SilverPaw

Symphony of Espers

Jacqueline Leroux

Valkyrie's headshot was reflected, however, there was another avenue of attack Arzendale had not counted on; Jacqueline’s. Her projectile struck his back, and shredded through him, parting him in half. Leroux watched, fascinated, as the monster still laughed and talk despite being split apart. She bared her teeth at the vampire from afar, a grimace of a grin stretching her lips.

Her moment of satisfaction was short-lived; the beast proclaimed he would return. In that instant, Jacqueline fully believed it. “You!” she snarled, lurching into movement from where she’d begun leaning against the pillar at some point. However, before she could take but a step forward, the monster dissipated. All that remained was his blood. Any active magic of his was undone, and his allied esper took her leave. Centrocius was dead as well.

If this was victory, why did it feel so hollow?

Jacqueline smashed her fist against the pillar, insensate to the minor bruising her fist took for it – she was in pain all over, so the brief sharp ache to her hand was insignificant. She glared at the pool of blood Arzendale had left behind. Was it truly over with him or not? That was the question which plagued her, and until she had conclusive evidence that a vampire could not resurrect, or until she knew in what manner a vampire’s death usually appeared, she would not rest easy.

She took a few moments to rest against the pillar, calming her breathing, and bolstering herself for what was to come. She felt like shit, but the mission wasn’t done yet. As long as she didn’t die, it didn’t really matter what a beating she took as an esper. Admittedly, she’d already come much closer to it much sooner than she’d imagined she might. She supposed she’d have to be more careful now. She spat a glob of bloody saliva at the floor in disgust at the notion. However, if that was what it took to ensure some well-meaning meddler took her off this assignment preemptively, she would rein herself in. A bit.

Since there was some time to do so now, Jacqueline wandered to the nearest hostage’s corpse. She’d been vaguely curious in a corner of her mind how they’d been killed – by Arzendale’s magic, or some sort of a previously installed mechanism. If a vampire’s blood magic worked the same as a blood mage’s, then from what she’d seen in the fight against Lada, the sacrifice to power blood magic had to be killed by mundane means. Perhaps there was evidence of that on the hostages, or by the pillars they’d been tied against.

If not…it occurred to her that they might as well ask an expert. Just as she was about to relay that idea via their comes, Binky made her appearance. Jacqueline huffed at the backhanded compliment – two out of three was not the complete annihilation any self-respecting Gemini would prefer of their enemies – but did not otherwise comment. Her cheek twitched in annoyance, when, as expected, Binky made a clear insinuation that she should not proceed. “I’m not staying behind,” she snapped. This time, it wasn’t just her pride speaking. Her mana was near gone, and she did not possess a firearm, so melee with her Instrument was essentially her only remaining option.

She rolled her shoulders to relieve the defensive tension that had gathered there, then quickly redirected the conversation to another topic. “Listen, is Lada still around? We could use her knowledge of blood magic, at the very least,” she gestured to the remains of the battle. “Just in case anyone else is going to wield it…Of course, it would have made things much better if we’d known about it beforehand,” she muttered that last part under her breath, though it’d likely still be heard.

“If she’s still able to work her magic, I’d volunteer to be subjected to it,” she added in a drawl after pretending to take a moment to think about it. In fact, she’d had the idea of how very useful a blood mage’s help might have been sometime during the battle. As she’d said, if she’d had any idea vampires could do something so similar to a blood mage, she’d have considered it sooner. Of course, Lada had been responsible for getting them in safely by encasing them in the blood barrier, but given Binky’s report of secure perimeters, she should now be free to do something else. If only she was willing to…

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Havoc | Great Axe | Arcane | Pry
Eternal Knight | Perfectly polished
Forged Arsenal | Earth/Metal | Fissure
[Quake (2), Mass (2)] Damage X (6), AoE (2), Enhance (2), Powerful (0), Dispel (6), Shield (4)

DAMAGE: B | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: D | 500

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 28

Symphony of Espers

Jacqueline Leroux

Jacqueline watched blearily, eyes watering, as Arzendale leaped to the side. This time, the powerful note was a boon, however, and she was able to catch the monster where it hurt. Unfortunately, he was a monster; thus, a ripped arm wasn’t enough to kill him. She gritted her teeth, thinking this’d be even more hellish if they had to fucking disintegrate him or something.

