red-hot glow spilled downwards, reminiscent of a furnace, and a massive, black 'horn' stood erect from there. Like a ball of yarn being spun, countless threads of light were being woven into the projectile, and the arrival of the two warriors did little to distract it from its task.

To the rift beast, towering above them at a height of 12 meters, its ink-black, stone-like body stretching 30 meters, they were even less noticeable than ants, and should be glad that it chose to acknowledge them at all.

The meteor grew, the mallet of the god that judges all.

WJuewSM.png

​
 
Ready to kick some ass? Aresia sighed. It sounded like it was her first hunt ever or something like that. And really, the maid butler planned to do like she always did, just watch and let the others fight. Unless it would posses a real threat. Letting her talk, Aresia made herself on the way together with Charlotte, Alexa and someone else. Now that she thought about it, maybe she should just go out of her way and help, the sooner they would be done the better for her. "Oh right! I want to buy a runetech lighter after this." She had honestly no clue how much they'd cost, but it couldn't be more than whatever price they would get for this thing, right? Yeah, that was actually quite a good idea now that the maid butler thought about it. "So I AM going to kick some ass...this time." Did Alexa even hear her? Being a bit up ahead and all. At least Charlotte would listen.

Taking a look back she added. "For being all eager your friend is actually pretty slow, huh?" Averting her eyes from the 'road' wasn't one of her best ideas, truly, barely dodging some branches and alike, they now made their way into the forest. Making her way through the thick of green, it didn't take Aresia too long to catch up with the rest, just to be bathed in a huge shadow. Looking up, she gasped. "Oh shit, that's a big one..." Was this actual...excitment? she felt. No, as if the black hair would get excited about the prospect of an actual challenging fight, or maybe, just maybe, this would turn out into a one sided slaughter, it being the butcher? Or it was just big and all talk. No, that couldn't be, the feeling this gigantic creature gave off was one of power. She was on her guard.

Current Position: 3,8
 
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Elthrad Raske
Current Position: H (5,8)

Following the girl's rousing speech, the party charged through the gate and towards the distant rift-beast. Raiga and a small young man quickly took the lead, outpacing the others with impressive speed. Although he was not normally so fast, he realized that without his armor he was covering far more ground than he expected too. He kept ahead of those remaining, taking a front and center position as they entered the forest. He could feel life flowing through the canopy of leaves above and the interlocking network of roots below, and sensing them made it easy to avoid stumbling as he moved through the underbrush.

Breaking through the trees, Elthrad saw Raiga and the boy ahead, standing in the shadow of massive creature. Six legs bore an enormous body aloft, and Elthrad could only stare as he came to a halt before it. The vibrant energy of the forest behind him ended at this clearing, and the cold lifeless ground would render his Gaea Art useless. Stripped of both armor and arts, he felt exposed before the rift-beast. This… will not be pleasant, he thought, hoping the others were better equipped for fighting than he seemed to be.

"What's our strategy?" he called to the others as they arrived around him. The beast seemed preoccupied with preparing its projectile, if it remained dismissive of the party then there would be an opportunity to hit it with all of their force at once. He noted the glowing region from which the meteors were being formed, perhaps it was a vulnerable point in its rock hard exterior?
 
Araki (4, 8)

"Wha-" The words died on his tongue as Araki finally took in the gargantuan creature that stood just a few dozen meters away. The arrival of a few others were barely noticed as he wrestled with the Rift Beast's sheer size; it could probably simply walk through the walls of Cyke if it wished to. More than that, the ring of destruction left by the simple act of firing its projectile was astonishing. Trees had been uprooted and flattened for nearly a hundred meters, while the fertile soil looked as if the life had been sucked right out. And when its eyes glanced over them Araki had never felt any more insignificant. They were of no interest to the Rift Beasts, little more than perhaps a few odd pebbles in the path before it.

His eyes were briefly mesmerized by the rift beast's creation of its projectile, but he forced his eyes away as he took in the creature as a whole once more. 'How?' Confronted with the creature at last, Araki was left at a loss of how any of them could deal with it. Perhaps some of the others were monsters in their own right, capable of Sword Arts to tear through the thick layers of flesh, but he had little to offer in ways of hurting the massive beast. He might be able to bleed away some of the shockwaves from the projectile launch, but by sheer virtue of size there was no way for him to receive a blow from the creature head on. Perhaps there'd be an opening after the creature had loosed its ranged attack? Unsure, Araki simply drew his arms across his body, forming streams of water, and set to work on building them up. "Perhaps we should wait until it fires its projectile? I'd rather not try to survive if it decides to simply drop that on us."
 
Raiga --> Right Edge of 6,5
​

Raiga was looking directly into the eyes of the first Rift Beast he'd seen in the flesh. He knew they'd be large, but... this was beyond what he was expecting. Raiga wondered if this thing even had any weak points... the plating around it was black as the midnight sky, and looked tough as nails. Nothing that Talentium couldn't get through, though. Even if this was intimidatingly huge, and most likely extremely power - the bigger they are, the harder they fall. It was time. He wasn't going to let this thing scare him, he couldn't even slightly lose his nerve here - one mistake meant death.

Strategy. Guh... not his strong point. Well... he sure wasn't going to stand right in front of it. It could fire meteors - that much they knew - but Raiga had a feeling there was more to this beast than that. Besides, even if the thing was huge, they had strength in numbers. It couldn't attack everyone at once.
"Maybe flank it? It can't attack everywhere. If we can waste off his meteor, it'll be distracted with reloading." Raiga suggested to the others, twitching excitably. Ugh... he couldn't just stand here any longer! He wanted to get in there whilst his adrenaline was flowing.

