⭐ HUNTERS ⭐ Urban Fantasy ⭐ IC [Still Open, See OOC]

[Forest State]

Halloween Fight Night
Downtown Santa Marina
October 31st, 2020

---

The ball of lightning would chase after Elijah as he evaded, but the resulting explosion wouldn’t end up hitting him… No, the ball exploded when it was outside of the window and it lost track of him, not having enough energy to turn and head through the broken storefront and pursue. Elijah was safe for now, but there were still two enemy mages here and they could be considered active threats for as long as they were around, really… They did have something else to worry about, however.

The male mage dove to avoid the arrow from Jordan, which impacted with the wall not far from where his previous position had been, while on the other hand, the female staggered out of the smoke while looking around and attempting to get her bearings in her confused state, affected by the potion… Of course, the potion didn’t work for too long, and they wouldn’t have long before her capabilities were back. She was already starting to get her composure again and one of the first things she did given that was turn her attention towards the nearest escape path.

They were the better mages here, but at some point, numbers had to be accounted for when it came to odds. And so, after she had stumbled out of the cloud of smoke, she extended both arms and sent electricity in a wide arc around her - wasn’t a heavy attack that would be taking someone out of the fight, but it would hurt. The aim, of course, was to reduce the pressure, which would hopefully make it possible to bail out without much trouble.

As soon as she had launched the lightning attack, she went back to the lightning travel spell that she and her ally made use of quite often, jumping this time to the roof of one of the nearby buildings as the newcomer to the fight, Jordan, slammed into the ground, too late to make a difference in stopping her. “Damn it…” Jordan muttered under her breath.

Then again, she didn’t care all that much about dealing with this. She was here because it was the assignment, and because they were making her bail out the students that shouldn’t be here in the first place, but she didn’t have to be happy about it...

Freya had some idea about how to pursue the attackers, and she reached out magically, attempting to call the dragon back from further down the street where it had basically single handedly stopped the advance of the enemy’s goblins and orcs, but by the time it responded to the call and burst over the top of the rooftops using its wings, the female mage was already gone… And when Freya spun around, she saw that the male mage had reached a rooftop of his own and was already making an exit in a similar style.

“Fuck… Couldn’t get them…” Freya muttered. “But the city hall is safe…”

[Kassaran]

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

G U N M E T A L B L A C K
SANTA MARINA, Florida
31.10.2020
Elijah Langley
__________________________________

The rush of concussive force rushed across Elijah's back, and the heat dissipated from the magical lightning seemed to set his hair on edge as he felt goosebumps prickle up across the backs of his arms and neck. Small cube-like shards of glass lay scattered on the ground about him and he rolled, groaning and bracing for the waves of pain that would inevitably follow. Laminate glass was strong, but didn't create the sharp shards of glass everyone was used to, so at least he had that to be thankful for. He Brought his pistol to bear on the opening of the window, listening to the sound of the fighting continuing outside. Struggling to his feet and throwing himself against the low wall that led up to the window he'd so happily thrown himself through only moments earlier. Peeking up over the edge, he noticed that a cloud of slowly dissipating gas seemed to only house the curious mage from earlier and a new fighter was standing amongst them. Standing up into al ow crouch, he called out across the open area," Hey, everyone still good? Where did those two go?"

Walking out of the building, he holstered Azrael and began poking around for Abaddon, which he found on the side of the street, knocked a fair distance away from the office by the concussive blow of the lightning. Dropping the mag and inspecting it, he nodded to himself and reinserted the magazine, pulling the charging handle on Abaddon back just far enough to check the round in the chamber. All seemed good, but he'd figure out if any major damage had been done in a little while when he could take it apart and inspect it closely. Walking towards the group of student Hunters now gathering up their wits and senses and preparing to move out, he gave one more cautious look at the more seasoned huntress whom had joined them. Liao, he believed was the name. She was around enough to be somewhat significant enough in his memory, but as the dragon came crashing back into memory, he couldn't help but tighten his grip around Abaddon and gave a cautious look towards the girl whom had summoned the beast. She didn't seemed too concerned, so he figured she had indeed called it back and it was not, in fact, rampaging wild and free through the city.

Rush

Heightens blood flow and efficiency for a short period. Heightens reaction time and senses.

10 Mana p. Minute

Current Mana	140
Mana Capacity	150

Azrael - Custom M1911 Handgun	2 Magazines (10 Rounds .45 ACP)
Abaddon - Custom CQC AR-Pattern Carbine	3 Magazines (88 Rounds - .300 Blackout)

[Confederation of the Equator]

[minecraft villager sound]

[Castelia]

Archibald "Archie" Lawson
Santa Marina, Florida

That was definitely unexpected...

Watching as his spear attack sped towards its intended target, Archie knew his opponent would either fall for it, or would be able to dodge against it. With his hand near his hip from throwing his spear, he instinctively felt something was about to go wrong. He felt a crackle of electricity building up behind him, which only meant one thing...

Archie grabbed the long sword on his hip and then executed a sudden mid-air sidestep followed by a sword swing, certain that his opponent had appeared behind him. Had things been any different, he would have found himself maybe inflicting a slash on his opponent, his sword giving him a reach advantage if she went for a close range attack. If she had gone for a long range attack, then his riot shield would have provided him with at least some protection. At least, that was what he felt would have happened if a cloud of smoke had not enveloped him and his opponent.

The effects were apparent on Archie immediately. He was forced to stop his sword mid-swing as he felt himself becoming dizzy. Feeling himself becoming dazed, Archie immediately flew to a lower height and cancelled the effects of Hydrokinetic Fight, dropping to the ground near Lola and Leonard. He then took a little time to regain his composure, with the potion's effects not taking too long to stop affecting him, but it was too late.

