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[h2][color=red][u][b]   ✠   G R A D O N  G I L T W I T H   ✠    [/b][/u]
[sup][sup][b]⛨[/b] [b]Current[/b] [color=808080]Location:[/color] [b]Village[/b] [color=808080]Ruins[/color] [b]⛨[/b] [/sup][/sup][/color][/h2][/center]
Little time could be spent for Gradon to return the Princess’ words and gesture of unity towards him. By the sounds of the screeching above, the Rocs would not give them such luxuries anyway, swooping down upon the cadets out of spite and anger. Regardless of what was causing these monsters to behave in such a way, their intent was clear. Naturally, the cadets reacted by splitting up, running to the nearest cover they could find thanks to Regina’s warning.

That left Gradon in…the wide-open space. [color=ed1c24]“Maybe it was a bad idea using a sword Vessel,”[/color] he said to no one in particular, staring down a Roc that began to charge at him. [color=ed1c24]“Really, really regretting it now…”[/color] With a swing of his blade, he blocked the massive bird’s talons, being dragged against the ground slightly before using its momentum to throw it off in some other direction. The Roc sped back into the air, though not before screeching in pain; a fresh score had manifested over its left foot, a result of Gradon’s abilities.

No sooner was one cast aside that another took its place, ready to gouge Gradon with its bared claws. Likewise, the young cadet prepared to dodge to the side, only to see the bird be hit by an invisible attack; of course, wind! He turned right back around and ran to whatever shelter there was left, seeing the rest of the cadets do the same; sticking it out there would only get him killed eventually with one wrong move.

The long-ranged cadets would have the better advantage in this fight, bullets, gusts of sharp wind, and even vials flung about to keep the creatures at bay. Once the entirety of them had regrouped, Ires was already formulating some kind of plan. He didn’t know what the Princess had in mind, but a crazy plan was better than no plan right now and he watched the others depart to their duties. He would have to remind himself to thank Esther for saving him later.

[color=ed1c24]“I don’t know where Natus is. But if he’s survived this long with his hit and run tactics, he’ll survive this,”[/color] he told Ires before turning to Szeren. [color=ed1c24]“Can you provide cover fire for our distractions? All of them use short-ranged Vessels so we’ll need someone to make sure they don’t die on us-”[/color] Suddenly, an outburst cut off his words and he, no doubt like most others still in the area, turned to the source of it.

Gradon listened to Regina’s words before frowning. [color=ed1c24]“Regina, turning around and running isn’t the best course of action now. As Imperial cadets, what good are we if we can’t even face this one threat?”[/color] he said. [color=ed1c24]“Princess Ires has more experience in combat than any of us so I think she has something up her sleeve. And we all voted for her as leader, right? We don’t have time to be arguing about which plan is better. We follow what the leader says because we trust them, alright?”[/color] He glanced at the Princess. [color=ed1c24]“And this is as good a time as ever to see if she deserves our trust.”[/color]