Complete Side Story Vintergard (S4) Finding Sven

[Raid Boss]

Cycle 1

Camp Hope got smaller and smaller as you set off toward the southern horizon with no more lead than a general direction of the secret Sven blabbered about when you last spoke to him. Eventually, you were far enough that you couldn't even see it in the distance anymore. Chad walked beside you, though he was a step or two behind because of the bulk he was carrying that was both himself and his equipment.

"It's either I forgot if someone told me, or nobody actually told me... Why are we looking for this person?" he asked, looking for an answer far beyond him.

Before you are able to reply, however, if you had checked your UI, you would have found that you no longer receive any form of communication. Curious, that.

@Luthien: After you reply, roll a 1d4. If we match, something will happen.

 

[Luthien]

Two miles south from the mess tent… The blonde kept repeating the distance in her mind as they walked, having taken the time to ensure she was heading in the correct cardinal direction shortly before leaving camp. She kept her eyes open and alert as they walked, trying to gauge and discern if there were any tracks or clues along the path they’d chosen to traverse.

"Wait… the head of MIT told you to look for him, but never said why?" The ranger stopped in her tracks to look back at the knight, an eyebrow raised slightly before she sighed. "Well I know he’s a researcher, so whatever he was looking into might’ve been important for MIT I guess?"

Granted, the elf had her own questions regarding Sven’s research—it hadn’t exactly inspired the girl any confidence considering how paranoid he’d seemed about the Lions coming over to arrest him—but the truth of the matter was that right now it wasn’t really all that important.

"Personally though I’m looking for him because he’s a dear friend of a friend… and he might be in danger." Her brows furrowed then as the blonde remembered the look on Meri’s face when she’d attempted to contact Sven once more, the unexpected error received through the system having chilled Lúthien’s blood entirely. "Meri got an error when trying to contact him via Comms."

Speaking of the Comms, it had been a while since she’d seen any messages pop-up into her UI, a hand fluttering through the screen before tapping the message section… only to find that nothing had seemingly updated since a while after the duo had left the camp.

"Hey… have you gotten any messages since we left camp?" Another thought then occurred to the elf as she looked at the Knight Captain. "Actually, I don’t think I even got your username?"

---

Matchy Match Roll?
1d4 (2) = 2
:fennecry:

@Raid Boss

 

[Raid Boss]

Cycle 2

Chad adjusted his back-strapped weapon as they traveled to get more comfortable. He thought about what Luthien said about the mission for a bit before replying, "Y'know, life is all kinda complicated sometimes and for those times, you just need to trust your intuition. I didn't think very hard about why the tall funny-talking man wanted him found, but it seemed important." He nodded to himself.

"Important research? Or MAYBE... this Sven guy is secretly dating the MIT man's daughter and we're really out to find him so he can jostle him up and tell him to stop dating the girl, but if that really was the mission, I must have missed like the entire conversation AHAHA! Though... come to think of it... no one ever tells me things anyways. I guess I'll just have to trust my guts and follow my heart!"

Chad listened to the elf talk about her motivation to go on the search, but at some points, she started to slip into the thing Travelers usually do. It's okay. Chad totally knew how to handle such a thing.

"Oh yeah, I can't speak to him either. Yes. Absolutely," Chad said. Clearly, Sven was not there so Chad could not speak to him either.

And to the line about messages, Chad looked down at some writing on the underside of his forearm, which said: Find MIT guy, Sven. "No no, I only have a single message before leaving camp. Nothing else after that!"

"My use name? Ah, you mean like a codename! Hell yes. When I go undercover, the lions tell me to go by... Mr. Chadisma."

~ ✦ ~​

After a while of traveling, you arrived at the treelines leading into the big forest. It was supposedly in this area where Sven's secret project could be found.

If you think back carefully, he specifically said: "Hmph, I see so you lions have found my side-project 2 miles south from here and underneath a secret hatch with the 6414 password, huh?"

As you begin to look, there were a lot of leaves, rocks, and other environmental clutter in the way. Even if Sven was the worst secret keeper in the history of Terrasphere, at least his hatch appeared well-hidden.

What will you do?

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

Her head tilted to the side just enough to catch a glance of her companion, an eyebrow raised slightly as she took note of the various items and equipment he was carrying on himself as they walked. "Truuue… sometimes trusting your intuition can be the best thing anyone can do." It was called the sixth sense for a reason, sometimes the body was just good at connecting the dots before the mind could figure out how they fit together.

"W-Wait… the head of MIT has a daughter?!" Surprise colored her face as she turned now to face Chad, walking backwards as the elf allowed her other senses to pick up the slack while her attention was focused on the blond. "Aren’t they a player though? Can players even have kids…?!"

It took a few moments before the ranger’s mind began to connect the dots when it came to the knight, the biggest ahah! moment coming when the man actually twisted his forearm to look at some scribbled writing on the underside. "Esperate un momento... you’re not a player, are you?" She got the answer to that question shortly after when the man provided his Lion’s codename… Mr. Chadisma. A hand flew to her mouth, the blonde unable to fully contain the sudden chortle that escaped her in that moment.

"I’m s-sorry," She finally managed to get the words out again, fingers wiping the corner of her eyes before she continued. "I didn’t expect you to be a Lander, that’s all."

She had seen a few NPCs before in-game, mostly in the towns and cities as they performed regular and mundane tasks. Granted they were nothing like any NPCs Lúthien had experienced in other games she’d dabble into in the past, but even then the blonde hadn’t expected for one to hold a high rank in one of the factions. A part of her certainly thought it was pretty cool to see it in the flesh, and it caused the ranger to second guess the current view she held about the People of the Land—maybe she had been underestimating them after all.

"Hold up though, doesn’t that mean you only have one life?" Another thought quickly crossed her mind then, causing the elf to frown as she looked at Chad. "You sure being out here with me is a smart idea…"

They were, after all, moving further away from whatever safety the camp usually provided and, considering the raid that would soon be on its doorsteps, it was probably safe to assume they wouldn’t be getting any backup out here if things went south. For all the ranger knew this Lander wasn’t even fully aware of everything happening, after all how much did the Lions or even the Commander’s guardsmen knew of this Vern that had Marked a bunch of them—not to mention stabbing two members of her party, and probably Sven too.

"Y’know, we might come across someone pretty dangerous…. I hope not, it’d be great if we could just find Sven alive and well and bring him back to camp without issue… but my gut feeling’s keeps saying things might not be that easy."

~ ~​

"I think… this might be the place. The hatch should be around here somewhere...?"

They had reached the treeline leading into the Adecus Woods, her boots carefully making their way through the undergrowth as the pair began their search. A small part of the elf had hoped the researcher had been terrible at hiding the entrance to his hideout, after all he’d proven to be the worst secret keeper in history in the first five seconds of them meeting, and yet not a single thing in the forest floor seemed to be out of place—not enough to catch Lúthien’s attention on a first glance at least.

"And here I thought Sven would’ve erected a sign that said ‘secret entrance here’ to make our lives easier." A long sigh left her lips before her brows furrowed in thought, an index finger rhythmically taping her lower lip, before the elf seemed to make a choice. Her head tilted to look back at the blond knight, offering him a small warning. "You might want to back up a bit… I’m still learning how to properly control this trick, so I can’t guarantee I won’t shock you by mistake."

She stepped further into the forest, carefully shifting some of the smaller rocks and decaying plant matter with her boots to clear out a small enough section she could use. A part of the elf wasn’t even sure if this would work as she intended, after all it’s not like the ground was a natural conductor for electricity, but she hoped that there was enough retained moisture in the damp soil below to make this little trick of hers useful.

"Here goes nothing, I guess…"

Lúthien had removed both gloves from her hands, tucking them to the side of her belt, before the elf allowed the skin on her palms to rest against the detritus of the woods. Her eyes closed, trying to avoid any distractions, before she focused on the natural energy found around them. Little by little the blonde began to feel the familiar feeling of static as it began to build up within her, her brows furrowing as she found it harder to concentrate the electricity onto her palms. Fingers dug into the dampened soil below then, attempting to ground the elf to it as much as possible, before she heard the crackling building up in her palms as the energy began to manifest.

