Lord Santa

The Witch Hunt

I thought so. Steven thought, letting an arrow fly into the eye of a mercenary. It had been a nagging feeling in the back of his head all morning, and when they arrived at the cave, it only confirmed his suspicions. The wooden walls and the formation proved it. They were expecting the paladins. The leader’s speech also added some more context. He was associated with the 2 mages from the bandit massacre. Seth and Mimel. The mention of a boss rang true with Steven’s deductions. The mages were part of a semi-large group of some sort, with at least several mages who were very strong, and they seemed to be very rich, somehow. How else could they pay for all of these mercenaries? It was likely that there were more, but judging by the mage’s speech alone, there were at least 4 very powerful mages, the one in front of them included. The group of mercenaries had split up their forces, the other half coming up from behind, invisible. Thanks to captain Aela, their ruse was discovered, but Steven wondered why there was no recon. Surely it would be more efficient to have shadows investigate the area, enemy numbers and any other information they might have gotten their hands on. Some pre-emptive reconnaissance would have certainly identified the mage, and they might have been better prepared as a result. Regardless of that, they were in a chaotic fight now. Captain Aela was too busy fighting to give orders, and the paladins were quite outnumbered. To make matters worse, the mage kept enchanting the mercenaries’ weapons, renewing them every time they were burned. Steven was up against a wall, so to speak, having ranged exchanges with the enemy archers. Right now, he was one of the few archers in the unit. He could support the team only by doing this. Steven ran through locked bodies, running and grabbing the lowest branch of a tree, using his momentum to spin around and land on top of the branch as arrows thudded into the wood where he was seconds before. He quickly drew an arrow and activated arrow of light, spying an archer knocking an arrow in Steven’s direction. Steven shot first and split the archer’s shadow arrow with a sizzle, the arrow flying straight into the archer’s bow. It split through the wood and dove into the heart, instantly killing him. Steven jumped with 2 arrows in his bow, aimed at an arc as 2 more arrows thudded into the wood behind him. He let loose and the glowing arrows flew upwards and then back down towards unsuspecting victims. The arrows split in mid-air, forming a deadly rain of light arrows thudding into several archers and mercenaries. This won’t do. Alex said, launching another arrow of light. This time, it fizzled out and bounced off of the mercenary’s invisible protection. Steven shot again and it hit home before the protection could be reapplied. So far so good, but he was running out of arrows. He had to end this quickly. Steven ran to another tree, putting several bodies between him and the archers. He deftly climbed the tree, mindful to stay out of sight, and climbed to a high point, looking for the leader. He spotted him a little away from things, casting magic on all of the mercenaries. Steven drew his bow back and aimed upwards, an arrow ready to rain death. He released the bowstring and it flew, splitting again to rain glowing arrows on the mage and his entourage. The invisible barriers popped and fizzled as the arrows landed, and Steven grabbed another arrow and drew back. He released again, firing at the mage’s throat, but it was repelled again by the invisible barrier. Steven went for another arrow, but his hand came up empty. Steven turned his head back in panic and found that he didn’t have any more arrows. He drew his dagger, stabbing it into the bark beside him and using it to slide all the way down the tree as arrows thudded into the wood above him. Having no more options, he put his bow on his back while he slid down and drew his other dagger, dashing into melee combat. He activated sun’s blessing on his body and weapons and ran in to slash a mercenary already engaged by another paladin. Using the momentum from his sprint, Steven did a small jump and spun, slashing at the back of the mercenary’s neck. The first shot slid off his barrier, but it also negated the barrier as Steven’s other dagger sliced through the man’s nape, ending his life. Steven ran through the chaotic battlefield leaning forward and low, making passing shots at the mercenaries around him, deactivating their shields. But he had one job to do, and his quarry revealed itself soon. Another archer, wreaking havoc on allied numbers. His back was turned, so Steven jumped onto it, wrapping around the mercenary’s torso with his legs and sinking his knives into his neck in one smooth movement. Sun’s blessing burned away the shield on contact, allowing Steven a clean shot to instantly kill the archer. Steven jumped off the dead mercenary and ran out of the fight, careful to not garner attention. A shield bearer rushed into view, intent on engaging Steven, but he wouldn’t get his way. Steven grabbed the top of the towering man’s shield and used it to vault himself above the man, landing on his head and jumping away, into a clear area. He landed into a roll and continued running, making for the outskirts of the battlefield. There was a reason for this. Steven thought as he ran, thinking of a way to combat the long range of the archers and also a way to put the mage out of commission. He couldn’t always combat them with Melee, he had to fight range with range. The archers were spread apart, so he couldn’t deal with just dashing around trying to find them all. He swung around a tree again, climbing