The Mystery of the Rival Bandits [Solo | Job]

Job Details:

"So you're saying that bandits have been roaming the plains and you want me, a slender, beautiful woman, to get rid of them for you?" Aoife responded, her tone flat and incredulous as she received her assignment from a Magnostadt professor. The professor only sighed and handed her the rest of the information, wrote neatly and explicitly on official looking documentation complete with stationery dotted with the insignia of the academy.

"It has come to our attention that bandits have been terrorizing local merchants...that is bad for our school, so we're enlisting first years to take part in this program and help clean up the countryside, so to speak. You've been selected as a worthy candidate for this program, dear! Be proud!" Aoife could only roll her eyes at the professor's obviously feigned enthusiasm about this. But, magicians were a powerful breed of people, capable of accomplishing even the most miraculous of feats, so there was a bit of civic duty in helping out the less fortunate. She begrudgingly grabbed the paper and walked off, setting off for the plains to the nearest bandit encampment. It seemed there were a lot of ruffians that took up residence in the area, apparently incensed to start pillaging poor, traveling merchants looking to peddle their wares. Aoife wasn't exactly the biggest fan of being responsible for the betterment of mankind, but she couldn't resist the call to action and help out people in need.

Aoife walked about the plains, accompanying a merry couple of merchants just trying to make it from one area to the next. She attempted small talk with the couple, but apart from brief answers and slight chuckles, there wasn't much there to make conversation with. The entire situation drained Aoife and as miserable as she was, at least she was doing a good deed (with some benefits). As they approached their destination, they came upon a fortuitous bandit encampment with five merry bandits just lying in wait for the trio.

"Perfect...Trembling blade that bends the sky, drive the wedge of freedom into those that would oppose me--Eulim!" A slender black blade formed from Aoife's staff, launching it toward the heart of an incoming bandit. His four companions quivered at her magical prowess but were not deterred in attempting to rob the merchant couple blind. Trying to determine the most strategic use of her powers, Aoife was going to wait until the bandits arrived a bit closer to her and the couple, but their panic drove them to run in an alternate direction, alerting the bandits to also travel toward them, putting a wrench in her plans.

"Freaking--stay still! This is only going to make this that much harder for me! You're all pains!" Aoife yelled, chasing after them. When it became clear at least a few of the bandits were bunched together, she began to cast another spell, hoping to take out a few in one fell swoop. She cast a scaled Sarkha and watched as the barbed needles felled three of the bandits, leaving only one remaining. Perfect! She could easily whip one bandit away and be free to collect the spoils of her mission. The remaining bandit was behind her and struck Aoife, leaving her borg to react and deflect the attack. With little room to attack the bandit with magic, Aoife whipped her staff around and hit the bandit off the head with the handle of her staff before casting Albitata, conjuring two potatoes from the ground to bludgeon the last bandit. Success! The merchant couple calmed down and safely made it to their destination.

"That was a total bore..." Aoife said, walking back to Magnostadt.

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Word Count: 619/500
Magoi: 160/240

Abilities Used:

Job Details:

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The morning light of the sun beat down on the young woman's back as she stood on her balcony in her room, watching the birds fly across the beautiful landscape of Magnostadt. Her shawl draped lazily over her shoulders and slowly slid down to her elbow as she inspected the view. She wondered if she would find any more "bandits" lurking about in the distance, but it was fairly impossible she would be able to spot them from the comfort of her bedroom. She relished in the ease of her classes as she coasted through her first year with little difficulty. Truly, it had only just become spring, but she was confident she could best the vast majority of peers in a battle of intelligence (or magical prowess). She was just about to return to her room and get ready for the day when a loud, yet assertive, knock upon her door startled her. Who could that possibly be? She walked over to her door and opened it, only to reveal the professor that tasked her with the mission of disposing of a bandit group in the Plains.

"Oh! Excellent! Miss Reis, you're awake...I have grave news for you..." Said the professor as he walked into her room. He was a short man, a little portly with slight balding, but genuinely harmless as far as Aoife was concerned. He made himself at home in her room and sat down at a table, examining the surroundings. "Boy...they really give you drab accommodations, don't they? Anyhow, it appears that the poor merchant couple you escorted were actually part of a rival bandit gang...what a scandal, right? So, we're going to need you to take care of them as well, which I have the locations for...what an interesting quandary..." Aoife was stunned at the apparent incompetence of the professor. Why even seek out her help again if it was his screw-up that contributed to this in the first place?