The first pulse was the hardest and most uncontrolled one, Lúthien releasing more energy than she had originally intended, and she could hear the arcing of lighting as it grackeld and bounced from dead tree leaves and fallen branches. The smell of burnt organic matter reached her nostrils, a faint "Tch!" of frustration leaving elven lips, before Lúthien readjusted her output. The next pulse managed to get through the undergrowth without reacting negatively with the matter around it, small as the radius had been, though that last part was easy to adjust once Lúthien had figured out how much electricity was enough to get the intended effect.

Three more pulses went out then in set intervals, the elf straining her concentration to the fullest as she hoped to ping something in the vicinity that would seem out of place for a forest meant to be full of trees and wildlife.

---

Action: Attempting to find the hatch through an improvised electrolocation using her Aeromancy (Lightning) and Hyper Sense… also her Mindmeld is always active within a 30 ft radius of the elf, if that’s of any importance. :mewtwolol:

@Raid Boss

 

[Raid Boss]

Cycle 3

"Any man at Ordnung's age would have 4 or 5 kids already! If it's not for the Lions keeping me busy, I would have at least two already! Do you think I would be popular with the ladies? I'm not nearly as smooth as Levi, aha! He pulls all the ladies at parties!" Chad chimed.

"Ahaha! You Travelers sure are an interesting bunch! I've been told that where you come from, you can get muscles like these by stabbing ultra-powerful magical concoction into your butt and lifting heavy things while standing in place. I think that's a very strange way of training. You should form a connection with your muscles, for they are an extension of you. When you will them to move, they move, and therefore it is best to practice that connection with dynamic movements and if you can combine that with monster slaying at the same time, you can keep the monsters at bay, two birds, two stones, you know, one for each bird." Chad went on a tangent while you did the majority of the navigational work to discover where Sven's secret project is hidden.

"That one life is a bag of endless opportunities, chances to be happy, chances to be sad, chances to experience everything the world has to offer. It's more than just a life, you know? it's an experience and I'm here for it! Me and my boys (he flexed) will keep you as safe as a log, no lumberjack will cut you down!"

When you mentioned the danger, it seemed as though Chad went into it without knowing anything about the assassin, but he remained hopeful about the mission and that energy is infecting you via Mindmeld as well. You could feel that Chad really meant it, and that emotion was drowning out everything within 30 feet of you. The man was beaming with optimism.

- ✦ -​

After you tried out your technique for the first time, you could feel the magic centering you as the electro-senses radiated from your body and traveled outward until they hit some kind of hindrance before returning to you. The first time didn't work at all - however, subsequent attempts did provide useful feedback to guide you through a ravine that ate up about a two-handful of minutes to wade through before you arrived at a field where you were up to your waist in the soft grass.

Within the overgrowth, you had a final go of your crude technique. When you sent them out, half of your sensors disappeared as though they were absorbed. It couldn't have been anything else to you. With a bit of grass slaying and careful inspection, you stumbled upon a heavily reinforced hatch.

"WHOA! Is that it?" Chad asked as he sent his boot to the metallic door. CLONG!

When you approached, a magical interface appeared as it reacted with your magic. From the hatch, a series of foreign characters aligned in a 3x3 gridded pattern appeared, it seemed that a password is required to access the content within.

What will you do?

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Any man at Ordnung's age would have 4 or 5 kids already!"
"’Perate… ¿qué?"
"If it's not for the Lions keeping me busy, I would have at least two already!"

She couldn’t help but look up at the blond as if he’d suddenly grown a second head, an utter look of confusion mixed with disbelief etched onto her elven features. If Lúthien had any doubts remaining before then about Mr. Chadisma’s being a player or a person of the land they had certainly been put to rest at that moment. He was a Lander, and if Lúthien was to take the man at face value then it seemed they all reproduced like rabbits.

"Do you think I would be popular with the ladies?"
"Y-Yeah, I’m sure you’d be popular with the right kind of ladies around…?"

Sure, it’s not like the lander was hard on the eyes or anything like that—if the elf was honestly asked her opinion about the knight’s looks she’d agree that he was quite charming—but she wasn’t sure if many IRL players would interested in him when it had taken Mr. Chadisma here about a solid five minutes before talking about all the kids he should be having by now. He’d probably have better luck with other people of the land—and then the Lander proceeded to describe steroid usage to the blonde, and the elf couldn’t help but fucking losing it as a fit of laughter overtook her.

"S-Shit, I’m sorry… didn’t expect a Lander to describe steroids and how they’re used out of the blue." Lúthien finally managed to reign in her laughter, hands dabbing at the corner of her eyes, just as a small apology was given in Chad’s direction. "I kinda agree with you though, muscle memory is probably just as important—if not more—as developing your body."

It was the main reason why Lúthien had turned off any in-game assistance for her movements and magic, the girl wanting to get a true understanding on how bows and masteries worked through a basic way of learning. It wasn’t an easy way of learning, many times the elf had been frustrated when her shots had gone awry or her magic fizzled out before she could properly cast it, but she couldn’t help the satisfaction she’d felt when things had finally begun falling into place. She still had a long way to go, however, that much the ranger knew, but the challenge was what made gaming so enjoyable.

"Me and my boys," Chad flexed as he spoke."Will keep you as safe as a log, no lumberjack will cut you down!"
"Hahahah! Alright then, Mr. Chadisma, I’ll be in your care then~"

The lander was certainly a character, and yet Lúthien couldn’t say that she honestly minded the overabundant optimism that radiated from the knight. If anything it helped calm her nerves and put her mind at ease, the constant nagging thoughts in the back of her mind silenced for the time being as she had focused instead on finding Sven’s secret project… room? Den? Whatever it was, really.

At first she had thought her improvised electrolocation had been a bust, having received no input from her surroundings, but a look at the optimistic Chad had encouraged the elf to try again while he kept watch. Finally she received some feedback, however small it had been, and excitedly the blonde began to follow the new trail. On occasion she would stop and try her new trick once more, adjusting the path they took depending on the feedback received, before a series of groans and expletives had left her lips as the pair made their way down a ravine. One final use of her electrical pulses confirmed they had found something in the grass field, her boot tapping against the hard exterior of the reinforced hatch once it was found.

""WHOA! Is that it?""
"I think so...? It’s certainly man-made at the very least."

It was then the knight decided to give the hatch an experimental tap with his own reinforced boot, a loud CLONG! echoing in response that caused the elf to quickly cover her sensitive ears with her hands. Chad was spared a chiding comment when a shift on the hatch caught Lúthien’s attention, crimson eyes turning to look at the 3 by 3 gridded pattern that appeared.

"Hey, Chadisma, come look at this." A hand waved the man over before pointing at the foreign symbols shown. "You recognize any of these?"

Lúthien had hoped they had been lander characters, but that theory was quickly debunked when Chad proved to be as clueless as the ranger regarding the origin of the various designs. A light frown pulled at her features, brows furrowing as the ranger fell into a moment of silence in deep thought. It kind of looked like a number pad… even if a bottom row where the zero and some additional symbols would’ve been was missing. She did have a PIN that Sven had provided without any prompting too, though nothing in this grid remotely resemble numbers to her eyes.

"Oh fuck it," No matter how long and hard she looked at the symbols it wouldn’t change the fact she didn’t recognize any of them. "Hey Chad, buddy, keep watch while I try something?"

With that the elf hovered her index finger above the grid, mentally assigning each a number as if it was the number pad on a phone or an ATM. The first pressed was the third one on the second row, quickly followed by the first character on that same line. "Six… Four… One… Four…?" Her finger shifted then to the character right above it, pressing it, and then finished by pressing the first character of the second row once more.

