Elementals: The Black Beast (IC, Sign-ups only)

[Zarkenis Ultima]

"A vampire? Right, sure. That sounds about as plausible as a giant lizard with wings," Richard replied, still watching Ero-San with a morbid fascination.

"Well, those myths of vampires could have a basis in fact, couldn't they?" Aldraniri piped up, "You saw how those demon corpses earlier had all their blood sucked out, and the wild man is certainly enjoying himself from drinking all that blood. Maybe it doesn't let him turn into a bat or things like that, but he's obviously getting some benefit from it, or he wouldn't be ripping open demons to get more blood like an angry drunk punches his way towards a crowded bar."

"Yep, the Nature Elemental has a sudden alcoholic addiction to magical vampire booze blood. Or, we could go with the far more plausible explanation, which is that the man who acts like a wild animal is simply continuing his wild beast behaviour and mauling a corpse to assert his dominance or some rubbish like that. Maybe he thinks the blood all over his face will help him convince that lass he snogging when he teleported into the Inferno to keep mating with him or something," the foreigner said, skating over towards Erosen and pulling away from the mangled remains of a demon. "Snack time's over, boy. Stop playing with your food," Richard began pulling Ero-San away from the corpse, carefully trying to avoid touching any of the blood.

Tristan had been looking at Ero-San while he continued eating demons, wondering what had gotten him so hungry all of the sudden, when out of the blue all this talk about vampires started. Now, Tristan didn't know what in blazes a vampire was, so for the most part, he had no idea what the others were talking about, but what he did know was that they were saying something about the demon blood getting the wild person all berserk and crazy.

They also mentioned the words 'snogging' and 'mating', but they were lost on him.

Either way, the boy from the north figured that he might as well put a stop to their silly discussion by testing something out, so he carefully approached one of the demon corpses and stared at the pool of blood for a long time.

But then, he realized he really wasn't about to put his fingers inside a pool of dirty demon blood that had gathered on the filthy ground of a place that was called an Inferno for a reason. What that reason was is irrelevant.

So he decided to voice his idea instead. "What if someone just tastes it to see if it does or doesn't do anything?" He said to the others, walking back to them.

[Ameriganastan]

"I've tasted demon blood before."

Eric leaned against the wall, rubbing his knee.

"Not on purpose mind you. But when you're slicing up demons left and right on the battlefield, you eventually get some in your mouth. Tastes like copper. And makes everything else taste like copper for the next week and a half. Couldn't get that taste out of my mouth for the life of me."

[Kassaran]

"A vampire? Right, sure. That sounds about as plausible as a giant lizard with wings," Richard replied, still watching Ero-San with a morbid fascination.

"Well, those myths of vampires could have a basis in fact, couldn't they?" Aldraniri piped up, "You saw how those demon corpses earlier had all their blood sucked out, and the wild man is certainly enjoying himself from drinking all that blood. Maybe it doesn't let him turn into a bat or things like that, but he's obviously getting some benefit from it, or he wouldn't be ripping open demons to get more blood like an angry drunk punches his way towards a crowded bar."

"Yep, the Nature Elemental has a sudden alcoholic addiction to magical vampire booze blood. Or, we could go with the far more plausible explanation, which is that the man who acts like a wild animal is simply continuing his wild beast behaviour and mauling a corpse to assert his dominance or some rubbish like that. Maybe he thinks the blood all over his face will help him convince that lass he snogging when he teleported into the Inferno to keep mating with him or something," the foreigner said, skating over towards Erosen and pulling away from the mangled remains of a demon. "Snack time's over, boy. Stop playing with your food," Richard began pulling Ero-San away from the corpse, carefully trying to avoid touching any of the blood.

Pressure! Erosen whirled and snapped at the hand on his shoulder, thinking a demon had broken loose. His eyes were now completely darkened, stained so by blood that had sprayed across his face in his frenzy, his pupils were dilated to full night-vision mode and were enormous within the irises. He was angry, enraged almost, but mostly just frantic with blood-lust. His tongue burned from the taste of the blood that had stained it and almost everything from his teeth to his gums were also stained with the blood of the demons he'd just finished off. Fear was something he could sense, but it seemed to be emanating from him, not anything else in the room. Or at least there was no fear coming off anyone he could recognize. Pulling away from the hand as he snapped, he moved back up and close to a wall on one side, taking refuge between two stone pillars supporting the roof.