"Ah...eh...sure, that seems reasonable? Why are you asking me to do this, though?" The whole situation did not sit well with her. Why did this professor seek her out personally? There was something more going on here and she was determined to figure out what. The professor only replied with a nervous chuckle and a quick scurry to the door.

"We have faith in your abilities, Miss Reis...and if you could, please keep this between the two of us, yes? I wouldn't want anyone to find out you inadvertently helped out a gang of bandits...I trust you'll treat me to the same vow of clemency?" The professor whisked down the hallway, humming an upbeat tune as Aoife was left dumbfounded in her room. So that was the reason! How awful! Aoife was being used to cover up something far more dubious. She felt compelled to investigate further, but for now, she would travel to the plains and complete the mission before she was blackmailed by this dirty professor. She grabbed her staff and quickly changed into clothes suited for adventure and shoved off, ready to take care of these marauding highwaymen.

She traveled for a fair amount of time more before happening upon the "encampment" the professor told her about. Thinking about it, she never got that professor's name. She wondered if he was even a professor at all or if this was some elaborate plan to wipe out rival bandit groups. The multiple possibilities confused Aoife even more and so she decided to stop thinking about it, at least for now, and focus on the task at hand. The camp wasn't very large, there was a group of five, possibly more, within the grounds of the camp, all outside and mingling with one another. Were they on break? It didn't matter--Aoife was going to clean them up and return back to Magnostadt. It became clear there was a much more important villain to confront after this was over. She snuck up on the camp, tiptoeing gracefully behind some rocks and nearest to the bandit "most alone" in the situation. She readied her staff and stuck it into the ground, focusing the rukh around her as she chanted a spell.

"O flowers of the long sleep, rise from thine earthen slumber and strip my foes from their mortal coil--Zanbaq!" The vine shot from the ground where her staff was and ripped through the sky, piercing the unaware bandit right through the heart. A trail of lilies fell to the ground as he fell, alerting the rest of them to Aoife's presence.

"Crap...didn't think that one through..." She mumbled before darting off in another direction, hoping to avoid any bandits in her escape so she wouldn't be found. She could pick them off one by one like this but in close combat, she knew her borg couldn't withstand too many blows. She circled around, only to find a single bandit patrolling the side she was escaping. Before he could call for her, Aoife quickly released another spell, this time a scaled Lililab, coiling around the bandits' neck and choking him dead. Two down, three to go! Deciding that she's commanded the upper hand in this battle, she moved in closer to the camp, hoping to draw some attention. While searching, she came across two bandits looking frantically for the assailant. Hah! She felt like a sort of high ranking spy whose mere presence struck fear into the hearts of men. It seemed her liking to classes relating to battle were helping, her tactical blunder notwithstanding. She supposed she could fight these two bandits fair and square, but there was a much better method, and so she got as close as humanly possible without them noticing, coming within three meters of the assailants, and tapped her staff on the ground, muttering an incantation.

"O great king who supports the green earth, receive mine foolish offering that grovels at your feet--Balut!" A field of sharp wood erupted around her, piercing the legs and chests of the bandits in impressive fashion. They were taken down with ease which only left one more bandit to dispose of before she headed back to the academy. There was no sign of the merchant couple too--were they in on it as well? She had so many questions now. Unfortunately, Aoife was far too lost in her thoughts to notice her surroundings when a resounding crackle of her borg shattering brought her to reality. She turned around quickly to see the bandit charge up for another attack, this time thrusting his sword at Aoife's body. She managed to partially dodge the second attack, it barely grazing her stomach. Wasting no time, Aoife cast her final spell to rid the world of these bandits:

"Trembling blade that bends the sky, drive the wedge of freedom into those that would oppose me--Eulim!" The black sword screamed through the sky, stabbing the assailant right in the head. It was a grotesque sight and Aoife quickly looked away. Deciding there was nothing left to search for here, she rushed back to the academy to collect the spoils of her mission. The professor wasn't there, however, and all that was left was a note that congratulated her on a job well done.

How did he know?

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Word Count: 1221/1000
Magoi: 120/240

Abilities Used: