Oh no I mean having a proper magic system is a good idea, like what is the principle it works on? It's source, and execution methods.
I was not aware we actually had a lot of knights though. My character was originally in other ideas an adventurer, but his blade weaving has a nice aesthetic fitting for holy knights as well.
If we're talking characters I had a young Holy Knight who uses blade weaving. A form of magical projection that lets him form magic into a physical entity (still glowing), so he can patch up or reinforce his own weapons with it, or create floating blades that fly at foes, and other similar applications. For more I want to know how magic functions so I can expand more on how it works and make more advanced techniques.
But with how his magic is he can basically turn bladeless swords into lightsabers with his magic, which is cool. They just won't be straight laser lightsabers, just a magic blade.
"Ugh... I ain't getting anywhere with this...", he muttered to himself. As he walked around he went for a few of the dummies that he could, namely a few of the lighter debris, some that were simply held under by a small bit, which he could lift a little to get them out, or ones that were simply trapped behind an array of beams and debris rather than held down by anything. At most he could get... Two or three, he can't carry all of them back though. He'll move on to a safe spot... They'll probably put that in mind, then carry two over his shoulder. He'll probably take care of this for now and go looking for a place he'll be more useful... 5 is a no-go it seems.
As he was walking through this thick fog he crossed paths with one of the others as they were reaching the border, "ah...", they made a stretcher. Huh, neat... Still, not something his quirk can make, nor would he be able to carry on his own either.
"So where are you fine ladies headed to after this?", he asked, was it joking? Was it flirting? He didn't talk like he was flirty, but his line was flirting. In actual fact he was not flirting and just wanted to know where they were headed... What would that information do for him? Who knows. In any case regardless of that result he too would make it to the bus. This was no good... They needed 20 points, he'd need to have insane saving skills if he's going to do that. If he recalled there were some villains, but... He's never really been in a fight either, well he'll have to think of something anyways. He has some ideas.
After about a week or two of trekking the Valley in and out, they finally set upon a town at the end of the winding roads. The valley held a strange air of mystique to it as the picturesque mist pervaded just far away enough to hide what may lurk beyond, but not enough that they didn’t know where they were going. They entire trip started out just outside the village of the plains, taking them past rice fields that some of the members of the party would recognize as similar to Warakuma’s, usually it was those who lived a bit further out of the modernizing inner town. Further on was the valley that was visible from the rice fields, and even further was the large mountain that was likely the final destination. Thickets of bamboo would obscure the route itself, within were various abandoned shrines and a few beautiful locations within that triggered phantoms similar to the village’s, but as usual they were not harmful. Once more though, it seemed to tell a tale of two happy lovers.
Today though it was finally time to see what the end of it all had in store. A town, set upon the mountain. Even as they stepped within it’s barrier, they didn’t go further than ten paces forward. The gigantic, gaping maw in the side of the mountain alone would’ve been enough to make anyone pause, but it was the various charms and seals placed around that entryway that was of note. It just screamed danger, like a demon existed within the mountain. Seen in the real world, some people would not be put off too much, but when you’ve been fighting metaphysical demons for a few months, it was hard to take this lightly at all.
“Hm, so then… Whatever is in there may answer some questions. Kami, Rui, have you both noticed? There are no cultists in this entire little world”, noted Kazuki.
“Aight, I had figured they wouldn’t use this world as a hq of any sort, but it seems strange to me none of them are here at all. But it makes no sense… By all accounts the leader should be here, but he took none of his retainers… Or rather, none of them followed him? But they take his orders? How are they getting their orders and targets?”, it was strange indeed, the answer was likely when they found the leader himself. Kami had figured out that the cultist leader had actually disappeared long ago, even while Kazuki had been rescuing people throughout last year. It did coincide with the cultist leader’s wife’s death though.
“Well in any case, I’d been snooping around my father’s investigations, they can’t make heads or tails of it either, but cultist members have begun being captured in recent weeks, and their operation was found, looks like they won’t be able to kidnap anyone anymore… But what didn’t make sense was they said they were getting orders from their leader, yet there was no communication device found that could’ve been used to communicate with him”, so the real question was how and why was the cultist leader doing this… Was he really still alive?
“The answer lies within, or hopefully it does. For now let’s just get this out of the way, and see if this fight will also gleam us any useful information”, like some of the fights before did… They seemed to be bits and pieces of the cultist leader’s memories.