"I'm going in around the side, let's just see what this thing can do apart from throw meteors!" Raiga remarked, breaking off into a sprint around the side of the Rift Beast. The thing didn't even seem to care about their existence... it just stood there, almost as if the very fact people were trying to harm it was a joke. This bastard of a beast was about to see what Talentium could really do.

Hmm... the ground was perfect for using his dust manipulation, so creating Sandstorms could help to confuse the beast. He'd need to find the right time to use that, though, otherwise he might blind his own team mates. If only the ground below the Rift Beast was a little wet... then he use Quicksand Churn to stop its legs from stomping on him, and get in closer to find weak points. Raiga wondered if Flying Drill Fist was strong enough to launch even this thing into the air... heh, maybe he'd get to find out. For now, he'd position himself around the side.

Never staying still, Raiga was prepared to dodge if need be.

​
 
Alexa, Point D (2,5)

"Right, the 'Dansila' brigade." Alexa shook her head with a grin at Charlotte's words. "Can't really call ourselves that when half of us are from Iliserev, can we? Anyways, come on. There's a Rift Beast to be slain, and probably a reward to be collected too."

As Araki and the foreign martial artist dashed off to rush the Rift Beast head-on, Alexa took a different path, breaking off to the side to flank the monster. Trudging through the trees cost her some time, but she eventually made her way to the tree line to the monster's right. With sword in hand, she crouched down in the cover of the trees, only to behold a titan of a Rift Beast.

The girl gulped as she gazed up at the monstrosity that was the size of a palace. She had slain Rift Beasts, to be sure, but never one of this size and strength. At that moment, she knew that if she had any chance of winning this fight, much less surviving it, everyone in their little group needed to coordinate.

"No one rush in, unless you want a nice, unmarked grave underneath this thing's foot!" Alexa yelled across the battlefield, hoping that everyone in range heard her. "Group up, we need a bloody plan if we want to kill this thing!"

With that done, Alexa glanced back at the Rift Beast, wondering how she was going to cut through that thing's hide. Surround it and bleed it out, perhaps? A death of a thousand cuts may work, but she wasn't suited to a battle of attrition. She pursed her lips, hoping that one of the others had a better plan.
 
Charlotte, near D (2,5)

"Dansila rolls off the tongue better," quipped Charlotte, as they pushed through the forest. "I bet they'll cheap out on the reward," she added, before raising her eyebrows as Araki and another fighter zipped off at flank speed.

"Isn't it better to meet it en force rather than staggered skirmishing parties?" Indeed, it seemed that the concentrated group that had formed at the gate had broken up based on how fast they were all running, and the operation was beginning to look mighty sloppy already. Charlotte had intended to travel alongside Raela, but in the rush it seemed she fell far enough behind, despite her enthusiasm. Hopefully they'd all have some sort of cohesion before flying into this, or they were all going to get wrecked, hard.

Taking Alexa's flank, she followed her alternate path until they reached a clearing that opened up into arid and cracked surface. Glancing up alongside her friend, her mouth may have fell open slightly as she gazed upon a titan among titans. It was clearly several orders of magnitude above what they had ever fought before, and the former noble had one word to say: "Shit."

It would be nice if backup arrived right now. It was clear that they weren't going to be able to take this thing down without some very precise coordination and teamwork. Alexa clearly had the same thought in mind as they held back. Her hands tightened on the grip of her lance before loosening them again as she stared at the behemoth of a Rift Beast, wondering how the hell they were going to deal with it with so little men. But if it was that large…

"Think we could cook it like a turkey?"
 
They seemed to be communicating, vibrations in the air creating intentional sounds that originated from their mouths. It was as if they were plotting, slowly surrounding itself with the intention of doing something unthinkable. But that was all there was to it. They were doing something unthinkable, and the rift-beast would toss those unthinkables out of the window with a display of sheer power. A cluster of 'stars' were protecting the complacent mountain before it, and its obsidian body rumbled as it mustered up its vast reservoirs of power. The sphere of pitch began to rotate, lengthening and sharpening, before taking on a distinctly spear-like shape, its destructive force focusing on a singular point. The same red veins crackled on the surface of the massive shard, beating in the same tempo as the rift-beast's heart.

It crouched low, its proudly erect obelisk becoming parallel to the ground.

Its beady eyes evaluating the expressions on the faces of the ants that had scurried around it.

And then, it opened its mouth, ever so slightly, almost like a smile.

The red veins of the shard crackled, burst, and a shockwave of force and energy expanded from the tip of its horn. The wind roared and the earth split, as even the beast itself was forced back by the recoil of its shot. A giant hole was smashed through the forest, the wind pressure of the giant projectile parting the green ocean as it sped through all obstacles to reach the city of Cykes. In the face of such a massive, penetrating force, even those in the Glass Building were shocked, briefly.

Then, lightning came down from the skies, seven arcs of plasma locking onto the projectile as it spread forth, superheating its surface. Simultaneously, the winds of Dansila swirled around the eastern gate of Cykes, whipping itself into a tornado that condensed further and further, until it became a lance of solid air. With an equally resounding roar, the wind lance shot outwards, smashing into already weakened meteor and scattering it into the winds.

It was another deadly attack that was abated, but there was a physical limit even to masters of Sword Arts. The two guardians glared at each other for interfering with each other's defensive measures, before preparing themselves for the inevitable next attack.

Throughout all this, it would appear that Raela, Ashe, and Verek were forgotten about. Caught in the crossfire of those two attacks, the unlucky trio found themselves at the mercy of the winds, tossed up into the air over the rift-beast's dusty arena.
 
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