Open Hylands Ascent Winged Death

[Harlow]

It was originally upon eavesdropping that Harlow came upon the information that Harpy talons fetched a pretty penny in many markets. While on one hand, financial gain had seldom been his motivator, both hands remained completely void of wealth, which made a pretty good case for risk. It could be a fool's endeavor, but if there was any truth to the comments made in Endra's Square of Stokbon, then any success in this would mark him upon the fast track to a fair fortune. At the same time, he heard that the harpies, especially the Soldier subtype, were sizeable, standing much taller than average humanoid heights. Surely a harpy would prove to be quite the challenge, especially in one-on-one combat, not to mention if they outnumbered.

Harlow stood at the foot of the great, raised platform titled the Hylands. The rising sun would be hidden behind the vast pillar, as it rose nearly to its peak, and would no doubt soon be coming into view. The vertical face of it before him, the Hyland's Ascent, was not something he took lightly, or glared towards with any lack of respect. It was something more treacherous than any hike he had imagined, and there would be no lack of dangers along the way. If he were to believe all that he had heard of this place, it was a truly deadly trek, but given the vastness of the inclined stretch, he supposed that there were a collection of undiscovered dangers. After all, the only dangers that could be reported upon were the ones with witnesses remaining.

A violent breeze swept through, thrashing the cloth of his cloak as his eyes darted across the terrain. He remained motionless, apart from the slow crossing of his arms, picking through the possible paths to begin his journey. Supposedly, there was a relief camp located somewhere halfway up the southwestern side. While he examined the sheer cliffside and dagger-tipped ridges of the Ascent, he saw no such camp, though there were enough nooks and crannies shaded away beneath tree or behind rock that the existence of such a site couldn't be ruled out. He decided that he would search for it during the hike.

His right hand slid across where a humanoid's right shoulder blade typically resided, before his fingers stopped upon a point and pressed. An audible click would begin, and a low hum would persist as he held the button down. "Radio check. This is Harlow. It is approaching midday. I will soon begin the climb." He spoke to himself, letting go of the button and cutting off the aforementioned humming. Despite his hyper attuned sense of sight, his ears were not so keen. His vision had been focused upon the road ahead, zooming in and examining various points before him, unaware of any individuals elsewhere around him for the time being.

He had made no effort to conceal himself, standing very plainly out in an open field at the base of the massive, presumably natural structure.

 

[Blank]

The wind grew chilled.

At first, what seemed a summer breeze degraded to autumn before the frigidness of winter's teeth set upon the mountain's base as a rolling fog entered the valley. At the center stood a slim girl, dressed in a dark witch' hat and carrying an oversized mage's staff. Not one for subtly, she promptly ignored the man standing and staring at the mountain as she whisked by him, heading towards the mountain's base before pausing, looking around, jerking in one direction, and then another before pausing and looking confused once more.

After a few more moments of this routine, she sighed deeply and turned to Harlow, "Now, where exactly is the path upwards? There's usually a sign. Or a dirt path or something, but clearly someone has vandalized this mountain and removed it! This cannot stand." Despite the apparent annoyance in her words, she seemed completely at ease as if she were not standing in the middle of a fog cloud that seemed to get colder by the minute. In fact, several icicles had even begun to form on the brim of her hat, some of which become dislodged by her erratic movements, but none of which she seemed to notice.

Still tugging at the eyepatch covering her left eye she waited impatiently for Harlow to hurry up answer, and show her the way forward. Clearly, she had things needing to be attended to, however, what those were, and why they'd be on top of a nearly unscalable behemoth of a mountain remained unclear.

 

[Avery Aphelion]

Avery had spent a shameful amount of time attempting to recruit a player or two to come farm harpy talons with her. After delving through a few of the game’s menus, she began exploring the facets of her alchemic mastery, which turned out to contain just about as many lists of ingredients as one could expect. The first potions were simple enough, nothing too extraordinary, so she skipped those ones. Anyone can grind up a couple mushrooms. It took a talented and powerful alchemist to process things like harpy talons and feathers. Unfortunately, she would soon find out that it also took a particularly wealthy alchemist.

It didn’t take long asking around to discover that the talons were worth a sizable fortune when bought in bulk, and the feathers weren’t far off either. Though many did seem interested in the monetary profit that would come from facing the creatures, for some reason, few shared her enthusiasm when she offered that they hunt them with her. What is the point of joining this game if you aren’t going to actually play it, she thought to herself with a huff as rejections began piling up.