Perched now within the shelter of the rock face, he looked down on the newcomers to the room. They were all the same folk he'd seen before, and noting the woman he'd been... erm... smelling, earlier, he couldn't help but feel some pride in his work. He'd indeed been vicious in killing several of the demons once they had been trapped. He felt slightly upset over his inability to kill the fire daemoness the night before though.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Tristan listened to Eric talk about the terrible taste of demon blood, saying how it tasted all like copper and stuff. Copper didn't seem very tasty, as far as Tristan had seen. Certainly he had never seen anybody try to eat some on purpose, but then, maybe that was entirely unrelated. Maybe some Gallians did like copper, hard to say for him. But upon thinking of that, he thought of something else as well. Maybe that guy liked how copper tasted? Maybe he ate a lot of copper at home.

Tristan glanced several times between Eric and the Nature Elemental that had been drinking up the demon blood, the white-haired youth saw the latter hide on the rock wall, between two pillars, something that vaguely reminded him of how arctic cats hid on the walls of white crevices to chill out and sleep a while.

Oh, yeah, arctic cats were a thing on his island. Didn't you know?

"Maybe he likes copper?" Tristan finally said out loud, before shrugging.

"Anyway, shouldn't we... Um, go destroy the bridge already, or something? I don't want to stay here longer than necessary..." He said.

[Ameriganastan]

"I'm with the kid. Let's finish our business up and be out of this place."

Eric grabbed his knee and shoved it back in place with an audible pop.

"Old Lefty giving me trouble again."

[Constaniana]

Richard swiftly drew back, his gloves protecting the flesh of his hands from Ero-San's fangs. There was a genuine look of fear in his eyes for a moment when he saw what was happening to the wild Elemental, his hands almost going down to his swords.

"Yeah, that's a good idea Tristan," Richard agreed, calming down as he noticed Charlie and Kroisoto catch up to the group. Natalie was still probably watching them from the shadows. Waiting for another chance to do things with Ero-San. Thankfully the cavern was lacking in multiple pathways to choose from, with only one other way leading out. The group made its way down the corridor, which steadily grew darker. At last there was a large metal door, with an engraving of a Demon's skull on it. Rather than spend time debating the matter for five minutes, Richard tried opening it with a push. The door opened inward, groaning loudly as it did so, and revealed another spacious room with several doors and tunnels lining the walls, though several of them were blocked by large boulders. In the centre lay a pedestal holding a large, glowing black diamond.

"Finally! Now we just take it or smash it and run, right?" Aldraniri exclaimed, before a contemptuous chuckle reverberated in the room, and the group would notice this yellow-eyed wench skulking in another open doorway, smirking at them.

"Well, isn't this a surprise. Little Kroie Aurenheim managed to make some friends to tag along with. Worried about getting kidnapped again?" Celteki asked, gazing at Aldraniri. If it seemed she couldn't look more malicious when she first addressed the group she certainly managed to defy that expectation when she spoke to the younger redhead, "Oh, I remember who you are. You came in after the tavern fight asking about your little girlfriend, weren't you?"

"Shut. Up!" Aldraniri seethed, drawing his sword, hands clenched around the handle.

"Oh, what are you going to do? Is the sad angry little boy going to cry?" Celteki teased, being the only one finding her question amusing.

"I'LL GUT YOU LIKE A FISH, YOU WRETCHED HAG!" Aldraniri roared, rushing at the Watchtower member. She quickly drew out a long knife, parrying a few of the redhead's sword swings and darting around like a viper.

"Quiet now. Wouldn't want to disturb the sleeping fauna," Celteki purred, before flinging one of her canisters into the room and running down the tunnel. Aldraniri furiously chased after her. Kroisoto took a few steps back, expecting the Watchtower cultist's cylinder to release some gas, but all that came out was sparks, smoke and noise.