around it to put it between him and any archers. The problem was, Steven didn’t have any arrows. He thought of going down to retrieve some, but in the heat of things, it would do him more harm than good. But Steven had an idea. His arrow of light coated his arrows in Luminosity, but it was different to Sun’s blessing, which he could also coat his arrows with. It was more flexible, and it was less opaque. It felt more solid than sun’s blessing did, so maybe… Steven sheathed his daggers and concentrated on his hand, like he did with his arrow of light. A glowing light appeared in his hand, and Steven willed it to form in the shape of an arrow. Behold, the light bent and sharpened to form a new arrow of light. One that didn’t need a solid base. He willed it to change experimentally, and the arrow bent left and right. Just how he wanted it to. Perfect. Steven thought, drawing his bow. Now to test it. He drew back the bowstring with the arrow on it, experimentally. It moved with the bowstring, which was good. Then, it was time for the moment of truth. Steven carefully jumped onto an adjacent branch and took aim at another archer, drawing back again, and stilled for a moment to set his aim. His arrows usually went straighter with arrow of light on, so he aimed directly for the distant target. He released it and the arrow was flung by the bowstring, flying straight ahead. As it contacted with the mercenary, its size shrunk as the mercenary’s protection was cancelled but sunk into the archer’s chest. The archer bent double in pain and Steven shot another arrow of light, piercing the unfortunate man’s skull. It works. Steven thought, descending from the tree to dodge some shots. This would change a lot of things. Steven shot a few more archers in the chaos. He’d done a lot against them and they’d suffered a lot of casualties from Steven’s hand. But it wouldn’t end the battle. Steven shot another 2 arrows at another archer who was killed on impact. There weren't that many archers left now, and the rest were being attacked by other paladins. But there were still quite a number of mercenaries left, which only accentuated the need to kill their leader. One thing that Steven noticed was that the lack of need to draw from his quiver allowed him to fire faster, which was useful. He could also apply his other abilities to it, which was also useful, and he had an idea on how to put these characteristics to use to end the fight. Steven dashed to yet another tree, climbing near the very top of it and took aim at the mage, once again. But he shifted his aim upwards slightly, and shot. The shot flew straight, but Steven willed it to curve down and split, making a circle of light arrows around the mage. His retinue was startled and fell back, away from the arrows. Their shields went down as they were hit by the glowing arrows. “I have you now.” Steven whispered to himself. He quickly spawned two more arrows with more mana than usual and shot with perfect precision. The arrows flew straight into the mage’s arms, and Steven willed the extra mana to bloom into roots of luminosity, shutting down the mage’s use of his arms. He didn't kill the mage, as the battle was winding down around them. They would need his information, if he would give any. And Steven didn't really want to take any more lives today. He could see the mage’s flesh sizzle and he knew it was effective. His magic would be down for now. His retinue was quickly defeated and the paladins surrounded him. It was done. They had won this fight. -------------------------------- Instead of guarding the mage or exploring the cave, he helped to bury the bodies of the mercenaries. It was an unexpected but welcome request to Steven. He couldn’t guard the mage without feeling guilty now, and he wasn’t really in the mood to look for evidence. He felt like he didn’t really want to kill people, so he buried the bodies as a form of penance. In fact, he felt bad that he’d mostly shot people who weren’t paying attention to him. He’d shot a lot of people in the back, and the people he’d hit with his knives were already preoccupied with other recruits. So even though he was tired, he buried the bodies, as if in apology for the trouble he’d caused. He dug a pit for one of the archers and removed an arrow from the dead body’s heart. This was the archer whose bow got broken by Steven’s arrow. Steven took the arrow and put it in his quiver, and then put the body in the put and piled the dirt onto it. Packing it down, he offered a quick prayer and moved on. Steven continued burying the bodies, and he felt lighter after each one. The bodies had been buried and Steven stretched, energy drained. He’d used a lot of mana in the battle, as well as a lot of Stamina. He was sure most of the other recruits were drained as well. All in all, it had gone fairly well, considering the situation. The mercenaries had a 2 to 1 advantage as well as a somewhat powerful mage, and the element of surprise. The captain had helped a lot by opening up their formation, as well as fighting 5 people at once. Steven felt like they handled the situation well, as their wounds weren’t too in the end. The fact that the mercenaries were expecting them was bothering Steven, but he was too tired to think about it right now. They would likely rest when they got back to camp. The group of paladins packed up and went north. [Steven upgrades arrow of light and attains the ability to form a light arrow without a physical arrow. This new ability takes a bit more mana but flies extremely straight and is more malleable as he doesn't need to worry about breaking the arrow. He can pack more mana in it to add more energy that can be manipulated.]

