Bewildering Wilderness [Job/Chimera]

Job:

Zadi was rather frustrated after all the encounters in the dungeon. Things just didn't feel the same for Zadi. His head was throbbing every now and again, though that may have just been his normal ways of thinking that were getting in the way. Plan after plan. Scheme for scheme, Zadi just can't seem to ease his thought process. In order to get his composure again, he decided that he needed to take a job involving some sort of fighting. Zadi may be a Balbaddian at heart, but negotiations make Zadi feel confined. Battle has much more freedom than reasoning. A single swing of the sword could end a number of things while talking could start a number of things.

Anyway, Zadi grabbed one of the flyers involving some sort of 'farm work', though much more than just culling a field obviously. Zadi went over to the farmer's house and knocked on the door, waiting. Meanwhile, Zadi thought back to Chimera and wondered what she was up to. After the dungeon, she changed. For better or worse wasn't up for Zadi to decide.

183/1,500 words

Chimera had just made it to the plains after settling her last order of business in Heliohapt and was now in the process of travelling to the dungeon. Well it was on her mind, but she was a bit concerned on the issue of actually being able to compete in the dungeon. Sulking about it wouldn't help her out very much, so she had planned on taking two stop-gap measures to make things easier for herself. Training herself and earning some money, both of which would make her life easier... or perhaps even keep it.

As she was travelling the plains, simultaneously looking for a ship to the island as well as looking for work. Along the coast between Balbaad and Mangostadt, Chimera had noticed a familiar face. She began to subtlely follow... 'Is that... Zadi? Is he here for the dungeon...? We were both just in Heliohapt.' Chimera was quick to assume a few factors, and they had met around a farm. She hid around a barn, trying to suppress her presence as best as possible, taking her time to keep as silent as possible.

The slaver had looked around and noticed there were some flyers around the barn, stating that they needed some help. Chimera assumed that's why Zadi had showed up, at least she had her excuse now. She stepped out of hiding, and walked up to Zadi as he waited on the door to be opened. "Hey, I remember you." She patted Zadi on the back, despite being nervous and cautious about him, she put on a brave and calm facade, as the door finally came open and the owner of the establishment came out to greet them both.

283/1500

What was Chimera doing here? Strange coincidence for Zadi and Chimera to meet up and ask about helping the same farmer with his wolf problem. However, Zadi tried to relax for this was his way of escaping the thoughts of the dungeon.

"Uh, hey."

The farmer came out with the air between Chimera and Zadi being as awkward as ever. The farmer felt more at ease than awkward though, for a couple people came hoping to help him with his wolf problem, "Why hello there! Thanks fur stoppin' by! The wolves're over yonder. They've been causin' all sorts a trouble lately. Thought I could ignore it, but things've just gotten worse!"

"Alright...we...will get rid of the trouble."

Zadi wanted to be alone today, aside from the quick encounter with the farmer. However, with Chimera's presence being as it is, Zadi just 'went with the flow' as best he could. After the farmer closed his doors, Zadi went off towards the direction that the farmer pointed, hoping to find the wolves that were causing all the trouble.

361/1,500 words

Chimera was a bit confused, but she followed along behind Zadi with her fingers laced together behind her back, matching his pace through the fields of grass. "I seriously doubt you came to the Great Plains from Heliohapt at the same time as me, just to help a farmer." She smirked, making sure that she not to pose a question but hoping her comment alone would open up some dialogue. Pyramid-destroyer to farm hand wasn't a likely story. Considering the distance from the dungeon, it was more than likely they shared a common interest there, which was worrisome in and of itself.

Chimera had only just realized that the mission involved of dispatching wolves. Wolves weren't such a big threat to her, but perhaps she would get to see more of Zadi's fighting capability. She looked around and the area seemed pretty bare, but it seemed as if they were on the right track since there were a few patterns of wolf prints, and a few set had lead in the direction they seemed to be going.

460/1500

(OOC: woops, not a 'farmer' but rather a 'tribe'. I'll try to keep the flow while fixing it. You'll see what I mean.)

The farmer of the tribe seemed rather settled in this area. Zadi was quite surprised that such a tribe would have a dedicated farmer rather than all chip in and spread their farming abilities among themselves. However, Zadi didn't care how the tribe functioned. All he wanted to do was release some steam by fighting something. Didn't matter what he fought. The fight just had to be a fight. Not child's play. However, with Chimera's presence, Zadi had to worry about his personality. He had just recently, more or less, given away a secret. Not that it was a terribly big secret that he wanted to keep in the long run. It was rather the fact that he opened up in the first place and also gave away his place of living within Heliohapt. Thankfully it seems that Chimera had no intentions of tipping off the authorities, at least not right now.

Anyway, the matter at hand was finding the wolves and defeating them. He kept silent and rather 'gloomy' during the walk which would probably put Chimera on edge, but Zadi didn't care. Not unless Chimera tried to land a strike on Zadi. Not likely but possible all the same. Chimera knew Zadi as a powerhouse that could topple a pyramid without leaving a trace of his existence. However, it was a tough and rather tedious task to fell the Black Pyramid. Zadi had to first take care of the resident priests who weren't all that tough and then he had to fling the pyramid's structure every which direction piece by piece. Simple enough compared to what the end result yielded.

