Mizahar VS Zaiden (Kale & Nyahna Sasin)

[Nyahna Sasin]

Unfortunately, this straggler wasn't that badly injured, just a cut across his arm.The one who tripped over Sasin's arrow and stabbed himself He simply appeared to be trying to escape the carnage. Grabbing a pebble, Sasin tossed it into the trees behind him. Thankfully taking the bait, the barbarian turned, drawing his club, and approached the tree warily.

When he passed where Sasin was hiding, the Dhani carefully slipped out from behind the bush he had been hiding behind, coiled his tail, and sprang at the barbarian. A branch cracked underneath his tail, but it was already too late for the barbarian, who turned in time to see the Viper's fangs sink into his side.

Grabbing the shocked man's sword in his left hand, he jerked the barbarian forward off his feet, and smashed him in the face with the pommel of his dagger. Letting the man drop to the ground, he winced, rolling his shoulders. Sweet Siku, how long was this going to take? He was about to go look for more stragglers when he heard a small noise behind him. Turning, his eyes widened as he realized he had let one of the Diverse sneak up on him.

Sasin cursed as he was forced to jerk back to avoid getting speared in the face. Petch, where had this one come from? When the barbarian jabbed his spear again, Sasin grabbed on to the shaft right below the blade, and brought the end of his tail around to smash into the middle of the spear, splintering it. Letting his momentum whirl him around, he turned his face back at the barbarian, and yelped as pain spread across his right cheek, a thin line across his jawbone burning.

Backpedaling, he clenched his jaw and winced, warily watching the barbarian. The man was holding a small dagger, and was grinning at him cruelly. At least, that was what it looked like. The deformed nose was a little distracting.

Darting forward, he swiped at the man, only to have the brute parry his blow and retaliate, barely missing his throat. Narrowing his eyes, Sasin took in the situation, and sighed inwardly. Shifting his grip, he feinted to the left, and threw the dagger with all his strength at the man. The instant the blade left his hand, he started forwards, for real this time, leaning down to grab the end with the spear head. The barbarian managed to bat away the dagger, leaving himself open.

The man only managed a gurgle as the spear head sank into his throat, and dropped his dagger, clutching at the shaft sticking out of his neck. Pulling a splinter out of his hand, Sasin bent down to retrieve the dagger. Glancing around, he groaned softly as he saw even more barbarians attempting to make their way through the forest.

Picking up a few branches off the ground, he stuffed them into his belt, around his body, as as very rudimentary disguise. He was a bush. Yay. Rolling his eyes, he set off in the direction of the nearest heat outline.

Make that outlines. He growled, rubbing the wound on his cheek. This was why he didn't do fair fights. Glancing around them, he shrugged. Well, he supposed, what worked for catching a turkey might work for an ugly humanlike thing. Speeding on ahead of the two barbarians, he stopped by a particularly knobby tree. Grabbing on to a convenient handhold, he began to climb, snake, and slither his way up the tree. Coiling his tail around knobs and branches, he pulled himself up to a thick branch, which he carefully coiled around.

Actually, that hadn't worked for a turkey. He had gotten attacked by a crazy ferret that time. Watching the approaching barbarians, Sasin smiled to himself. Well, perhaps what had worked for getting a kelvic he had played with some years back. As the Diverse moved underneath him, he lowered himself down behind them, until only a few loops kept him on the branch. Reaching out to the one at the back, he grabbed the man, covering his mouth, and slashed his throat messily. The man fell back, gurgling (This was why he really should not do things upside down), and his partner whirled around, and fell backwards in shock, scrambling away. Turning so he was right side up, he released his grip on the branch, thudding to the ground, and chased after the man, slamming into him from behind, and tangling the barbarian in his coils. The man smashed his club into Sasin's chest, but they were close enough that the power behind the blow was greatly reduced.

Still hurt though. Squeezing the man tighter, Sasin brought the dagger under the man's chin, and shoved up.

Releasing the dead man,he spotted blood splatters all over his leaves. Sighing to himself, he gathered up another bunch of branches to replace them. This was going to be a long day.

Kill countSasin: 4 dead
Total: 13 dead, 3 incapacitated (2 unconscious with bolt in back, 1 with a shattered ankle), 1 flying blind dude

[Eridanus]

OOCContinuing because Kale is unreachable.

