ShiningSector

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

@ShiningSector

Sorry about that. I had misread what Cottonmouth's last post had said, so I revised my post pretty significantly. I am not sure if you read my revised post before you edited your post. Either way, I am sorry that my quick post got in the way of your initial post.

@Prodigal Son

No harm, no foul I just needed to change the last part is all - no biggie.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Nemo didn't lie; his shotgun's specially designed buckshots were every bit as effective as he has described. After Travis pulled down on one of the triggers of the weapon did Rutger finally take notice of him. As expected, he casted a barrier to shield himself from the seemingly conventional attack but Travis watched as the mob of crystalline pellets slammed into the magical field, nearly shattering it as they punched through. Given the range of the shot, the small crystals obviously dispersed into their own trajectories but a small few found their target.

While the shot certainly drew blood, the amount of damage the pellets had inflicted couldn't be considered fatal. With pain and anger manifesting through Rutger's contempt-fill expression, Travis didn't need to hear Father Stockton's threatening remark to know that he was in big trouble. The Untalent gulped upon the sight of Rutger's large spherical spell.

Thankfully however Zuri had then intervened and pressed her own attack against their foe. A couple of unrecognizable detonations, from Travi's position, occurred right behind Rutger and swiftly consumed him in a dark thick cloud of some substance Travis himself was unfamiliar with. The attack's purpose was made clear to him right as way as watched Rutger's intimidating spell begin to wane and eventually collapsed harmlessly. Whatever power Zuri had unleashed was conflicting with Father Stockton's ability to properly channel mana or cast magic. Rutger, likely having concluded this dangerous fact, quickly scrambled from the cloud with due haste. Having reacquired his target, Travis lined up the shotgun and took aim.

But before he could fire again, Zuri unexpectedly made a mad dash toward Rutger with fast and reckless abandon. The aggressive move caught Travis initially by surprise and momentarily made him question if Zuri's sudden all-out-attack was safe if not appropriate at this stage of the fight. However it soon made perfect sense as Travis caught a glimpse of the item within her grasp of her left hand; it was his transparent icosahedron that stored his rune and Zuri was dead set on using it.

In the briefest moment of the scene, he spotted Rutger desperately trying to respond to Zuri's attack but her disruptive cloud still plagued his efforts in casting his spell. Admittedly Zuri's apparent strategy, whether she had actually planned on it or not, was superbly executed and left Stockton almost completely helpless for what was about come. She eventually soon closed within perfect range unharmed and activated the rune Travis had orchestrated their entire goal around.

Upon activation, the spell resonated a sharp unnatural howl which echoed throughout the room as it trailed ring-like pulse that originated from the rune's epicenter. The pulse itself seemingly warped reality as the surrounding environment in which it traveled past momentarily became inverted. While the spell itself only lasted three mere seconds, its effect astonished Travis whom casted his manalysis to see what the spell would do. When compared to the rune's first casting on a Paragon, he recalled the effect to have been much more dramatic with it radiating a far more impressive light and sound. Of course the difference was that the rune was struggling and yet succeeding in binding a Paragon; in the case for Rutger, literally tearing away a Talent's aura and latent ley-lines was hardly considered a task for the rune and its comparatively unimpressive projection was evident to that notion.

It wasn't long until Rutger 'recovered' from the attack but soon found that he was, in every sense of the word, powerless. This has apparently sent him into a dangerous and frantic and lunge toward Zuri, accusing her of the deed dealt against him; he technically wasn't wrong though Travis felt briefly jealous that the spite wasn't directed to him. However before Rutger could claim his revenge, Raiya intercepted his attacked and skillful disarmed him of his knife, causing Travis to exhale in relief.

Now that Father Stockton was surrounded, Travis eventually rejoined his teammates but kept his shotgun leveled on Rutger just in case though honestly predicted that their foe didn't really have anymore advantages to pit against them. Travis eventually turned to Raiya after she noted the use of his run against Rutger, "Stopping his magic flow? It probably did a lot more than just that...but thank you nevertheless."

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Travis admitted to himself that it would've been best to have request Zuri to transform into the initial phase for their impending conflict with Father Stockton, that way there was less focus on his teammate. Just as Zuri concluded their plans that he laid out, she then assumed her previously dark and intimidating form. However the transformation wasn't exactly as Travis had remembered it the first time though he had honestly happened upon it at its ending phase. Instead of a shadowy looming figure dethatched of any recognizable features of Zuri herself, she, perhaps unintentionally, departed from her attire in poltergeist-like fashion. Travis would argue that the 'armor' she now wore didn't appear practical protection-wise as it only covered certain areas of her body. However he couldn't determine the attributes or qualities of each fabricated piece that held to Zuri's anatomy therefore, it was currently beyond him how effective this new form was.