After silently tracking down the den in which the wolves probably resided, Zadi got out his Rukh Slayer in preparation for a multitude of wolves, also known as a 'pack'. Rukh Slayer started to glow red with rage as Zadi used his Red Faced spell to up his sword's total power. Zadi then whistled in the direction of the den in order to draw out the wolves. Seemed to work for a total of four bulky wolves slowly came out of the shadows of the cave-like den. Zadi was excited and couldn't wait to brawl! However, Zadi didn't want to give away too much of his physical power in front of Chimera. Zadi would just take out two wolves after evading a couple attacks here and there.

The four wolves spread themselves between Zadi and Chimera, attempting to intimidate using their greater numbers. Zadi went into a cautious stance as he let the wolves get closer. Zadi kept his eyes on the two that were aiming for him, letting Chimera do whatever she wanted with her 'fans'. It wasn't long until the wolves against Zadi Lunged towards him, seemingly simultaneously from 5 meters away. They were kick, but Zadi was prepared with his Flash Steps technique, stepping 3 times backwards, each step 1 meter away ending 3 meters from his original position. The wolves were quick to react and tried to run towards Zadi with quick 7m/s speed.

The wolves ran for Zadi after he dodged their lunges. Zadi made sure to Flash Step backwards in order to keep his eyes on the wolves. Though the wolves were quick, Zadi was quicker and used this to his advantage. The wolves may have been running towards Zadi, but Zadi was also running towards them using 2 of his Flash Steps! One of the wolves attempted to use its powerful Tearing Pain in order to strike at Zadi from a short distance, but the black magician sidestepped towards the other wolf and attempted to strike said wolf with his Red Faced Rukh Slayer. The wolf was quick to react and Claw Parried Zadi's strike. However, the wolf was burned due the spell Red Faced being active and the wolf fell over in great pain. Zadi subsequently Thrust Forward with Rukh Slayer and killed the downed wolf while the other wolf stayed in place, scared yet determined to take revenge for its fallen comrade.

With Zadi having defeated one of the two wolves that targeted him, it was only a matter of how many more Flash Steps needed to be taken in order to defeat the lone wolf. Unfortunately for the wolf, Zadi was able to memorize the speeds at which the wolves were able to move. On the other hand, the wolf only saw Zadi's physical prowess.

"I'm tired of this."

Zadi got out his wand while the wolf charged for its target of revenge. Unfortunately for said wolf, it was just short of striking Zadi for reasons known as a grouping of lasers matching A-tier power, aka Kythr Alyzr. As Zadi had said, he got tired of fighting the wild animals. It wasn't 'child's play' but it didn't feel like a fight either. Zadi couldn't put his view on the situation into words, so he just left things as they were and checked up on Chimera's progress. Zadi used his remaining Flash Steps to pace back and forth 1 meter at a time until he felt the technique was finished. If left alone, his legs could build up too much tension and cause cramps. Can't have that now can he?

210 magoi/stamina

Tech(s):

1,233/1,500 words

The breeze across the plains swept through in waves as the grass danced with each gust in pulses. It was a beautiful scene enhanced by the weather. The sunshine and clear skies with the right amount of air had made the day nearly perfect. It was nearly perfect because there was a certain aura about Zadi this time unlike the last time, but she wasn't the type to bring a change out of him. Her order of action was reaction, therefore she would simply follow the flow of conversation, or for this instance, lack thereof. Despite the somber and solemn ambiance that her companion was giving off, she was still optimistic about the work. Going along with Zadi for the ride would make the mission orders of magnitude easier, and Zadi was one of the few people she had in her life after all. She had really only known her slaves, the people who taught her, Tenma, Zadi and the man that had purchased her from slavery.

She had never much chance to think of it, but in retrospect, the man, Issiah, who had purchased her was the root of all of her regrets in life. Even being born a slave had been such an issue, because she had known some slaves who had easy lives, and some who had tolerably hard and arduous life working for their masters and taking punishments, even if they were doing their best. Some people were simply sadistic, but this man was truly evil and had no concept of morals deep down, even though he seemed to be a prominent man of Magnostadt.

She kept travelling along Zadi with these thoughts in her mind. Her memory began to grow more erratic and the flashbacks more sparse as the events the lead up to her misery closed in. She let out a soft grunt as she recalled the beginnings of her pain. Her hand against her face trying to sooth the pain inside of her skull as she struggled to remember anything. At least she had been trailing behind Zadi, and it was a bit easier to hide her pain and her thoughts.

Zadi seemed to be doing a lot of work. He studied some footprints in the ground, seemingly checking their depth, direction, scale and the condition, deducing some more information for them to keep following them. On their next stop, he would slowly observe more details, pointing a few things out without specifically referring to Chimera. Just casually mentioning them in case She was listening. The final hints as Zadi took note of the frequency of the droppings as well as fur. It became evident that he had only referred to these facts to indicate that they were close to the nest finally.

