Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

The headshot breaks off the remaining fungus on Vaal Hazak's head, exposing its whole face to the gloomy light.

It bellows as it rises up on its hind legs before falling back down, spreading a cloud of spore-filled miasma throughout its surroundings. As mentioned before, breathing this in will slowly whittle away at Marie's vitality.

Marie quickly scramble and put on a tiny golden mask of a greek design, which she never had before, hm...

Still, she begin to run away, and scramble to get another arrow.

Vs Namielle

Megan continued to treat the injured as best she could, though Paintra being a painted presented some unusual challenges.

"How uh... How do you... Will drinking a healing potion restore you, or...?"

Omega was a relatively quick reader. He held onto the journal, and grabbed the staff. He left the armor where it rested, feeling somewhat unworthy of it at the moment, and made sure to remember this room.

How long has this been here? Or did it come from somewhere else? What have these walls seen? he thought, walking cautiously down the stairs.

He leans forwards, and starts to run.

Okay, so it didn't work the first time. ... Maybe it'll work a second time?

Sporacles throws the Thermoblade with all his strength. Hopefully, once its lodged in the Vaal Hazak, the longer exposure to heat will get the thing set ablaze.

Namielle goes stumbling back.

"That... should be fine, yes."

Toothless seems to notice Megan for the first time. His eyes narrow as he recalls a vague memory of seeing her somewhere before... but since she's helping, he opts to turn his attention back to Namielle. The Night Fury takes off in a four-legged sprint and body-checks the Abyssal Dragon, getting it to move away from Nanza, though it rears up and plants its forelimbs on him to try and pin him to the ground in exchange.

The lodged blade begins to burn off the fungus on Blackveil Vaal Hazak's chest and stomach, though it's a slow process.

Vaal Hazak howls again, then runs straight at Sporacles, aiming to trample him over.

Anna doesn't seem to notice Samsara yet and knocks on the door.

"Hm?", the burly bandit asks inside the house when he hears the knocking. "Boss, someone's knocking."

The leader gets up, wary.

"What? Damn it all, someone did follow me!"

"I dunno. Why'd they knock on the door if they followed you?"

"It might be a trap."

"True..."

"I'm going to check. One of you, get a knife and stand by the side of the door. Get ready to kill whoever that is at my command if we have to do so."

The skinny bandit nods and grabs a dagger, then stands by the side of the door, out of Anna's view as the leader opens the door.

"Yes, how can-"

He pauses when he sees her. Anna, however, only smiles.

"Greetings, sir. I'm sorry if I interrupted you with something, but could you-"

The leader slams the door shut, to Anna's confusion. She just blinks.

"Um... sir?"

"A moment!", the leader calls out from the other side, making Anna shrug.

"Damnit all, it's that merchant girl!", he says to the others. "She must've tracked me down!"

"What!? Is that dragon with her!?"

"I didn't see anyone else, but that dragon could just have been hiding on the roof or something!"

"This is bad... what do we do? There's only four of us this time!"

"Maybe all four of us should jump her at the same time and take her hostage. Then the dragon can't attack us."

"That's really risky, but it may be our only option. Alright men, get in positions. I'll let her in, and on my signal, we get her."

The sound of his feet hitting the stairs echoes through the empty ice halls. Once the self insert reached the bottom of the stairs, he would find himself in a massive expanse of books on shelves. This was the library, in its near infinite capacity. The bookshelves, teeming with books seemed to stretch infinitely both up and down. In the center of the room was a stone pedestal. A familiar, quite voice rung through the self insert's mind.

   "Greetings."   

Samsara look a bit suspicious at the going-ons, and approach carefully. She contemplate drawing her blade, but since she's aware that it might be a suspicious gesture, she opt to just bring her coat up a little, hiding the handles underneath.

She doesn't quite know how to address Anna while the merchant is speaking to some suspicious men, though, so she coughs politely while the bandits are talking. She's unaware of what they're saying though.

Erm, hello, Anna. You might be confused but I'm a friend of one of your sisters...

Beruka is floating above the house, preparing to jump off her wyvern and perform an acrobatic kill.

...

Marie again glance unto the future, and prepare to aim a shot. Once more, she glances five seconds ahead into it.

...

Thanks.

Nanza attempts to slam into the drake's face, feet first !

Edited by Bolded1 on Nov 16th 2019 at 12:12:46 PM

"Crap crap crap crap–"

He starts to book it. Uh... quick, hard right turn! It might keep going on past, eh?

Marie should see Blackveil running right at her.

Blackveil Vaal Hazak stops a few meters after missing its mark, turns around and runs at Sporacles again. Whether it hits or misses him this time, it then stops, turns, and runs to trample Marie, as foreseen in her vision.

Meanwhile, small flames are beginning to spread over its body due to the Thermoblade.

Marie fire an arrow as it turn around and then leap out of the way, using golden boots to do so quickly, though she fails to control the speed and stumble along.

Anna turns around to look at Samsara while the door is still closed.

"Oh, hello.", she politely greets. She then blinks.

"I'm more surprised that you know my name. Have you heard it others talking about me?"

Then she raises an eyebrow.

"Sisters? Miss, I don't-"

The door then opens again, making Anna turn her head. The bandit leader stands there with a pleasant expression on his face.

"My apologies for making you wait in the cold. I didn't really expect anyone to show up here. This is a pretty secluded place."

"Oh, that's alright.", Anna says. "These clothes are warmer than they appear to be. Anyhow, I wanted to ask-"

"Still, it's impolite to let you just stand out here. Come on in and warm up first."

