Saiyan

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Funny how as the silence fell onto the battlefield, Zell immediately fell back into his old ways. He walked around, to each of his friends, as if they'd just finished a football match and earned a hard fought victory.

A soft pat on the cheek for Adam and a ruffle of the hair on the back of his head. "You okay? You sure?"

A respectful shake of the hand for Fenna, with a pat on the arm. "You were awesome out there, mate."

A headbutt of Joji's shoulder and a pat on the back. "We did it, big bro."

Massive hugs for James and MacKensie. "Fucking hell, James." ... "That was intense."

Something different for everyone, but all coming with the same deep look into their eyes, showing how happy he was to see them standing. Sports habits die hard.

When he knelt down beside Lillianna to see that she'd been given medical attention on the battlefield, he smiled at James and checked with the Cleric that her condition was stable. With that confirmed, he looked at Joji, who was keen on carrying Clive's body to a more suitable sight where the American farm man could be buried. Gesturing to Adam for him to carry Lillianna, "Will you do the honours, Adam?" Although chances were he didn't even need asking. The Druid was amongst the least injured and under that coat of his, Zell could tell that the kid was pretty jacked just by his shoulders alone. He was capable of doing the job.

Zell covered his mouth and coughed. A bit of blood spattered his hand and trickled down his chin but he wiped it away quickly. Yeah, he was pretty fucked up. Internal bleeding, no doubt. There was no way he was in any condition to carry the lightning mage even halfway to Valhiem. He was going to have a bit of trouble just getting himself there on his own two feet.

He noticed the crystal on his hand turn purple, but his mind had already turned to Clive and Arthur, so he ignored it and looked out onto the battlefield. Two days in. Two friends lost. This world was a dangerous place. Mourning shadowed his grim expression as he struggled but successfully repressed his emotions. He never had a chance to get to know his two front-line comrades well, but he would remember them fondly nonetheless. Seeing that black sword of the ninja lay on the floor was a suprise. No body, only the weapon. Zell went over. Hmmm, no sense in leaving this behind, he thought, audibly straining as he bent over to pick it up.

When everyone was ready, Zell looked to Adam, who still held the map and knew best how to get out of this hellhole.

...

Adam stayed true to his pledge to guide them from Hommas to Valhiem. With little knowledge of this new world, the Druid had performed with excellence. Everyone had chipped in and teamwork, trust and determination had played the biggest part - but it might have been all for nothing if they weren't lucky enough to have Adam in the group. Zell subconciously held his lower ribs, as if trying to soothe his bleeding organs. His breathing was a little staggered and it was a struggle to walk with his usual athletic grace. All he wanted right now was to flop into a comfy chair. The City of Valhiem was an impressive sight. It might have been a joyous occassion to see it and walk through it's gates, but the weight of loss was heavy indeed. The visual of Clive's last moments... Arthur's impaled body...

Zell, never shy, approached the sentry at the southern gate, walking right up to him.

"Hey, would you mind directing us to a hospital-" he choked and coughed suddenly, accidently specking the guards armour with a few dots of blood. "Sorry," he added quietly. "My friend needs a doctor. Preferrably of the magical kind."

The guard looked down at his armour and back at Zell as he rubbed the stain away. "Looks like you could do with one yourself, adventurer." Zell tilted his head in a silent concession. "Just up the street and make a turn..."

After getting directions and heading there, they got Lillianna seen to by the mages and doctors, offering whatever payment required to see her healed up. If it wasn't too expensive, then Zell would asked for a check-up too, although he wasn't about to waste his entire share of the silver if the price was too much.

What's a bit of blood coughed up every now and then, eh?

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Lol Zapdos

@Eviledd1984 Oh, I'll switch it to Adam then, ready to edit if anything changes.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@ZapdosGotcha. I'm about to post so I'll use that info. Have a safe trip mate.

@Eviledd1984 I'm just going to assume that Joji being one of the least injured and undoubtedly the strongest, is going to carry Lillianna to Valhiem lol I can edit if anything changes.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Yeah, I don't watch films like that either tbh I'm clueless about actors

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Protect.

Melee class. Front line. To defend his party - that was his job.

And yet Clive was murdered right in front of him. Lillianna was at death's door. All because he wasn't strong enough - wasn't fast enough. And now he was left lying in the dirt, yet again.