The battle had ended before he could do anything further against his opponent, not once inflicting even a glancing blow at her. She had proved far faster than anything he had faced before, but then again, he had never faced a fellow mage in real combat before. His experience was mostly composed of fighting against low-difficulty monsters, training, and friendly spars with first-blood rules.

Then again, he could have lost his life then and there, which he didn't. He had lived to fight another day, and that was already a win for someone like him.

Finding himself releasing a sigh, Archie returned the sword to its sheath and found himself surveying the scene. The opponents were gone, replaced by an annoyed-looking Jordan Liao. Everyone was safe, it seemed, despite what they had just gone through. Archie found himself relaxing despite everything.

"Dunno about you all, but I haven't had dinner yet and I'm getting hungry. If you'd all care to join me, I know this great taco place..."

[Kassaran]

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

G U N M E T A L B L A C K
SANTA MARINA, Florida
31.10.2020
Elijah Langley
__________________________________

As Elijah watched the other students begin to gather around, he found himself beginning to realize that he'd just flown all the way into the city, fought alongside, and almost died with, a group of complete and total strangers. He felt a lopsided smirk cross his face as he wheeled about to affix his otherwise expressionless eyes on the girl with the- Australian? New Zealand? Maybe even South African? He couldn't tell with foreign accents, he was just as bound to mistake a Spanish accent for a French or German one. His vision suddenly darkened as he felt the Blood Rush spell ending and the mana-infused lifeblood that coursed through his body suddenly slowed drastically. Vision growing distant and lights getting dim, he staggered a moment before leaning up against the ruined remains of a light pole, taking the moment to recollect himself. Adrenaline still swam in his veins, but barely pulled its own weight against the sudden rush of exhaustion he felt. It wasn't that he was out of shape, but the fight had taken a lot out of him and he wasn't used to utilizing mana in the first place.

His family had always been a bit strange about overusing their abilities, but he'd never understood why. He knew he had a great amount of magic reserves in place, but his training had always focused more on the martial and physical aspects of becoming a Hunter. Magic had generally just been a party trick. The Aussie girl was now with the rest of the group and with his vision returning to him quickly, he stood fully back up, the episode taking less than a second or two to pass. She appeared to be a bit disappointed with her performance in the fight, but he shook his head and spoke," hardly, you were a nice bit of insurance in case one of them didn't pay close enough attention. Numbers were what probably won us the day here, but I'd have to admit that our company alone wouldn't have driven them off. Thank you for the timely arrival and assist Huntress Liao, the name's Elijah Langley. I take it you're not here to stay and chat about the starry sky so perhaps we can get out of here bef-"

"Dunno about you all, but I haven't had dinner yet and I'm getting hungry. If you'd all care to join me, I know this great taco place..."

The kid wasn't taking this seriously still and it grated on Elijah as he stopped mid-sentence and gave a cautionary sidelong look towards Liao, before stepping towards the inquisitive mage and placed a firm hand on his shoulder and lowered his voice as he tried to keep himself between Liao and the boy," Look kid, I like the happy-go-lucky bit you got going on here and you were buckets of help in the fight, but for the love of the gods, devils, and any other being on this Earth I'd bring to my aid to get this across to you- this isn't over yet- so keep your head in the game. This town is still burning with infernal energies and we've still got no idea who or what is causing it."

Turning to look towards Liao, he raised his voice and addressed her again," Huntress Liao, I assume the local area probably has been secured and you're probably here to see to it we get out of this fight safely, but there were others from the Academy heading here too. A girl with brown hair and blue eyes helped our summoner here with calling her little pet, she said she'd meet us here alongside a brunette, but as of yet we've still not made contact. Did you see any others that could use help while we're still here?"

None

None

0

Current Mana	140
Mana Capacity	150

Azrael - Custom M1911 Handgun	2 Magazines (10 Rounds .45 ACP)
Abaddon - Custom CQC AR-Pattern Carbine	3 Magazines (88 Rounds - .300 Blackout)

[Forest State]

Halloween Fight Night
Downtown Santa Marina
October 31st, 2020

---

“There’s still things to do, kid. Just because the enemy has been run off from this area doesn’t mean everything’s said and done and you can just go home and eat…” said Jordan, glancing towards Lola when she spoke up with her question. Slightly annoyed, but she wasn’t near as annoyed as she was standing in the presence of Archie, who she seemed to have a tendency to have to run into. Not because she had any desire to - it was the opposite - but because of her duties. She narrowed her eyes in his direction for now but didn’t actually say anything.

“You guys shouldn’t even be out here in the first place, though… You head off to get something to eat and you get jumped, I’m not going to be there to save you this time. And you can bet the report on the incident will mention that I told ya’ll not to go,” Jordan continued, folding her arms. Of course, she wasn’t the most responsible one herself all of the time, but she was covering for herself and making sure she didn’t have to go through more work bailing them out if they managed to get in trouble again. “You’re students and those guys were fully trained mages. Might’ve only been two of them but I bet if they were going all out and not saving their mana they would’ve killed you in a heartbeat.”

“Not every mage you see is a Hunter or cares about our standards,” she added, letting out a slight sigh and gesturing to the skyline in the distance. “Some of ‘em just want to watch the world burn.”

And then she turned to Elijah. Found it a bit weird even that he was addressing her like she had some official title, but she just shrugged - she wasn’t the most formal person in the world, but it wasn’t like it hurt. She’d been called worse. “Secured? Nah. It’s dying down, though. But I have the feeling we’re going to have people out here for a while dealing with this - we’ve got the local police, the local Hunters, and some other contractors working with the Hunters and everything’s still not down. I have no clue who you came here with but you should be glad you didn’t end up in the worst of it.”