She looked around at the crowds of Endra’s Square, and her perception of those she had hoped to be potential allies began morphing into possible competition. She had foolishly wasted time socializing and suddenly worried that perhaps other players didn’t want to join her because they wanted the loot all to themselves. After all, she was surrounded by what she assumed were new players like herself, even if many of them were simply uninterested NPCs.

She felt silly as she recalled her informant's dismissiveness regarding the power of a harpy. She remembered the words “straightforward” and “simple” being used to describe the beast’s mechanics. In her time squandered, assuming that her informant was being honest, she probably could have bested multiple harpies with little effort. Surely they were nothing compared to the player-piloted opponents she faced in other games. Avery cringed as she pictured herself just minutes prior, freely selling her knowledge to anyone that would listen. With this thought fresh in her mind, there was only one way to beat her opponents to the punch.

...

In some time, Hyland’s Ascent would be in the distance. As she surveyed the area, she was disheartened to spot a figure standing at the base of the Ascent. Luckily it seems that they didn’t get much of a head start if they were, in fact, also headed for the harpies. Was this a player who wanted to steal her glory? Her information? Her precious ingredients?

As she got closer to the person, she recognized a second, though neither were familiar. These weren't people she had spoken with, as far as she remembered. Maybe the two were headed to Hyland’s Ascent for a completely unrelated reason. She hoped for this to be the case. There was also the idea these people might be willing to help her. She didn’t think she needed it, but it wouldn’t hurt. Any help would make farming considerably safer.

“Headed up, huh?” Avery spoke loudly, though to her it didn’t seem so. Having only one working ear was taking some adjustment. “I’ve heard the trail can be deadly for ballsy players. If you can find it, I guess.” The ginger alchemist would shrug towards the icy hatted magician. She watched for reactions to the word “players” hoping it would clue her in on whether they were or not. She looked up at the mountain that towered over them. “Might be better if we went together to help each other out. If you want.”

Avery was tentative to mention the harpies considering she had already revealed far too much to far too many previously. She also was not opposed to sharing the potions that could be made out of harpy feathers with anyone who was willing to help her, but refrained from mentioning this as well. Surely the crafting process alone, however it worked, would reward her with ample experience. Of course, there was still a chance these strangers had no interest in the harpies at all.

“I’m Avery, by the way.”

@Harlow @Blank

 

[Blank]

The lithe witch girl cocked her head at the intrusion but more out of curiosity than anger. She seemed to pause for a moment as if digesting the words Avery had said, but it was clear she was shocked and surprised to hear the word 'player'. Still, she didn't directly address it. Instead, she shook her head and waved her oversized staff towards the seemingly impassable cliff-face while shouting to match Avery's tone, "Are you a guide? Then yes. Please guide me to the mountain's pass; thank you. I'll make it worth your time. How's one, no, two gold sound?"

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she turned on Harlow, jabbing her staff at his chest, "And don't get any ideas, I'm a lot more dangerous than I look, and I'm sick of dealing with would-be bandits who think a knife in the back can surprise me." Frowning, she turned to Avery, and then to Harlow once more, before backing up from the two of them and drawing in upon herself entering into an obviously rehearsed routine with a flourish of her cape.

"I'll have you know. I am the greatest Ice mage ever to live. Demoness of the mountain. Dark Star of the sky. Sealer of the gods. And the greatest magician of Astorea. I may have abandoned my name in seek of power, but know there are... wait... " She says stopping clearly falling off script, "Know there are those who know me still! Wait hold on, let me try again." Coughing she backed up a step before repeating the same flourish as before and starting over.

"Know that though I have no name, there are those that know me still, for... I am the greatest Ice mage ever to live. Demoness of the mountain. Dark Star of the sky. Sealer of the gods. Rebel of Astorea! And the greatest magician of Zalra!" She said, before nodding in satisfaction as she waited for applause.

@Avery Aphelion
@Harlow

 

[Harlow]

If the breeze were to have found him outside of the game, Emerson would've reacted differently, but the biting cold wouldn't nip so sharply at the exposed limbs of Harlow. Only upon one of the menus visible within his gaze did a meter tick downwards, indicating a decline in temperature, as what appeared to be a witch entered the scene.