She didn’t answer Arzendale’s fury laden words – couldn’t answer even if she had had the clarity of mind to think of an appropriate repartee just then. The vampire chanted, and a vile magic pulled at her. Instead of flowing through her veins as it should have, her blood rebelled, and sought various openings to pour out of. She gurgled and coughed as her mouth filled again and again, no matter how many times she discharged the crimson liquid. She hardly had the space to wheeze the occasional short breath in. Her head pounded, her esper-grey complexion turned an even more ghastly colour, and before she knew it, Jacqueline was on the floor. Somehow, she’d retained the grip on her war pick, but her guts were back to oozing out of her belly. She felt awfully faint, and each time her eyes closed, it was for longer and longer periods of time.

Not…not yet.

Breath rattling, muscles jelly like, and the whole of her feeling as if she were burning from the inside out, Jacqueline crawled to the right. She was seeking cover, yes, but the moment she realized Arzendale’s spell included both her and the hooded hostages, she’d set for herself the mission to interrupt his spell. Of course, by now Jacqueline didn’t really know for what purpose she was dragging herself towards the spell circle, but the fact that she had to get there was something she clung to fervently.

The most difficult part of it – besides not losing consciousness – was keeping her fingers wrapped around the handle of her Instrument, even as they twitched uncontrollably. Even as was losing finer proprioception, the awareness of the exact position of her palm, the sensation of whether she was holding onto something or not escaping her. That meant that she had to visually check not only where she was going, but also if the damn war pick was still in her hand firmly enough. She also had the distinct feeling that approaching the magical circle weakened her further.

The periods of her unconsciousness were getting longer and more frequent than the times she was conscious and at least somewhat aware. Jacqueline didn’t realize it, but she was loud; rasping breath, the sounds of wet choking, sniffling, groaning, and even whining in pain. That might have been why the ally who’d been missing for most of this fight discovered her so easily, despite Jacqueline lying in the shadow of the staircase.

She first realized someone was there when she started feeling better. There was no other way to describe it; energy returned to her (though her spilt blood hadn’t), her entrails were back where they belonged, and the wound on her stomach was closed. That area was still more than sore, and it was clear the damage done to her intestines wasn’t fixed in its entirety. However, she felt much better, and that was all that mattered. She slowly gathered herself into a crouch, gazing up at Orion. “Glad you…made it. Thanks,” her voice was rough, words slurred and faltering, but at least she was able to speak.

She remembered what she’d intended to do – dispel Arzendale’s spell and the magic circle she was now so close to – but, well. If Arzendale was killed, then whatever magic he’d crafted would disappear as well. So, she stood up, and moved closer to the battle. Valkyrie was in position to fire at Arzendale as well – but if either the vampire or the nun saw the intention, they might act to evade or intercept. She didn’t have much time to act, so fired off a simple projectile – it formed faster, but flew slower. She angled it so it would go below Valkyrie’s beam, aimed at Arzendale's torso.

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Havoc | Great Axe | Arcane | Pry
Eternal Knight | Perfectly polished
Forged Arsenal | Earth/Metal | Fissure
[Quake (2), Mass (2)] Damage X (6), AoE (2), Enhance (2), Powerful (0), Dispel (6), Shield (4)

DAMAGE: B | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: D | 500

[Bronze Projectile][Enhance][Damage X] = - 96 Mana

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 28

Symphony of Espers

Jacqueline Leroux

That damn Centrocius…It was so much faster than Jacqueline had thought. If it hadn’t been for Valkyrie disabling it, she couldn’t have even got her melody off, much less evade! She somehow evaded in between the bones of its ribcage, which was another dicey maneuver, though it more-or-less paid off. At the very least, she was some distance away from the half-dead monster. As it tangled into the organ, it produced a terrible cacophony of noise. She wasn’t well-balanced as she landed, tripping up a bit. Debris perforated her half-spilled guts, her vision swum, and she was in a cold sweat.