Zell coughed up blood as he sat up, spat the sanguine onto the ground and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He was just in time to see the giant of a monster charge past him. Seems the Gods of this universe enjoyed shitting on outsiders, because this was just fucking overkill. He looked around and felt his blood boil when he laid eyes on the ninja. His hands formed fists so tight, his knuckles went white. Spite and fury fuelled him now. He had very little else left in the tank. But it was enough to get up, his breathing heavy as he struggled to control his rage. First, some stupid bastard of a bus driver took everything from him. Credit to Zell; he'd accepted that almost immediately on finding out. But now; This motherfucking tin can was taking the only people he had left here in this world?!

Well fuck that!

He looked across the battlefield, his eyes darting left and right for his sword. When he saw it, he ran for-

The metal ninja's movements drew his attention. Movements toward MacKensie. Zell's eyes flared, his stomach turned, his heart skipped two beats. "No," he murmured breathlessly. "Not her." There was no time to grab his sword. He instantly changed course toward the Ranger, his boots kicking up dirt as he ran. But once more, he was too far away. The ninja was too fast. He could see he wasn't going to make it. Not again! He couldn't bare the thought of being powerless to help again. From the pit of his soul came a gutteral noise that started as a mere shout but grew into a thundering roar.

"NoooooOOOOO-

Reality distorted from sheer desire. Zell mid-sprint disappeared. The very next moment - the very SAME moment - he reappeared right by MacKensie and the ninja, his speed and momentum unchanged, the once-large distance between himself and the Ranger all-but gone. An instant transmission of mind, body and soul to his desired location.

Teleportation.

-OOO!"

He crashed into MacKensie, tackling her and sending them both flying out of the way of the ninja's deadly strike. The sword barely missed Zell's head, cutting nothing more than a few brown hairs that fluttered away in the wind. The two adventurers hit the ground, Zell first, then rolled a few times, over and over eachother until finally coming to a halt with Zell straddled on top of MacKensie. The swordsman's expression was wild and frantic as he stared into her blue eyes, an inch away from her face.

"Y-y-you okay?" he blustered out. No jokes. No dumbass comments. Nothing about lives saved and drinks owed. Nothing but a need for an answer that she wasn't hurt. He rose up a little and looked down to see if she'd been stabbed. No wounds. He let out a breath of relief. "Holy shit, thank fuck," his gratitude came out a wheezing whisper, a smile quivering onto his face as he met her eyes once more.

He kicked himself up into a handstand, then half-flipped onto his feet. Seeing the bare-chested big guy close by to his sword, he shouted across the battlefield. "JOJI!" When his fellow swordsman met his eyes, Zell pointed at, "My sword!"

His fiery anger came back instantly as he looked side-on at the ninja. Joji, reliable as the night-following-day, threw his weapon over. The sword span hilt-over-point towards Zell who was too damn angry to take his burning gaze off the ninja. Pure instinct - he held out his hand high to one side and caught the sword by the hilt perfectly. As stated; Zell didn't think much about anything. He just did stuff.

"I swear on god; if it is the last. Thing. I Fucking do...!" then he turned to face him proper. "...I'm going to cut your fucking head off!"

And with that he rushed the tin can with what may have been the last bit of energy he had left. Stone stance. Slash, thrust, high, low. Combinations, probing for a riposte that he could counter-counter. And again! He would not let up until the ninja stopped him or he decapitated the freak.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

"Ah fuck," was the extremely strained voice of Zell Brooks. "That hurt."

He rolled over and struggled to even get to his knees. The pain of the cutting wind was searing through his body still - no physical cuts to speak of, and yet he felt like a thousand sharp razors were cycloning around his insides. He could barely feel the ground underneath him. His nerves were shot, at this moment. Unluckily for him, he took the brunt of power from the 360 wind attack of the Alpha Male, being right in front of the jaws of the beast when it barked the spell. And now he was barely able to move his limbs, while he watched Joji make it up to his feet before the Englishman.

Beyond Joji, he could see MacKensie facing off against the Alpha Female and he smiled. He could tell she was frightened, but it only made her more admirable, for her back was straight, her determination on display. Two drinks, huh? he thought. Sure... why not.

And then everything changed. The menacing voice of the new threat. The red light falling on the area. The death of the Alphas and MacKensie's shout.