@Raid Boss

 

[Raid Boss]

Cycle 4

Chad flashed you a toothy grin as he propped his weapon over his shoulder, keeping watch of the surroundings while you figured out a way to get in. The symbols glowed brightly when your finger hovered over them, and the first time you pressed down on one of the symbols, you could feel a tactile buzz as the area above the grid recorded said symbol. The other three times your finger navigated the number pad was the same. When you inputted the final symbol, the hatch hissed and popped open with mechanical vigor. It seemed that your assumption about the magic panel being a number pad was the right answer.

"Whoa..." Chad muttered when he saw the hatch pop open.

When you peered into the hole, there was a dim light that revealed a ladder leading down into the secretive space.

Without an ounce of hesitation, Chad immediate jumped down the hatch to take a look. "There's no one here! Hop down! My muscles will break your fall, just don't land wrong or they'll break you, ahaha!" he shouted.

- ✦ -​

However you choose to hop down, you immediately got a glimpse of what the blond saw. It was a tiny workspace no bigger than a large bathroom. All sorts of books could be seen on the makeshift shelves on the wall. Meanwhile, spent writing implements and sloppily-stacked leather-bound journals filled the tiny table in the corner. The space itself was lit by a dim, purple crystal stored inside a mason jar and hanging down from the ceiling.

If you flipped through some of the books, it would have become pretty apparent that they are written in a variety of languages that you weren't familiar with. If you looked at some of the journals on the table, you would have seen a bunch of organized notes and pictures of two eggs.

Chad would have been checking out the rest of the space while you looked for clues. When he came across a metal box, he called out to you. "Hey! Check this out, there are all kinds of stuff in here."

When the blonde popped the box open, an assortment of memorabilia would have greeted both of you. Among the various random items, however, was a badge that had 'Carlia Grent, Hope Surveyor Corp-II, Captain' embossed on its surface.

What will you do?

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Yes~!" She couldn’t help the excited cry that escaped her lips, hands pressing together as a wide grin adorned her elven face. Her hunch had been right.

"Whoa…"
"Pretty cool, huh?"

Gear could be heard twisting and turning as the hatch popped open for them, but before Lúthien could even conjure the thought of looking for traps the Captain besides her had already hopped right into the hole. "Chad w-wait—shit, are you okay down there?" A concerned look crossed the ranger’s face as she peered down the hole, the dim light at the bottom providing enough light for her eyes to discern the shape of the Lion underneath as he looked around the space.

"Fuck… there’s no one down there, no one at all?"

As the knight called for the elf to come on down Lúthien decided to take Chad up on his offer, the elf gingerly stepping over the hatch and allowing herself to fall right in before landing on the man’s shoulders to break her fall. She slid off with ease, boots tapping as they connected with the floor of the small space, before her crimson eyes slowly swept over the small bathroom sized workshop that belonged to Sven.

A hand trailed over some of the books in the shelves as she walked, pulling one out at random before her eyes quickly scanned the contents. The words were unknown and foreign to the elf, causing Lúthien to frown slightly before she picked another one to double check—a groan escaping her lips as it, too, was pretty much gibberish for her eyes. "Any of these make sense for ya, Chad? I’m not sure if they’re Lander text or just foreign languages from… my realm, I guess?" One of the books was held up for the knight to take from her hands, before the blonde moved over to the small table stacked with journals on the corner. Like before she reached for one of them, picking one that Lúthien felt had been the last to have been interacted with, before her fingers thumbed through the pages within.

"What’s this… wait, there’s two of them?"

A small sketch had slipped from the pages, catching Lúthien’s attention as the elf opened the journal to that page. A hand picked it up, her brows furrowing in thought as she stared at the two eggs—one of them easily recognizable even without its golden coloration, though its sketched companion had been an unexpected discovery. Her eyes quickly began to scan the notes found in the journal for additional information, before the voice of Chad interrupted her thoughts as Lúthien turned to look at the taller man.

"Oh, whatcha found over there?"

She stepped closer to the blond, crimson eyes peering curiously at the metal bow currently held in his hands before the man popped it open. Various random items and memorabilia cluttered the insides, before a badge in particular caught Lúthien’s attention as her index finger pointed towards it. "Hey Chad, isn’t this a captain’s badge like yours?" She quietly peered at the name carved on its surface—Carlia Grent, huh?—before her gaze turned back to the blond knight with a questioning glance.

"That name ring any bells for you?"

Her gaze turned towards the rest of the room, making sure to pay attention to anything the blond knight might have to say, as the ranger tried to see if there were any clues to be found in the tight space. The heel of her booth occasionally tapped against the floor as if to test it, trying to see if any area sounded hollow compared to the rest, as the ranger continued to wonder if there might be something more to this tight space. After all, hadn't Sven mentioned a secret project of sorts? Speaking of, that certainly gave the elf an idea as she stuffed the sketched picture back into the journal—disappearing the object into her UI inventory out of convenience—before the archer crouched low to the floor.

The gloves on her hands were removed and snagged onto her belt just like she’d done back at the forest, before her palms pressed against the cool surface of the ground. "Let’s see if we can find anything hidden…" With that Lúthien closed her eyes, carefully gathering magic into her fingers, before light electrical pulses were released in intermittent bursts around her.

@Raid Boss

 

[Raid Boss]

Cycle 5

"Any of these make sense for ya, Chad? I'm not sure if they're Lander text or just foreign languages from… my realm, I guess?"

Chad came over and took one of the journals you were holding and took a glance, though his eyes seemed to glaze over the moment they glided from one side to the other. "Looks like gibberish to me too."

With the text being written in common (albeit using some incredibly obscure jargons) and the fact that was Chad holding the book upside down made you realize that the blonde was most likely illiterate. But he tried.

When you asked Chad about the badge, he thought to himself for a moment before taking out his badge and replying, "It doesn't look like a Lion's badge at all. As far as I know, we don't got a division called 'Surveyor Corp,' the Pride is split into the armed forces, the fire corp., and emergency response. It's gotta be a Camp Hope kind of thing. Name doesn't ring a single bell though, but it's a woman, I've got a good idea about that. Heh."

The blonde puffed his chest proudly. His intuition for certain things is so sharp that it scares him sometimes.

When you walked around the cramped quarter, listening for hollowness, there was a spot where the wooden flooring sounded a bit hollow, and with the same electrical pulsing technique earlier, you found it, something was definitely hidden beneath the hollowed-sounding spot.

Upon your discovery, Chad wasted no time in volunteering to open the secret spot with his poleaxe. The planks made an awful high-pitched squeal as Chad inserted his blade into the wedge and began prying them open.

With a bit of force, he popped the planks, revealing a Magitech canister that looks a lot like Dragonship technology. The canister was about the size of an average dachshund without legs, cylindrical, and made from black metal. There was a round window on the side of the container that gave you a view of the glowing toxic yellow liquid sloshing within.

"WHOA! What is that?! It looks like one of those alcohol bottles that Travelers sometimes whip out. What do you think it tastes like…?" Chad exclaimed as he held the canister like a baby. The glowing yellow light lit up his excited face.

While the two of you were fiddling around with your new discovery, some kind of twinkling red jewel fell into the hatch and clattered across the floor.

"Huh? What's that?" Chad asked as he handed you the canister and leaned down to pick it up.

The moment the palm-sized ruby was in the blonde's hand, you immediately noticed a spark within the body of the jewel, however, you weren't fast enough to do anything about it as the spark blew the ruby to smithereens before releasing a massive flame that caught onto all of the flammable items in the room.

"OUCH!" Chad shouted as he grabbed the hand that was burned by the exploding ruby.

– SLAAAAAM! –​

The heavy hatch door slammed shut immediately after the ruby burst into flame. Even amid the roaring fire, you could hear the sound of a boulder being roll across the dirt until it hit the hatch's door with a loud CLANG!

As if the situation couldn't get any worse, the hatch's door began to heat up from the rising flame as well. If both of you somehow survive the fire, it will eventually burn out the limited oxygen within the hatch. You need to get out.

What will you do?

