Re: Intense Struggle Season 2! (Round 1: Training Facility ONX)
08-20-2010, 11:15 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Drakenforge.
Karen stared at the hulking monstrosity and its mutated new form. Types of spells formed in Karen’s mind, she assessed each carefully. The revived specimen seemed to be moving oddly, as if it was not used to its own body. The wriggling tendrils covering the body concerned Karen, what were they? Its revival reminded Karen of the zombie type monsters she had killed before. These seemed like parasites, ones who inhabit the bodies of others and take control. The major wound in its chest didn’t even faze the overtaken host, which meant it was probably immune to pain senses from the host. She guessed if all of the smaller creatures died the larger one would revert back to a corpse. But she’d need to do it fast; the beast had already moved Charlie back to the other side of the room. Karen surmised that the robot would be able to take that kind of hit and keep going, but this thing was learning its new body at an alarming rate. She didn’t want to take any hits from something that large. Before it was merely mid-level, but now it seemed to her more like a mid-boss of a high level dungeon. She wasn’t used to taking such things down on her own. She took a step back, peering over towards Reudic.
“You affected it before, made it afraid. Does it still work?”
Reudic made a strange drawn out tone which didn’t seem to optimistic. The parasites must be interfering with its brain on a level the plant could not overcome. She hadn’t expected much, but the prospect would have made things easier.
“We already killed that thing once. Are you entirely sure it can even be killed now?”
“The parasites, do you see them? I kill them all, we win.”
Karen didn’t make a move for her sword. Cutting an animated corpse was nearly useless. You destroyed their vital points, generically their head, but in this case it had many little points moving across, and probably inside, its body. She decided she would eliminate them all with her magic. Individual small spells wouldn’t cut it. She needed something big, something massively powerful. There were such spells, but they bore a heavy price on her power. But such worries were beneath her. She had lives to protect. She knew what her limits were, and she could probably surpass those in this situation. Casting off her thoughts, Karen broke into a chant.
“Hear me, master of the flaming domain. Answer the call to me, your vassal. In my hand I hold your flame.” She ignited her right palm, raising it up above her head.
“In my heart I bear your spirit. Thou art in me, and I command thee. I bind thee to the name Ifreet! Head my call, and incinerate my enemies! Immolate their corpses, leaving nothing but ash!!”
By the end, Karen was practically screaming her words. Nothing happened for a few seconds, but Karen didn’t lower her guard. Lloyd was about to speak up when the fireball in her hand exploded, sending huge waves of fire in every direction. They spread around the floor, narrowly missing the group, to form a massive circle of fire. Lines crisscrossed the area forming triangles, runes and other symbols in the circle.
Suddenly a large crimson hand punched through the floor, yet leaving it intact. The hand instantly ignited, and was followed by a large body of pure flames. It’s shape crackled and wavered, as if there was no real body to house the flames. It loomed over Karen, staring deep into her eyes.
“I paid my dues to you long ago spirit. With this our debts to each other are cleared.”
The flames didn’t respond, save for turning it’s back to her. It grew larger, overtaking the size of the parasitic corpse of the gorilla bug. Karen leaped backwards over the small flames of the circle, and gathered the group together in the centre.
“If you value your life, don’t move.” She said sharply.
Charlie reluctantly remained stationary beside her. Satisfied, Karen clapped her hands together. When they parted, a small sphere or bubble appeared between her palms. The further she moved her hands apart, the larger it grew. Spreading her arms out to the fullest it started enlarging on its own, harmlessly passing around Karen so that she stood inside it. The others passed through as well, surprise dying down as they got acquainted with the bubble. As soon as the bubble took hold of everyone, the flame spirit lurched forward, slamming into the infected creature. It resisted, trying to throw the flames away, but it enveloped it. The metal around them began to glow amber, and it quickly spread to the other parts of the room. Karen saw several of the parasitic forms fall to the floor, only to sizzle on impact and burn to death. The dead beast suddenly pushed back, slamming Ifreet into the far wall, right next to the doors that the other contestant would have had to take to get into the room. The amber glow spread to the door controls, obliterating them in and instant. The doors seemed to be made of another substance of the walls and quickly melted, leaving a large gap in the wall. Ifreet responded by bear hugging the colossal fiend, and enveloped it whole. It’s vague shape could be seem through the flames. As it was quickly incinerated, a hulking scream bellowed from its maw. It sunk to the floor in a gloopy mess, before even that was reduced to ash. Ifreet regained its form, and stared around for any trace of the creature. Seeing none, it seeped across the floor towards the door the infestation had entered from. It grabbed each side of the doorway, and it melted an impromptu wall with the doors, sealing off the corridor. Its job done, Ifreet returned to the centre of the circle. The glow of the heated floor stopped at Karen’s bubble, but the strain on her body increased to keep it that way. Without a word, the eidolon disappeared into the flames of the circle. The fires stopped, leaving only scorch markings and desolation. Karen let the bubble go and slumped to her knees. Lloyd stared in amazement at the sheer damage left by the short fight between behemoths. Karen reached into her pocket and retrieved a vial filled with a strange blue liquid. Popping the cork out with her thumb she downed it in a single gulp.