Zadi had lead her to a cavern, it was a big bigger than she had anticipated. The cave was almost pitch black and the day had passed as the sun was just now beginning to set. Yellow orbs like fire flies began to glow brighter as they got closer, seeking Zadi and herself. She could eventually see their outline and it was evident that they were eyes. The eyes of wolves that kept creeping and prowling closer and closer to her and Zadi.

They sped up a bit to partially surround the pair of fighters. They were sort of positioned in an X formation, with the wolves at each end and Zadi in the center. Chimera put her back to Zadi, which seemed be a natural development in the situation. She stepped up towards wolves, as she sank her feet into the ground, getting into a fighting stance, with her left side aimed between both of the wolves, as her mind began to process the situation, ignoring the action behind her, as she didn't want to seem weak in front of Zadi, even if he probably didn't care too much.

Chimera's pupils dilated to match the situation as her eyes began to gorge themselves on the prey before her like a hungry predator. She brought her right arm up, and swept her follicles back as her motion of the hand masked her Slavers Whipcrack, which lengthened and sharpened her hair until it could be used as a tool. It waved around behind her as the wolves kept prowling around her. She inched towards them, creating space from Zadi, but he had already gone into the fray, and dispatched a wolf, following up with a light show that almost immediately disintegrated the remaining wolf, leaving only her two targets left.

Now the wolves were finally circling around her, imagining that she was their prey. Oh, how mistaken were those animal instincts. Chimera's eyes warped even further than before as they became Goat Eyes. HEr pupils morphed into that of the animal her ability was named after. Her range of vision increased and she was able to keep track of both of her enemies simultaneously. She had to move her head less as she kept her eyes on both, and in that time, she caught Zadi looking at her progress. Now it was time to act.

Chimera burst into a run in a second, and rolled towards the wolves before they could act on their instincts to attack, her eyes kept track of the wolves and mid somersault, her hair would strike out at a wolf, using the momentum of the spin to slap the wolf down across it's spine, breaking it's back in a single swoop of the Slavers Whipcrack, leaving it paralyzed and its ribs cracked against the floor. The only action it could take now was to howl in pain.

Chimera was quick to her feet, as her hair assisted her recovery like a springboard behind her. Now the other wolf was frenzied with revenge for its pack member, came running at her with full force, but Chimera had other plans. She quickly retrieved her Glowing Egg and utilized its force against the beast, searing it's flesh and fur in a single swoop, but its actions weren't stopped by the beam of light, and Chimera had to wrestle with the beasts paws as it tried to snap at her. Which gave Chimera the most humorous idea. Shark Teeth. As the wolf tried to take another bite of her, Chimeras mouth grew a foot and a half wide, and she bit the wolf's head clean off, spitting the wolf and the excess blood out.

"Ugh... ew. Wolf fur." She tried scraping her tongue from the contaminants of the wolf's fur.

[EXIT]

Stamina: 130

1500+/1500

Abilities:

Chimera and Zadi both finished off their respective wolves and seemingly completed the request. There didn't seem to be signs of more wolves nearby so the task was over and done with. All that was to be done at this point was to turn in the reward with some proof. Zadi used Rukh Slayer to severe the front, right paws of the dead creatures, hoping Chimera wouldn't make a girlish fuss. However, from what Zadi observed of Chimera, she wasn't a girly girl. In fact, her fighting style, what little that Zadi could see out of the corner of his eyes, was wild and unpredictable. A beast in girl's clothing, more or less. Zadi would make sure to stay on her good side during the rest of their encounter and perhaps change his attitude towards her if they ever met again. Not all that likely, but who knows? Perhaps Chimera was also here for the dungeon just as Zadi was. All the same, Zadi attained the front, left paws of all four wolves, tided them together using some dry, string-like wood, and carried them such that his clothing wouldn't get any dirtier than they already were.

On their way back, Zadi didn't say anything, just walking back to the tribe's farmer's house. Not much to say other than 'good job' and 'nice kill back there' of which none truly fit conversation between two different people, more or less. Zadi didn't personally know Chimera and, hopefully, vice-versa. The two weren't even 'buddies' just yet. All they have done together was share a couple secrets that weren't all that secretive to begin with, more or less, and killed a pack of wolves together. However, maybe Zadi was just being too much of a hermit. He could be like he was over in Heliohapt and spill some secrets again.

"Oh! Why thank you for getting rid of the wolves. Now my tribe and I can continue trades with the ones near Balbadd. Them folks sure love their milk."

Zadi gave the paws to the tribe-farmer and Chimera and Zadi were given their promised rewards. However, Zadi was interested in this other tribe. Zadi felt he needed to become familiar with the people of and/or near Balbadd if he wanted to return there some day and become an influential figure. Granted, it would take more than just 'knowing the people' in order to become a good politician, but Zadi was at least thinking about the requirements.

"Where exactly is this tribe located? Perhaps they may be in need of my services, too."

"How nice of ya! Well, they are a fishing tribe that call themselves 'Toran' or something like that. Not exactly sure where, but somewhere within the Yambala Forest. I just supply the dairy, hahaha!"

"Alright, thanks for the information. If you ever need anything, maybe I'll happen to pop by."

And with that, Zadi left.

[exit]

1,500+/1,500 words