She looked to the dragon as it approached from the distance, touching down and observing silently next to Freya, who placed a hand on its head. “And that thing over there is going to get someone a citation with the staff but it’s not my problem for now,” she added, before she shifted her attention to Archie.

“I’m surprised you made it out of this in one piece, ya brat,” she said… There was no love lost between the two of them, of course. “Then again, it wasn’t me that you were fighting.”

[Recuecn]

Tristan Glesbrecht
October 31, 2019
75 Mana remaining

---

Tristan followed his companions out of the bar and into the street. Looking around, the city had become a wasteland. The biggest commotion seemed to be coming from toward the center of town, so they started to jog in that direction.

Another small group of goblins appeared coming around the corner of an alley. The trio of mages didn't stop as they noticed them, but the trio of goblins paused for a moment, confused to find anyone not fleeing or trying to find shelter. But not seeing the pistol Tristan had borrowed from the bartender, and assuming that their potential opponents were unarmed, they began to run toward them to intercept them.

Tristan was again the first to react. He pointed his finger at the lead goblin, and an invisible beam of magic shot out. A ray of pure magical pain fired towards the goblin, striking it in the forehead. Tristan didn't break his stride. Under such intense brain trauma, however, the goblin dropped dead in his tracks. Tristan's pain spell wasn't particularly powerful, even for a low-level wizard such as himself, but against a small threat like a goblin, it was sufficient. The goblin's two companions shrieked, horrified, as they saw him fall. They paused and took a closer look at Viktor, Tavian, and Tristan, still jogging down the street towards them. Something tipped them off this time that these weren't just any three ordinary college kids, but novice mages, powerful in their own right. Tristan pointed his finger at the next goblin, and they turned and fled.

Tristan breathed out a heavy sigh, content that his bluff had worked. He felt drained, and probably couldn't have cast pain a second time. He tried to cast a cantrip the fairies had caught him, just to clear his mind and get focused for the fight. But nothing happened; his magic was drained. I must be entirely out of Mana, then, thought Tristan. Good thing that bartender gave me his pistol. Tristan didn't have a great spot to keep the pistol, as he hadn't been planning on packing any heat tonight, let alone getting into a magic battle. He ran with it in his other hand, the safety on.

He turned to Tavian and Viktor, to encourage them as they ran. "Alright guys, game on!" He let out a little whoop as they ran ever closer to the mysterious lights in the sky above the city center. "Let's do this!"

[Forest State]

The Void Club
Downtown Santa Marina
October 31st, 2020

---

“I think that’s it…” Cassia said, holding her stance but watching closely as the metaphorical dust cleared and it appeared there was nothing left for them to fight.

It seemed that Victoria’s attack had ended the fight entirely, which was a good thing considering they had no idea what their enemy was fully capable of and whether or not they had enough mana to get a victory if Victoria hadn’t made a daring gamble. The things had been strong enough to deflect some of their larger attacks, after all. But their enemies were now down in front of them, it didn’t look like any of them were alive, and there were no signs of anything else showing up right now.

Cassia still didn’t leave her fighting stance for a few more moments, but she’d eventually lower her gun and release the tension that had coiled up in her body while she was preparing to possibly make a move on the enemy. That wasn’t a worry right now, of course, and Cassia tucked the gun back in her waistband after flipping the switch to put the safety back on.

“So…” she started, looking back to Victoria and then to the others, moving in the direction of the Hellcat. No point staying around here longer than they had to unless someone wanted to investigate. Which was what Viv was doing - she was headed in the direction of the bodies, not in the direction of the car, but Cassia didn’t say anything.

She was curious, too, about what they had faced after all.

Still, she opened up the driver’s side door of the Hellcat and stood outside of it, waiting for Victoria. “About that Freya? We done having that talk or…?” she said. While in the background, Vivian was examining their former attackers, looking at the armor and at what they actually were underneath it, at least what she could see that hadn’t been affected by the battle damage.

Halloween Fight Night
Downtown Santa Marina
October 31st, 2020

---

Wouldn’t be that long before Tristan, Tavian, and Viktor found themselves heading for an overpass on the way to the city center that they weren’t alone on. It wasn’t immediately easy to see what they were facing up against due to the shadows in the area - there were lights but it was still night time, after all, heading towards the next day in fact - but the pair of figures didn’t look like they were friendly… No, they didn’t look like they were human. Perhaps demons of some kind, but regardless of what they were, they had large and bulky armor that seemed to reflect the bit of light that did reach them from the street lights.

And they were on the move for now, not paying attention to the group of three in particular but headed in their general direction at least, the heavy armor making a slight noise each time someone’s foot came down on the pavement below. A slight crushing noise, as a matter of fact. Whatever these beings were, another thing that was clear about them already was the fact that they walked heavily.

Other than that information, though, there was just about nothing that the trio of students would know about them. They seemed unarmed… For now. But with magic working how it did, that didn’t really say anything about how safe or dangerous they actually were.

[Sraelyn]

Viktor Farkas
Santa Marina, October 31st

---

The few blocks they’ve traversed since leaving the bar were strangely desolate at the moment. A whirlwind of chaos had struck Santa Marina, and they were walking amidst its aftermath. Luckily the amount of people caught out in the open seemed to be small in number, most people were wisely staying indoors. Hopefully the more residential areas were spared from the brunt of the attack.

Deep from within a dark alley emerged another group of goblins, ready to continue raising hell across town. After a brief pause the creatures charged at the trio of young hunters, no doubt believing them to be easy prey. Viktor looked over his shoulder at his hounds, which were lagging a good eight feet behind; he had decided to keep them at a distance to watch the rear, as they usually made people around him nervous, especially when they fed. Before he could signal his summons however, Tristan lifted his hand, mimicking a pistol with his fingers. No missile ever came erupted from the ‘gun’, yet the goblin doubled over clutching it’s small head, while the others looked in horror at their companion. Tristan aimed his fingers at another, which caused the whole group to flee in panic.

