[hr]ATTN: [@PaulHaynek] (Katsuhiro/Blacksmith)[hr]Alice would stand, once the storyteller was all said and done with his tale. Though, it had involved little information about her own past interactions with the Heavenly Strike, but had afforded her plenty of potential moving forward. To reach the holy site of the ancient swordmaster, Kenshiro, would give Alice access to a wealth of swords with decades of experience and teachings for her to assimilate and build up to speak to the man himself. In doing so, Alice could take on his mantle, and master, if not even improve, on his technique.

However, it was clear that the Heaven Strike was in the hands of the Varjans, now, and out of her reach for the time being. Theoretically, she could assemble an away team, and launch an expedition to find Kenshiro's Rest, the holy site for his students, but who could she afford to bring on such a feat?

If she assumed the basic needs, she would need a Magician, a Tank, a Rogue, and Ranger with herself as the Fighter.

In order to figure out who would best fill those slots, she would walk about the temple, and take a survey of the other Taskforce members...

Of the Magicians, she had the options of Io the Lich, Atsuha the Jorōgumo, and Liliana the Fairy. Immediately, she would cross the Fairy and the Lich off the list; she didn't have the time to babysit a fairy that only knew Wild Magic in the heat of combat, and a Lich that required prep time would be equally as useless in a pinch.

That left the Jorōgumo and her foreign magic with a heavy use of seals, but being half-spider afforded Atsuha unique advantages over Io and reliable abilities over Liliana.

Of the Tanks, her pickings were slimmer with the options of Gringor the High Orc, and Himami the Jiangshi. There was also the option of Eula the Automaton, but she wouldn't rely on a Tank that could only fulfill that role at the cost of expensive repairs. Between the two, Alice felt she would tolerate the Jiangshi over the High Orc - uppity species, Orcs; uppitier species, High Orcs.

In addition, it would seem the Jiangshi and the Jorōgumo were related, so it made the decision all the easier to follow through. Plus, an undead that couldn't feel the pain she was tanking for was all the better.

Of the Rogues, her pickings were equally as slim as before with the options of Skarsneek the Goblin and Kerry the Hornet. That decision was the easiest of all: [b][i]she hadn't slept with the Goblin.[/i][/b]

Also, on the subject, the Goblin was sleeping with the Jugoromō, so that was even more fuel to avoid picking the Hornet and any awkward distraction during the trek and fighting.

That left the Ranger, and arguably... no options. There were no dedicated range weapon users. That would require a rearranging of her team composition, or she would need to sacrifice the range advantage.

Unless she opted for a Wild Card...

Takeshi the Human.

Though Alice had no desire to involve the Acting Regent of her newfound Kingdom of Terauchi Temple, it would have to serve.

With the team and the preparations planned, Alice would have only to collect her blade and get to it.[hr]Said blade was collecting her arms with her hair, the long lock pulling them close to each other, and to her. "[color=808080][i]I appreciate your efforts, regardless,[/i][/color]" she says, as the blades transformed into her arms; fingers wiggling and flexing - most notable, her nails looked immaculately polished and filed to perfection, as if the Blacksmith had given her a high-class manicure. "[color=808080][i]Very nice...[/i][/color]"

Carroll’s tone was almost purring, as she separated the lock of hair into two strands, and secured her arms in place; the demonic slime reaching out from her sleeves to reconnect.

"[color=808080][i]I might have to make regular appointments,[/i][/color]" Carroll muses, exposing a surprising level of vanity, "[color=808080][i]I’d be very interested to see, if you can -- [/i][/color]"

"[color=976f29]There you are,[/color]" Alice interrupted her sword. "[color=976f29]I have a lead on this scar of mine. I think we were involved in a battle with this technique called the [Heavenly Strike]. It’s, basically, [Injection] on Cheshire Dust.[/color]"

"[color=808080][i]Well, that sounds rather fetching to learn,[/i][/color]" Carroll says, "[color=808080][i]But, if it was fast enough to breach your parry, it’s not something we can simply broach without a plan.[/i][/color]"

"[color=976f29]Already a step ahead of you,[/color]" Alice says, smugly thumbing her nose, "[color=976f29]I put together a team.[/color]"

"[color=808080][i]Well, look at you,[/i][/color]" Carroll says, "[color=808080][i]We’re are we going to rendezvous, then?[/i][/color]"

"[color=976f29]Uh... about that... they aren’t... you know... here... YET![/color]" Alice says, rubbing the back of her head, "[color=976f29]BUT, once they are, they’ll be glad to join me, after they learn what I’ve done for this place.[/color]"

Carroll sighed, rubbing her temples, "[color=808080][i]Gunning ahead blind, as usual.[/i][/color]"

"[color=976f29]Ehehehe...~[/color]" Alice giggled sheepishly. "[color=976f29]Anyways, let’s go get supplies! We need rations, a map, and camping supplies.[/color]"

"[color=808080][i]Hopefully, we can afford it,[/i][/color]" Carroll says, "[color=808080][i]Speaking of, I will make sure I pay you for your fine service, sir. And, repeat business,[/i][/color]" she smiled pleasantly, before starting the search for a general supplies store, "[color=808080][i]Let’s go, my Airheaded Empress.[/i][/color]"

"[color=976f29]Don’t call me that in front of people! Disrespectful sword![/color]" Alice whined, as stalked after Carroll, leaving the Blacksmith to his own devices, as they disappeared.