"IT'S JUST A FIREWORK?" Richard shouted as the cylinder continued popping and whooshing for several more moments, finally exhausting its fuel supply. "Well, better make sure that kid doesn't do anything stupid with the bi-" the Fire Elemental was cut off by a sudden, loud rumbling in the room. "...now what?" He grumbled, looking around for the cause of the low, ominous sounds when he saw one of the boulders start rolling, aqua green crystals slowly extending out from it. It stopped in front of the tunnel Aldraniri and Celteki had gone down, slowly unfolding itself to reveal its true nature. Now standing before the remaining members of the group was an 8-foot tall monster, clad in stony grey skin and spines of crystals. The head had two horns jutting out like stalagmites, with a band of smaller red crystals in between them, which glowed for a moment before the other crystal spines extended out even further.

"Ah, Wisykibe. A Host-damned Crystal Demon. Just what I wanted to run into," Richard mumbled sarcastically, drawing his two swords and coating them in flames, to which the beast responded with a roar. "Your best bets are aiming for the eyes, underbelly or those little red crystals on the head. The first one is obvious, the second one is because those scales are weaker and have got little chinks in them, and the third one's because it uses those red gems to control the green ones," he explained, as the Crystal Demon fired a few crystals from its shoulders at the group.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Tristan looked in awe at the demon that had manifested before the group, uncertain of how to help in dealing with this new threat. He glanced between the pedestal, the demon, Richard and the canister several times before finally deciding on a course of action that just so happened to involve three of those four things.

First, he ran and picked up the canister, running back and hiding behind Richard so that the monster wouldn't squash him. Then, taking aim, he tossed the canister at the demon's red spikes, hoping it would be sturdy enough to break some of them if his throw was accurate. He then simply went back to hiding behind Richard.

However, figuring that he might as well, he breathed some more icy mist and used his magic to send it towards the demon, coating its feet into a thin layer of ice. Perhaps, if it tried to move, it would slip thanks to his magic. Perhaps not, but hey, he wasn't being terribly useful otherwise so it was worth the attempt.

[Constaniana]

Tristan's aim was indeed sufficient to hit the Crystal Demon's red gems. One of the three protrusions cracked a bit, and the monster shook its head in irritation, roaring at the group again as the ice mist began coating itself around the Crystal Demon's feet. The beast snorted, the red crystals glowing again for a moment as more crystalline spikes emerged from its feet, shattering through the ice with ease. However, the canister's impact had some effect upon its magic, as a few of the new claws were crooked and thin instead of the robust, straight ones the demon had been producing up until that point. The creature fired another round of crystal spikes towards the group, letting out another bass roar as it did so.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Tristan let out a small affirmative exclamation as a means of celebrating his similarly small success. His joy was short-lived, though, as he saw that his other effort had accomplished absolutely nothing. Obviously, the beast wouldn't slip, and if it did, it would be because of its own frail spikes, not his ice magic. But either way, there were more important things to worry about.

Namely, the crystal spikes headed towards him. Or Richard, rather, since he was still hiding behind the man. But either way, Tristan decided to defend himself (And Richard, probably, if he didn't move). Thus, concentrating, he quickly let out another lungful of icy white mist. Afterwards, he outstretched his hands in a swift motion, generating a wall of ice in front of himself just in time to stop the spikes. The wall was not exceptionally strong or anything like that, but it sufficed to protect him for now.

Believing himself to be safe, Tristan leaned against his own crystalline construct and began breathing out white mist once again, attempting to form it into a sturdy projectile made of ice. If his aim proved to be as good as it had been with that previous throw, then surely he would be able to limit that thing's power further with another one.

[Ameriganastan]

Tristan let out a small affirmative exclamation as a means of celebrating his similarly small success. His joy was short-lived, though, as he saw that his other effort had accomplished absolutely nothing. Obviously, the beast wouldn't slip, and if it did, it would be because of its own frail spikes, not his ice magic. But either way, there were more important things to worry about.