Travis eventually snapped out of his dumbstruck state just as Zuri sheepishly asked if he had glimpsed any aspect of her briefly bare transformation to which he replied with quickly shaking his head while widened eyes and a frown still illustrated his surprised of the incident. Apparently, even Zuri expressed her astonishment of the sequence that has transpired which lead to Travis wondering how much of her power did Zuri know or comprehended. It seemed clear she knew how to call upon mana and use it to channel spells but thus far, the artes she performed seem to have unintended or different results. Was she casting the wrong spells or did her power have its own will? A fascinating topic to research but other developments required their attention.

With Raiaya now taking note of their newly established readiness, Travis watched as she unexpectedly engaged Rutger yet again despite her obviously low mana reserves. Be her attack didn't carry any lethal weight to it and only operated to stun an opponent; a maneuver he didn't think Raiya would utilize. The tactic seemed to work as it neutralized Stockton's barrier and even caught him off guard for once.

This was now the time for he and Zuri to finally enter the fray.

"The fight is on, Zuri! Let's go!" he called upon his teammate with irresolute dynamism; he really wasn't looking forward to this.

Having inserted a number of his remaining mana crystals with several specialized of his coat though his discussion with Zuri, Travis could feel a large flow of mana synchronizing with his own well. With a topped off and a enhanced supply, Travis quickly casted several runes around him but delayed their discharge. Through the motion, he charged forward with Nemo's shotgun in hand, loaded with two buckshots he hoped to further harass with Rutger with, even whittle down preferably if he could. It was then that Rutger finally replied to Raiya's non-fatal ploy with a spell of his own. After seeing Raiya recoil, Travis gritted his teeth and slid into position and took quick aim, wanted to pay his target back for harming his comrade yet again.

With a prefect shot lined up, Travis wasted no time and pulled one of the triggers of his shotgun and witnessed the brilliance of the custom shell's firing.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

@ShiningSector@Accurian sorry for taking so long to make my post. Classes and work got me busy as can be.

@Prodigal Son

It happens. I'll be trying to push a post out later tomorrow.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

"Of course," Travis replied as he placed the small case within Zuri's grasps.

However before he retracted his right hand, Travis unexpectedly took gentle hold of Zuri's receiving hand and turned it over so the back of it was then showing. His left hand then hovered over and with a brief incantation, a rune slowly materialized into her skin. The process was however painless and hardly anything could be felt from it.

"Don't worry, its harmless and will fade in time. Think of this as a bit of insurance so to speak," Travis explained before continuing, "Its a recall rune if you must know. In case if things get too dicey or if an opportunity presents itself, I can either quickly bring you back into my vicinity or me to you via my decamp spell which the rune is linked to."

Travis released Zuri's hand so she could expect it though he continued on with his explanation, "The spell process however consumes a lot of mana that I don't have much of, even if I'm drawing mana from one of my crystals. Therefore, we won't have many uses and I am expecting to burn through most if not all my crystals through using other spells. Best we keep on our toes, okay?"

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

"...okay, fair enough. I can work with that," Travis replied.

While it wasn't a descriptive answer Travis was looking for, if gave him enough of an idea on how Zuri could perform. But given her mysterious background and her reliability in previous encounters, he remained uncertain if that was going to be enough. Before he could dwell of the detail further, Zuri followed up and asked how she would case a rune, specifically the one he had referenced earlier.

"What? You? I didn't mean-"

Quite frankly up to this point, Travis had intended on operating the rune himself once the opportunity presented itself. But Zuri's query did however remind of another advantage he possessed; Nemo's shotgun. Indeed, its presence had nearly eluded him, even though he had carried the weapon around him via its leather sling for some time after traversing the chasm from earlier. With its shells in mind, it made perfect sense how effective it would be in a fight such as this against someone, whom was versed in the ways of magic, was also nearly dependent on it. After quickly thinking about it, he had then found a new plan.

"I-I mean, yes, you! Sorry, I had a different thought process going on..." he apologized, almost sounding sheepish in the process though he tried to recompose himself in appearing that he knew what he was doing and talking about.

Technically speaking however, he didn't.

"Anyway, don't worry about casting or activating runes; I'll teach you that if we make it out of this alive," Travis said with some required assurance as he held out the clear icosahedron-shaped case that held the imprint of his rune within it, "this rune I have here is stored in an encasing that responds to mana. All you got to do is channel your mana directly in to it and then it will activate. Simple."

"However, getting close won't be easy. That Rutger guy has been able to keep up with Raiya this entire fight," he continued, "if we're to try and beat him, we're gonna have to attack him together and hopefully getting in to range for that rune to work..."