Kale was nowhere in sight, but his fellow mercenary was the least of his concerns. He realized that the crowd was slowly moving away from the clearing and back into the clump of trees, and with this huge amount of huddled bodies along with the small distance between trees in the forest ahead, wielding two blades would be quite disadvantageous.

That disadvantage held the same for those wielding long or bulky weapons, and should they swing it about in their new environment they would be more likely to hit one of their own.

Accordingly, the vantha sheathed his blades, taking out his assassin's dagger in one of his hands while keeping the other hand free.

The crowd, in its pursuit of Kale, continued edging into the forest, and the vantha crept forward, taking care not to make any sudden movements or sounds from behind so that the barbarians who were pushing forward would just assume that he was one of their own.

When the crowd entered the forest, Eridanus struck, making use of the better concealment granted by the trees to add to the confusion. Reaching forward for the nearest one, he slammed forward with his knee into the brute's back, aiming it at his kidney. At the same time, he reached forward with his arms to cover the man's mouth while strangling his throat to prevent sounds from coming out. With his other hand, he brought the blade across his victim's throat hard, cleanly cutting through his windpipe as the brute struggled.

Normally the barbarian might be able to struggle free, but with blood escaping his throat his strength faltered. Even so it took the vantha plenty of restraint to keep the man in check to prevent him from flailing about needlessly, and he lowered the corpse as the last of the blood drained out, landing him softly on the leaves.

Looking about, he noticed that he had been left behind by the crowd who were beginning to go into a jog, and he wondered if Kale was leading them on a wild goose chase. Either way, it would be troublesome if they moved too far such that there would be any survivors. Their employer made it clear that they would not get their reward should a single Diverse escape.

He looked around to find the furthest one behind, and he half-ran while keeping his profile low and his steps light. The man was unsuspecting as the vantha neared him, and he did the same, unleashing a fast snap-kick on the man's back as he wrapped his arms around his mouth, cutting his throat cleanly.

Dropping the body softly on the ground, the vantha sighed as he tried to spot his next target. This was definitely going to be a long day.

Kill CountEridanus: 2 dead
Total: 15 dead, 4 incapacitated (nyan i'll leave you to take care of them, since we don't have Kale any more)

[Nyahna Sasin]

He'd barely started moving when it hit him. The pain, that was. Suddenly gasping, he brought his hand up to his chest. Petch it hurt! There was no blood, no wound, but it hurt all the same. A broken rib, it seemed. Looked like the man's club had done enough damage. Taking a deep breath, he winced. Well, nothing to do now but finish this quickly.

Seeing no one in the immediate area, he slithered over to the clearing to see what needed to be done. When he poked his head out of the trees, his heart nearly stopped. The clearing was nearly empty. He could see the tail end of the crowd creeping into the forest, and he could see quite a few men lying on the ground. No sign of Eri or Kale.

Slithering into the clearing, he looked around. There were a lot of bodies, not all of them cool. There were still a few survivors, it seemed. He came across three who had been crippled with bolts from behind, and he privately applauded the Vantha. Two were already bleeding out from their spines. He left them alone, not bothered to expend effort on killing already dead men. The last, he found pinned under another body, one arm made useless by the bolt in his shoulder. He pulled out the bolt and replaced it in the man's throat.

Well, that was all of the- he hissed as he felt a sharp stab of pain in his tail. Whirling around, he saw he had missed one. He was lying on the ground, obviously in pain, and his ankle seemed to be shattered, but the barbarian had still found the energy to stab him with a broken spear. Petching battle obsessed barbarians. He grabbed the spear as the man jabbed it again, and put it in his eye.

Turning away, he winced as his injuries decided to remind him of themselves. This had better be worth it.

Heading after the rest of the group, Sasin wondered if the other two were still alive. For now, it would probably be best for him not to fight the Diverse unless he needed to. If both mercenaries were dead, his work here was done.

Of course, the best thing would be for the diverse to all be dead, but he would never be so lucky.