“Nice trick, look at them go” Viktor chuckled at the sight. “I would have preferred we killed them, but that was fun.” Viktor stared at the floor, a sense of guilt rising from deep inside, as he thought about what he had just said. Wasn’t it wrong to be having fun right now, despite everything going on? Tristan’s cheering and excited demeanor proved that he wasn’t the only one somewhat enjoying himself, but that wasn’t enough to calm him down. Hunting had always brought Viktor a sense of pleasure, particularly in combat, but he always thought it to be just satisfaction arising from performing his duty. Right now however, he could not excuse himself by saying something like that, he was actively finding glee in what they were doing. Was it because he was amongst friends? What would Father say if he saw this? Reaching into his jacket, he stopped the intrusive thoughts with a drink from his flask.

“Sorry we couldn’t have a normal night out as we planned. Still, I’m glad you came along, I’d much rather do this shit with you both than on my own.” He offered a soft, genuine smile at the pair.

As they approached the overpass ahead, a pair of figures stood on the other end, heading their way. Their appearance, although hidden both by shadows and the bulky cristal-like armor they wore, was of something not really human, while their heavy echoing steps made Viktor tense up as they continued their approach. Standing still, very well in their path, he could feel his legs twitching as he clenched his still deformed arm and hand, while a short whistle called for his growling hounds to approach. “I somehow doubt those two over there are either Hunters or friendly.”

---

Mana remaining 70

[Theyra]

Tavian Arcos
Santa Marina, October 31rd, 2020

Nothing so far, Tavian thought was the three of them moved from the bar. Most people that they found were indoors which is safer insider then outside right now. Unless of course, some monster decides to enter that is, like with the goblins. Who knows how many got to safety when this attack started and who is wounded. Still, they managed to save some people back at the bar and hopefully they can help some more.

Then they encountered a group of goblins in an alleyway, "more of them", Tavian said and lightning started to spark out of his hand. There were enough of them that good old chain lightning could help to take them down. Before he could engage as the goblins charged at them. He watched as Tristan lifted his hand, imitating a pistol and 'fired'. Nothing came out but, Tristan seemly striking one in the head and it collapsed, the rest panicked when Tristan aimed at another and flee.

"Nice job Tristan" and I bet there are more of them around". Tavian remarked and paused when he heard that Viktor said about having fun. Viktor is having fun right now? Tavian studied Viktor, he enjoys what is happening right? The town is under attack and he is enjoying it? Tavian was not sure of what to make of it and it seemed to him that he is maybe seeing a side of Viktor that he did not know. Tavian will think about how to deal with this later when the town is not under attack. Right now he needed to be focused on the task at hand and the night is still young.

When Viktor spoke about being sorry about having a normal night, Tavian replied assured. "It's not your fault that goblins decided to attack Santa Marina tonight and we can always have a normal night later". True it was unfortunate that their night out on Halloween was interrupted by an attack, he still had fun with Viktor and Tristan before the chaos started. "But for now let's see if we can find some Hunters".

When they came to the overpass ahead and two figures stood on the other end. Tavian could not tell what they were since their appearance was hidden by the shadows but, could make out that they were wearing large armor. The two did not look friendly or human for that matter and sparks of lightning started to form in his right hand. "Or human Viktor and it looks like there are more than goblins at work here". Tavian said while narrowing his eyes at the inhuman pair. "I guess we got another fight on our hands and are how are we going to doing this or we just do it by ear?

Mana left - 120

[Confederation of the Equator]

[minecraft villager sound]

[Recuecn]

Tristan Glesbrecht
October 31^st 2019
Out of Mana

---

Tristan and his friends continued past where they'd run into the second group of goblins. Viktor sounded apologetic about the night as a whole.

“Sorry we couldn’t have a normal night out as we planned. Still, I’m glad you came along, I’d much rather do this shit with you both than on my own.”

Tavian reassured him. "It's not your fault that goblins decided to attack Santa Marina tonight and we can always have a normal night later."

"Yeah." Tristan laughed grimly. "And I've definitely had worse nights out." All things considered, this wasn't going too badly. They were all still okay. Tristan was out of Mana, which maybe the other's didn't know yet, but they were fine.

"And I appreciate the sentiment," he added, remembering Viktor's comment about being glad Tavian and Tristan were there. "I feel the same way, and I definitely prefer to be doing this with my own friends I chose, rather than forced to risk my life for an assignment again. It definitely adds something to the camaraderie..."

Tristan trailed off as he noticed two dark figures on the bridge ahead of them. The steady jog the trio had maintained slowed to a walk, and then stopped, as they eyed up what was more and more clearly becoming their next piece of opposition. The figures looked too tall, too large to be human. Despite their place in the shadow, a glimmer of light glinted off of them--they were wearing armor, then.

“I somehow doubt those two over there are either Hunters or friendly," said Viktor.

"Or human, Viktor," Tavian added. "It looks like there are more than goblins at work here. I guess we got another fight on our hands. How are we going to do this, or we just do it by ear?"

"Yeah, I haven't seen this one before," said Tristan. "Not really sure what recommended approach is." But we might as well get the drop on them, I suppose.

Tristan took a couple steps forward, in front of Viktor and Tavian. He pulled up the bartender's pistol and switched off the safety. Dropping to one knee, he steadied his aim with both hands, lined up his shot, and...

pow!

He had aimed at the head of the first of the two figures, but who knew if they'd be vulnerable to a revolver shot... Tristan noticed with dismay that he only had three bullets left.