She was still on the floor, gathering her guts and picking out the small bits of materials stuck in it best as she could, when Centrocius freed itself from the organ, and raced towards where the main engagement was occurring. It stung Jacqueline’s pride, but it was a good thing it’d disregarded her. Otherwise, she’d have been finished off. Just how many times has it been today? That these were the consequences of her own actions was a bitter pill to swallow. On the one hand, things had worked out okay-ish. On the other, she fucking hated being bested by enemies, especially if they were also monsters. These were downright playing with her, but damn it if she wouldn’t at least take one of them down for good.

So, when her guts were back where they belonged, and Jacqueline was back on her feet, she glared towards Arzendale. She wasn’t sure how much her previous attack had done against the vampire, but he also seemed utterly unaware of her, so she was sure she could get a free hit against him. Then, just as she begun readying her melody, Su called her. Breacher was proposing a combo attack against Arzendale. Well, Jacqueline wasn’t about to turn that opportunity down. Hold till the right moment, hooold… Only when Arzendale was no longer flying through the air did Jacqueline aim her attack at him, from much closer than was her previous plan. All the better for it to actually land, as long as the nun esper didn’t interfere again.

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Havoc | Great Axe | Arcane | Pry
Eternal Knight | Perfectly polished
Forged Arsenal | Earth/Metal | Fissure
[Quake (2), Mass (2)] Damage X (6), AoE (2), Enhance (2), Powerful (0), Dispel (6), Shield (4)

DAMAGE: B | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: D | 500

[Bronze Beam][Powerful][Damage X] = - 84 Mana

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 124

Symphony of Espers

Jacqueline Leroux

Jacqueline hissed when the beam, not entirely redirected in time, sliced into her left arm. If it hadn’t been for the fact that a vampire was a monster and thus could only work Chaotic magic, she’d have lost a whole limb. So, while this was not the optimal outcome, it was acceptable. What wasn’t was her target getting transplaced by the nun esper. Jacqueline was mid-swing, but honestly, if she got one enemy instead of another, she wouldn’t have minded. Except, that wasn’t what happened. Not only did she get gutted by the nun’s falchion, the bitch switched again, placing the damn organ in Havoc’s way. Now, that was bullshit in her opinion. Not that anyone was asking her.

With a roar, Jacqueline tore through the flimsy musical instrument, and turned around. She’d been expecting to dash after the two who’d easily escaped her grasp, but was stopped by two things. One, her guts were beginning to trickle out of her gash, and she briefly had to adjust the hold on Havoc in such a way that part of her left arm was braced against the stomach wound, preventing any unfortunate spills. Two, Centrocius was barreling her way, blocking the path towards Arzendale and the nun, who were standing at the center of the room with their backs to her.

Grunting, Jacqueline tracked the positioning of the vampire and esper all the while cataloguing how fast the five-legged one-armed critter was approaching. It’d been the target of at least one fatal attack last she’d seen, but had only lost two limbs so far. The remaining six were still more bladed limbs she could easily block, not to mention it might simply decide to ram her with its horns, or wrap her in its vines…The best thing to do was time a good evasive move, and hope Centrocius rammed right into the trashed organ. However, what Jacqueline wanted to do first and foremost was launch an offensive while pretending to defend.

So, she quickly dropped into crouch, Havoc positioned to block, hoping her movements might conceal the preparation of a melody. Instead of an elbow, one of her knees was now putting pressure on her belly, staunching the wound. Her muscles were primed for action. Metal particles were gathering around the tip of her right boot. When the melody was ready, she barely raised it, and the resulting beam of whirling metal razors flied a millimeter above the ground, heading swiftly towards Arzendale in a line underneath Centrocius. Then (her guts be damned), she stomped her foot down, combining the action with a powerful all-body lunge to the side.