Kill countSasin: 2 dead, 2 bleeding out
Total:17 dead, 2 death inevitable

Injury countSasin: Nick on hip, slashed cheek, broken rib+bruise, stabbed tail

[Eridanus]

Due to the shelter provided by the trees along with the various shrubbery that tended to act as camouflage, the vantha could not quite see how many of the Diverse were left.

Just how many of these otherwordly creatures did that summoner bring to Mizahar?

Shaking his head, he crept into a silent walk when he spotted his next target up ahead. Creeping up on to his target who striding at a half-jog towards where he presumed the rest of the group was heading to, Eridanus timed his foot steps to land together with him, the synchronized sound disguising his own steps somewhat.

Still, the barbarian somehow sensed his approach, and just before Eridanus reached him the man was beginning to turn around suspiciously. Upon that happening, the mercenary quickly leaped forward, steel glinting in the air as the flash of his dagger swished towards the man. The barbarian lifted an arm in reflex, but Eridanus used his free palm to smoothly redirect the barbarian's block, creating the opening that allowed him to sink his knife into his opponent's throat.

The deformed man managed to let out a cry before gargling when the steel entered his throat, and the vantha looked around wildly even as he automatically finished carving out a fatal wound in the man's throat, messily kicking the body on to the ground. There was not much point in being stealthy now that he was most likely discovered.

Hearing a soft sound slithering up behind him, he spun around warily, his dagger and hand ready to defend himself when he recognized the familiar shape of the strange morphing snake.

"Sasin! Took you long enough!"

Turning around quickly so that he would not leave his back open towards possible hostiles, he heard a loud guttural scream. The pounding of feet on snow no longer resounded through the forest, which either meant that their pursuit had ended or the group had decided to focus their attentions on him.

Either way that meant trouble was now headed straight towards the two mercenaries.

More figures appeared at a distance, stepping into plainer view. Nearest to them were two deformed men holding battle axes. At the far right were three more barbarians stepping into view from the clump of trees, two of which were swinging a flail menacingly while the third gripped a halberd, pointing it towards them.

Furthest away was a huge giant of a man flanked by two similarly muscled but smaller sized barbarians. Unlike the rest of the group, they were the most undeformed, if not for the multitude of scars on their face and skin. The largest man held a large two-handed blade that sported a wavy design on its edge, the vantha recognizing it as the Flamberge, a renowned sword design that was difficult to forge but excellent in cleaving.

The other two seemed to be the man's subordinates, and the one on the left yelled at the group using the battleaxes in sort of grunting language. His double-bladed axe was on the ground while he was leaning on it almost lazily. The man on the right shouted to the group of three in that same language, with a massive hammer strapped on his back.

Eridanus glanced quickly at Sasin. It seemed that they were going to be swarmed, and the only way he could see himself surviving this mad skirmish is by exploiting the environment to the fullest. The trees were close and cloistered while their opponents all wielded huge weapons. Out in the clearing they would be food for the blood-thirsty barbarians, but within this jungle they might very well have a chance.

Kill CountEridanus: 1 kill
Total: 20 dead

Battlefield Update :

Enemies	Location	Equipment
2x Diverse Axemen	Nearest in front of Eri and Sasin	2x Battleaxe
2x Diverse Grunts	Further to the right of Eri and Sasin	2x Heavy Flails
1x Diverse Spearman	Further to the right of Eri and Sasin	1x Halberd
1x Diverse Sergeant	Furthest ahead	1x Double-bladed Axe
1x Diverse Sergeant	Furthest ahead	1x Rock Crusher
1x Diverse Leader	Furthest ahead	1x Flamberge

1) Sergeants wear Buckskin Armor.
2) Leader ('Boss Mob') wears Wood Splint Armor.
3) All other Diverse wear Hide Armor.