A new shot of adrenaline combined with James' stamina buff to boost Zell's muscles and get him to his feet. He started running, but faltered and fell down to one knee. As the metal ninja began barreling through his friends, brushing them aside with ease as he targeted Lillianna, urgency pushed him through the pain and back to his feet. The fact that nobody's attacks seemed to be able to damage the powerful enemy occured to Zell as he continued towards the action. Running off instinct, his brain need not calculate the benefit of grabbing the ninja's sword, which was sticking out of the Alpha wolf. He didn't consider the consequences of touching a weapon tainted by a user who was clearly enchanted with evil magic. Zell was never one to think much about anything.

He just did stuff.

Throwing his own sword to one side as he ran, he twirled as he passed the dead Alpha - gripping the ninja sword and pulling it free all in one motion - and kept on running, only a few steps behind Arthur, preparing to follow up the anchor-wielder's attack with a strike of his own.

When the ninja dropped into a puddle of water, Zell refused to take the time to be flabbergasted by the ridiculousness of the situation. He instantly changed tack and continued to run, dropping into a roll to avoid Arthur's wide-sweeping attack, then back to his feet and heading right toward Lillianna. Whatever the hell just happened to the ninja, if Zell couldn't track him, he could anticipate where the enemy was going.

Bingo!

And there he was, materializing behind the spellcasters. But he was too far away! Zell pushed his pained muscles as best as he could, sprinting with everything he had. But the ninja was too fast. He wouldn't make it.

"Lillianna!"

The impact of the water-blade making contact, felt like a stab in the chest for himself. As the blade poked out of the wizard's back, Zell crumbled to his knees, his wide eyes watering, his jaw dropped. He was too late. He wasn't fast enough. The distance was too much to cover. And now one of his friends was dead. He'd been trying to mentally prepare for the possibility this would happen, but nothing could've prepared him for this moment - this feeling of loss. Unassailable, violent loss. Right in front of his eyes.

Both wizard and ninja suddenly exploded into a crackling thunderstorm of electricity and Lillianna's screams filled the labyrinth. Zell could only watch on in shock and awe. The brave woman had replied to her enemy with her own powerful counterattack. She's not dead! was Zell's thought - his only concern.

"Zell! Separate them!"

He blinked back to reality so fast, a single bead of tears jumped off each eye. Zell rose up and ran into the storm, grabbing Lillianna by her shoulders and kicking the plate-steel ninja backwards. Electricity rushed through the Englishman's body, causing him to cry out in agony through a tightly-clenched jaw. Nonetheless, he was successful in separating them, and fell to his knees with Lillianna in his arms. Thank fuck that the lightning did not persist for long after that, because the pain was far beyond anything Zell had ever experienced in his two lives. Even after the electricity dispersed, Zell's jaw remained clenched shut and he was growling in pain. All his focus was on trying not hurt Lillianna anymore than she already was, as he cradled her in his voltage-stiffened arms.

When James came over and took her off his hands, Zell fell sideways, face hitting the scorched earth. Seeing the ninja sword lay there next to him, reminded him that the fight wasn't yet over yet. There was still the impossible task of defeating this ridiculously powerful foe. He grabbed the sword and used it as a walking stick to get to his feet.

Dropping into Stone Stance, he stood in protection of James and Lillianna, waiting to see the next move of the enemy. Stone Stance was a classic duelists discipline, tailored for one-vs-one encounters and embodied the art of counter-fighting. For every enemy action, there was a solid reaction, with a deep theory of traps and counters laid into the foundation. If the ninja attacked him, then this would be his best chance to land a hit on the enemy with his own sword - some kind of counter strike.

On the other hand, if there was no attack then at least James would get time to try and heal Lillianna.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

OMG I write a post, click refresh to make sure no one has posted. Crusader Lord has. I have to delete half my stuff and rewrite. I finish, refresh again. Teyao wtf!

lmao I don't care, it was worth it to read what you guys came up with. Two great posts. Bravo good sirs.

citizenkane.gif

The Second Falling of the Big Brother Government - (A Tale by KrystalKleo & Saiyan)

A five second kiss. A moment that lasted a lifetime.