[ Meanwhile… ]​

Vern was taking a break on the boulder he had painstakingly dragged across the dirt to trap his targets with. The dark-haired man opened up a pouch and inspected the only palm-sized ruby he had left before he pulled the string and closed the pouch.

"This fire sure is powerful, huh? I feel sorry for the poor saps underneath. Sorry, but it's nothing personal, alright?" Vern said as he stood up and clapped his hands together in a praying motion.

After he paid his respect to you and Chad, Vern walked away from the hatch while talking to himself.

"Let's see if we can salvage this situation, those stuffy suits are going to be furious when I have nothing to bring them. Ah well... As long as the Travelers don't get their hand on the artifacts, that's gotta count for something, right? Now where in Vintergard did you spawn, Sven? I have some loose threads to cut."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Looks like gibberish to me too."
"Fuck, really? Man, how many languages did Sven know—oh."

It was then she noticed one very important detail, one that even surpassed the glazed look on the knight’s eyes as he stared at the words: Mr. Chadisma was holding one of the journals upside down.

"R-Right… don’t worry about it, I’ll see if someone at camp can make heads and tails of them later."

She received the journal back from the man before yeeting them right into her UI inventory—something that was quickly becoming a habit of the player—before her attention was drawn to the metal box that Chad had found and the contents within. He’d passed the object over to her as Lúthien had commented on the badge within, pulling out his own before he showed the elf the stark difference between them.

"If it’s a camp division… then it must be someone who worked under Commander Jormund, right?"

A nod was given as he mentioned the name probably belonging to a woman, the blonde able to agree with that notion although she couldn’t think of anyone in specific. The lightest of chuckles left her lips as she watched the captain puff his chest out proudly, carefully closing the metal box before—you guessed it—disappearing it right into her UI inventory too. *finger guns*

The rest of their searching only yielded one more discovery, a hollowed out spot underneath the wooden flooring of the small space. She’d pointed it out to Chad, the man wasting zero time as he immediately volunteered to pry open the floorboards, before one last pulse confirmed that no other hidden compartments appeared to remain in the researching space… and no Sven to be found. The excited cry from Chad confirmed he’d found something within the hollowed out space, a canister of black metal pulled out of the space.

"What do you think it tastes like…?"
"No Chad, we don’t make glowing beer—also don’t even think of popping that open to try it, do you have a death wish?"

A frown crossed her features as she chided the man, and while the time she’d spent with the Lion had been short thus far Lúthien had a sinking feeling he would actually take a gulp of the liquid within the magitech canister had there been an easy way to access it. "Actually hand it over, before something bad happens—" Her words cut short as something clattered across the floor, her eyes quickly shifting to the direction the hatch was located as an eyebrow carefully rose high in her face. The man acquiesced to her request, the cylindrical object passed onto her hands before Mr. Chadisma walked over to the twinkling red jewel that laid in the middle of the room.

"Huh? What’s that?"
"W-Wait, Chad don’t—"

The moment his fingers touched the shard Lúthien felt a shift in the air, realization dawning on her face as the blonde quickly called out to the knight—before the shard blew up into tiny fragments as a massive magical flame was released into the confined space. "FUCK!" Her cry joined the pained shout from her companion, the elf huddling over to protect the canister from the flames before her eyes opened warily once more.

Quick motions brought up her palm UI, muscle memory quickly assisting on accessing her inventory once more before Lúthien stored the mysterious canister within it—confident that at least this would keep it away from the fire currently beginning to consume anything flammable in the room… and hopefully concealed from whoever had just tried to get them killed.

It has to be that fucking asshole...!

Her eyes quickly flickered to the corner of her HUD, confirming the ❰ Marked ❱ status was still present, but there was little time to inspect it as the smoke quickly began to gather in the small space. "Quick, help me put the fire out—" Her voice choked for a moment, the smoke irritating her throat and causing the elf to cough before she pushed through it. "—we need to put it out now!" She hadn’t missed the loud sound as the heavy metal hatch door had been slammed close—and it didn’t took a genius to figure out who’d attempted this double murder.

The elf strained as she focused on her magic, attempting to draw out whatever little moisture could be found in the room before she covered what was missing with her own energy. Various large globules of water formed around her, the elf shifting her hands and body in order to control and guide them, as Lúthien tapped into her hydromancy to try and put out the flames rapidly.

~ ~​

She was panting and out of breath as the last of the flames was finally extinguished, the blonde doubled over as her hands rested on thighs for a few moments as she struggled to breathe. "That had to be V-Vern… either he was hiding around here… or maybe he followed us from camp?" Her eyes trailed over to the blond knight then, bemused as she’d been about his unique approach towards putting out the fire, before a hand beckoned Chad closer.

"Here, let me see your hand." Her voice left little room for argument as crimson eyes fell onto the larger man, the elf straightening herself now before she inspected the burning wounds inflicted onto the Lion. "Seriously, who goes around grabbing random sparkly things that mysteriously plop into a tiny room?"

A chiding remark was given similar to someone scolding a small child, before the ranger let out a long sigh as she closed her eyes. Her hands carefully held onto Chad’s injured one, trying to avoid hurting the man any further, before the archer hummed a soft melody as she focused the energy onto the wounded flesh—causing it to rapidly regenerate, before another cough interrupted the spell as the archer raised a hand to cover her nose and mouth. Right, they still had to do something about this smoke… and also get out of this place.

"Chad, can you go check on the hatch?" Lúthien hadn’t actually expected for Vern to miss such an obvious thing, though a part of her could only hope, and so she wasn’t disappointed when the knight confirmed the metal latch seemed to be forcibly shut. A frown crossed her face then, one hand moving to rub her irritated eyes from all the smoke still lingering in the room— "Wait, that’s it! Chad, get over here!"

Quick steps took Lúthien to the furthest corner away from the entrance, her hand waving the bigger knight over to join her, before her gaze assessed the condition of the room once more. Yeah… I think this could work! While the girl didn’t remember the exact specifics of it all she knew that smoke usually contained other flammable components in its chemistry, and under the right conditions and with enough oxygen a stray spark could easily cause them to ignite once more.

"Okay, I have an idea… but this might be a little bit crazy and dangerous," There was a faint grimace in her face as she looked up at the man while speaking, trying to explain the very basics of her thoughts so as not to confuse Chad too much while also ensuring he had a decent understanding of what was about to possibly transpire. "... so, basically, it might cause it to blow out and that could open the hatch... but I might not be able to keep it super contained... still, maybe we can hunch over here and use the desk as a shield to protect us?"

The relieved look that crossed her face was immeasurable as the man agreed, and soon the object in mention had been dragged over to serve as a shield. She crouched behind it, leaving as much space as possible for the bigger Chad to also occupy, before closing her eyes as the archer focused on the air around them. The change was slow at first, a fluttering breeze suddenly beginning to circle around the room as it pulled the smoke from the corners and guided it towards the center.

A faint grunt left her lips as the elf began to feel the strain, before Lúthien stubbornly brushed the feeling away mentally as her focus redoubled on the task at hand. It caused the wind to pick up in response, containing the smoke into a foggy orb before she pushed it against the bottom of the hatch. "So far so good… here comes the tricky part." A glance was given to Chad then, nodding to the man before Lúthien took one deep breath once he’d begun to do the same, holding it before the elf turned her attention to the blocked entrance.

One huge portion of the oxygen in the room was gathered and shifted towards the orb then, a wind barrier containing it as tightly to the hatch as Lúthien could muster, before she finally allowed a spark of electricity to crackle right through it.

Please work… please work… please work!

@Raid Boss

 

[Raid Boss]

Finding Sven
Cycle 6

With modern firefighting techniques ingrained into his DNA by courtesy of Levi, Chad sprung to action the moment the fire consumed the secret lab. With your Hydromancy forming globes of water in the air, Chad immediately discarded his armor and leapt through one of the bubbles, soaking himself from head to toe, before he rolled across the wall and on the ground wherever the fires were, helping you snuff out the flame with his bare and charred muscles.