[Kale]

Kale let his eyes glance back as Eridanus grabbed the attention of the only visible Diverse to have made it this far without losing their life. The former gladiator looked around the clearing but could see no hint of their other partner in crime. He let his eyes drift to the bodies strewn across the clearing but all he could see where the bodies of dead Zaiden. Kale stepped away from the man that he had just killed and began to follow his Vantha brethren. Kale had moved less than a dozen paces before he doubled over in pain. The hunger that was always constant in his life flared to life. Every fiber of Kale's being was suddenly filled with the need to feed. Kale was someone who had once prided himself on his self-discipline. Those days were a thing of the past. When his hunger became this overpowering there was no resisting it. All other wants and needs were banished from his mind the moment it took hold. There was but one way to banish this over-riding hunger from his mind, and that is to give in to it. His eyes darted to the body nearest him. It belonged to one of the most recently deceased Diverse. It was good enough. Kale's eyes darted about the clearing. Satisfied that he would not be seen by his companions, Kale grasped one of the body's arms and began to pull it from the clearing. His magically augmented strength made the act seem almost as though he wasn't pulling anything at all. The hunger made time seem to slow down. The seconds seemed to stretch into hours as he pulled the limp body from the clearing. Kale pulled the body as long as he could. Finally he couldn't wait any longer. He turned towards the body and knelt down. The smell of blood and flesh made Kale's mouth all but water as he moved his gaping maw closer. It was a few minutes before Kale made his way back towards the site of the battle. The entire part of his face below his bottom lip and his hands were stained with fresh blood. The coppery smell of the crimson liquid that clung to the warrior was strong enough for even other humans to smell it clearly if they moved close enough. Kale did not seem to notice the smell anymore, nor did it cross his mind what the others would think if they saw him this covered in blood. Kale stepped back into the clearing only a breath after the new Diverse threat had showed itself. These looked far more dangerous than their previous opponents. They were larger and far better equipped than their predecessor. The three furthest away looked to be the most dangerous. The three closest to Kale and the two closest to his two companions did not seem to notice the blood covered man appear. As was always the case after a recent meal, Kale wanted more. It was not the same overpowering feeling as before but the hunger had yet to have been sated. An unnaturally long tongue flicked its way across Kale's lips at the thought up devouring these men as he had one of their comrades. His mind had barely decided what to do before his body leapt eagerly to obey. He felt the familiar thrill of energy as he drained the pent up energy from his upper torso and sent it cascading into his legs. He felt his legs fill with power, the same feeling he always felt when he channeled flux energy into a limb or specific group of muscles. He concentrated on moving the energy done the length his left leg as he pressed off it. Then he repeated the process with his right. He could feel the strain such use of his flux energy caused on his legs. If he used anymore he knew there was a good chance of causing internal damage in his legs. While he was sure that he could eventually heal from such damage, he knew it would at least render him defenseless for a short time. Despite the sparring use of his power, the effects were more than noticeable. It would have taken Kale almost a minute to make it to the group of Diverse closest to him. His magic shortened that time to just under a dozen seconds. He knew he could use his magic to make himself faster. He also knew that his magic could do nothing to help stop his forward momentum. The diverse holding the halberd noticed him rushing toward them before he reached them but too late to stop him. Kale thrust his back out and stiffened his legs causing him to slam into the ground. The force of the impact was a little discomforting. It would have driven the air from his lungs if he still used them to breath. The ground did much to slow his forward momentum but he was still sliding at a great speed. As he passed one of the Diverse wielding a flail he reached out with his hand and snagged the unsuspecting man's ankle. Kale jerked the man's ankle at the last possible second. The action pulled the Diverse man off his feet. His head hit the ground with a sickening crack and the man did not move to get back up. Before Kale could spend anymore thought on how much damage he had actually caused to his opponent the halberd user moved in. Obviously these new Diverse were better trained as well. The new combatant executed a nearly perfect thrust at Kale's prone body. It was reflex and not skill that allowed Kale to move out of the way of the halberd's bladed tip. The gladiator did not give them man a second chance to skewer him. He rolled to his feet and grasped the length of the weapon in an almost identical grip to that of his assailant just as he managed to pull its embedded tip from the ground. Surprise crossed the man's face as a grin crossed Kale's. It was probably the first time someone had been foolish enough to attempt such a maneuver. Kale only paused long enough to send the pent up flux energy surging through his leg as he brought it up and into the man's chest. Kale yanked on the halberd as his foot impacted his opponent. The combined force of the yank and the boot to the chest caused the man to lose his grip on the weapon. The kick clearly lifted the Diverse man off his feet but his body did not travel but a few feet backward. Acutely aware that the group he had chosen consisted of three men and not two, he was not surprised when the shadow of the third man fell across him. The shadow was a warning that came a moment too late to let him escape a blow unscathed. Even with his magically fueled speed, the flail impacted his left shoulder with a deafening thud. The gladiator felt pain blossom in his arm but kept his mind enough to back-peddle out of the man's reach. Kale did not let his eyes waver from his opponent as he felt his injured shoulder. He breathed a small prayer at finding that it was only dislocated and not shattered. Kill-CountKale: 1 dead, 1 momentarily incapacitated Total: 21 dead, 1 incapacitated