Travis then pulled out one of the red shells for his loaned-shotgun, "or if I am lucky enough to slam him with one of these. Same result, just messier. But I'm counting on that rune however."

Looking back at the fight, he could tell that it wasn't going well for Raiya as he witnessed Father Stockton neutralize another one of her impressive spells, one that likely drained another fair amount of mana from her. He knew it wouldn't be long until she would be completely zapped unless she managed to finish off Rutger through the process. It was a hope that was now fading more and more.

With a sigh, Travis then turned to Zuri, "Think you're ready? I'm sure as hell not, but if we don't make this count, we're history."

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

While the force of the blasts was enough to offset his balance considerably, Zuri's unexpected barrier protected them both from the main brunt of Rutger's violently dissipating attacks. Travis fell flat on his rear and covered his face until the brilliance of the attacks finally faded. Taking a brief moment to recuperate, Travis quickly returned to his feed and faced his teammate.

"Thanks Zuri, I could've been blown in to something unhealthy back there," he complimented Zuri as he brushed the last bit of dust from his coat.

Though they were seemingly out of danger for the moment, Raiya and Rutger's fight would drawn them back in yet again. In one swift motion, Rutger had allowed the failed swing of his hammer to fly out from his grasp and in to a death spin right towards Travis and Zuri. Travis himself barely took notice of the attack until it was right on top of them. However he only managed to consciously acknowledge it just after Raiya had intervened once. What shocked him further was how destructive Rutger's had brought with it as he watched even Raiya struggling to stop it. Travis only saw a glimpse of Raiya redirecting the destructive tool through a portal before she encased them in a protective barrier. With everything happening so fast, Travis was only able to surmise that the debris that suddenly rained down upon them was the result of the hammer colliding with the now-destroyed ceiling.

When the results of the attack finally settling, Travis finally reoriented himself once more and turned to their encoring savior, "thanks again for the save, Raiya. Just give a little more time."

He was truly grateful for her repeated assistance but given that there was so much riding on them now, Travis couldn't seem to form enough gratitude in to his words. At this point though, he knew not to expect appreciation for the sentiment and only results mattered now as they were struggling to ensure their lives as they fought someone whom was not giving them any breathing room to coordinate. It would be only a matter of time before Raiya would be unable to protect them any further if her own efforts faltered.

"Okay, where were we..." Travis began as he returned his a portion of his gaze to Zuri while keeping an eye on the battle just in case of any more surprises from Rutger, "...right. Zuri, what are you capable of doing when you assume that form of yours?"

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

"I have something that may help us take this guy down. However, its current design only work up close, like point-blank. Do you think you can..."

Travis' voice trailed off upon coming to a sudden and alarming realization that he and Zuri were once more under attack. During the ongoing conflict between Raiya and Rutger, Travis was able to catch the Father creating and unleashing a spread of explosive bolts with a few aimed directly at them. Not wanting to have Raiya loose her momentum and mana protecting them again in addition with protecting herself too, Travis quickly leapt past Zuri to respond.

"Shit, hold that thought!" yelped Travis as he hot-generated a pair of his lightning runes fired them the mere moment they were ready. Two streaks of ionized plasma surged out from their magic circles and quickly connected with Rutger's attacks moments before they could reach their targets. While his reply was likely enough to neutralize the blasts via premature detonations, Travis' considerable timing wouldn't prevent him from getting knocked down from the force of expected explosions.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Reaching the next room didn't take long and there was thankfully a lack of obstacles that stood before them. However in hindsight, it became apparent upon reaching a particular corridor where a trap had only just gone off recently. Travis noted the fresh arrows that either lay embedded into the wall or lay scattered across the flow. Someone clearly went through this way and made it out unscathed due to the lack of a body or traces of blood for that matter.

Travis and everyone else had then arrived to their destination to a room notably spacious and played host to an active light source. It was then evident that the individual that had been ahead of them was at the opposite side of the room. Upon closer expectation, Travis could make out the apparel and appearance of the interloper whom seemed focused on a large door at the end of the room. The person in question resembled an earlier image Nemo had shown of Rutger Stockton of the Arcanocracy.

Almost immediately, Raiya and Rutger began waging a skirmish of statements and declarations. Raiya, getting straight to the point, presented Rutger with her ultimatum; leave or die. Rutger on the other hand, presumably unfazed by Raiya's heated advisory, countered with verbal disparagement over Travis' teammate. That's when things became personal. Travis didn't know the history between Raiya and Rutger other than the basic facts such as Raiya's parents having been unfortunately murdered and her initial inclusion with the Catholic Church until things ended up going South. All he could gather and assuming that this confrontation was a feud that was now boiling over with intense emotion and mana radiating from Raiya. So much so that the expulsion of such pressure via her manawell was enough to kick up powerful artificial gusts within the room.