One might have wondered how this… wonder was completely convinced that the drop and roll technique was meant to use oneself as the fire extinguisher despite having been forced to do the drill hundreds if not thousands of times. Regardless, both of your efforts (mostly yours) managed to stamp out the fire that was threatening to take your lives just a minute ago.

"Phew… I don't know who Vern is, but if we ever run into him again, let me know. I have been asked by more than a handful of ladies to help protect them from obsessed suitors. I know a thing or two about how to keep a pretty girl safe, aha!" Chad laughed as you healed his hand.

"As for the ruby thing, I figured that someone might have walked by and dropped it and closed the hatch by accident! It looked expensive, so I figured we could return it to them after we got out of here. Though I did put you in danger because of that, I'll be more careful, aha… Levi said it was a very bad flaw of mine. I'm working on it though!" he formed a fist and bumped it against his solid chest.

In the next while, Chad followed your lead in checking the hatch and then thinking about how to deal with all the bad air in the room. It wouldn't be long before both of you ran out of fresh air, which made the situation highly tense since the blonde is the muscles and not the brain. Fortunately for him, you proposing a plan, even if it was a dangerous plan, was his lifeline. Chad completely ignored the dangerous part and went all in on the could open the hatch part. You didn't even have to finish your sentence after that point.

"Okay, let's do it," he said, maintaining a firm gaze on you. The level of trust would have broken any figurative meter if there was any.

Chad followed your cue and went over to prep the charred and crumbling table. NO PROBLEM, he silently thought to himself, letting you concentrate on executing your part of the plan. After lowering the table to the ground, so the surface faced the side of the room where the hatch was, Chad positioned himself between the desk and you. So, when the explosion invariably came, the massive force hurled both the hatch door and the stone out of the way, letting a beam of sunlight into the previously dark place.

Chad was wincing from pain. "O-ouch…" he groaned. Had you the mind to check on him, it seemed that he withstood 100% of the blast damage within the enclosed space. His back looked like a field of magma.

He tried to stand up but stumbled over as his legs gave out. Although his eyes were wincing from the pain, a smile never left his face.

Knowing what you were going to do, Chad grabbed onto your hands and pushed it away, "Wait, save your energy so you can find Sven before your crazy suitor gets to him. You don't have to say it, I know the MIT asked me to find Sven. I still don't know why, but after seeing how angry about Vern and how worried you seem, I think I understand now. The story about the dear friend is a cover-up, isn't it? You don't have to hide it anymore, I know the truth now, that you love Sven and must have convinced the MIT to get the pride to help, all because you knew you were being pursued by an old flame who wants to claim you for himself. Oh no, I'm sorry, was it because of me that Vern might have thought that we were an item and why he decided to retaliate? Did I cause this? W-we have to clear this up!"

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

Never had she met someone that could discard their armor as quickly as Chad had done, by the time Lúthien had realized it the man’s metal chestplate and arm guards were long gone as the blond rushed right through the nearest water globule to thoroughly soak himself. "What are you doing—Chad no, that’s not how ‘stop, drop and roll’ works!" Her words did little to dissuade the man from trying his method and, after a sigh of defeat, the elf had ensured one of the water globules remained attached to his torso to lessen any burns the blond was accidentally inflicting on himself.

"Vern’s an asshole," The venom that laced her words was almost palpable, brows furrowing unconsciously as the elf thought of the man. If there was one thing that the woman treasured above anything else was her privacy, so perhaps it was no surprise why she seemed to hold such an inherent hatred for the fellow Traveler since the moment Lúthien had figured out he’d used her sight of all things to peep into her conversation with Sven… and who knew what else, too. "When we run into him I call dibs on the first shot, there’s a special arrow in my quiver meant juuust for him."

Still it was hard to keep a foul mood with Chad around, the man’s laughter light and bright despite having just sustained incredible burns on his hand and arm from picking up that stray shard. It caused her to sigh in return, a faint smile pulling at the corners of her lips when the man admitted he was conscious of his flaw and working on it.

"Well that’s the first step I guess… just promise you won’t go around picking up more sussy things without thinking, ‘kay?"

His level of trust in her plan was almost scary, and it caused the elf to go over through every single step again and again in return as Lúthien tried to minimize the risk of it backfiring spectacularly onto them. She’d been in the final stages of casting when the man had interposed himself between the desk and herself, realizing too late that he was determined to tank whatever blast damage was incurred just as the spark flickered and ignited an explosion. The force of the blow in the small room had been enough to unbalance the crouching ranger as she fell on her butt, her hands barely making it in time to shield her ears.

"O-Ouch…"
"Shit!"

A persistent ringing echoed in her ears after the blast, but even through it she was able to hear the pained groan from the Captain. He tried to stand only to stumble as his legs gave out and, while his eyes clearly showed the pain Chad was in, the smile on his face never faltered. "¡Puñeta! I’m sorry I’ll patch you up in just a second—" He’d reached out to grab her hands just as the archer had been about to step around the bulking man to get a good look at the wounds on his back, trying to prevent Lúthien form doing so as he began reasoning with the elf.

"Wait, save your energy so you can find Sven before your crazy suitor gets to him."
"Chad, you can barely move—wait, my what?"

The concern on her face was momentarily replaced by a dumbfounded look as her gaze zeroed onto his own with such focus and precision that it would’ve probably made someone other than Chad uncomfortable. Elven features slowly shifted to a deadpan look as the words continued to tumble from his mouth, her brain barely able to keep up with all the twists and turns that the blond had managed to weave into his little Sven x Lúthien fanfic.

"Chad—"
"Oh no, I'm sorry, was it because of me that Vern might have thought that we were an item and why he decided to retaliate?"
"Chad—"
"Did I cause this? W-we have to clear this up!"
"CHAD!"

Hands finally reached up to grab the sides of the man’s face and hold him in place, a frown on the blonde’s face as she stared down the Lion.

"First of all Meriam is very real—tiny cute lil’ faerin with light colored hair and blue eyes—and Sven is her love interest, not mine." For a split second the image of a certain dark-haired hunter surfaced to the front of her mind, before the elf quickly pushed the thought back down as she focused on the matter at hand. "Sven was working on something important it seems, something that Vern wants by the looks of it since he actually killed and UI locked the man."

One long and heavy sigh escaped the ranger then as she stood, motioning for Chad to remain still before she circled around the man to get a better look of his wounds. "Fuck…" The sight caused her to visibly wince as an expletive quietly tumbled from her lips, brows furrowing further as she tried to pinpoint the worse burnt areas in Chad’s back. "This might hurt a bit," A small warning was given before her hands reached carefully, fingertips gingerly touching the crisped up flesh to better guide her magic. "It’ll feel better once I’m done." With that she began to hum once more, the intensity of the tune rising and falling as the elf struggled to focus the healing energy onto the worse scorched areas.

One hand rose to rest on the temple of her head as Lúthien finished healing the last of them, the elf feeling light-headed for a moment as she struggled to push down the nauseous feeling that suddenly threatened to rise up her throat. "R-Right, that should be eno-uugh..." The ranger had never tapped into her magical abilities so much and in such a short amount of time as today, the inexperienced user unaware that she was beginning to experience the first systems of mind-down.

"Let’s g-get outta here," Instead she chalked her feelings to a possible lack of oxygen given the events that had transpired in the room, tapping Chad’s arm softly once she was sure the blond was healed enough to move before pointing at the light the streamed freely into the underground mini bunker. "We gotta hurry, before Vern gets too far."

The ranger was the first up the ladder, and while the metal was still warm at least it wasn’t searing hot. A quick glance was given to the damage her little magic experiment had caused to the hatch—That fucker, did he put a boulder on top of it?!—before Lúthien turned to look down, a hand extended and offered for Chad to take as the man surfaced after her.