Namely, the crystal spikes headed towards him. Or Richard, rather, since he was still hiding behind the man. But either way, Tristan decided to defend himself (And Richard, probably, if he didn't move). Thus, concentrating, he quickly let out another lungful of icy white mist. Afterwards, he outstretched his hands in a swift motion, generating a wall of ice in front of himself just in time to stop the spikes. The wall was not exceptionally strong or anything like that, but it sufficed to protect him for now.

Believing himself to be safe, Tristan leaned against his own crystalline construct and began breathing out white mist once again, attempting to form it into a sturdy projectile made of ice. If his aim proved to be as good as it had been with that previous throw, then surely he would be able to limit that thing's power further with another one.

"Get down, Kid!"

Eric was running full speed at Tristan.

"Batter up!"

Eric skidded and smacked Tristan's ice wall with the flat side of his blade. And smacked it hard. hard enough to send the imbedded spikes flying back at the thing that fired that.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

"Get down, Kid!"

Eric was running full speed at Tristan.

"Batter up!"

Eric skidded and smacked Tristan's ice wall with the flat side of his blade. And smacked it hard. hard enough to send the imbedded spikes flying back at the thing that fired that.

Tristan diverted his attention from creating his ice projectile just in time to hear Eric and see the old knight charging towards him and the wall.

"Aah!" He dropped his frozen sphere and crouched just before Eric's sword passed through where his head had been a moment before and collided with the ice wall, sending the spikes flying back.

It also had the unfortunate effect of causing the wall to crumble, as it was, as mentioned before, not very sturdy.

"Oh, no." He said upon seeing his barrier shattered. He would probably have cursed, had he known what words counted as curses and what curses were for in the first place. Right now, though, heh did not know either of those things, and so he instead looked at his projectile. It was big enough now, he supposed, so he took it and flung it right at the crystal demon, hoping to hit another one of the red crystals, maybe both if he was lucky, but he doubted that would happen.

Afterwards, being the valiant and gallant youth he was, he promptly hid behind the pedestal holding the black demon.

[Kassaran]

As the crystal-demon had appeared, he knew enough to realize this fight was not one he could win, not alone at least. Hiding behind one of the rock pillar's he'd found, eh realized they were load-bearing for his side of the small area, or at least appeared to be load bearing if there was anything above them that would come down without the pillars holding them in place. He'd used the trick before on larger creatures in his home forest and now he could use them here. Slamming his hands against the pillar, he realized he'd need somethig bigger, and then it struck him, like really literally hit him. A piece of crystal had strayed from the fight and ripped through his shoulder causing him immense pain, but that was hopefully what would be needed as he suddenly realized the massive creature itself could destroy the massive pillars between which he stood, and breaking off what remained outside of his wound, he hurled it with his left hand (albeit not too accurately), but far enough so that it would strike the creature when it finally reached it. then shouting out in a loud challenging roar, he hoped to pull its attention away from the crowd now beginning to gather at the far end of the chamber. His side of the room, alongside his face, was still stained in black from the demon gore-fest he'd had earlier, so hopefully this creature would consider him the bigger threat for it had appeared he'd made the short work of his brethren and not those currently faced him.

His eyes wide with brazen fury against the massive creature, he braced to leap out of the way when it charged, if it charged him...

[Constaniana]

Erosen's attacks went ignored, as the crystal smacked into the monster's body with its flat side, smashing impotently. The demon was much more concerned with the main group, as the combination of the efforts of Eric, Tristan and Richard was resulting in one of its eyes being stabbed, further damage to the red focus crystals, and just general discomfort from the relentless barrage of flame from the Halvefori. It attempted to respond to the attack on its side by firing more crystals, but the beast's aim faltered, sending them smashing into the wall at high velocities instead of the irritating Nature Elemental. The Crystal Demon glared at the group angrily with its one good eye and reared up on its hind legs, unwittingly exposing the weak underside to two throwing knives hurled by Kroisoto. Roaring in more pain, the beast began barreling towards the main concentration of the group.