As the cold, carried on a fog, became a tad more significant, however, it managed to elicit a reaction from the Magia, as he reached up to brush one of his arms. One of the more human gestures that had leaked into his programming, it seemed, even if it did little to warm him, and even if warmth wasn't particularly necessary for him at this point. He opened his mouth to speak, beginning to register a vocal command to address their questioning about the location of the path, before another joined the conversation as well. At this point, he made a mental note titled Perceptual Awareness. An area of improvement for later, as he hadn't seen either of them coming. Thankfully, there was some use to his mountain-bound staring, and the consequence of his tunnel vision hadn't been immediate death, so it could be forgiven this time.

His darting eyes had done well to unveil a number of paths up the ascent, though many concluded in dead ends, or uncertain areas. One line seemed to run farther than the others, and he presumed this was the intended path that, according to the staff-wielder, once had a sign. While he did not react at first to the mention of players by Avery, Harlow did make mental note of this diction and terminology. Definitely a player. The other among them was still questionable.

Soon after, he felt the jab of a staff into his chest, one foot retreating to stabilize himself. Then, she proceeded with a seemingly scripted, albeit sizeable list of titles.

"Roger that. Ice Mage." He paused, processing whether or not he had any impressive titles to spout out. Of course, he could make something up! He thought of a collection of magnificent names and titles he had heard from various other games. Things that would no doubt describe a frightening, fictional hero! Unfortunately, though, as they all registered in his mind, the auto-translate function simplified the equation into something more honest. "Harlow." He sighed. "Negative. No backstabbing. Only mountain climbing."

Introductions was a proper way to begin, though given the pair had managed to sneak up on him without attempting to do so, perhaps they had already heard him talking to himself. He raised a finger to point towards the base of the Ascent, directing their gazes towards a small dirt indication that weaved swiftly behind a patch of trees, well hidden to anyone who didn't already know of it, or didn't have robot eyes to scan the way ahead. "That is the path." He looked towards the magician, hoping his answer had been swift enough for the eager traveler. "It should persist to the peak. If that is your destination."

Then, he turned his head back towards Avery, as he continued his statement. "I am headed in that direction. And if the slope is as dangerous as I have heard, it would be better to move together. Less risk. Over." He nodded, glancing towards the magician. Being a rather new player, a harpy of over seven feet tall would probably easily pick the man to pieces, but with company, he would have a much better odds to line his pockets with their parts.

@Blank @Avery Aphelion

 

[Avery Aphelion]

The lady who addressed Avery was animated, and boisterous. “This is my first time here” Avery stated simply to the witch. “I know less than you do about this trail, apparently. I’m not sure what kind of guide that would make me.” Avery smiled at this. “Also, one or two gold pieces is nothing, considering I'll be rich once I get what I came here for. No need to pay me anything, thank you.”

Just then, the unnamed lady turned her attention to the other person. Avery watched as the witch and the Magia had their exchange. He didn’t seem unkind, only plain-spoken and literal. The witch then flipped her cape and performed a speech. This presentation made Avery question whether or not the lady was an NPC, though she did find the performance to be quite entertaining. She laughed lightheartedly as she said “I’m not sure what help I would be to the ‘Greatest Magician of Zalra’. I would think you’d be the better guide.”

Avery was too distracted by the witch to notice the Magia studying the path ahead of them. He grabbed her attention by pointing at a path and claiming that it was the correct one. Though Harlow was a stranger, his conviction in that statement was enough to convince her that he could be trusted. She leaned toward the witch and muttered, “Perhaps neither of us should lead.”

She was pleased at the thought that both of these characters were going her way. Avery nodded to Harlow. “After you.”

@Harlow @Blank

 

[Blank]

The girl blinked as she felt a sudden shift in the power dynamic. These people were very strange, they neither cowered in fear, nor reacted in awe at her greeting, not that anyone ever had per-say, but the girl imagined this would be what *should* have happened after giving her speech. She had spent a great deal of time on it, even if she hadn't decided what the dark star truly was. All of this was written clearly upon the girl's face as the others began to proceed as she stood mutely in place for a moment as she gaped at Avery's suggestion that *she* should lead the way. The gall.