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Havoc | Great Axe | Arcane | Pry
Eternal Knight | Perfectly polished
Forged Arsenal | Earth/Metal | Fissure
[Quake (2), Mass (2)] Damage X (6), AoE (2), Enhance (2), Powerful (0), Dispel (6), Shield (4)

DAMAGE: B | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: D | 500

[Bronze Beam][AoE][Damage X][Quake] = - 160 Mana

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 208

Symphony of Espers

Jacqueline Leroux

Jacqueline only noticed the disaster her melody wrought after she’d fired it off. Orion had been sliding towards the portal, and was then partially swallowed into it, but that had been all in her blind spot while she was running forward. Time slowed down as adrenaline surged, her eyes widening as she watched the train wreck unfold.

Fuck!

She could do nothing for Orion now, though, and continued to jog forward. One of the vampires behind her jeered at her, but she didn’t acknowledge her. She gritted her teeth, and controlled her mounting murderous rage. She really didn’t need more recklessness just then.

Something released noxious gas behind her, but she was out of range before it affected her. Jacqueline tracked Arzendale’s movements. A snap of fingers, and two heads rolled. She narrowed her eyes, surveying the hostages. It was an action as swift as when she’d been facing Lada, and like her, Arzendale seemed capable of blood magic. Whether it was something inherent to him being a vampire, or because he was a blood mage, she wasn’t sure.

Then, the vampire was talking. His mention of the jail…Did he know exactly what had undergone there? At least one gang member had been a vampire, but none of the ones she had fought. So, what were his information sources? That one vampire even had her first name – which, okay, part of the risk going merely by her last name on the field. Still, Arzendale talked as if he knew what her every move in the previous mission had been. That was concerning.

However, the more pressing issue was the blood barrier he had formed. Jacqueline didn’t waste time breaking through it with her war pick. However, as Havoc passed the shield, blood clung to it, and coagulated swiftly, increasing its weight. She wouldn’t be able to lift it easily, now, if at all. Gritting her teeth, she started working another melody, a simply variation of her previous one. As she waited for it to take effect, she also strained her muscles. She wanted to be lift her weapon as soon as possible, but she was also aware that she needed to be extremely careful with how her force would affect her swing. If she put too much into it, and the melody took effect at a moment she wasn’t prepared for it, she might unbalance, or miss.

Given the magic Arzendale was working right now, she could afford neither of those things. She was already shifting her feet so that she could step forward to follow him into range once her weapon was in the air. Whether melody or muscles took precedence, Jacqueline would direct Havoc towards Arzendale, aiming to hook his wand and push its tip forward. If all went according to plan, she’d force his beam to unleash into the ceiling.

She couldn’t afford anything else; if she merely avoided, he could direct it behind her, where her allies were. He had a disadvantage even there – he could see the overall situation behind her back, while she could follow only his movements. Nevertheless, Jacqueline was grimly determined to get this one thing done right. If and when she succeeded, she would need to press her advantage swiftly, keeping him occupied in melee so he couldn’t prepare his magic as easily anymore.

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Havoc | Great Axe | Arcane | Pry
Eternal Knight | Perfectly polished
Forged Arsenal | Earth/Metal | Fissure
[Quake (2), Mass (2)] Damage X (6), AoE (2), Enhance (2), Powerful (0), Dispel (6), Shield (4)

DAMAGE: B | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: D | 500

[Bronze Touch][Powerful][Dispel] = - 60 Mana

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 368

The Hourglass Order

Linah Aranda

It was the middle of the night. Linah had already slept a bit, but had purposefully made herself awaken now, that everyone else would be dead to the world. She quietly sat herself on the floor, cross-legged, leaning against her bedframe as she thought.

A lot had happened that day. The first notable thing she’d nearly forgotten about. Something had been off at the reception ceremony, around the time all the rulers were being introduced. She didn’t know what, but she’d told herself she’d at least attempt to gather information on it. This was something she had to remind herself of, because she might disregard it otherwise.