[Eridanus]

OOCContinuing because Nyansnake is not contactable and inactive. (Why do people do this to me T_T)

As the vantha and snake duo surveyed the scene, there was a light rustle before a very loud crash followed by shouting and the scuffles of combat. Eridanus found the missing Kale who suddenly reappeared and engaged in the further trio of barbarians all by himself. It looked like he managed to survive the mass attack earlier on and somehow decided to rush forward in a suicidal charge. Eridanus shrugged, it was his loss.

The forest was in a mess of activity, and Eridanus turned to find Sasin no longer there.

Where in the world did he...?

The axe wielding duo closer to him began to advance, having received their orders from one of the diverse sergeants who were screaming in their foreign guttural language earlier on. The vantha egged them on, directing a mocking gaze as he attempted to manoeuvre the battle into an area with an even more cloistered clump of trees. He had no illusion that either of his long swords or his opponents' axes would do well in this kind of environment, but he wanted to maximize his advantages.

Luring the duo to a more favourable area, he dashed forward suddenly, sliding down and using the momentum to slam his legs onto the knees of one of them. Both opponents had raised their axes to defend themselves against the sudden onslaught, but they had not expected the unorthodox tactic the vantha utilized. The first guy stumbled momentarily, while Eridanus used his palm to push himself up, putting himself well into the brute's comfort zone and preventing him from swinging his axe effectively.

Still, the Diverse did not falter and brought his arm backwards for another swing. However, the vantha's distance to the man's arms was closer than the axe was to the vantha, and so he raised an arm, snapping at the brute's elbow and intercepting that swing before it could even gather enough power.

Following up with a series of quick but brutal jabs and punches to the throat and face, Eridanus began drawing djed from his lower torso, specifically directing them to the muscles in his triceps and forearms that governed speed and stability of strikes. He did not need to enhance his strength, for the current strength that he gained through unarmed conditioning was already enough, thus he left his biceps untouched.

His lightning fast strikes increased in speed, and his opponent soon fell backwards, losing consciousness from the barrage of attacks. His comrade had been trying to get a hit in, but could not for fear of friendly attack. Upon the first man's downfall, Eridanus quickly rushed forward to slammed a flux-enhanced elbow strike into the man's windpipe, effectively sending him back to Dira or whatever strange divinity that the deformed tribe worship.

Battlefield Update :

Enemies	Location	Equipment
1x Diverse Axemen	Mob 1	1x Battleaxe
1x Diverse Axemen	Mob 1	1x Battleaxe
1x Diverse Grunt	Mob 2	1x Heavy Flail
1x Diverse Grunt	Mob 2	1x Heavy Flail
1x Diverse Spearman	Mob 2	1x Halberd
1x Diverse Sergeant	Mob 3	1x Double-bladed Axe
1x Diverse Sergeant	Mob 3	1x Rock Crusher
1x Diverse Leader	Mob 3	1x Flamberge

20 other diverse dead.

1) Sergeants wear Buckskin Armor.
2) Leader ('Boss Mob') wears Wood Splint Armor.
3) All other Diverse wear Hide Armor.

[Eridanus]

OOC NoteContinuing this alone because Nyansnake is inactive while Kale has been permanently uninvited.

Eridanus ducked close to the ground when he saw a suspicious shadow increase in length on the ground, and his instinct was rewarded by the narrow whoosh of a battleaxe sweeping by pass where his head used to be. Using his arms to push himself forward, he flipped his legs around in a windmill like motion, slamming two kicks into the barbarian's knee. The brute howled in pain, bringing his axe up again and the vantha quickly tumbled to the side, dodging the slow swinging axe that came straight onto the ground.