With the path pointed out, however, the girl grunted and rushed forward following Harlow, replying, "The only danger you should fear is me. There's nothing on this mountain I can't deal with.... Probably. Actually, I've never been up here, I haven't the slightest clue how strong the local monsters are, but I doubt they can be too troublesome." Pausing she looked around her studying her two strange companions for the first time. Studying Avery the girl's lips pressed into a frown. A brown cloak, a bow, and a bundle of arrows. All the clear markings of a wilderness guide. What game was she playing to pretend differently? Was this a trap...? Coughing the girl reminded herself she had already warned them over her magic, any sensible bandit would have been scared away, and the other two didn't seem to know one another anyway.

Speaking of, the other elephant in the room. As strange as the girl was in hiding her profession, the boy was even stranger. Or at least his speech patterns seemed....off somehow, in a way the girl couldn't pinpoint. Something about it tugged her memory but she wasn't sure exactly what. Determined to find out, she coughed and spoke out from behind, "So. Harlow. From where do you hail? It doesn't sound like you're from around here."

 

[Harlow]

"Affirmative. Not too near. I awoke some time ago in a forest. Brisshal. On the other side of Astorea. Over." Harlow answered the question from the Ice Mage as to his origin literally, without turning his eyes away from the path forwards. He had a steady, unwavering pace that carried his seemingly bare feet carelessly across the occasionally rough and wild flooring. Despite the pain this would cause any fleshier foot, he did not wince, nor hesitate, proceeding past, any collection of acquired nicks or dents only alerting as minor repair popups on his visual display.

Anyone listening to his speaking would notice the repetitive nature of a few phrases. It would take a slightly more intentional listener to unveil that these phrases seemed to be of remarkably similar tone to one another, as though affirmative were a clear recording that perfectly replicated whenever he decided to speak it. Though telepathy would be required to see that the words he was actually trying to say were far from the radio, walkie-talkie lingo that was produced.

"This is a path I have yet to explore myself. Until now. But with the greatest Ice Mage to ever live among our ranks," Harlow's head turned back towards Avery and the other, but only for a moment, "I do not foresee undefeatable danger."

He proceeded until they reached the base of the path he had pointed out, pausing to scan the surroundings, gathering up a superficial, mental analysis of the plant-life that lived here, similar to snapping a panorama picture. The scan would only take a few seconds, and a low hum could be heard from somewhere beneath his hair on the back of his head while it was compiling. "Roger. Wilco, should no other want to take point." Just as he had stopped, he soon began again, as the slope increased, and would not soon cease.

Something seemed to itch him about the way the archer among them spoke. A familiarity in his memory banks suggested that he had met this person to some minor degree in the past. He had yet to piece together that it was her he had overheard making a racket about the price of harpy talons. It would make sense, given her hearing impairment, though he had learned that everyone was usually obnoxiously loud in Endra's Square. No matter, as he let the faint déjà vu twinge dissipate from the forefront of processing. If it were to be of significance later, it would surely come up.

"Where is it that you come from, Ice Mage? And you, Avery? Over."

Small talk? Oh yes. He was learning. This was big.

@Avery Aphelion @Blank

 

[Avery Aphelion]

Avery knew she was in for a challenge when she began the climb, but didn’t expect to be winded so soon. Avery kept her focus on two things: following Harlow, and attempting to hide her wheezing. With every step, her feet felt heavier. She was thankful for the frigid air, because it kept her refreshed for longer than a humid day ever would. How can I feel so tired? This is only a game, but it feels so real. She recalled her tiredness earlier on during her migration from Endra’s Square to Hyland’s Ascent. That trip was draining, and it certainly wasn't as steep as where she was. As she thought this, a shiver ran down her spine. If she felt the discomfort of this hike so strongly, as if it were real, what would happen if she ever experienced pain? Would a shot with an arrow be felt just as excruciatingly here as it would in real life? If she disconnected from the game right now, would she still feel tired? Does physical exertion in-game bleed into her life outside the game? To distract herself from the soreness and any harrowing thoughts, the alchemist listened to her companions’ small talk, and soon she heard a question directed at her.

She spoke carefully so as to not pant while she answered. “I’m from Oregon.” She paused. “Oh- er... Wait, did you mean in-game? Oh, I haven’t really established a base yet. I’ve just been hanging out in the cities near spawn.” She reminded herself that she still wasn’t sure that her current allies were player characters. This would certainly break the ice.