“Still tastes like bubblegum at least.” She remarked idly.
“What did you just drink?” Lloyd asked quizzically.
“Something that helps me regain my magic level. It seems a bit different though. It must be because instead of recharging a number, it’s actually affecting my body and mind now.”
Lloyd seemed satisfied with the answer, and examined the state of the melted doorway. The back up generator was powering the lights on the other side, much like it was in the large room they were in. If they were headed this way, they’d be able to enter now through the redecorated entrance.
“Think the others are beyond there?”
“If they are, we’ll be waiting to greet them.”
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Lillian was finding that the bug lady was issuing small bursts of spittle every time something sudden happened. When the floors and walls had shook they had both taken a bit of a tumble. Neither of them were hurt, but Dekowin still issued a short word that Lillian hadn’t quite understood. She had been pestering her about it for a short time.
“Why won’t you tell me what bollocks are?”
Dekowin wasn’t too chuffed with having said that, but the frustration she was managing to hide from the young girl had sort of let that one slip.
“It’s nothing. Nonsense. Just a thing I blurted out in the heat of the moment. Really”
Lillian didn’t look convinced, but let it drop for now. She was intent on finding the nice, fluffy lady from before. Moving ahead seemed like it would lead to the end of some sort of labyrinth or maze. With one true ending, it was natural to assume that everyone would eventually reach it if they tried enough times. She decided to look for her there, and if she wasn’t present, to wait patiently for her. The warm feeling of her down was still fresh in Lillian’s mind. And her expression, though hidden behind a pair of goggles, was almost motherly. It was understanding. Dekowin didn’t radiate a bad feeling, not really anyway. She just didn’t know how to cope with a child. Lillian could see that quite easily.
The two had left the puzzle room behind when the power had cut out. The backup generator did not power the console, but it seems an automatic system had kicked in and unlocked the door anyway. Since then they had quietly reached another turn in the corridor. This signalled the third such turn. Oddly, the faint smell of smoke flowed through the air around this area of the corridor. Dekowin motioned for Lillian to stay put as she went ahead to check out the source of the smell. Sure enough, the farther she went, the stronger the smell became. At the edge, the source of the smell became apparent. The doors had fused into a solid grey mass on either side. A large gap was left in the middle, more than enough for her to pass through. She hesitated for a second before peeking over it. She saw the four other contestants resting in the centre of the room. Around them black marks were scorched onto the ground. The female of the group spotted Dekowin with the eye not hidden by her hair and waved. Sensing that the group didn’t hold any violent intentions for the moment, Dekowin motioned for Lillian to approach the doorway too. When she did, Dekowin said “I’ll go ahead and make sure it’s safe. If anything happens, just stay hidden. Okay?”
Lillian nodded in response. Dekowin gave her a quick smile before stepping over the wreckage. She strode towards the group with a prideful walk. The group regarded her, and the girl asked straight away, “Where are the others?”
“Sarika and Marcus are missing. They collapsed into a tunnel underneath these areas. I was hoping they’d be here, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
Dekowin noticed Karen peering around her side. She hoped Lillian had did as she asked and remained hidden.
“And you told the little one to wait while you checked out the situation”
Dekowin spun around to look at the door, but didn’t see any sign of Lillian.
“How did you know that?”
“You just told me.”
Dekowin stared dumbfounded at the blank faced girl. She eventually muttered a cuss under her breath and sighed. She called over to the doorway, and sure enough, a little head popped out.
She strolled across the floor, casually stepping around the back markings on the floor. She looked over the four new, strange… they weren’t even all people. One was a large floating ball of leaves and flowers and vines. It was also dripping a strange yellow goo on the floor, but it didn’t seem to mind. Another was large and scary and it had claws and was metal. It was really tall, so Lillian didn’t really like it. A man with a towel over his shoulder was staring at her oddly. He tutted and turned away, focusing on no point in particular. And the blank faced black clad girl had a sword on her back. She didn’t seem scary. In fact, she seemed to regard Lillian in a fond way.
“So, you’re Lillian right?”
She nodded a response.
“I’m Karen. We’re going to wait a little bit longer for the other two to show up. I’m sure they’re on there way here as we speak. You don’t mind waiting, right?”
Lillian sensed an infinite amount of patience inside the girl. It wasn’t the kindness of Sarika, she just seemed… used, to dealing with people who didn’t understand things. Lillian smiled at the news they’d meet Sarika again, and to the surprise of anyone looking at Karen, she gave a small smile back.