"Right, we need to find his tracks—"

Lúthien’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the earth beneath her boots began to tremble, the elf stumbling slightly out of surprise before the faint echoes of an explosion barely reached her ears far off in the distance. She wasn’t quite sure how far Chad and her had gone into the Adecus Woods, but even with her poor sense of directions Lúthien was certain that had come from the direction of Camp Hope."What in Gwyndolainn’s name is going on over there— " It was there she noticed the faint flickering at the edge of her UI, the mysterious ❰ Marked ❱ status that had accompanied her for most of her time in this mission suddenly disappearing entirely. A hand reached up, fingers seemingly tapping the air in the space where the status would be, before the blonde frowned and quickly began swiping the area in front of her as Lúthien brought her comms up.

"Gimme a hot sec Chad, maybe Meri can tell us what that was—"
❰ Player not found! ❱
"That’s… no. T-That can’t be right—"
❰ Player not found! ❱
"N-No… no… nonono!"

Notice

❰ Player not found! ❱

❰ Player not found! ❱

❰ Player not found! ❱
❰ Player not found! ❱
❰ Player not found! ❱​

 

[Raid Boss]

Finding Sven
Cycle 7

Chad was in shock when the blonde elf squished his cheeks and dropped a bombshell on him about Meriam and Vern and everything else. Even though he wasn't quite there at the finish line, he got the gist that they were being hunted by Vern.

"Ou-ouch!" Chad groaned as the healing magic healed his severe burns. The beginning of the healing process started with sharp pain, which gradually transitioned into a soothing sensation. He didn't stop Luthien, knowing that he had to be able to move in order to keep them on task.

When the elf looked as though she was going to fall, Chad kept her up with a firm grasp on her arm.

"Yeah, let's get outta here" Chad said as he escorted Luthien over to the ladder, passing his bundle of armor, knowing he couldn't put them while his burns were still raw. That meant that he had to be on extra alert, making sure to defend them from any incoming attack above the hatch.

When he began ascending the ladder, he struggled a bit but was offered a hand, which he used to pull himself up.

The fact that their assailant had rolled a boulder onto the hatch door was rather—

Chad's brain stopped when a tremor passed through their feet, alerting both of them to the explosion in the distance. That's when Luthien began to act in that unusual Traveler way, though it did bother the youth that she was highly distressed by whatever she was doing.

"Hey, are you okay?" Chad asked as he was about to reach out and grab onto Luthien's shoulder when a subtle groan coming from the woods raised the hair on Chad's neck and put him into a defensive stance. Considering Chad's state, he gritted his teeth from the stinging pain he had to endure to pull his blade out and position between the danger and his companion.

"Vern, I know you're in there. Get out, Mister. Today is the day we end your villainy!" he shouted.

A bloody arm emerged from the bush, then a head, and finally the rest of the body followed.

It was Sven, in the flesh, completely drenched in blood, snailing across the forest floor while leaving a nice long trail of blood from his wound.

"W-whoa! Hey! Are you alright? Hey! Short-haired, glassed, nerd in a labcoat... Isn't that Sven?!" Chad lowered his weapon as he rushed over to the dying man and flipped him over.

"Argh… ouch. It really hurts. I can't believe… how much… it hurts… with the pain setting off," Sven wailed.

"My one true love… My baby… Oh, I've come back for you. W-where is my baby?! BABY!!!" Sven seemed delirious.

Chad shed a tear, "You crawled back all this way to see Meriam? You truly are the man. I am so envious of your love."

"Is my research okay?! MY LAB! LABBY, I LOVE YOU! I'VE COME BACK FOR YOU!!!" Sven wailed.

"Luthien, he's so delirious he's mistaking your friend for Labby! SVEN, WHO IS LABBY, MERIAM IS WAITING FOR YOU, SHE LOVES YOU," Chad shook Sven violently that it snapped the researcher out of his dazed state.

"W-wait stop, please! I am at 1 HP, if I even so much as hit a rock, I will die!" Sven put his scrawny and bloody hands on Chad's charred forearm.

At that point, Luthien would have been able to see the massive stab wound on Sven's chest, pulsating with violent energy.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. Wait, that wound looks fatal, how did you manage to survive that and crawl all the way here?" Chad asked.

"Y-you guys want to know my secret? Come closer…" Sven grinned.

When both Luthien and Chad leaned in closer, Sven unbuttoned his lab coat and revealed Heavy Armor underneath, to which he smirked and said...

"Immortal."

Chad was so taken aback by the reveal that he accidentally dropped Sven onto a rock, which dealt just enough damage to take him out.

Warning

Sven Mortimer, you are dead. If you are not revived within the time limit, your body will reconstruct at the nearest sanctified location.

"Uh, I think I might have killed Sven."

Chad said as he turned to Luthien while his arms were frozen in the same position as when he dropped Sven.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

She wasn’t sure if the man had understood everything, but at least it seemed like his original misconception had been cleared—and honestly that’s all the elf could really ask for, the last thing she needed was Chad telling Sven she loved the researcher or some other made up fanfic scenario if they managed to find the MIT member. When her steps had faltered the Lion had been quick to support her, a thankful smile given to Chad before the elf tapped his arm twice so he’d let go once Lúthien felt stable on her feet.

"Uuuff, these things are heavy... can’t believe you wear all of this and more day in and day out."

The ranger received the bundle of armor, composed of the man’s metal chestplate along with any other parts he’d worn on his torso and arms shoved into the main piece, before grunting lightly in response. There was no way she’d be able to climb up the ladder while holding these, and so Lúthien did the natural thing for any Starcalled with access to their UI—it was all yeeted right into her inventory before Chad could even open his mouth in protest. Once up the ladder she had turned to look at the man as he began making his way up slowly, firmly grasping onto Chad when he accepted her hand to finish the rest of his ascent.

"Hey, are you okay?"
"C-Chad, I can’t… I c-can’t reach Meri—"

His voice had quickly gathered the attention of the elf, clearly panicked eyes seemingly looking at the man but also at something else he couldn’t see as the words fumbled and tumbled from trembling lips. A sudden groan from the woods caused the ranger to suddenly silence herself just as the Lion turned faster than he probably should’ve considering the injuries. He assumed a defensive stand in front of Lúthien, pulling his blade out as Chad shouted towards the direction of the sound.

Hearing the name of Vern seemed to spur the archer out of her sudden stupor, crimson eyes hardening as the elf quickly performed a few hand motions that by now were ingrained muscle memory for Lúthien. It caused her violin to materialize from the void of her inventory, the ranger snapping the instrument into its bow configuration with a satisfying click. "Come out here and face us, you little bitch!" Her right hand quickly reached towards her quiver, one of the arrows quickly pulled from within as the archer began to notch it onto the bowstring.

One bloody arm suddenly appeared from the bush just as Lúthien began pulling the arrow back, before the crown of light colored hair caused Lúthien to pause—that was not Vern’s hair color—as realization dawned on the girl’s face when the rest of the man’s body exited the bush. "Sven, you’re alive…!" Chad had reached the man first, holding him up as the Lion’s eyes confirmed this was indeed the MIT researcher they’d been sent out to find. His pained cries echoed through the space though, considering the state he was currently in, Lúthien couldn’t really blame the man—especially if he’d been playing with the pain limiters deactivated just like Lúthien did.

"Fuck, what in The World were you up to when Vern stabbed you?"

Had he been out here in the Adecus Woods since the first time Meriam had tried to contact him? Or had Vern caught up with the man in camp, and the researcher had dragged himself all the way out here? No, that can’t be right, no one in their right mind would do such a stupid thing— For a few precious moment the elf had forgotten about the true nature of the researcher, her senses perhaps dulled by the emotions emanating from Chad, though that brief delusion was quickly destroyed when Sven spoke again.

"Is my research okay?! MY LAB! LABBY, I LOVE YOU! I'VE COME BACK FOR YOU!!!"
"Luthien, he's so delirious he's mistaking your friend for Labby!"