Avery couldn't tell if it had been minutes, hours, or years since they had first begun their journey. The trek had been arduous, but they proceeded so far without much interruption. This did not stave off any wariness that Avery had of the potential dangers that could lie ahead. The archer felt a small sense of security, knowing that a seemingly powerful witch was accompanying her and their Magia companion. She hoped her poorly hidden exhaustion wouldn’t entirely label her a liability, should confrontations arise. This was her first chance to impress her comrades and prove herself to be a capable ally. Judging by what happened next, that opportunity might soon be upon her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Avery spotted a very swift movement behind the trees, as if something was alerted by their walking past. She jerked her head in that direction to see if she could make out what was there. The trees were dense enough to render her efforts mostly useless. The leaves blocked a majority of the light. She stopped and carefully drew her bow.

“Did you guys see that too?”

@Harlow @Blank

 

[Blank]

The girl looked at Harlow with a puzzled expression as he spoke, "What do you mean you awoke? Did you lose your memory or something? If your hurt, you're hardly in any condition to be my guide. Nevertheless, you're correct, I *can* handle any creature we come across, no need to worry about that." She continued to speak with her same flippant manner as before, as if she were in charge, and the other two were hired help, however, as Avery spoke she let the act slip as she suddenly turned on her.

"You're a player? For real? Your back? What are you even doing here? I thought you were all locked out or some such nonsense. Do you have any idea how dangerous this place is? Well do you?" Clear anger painted her voice, but it was unscored with obvious concern. What was lacking was any real reaction to whatever threat Avery had seen, and even as the tree branches groaned while giving way the girl remained focused on the Avery intent to have answers.

Regardless, time for talking in earnest had come to a sharp end as suddenly from the tree-line a small band of forest trolls appeared, growling, and snarling as they moved forward with improvised weapons made of bone and scrapped steel, illiciting an annoyed groan from the girl, "God. Trolls. We need fire otherwise this will take all day." As if to prove her point, she fired a small javelin of ice that tore through the chest of the closest charging creature, causing it to stumble and fall to the ground. No sooner had it hit the ground, than it stood back up though, revealing the baseball sized hole in it's chest to be all but healed in a matter of moments.



@Harlow @Avery Aphelion

 

[Harlow]

Okay. So Avery was absolutely another player, not a doubt about it. He had one or two friends in his life that were more so video-game obsessed than himself, so he recognized the dialect with ease. This information was shuffled away into storage.

He heard the questions posed to him by the Ice Mage, though his eyes and mind were elsewhere, having a nagging sensation that something was off. His peripherals had either detected something, or he was processing another error. The archer's comment was more than enough to assure him that there was no error, and danger was imminent. Harlow would have to explain that he was undamaged another time, as a preparatory hand rose to his left shoulder blade to press a button.

A sharp, but very brief hiss erupted from his body. His shoulders would be the most noticeable change, slumping from their previously rigid straightness into a more relaxed, human posture. The same hand that had ventured for the button presented itself before his eyes. As though constructed from a projector, an object began to appear.

He overheard the Ice Mage diagnose their enemy, and he wasn't surprised he hadn't battled it before. Most things in this world were new to him. That simply meant this was an opportunity for more learning, so long as they didn't die. Once the handle had manifested before his eyes, he drew it, as if pulling the blade from the socket itself. This would become immediately relevant, as the sound of something snapping behind him. A sneak attack?

Harlow spun back, the sword clashing to deflect the bone club that was swinging down towards him, before fluid blade work allowed him to meet his blade with the collection of teeth with soon came chomping forwards. An animalistic attack, and one that had nearly caught him. His blade did little to chip at the gnawing canines, as his leg raised to shove-kick the creature away from him a fair distance. Thankfully, it had dropped its makeshift weapon in the first deflection, and soon scrambled after it.

He looked over to notice that the previously skewered troll, blasted by their most potent teammate, had seemingly revived itself and was back on the hunt. Scouting his own settings, the Magia discovered something that might be of use. Apparently, somewhere in his design, he had the ability to produce flame. That should be useful, right? "Affirmative. Fire." He raised his left hand, the other still gripping the handle of his weapon, as a small, metal mechanism presented from the dorsal surface of his wrist.