[Forest State]

Halloween Fight Night
Downtown Santa Marina
October 31st, 2020

---

Tristan would find that he would need something more than just a pistol round to deal with the enemy that they faced in front of them. The problem wasn’t that the round didn’t hit but that it didn’t do anything when it did hit the helmet - it simply bounced off, and the only thing it seemed to do was help the enemy home in on what they were looking at in front of them, confirming that the group of mages were indeed hostiles and not just random people that happened to be walking around at night.

They spoke… However, it was in hushed voices, and it was impossible for the Hunters to hear what they were saying. It seemed like they were the focus of the conversation, however…

Which was never good considering the two figures were heavily armored and the Hunters… Well, they weren’t. And it also didn’t seem like they had anything that could penetrate the armor, not without dipping into their magic anyway. The revolver round had just deflected quite easily, after all.

Both figures started moving towards the mages at a quicker pace now, forming weapons in their hands out of the same glimmering material that the armor was made out of - one had a club, the other one had a battle axe, but both of them were holding weapons that were quite large… And they were ready to use them, it seemed, from the way they were practically charging.

[Theyra]

Tavian Arcos
Santa Marina, October 31rd, 2020

Oh, the armor is bulletproof, that is not good, Tavian thought as he watched Tristan's shoot simply bounce off the armor of these unknowns. So unless they find the exposed part of the armor, bullets will be of little use here. That leaves magic and Tavian grimaced, these things were wearing heavy armor and his lightning bolt does not do well with armor. So he would be at a disadvantage and there are two of them.

Wait, Tavian broke off his train of thought when the pair started to talk to each other. He could not hear what they were saying since they were a ways off and speaking quieting to each other. If anything, Tavian had a feeling that the two were talking about Tavian and his friends. It would have been nice to know what those two were saying. It was quite obvious they were going to be harder than the goblins.

Then the pair started to move towards them and seemly form their weapons out of thin air. The weapons looking like the same material as their armor and were a club and a battle axe. So keep away from them and engage at range, that sounds like a plan he thought. Tavian did not know the material the weapons were made out of but, it is sure to be hurt. "We better keep our distance from them if we can", he said as the pair started to charge at them. "Let's see how this does against them", Tavian got up beside Tristan and with the flick of his wrist, he sent out an arc of chain lightning at the pair and lightning jumped from one to the other.

Mana left - 75

[Sraelyn]

Viktor Farkas
Santa Marina, October 31st

---

“Huh.” Viktor’s brows rose in slight awe, as the bullet glanced off without effect. “Really wish I had my rifle right now.” He was unable to hear whatever the armoured figures were saying to each other, but seeing them charge towards the trio with weapons forming in their hands, probably meant it wasn’t anything good.

“Keep our distance? I can’t do shit at this range.” Viktor protested while Tavian move forward, an arc of lightning shooting from his hands towards their inhuman opponents. Without waiting to see the result of the attack, he rushed forward, a surge of magic coursing through his body. “I’ll try to keep them busy, try to fry them again. Don’t worry about collateral, puppies and I can take a hit.”

As if under the effects of an uncopious amounts of adrenaline, he felt his senses heighten, pupils dilate and heart pound harder and harder as he and the summons met the enemy charge with his own. Unknowing of what the mages could do, Viktor thought it better to press the attack as much as possible and give them less of a chance to do as they wished. Moving ahead of him, the hounds targeted the figure with the large club. Attempting to flank it, each Bone-hound pounced from a different side; the first jumping towards the neck and head while the other aimed at the arm holding the weapon.

Meanwhile, Viktor sprinted towards the figure with the axe, hoping to close the distance enough so that the axe wouldn’t bee of much use. As he approached the range of the weapon, he feinted towards his own right before ducking and stepping to the left, swiping at his opponents leg with his transformed arm as he went lower and moved to his side.

---

Thrill of the Hunt [20/min]
Mana remaining 50

[Forest State]

Halloween Fight Night
Downtown Santa Marina
October 31st, 2020

---

Seemed like the lightning at least did some damage. That was to say, it caused a brief explosion that sent chips of armor flying, but these two beings that were rapidly charging, they happened to be built like tanks and practically had all the armor of them, too. The mages would have to get multiple attacks to work out if they wanted to get out of this one with the result they were looking for.

The lightning didn’t even slow them down, actually - it just did damage to the spots where the armor had been hit, but the figures underneath the armor were very much unperturbed and were still on the hunt, closing the distance more and more seemingly with every second… If it wasn’t for the heavy and bulky armor, they would likely have already reached their targets and begun their attack.

And moving in to meet them, trying to beat them at their own game instead of keeping them at a distance and forcing them to chase with their more primitive weapons and tactics, wasn’t that great of a move.

The dogs were more or less just thrown off without much trouble or causing the pair to alter their paths at all, the weight of the armor and the beings underneath it winning out over the momentum of the hounds, while the lead figure was the one that would focus on Viktor, allowing the blow from Viktor’s arm to glance off the leg armor before the being took a swing of its own - was still hard to tell exactly what gender these beings were, with their armor covering just about everything and being bulky enough to not show distinct physical features.

If Viktor didn’t move quickly he’d find the axe heading into his back, driven by quite the powerful swing, while the one with the club jumped around the other side of the axe-wielding being and charged towards Tavian, opting to not ignore the other targets just because the other fighter was currently occupied with dealing with Viktor.

There was still time to recover, of course, but different tactics or a quick retreat would be necessary… Because they were dealing with something here that was in a different class compared to the easy to dispose of goblins that had previously opposed the mages.

[Recuecn]

Tristan Glesbrecht
October 31st, 2019
Out of Mana

---

It seemed pretty clear that hardly any of the attacks Tristan and his friends had launched at the pair of Arcani had actually hurt them in any way. Perhaps the lightning had had some effect. Tristan's mind was racing, trying to find a better strategy to use or a change, but as he watched, Viktor's blows glanced off the Arcanum with the axe, who in turn reared back, ready to strike and drive his weapon deep into Viktor's back.