As the party began to near the giant maw of a cave, the talismans along the edges and pillars surrounding them began to become active, glowing as the sky darkened. Rui and Kami stood at the forefront as the cave’s darkness came to life, a pair of gigantic fangs glinting violently as a giant tendril flew out, striking at the party. Rui and Kami both summoned their Personas just in time to absorb the blow, defending Kotori and Ryan from the sudden attack. It was fortunate that the two most suited for direct confrontation were in front.
Regardless, as soon as the tendril began to retract back into the darkness, having been identified as a snake’s head, a lady began crawling out of the darkness, reaching towards the party, before being dragged back in. Then silence… A long pause followed as the ground lurched, two… Three… No four? No, eight gigantic snakes began to emerge from the darkness, at the point where all are joined was the lady from earlier, now upon close inspection, the body belonged to a Persona known as Kushinada-Hime, and the eight-headed snake was most certainly Yamata no Orochi.
“To formations, Kami, you and me keep the other two safe, Kotori, Ryan, pelt it spells”, he ordered. As soon as he made those orders, the rest of the party further back found themselves turning around as shadows began to attempt to cross the long winding path that was behind them. It seems as always they were going to be occupied once more while the main party fought at the front. Ayano was to be the main navigator for the fight against Yamata no Orochi.
“Huh…? No it’s not just Yamata, the other shadow is also a threat”, Ayano’s warning was confirmed as soon as the limp Kushinada-Hime opened her mouth, screaming as a blast of wind was thrown at them, buffeting them for just a moment. It was a warning shot.
“Well that just makes things interesting”, so now it was a question of which first… The caster at the bottom, or the snakes that were a more active threat? But with 8 heads, they were going to need some serious firepower.
--- Kotori
It was with the usual mix of curiosity and apprehension that Kotori followed the others on the path leading through the valley. Her eyes darted between the strange sights and the occasional shadowy figures that presented themselves, never sure what might be hiding in the former or whether the latter might strike out at any point. Yet as they carried on, the only thing the phantoms seemed to be interested in was each other. As the group continued, the figures were seen sometimes walking hand in hand, sometimes skipping along or even hugging one another - it would almost have been sweet, were it not all happening in this Mirror Realm. Yet despite it, Kotori couldn't quite help a small smile finding its way to her lips.
However, this would pass the closer the group got to the village ahead - or, more specifically, the large mountain upon which it was built. Torn into its flank was a huge, oddly mouth-shaped opening - just jagged enough to make one wonder if it was natural or man-made. The sense of foreboding was not at all helped by the fact that it seemed to be the only way forward - Kotori was most definitely not looking forward to having to explore a dark and sinister cave from every which crevice a murderous shadow might leap forth. And that was before she even appreciated the almost ridiculous number of seals hung around or over the entrance. Were this not the Mirror Realm, her rational mind might have told her that this was merely the result of superstition and probably could be traced back to generations of fearmongering rumours. But even then, she still would not have wanted to set foot inside - and this sentiment was doubled now that she stood here in a place where she couldn't be sure that a flickering shadow was merely a trick of her mind.
Kotori's nervousness steadily grew as Rui and Kaminari discussed both the recent findings and the immediate plan of action. Unsurprisingly, they opted for the only path forward. Hesitantly, she followed the two a short distance behind; glancing every which way from behind her glasses in case this turned out to be a trap - or rather, to spot just what kind of trap it was. She was at least a little thankful that Ryan opted to stay behind too; perhaps in case any shadows decided to sneak up from behind. Before any had such a chance, however, the shadows within the cave itself seemed to shift.
Squinting against the blackness ahead, Kotori would have been a moment too slow to react to the sudden attack that burst forth from within - but luckily for her, both Rui Kaminari's reactions were fast enough as Askr and Zeus warded off the ferocious first strike. Only once it began to retreat - and Kotori had gotten over her initial surprise at the sudden attack - did she realise that the long shadowy form was, in fact, a snake. Yet strangely, the next thing to peel out from the cave's shadows was not this slithering shadow, but rather a woman. The whole group tensed when the shadowy female raised a hand toward them - yet nothing happened. At least, not initially - for a few moments later the darkness coalesced into the same snake as before - but then another. And then again, and again - before finally, all eight heads of a shadow serpent had broken free of their bindings, the seals and charms upon the cave having faded and released the monster within.
There was little time for Kotori to wonder about how the story of Kushinada-Hime and Yamata no Orochi might be connected to the leader of the Junsei Sekai Tensei cult as Rui was quick to order everyone into combat formations - and with her attention focused forward, she barely noticed that the second group further back had in turn engaged the encroaching mass of shadows that were pouring toward the village. The immediate plan was for Ryan and her to strike from afar whilst Rui and Kaminari would stand guard before actively engaging with an unknown foe. Kotori followed this with a quick nod, a deep breath and the slightly belated summoning of her persona: "Kikuri-Hime," she called - a call that was answered with the form of the flower-wielding shrine maiden materialising above her.