Unfortunately, the flame produced was remarkably small, and barely more than could be made by a lighter. It was a start, but, to his disappointment, it wasn't the fireball they needed. "… Disregard that." He braced his grip at the handle, taking on a trained stance, as the previously deflected troll gathered its senses and prepared to charge him again.

"I cannot burn them." A glow erupted from his eyes briefly, as a previous scan completed. "Four confirmed targets, potentially more." An eye flashed cautiously towards the archer, hoping not to find her being ambushed as well. "Any ideas, Avery? Over."

@Avery Aphelion @Blank

 

[Avery Aphelion]

Avery heard the anger in the witch’s voice, and while she had opened her mouth to speak, she didn’t have time enough to form a proper response before they were interrupted. What she had seen before were trolls, now emerging from the trees and gaining on their position. The alchemist watched in disbelief, not only as their ice mage fired off a deadly attack, but again as one of the trolls healed what should have been the fatal wound in a matter of seconds. Luckily, their potent mage seemed to know these creatures’ weaknesses.

Fire. In an instant, they were upon Harlow as well. By his admission, he could light a small flame, but it wasn’t enough to ignite every troll. Think, Avery, think. She felt her cape brush up against her hand.

Her cape.

“Ice Mage, can you freeze the trolls in place to buy us some more time?”

Avery knelt down and tore an arrow through the fabric of her cloak, then swiftly knotted the severed piece around the head of her arrow. The alchemist then coated the heads in a flammable liquid she had picked up a while back as an ingredient in one of her potions. Coincidentally, it should come in handy at this very moment. She repeated this process several times, working as quickly as she could.

“Harlow! I need your fire!” She readied her bow and makeshift flammable arrows, a proper silver bullet for their otherwise nearly impervious enemy.

@Harlow @Blank

 

[Blank]

The girl's disinterest in the fight was written clearly upon her face. "Trolls, why did it have to be trolls," she muttered as yet another troll made their way to her. As it approached, however, it felt the air suddenly freeze as its body became stiff turning blue before it lost the feeling of its limbs before everything turned black as it stumbled forward and fell to the ground smashing into a thousand frozen pieces. It was almost imperceivable but the witch had created a small field around herself, and any troll dumb enough to get within range would likely end up flash frozen. Unfourtantly the range of the spell was limited to merely a foot or two around the witch. Dropping the temperature in a larger radius was going to take a lot more mana, and effort, but to be honest, the trolls simply weren't worth the bother of unleashing her true power here. After all, she might scare away her two guides if she simply just flash froze in the forest. Actually, now that she thought about it, she might *accidentally* kill them if she did that too, best to hold off.

Instead, she sighed once more and waved her staff in the air casting a different spell. She didn't like using magic other than Ice magic, it felt cheap, but there was a reason she had gone through the efforts of using it. A light yellow glow began to flicker at the tip of the girls staff as ritualistically chanted, "Goddess grant your children your blessing, so they may bend time to their will. Haste!" To the trolls, nothing seemed to change, but to @Avery Aphelion and @Harlow, the world seemed to suddenly move at a much slower pace, at least relatively to themselves. Technically, the trolls would be frozen like this. At least from their perspective, or close enough to it.

 

[Harlow]

As his body took on a less restrictive freedom of movement, he began experiencing more spreading pain across the plantar surface of his feet, as well as a collection of scrapes and minor wounds he had collected. Shoes would be a fine investment. He could only hope that this combat would not expand his current arsenal of damages.

Harlow's eyes examined every aspect of the troll charging towards him as Avery requested his meager fire. He'd respond to her when he got the chance, but for now, his focus was required upon the monster barreling forwards, its weapon reacquired. He struggled to focus, hoping to analyze and discern a pattern from the monster's movements. He grit his teeth, knuckle clenching around the handle, as his other hand moved to meet it, tensing his grip… But how could the swiftness his thoughts be a match for the monster's ravenous march and unpredictable, wild swinging? He would have to rely on a hasty reaction as–

Everything slowed. He'd been so intent upon watching his foe, it was only after they had finished that the magic infused words called upon by their mage registered with Harlow. He watched the troll approaching him move in a humorously slow fashion. His grip around his weapon loosened, and for one of the first times, Harlow briefly laughed. It was a slight gesture, and barely a smile bent at the corners of his lips, but noticeable enough was the rising of his shoulders with each amused exhale.