Alma Terra Heroes

I could change it if you wanted me to

Alma Terra Heroes

I'm kind of just cutting in, so it's kind of alright

The Gifted: A Fast Paced Superpower RP

Alright. I'll get on sync as soon as I can, hopefully.

The Gifted: A Fast Paced Superpower RP

Maybe tomorrow, though it depends on whether or not a bunch of stuff comes up.

The Gifted: A Fast Paced Superpower RP

Loki exited Aperture, a plan already in mind. Just for the hell of it, Loki erased his presence, jumped the fence, and began jogging towards his apartment. He had a plan. It wasn't a foolproof plan, but it would do well enough for his purposes. And if all went well, he would live in relative comfort for the next few years. At least enough to weather the storm of prejudice coming their way. But first, he needed to find certain people. Loki opened the door to his apartment and briskly walked in, entering his bedroom and grabbing some travelling bags. He called his landlord as he did, carefully folding his clothes and inserting them into his suitcase. The call connected and Loki got to the point. "Hey, landlord. I'm leaving today." He said. "Wha-" The landlord asked, confused. "Right now, actually." Loki said. "I'll drop the key off at reception." "But- This is so sudden!" The landlord objected. "Well, you know. Business matters and all." Loki said. He finished packing his clothes and went to systematically clear the house of anything that was his property, starting from the bathroom. "So yeah, I'll need you to do all the stuff you need to do pretty quick." Loki said, taking all of his toiletries and taking them back to the bedroom. "It's kind of urgent for me to disappear." "...Fine." The landlord said. He knew that Loki had something big would happen soon, so he didn't press further. "Thanks." Loki said. "I'll give this month's rent to the receptionist. Oh, and call up a taxi." He began to pack the stuff he couldn't take into boxes. His cooking utensils, dishes and cutlery went into one box. In another box, he put in his DVDs, DVD player and his other electronics. He boxed pretty much everything except for his phone, his throwing knives and the clothes on his back. On reflection, he didn't have that much. 2 boxes worth of stuff and a suit case. "It's been nice staying here." Loki said. He hung up. A few minutes later, Loki had his boxes stacked up at his chest, with the suitcase dangling on his arm. The elevator opened and deposited him on the ground floor. The receptionist raised an eyebrow at his appearance, but she didn't ask any questions. He walked sidewards towards the desk and used one hand to drop his key and an envelope full of money labelled this month's rent. He waved the receptionist goodbye and exited the door. A taxi was pulled up on the curb. Upon seeing Loki, the cabbie opened up the boot and Loki loaded his boxes and suitcase into it. He then got into the passenger seat as the cabbie closed the boot, got into the driver seat and started the engine. “Where to?” The gruff cabbie asked. “The flower shop on 7th street, please.” Loki said. The taxi drove out from the kerb and headed down the road. The taxi pulled up at another Kerb, 20 minutes away, this time in front of a flower shop. ‘The flower pot’ was its name. A fairly small floristry, it was charming in its own right and was owned by people Loki trusted. It actually had a few rooms above the store, where people could live. It sat in the middle of a shopping district. Not exactly peaceful, but he could hide here for a while. Loki offloaded his luggage and paid the cabbie, who drove away. Loki stepped awkwardly up to the door, wondering how he would ring the doorbell, when it opened and a man with a large build was revealed. “Loki!” The man said in surprise. “What are you doing here?” “Sup, Tom?” Loki said casually. “This might seem a bit weird, but I need to live here for a while.” A few minutes later, Loki was having tea with Thomas and His wife, Claire, in the back room, after they let him in and put his stuff in one of the spare rooms. He put his coat on the rack by the door because he’d talk for a little bit. “Ah.” Loki said, satisfied. “This tea is good.” “Thanks. It’s an earl grey blend.” Claire