No! Tristan ran forward, trying to find anything he could do to distract the Arcanum and give Viktor a moment to get out of harm's way and regroup. With no Mana left, and his gun seemingly useless, there didn't seem to be much he could do besides makes himself into a distraction, or maybe a meat shield. Better that he should draw the brunt of the Arcanum's ire than Viktor, who still had Mana left and could still contribute to the fight.

It was essential then, to draw the Arcanum's focus away from Viktor. "Over here, you giant tin can!" Tristan yelled as he sprinted closer. As he ran, he raised his pistol again and emptied its last three bullets at the Arcanum. Hopefully bullets bouncing off its armor would at least get its attention, and if he got lucky, he might hit through the chinks and cracks in the armor that the explosion from Tavian's lightning strike had created. Maybe the gun would actually stand a chance against the armor now. Either way, it should be enough to give Viktor time to get out from under the axe, and hopefully make a getaway.

What am I thinking? Tristan thought. He didn't have time to process his response, because the answer to that was: Tristan wasn't thinking. The sort of split-second sacrifice he was gambling on here wasn't something that could be thought out, or planned. His adrenaline had taken over when he saw Viktor about to be chopped by the axe, or maybe it was the strength of his new bond with his friend after having fought the goblins together... or maybe with his mana reserves depleted, he just wasn't thinking quite clearly. Whatever the reason, it was clear that his actions might have terrible consequences that he hadn't considered when he had made his move.

[Lunas Legion]

Gabriella Sara Bianchi-Costa De Inferenza
Santa Marina, October 31st, 2020

Gabriella picked her way forwards slowly and warily after Vivian, her Contender gripped tightly between sweaty palms as her eyes darted over the various corpses. They looked human enough, yes, but based on how they'd fought... They didn't fight like mages would. Or not proper mages at the very least, but she didn't exactly expect criminals to fight like proper mages.

There was a reason criminals became criminals, and that tended to leave little room for honourable combat.

"Any idea what we were dealing with here?" Gabriella asked, looking up towards Vivian as she knelt down by one corpse, poking at it with the barrel of her pistol. "I've never seen armour like this, and given they all have it it's almost like it's some form of standard equipment for... Whoever or whatever we're dealing with here." But if she'd learned one thing, it was that she needed to learn more offensive spells. Her current assortment may have been good enough to get her this far, but given her lack of success here and against those apparitions, she needed more directly offensive spells that could put an enemy down. Maybe she'd ask Jordan for a few pointers in a day or three, they used similar schools of magic after all.

[Forest State]

Halloween Fight Night
Downtown Santa Marina
October 31st, 2020

---

They weren’t just fighting enemies that were strong and fast, they also had a decent enough head on their shoulders to know when it was smart to react to something and when something could be ignored. The armor left hardly any skin exposed, one of the things that weighed it down and made it heavier than average and slowed down their movement, and so the being who’d been shot at by Tristan was confident in not even needing to turn around and face the threat.

Because really, that would just be buying time for one of the other targets to do something, or for them all to run once the focus had shifted… The mages were up against a disciplined foe and it showed. There were indeed cracks in the armor but it wasn’t the kind of damage that could be exploited with a pistol caliber - something heavier was needed to take advantage of it, such as a rifle round that would previously have been deflected or some kind of melee weapon which could carefully attack a specific point before angling itself to get underneath the armor. Something they didn’t have right now.

It had taken some powerful weapons, anti material rifles in fact, and rocket launchers, for security forces working with the Hunters to take out the Arcanum in another fight that had happened in downtown Santa Marina. Not that Tristan and his allies would have any idea of that. Obviously, with all the chaos, everything wasn’t being communicated. And no one on the Hunters side even knew what an Arcanum was at this point. They were another strange enemy on a night when strange enemies were everywhere.

It was the second Arcanum, not the one that was attacking Viktor, that picked up on Tristan’s run thanks to quickly swiveling to the side to see the direction the sound was coming from, and deciding on a split reaction, raising a wall of spikes from beneath the pavement, made out of the earth itself… Each one of them was long and they burst out of the ground quickly, pavement falling aside as the hardened and sharpened earth rose in front of Tristan, ready to hit him if he couldn’t stop himself in time… But if he did think of stopping, he’d soon realize that he wasn’t out of the woods just yet as there was a second gesture and a second flick of the hand, this one bringing up another hardened ring around him, ten feet tall and with smooth sides that would be hard to escape from.

He truly was in over his head here.

Vivian Shaw
Downtown Santa Marina
October 31st, 2020

---

“They’re not human from what I saw with my psychic magic. Or if they are human, they’ve been changed by something to the point where they’re showing up as different,” Vivian stated, folding her arms and looking down at the bodies, her eyes shifting from the bodies themselves to the armor that they wore, to some of the fragments of crystal that were now on the ground around them. “And granted, magic can change people but… Usually not like this,” she added, pacing slightly.

“I would tell the instructors, too, but I don’t think they’re going to know a lot about it either. Because if they knew about this thing we would have seen it listed on threat reports or whatever. You know, the HA is aware of goblins, orcs, all the other things that we’ve seen out here, and we hear about it mentioned… Even demons. But these things don’t have the characteristics of demons, I think. And the HA has never said anything about them,” she continued.