However, the enemy was not content to just let them act with impunity - before Ryan or Kotori could cast a spell, Kushinada-Hime sudden perked up and, following Ayano's quick warning, released a piercing cry that slashed the wind and cut the air, sending it blasting against the party. Kotori instinctively closed her eyes and threw her arms up over her face; wincing at the sudden wind - even if it was quite at the intensity of a outright attack. From the look of things, the eight-headed serpent was not the only threat - which meant that they now had yet another target to contend with. Still, Kotori beat back her hesitations and fear thanks to the calming presence of her persona and the confidence exuded by her fellow party members.
With only a small measure of doubt still lingering in her mind, Kotori raised her hand and called upon Kikuri-Hime. "Zionga," she said, her hand raised toward the octuple-headed snake - and, even as the dark clouds gathered were momentarily pierced by a blinding bolt of lightning, she hoped that she would be able to do at least some damage with her offensive spells.
--Ryan--
The mountains of Seto were strangely mesmerising to Ryan. He knew that this entire world was basically out to kill him, but it had a beauty to it despite it’s danger. It was like he was an intruder to this sacred place, and it sought to eject him from it’s border. It was almost enough to distract him from the tragic tale of the cult leader, but not enough. It was heartbreaking really, they seemed so happy in these… memories perhaps? Resonant feelings? Regardless of what they were, they were not real, only phantoms of what once existed. That’s what Ryan thought anyways.
They soon arrived to the mountain entrance, a large and foreboding cave that looked as if the mountain itself was alive and wished to swallow them whole. And they were going to throw themselves right into it’s maw, did that make them brave or stupid? Ryan chuckled lightly as he mused upon the thought, observing the many seals around the cave as well. Perhaps they were holding something back.
As they got closer and closer, the seals began to glow, Ryan pulling out his knives cautiously as he kept one eye on the seals and the other on the cave. A giant tendril struck from the darkness, with Rui and Kami summoning their Personas to defend Ryan and Kotori from the hyperspeed strike. The tendril retreated just as fast, but Ryan realised what it really was around the same time Kotori did. It was a snake, and a big one too. It disappeared into the darkness once more and something else began to emerge, Ryan summoning his Persona to get ready for another blow. But there was no blow this time as a woman emerged from the cave, crawling and reaching towards the party in what appeared to be terror. Ryan had to hold himself back from running to save her as he looked at her a bit more closely, not getting a good enough look as she was quickly dragged back into the cave. He gritted his teeth and inhaled deeply, hoping he hadn’t made the wrong choice.
Then the world exploded into action as eight snakes emerged from the darkness, the legendary Yamata-no-Orochi was here to consume them. The snakes were so large and imposing that he almost ignored the lady from before, now identified as the figure from legend Kushinada-Hime. Rui barked out orders, Ryan quickly following suit as he moved into formation like the soldier he is. His eyes narrowed as Kushinada sent out a blast of wind at them, it barely even ruffled his hair thanks to his impressive wind resistance.
And thus the battle began, with Kotori striking out against Yamata no Orochi with a mighty bolt of thunder, Ryan narrowed his eyes at the woman he had sought to save not even a minute ago. ”I suppose the only way to save a Shadow is to eradicate them completely. Come, Geraint!” Geraint smashed into view above Ryan, raising his sword as he cast Heat Riser on Ryan. The added speed boost from it gave Ryan just enough time to Charge up as well, getting ready for a big attack on Kushinada-Hime.
-------------------------
As the battle progressed, Rui found himself darting between the snake heads, before delivering a Gale Slash, managing to strike all of the heads at once and opening the way to Kushinada. Kotori’s Zionga and Kami’s Ziodyne struck the wailing shadow, before it would return with a wave of ice, encasing the entire party in an icy sheet for a short moment. Ryan would come out without too much problem, giving him the initiative. Although the Yamata no Orochi wasn’t going to just lay down and let them beat it down. The many-headed serpent screeched, causing a shockwave to blast out from it, striking everyone with a Deathbound.
This didn’t look too good, it seems this shadow had a lot of area of effect skills. Although thanks to Heat Riser, Ryan was still not too affected.
“Kotori, keep us topped off. Kami and Ryan, focus on offense”, and him? He called forth Askr, and cast Masukukaja, a green aura briefly enshrouded everyone, and immediately they were feeling lighter on their feet. It was going to be easier to get in and out to avoid their attacks now. Still, it was area of effect, so the effectiveness of this alone was limited.