[Kassaran]

Erosen's attacks went ignored, as the crystal smacked into the monster's body with its flat side, smashing impotently. The demon was much more concerned with the main group, as the combination of the efforts of Eric, Tristan and Richard was resulting in one of its eyes being stabbed, further damage to the red focus crystals, and just general discomfort from the relentless barrage of flame from the Halvefori. It attempted to respond to the attack on its side by firing more crystals, but the beast's aim faltered, sending them smashing into the wall at high velocities instead of the irritating Nature Elemental. The Crystal Demon glared at the group angrily with its one good eye and reared up on its hind legs, unwittingly exposing the weak underside to two throwing knives hurled by Kroisoto. Roaring in more pain, the beast began barreling towards the main concentration of the group.

As Erosen looked on at the giant brute charging the group, noting that his attack was mostly ineffective, he decided a different tactic. Running towards the creature, he leaped into the air hoping to latch on to the massive beast as it ran, and make it's way to the head where the last eye stood. He'd done things like this before, but never with a crystal demon and never in a slick cave. Reaching out for some of the more spiny protrusions he thought he could see along the creature's back, he reached out, hands fully open hoping to strike the creature full on and be able to carry out his plan.

[Ameriganastan]

"If he's going high, I might as well go low."

Eric took a running charge at the thing that was charging at him.

"Hope my back doesn't go out on me for this."

He dropped to his knees, sliding on what was left of the ice on the floor. Swinging Belle Lame at the things legs as he slid by.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Tristan peeked out from his small hideout behind the pedestal holding the black diamond, and saw the crystal demon charging at full speed towards his friends. Hopefully they would be able to dodge, but there wasn't really a lot he could do about that. What he could do, though, was making sure that the demon ended up in a vulnerable position after its charge, so that the others could bring it down for good... If they were still there, anyway. Thus, focusing, the white-haired youth released a lungful of icy white mist and commanded it to permeate the floor, solidifying into a coat of ice along the crystal demon's path. He hoped that this would cause it to slip. Sure, it hadn't worked when he applied his magic directly to its feet, but maybe it would now?

[Constaniana]

Aldraniri continued running down the passageway, determined to catch the repugnant Watchtower cultist. He could feel fatigue trying to seep into his muscles and tried to shove it aside with sheer fury.

Why can't I catch up to her? This would be so much easier if I had magic! Being an ordinary human isn't good enough to for doing all this!

The boy's angst-ridden thoughts were interrupted upon seeing another round chamber up ahead, and he could see his prey standing there. Celteki was flanked by armoured men like the unconscious ones Aldraniri had seen when he came into the Galloping Mare that fateful night, and a few generic Watchtower agents in grey robes. The sight of Celteki and her fellow cultists galvanized Aldraniri to run even faster, closing the distance before something slammed into him from a tunnel on his right side he hadn't seen until now. Aldraniri snatched his sword back as he began rising to his feet again as a few of the Watchtower members let out alarmed cries.

"Stay back, fiend, lest I cleave ye in two!" one of the Watchtower knights cried, his voice muddled by his helm and funny accent from the isolated northern coast of Galllia. Aldraniri looked up to see what was making the cultists so worried, locking eyes with this.

"Really? I can smell the fear emanating from you, fool. I'll kill you lot soon enough," the Daemonness said, laughing briefly while still looking at Aldraniri, who was slowly backing into the wall, holding his sword out, "But this one here smells a lot more interesting than your fearful armoured hides. Now, what's that phrase I've heard you Gaiacans use? Let's dance?" she said, before summoning a black sword out of thin air, taking a swing at Aldraniri.

---

Ero-San managed to successfully land on the Crystal Demon's back, as Eric slid under it, wounding the legs. Kroisoto grabbed Charlie and pulled her out of the path of the charging brute, which was finding itself in even more pain as the old knight hacked at its legs. The wounds made it unable to focus on where it was going, causing it to slip on Tristan's ice and smack into the wall, its horns jabbing into the stone.