She placed her hand on her chin as she took one step back and let out a slight sigh. “Which is why I think we’re dealing with something stranger than normal…”

[Recuecn]

Tristan Glesbrecht
October 31st, 2019
Out of Mana

---

Tristan saw the spikes rise up in front of him, but he knew he had almost no time to stop. At the same instant, in his peripheral vision, he saw a ring of earth rising around him. The default decision--to not change course, but to continue on and impale himself on the spikes, didn't seem all that great. But at the same time, whatever pain and injury that might inflict, no matter how grievous, would not be as bad as being trapped in a circle of earth that could potentially crush him to death, or leave him trapped inside of for the Arcanum to kill him at his leisure.

Tristan added a leap into his stride to get over the ring that was already rapidly closing around him, and continued on his path forward.

[Castelia]

Archibald "Archie" Lawson
Santa Marina, Florida

Thanks for blowing my escape plan to pieces, Magical Captain America.

Archie had to wait until Elijah had turned his back before allowing an annoyed expression to cross his face. While the heavily armed mage had a point, being careless and being happy-go-lucky were two entirely different things. He failed to notice that Archie was already slowly regenerating his mana, and that Archie's hand had been resting on the hilt of his sword the entire time.

Still, Archie couldn't blame Elijah for reacting that way. He didn't know about the stuff going on between Archie and Jordan, nor did anyone else there except Freya. She didn't seem to care about it, though, if her reaction to Jordan's arrival was any indication. She was more focused on her dragon, and a good thing it was too, as he didn't want the beast rampaging at the moment. Not when things were already dying down.

Wary of Jordan as he usually was, he turned towards her direction as Elijah approached and talked to her, listening to their conversation while trying his best not to be noticed. Though of course, as his luck usually had it, she did.

“I’m surprised you made it out of this in one piece, ya brat. Then again, it wasn’t me that you were fighting.”

"Yes, well, I guess I should thank God I wasn't fighting you then, shouldn't I? Also, I think you underestimate me quite a bit; I'm capable of holding my own if needed."

Hiding a grimace behind a confident smile, Archie kept his distance while addressing her. However, he did have one thing he had to say to her.

"Then again, I also should say thank you for saving our asses. I give credit when credit is due, you know. Yeah, there it is. Thanks for saving my ass. I'm not gonna say I owe you one, mainly because I don't think you want me owing you one anyway. I'll treat you to a taco once this is all over though, if you want one."

Archie wasn't sure how Jordan was going to react to that, but he decided to keep his guard up anyway. He did feel truly grateful, but Archie wasn't one to mince words. He knew he could have provoked the more experienced Huntress, so he had to be ready in case she decided to chop his head off.

"So, like the girl said, what now? You said we shouldn't go off on our own again, but I don't think remaining here is the best option. What do you suggest we do for now, then?" Deferring to Jordan, he awaited her next move. Whether it was to say something or to attack him, he was ready.

[Sraelyn]

Viktor Farkas
Santa Marina, October 31st

---

Viktor’s strike to the mage’s leg had proven to be virtually useless, as had been the bone-hounds' attack. The hounds had lost in their charge against the momentum of the other armoured opponent, being promptly thrown to the side to smash into the rails of the overpass. The armour they were wearing had been so far almost impervious to attacks, only somewhat damaged by Tavian’s chain lightning. It was pretty clear that neither he nor his summons would be able to penetrate it by sheer force in his current state. Perhaps if he were to transform his body fully he could be able to, but his more monstrous form would fully drain his mana, and was therefore being kept as a last resort.

From the corner of his eye, he could see the magical axe swinging towards his exposed back.
"Over here, you giant tin can!" Viktor couldn’t help but see with a surprised expression as Tristan rushed forward, revolver in hand, emptying the cylinder at his attacker. Why would he do such a thing? Was he really making himself the target for Viktor’s sake? Tristan's display of recklessness both moved and enraged him in a strange way he couldn’t fully comprehend, yet it cemented one thing in Viktor’s mind. More than comrades or fellow Hunters, these two were his friends, and he was going to make sure the came out alive from this, no matter the cost.

Using the full extent of his enhanced reflexes and speed, Viktor dodged to the side, pivoting on his leg to turn around as he did so. As he finished the move, he could feel something tear into the same leg; the edge of the axe biting into his thigh, cutting an inch deep through its length and almost slicing off a full chuck of it. Biting hard, he suppressed as much of the pain as he could, in no small part thanks to the adrenaline coursing through him. With his one good leg he launched himself into the air and towards the side of the mage. Latching unto the armour, he swung the rest of his body to position himself behind the them, placing its enlarged arm across its neck as if it were a chokehold. Even if he wasn’t able to crack through the armour, he only needed to get past it to do some damage to these assholes

Grabbing the covered face of the mage with his free hand, he frantically searched with his fingers for the unarmoured slit, he saw they had across the eyes, the only vulnerable spot he could see in their defense so far. Moving his fingers backwards, away from the slit, he focused on the bone spikes that began to jut out from his fingertips, almost bursting them open in the process.
“Élvezd vaknak lenni, fasz.” He whispered at the mage before ramming his bone-protruding-fingers into the small opening with as much force as he could.

---

Reshaping tools [10]
Mana remaining 40

[Theyra]

Tavian Arcos
Santa Marina, October 31rd, 2020

What can I do, Tavian wondered as the fight went on. His chain lightning did do damage but, not alot and these things did not seem fazed by it either. Lightning is all he has for offensive spells and he knows that his normal lightning bolt would do little against the armor of these things. Especially since these things are wearing heavy body armor that did not have alot of openings. He did not know what he could to seriously hurt these things and they needed help. But, is no one is coming to help them and who knows where they could find any Hunters.

Then he saw Tristan run forward and unload the rest of his revolver into one of them. "Over here, you giant tin can!", Tavian heard him say. "Tristan!", Tavian reached out to Tristan and watched helplessly as he charged toward. What was he doing? Tavian thought then it clicked to what Tristan was doing. He was covering Viktor, putting himself in harm's way in doing so. And then getting surrounded by a ring of earth, most likely summoned by one of these things.