Eyes closed - the hand on her shoulder pulled her into his embrace just a little. For the time they were connected, Isaac forgot the wasteland around him. The dirt and rubble, the tin cans, the torn up roads... all gone. It was just him and her in a void - a vacuum. Nothing else mattered. When it was over, his eyes opened, still locked on hers. He smiled.

"Hmm," was his note of pleasant surprise. He gave her another peck on the lips. "I could definitely get used to that."

He let the moment hang in the air a little longer, then looked back down the gun sights, his hands gentle as they steadied her form. "Remember; squeeze the trigger. Like a tube of toothepaste."

He stepped back and waited to see how she would do. She managed to hit one the molerats from the awkward angle of the tree branches. Was it just luck? It didn't matter really. With some practice and the right knowledge, Isaac had no doubt she would progress in no time. What truly seperated good shooters from the rest, was the mental side of things. Can you aim and squeeze under the pressure of return fire? Can you stomach the idea of killing? Do you have the steel to keep your head when all about you are losing theirs? These were the things that would take decidedly more practice. Unless you already built for it. Zara seemed the type that would have no problem in this department. And that was why he was so confident in her. Wether she hit the tin cans or not, it was only a matter of time before she got the hang of it.

Atom bomb baby.

"When you're ready, strawberry-lips."

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Jeez, shit escalated big time while I was gone lol Oh, and is that a powerful boss sword I see just lying around unattended? Me likey

I'm gonna need a second to think about this, but I will probably post shortly

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

"Help Adam, we can hold them off!"

Zell nodded at James and turned back to the enemy, a sharp whip of his sword to rid his blade of wolf blood, then started towards the Druid, only to find MacKensie was a few steps ahead of him. He ran over, watching the lightning strike the Alpha Male and stun it, then he covered the retreat of Adam and the Ranger.

"You're not bad at this reverse-damsel-in-distress thing, are ya." His loud comment to MacKensie came with chuckle and a teethy grin as he back-pedalled alongside them, watching both enemies and ready to spring into defensive action should they charge his retreating friends. That's when he saw Fenna engaged with the Alpha Female. He would have left Adam and MacKensie's backs there and then, but Arthur had dispatched his opposing direwolf and was now moving to support Fenna. "I did grab that branch though."

"Mother fucker."

Seeing the Alpha Male was still stunned, Zell let his attention be drawn to Joji who'd joined them. "Shit," Zell remarked as he looked upon the blood-soaked arm of the swordsman. "You okay, big guy?"

The man's arm suddenly started glowing! Was this James' buff? Did it have more properties than the superhuman energy rush? Zell couldn't see what was happening under all that blood, but Joji was quick to let them know.

"Damn didn’t know these gloves healed my wounds. I’m glad Clive gave me these things.”

"Speaking of..." Zell looked around and saw the American getting off the floor. He ran over to him as he looked pretty messed up. His weapon was broken too. "Oh man, I think you might need to sit the rest of this out, my dude."

That deep roar sounded off again. "Shit." Zell could only hope that the ruckus they were causing here didn't draw whatever that was to their location. Chances weren't great though, as it sounded even closer than before. He suddenly did a double-take at the dead wolf on the ground, that for some reason, had a rusty halberd sticking out of it's corpse. Where the hell did that come from? He didn't think much about it and sheathed his sword, "I'll be taking this," then picked up the halberd and turned to charge. He'd been out of the fight for long enough. "Joji, I'm right behin-"

Holy shit.

As Zell charged with the new two-handed weapon, he was wide-eyed. He barely managed two steps and Joji had already crossed the short distance back to the Alpha Male, a light trail dust kicking up with the sheer speed of Japanese man's sprint. Zell could barely follow the man's movements, seeing nothing more than what felt like a few flashing images. One thing he did catch sight of was Joji cleverly whip blood at the Alpha's eyes. "Ha!" He was impressed with Joji's resourcefulness and made a mental note of such a trick. "Joji, incoming!"

Seeking to take advantage of Joji's attempt to blind the Alpha male, Zell - still charging and now closer - used his momentum to spin around, swinging the heavy weapon around his head, before launching the rusty halberd with all his power, sending it spinning overhand towards the Alpha Male.

Such was the momentum in his move - such was the might he'd mustered - Zell almost fell on his face, but with his hands free for balance, he kept his forward motion, drawing his sword off his back once more and lunging into a combination of diagonal strikes.