"Enough of this crud," said Richard, his blades gleaming brilliantly with glowing red magic, which began forming rings of runes around his hands. "Twin blades of blazing might! Cleave and sear thy foes before thee! Crimson Cross!" The Halvefori chanted, before the spell rune rings surged outwards and two narrow masses of red magic launched towards the trapped demon, melting through the stony skin and causing critical heat damage. "That should do it," Richard stated, breathing a little heavily as he sheathed his swords, "Though I could be wrong; Crystal Demons can be pretty tenacious. Anybody want to go fetch Aldraniri before we take out the keystone? And hopefully find a viable exit we can use once the Inferno starts crumbling?"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

"I'll go." Tristan offered, standing up from behind the keystone pedestal and dusting himself off. Dust from this dimension just made him feel ickier, be it for legit reasons or because he thought Inferno dust should be like that. But anyway, he then began walking down the tunnel Aldraniri had gone to. "It's this way, right? I'll get him. Just don't take it out before I get back, so we can slide back. It should be faster than walking. Oh, and if that thing comes back to life don't let it block the exit." He continued speaking, though his voice faded little by little as he continued heading down the tunnel.

Eventually, he was greeted by the rather interesting sight of Aldraniri, who had cleanly defeated a demon earlier, backing into a wall while fighting a blonde girl. Sure, she had wings and all, but it was still amusing. Or, maybe it would have been, had Tristan's sense of humor been richer at that point.

Right now, all he did was scratch his head. He wasn't sure what to do, he couldn't exactly go in and drag Aldraniri out of there, he might get hurt, what with swords being swung around. So, finally, he decided to do the polite thing, and ask.

"Umm, miss, do you mind letting my friend come with me? We don't mean to trouble anyone. We're about to leave." He said.

[Ameriganastan]

"Uh...can someone give me a hand over here?"

While Tristan ran off to retrieve Aldraniri, Eric was still on his knees. Looking like a musician who hadn't risen from a powerslide yet.

"I hate to be a bother, but I appear to be stuck. Someone mind giving me a good kick in the back? That usually pops that pesky disc back in place."

[Agritum]

*snip*

"That's a quite interesting display of standardized spellcasting rituals coupled with good knowledge of thermodynamics and inorganical chemistry, Mister!" Charlie remarked enthusiastically to Richard, gazing at the results of his attack with utter awe. "I'd love to study the runes engraved on the blade of your sword. While I have already seen some of them in the past, I never expected to see an actually working, magically-active rune. Is it something related to the material they are engraved on? Or maybe they were subjected to a special ritual by the swordsmith who produced them? Can they be filled up with magical energy, so that non-Elementals can use their special powers, or can't they? Is this sword capable of executing attacks which aren't fire-based, if the Elemental who wields it is not a Fire one?" she began to flood Richard with answers, visibly interested.

[Constaniana]

*snip*

"That's a quite interesting display of standardized spellcasting rituals coupled with good knowledge of thermodynamics and inorganical chemistry, Mister!" Charlie remarked enthusiastically to Richard, gazing at the results of his attack with utter awe. "I'd love to study the runes engraved on the blade of your sword. While I have already seen some of them in the past, I never expected to see an actually working, magically-active rune. Is it something related to the material they are engraved on? Or maybe they were subjected to a special ritual by the swordsmith who produced them? Can they be filled up with magical energy, so that non-Elementals can use their special powers, or can't they? Is this sword capable of executing attacks which aren't fire-based, if the Elemental who wields it is not a Fire one?" she began to flood Richard with answers, visibly interested.

"Well, I'm not too sure about how Eyilstiid here was forged," Richard replied, holding up the gold-hilted longsword for Charlie to see and walking over to Eric, obliging his request and offering him a hand up while resuming his response to the girl, "My friend never really gave me a good answer about how he got it, and when I had a blacksmith Metal Elemental friend of mine examine it he couldn't figure out what sort of metal it was. He could tell it was some type of metal, since he could bend it, but it was a lot more difficult for him than usual. But my sabre here got some flame enchantments from the smith who made it. They aren't as strong as the ones on Eyilstiid, but they keep the blade from softening when heated and singe enemies a decent bit whem I'm not specificially chanelling magic into it," The Halvefori paused, scratching the back of his head for a few moments, "Though I haven't ever seen a non-Fire Elemental try using magic with it, truth be told."