Any concern that had been in her elven features instantly evaporated, a deadpan look settling on Lúthien’s face instead as she stared down at the delirious researcher. When Chad began shaking the scrawny man, prompting Sven to nervously inform he was at a single HP left, the blonde found herself wishing for just a second that his remaining health point would just evaporate. Unfortunately the man was someone special to Meri, and Luthien had promised to bring him back to the faerin.

"Y-you guys want to know my secret? Come closer… Immortal."

She’d found herself leaning in when Sven had waved them closer, watching as the man parted his lab coat to reveal the heavy armor underneath that had managed to keep him alive. "How did Vern not notice—CHAD NO!" The faint skepticism in the ranger’s face had soon turned to one of shock when she noticed the Lion Captain release his hold on Sven, watching the man’s head fall towards a rock in the ground as if a Chronomancy user had decided to slow the whole world. Before the elf could reach Sven’s head collided with the rock, his eyes rolling back as the man went limp and unconscious. "Oh fuck, fuck, fuckfuckfuck...!" The ranger’s right hand rose to to her forehead as the realization of Sven having just bitten a death settled in, before the grip of the bow on her left hand reminded Lúthien that she could in theory try to fix this.

"Right, r-revive… that’s a thing from Harmonics!"

Her fingers quickly flitted through the screen of her UI, confirming that she indeed had the ability available. The arrow she’d been holding was moved to her mouth, teeth clasping around the wooden shaft, before the ranger worked on quickly returning her bow to its instrumental configuration. "I c-can revive him, I think…?!" The uncertainty was easy to notice, after all Lúthien had never performed this particular spell before, but the archer had a promise to keep and she’d be damned if she allowed Vern to kick it in front of her after everything Chad and her had endured.

Once the violin safely clasped into place Lúthien’s right hand reached for the specially designed arrow on the ranger’s mouth, allowing the hairs on it rest against the strings of the violin before Lúthien quickly dipped into a tune that she knew by heart.

Spoiler: ❰ The Phoenix ❱ by Lindsey Stirling

It started slow at first, the elf’s body swaying slightly in time to the music as she allowed the Harmonic magic within her to power and fuel the capabilities of her instrument. Brows furrowed in deep concentration, her eyes long since closed, as Lúthien dove deeper into the melody—directing its resuscitating and healing effects towards Sven. She could feel her energy quickly depleting with each vibrato that the girl accentuated onto the song, finally daring to open her eyes once more in order to gauge the effects of her spell.

A magical glow had now formed around the man, matching the light blue aura that Lúthien could barely see at the corner of her eyes while resting her chin on the violin. "C’mon, please work… please!" A sharp pain crossed her forehead, that nauseating feeling returning as the ranger could feel the bile begin to rise in her throat. She groaned, pushing the feelings down as her attention remained solely focused on Sven and her music.

A few minutes had suddenly extended to feel like an eternity, and she could feel her headache increasing in intensity with each musical note that Lúthien produced. A deep breath was taken as the archer struggled to keep herself from throwing up—especially considering her stomach was still empty since waking up shortly before dawn. Her vision began to fade as exhaustion threatened to overtake the girl, forcing herself to continue as she entered the last stretch of the song, before relief washed over the elf as she watched the man’s hand twitch faintly just as the last note drifted into nothingness.

Luthien never got to see Sven awake or get back to his feet, the blonde barely aware of her body as it suddenly drifted backwards and towards the ground as minddown finally took a hold on the elven girl.

---

Luth’s UI Inventory Collections
❰ Golden Mouse Corpse ❱
❰ Sven’s Research Journals ❱
❰ Sven’s Sketch (?) — Magitech Eggs ❱
❰ Mystery Metal Box — Carlia Grent Memorabilia ❱
❰ Mysterious Magitech Canister — Dachshund Sized ❱
❰ ½ of Chad’s Upper Armor ❱

@Raid Boss

 

[Raid Boss]

Finding Sven
Cycle 8

Chad was in shock while Luthien panicked. Fortunately, even in her state of disarray, the elf somehow recalled that revive was among her growing list of abilities, which could be used to bring Sven back, to a healthier state than he was at too.

"You can do it! I believe in you! There's no way you can fail!" Chad cheered Luthien on as she prepared her song. He took a step back and kept his mouth shut so Luthien could attempt resurrection for the first time. It felt as though his heart was beating out of his chest as he listened to the elf's song reverberating through their surroundings, gathering magic where Sven's corpse was.

Just as Chad watched the intense concerto slowly pushing his companion toward mind-down, he noticed a nearly-transparent chain attached to Sven's back and another attached to Luthien's back. Without disturbing the revival ceremony, Chad followed the chains with his eyes until he landed on a figure watching the three of them from the distance.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Kiryuu. When he locked eyes with Chad, the former-whistle moved his index to his mouth, gesturing for the blonde to stay silent.

Chad stayed quiet until Luthien finished her song and was about to keel over before he caught her. At that moment, both chains disintegrated into thin air, leaving behind an echo of magic. If Chad were more in tune with magic, he would have been able to tell that the chain that was attached to Luthien was helping to replenish a bit of her energy to keep her afloat until she completed her spell. Chad did, however, wonder if Kiryuu might have come across Sven in the wilderness and warded off Vern, since it seemed unlikely that a skilled assassin like Vern would miss Sven's heavy armor. Regardless, he planned on telling Luthien all about it whenever she came to.

The next time Chad looked toward the trees, he saw Kiryuu slinging a giant bear over his shoulder as he began heading further into the forest, but not before he tipped the front of his hat toward Chad, to which the blonde responded with a lion's salute.

- ✦ -​

After the decisive battle for Camp Hope, Yugam immediately set out to find the missing Luthien. Although Yugam did not have much to go on except a hunch that his elven companion might have gone to Sven's secret lab that he stumbled in a similar direction. However, he remained largely directionless for a good while. Sometime later after discovering tracks that pointed him toward the actual location, he pressed forward, eventually running into a lumbering armored Chad who had Sven slung across his shoulder on one side, and Luthien slung over the other.

When Chad was within view, Yugam could tell that there was a glaze over Chad's eyes and sweat completely covering his skin. In his dehydrated state, Chad took a step back defensively as he verbally warned the dark-haired youth.

"Step back, Vern. I have sworn to protect these brave souls. One more step forward and it'll be the last time you walk, relationship wrecker!" Chad spoke, despite the poor condition he was in, there was an overwhelmingly threatening aura about him that backed up his words. He was completely serious.

@Luthien @Yugam

 

[Yugam]

His body was weary. Everything hurt. Despite Yu's protests, Fiora had removed the man from the battle at Camp Hope before he could avenge Tubby. Or get himself killed. And once the dust had settled, Yu had (begrudgingly) received medical attention and then started to ask around the camp for Luthien. He hadn't seen her at the battle, which could only have meant one of two things. She had left the camp before the Magia raid, or she had gotten herself killed. Exactly like he'd told her not to do.

The man had forced the thought out of his head for just a moment before it was brought to the forefront once more.

"What do you mean she's gone?" Yugam asked the Lion's Arm knight as he ran a whetstone along the length of his sword.
"Yu." The man felt Unmei's hand on his shoulder as she tried to ease his worries.
"Yeah, gone," the knight repeated, another rasping draw as he sharpened his blade. "She went off looking for that MIT fellow. Vex? Sin? Something like that." Yu let out an audible sigh of relief as the knight explained what he'd meant. "We sent Mr. Chadisma out with her, just to be safe."
Yu nodded in understanding. "Got it, thanks," the Hunter said before turning towards the camp's exit, gesturing for Unmei to follow.

"I'm guessin' you've got an idea where they went?" the sword-spirit asked as Yu hefted his rifle on his shoulder.
"Yeah," the man replied. "Sven mentioned something about a secret lab, south of camp, remember?"
Unmei brows furrowed together slightly as she tried to recall their brief conversation with the man from the day before, nodding as she replayed the conversation in her head. "Hmm. Looks like your memory's been getting better."
"Hardy-har-har," Yu said dryly. "C'mon. They've got one helluva head start on us."