Then, her teammates. Penny spoke casually to the Perrench king, had verbally routed a Belzaggic noble boy with ease. Was she from the sort of merchant family that’d be termed as upstarts? One looking to be ennobled? Why else would she act so comfortably among the upper class? Maybe I’m looking at this the wrong way? Linah wasn’t sure. Perhaps, in due time, she’d have enough clues or knowledge to make a conclusion one way or the other.

Anesin was difficult to get a grasp on. An Eskandish noble, but mingling with others of a “lesser” status perfectly fine. Quiet and watchful. Unafraid to offer compliments. The only magic school she’d mentioned to have practiced was binding, and she’d been the one to reveal the invitation she’d received to be taught blood magic. Of course, she hadn’t known the significance of the assortment of ingredients on her course selection sheet, but she hadn’t seemed impacted either positively or negatively when the hidden message was uncovered. Excellent control, that one.

The Tan Keoulean girl. Penny had marked her as having an agenda. Could a lone student possess and act upon one? Maybe someone’s backing. Just like Na’ir expected regular letters from her, there were surely countless others behind the scenes, meddling. The idea of such a vast web made her mind spin. Blood magic…Linah had been briefly tempted to take the course herself. However, given that she was near certain Penny would go, there was no need to risk herself. Admittedly, she was afraid of the possibility of having such magic used against her. However, if she could use it herself…Well, there was the temptation, wasn’t it? But binding was a skill that yet eluded her, so it would be pointless to attempt the advanced blood magic.

Onarr. A studious youth, who despaired of being restricted in his electives. Who was proud of his knowledge, and eager to share it. A scholar. Yet, he’d dined with his country’s president. Maybe that said more about the free nature of Joru’s leader. But it could be indicative of the boy’s hidden depths. What did he think, to have such an esteemed man’s attention? What had they discussed? Zeno Afraval’s words implied the conversation had some level of significance.

And she’d know, wouldn’t she? A royal. She commented how Penny, Anesin, and she were the life of the party. Had all their attempts to conceal their true topic of interest been for naught after all? Did Afraval mean she knew that they knew? Or was she saying they’d stood out, and she suspected something? Did she approve or disapprove? Linah frankly couldn’t tell.

What a tangled mess of threads to unravel.

Code Vein (Closed)

Any estimate on when 'after a while' for closing applications will be?

Code Vein

I might join.

The Hourglass Order

Linah Aranda

Linah arose not long after dawn, and got ready for the day shortly. She was early to breakfast, but not so much so that there would be no breakfast yet. She greeted Mr. Serrio, their Zeno’s servant, quietly, and thanked him for his services.

She’d been curious to see Onarr nonchalantly deposit his bascinet to the side, revealing his face. It was heavily scarred from magic, and Linah was nearly certain that was due to the boy’s own experiments. She didn’t get the sense that he was the kind to get into fights, or that this was something that had been done to him on purpose. While she’d assessed his injuries, she did not let her gaze linger beyond that; it would be impolite. Nor did she ask him about it.

Penny turned out to be a heavy sleeper. Zeno Afraval herself had to make quite a racket. The noise was bothersome enough for Linah to muffle it kinetically until their latecomer finally made her way downstairs. At this point, Linah was long finished with her food and drinks, and was leaning back into her chair comfortably as she let her digestion do its work.

She did lean forward attentively when Zeno Afraval recited their schedule. The most important part of her recommendations, however, was when she answered Onarr’s question. Linah pondered on that advice throughout the day. There were many things she was intrigued by, which might be a risk, and would certainly broaden her horizons. However, a passion? That, she was uncertain about. Was there anything she was dedicated to beyond her own survival, and the bettering of her station? No, but the latter would require many things, even things she might not enjoy doing. Then again, she might. But she didn’t think there existed any such subject which would earn her passion it for its own sake.