said. “Loki.” Thomas cut in. “What did you mean by you need to live here?” “Straight to the point, huh.” Loki said. He grabbed a cookie that was set out on the table and began biting it. “Well, I got a new job.” Loki said, munching the job. “A merc job, this time.” Thomas and Claire were quiet, waiting for him to continue. They were old army friends who retired to get married. He trusted them enough with this information. “Well, I can’t exactly hand out details, but after I do it, I need to lay low for a while.” He said, reaching for another cookie. It was evident that they were thinking, and Loki bit his cookies while they did. “We’re good friends, Loki, but we’ll need more reason than that.” Thomas said at last. “For closure, at least. Even if you can’t tell us anything…” “Well, you know the Disney massacre?” Loki said. “I don’t know if the people who hired me were involved in it, but it caused a lot of trouble for metas, involved or not.” Loki ate the rest of his cookie and leaned forward, serious. “There’s a co-worker who I have to bust out. A meta, like me.” He said. “My employer told me to find a safe place for her, and lay low for a while.” “I see.” Thomas said. “And who is she?” “Her name’s Scarlett.” Loki said, taking his cup and sipping some tea. “Alias: Sweet Dream. As far as I know, she can enter the dreams of unconscious people and learn their weaknesses.” “That sounds… dangerous.” Claire said, sipping her own tea. “Of course it is.” Loki said, putting his cup down. “But I can vouch for her, at least.” “You do this quite a bit, you know.” Thomas sighed. “Oh, come on.” Loki said. “I’d like to think that I’m pretty dependable.” “Alright, Loki.” Thomas chuckled. “You can stay here. We’ll accept Scarlett when you bring her here.” “Good we got that settled.” Loki said, getting up. “Thanks for having me.” “Any time, Loki. Any time.” Thomas said, getting up as well and shaking his hand. Loki walked out of the backroom, taking his coat as he went. Thomas and Claire followed to see him out. “Oh,” Loki said, remembering something. “One more thing.” He fished around in his coat pocket and took out the hard drive Ruby had given him. “Plug this into your computer.” Loki said, giving it to Claire. “I don’t know what it does, it’ll just do what it needs to, apparently.” “Where’s it from?” Claire asked, inspecting it. “Employer.” Loki said. “They have a robot suit. She’s a pretty cool person.” “You have to tell us the full story when you get back.” Thomas said, grinning. “I’ll tell you what I know.” Loki smiled, walking towards the entrance of the flower shop. “Later.” He turned and waved as he said it, and the couple followed suit. Soon, Loki walked down the peaceful road, mind back to business. Loki hailed a taxi again, and to his surprise, it was the same person that drove the taxi from before. “Where to?” The cabbie asked. “Stucorp.” Loki said, dropping into the passenger street. “Drop me off a few blocks from there.” The cabbie grunted and started down the road. Stucorp, huh. Loki thought as the taxi drove towards the high-rises. Stucorp was a company that developed weapons, as far as he remembered. That normally meant that their security was extremely tight, which would be troublesome. And Scarlett was being held there, which meant some kind of prison cell. Even more troublesome. “What kind of mega corporation has holding cells, anyway?” Loki muttered, staring out the window. Gary Stuart was the CEO, as far as he remembered. Loki didn’t know too much beside that, but it was safe to assume he had some highly ranked metas in his company. Nowadays, it was kind of odd not to have at least one. It would be tricky to crack, and it would likely have security systems Loki didn’t even know of. The cab arrived, near a building that was a few blocks from the towering sky scraper that was Stucorp. Loki got out and paid the cabbie, who drove off down the street again. He looked up at the huge structure, wondering how he would do this. He saw a helicopter take off and wondered who was in it. Nothing for it, then. Loki thought. Nothing to do but get right into the heart of the matter. Loki began to walk towards Stucorp, with the intent to infiltrate.