[Agritum]

"That's a quite interesting display of standardized spellcasting rituals coupled with good knowledge of thermodynamics and inorganical chemistry, Mister!" Charlie remarked enthusiastically to Richard, gazing at the results of his attack with utter awe. "I'd love to study the runes engraved on the blade of your sword. While I have already seen some of them in the past, I never expected to see an actually working, magically-active rune. Is it something related to the material they are engraved on? Or maybe they were subjected to a special ritual by the swordsmith who produced them? Can they be filled up with magical energy, so that non-Elementals can use their special powers, or can't they? Is this sword capable of executing attacks which aren't fire-based, if the Elemental who wields it is not a Fire one?" she began to flood Richard with answers, visibly interested.

"Well, I'm not too sure about how Eyilstiid here was forged," Richard replied, holding up the gold-hilted longsword for Charlie to see and walking over to Eric, obliging his request and offering him a hand up while resuming his response to the girl, "My friend never really gave me a good answer about how he got it, and when I had a blacksmith Metal Elemental friend of mine examine it he couldn't figure out what sort of metal it was. He could tell it was some type of metal, since he could bend it, but it was a lot more difficult for him than usual. But my sabre here got some flame enchantments from the smith who made it. They aren't as strong as the ones on Eyilstiid, but they keep the blade from softening when heated and singe enemies a decent bit whem I'm not specificially chanelling magic into it," The Halvefori paused, scratching the back of his head for a few moments, "Though I haven't ever seen a non-Fire Elemental try using magic with it, truth be told."

Charlie tentatively held her hand towards the hilt of the sword, looking at Richard with what amounted to puppy eyes.
"Would you mind if I experimented with it, mister? The curiosity is just killing me, and I'd love to see the eventual results of such an experiment."

[Constaniana]

Richard was silent for a moment or two as he thought over Charlie's question, before shrugging and giving her a nod.

"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt letting you study it a little," he said, handing the sword over to Charlie. The enchanted blade would feel pleasantly warm in her hands like a good summer day, and it was surprisingly light for such a long weapon.

[Agritum]

Richard was silent for a moment or two as he thought over Charlie's question, before shrugging and giving her a nod.

"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt letting you study it a little," he said, handing the sword over to Charlie. The enchanted blade would feel pleasantly warm in her hands like a good summer day, and it was surprisingly light for such a long weapon.

Charlie smiled in kind to Richard, before glancing down the gold-plated hilt of the sword and feeling its cold metal with the palm of her hand. Finally, she grasped it with both her hands, and positioned herself away from Richard, careful not to hit anyone with the sword or the magical discharges it could possibly generate.

"Do I need to utter a precise codeword for the runes to kick in and work, mister? Or can spells be casted without need for one?"

[Constaniana]

Richard was silent for a moment or two as he thought over Charlie's question, before shrugging and giving her a nod.

"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt letting you study it a little," he said, handing the sword over to Charlie. The enchanted blade would feel pleasantly warm in her hands like a good summer day, and it was surprisingly light for such a long weapon.

Charlie smiled in kind to Richard, before glancing down the gold-plated hilt of the sword and feeling its cold metal with the palm of her hand. Finally, she grasped it with both her hands, and positioned herself away from Richard, careful not to hit anyone with the sword or the magical discharges it could possibly generate.

"Do I need to utter a precise codeword for the runes to kick in and work, mister? Or can spells be casted without need for one?"

"It works either way. Spells with some sort of incantation are generally stronger and get a better reaction from the runes, but you can still use magic with the sword without a set of words. I suppose kids your age wouldn't really have much access to spell tutors, since most young people nowadays stay in school or work and don't have time to go wandering to find magic training," Richard replied, before looking a bit vexed with how old he was sounding now, "Then again, things are a lot different when there's wars raging around and all sorts of people and creatures stirring up trouble."