​

Unmei had long since reverted to her sword form, resting on the man's hip as he trudged his way through the wilderness. The aimlessly wandering had done little to improve Yu's condition. A day and a half of no sleep, resulting in a fogged mind, and a still recovering body, it was a wonder that the man was still standing. But his need to find Luthien and confirm that she was okay drove the man forward with a relentless determination.

'You've gotta stop and rest at some point,' Unmei tried to remind Yu for the fourth time in half as many hours.
'I will.'
'After you find that elf of yours.' No reply was given to the spirit, who could only sigh inwardly at her wielder's stubbornness. 'You're no good to her d-'

The motion of Yu grabbing his rifle and leveling it a figure in the not-too-far off distance cut the spirit's words short. It was difficult to tell at first that the figure was that of another person, lugging around something on it's shoulders. Only as it drew nearer, did the form clear itself well enough to identify it as a muscular man carrying two bodies, one of which sported a head of long blonde hair.

'Yu, thats-'
The man's finger began to squeeze the trigger as he aimed for the man's exposed chest. He didn't know who that man was, but they had Luth, and from the looks of it, Sven too.
'Wait! That might be Mr.Whatever-'
The man paused mid-stroke.

"Step back, Vern. I have sworn to protect these brave souls. One more step forward and it'll be the last time you walk, relationship wrecker!"

Yu lifted his finger from the trigger and lowered his weapon. Skeptical eyes scanned the man. "Are you Mr., uh...Chadisma?"

@Raid Boss | @Luthien

 

[Raid Boss]

Finding Sven
Cycle 9

The hulking machine that was Chad appeared to be talking and moving, but it didn't seem like he was actually there. In fact, he completely ignored your attempt to confirm his identity as he took several steps toward you, hot steam blasting from his mouth as if the machine was exhausting the violent heat trapped inside the flesh container. It was only when the blonde was next to you that he suddenly snapped out of his self-preservation state.

"Oh, yeah, that's me, totally. By the way, I'm about to crash in a few seconds here, you need to get these two to Camp Hope's medical tent. If it turns out that you're Vern in disguise, I swear on my sweet grandmother that, no matter where you are, I will find you, I will kill you."

There was a particularly dangerous aura about him. He was serious, albeit tired, ready to hit the lander's version of mind-down. After he passed the limped Luthien and Sven over to Yugam, Chad slammed into the ground, forming a crater where his face was as he bellowed a loud snore that silenced the birds around him.

OOC: It's time to wrap up the thread and exit via your next reply! You may either merge with the After thread, or continue in your own private thread. @Luthien @Yugam

 

[Yugam]

The man didn't back down from his fuming rage, forcing Yu to take a cautious step back and raise his rifle, shouldering it once more as his finger began to apply pressure on the trigger once more. Although Yu still had no idea who 'Vern' was, or why both Luthien and Sven were out cold, this mountain of a man was still making enough sense for Yu to figure out he was trying to protect the two.

"Hey, calm down, I'm not Vern," Yu said taking one hand off the rifle to raise a hand in the least threatening way he could muster. "I'm gonna ask you one more time, are you Mr. Chadisma?"

"Oh, yeah, that's me, totally." For some reason asking a second time had seemed to snap the man out of what ever daze he'd been in. More confused than ever, Yu was forced to drop his rifle as he suddenly found himself holding Luthien. Unmei had to practically leap out her sword form to catch Sven.

And then Mr. Chadisma began to fall.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Yu set Luthien down as gently as he could whilst trying to reach Chad before his head slammed into the earth, but too slow. And slam into the earth the man did. Yu could only stare, mouth agape, at the small crater Mr. Chadisma had formed with his face.

"...What the fuck..."

Yu took another moment to gather his wits before looking towards Unmei, still cradling Sven. "No way we can carry them all back, right?"
"Not unless you have a car in your inventory or something."
"Yeah, no..."

Well, that only really left one thing for them to do. "Let's pitch camp for now," Yu suggested, "it's been a long day. I dunno who this 'Vern' guy is but Mr. Chadisma here seemed pretty pissed at him. Shifts?"
"Mm," Unmei hummed in response, laying the still unconscious Sven onto the ground beside Luthien, "I'll go first. Leave your body behind and go do what you gotta do. You need to eat, at least."

Yu nodded wordlessly before helping drag the smaller two of the three towards a tree to prop them up against, grateful that his frie-...the sword-spirit was willing to take the first shift for them. Mr. Chadisma on the other hand was too large for them to move, even together.

Yu sat down and leaned back against another tree with a groan, his body now aching terribly with the fatigue he'd ignored until now. "Be back in an hour...Keep them safe for me." And with that, Yu logged out, leaving his sleeping body behind.

"..."

"You know I will."

@Raid Boss | @Luthien

 

[Raid Boss]

Finding Sven
Cycle 10

When Chad finally managed to rip himself out of sleep's 3-hours long embrace, he immediately moved both of his arms into the ground in an attempt to do a push-up and get to his feet, but there was so much force behind them that his arm just went through the ground. The blonde was running on fumes and reflex alone, making it rather difficult for the mind to control the hulking flesh puppet that could, in time, rivals even that of Zeus himself.

"STOP RIGHT THERE, RELATIONSHIP WRECKER! Ah-huh? Oh, hello. Who might you be?" Chad groggily addressed the girl in front of him.

By this time, Luthien should be coming out of her downed state, though, the same can't be said for Sven, who was still recovering from the violent magic that had ripped him from sweet death like a farmer accidentally plucking a sleeping mandragora from its hole instead of a potato. The result, in this case, was clearly a detriment to both the farmer, Luthien and the mandragora, Sven.

OOC: Wrap up soon and get out of my threaddd @Luthien @Yugam

 

[Luthien]

The last thing Lúthien could remember had been Chad’s heartening cheers, the man’s radiant optimism spurring the elf further as Lúthien found a second wind to complete the musical score for her very first revival attempt—entirely unaware of the boost she’d received from a former-whistle hiding at a distance. Lúthien had long since checked out by the time Chad had reached out and caught the ranger as she keeled over, her mind exhausted from the seemingly never ending roller coaster ride of events and emotions she’d experienced ever since arriving at Camp Hope IV the day prior.

​

Her sleep had been restless. The furrowed brows on her elven face never lessened even as the hours passed, the occasional groan or whimper quietly leaving the passed out archer on occasion. When Chad’s arms had suddenly pounded right through the soil underneath him it had created enough vibrations to finally shake the ranger from her rest, a sharp gasp leaving the blonde as she suddenly woke with a small cry. "Meri—!" Crimson eyes finally seemed to focus on reality as they settled first on the familiar blond Lion before shifting to the still passed out Sven not too far from the ranger… and finally to the dark-haired female that Lúthien vaguely recognized from the mess tents.

"STOP RIGHT THERE, RELATIONSHIP WRECKER!"
"O-Oh, it’s you…?"

Perhaps she was simply too exhausted still, or maybe the ranger had already gotten used to Chad’s random outbursts, but his latest commentary didn’t seem to stump the elf in the slightest. Instead her attention remained on the woman, recognizing her as having been in Yugam’s presence before, though as far as the elf could remember the woman had never spoken to her. The ranger vaguely remembering seeing her near the infirmary tents as she’d exited in her search for Sven too, though back then the woman had remained behind as Yugam had aided the injured elf in her little mini quest… one that, right now, Lúthien heavily wished she hadn’t undertaken in the first place.

"Ah-huh? Oh, hello. Who might you be?"

"She’s a… well, she’s a friend of a friend…?" There was a questioning tone as she spoke, the archer trying to reassure the Lion while also trying to fill in a few informational gaps of her own. The fact none of them were dead—the faint rising and falling of Sven’s chest confirmation enough that she’d managed to revive the man successfully—was confirmation enough that they were in safe company. Eyes quickly scanned around then for a familiar face, one that she readily didn’t find around them, before finally turning to look back at the woman. "Is, uuuhm, is Y-Yu somewhere around here too…?"

@Yugam | @Raid Boss