Tavian fists clenched in anger, he felt useless, like he could not help to take these things down while his friends risk their lives in this right. No, he needed to do something, if he can not kill these things then he will help by keeping his friends alive through this fight. They probably can do more damage-wise then he could. Watching the fight, Tavian saw Viktor latched on to one of the things and got cut in the leg in the process. Focusing his magic and aiming his hand towards Viktor, Tavian used Divine Heal on Viktor's wounded leg. Healing what it could to Viktor's leg and prepared more spells, they are going to survive this fight, Tavian will make sure of it.

Mana left - 50

[Forest State]

Halloween Fight Night
Downtown Santa Marina
October 31st, 2020

---

Tristan’s plan could be considered a half success - the fact of the matter was, the spikes were rising quickly. It was hard to avoid them entirely, and so that wasn’t what happened, but he did manage to avoid getting caught in the prison that was being formed by the Arcanum. Instead, he’d find himself caught between two of the spikes as they kept rising in the air, until they reached their max height ten feet up. Not the kind of distance that any regular person wanted to jump down from. Or most people, athletes included, for that matter.

Sure, he could try getting down via jumping or climbing, but there was an inherent danger there. It was taking a risk… He’d have to decide if the risk was worth it or not himself. If he just sat there, however… He was maybe still in danger. Because just sitting there would mean he was at the mercy of the creator of the spikes, who could move them at any time and potentially make them even higher, removing any chance he had of getting out of here. He was damned if he did, damned if he didn’t…

But he was less damned in one of the options. Even if none of them were great, per say.

Viktor, though, seemed to have more success at least - his attack had maybe blinded the enemy. It was impossible to say at this point because of the shadow cast by the mask and the way the battle was moving quickly, not slowing down and allowing Viktor to get a good look at what he had done, but the attacker would have to deal with blood in the eyes at the least and had been stunned for a moment by the attack, falling backwards and away from him while staggering for balance.

There was still a counter attack, though. It was just more of a desperate one rather than a precision strike. It was an aggressive move brought about more by instinct than anything planned. Didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous, though.

Some of the armor broke off and was repurposed into smaller fragments, each of them sharpened like a mini dagger, and capable of penetrating what they impacted. It was controlled with the mind rather than physically, with some kind of spell, and it flew off of the body of the startled mage and homed in on Viktor, rocketing towards his last location at speed, ensuring that the sharp shards would deliver more than just simple cuts. The fight was far from over, and there were about two dozen projectiles flying, all of them small but all of them capable.

---

“You’ve already heard what I said,” Jordan stated, lifting off the ground slightly with the help of the wings that were on her back. “If you all want to go out there and try and handle a bunch of people that are more experienced than you are, more dangerous than you are, and have no care for the laws the HA sets for magic, or any laws for that matter, and just want to watch the world burn… Feel free. I’m not going to save you all again if you end up getting butchered because of it.”

A fair take. They technically weren’t supposed to be out here, so while others would maybe be nicer about phrasing… It was somewhat along the lines that most instructors or professional Hunters would take in a situation like this. The HA had enough to worry about without thinking of the safety of a bunch of student Hunters during an event that was outside of their level of training.

“And you’re right, Archie. I don’t want anything from you,” Jordan added, narrowing her eyes once again as she shifted them to Archie while addressing his other statements, pacing back and forth but keeping her eyes on him at all times. Like someone that was sizing up a shark. “But you know, if you think you’re so capable of holding your own, I guess I’ll leave you be the next time we run into these guys. It didn’t seem like you were holding your own, and the instructors didn’t seem to think you could hold your own considering you’re in the group that they told me to find and bail out safely, but what do we know? We hardly know anything in front of the great Archie Lawson… Apparently the best hidden talent scout the HA has.”

“I’d settle things right now if it was a perfect world…” Jordan said eventually, her pacing coming to a stop, her face completely serious. “But the HA’s got too many rules these days. Can’t even fight an enemy over honor, like it’s supposed to be…”

[Castelia]

Archibald "Archie" Lawson
Santa Marina, Florida

Finding himself sighing as he listened to Jordan's words, Archie couldn't help but think. He felt like she took his words a bit too literally. He had referred to his overall capabilities and not his combat prowess, but that didn't seem to matter to the older Huntress. He did understand where she was going with her words, though, but he felt he needed to say something else first.

Clapping his hands loudly, Archie decided to raise an idea to the people he came with. "Hey, I guess we should head back to the Academy, then. If the instructors want us to return, then we should. Let's just hope we don't get jumped on the way back."

Looking towards Jordan again, he decided to address her. This time, his expressions and words were serious.

"Look, I don't know what to tell you, and I don't know what you want me to say. If you're referring to tonight, then I hope you understand our reasons for being here. We didn't come here to seek glory, or kill stuff, or battle bad guys for the thrill of it. We just wanted to help out. Yes, I know we could have gotten killed tonight, but I still believe it was the right thing to do. And I did mean what I said earlier, you know, about being grateful for you saving our lives."

Sitting down, he decided to answer her last statement. "If you were offended by how I fought against you back then, then I'm sorry. I really am. You should know that that was the only way I was taught how to fight, and I still believe I didn't do anything wrong."

Taking his hand off the hilt of his sword, Archie continued to talk. "I'm not asking for a fight. Never intended to. I'm not your enemy, nor have I ever intended to be. If you really feel like you've been slighted by what happened back then, at least allow me to make it up to you somehow...."

Unfortunately, due to still feeling dazed from Freya's potion, he let the last part, which was supposed to be in his thoughts only, slip out unintentionally, "...without me ending up dead, maimed, or in a coma."