It was then that Zuri presented a rather logical if not blunt query that overlapped and contradicted with the tone of the moment regarding the existence of any scheme or strategy in dealing with the situation at hand. Travis simply hissed in reply, "Not really..."

Rutger finally made his own declaration; one that Travis really didn't want to hear but knew was inevitable. In the blink of an eye, Rutger had quickly invoked a sphere of rapidly expanding energy that sailed toward the group at high speed. With so much ground it was covering in such mere seconds, Travis truly thought it was the end for him were it not for Raiya's timely and ethereal response through her new empowered form. The spell she followed up with resonated and quickly dispersed the Rutger's attack before it could cause any fatal damage. Looking back and him and Zuri, Raiya advised them to stay back and develop a contingency in the event is she were unsuccessful in dealing with Rutger herself; a notion Travis was eagerly pleased in carrying out and not having to participate in the exploding battle before them

"R-right," he sheepishly replied before retreating with Zuri to a safer position.

Having fled the immediate scene, Travis took the opportunity to observe the battle has it played out. There was no doubt about it that Raiya and Rutger's combat skills far outweighed his own as he struggled to keep up with the swift movements of each participant and the spells they deployed. It was then Travis came to a realization of Rutger's own skills and devised that the Arcanocracy rep seemed reliant on the spells he used rather than displaying any physical feats, something he had scene through his conflicts with Roy and Lori whom only used spells as only a means rather than their core method of engagement.

"That fellow has quite the mana well," Travis said to himself as he continued his study of Rutger through the use of his manalysis.

It was then he recalled something he had brought with him that could very well turn the tide of this new conflict if the situation demanded it. Travis instinctively rummaged through this trench coat's internal compartments and produced a transparent icosahedron that stored within it the rune he had created, one that could silence a Paragon. He looked at his creation and remembered what Felix has said and what the rune could very well do if its application had be redesignated. Travis was still uncomfortable with the though on using it on any living being but the matter seemed to have created an exception he may just have to undertake.

"Zuri," he suddenly called to his teammate beside him, "you recall when you, you know, turned in to that large shadowy entity when we were still aboard that ship? Think you can do it again?"

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

"Y-yeah, I know what you mean," replied an uncomfortable Travis. He felt awkwardly derailed from the conversation just as Raiya made a pass at what sounded like a joke, only to have it then become a variety of dark humor. Her proceeding justification on the brief diverging topic of didn't help make the occurrence any less bothersome.

Thankfully, Raiya got to the point and skillfully, almost effortlessly, made her way across the ravine, leaving Travis to attend to his part in getting himself and Zuri over the large and seemingly bottomless gap. As per his suggestion earlier, Travis produced a tome upon unlocking it and removing the book from its belted housing, "Okay, this should only take a minute or two."

The tome itself was quite old with the edges of the hardcover having been worn down while numerous scratches decorating the exterior and nearly compromising the engraved Arabic lettering that titled. As he opened the tome and held it within his left hand, he carefully shifted through torn and stained pages while he looked for his intended spell. The text with the book seemed faded due to the decay of time and mistreatment by previous owners but remained legible due to Travis having restored entire sections that neared legibility. Surely it was a wonder how it had not yet fallen apart.

He then found his bookmark that marked the chapter versed in creation artes and briefly looked through the contents, noting the diagrams and verbal sequences involved with his spell. Having gotten the gist of the procedure, Travis raised his right hand out towards the chasm and began chanting a verse. Through the channeling of his mana, an orange hexagon surrounded by glyphs materialized around his wrist. Once he knew for sure the spell was properly casted, his open hand shifted into a pointing gesture with only his index finger and thumb remained open while the other fingers folded in to his palm. A new light then brightly shined from the tip of his extended finger before he began drawing out a triangular shape over the gap. The spell responded to his hand motions and crafted the three-dimensional shape per his instructions. Before long, he connected the mana-threads, finalizing the construct the spell had fabricated. The triangle platform hovered silently over the chasm while illuminating an orange flowing mist within the design.

Travis then hopped on to the platform with little difficulty after landing on its surface. The floating triangle of course remained unaffected by the shift of weight upon it, "All aboard!" Travis had then called out to Zuri.

The moment she stepped on the platform, all it took for it to traverse the large space between them and the other side was a simple snap of his fingers. The construct would then move at a fair pace and would take no longer than a minute to clear the gap and finally reach the other side.