--- Kotori
Kotori followed Yamata-no-Orochi's movements with a small measure of worry as the Shadow attempted to get a bead on Rui, who dashed in between the eight heads. Unbeknownst to it, he was merely seeking to create an opening - one which he got just moments into the fight; forcing the multitude of heads back with a Gale Slash. This was the signal for the ranged barrage to strike as Kotori's own Zionga was echoed just a heartbeat later by an even more booming Ziodyne courtesy of Kaminari and Zeus whilst Ryan used the brief moment to instead set himself up for a big follow-up between his Heat Riser and Charge.
Unfortunately, their opponents weren't just going to sit back and take the hits. Almost immediately, Kushinada-Hime responded with a spell of her own; sending a freezing blast across the battlefield which engulfed the whole group. Though it lasted for but a moment, Kotori was left gasping at the sudden and massive drop in temperature - only to look up just in time to see Yamata-no-Orochi recoiling. This was not any of their doing, however - instead, the great serpent was preparing an attack of its own as an ear-splitting screech thundered through the whole area. Kotori winced once more, clutching her ears as the sheer force of the cry forced her back a step or two.
Shakily, she peered through her glasses in fearful anticipation of yet another strike - but even over her quickened and heavy breathing, she could hear Rui calmly relaying the battle orders. "Ri-right," Kotori quickly said as she nodded; only too eager to follow this particular instruction, seeing as everyone seemed to be quite a bit worse for wear after the two Shadows' assault.
Taking a deep breath, Kotori said: "Kikuri-Hime." Even before the next command, the shrine maiden raised her flower in preparation for the spell to come: "Salvation." And with that, a brilliant golden glow enveloped the battlefield. It coalesced around the individual party members, comforting them with a gentle warmth that soothed away the aches and pains that they had just suffered. After just a moment, the light faded - but left everyone refreshed and, thanks to Rui's own application of Masukukaja, even more ready than ever for the fight than when they had begun.
--Ryan--
Rui’s speed in dodging the strikes of the snake heads was impressive, especially since he wasn’t the one Ryan had used Heat Riser on. That kind of natural agility was just the thing he needed to strike out at Kushinada with a violent Gale Slash, the others following suit with bolts of lightning from the heavens. But she wasn’t going to take this punishment lying down, releasing a wave of ice at everyone in the party too fast to react to.
It struck Ryan head on, a violent shiver wracking his body as he resisted the urge to try and rub his arms to feel warm once again. He didn’t even have time to brace for impact when Orochi howled in pain or rage, maybe a mixture of both as it struck everyone with Deathbound. Ryan covered his ears in pain, wincing at the sheer volume of it’s cry as everyone nearly crumpled. Ryan undoubtedly came out of that assault the best, only minor injuries thanks to his Heat Riser. Rui called out his orders once again, Ryan smiling as he looked straight at Kushinada. ”Not a problem!” Rui cast Masukaja on everyone, or was it Masukukaja? Some of the names for these attacks are so confusing, but regardless it topped off Ryan’s speed boost from his Heat Riser so that was nice.
Kotori followed up with some mass healing, Ryan looking over nodding with a smile. Salvation was a pretty useful skill, maybe he could get her to teach it to him later? Could you teach moves to other Personas? A question to muse on another time, now it was time to bring down the hurt on the princess of the moon.
Ryan hopped on the tips of his toes for a moment, before taking off with a burst of inhuman speed towards Kushinada, holding the ever familiar Persona card in his hand as he stopped inches away from the shadow. ”Come! King of Dumnonia!” The card shattered within his clenched fist, the majesty of Geraint bloomed outwards from his soul as his sword pointed to the heavens in a blaze of glory. The Charge was spent, all that was left was to direct the power and then retreat.
The heavenly blade swung downwards, attempting to crush her underneath the weight of its royal light. The blast of energy enveloped her completely, along with the rest of the party as they all felt Heat Riser and Charge/Concentrate being applied to them simultaneously. A panting Ryan propelled himself back towards the group, slightly hunched over from exerting so much power at once. ”I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that. Now make sure to crush em for me… while I take a minor breather.” Hands on knees and face towards the ground, Ryan took several deep breaths to try and recover from such a cost intensive move.
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Ryan’s blade of light shined down upon the shadow, the visage of the serpents faded into the light, blinding all before they re-emerged, singed. While the serpents of Yamata no Orochi themselves were out for the count for now, the corrupted Kushinada-hime was still active, albeit damaged.
As the shadow raised her arm, it was met only with a blast of lightning as Kami intercepted it,
“Rui, now!”, he called.