The Gifted: A Fast Paced Superpower RP

Woops

Alma Terra Heroes

Nathan stood awkwardly, watching a bit. Someone had been brought in and labelled a criminal or something, but the King said they were a hero? Beholdy confirmed that he had a Hero object, so it was fine, but still. It was resolved quickly, at least, and the party went back to normal. The King was even giving them time to get reacquainted, which was good. That said, he didn't really know them. He'd heard some of his fellow Heroes' names, and he recognised them vaguely. The name Robyn was mentioned by a person with a cloak, and the someone identified themselves as Lord Faust, who was in full armour and had an electric baton. The baton and the cloak are Hero objects. Beholdy said helpfully. Good to know. Nathan replied. He didn't really know any of them closely, and judging by their voices, he hadn't known any of them. But that said, it meant that his friends were probably doing fine, and they weren't here, which was probably a good thing. He thought of the 2 people who'd given their names. He was sure that he'd heard their names thrown around in conversations, but he couldn't remember where, when or why, which was understandable. It had been an entire year, and a strange one at that. Nathan thought for a moment. Faust was mentioned, but try as he might, he couldn't really remember him well. But Robyn seemed a little more familiar. Just a bit. He thought hard for a moment. For some reason, he kept coming back to books, but he didn't know why. He didn't read at all... He suddenly recalled a conversation he'd had with his friends once. They were talking about pretty much nothing at the time, and their teacher called them to take some stuff from the library, so he went with a friend. They got the books and they chatted for a while about the library, and his friend mentioned that there was a girl who always sat in the library reading. Robyn was her name. What was her last name? He couldn't remember, but he had to confirm it. Nathan approached her and tried asking her. "Say... Um, were you the girl who read a lot of books?" Nathan asked carefully.