These thoughts preoccupied her till lunch. She enjoyed when the tour took them to areas she’d not had the chance to explore thoroughly beforehand yet, but mostly it was just a lot of shuffling around in a large group. As if they were some hapless tourists. In the end, the pointless activities were not so relevant as to let her thoughts linger on them. Instead, Linah eagerly perused the course selection papers they were handed. She was still considering the options presented when she sat down to eat, though the food in front of her did admittedly detract from that. She took opportunity of the wide selection of foreign foods on offer, trying bits of this and that.

Symphony of Espers

Jacqueline Leroux

Jacqueline sighed at the vampire’s answer. So, he wouldn’t be taunted, distracted, or bothered by jibes, threats, or obvious intent to attack. Jacqueline didn’t particularly care if she was considered stupid – she’d be injured sooner or later. If it was true that willingly shedding blood meant a different thing than having it be shed forcefully by an enemy, well, she might be fucked. But she would face those consequences herself, rather than it having endanger any one else, so she deemed the risk an acceptable one. It was a shame it hadn’t really attracted the vampire the way she though it might. But perhaps it would direct his attention if she engaged him in melee, and if not that, at least he underestimated her.

She’d noticed Su’s hand sign which warned of the danger of an ambush without making it apparent to anyone who watched that she’d noticed. She agreed with the assessment regardless, the whole set-up was indeed very reminiscent of a trap. The sole vampire, no matter how strong, likely wouldn’t have been so leisurely if he didn’t have backup either. So she braced herself for whatever may come…

And yet, was not entirely prepared for the revelation that the pianist was a caster. She narrowed his eyes at him, tracking as he waved his wand around. His words didn’t mean anything to her besides an obvious declaration for the start of the fight. Whether because that had actually been a signal or for another reason, that was when the trap around them finally sprung. Wukong, Valkyrie, and Orion were in line of a direct attack.

Well, the latter had been launched into the air more-or-less coincidentally, as she’d been right in the way of the chimera’s wild flailing. Jacqueline, who was close enough that she might be injured if she didn’t, managed to dodge. When the creature realized it had Orion at a disadvantage, it attacked, but Jacqueline saw that Orion was able to deal that by herself. As Jacqueline readied for action herself, Su was already stepping in to catch Orion, who was still vulnerable while in the air.

It might not be the best move, but staying here with the others didn’t suit her. Su was already taking the role of protecting a fellow agent, and Jacqueline thought Breacher could do all that was necessary to regroup the others and assist where necessary. If the three she’d seen were all the enemies awaiting to ambush them – which was a dangerous assumption but nonetheless one she had to make right then – it would be still five versus three if she left. Maybe the chimeric thrall or vampire or whatever he was would outright perish. If not, it still meant one of the surprise attackers was heavily injured.

This was why Jacqueline launched herself into a sprint, heading for Arzendale. She was already readying a melody, and as much as she might want to use it against the vampire, she couldn’t take the risk of not destroying the portal. When she ran past it, she launched the melody. A spiked metal ball formed, flew towards the magical gate, and embedded itself into it. Jacqueline briefly glanced at it, to see if it would be destroyed as intended or not. If it was, then one worry less. If it wasn’t, it might be a sign the enemy formed it at such strength because they didn’t intend for it to be one-use only. Since she was looking out for danger, she briefly directed her gaze backwards, to see if any of the revealed attackers would attempt to stop her.

However, she couldn’t spend all that much attention on other things; her main target was the self-proclaimed sovereign of blood. Thus, Jacqueline ran at him, readying her weapon for a strike. She’d attack as soon as she was close enough, aiming at his wand or hand. She stared at him as she approached, wishing she were faster.

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Havoc | Great Axe | Arcane | Pry
Eternal Knight | Perfectly polished
Forged Arsenal | Earth/Metal | Fissure
[Quake (2), Mass (2)] Damage X (6), AoE (2), Enhance (2), Powerful (0), Dispel (6), Shield (4)

DAMAGE: B | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: D | 500

[Bronze Projectile][Powerful][Dispel] = - 72 Mana

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 428