"Amazing work, Ice mage. You live up to those titles." He moved past the troll in front of him, deftly slicing at its leg as he slid by. He would then pierce his weapon through its back and pin it to the ground, stabbing the blade into the dirt through the troll's body to hold it in place. This would not kill the troll, surely, if the javelin of ice hadn't before, but it between this and the haste they were experiencing, it would give them more than enough time to work out the rest of Avery's plan.

"Affirmative. Do with it what you will. Over." With his right hand still on the handle of his katana, which now served as a giant thumbtack, his left presented outwards in a loose fist, palm facing downwards, as the small lighter mechanism emerged. From it conjured a small flame, pointed towards the rapidly preparing archer.

@Avery Aphelion @Blank

 

[Avery Aphelion]

For the one of the first times since entering this game, Avery could hear noises out of her right ear. This time, it was louder. The sounds weren't from the mundane commotion of this confrontation, nor were they the voices of her party members. As time seemed to slow around her, she heard a ticking sound, like that of a metronome, and it resided only in her otherwise deaf ear. The tick was loud and slow, and it didn't take long for Avery to discern that it was a reflection of the pace of time for those unaffected by their haste. Initially, Avery was disappointed that her unilateral hearing loss had followed her into this fantasy world. Now, in the presence of a powerful mage and her magic, the archer had begun to recognize an advantage she'd gained at the expense of her hearing.

The self-proclaimed "Greatest Magician of Zalra" was definitely proving that she was deserving of such titles, but Harlow was proving that he too was fairly skilled. He moved with such fluidity and grace in his fight with the now pinned troll, which was made possible by the time-bending gift the witch had bestowed upon the trio. Harlow's movement came as a surprise. He seemed like he had taken on a completely different body. She had also seen him laugh, which was the most expression she had witnessed from the Magia since they met. She realized there was a lot she didn't know about both of her companions, and she made a note to change that once these trolls were dealt with.

Avery nocked her first arrow and lit the end with Harlow's flame. She set her focus on one of the standing trolls, and became aware that aiming in this game was different than she was used to. There were no crosshairs to guide her, so she tried her best to aim for a spot she figured would be fatal. She took a deep breath and released the arrow. It pierced the troll in the chest, and though the beast seemed unaffected by the shot itself, the fire was certainly doing the trick. The troll's skin gradually turned to ash as the fire spread rapidly across its entire body. Within seconds, there was no troll where there once was.

Feeling cocky, Avery took less care and soon lit up and fired the second arrow at the last standing troll. To no surprise, it missed, soaring past the troll and imbedding in the thick bark of a tree nearby the target. Though she had been successful once, it was clear she was far from expertise. She was sparse for practice in this increasingly realistic virtual world.

Disappointment, however, would not enfeeble her, as she aimed her next ignited arrow just as she did the first, with careful consideration. Ignoring the smaller protrusions, the inflamed arrowhead pointed center mass, whistling to land a second, equally deadly shot.

The only foe left was the troll Harlow had pinned on the ground, and this one was by far the easiest shot yet. It slowly, fruitlessly flailed its arms, letting out a deep, distorted, infuriated roar. "Uh, free headshot?" Avery lit the last arrow, which soon speared the beast through the back of its skull, point blank.

"There. I believe that's dealt with." A wide grin spread across the archer's face. "You have to admit that was badass. Gg team."

Avery looked over at the witch and remembered their previous conversation that had gotten interrupted. "I never meant to upset you, Ice Mage. I heard this game was dangerous, but it kind of just seems dangerously fun?" She shrugged. "Also, what do you mean by locked out? I've only just started playing recently. Hadn't heard about TS before then." She turned to Harlow now. "Also, Harlow… HOW DID YOU DO THAT? Your reaction time was insane. Did you oil your joints before the fight or what?" She definitely was not conscious of how loud she was being at this moment, though this time, it was probably more a fault of her excitement than it was her hearing impairment. "You guys are seriously cool. You literally." She pointed at the ice mage with a pun, before the girl then raised her hands for high fives from both of her allies.

"Should we get moving then? I've got harpies to farm." She let the purpose of her mountainous adventure slip, unaware that harpies, especially if they came upon anything other than a servant, were more than a match to kill an entire party of newer players. It was no wonder how far the Ascent was from Avery's spawnpoint, that creatures of such value would be so lethal. But, like with volume management, she was completely unaware of this fact.

@Harlow @Blank