[b]“Oh, fancy Nuclei you’ve got there,”[/b] the mud-drenched warrior said as Raime’s trump card was revealed, maintaining his grip on Amulak even as the mage blasted out another salvo of arcane power. The Darkness element seeped underneath the mud like some sort of virus, undoubtedly dropping their max HP by 74, but the actual damage dealt didn’t even so much as warrant a response from them. Any magic user’s offensive spells were dependent upon the amount of MP consumed, and while certain passives like Mana Control allowed one to ‘upcast’ their early-level spells, that wasn’t enough for Amulak to do significant damage. 24 MP’s worth of power was good for whacking low-level mobs, but hardly noteworthy against the physical behemoth that pinned him against a wall.

Certainly, it wasn’t even enough for them to stop talking. [b]“And yeah, I’m a fucking Immortal. Ya know? Like what that wall-crashing dunce said?”[/b] They laughed again, this time at Klein’s relatively slow approach, more like the crawling of a tank through muddy trenches than the roaring charge of a semi-truck. It did enough to add another element of chaos to the scuffle though; Raime now certainly didn’t have a clear shot on the nameless player.

Ames’ flaming shield didn’t operate linearly though. Arcing through the air, the spirit-seeped disc swept for the warrior’s head, only for Amulak’s own body to be swung towards it. With an anti-climatic ‘thwack’, the disc bounced off the necromancer’s head, dealing 0 damage thanks to friendly fire mechanics. Klein soon ended up against that same wall, his shoulder slamming into the ragdolled mage’s back like a bull through a matador’s cape: Amulak went swinging back, while Klein ended up almost plastering the wall behind. Throughout all this, the mud-drenched warrior remained bemused and lightfooted.

[b]“Wait, cut it out? I dunno where ya got your maths from, but I’m counting six of you and one of me. Disorderly six with shit builds and no organization, but still. C’mon. Yah think I wouldn’t go ape shit immediately with these numbers?”[/b] They hefted their chopper on their shoulder, as if contemplating just beheading Amulak before he cast any other annoying spells. [b]“Extremely freaking suspicious is pretty rude too, y’know? Like, hello? Maybe I came down here to fulfill a goddamn [i]class[/i] requirement? And then, after I get out, I’m greeted by you six goobers who decide it’s PKing time? Like, sure, it’s a game, and it’s no hard feels if you really wanna kill someone playin’ solo, but wow, don’t pretend you’ve got some moral high ground for this.”[/b]

They brushed some of the mud out of their right eye, revealing a pale tapestry of patchwork skin, spliced together with stitches.

[b]“So hey, make up your goddamn minds already. We fightin’ fighting, or ya wanna go apologize to me and then get back to whatever quest you’re doing before?”[/b]
[sub][@Shovel][@Searat][@Psyker Landshark][@OwO][@Yankee][/sub][hr]
The afternoon sun warmed her clammy flesh in a way that exercise couldn’t as Ari rested on the rock. There was a numbness to her legs after so long on the road, a pleasant buzz that came with thoughtless physical activity. In a way, nothing much really happened this day, outside of some nice scenery and some tense encounters with monsters. It was very much like the Stranding-type games that got popular a decade or so ago, a slice-of-life experience that was so very similar, yet different, to her own life in Malaysia. The quiet buzz of the small village sounded around her; the sloshing of water, the crackling of woodfire stoves, the muted laughter of children, the off-pitch song of an old woman. Ten meters away, a bird she didn’t recognize, one with distractingly yellow-and-green plumage, hopped up and down upon the branches of an evergreen tree, its trunk warped and bent like a hunchback.

In the north, she could see clouds forming over the tops of distant mountain ranges. From the south, the wind carried with it the faint aroma of rust and sweetness. Man-Joji had disappeared into one of the larger huts, the others had gone off to explore and do some trading (though Vator was dragged away by the other two for it). A lone child, scruffy haired and wearing a kimono two sizes too large for their frame, crouched by the river, a fishing rod in hand and an empty bucket beside them. Occasionally, they skirted glances towards the non-human entity lounging on the rock beside an outsider’s wagon, but they turned away whenever Ari’s own gaze turned towards them.

Shin-Jia was a quiet village with little to take note of, the nighttime chills encouraging most to simple hunker back down into their homes. There appeared to be plenty of opportunity for her to do her sleuthing.
[sub][@GreenGoat][/sub]