A moment after Lori's shot came soon did Zuri's voice over the manadial. Better late than never thought Travis before replying back, "We could use some help up here. We've just cornered our sniper and about to close in."
Travis has more to say but another discharge echoed out, this one louder and more brilliant than the first. What looked like a radiant spear erupted out from the outpost through a cloud of crimson and glowing shrapnel before arcing in to the deck and detonating upon contact with one of the shipping containers, effectively gutting it. The Untalent stood amazed from the spectacle that transpired but soon sought to know whom the source caster was. He soon got his answer as an object whistled into a freefall and collapsed with the deck beside him.
“Actually...hold that thought.”
Travis turned his head slightly to his right flank to find the cooked but still intact frame of a flintlock rifle, bearing stylized runes across its exterior. He soon concluded it was Lori’s weapon, signaling her apparent though still unconfirmed demise. Curious about the construct, Travis carefully extracted the weapon from the deck and examined it while approaching the site where the spear had hit. Travis was familiar with modern weaponry being recrafted and repurposed into deadly mediums that cast spells or channel mana but he had never set his sights on one nor held one in his hands. Despite the burns that stained it, it appeared the weapon was still operable; question was how to use it.
Before he could he could settle his curiosity, he arrived at the scene where a twisted container had partially fallen into the still burning hole that the spear had blasted before. While the lower deck had not been damaged as badly, it had certainly caught fire, creating a miniature inferno that Travis dared not enter or even approach any further due to the escaping heat. However, his interest was captured by the container’s contents that has spilled out on to the two decks.
Pots, idols, and other miscellaneous curiosities laid broken or melting in the heat, all practically unsalvageable. A frown formed on his face; before him was an unfortunate implication that mentally gnawed at the Scholar. While it was not his field nor profession, he could see the potential knowledge that these relics and artifacts accommodated. All of it was now gone with little worth to recover. Travis could already imagine, had a certain group of the Societas Academia learned of this tragedy, their utter contempt would likely know no restraint.
Pulling himself from the carnage of antiquities, he maneuvered around the hole and debris while making his way to the upper decks. It wasn’t long until he begun to register his footsteps resonating an unusually wet splashing sound. While a certain storm was becoming uglier by the minute, its main effects had yet arrived to try and drown the main deck. Travis tried to pay no mind to the noises but it was a futile gesture as his right foot eventually clamped down on something soft, somewhat stiff, and awfully squishy. Travis froze in that instant and slowly looked down, his eyes widening upon another unpleasant sight. Though this one was, technically, reassuring.
He quickly retracted his boot from the arm of a corpse with a gaping cauterized hole within its abdomen, blood still managing to pool around it. The size of the obviously fatal wound made it miraculous that the lower half of the body was still connected, though not by much. He didn’t want to gaze upon the ghastly scene any more than he’d have too but every second he kept looking, the more he learned from it. The corpse was that of a female and was clearly a member of Seidon’s crew given the standard uniform however he noted a few tactical apparel assets and a now ruined leather jacket. Upon seeing her equipment strewn about and around her body, he realized much of it were necessities of a rifle, much like the one he now carried.
It was clear now to him that Lori has now been dispatched and soon followed up with his report on the manadial, "Ah...nevermind, she's...quite, dead."
Travis backed off from the body and out of the red pool while smearing off traces of blood from his boots upon the deck, "Ugh, this is gonna stain...I...swear..."
His voice trailed off he heard the loud hissing of fire being put out from the hole he had visited before. Where other crew members putting out the flames? That would of been a better circumstance but what he had gotten instead was an odd scene of water pouring our from the hole and spilling on to the deck. While normally that would have been a very bad sign on a boat, Travis didn't feeling the shift of gravity as if the ship was sinking; this was something else. More water pumped out and seemed to quickly creep across the deck in a specific direction; an uncanny behavior for water that would instead be spreading everywhere unless there was obvious weight to draw towards.
"That ain't natural," Travis commented cautiously as he watched on.
The thin lake that filled the main deck then accumulated to the center before rising in concentrated mass and volume and violently spinning towards its heart until it was an artificial whirlpool. The cyclone of water then dispersed, leaving a single and notable human being in its wake. The figure retained similar attire like the rest of the crew however seemed more professional and expressed seniority. He determined the unique individual to be Seidon whom radiated a furious expression across his face. Travis had a few ideas why that was.
All of a sudden came a quick flurry of knives that Travis traced back to the original tower they had engaged before, there he found Nemo and Raiya overlooking the deck. However Seidon responded by forming a large construct of water that halted the knives before reaching him. He soon countered with a large surge toward the tower before setting his eyes on the Untalent. Oh crap.
Travis gave a nervous gulp before Seidon unleashed a raging wave towards him. Given that he was much closer to Seidon than anyone else, Travis had no time to get out of the way, forcing him to react to the threat. While still holding the rifle in his left hand, he raised his right palm and generated two cryo runes, discharging them immediately. Travis needed only the slightest confirmation of the wave freezing in place before he bolted back into the collection of storage containers as cover.