Strafing his slowly recovering opponent, the mercenary quickly executed a debilitating palm strike onto the back of the man's neck where the bit of the spine jutted out. He did not stop, and followed up quickly with two hand claps on his opponent's ears, damaging the cochlear and disorienting the brute. This bought him more time, and he followed up by continuing to angle himself at the man's back, hammering blow after blow onto the neck, spine and head.

It was inevitable that his opponent finally passed out due to concussion and severe trauma to the head, and as the man fell the vantha performed a merciless curb stomp, planting his boot firmly on the barbarian's neck and ending his life.

"Apologies, but I'm forced to do this if your tribe will not willingly retreat from Mizahar, or more innocent lives may be lost because of your bloodthirstiness," The vantha muttered softly even as he killed the man. The bloody carnage disturbed him, and though in the past he would have gleefully performed a massacre like this, his present mellow self only found sorrow. He would not have accepted a simple "kill everyone" assignment like this, if not for the summoner's warning that the tribe would continue to waylay travellers and mobile merchants.

His cluster of opponents defeated, the vantha looked wildly around, finding that the trio of Diverse far off in the distance maintained standing, though one of them was yelling at him in anger. Sasin was no longer in sight, and he found two brutes approaching him. For some reason Kale disappeared as well, leaving him as the only one. Strangely, bodies of those two were not found, and it seemed that they disappeared just as mysteriously as they had appeared.

"Bloody... irresponsible mercs," He muttered, rotating his shoulders as he stretched himself, preparing for the next encounter.

Battlefield Update :

Enemies	Location	Equipment
1x Diverse Axemen	Mob 1	1x Battleaxe
1x Diverse Axemen	Mob 1	1x Battleaxe
1x Diverse Grunt	Mob 2	1x Heavy Flail
1x Diverse Grunt	Mob 2	1x Heavy Flail
1x Diverse Spearman	Mob 2	1x Halberd
1x Diverse Sergeant	Mob 3	1x Double-bladed Axe
1x Diverse Sergeant	Mob 3	1x Rock Crusher
1x Diverse Leader	Mob 3	1x Flamberge

20 other diverse dead.

1) Sergeants wear Buckskin Armor.
2) Leader ('Boss Mob') wears Wood Splint Armor.
3) All other Diverse wear Hide Armor.

[Eridanus]

The approaching duo had already began propping their weapons, and when the nearest one got in range he quickly thrust his halberd, completely crushing through the trunk of a tree sapling unfortunate enough to be in the way.

That reminded Eridanus that the trees in this area would no longer provide sufficient cover, after the battle with the axemen whittled down the medium-sized trees. Unlike the armoured and weapon wielding Diverse, his weapons were securely strapped to his back while he wore a simple multi-layered tunic and robes, thus he had no deadweight and could move faster. Retreating from the flail-wielding men, he darted to a more heavily shaded area with larger trees and more unwieldy environments.

The leader of the tribe smirked in response to this strategy, and he motioned to his sergeants to advance. The duo roared in anger at this seeming display of cowardice, and they rushed blindly into the mess of trees.

The mercenary kept his movements nimble and footsteps silent, his own sound of movement completely being overwhelmed by the noisy footsteps and shouting of the Diverse duo. Using their sounds as a way for him to track them, he darted across another tree, moving in a detour to flank the confused brutes.

Gripping the assassin's dagger firmly with one hand, he dashed out suddenly, ducking a halberd swing strike that was slowly and clumsily performed because of the element of surprise. He jabbed out with the dagger quickly, puncturing a fatal wound in the man's throat before retreating, having only invested partial strength in his forward dash. The man's comrade roared gutturally in anger, and he pursued Eridanus, keen for revenge.

The vantha ran, heading towards a tree with a large and wide trunk as he slowed down his running partially to allow the man to keep up somewhat. When he was just within range he sped up again, preventing the barbarian from taking a swing at him. When they were close to the tree, he quickly accelerated, running up the tree in an impressive display of acrobatics, performing a back flip as he landed quickly behind the suddenly confused barbarian.

Before he could turn around, Eridanus executed the same palm strike on the back of his opponent's neck, following up quickly with an elbow strike on his ear. Simultaneously, he aimed a snap kick at the back of the man's kneecap, stumbling the barbarian. Without pause, he grabbed the barbarian's chin as he fell, ruthlessly gashing a huge laceration through the man's neck as he ran his dagger through the fallen opponent.