Karen stared at the hulking monstrosity and its mutated new form. Types of spells formed in Karen’s mind, she assessed each carefully. The revived specimen seemed to be moving oddly, as if it was not used to its own body. The wriggling tendrils covering the body concerned Karen, what were they? Its revival reminded Karen of the zombie type monsters she had killed before. These seemed like parasites, ones who inhabit the bodies of others and take control. The major wound in its chest didn’t even faze the overtaken host, which meant it was probably immune to pain senses from the host. She guessed if all of the smaller creatures died the larger one would revert back to a corpse. But she’d need to do it fast; the beast had already moved Charlie back to the other side of the room. Karen surmised that the robot would be able to take that kind of hit and keep going, but this thing was learning its new body at an alarming rate. She didn’t want to take any hits from something that large. Before it was merely mid-level, but now it seemed to her more like a mid-boss of a high level dungeon. She wasn’t used to taking such things down on her own. She took a step back, peering over towards Reudic.
“You affected it before, made it afraid. Does it still work?”
Reudic made a strange drawn out tone which didn’t seem to optimistic. The parasites must be interfering with its brain on a level the plant could not overcome. She hadn’t expected much, but the prospect would have made things easier.
“We already killed that thing once. Are you entirely sure it can even be killed now?”
“The parasites, do you see them? I kill them all, we win.”
Karen didn’t make a move for her sword. Cutting an animated corpse was nearly useless. You destroyed their vital points, generically their head, but in this case it had many little points moving across, and probably inside, its body. She decided she would eliminate them all with her magic. Individual small spells wouldn’t cut it. She needed something big, something massively powerful. There were such spells, but they bore a heavy price on her power. But such worries were beneath her. She had lives to protect. She knew what her limits were, and she could probably surpass those in this situation. Casting off her thoughts, Karen broke into a chant.
“Hear me, master of the flaming domain. Answer the call to me, your vassal. In my hand I hold your flame.” She ignited her right palm, raising it up above her head.
“In my heart I bear your spirit. Thou art in me, and I command thee. I bind thee to the name Ifreet! Head my call, and incinerate my enemies! Immolate their corpses, leaving nothing but ash!!”
By the end, Karen was practically screaming her words. Nothing happened for a few seconds, but Karen didn’t lower her guard. Lloyd was about to speak up when the fireball in her hand exploded, sending huge waves of fire in every direction. They spread around the floor, narrowly missing the group, to form a massive circle of fire. Lines crisscrossed the area forming triangles, runes and other symbols in the circle.
Suddenly a large crimson hand punched through the floor, yet leaving it intact. The hand instantly ignited, and was followed by a large body of pure flames. It’s shape crackled and wavered, as if there was no real body to house the flames. It loomed over Karen, staring deep into her eyes.
“I paid my dues to you long ago spirit. With this our debts to each other are cleared.”
The flames didn’t respond, save for turning it’s back to her. It grew larger, overtaking the size of the parasitic corpse of the gorilla bug. Karen leaped backwards over the small flames of the circle, and gathered the group together in the centre.
“If you value your life, don’t move.” She said sharply.
Charlie reluctantly remained stationary beside her. Satisfied, Karen clapped her hands together. When they parted, a small sphere or bubble appeared between her palms. The further she moved her hands apart, the larger it grew. Spreading her arms out to the fullest it started enlarging on its own, harmlessly passing around Karen so that she stood inside it. The others passed through as well, surprise dying down as they got acquainted with the bubble. As soon as the bubble took hold of everyone, the flame spirit lurched forward, slamming into the infected creature. It resisted, trying to throw the flames away, but it enveloped it. The metal around them began to glow amber, and it quickly spread to the other parts of the room. Karen saw several of the parasitic forms fall to the floor, only to sizzle on impact and burn to death. The dead beast suddenly pushed back, slamming Ifreet into the far wall, right next to the doors that the other contestant would have had to take to get into the room. The amber glow spread to the door controls, obliterating them in and instant. The doors seemed to be made of another substance of the walls and quickly melted, leaving a large gap in the wall. Ifreet responded by bear hugging the colossal fiend, and enveloped it whole. It’s vague shape could be seem through the flames. As it was quickly incinerated, a hulking scream bellowed from its maw. It sunk to the floor in a gloopy mess, before even that was reduced to ash. Ifreet regained its form, and stared around for any trace of the creature. Seeing none, it seeped across the floor towards the door the infestation had entered from. It grabbed each side of the doorway, and it melted an impromptu wall with the doors, sealing off the corridor. Its job done, Ifreet returned to the centre of the circle. The glow of the heated floor stopped at Karen’s bubble, but the strain on her body increased to keep it that way. Without a word, the eidolon disappeared into the flames of the circle. The fires stopped, leaving only scorch markings and desolation. Karen let the bubble go and slumped to her knees. Lloyd stared in amazement at the sheer damage left by the short fight between behemoths. Karen reached into her pocket and retrieved a vial filled with a strange blue liquid. Popping the cork out with her thumb she downed it in a single gulp.