In a flash of white, Rui called forth Askr, whose speed gradually increased, before suddenly disappearing into a flurry of slashes until the entire shadow was trapped in pillars of flashing blades. After a few moments, Askr appeared far above the shadow, with flashes locked around the shadow like a web, blade raised high above. “Hissatsu, Zan!”, as the move’s name was called, the final blow was struck as Askr came down, slashing right down the middle. A brilliant white flash split the visage before them into two perfect halves. Each flashing blade stood still, as Rui flourished his katana, before turning his back on it, slowly sheathing his blade. As soon as the click resounded, every flashing white blade erupted in a slashing storm, causing the shadow to crumple over with countless slash wound, before it slowly began to dissipate.
----
With that battle over, the party approached what remained, a pillar of broken shards, but the images shown in each reflection slowly became more and more depressing. Each shard slowly turned from the happy couple they had seen up until now into despair and separation, and soon, each one slowly and then gradually all of them reflected a single thing, a tombstone…
“Hmm…?”, Kami seemed to have noticed something, but that would have to come later. A voice resounded that they can only assume belonged to the man depicted.
“Why did you leave me…? Why…? No… Why has this world taken you from me? I… Without you I...“, and so the voice trailed off…
So was this merely just the story of a tragedy…? By now, it was probably pretty clear whose story was being depicted. As soon as the shards had given their insight into the memory, they rose to the heavens like always. Following this, the seals around the cave entrance began to illuminate, and on queue, torches began to light up within the gaping cavern, one by one each side lit up to show a path leading further into the mountain.
“I’d wager this will be the last stretch… But today has taken a lot out of us hasn’t it?”, plus Kami seemed like he wanted to say something. Though he would seem to save it for later.
--- Kotori
Able to breathe a little lighter after healing the damage done - yet also a little harder from the strain of doing so - Kotori quickly surveyed the situation. Thanks to Rui's Masukukaja, everyone managed to get the initiative back - with Ryan being the first to do so. Having set up his attack since the fight started, he was more than ready - and his blow struck true enough. Between his Heat Riser and his Charge, Geraint's brilliant light dared to blind all who looked on; causing Kotori to squint and shield her eyes. The light would not fade for what felt like ages - but when it finally did, even the mighty eight-headed serpent proved incapable of withstanding firepower of such magnitude.
This, however, still left the second Shadow alive and well - but before she could go on the counterattack, a bolt of lightning courtesy of Kaminari interrupted her would-be move. This was all the opening Rui needed - even without Kaminari's cry, he dashed forth as Askr joined him at his side. The flurry of blows that followed rapidly rose in velocity - quickly reaching the point where Kotori couldn't even follow the movements anymore and was left watching merely the aftermath as slash after glowing slash mounted on the stunned Shadow.
The barrage of blows came to a close with a final cut from above by Askr - the Shadow had a mere moment to truly realise how dire the situation was before a single clicking sound announced its end. Dozens, if not hundreds of blades simultaneously ripped through the Shadow which, left in tatters, began to fade just as the last blow landed. Kotori would give a sigh of relief that the fight had come to an end - but couldn't help but feel ill at ease and on guard as she peered across the surroundings for any other foes that might present themselves.
Thankfully though, her mistrust was misplaced - no more shadows rose up to challenge them as the group approached the pillar of broken memory shards. At least, that's what they'd come to believe these to be - Kotori had tried and failed to somehow come up with any explanation as to how it might be possible and instead just decided to accept these things rather than give herself a headache trying to wrap her mind around them.
Viewing the memories, meanwhile, turned out to be an exercise in the depressing - one by one, the sights and sounds of the happy couple were replaced by worries, fears, confusion, anger and, finally, despair. With a hand clutched tightly to her chest, Kotori watched as, one by one, the shards revealed the inevitable fate that they'd all known would come to pass. Even so, seeing and hearing what it wrought upon the widowed survivor still hit Kotori particularly hard.
Kotori noticed the changes in the environment out of the corner of her eyes, but couldn't bring herself to raise her gaze up from the ground. Even when it was announced that they would end their exploration here for today, she barely gave more than a hint of a nod and would wordlessly follow the others as they made the return journey out of the Mirror Realm - but even outside, the uncomfortable silence of her mood remained unbroken. She'd never been a fan of unhappy endings - and even less so when the story rang truer to life than she'd like.
There are also standard races like elves and dwarves if you're going to include orcs, but I suggest giving those three more thought in order to make them more unique.
Renose
xVampire3go
yoshua171
EnterTheHero
Ikan
Bacon
Neziul
FourtyTwo