Travis has more to say but another discharge echoed out, this one louder and more brilliant than the first. What looked like a radiant spear erupted out from the outpost through a cloud of crimson and glowing shrapnel before arcing in to the deck and detonating upon contact with one of the shipping containers, effectively gutting it. The Untalent stood amazed from the spectacle that transpired but soon sought to know whom the source caster was. He soon got his answer as an object whistled into a freefall and collapsed with the deck beside him.
“Actually...hold that thought.”
Travis turned his head slightly to his right flank to find the cooked but still intact frame of a flintlock rifle, bearing stylized runes across its exterior. He soon concluded it was Lori’s weapon, signaling her apparent though still unconfirmed demise. Curious about the construct, Travis carefully extracted the weapon from the deck and examined it while approaching the site where the spear had hit. Travis was familiar with modern weaponry being recrafted and repurposed into deadly mediums that cast spells or channel mana but he had never set his sights on one nor held one in his hands. Despite the burns that stained it, it appeared the weapon was still operable; question was how to use it.
Before he could he could settle his curiosity, he arrived at the scene where a twisted container had partially fallen into the still burning hole that the spear had blasted before. While the lower deck had not been damaged as badly, it had certainly caught fire, creating a miniature inferno that Travis dared not enter or even approach any further due to the escaping heat. However, his interest was captured by the container’s contents that has spilled out on to the two decks.
Pots, idols, and other miscellaneous curiosities laid broken or melting in the heat, all practically unsalvageable. A frown formed on his face; before him was an unfortunate implication that mentally gnawed at the Scholar. While it was not his field nor profession, he could see the potential knowledge that these relics and artifacts accommodated. All of it was now gone with little worth to recover. Travis could already imagine, had a certain group of the Societas Academia learned of this tragedy, their utter contempt would likely know no restraint.
Pulling himself from the carnage of antiquities, he maneuvered around the hole and debris while making his way to the upper decks. It wasn’t long until he begun to register his footsteps resonating an unusually wet splashing sound. While a certain storm was becoming uglier by the minute, its main effects had yet arrived to try and drown the main deck. Travis tried to pay no mind to the noises but it was a futile gesture as his right foot eventually clamped down on something soft, somewhat stiff, and awfully squishy. Travis froze in that instant and slowly looked down, his eyes widening upon another unpleasant sight. Though this one was, technically, reassuring.
He quickly retracted his boot from the arm of a corpse with a gaping cauterized hole within its abdomen, blood still managing to pool around it. The size of the obviously fatal wound made it miraculous that the lower half of the body was still connected, though not by much. He didn’t want to gaze upon the ghastly scene any more than he’d have too but every second he kept looking, the more he learned from it. The corpse was that of a female and was clearly a member of Seidon’s crew given the standard uniform however he noted a few tactical apparel assets and a now ruined leather jacket. Upon seeing her equipment strewn about and around her body, he realized much of it were necessities of a rifle, much like the one he now carried.
It was clear now to him that Lori has now been dispatched and soon followed up with his report on the manadial, "Ah...nevermind, she's...quite, dead."
Travis backed off from the body and out of the red pool while smearing off traces of blood from his boots upon the deck, "Ugh, this is gonna stain...I...swear..."
His voice trailed off he heard the loud hissing of fire being put out from the hole he had visited before. Where other crew members putting out the flames? That would of been a better circumstance but what he had gotten instead was an odd scene of water pouring our from the hole and spilling on to the deck. While normally that would have been a very bad sign on a boat, Travis didn't feeling the shift of gravity as if the ship was sinking; this was something else. More water pumped out and seemed to quickly creep across the deck in a specific direction; an uncanny behavior for water that would instead be spreading everywhere unless there was obvious weight to draw towards.
"That ain't natural," Travis commented cautiously as he watched on.
The thin lake that filled the main deck then accumulated to the center before rising in concentrated mass and volume and violently spinning towards its heart until it was an artificial whirlpool. The cyclone of water then dispersed, leaving a single and notable human being in its wake. The figure retained similar attire like the rest of the crew however seemed more professional and expressed seniority. He determined the unique individual to be Seidon whom radiated a furious expression across his face. Travis had a few ideas why that was.
All of a sudden came a quick flurry of knives that Travis traced back to the original tower they had engaged before, there he found Nemo and Raiya overlooking the deck. However Seidon responded by forming a large construct of water that halted the knives before reaching him. He soon countered with a large surge toward the tower before setting his eyes on the Untalent. Oh crap.
Travis gave a nervous gulp before Seidon unleashed a raging wave towards him. Given that he was much closer to Seidon than anyone else, Travis had no time to get out of the way, forcing him to react to the threat. While still holding the rifle in his left hand, he raised his right palm and generated two cryo runes, discharging them immediately. Travis needed only the slightest confirmation of the wave freezing in place before he bolted back into the collection of storage containers as cover.