Alma Terra Heroes

“Ugh.” Nathan sighed, relaxing in the bath. You have so much stamina, and yet you sound so tired. Beholdy said in Nathan’s mind. “This is a new situation for me, you know.” Nathan said. “It’s pretty stressful.” He’d arrived an hour or so earlier, and every minute of it was tiring. He was greeted, given access to a huge bedroom too extravagant to be comfortable in, and decided to take a bath. At that stage, a bunch of servants tried to help him with it, whom he’d sent away, and he was finally alone, sitting in a bath to release some tension. Nathan lowered his face in the water, feeling like hiding out from the world. Bubbles escaped from his mouth as another sigh came from his lips. He lifted his head again and sank back, relaxing in the bath. “This is going to be so annoying.” He sighed again. I agree that this extravagance is unnecessary, but humour the King. He has spared much expense for the heroes. Beholdy said. “Well I never said I wanted that.” Nathan said, getting out of the bath. He shook off some of the water and dried himself off, making for his clothes. Grabbing them, he quickly slipped on his underpants, followed by the comfortable dryness of his black pants, and then the slight roughness of his brown shirt. I’m not against your choice of attire, but to wear that to meet the king is just… “Look at it this way.” Nathan said, slipping his shoes on and making his way out of the bath. “I have absolutely no sense in fashion, so I may as well wear what I know.” He began walking towards the room he’d been given, passing some servants going on their way. I would still suggest slipping on something more… fitting. Beholdy said. “Like what? You know I can’t dress well if my life depended on it, and my colour sense is literaly non-existent.” Nathan replied. I cannot refute that. “See?” Nathan said, arriving at the door to his room. He opened the door and entered, closing the door carefully behind him. He took his shoes off and left them by the door. He then walked in to the centre of the room and fell down onto the carpet, back first. He didn’t really feel comfortable with sleeping on the huge bed, and he’d probably do it at night, but not now. “This is way too fancy for a pleb like me.” Nathan said out loud. Plebeian or not, the King needs you. Beholdy reminded him. “You’ve told me a thousand times, you don’t need to tell me anymore.” Nathan said, sitting up. He paced over to a large his bag, on which his hand wraps lay. He took them and began winding them around his hands. “So, I’ve been wondering.” He said absentmindedly. Yes? Beholdy asked. “Why doesn’t the blindfold get wet? I mean, it’s a blindfold, right?” Think of it for a second skin. Beholdy replied. It is possible to remove it, but it is affected by liquid similarly to your own skin and will not impede your natural bodily functions. “That’s, well…” It is strange, yes. Beholdy said, confirming Nathan’s thoughts. The hero object is a part of you now. It will remain yours until your death. You, Nathaniel Albin, are now a part of its history, as many have been before. Nathan had a sudden thought. “What happened to the previous owners?” He asked. The original owner died peacefully, surrounded by his students, whom he all cherished. Beholdy replied. Some users have… not been as fortunate. “Huh. Really?” Nathan said, finished rewrapping his hand wraps. He squeezed the air a few times experimentally, satisfied at the tightness. “Well, I hope I won’t die.” Nathan said. The banquet will begin soon. Beholdy said. “Got it.” Nathan replied. He took grabbed his staff leaning by the wall and made out of his room, heading towards the banquet hall. A little while later, Nathan was behind a door at the north end of the hall. He was also near the other heroes. It was strange, as some wore clothes from his world. It was likely that he knew them, but he’d need to hear their voices to know for sure. Unfortunately, he couldn’t talk to them, as they were soon to re-enter the hall. Nathan gripped his staff as the doors opened, and they were ushered out into music and cheering. As he walked out into the noise of the crowd, it was quite clear that Nathan was extremely out of place. Hundreds of plates lined the huge tables, filled to the brim with food that looked to be delicious. The fragrance of many delicacies mixing together was intoxicating, but it only served to make Nathan feel even more out of place, as the chairs were lined with noble-looking people, all adorned with jewels and jewellery, with clothes so fine that Nathan’s own rough shirt felt like sandpaper just by looking at them. Alright, I see what you mean. Nathan thought to Beholdy. Beholdy said nothing. Nathan tried waving, awkwardly holding his staff in one hand. He didn’t really know what to do. It was clear that the King wanted them to do something, but what? What did the king mean by Man’s strength? Why were they needed? Around his fellow heroes, he was still pretty out of place. Some of them had clothes that they likely kept from earth, and he was only reminded of his own simple clothes even more. His clothes were clean, of course, but still simple and rather underwhelming. So what do I do now? Nathan asked Beholdy. Beholdy didn’t respond. Nathan looked around. Some of the heroes had already decided on what to do, but Nathan wasn’t too sure what he should do. 2 people were paying their respects to the king and one had made a beeline for the food. Nathan was kind of hungry, but he was pretty tense. He didn’t know if he could enjoy a meal under that kind of pressure. So Nathan stood there awkwardly, wondering what exactly he should be doing.

ALFheim Online: Stuck in Limbo

dude