“Still tastes like bubblegum at least.” She remarked idly.
“What did you just drink?” Lloyd asked quizzically.
“Something that helps me regain my magic level. It seems a bit different though. It must be because instead of recharging a number, it’s actually affecting my body and mind now.”
Lloyd seemed satisfied with the answer, and examined the state of the melted doorway. The back up generator was powering the lights on the other side, much like it was in the large room they were in. If they were headed this way, they’d be able to enter now through the redecorated entrance.
“Think the others are beyond there?”
“If they are, we’ll be waiting to greet them.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lillian was finding that the bug lady was issuing small bursts of spittle every time something sudden happened. When the floors and walls had shook they had both taken a bit of a tumble. Neither of them were hurt, but Dekowin still issued a short word that Lillian hadn’t quite understood. She had been pestering her about it for a short time.
“Why won’t you tell me what bollocks are?”
Dekowin wasn’t too chuffed with having said that, but the frustration she was managing to hide from the young girl had sort of let that one slip.
“It’s nothing. Nonsense. Just a thing I blurted out in the heat of the moment. Really”
Lillian didn’t look convinced, but let it drop for now. She was intent on finding the nice, fluffy lady from before. Moving ahead seemed like it would lead to the end of some sort of labyrinth or maze. With one true ending, it was natural to assume that everyone would eventually reach it if they tried enough times. She decided to look for her there, and if she wasn’t present, to wait patiently for her. The warm feeling of her down was still fresh in Lillian’s mind. And her expression, though hidden behind a pair of goggles, was almost motherly. It was understanding. Dekowin didn’t radiate a bad feeling, not really anyway. She just didn’t know how to cope with a child. Lillian could see that quite easily.
The two had left the puzzle room behind when the power had cut out. The backup generator did not power the console, but it seems an automatic system had kicked in and unlocked the door anyway. Since then they had quietly reached another turn in the corridor. This signalled the third such turn. Oddly, the faint smell of smoke flowed through the air around this area of the corridor. Dekowin motioned for Lillian to stay put as she went ahead to check out the source of the smell. Sure enough, the farther she went, the stronger the smell became. At the edge, the source of the smell became apparent. The doors had fused into a solid grey mass on either side. A large gap was left in the middle, more than enough for her to pass through. She hesitated for a second before peeking over it. She saw the four other contestants resting in the centre of the room. Around them black marks were scorched onto the ground. The female of the group spotted Dekowin with the eye not hidden by her hair and waved. Sensing that the group didn’t hold any violent intentions for the moment, Dekowin motioned for Lillian to approach the doorway too. When she did, Dekowin said “I’ll go ahead and make sure it’s safe. If anything happens, just stay hidden. Okay?”
Lillian nodded in response. Dekowin gave her a quick smile before stepping over the wreckage. She strode towards the group with a prideful walk. The group regarded her, and the girl asked straight away, “Where are the others?”
“Sarika and Marcus are missing. They collapsed into a tunnel underneath these areas. I was hoping they’d be here, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
Dekowin noticed Karen peering around her side. She hoped Lillian had did as she asked and remained hidden.
“And you told the little one to wait while you checked out the situation”
Dekowin spun around to look at the door, but didn’t see any sign of Lillian.
“How did you know that?”
“You just told me.”
Dekowin stared dumbfounded at the blank faced girl. She eventually muttered a cuss under her breath and sighed. She called over to the doorway, and sure enough, a little head popped out.
She strolled across the floor, casually stepping around the back markings on the floor. She looked over the four new, strange… they weren’t even all people. One was a large floating ball of leaves and flowers and vines. It was also dripping a strange yellow goo on the floor, but it didn’t seem to mind. Another was large and scary and it had claws and was metal. It was really tall, so Lillian didn’t really like it. A man with a towel over his shoulder was staring at her oddly. He tutted and turned away, focusing on no point in particular. And the blank faced black clad girl had a sword on her back. She didn’t seem scary. In fact, she seemed to regard Lillian in a fond way.
“So, you’re Lillian right?”
She nodded a response.
“I’m Karen. We’re going to wait a little bit longer for the other two to show up. I’m sure they’re on there way here as we speak. You don’t mind waiting, right?”
Lillian sensed an infinite amount of patience inside the girl. It wasn’t the kindness of Sarika, she just seemed… used, to dealing with people who didn’t understand things. Lillian smiled at the news they’d meet Sarika again, and to the surprise of anyone looking at Karen, she gave a small smile back.