He then looks at Samsara for a moment, but his expression doesn't change.

"Both you and your friend are welcome."

"I'm not sure if that's nec-"

"Oh, but I insist.", he says, moving out of the way a little and allowing them to come inside if they want. Anna seems to be thinking it over.

"Well... it's rude to deny hospitality, isn't it?", she then laughs before she starts walking in.

Sporacles did not expect that.

He is squash.

"..."

Well, at least he's alive. But he's also just a human – that trample didn't go too well.

"ouch."

Samsara is so surprised by Anna's reaction that she slightly open up one eye, lean her head to the right and raise an eyebrow.

Oh, apologies. It's a long story but...

The bandit leader than invite them in. Samsara, while aware of the nature of the trap, is also aware that she has an agent outside to help. Thus, she smiles and nod, as she often does.

Who would I be to wade back into the cold when such a galant offer is made? Thank you!

She follows Anna, while Beruka spectate. She probably guessed Samsara's intentions, but her prompt departure from the location above the house throws such a claim into doubt...

Something unusual happens (at least I assume it's unusual).

The building flames suddenly release as an explosion, staggering Blackveil Vaal Hazak and allowing Marie to land her shot. The explosion also dislodges the Thermoblade, allowing Sporacles to retrieve it.

Vaal Hazak takes a moment to recuperate. However, three Mernos and two Jagras◊ emerge from seemingly nowhere as well, suffering the influence of the effluvium. One of the Jagras leaps at Marie with a biting attack. The Mernos circle the skies, waiting for the right moment to attack.

Marie get bitten in the arm, prompting her to yelp in surprise, fear and pain. She attempts to stab her loaded crossbow into the beast before releasing the arrow at point-blank range.

Once they're inside, the leader closes the door while the devious-looking bandit is standing nearby, showing a way-too-nice-looking smile.

"You may sit in the couch if you want, madames.", he says, using a classy accent for the last word, making Anna giggle a little.

"Much appreciated, but I only really wanted to ask you all something."

"What may that be?", the leader asks, preparing to give the signal at any moment now.

"Well... I sort of got lost while on my way to a nearby town. Could you point me in the right direction?"

The two bandits stare.

"... you're just here to ask for directions?"

"Of course, why else would I be here?", Anna asks.

"You're... not here for your map?"

"What map?", Anna asks, confused. Though that question should immediately let Samsara realize who these people are.

He staggers to his feet.

Damage - body hurts but is fully functional, thank the game mechanics. Equipment - one broken oxygen tank. The diver takes a moment to rip it off, before tying the connected tube in a knot.

"Tch..."

Slowly, slowly, he moves to retrieve the knife.

Samsara listens to them, and look curious when Anna is talking about directions.

When she hears about the map though, she does a pretty remarkable job at keeping her composure, but quickly realize that she may just be amongst the bandits who stole the Einherjar map, going by the way they went out of their way to ask Anna that... and even slipped up.

Now, now. Why would you get so worked up over a map? She comments, choosing to make it seems like she ignored the "your map" part. She make a sort of a weird "huehuehue" sound after that, as if to appear ditzy.

Edited by Bolded1 on Nov 16th 2019 at 12:31:38 PM

One Jagras down.

Before the other beasts can attack, Blackveil Vaal Hazak does the thing it did at the beginning where it absorbs the miasma from them. The Mernos drop out of the sky while the remaining Jagras thrashes about wildly, all of them dying.

And then Blackveil spews its miasma straight down, making another billowing plume of pain.

Marie attempts to evade it once again, nursing her wounded arm.

The devious-looking one turns to Samsara.

"We, uh... well, found a map some time ago. Just, lying on the ground. And you're the first people we've seen since then. So we just wondered if it may have been yours and you came to get it."

Had Samsara not already known they were thieves, she could have actually fallen for this explanation, because the sleazy thief says it in such a way that it actually sounds convincing.

"Indeed.", the boss says. "As it were for directions-"

"Oh, wait, since you invited us in, could you set us some tea?", Anna suddenly asks the boss. "I'm pretty thirsty, and it's always more fun to talk with a nice, warm brew near you."

She smiles.

"Do you have Bergamot Tea? It's one of my favorites."

"We, uh, don't have any tea."

"A-actually, maybe we do.", the boss then says. "Make yourselves comfortable while we go check in the kitchen."

The boss then leads his confused friend away with him, leaving Samsara and Anna on their own.

"So, what's on your mind, miss? Judging by the way you asked that question, I could tell something's up.", Anna says as she sits down on the couch, showing a remarkable amount of insight.

Knife acquired!

Knocked back onto back, acquired? The plume of spores buffets Sporacles, but he manages to stand his ground.

"HRBRBRBRBRLRB!"

He's about to kick a small rock at the dragon when –

Oxygen tank. Flaming knife. HMMMM.

The diver runs back for his discarded tank.

Blackveil lunges at Marie with a series of over-exaggerated head-swinging bites.

Samsara sit down, pondering and trying to decide what to do. The whole situation was rather confusing, and she feared that she would walk away without the map. Its discovery would help Anna after all, and could contribute to the cause.

Were she closer, she'd probably try and storm in with the Sheperds, but alas, they would probably be gone by now.

Oh, it's nothing much. You're just remarkably similar to someone I met once, and it's kind of disconcerting. She answers.I'm sorry about bursting in and talking to you as if I knew you, though. It's a bit rude.

...

Marie dodge, and dodge, but fall down, and is clearly backed into a corner now!

Edited by Bolded1 on Nov 16th 2019 at 12:45:07 PM