The flail swung weakly upwards in retaliation, but already the experienced mercenary ducked backwards, leaving the brute to continue decorating the snowy ground with his life force.

Battlefield Update :

Enemies	Location	Equipment
1x Diverse Axemen	Mob 1	1x Battleaxe
1x Diverse Axemen	Mob 1	1x Battleaxe
1x Diverse Grunt	Mob 2	1x Heavy Flail
1x Diverse Grunt	Mob 2	1x Heavy Flail
1x Diverse Spearman	Mob 2	1x Halberd
1x Diverse Sergeant	Mob 3	1x Double-bladed Axe
1x Diverse Sergeant	Mob 3	1x Rock Crusher
1x Diverse Leader	Mob 3	1x Flamberge

20 other diverse dead.

1) Sergeants wear Buckskin Armor.
2) Leader ('Boss Mob') wears Wood Splint Armor.
3) All other Diverse wear Hide Armor.

[Eridanus]

Silence.

The mercenary wandered cautiously back to where he last saw the trio, finding the muscled build of a hammer-wielding Diverse standing put, as if waiting for his arrival. Everywhere, the white snow of the Winter was stained by splashes of crimson, the unsightly gashed bodies of deformed men splayed throughout the forest.

Snow began to lightly fall, framing a gentle contrast to the brutal massacre.

The leader stood in the same spot, confident in his stature. Closer to Eridanus another similarly well-built Diverse leaned against the wide trunk of a tree, his gigantic double-sided axe placed on the ground, his elbow resting on its hilt. It seemed that they were perfectly comfortable in going one-on-one with him. It may be a matter of honour, but it was also a matter of common sense. All three DIverse wielded huge and heavy weapons, and if they all attacked the nimble vantha simultaneously it was likely that they would suffer from friendly fire.

Sword. Axe. Hammer. He named these three mentally in his mind not only to make it easier for him to mentally refer to them, but also to remind himself of their weapons. All huge and powerful weapons. He had to dodge, for even if he were to parry it was obvious that the force from such a blow would impact his joints and create trauma in his body. If he were to be hit only once, it was likely that it would be game over.

The vantha raised a single hand, beckoning for the Diverse to come at him.

"Come at me broSorry couldn't resist >.< ," the mercenary declared in a single deadly whisper.

Though they did not share the same language, the tense atmosphere created by both warriors' body languages were enough. Violence, fear and anger. Emotions that transcended boundaries. It was a universal language, and Hammer roared in a guttural tongue, the vantha also not understanding him but knowing - feeling deep down what his opponent meant.

A fight to the death.

[Eridanus]

Axe let loose a blood-curdling roar as he slammed his fist against the hilt of his huge double-sided axe, then picked up the heavy weapon, his eyes dead-set on the mercenary.

It was quite the pity that he was left alone, for even he was beginning to feel the strain from both fatigue and magic. Still, a strain was better than ending up dead, and he knew that the biggest fight was not even close.

As Axe shambled towards him, he brought his arms up, his dagger in his outside hand while his inside hand remained as a relaxed semi-open fist. The lumbering giant came within range, but he could not raise his axe properly due to the presence of trees about.

The mercenary quickly used this as an opening, rushing forward as he kicked off the ground. Bringing the dagger up, he plunged the weapon towards the barbarian as he brought up his arm, causing the dagger to pierce into the man's lumpy arm.

The brute roared again, shaking off the vantha, forcing Eridanus to leap off backwards, landing in a back hand-spring before recovering to a normal position due to the sheer force of being shrugged off by such a huge man. If he did not do so he would most likely hand on his back and have the wind knocked out of him.

Unfortunately, that meant that his dagger was still in the man's forearm, and he was left weaponless. Cursing, he searched the forest, finding for an opening where he could use his long swords.

Axe solved that problem, for he slammed his axe wildly around him, felling several thin trees and creating a makeshift opening for him.

"Let the dance begin," Eridanus beamed, and he unsheathed his long swords in a swift gesture.

Walking forward confidently, he brandished his blades as he entered within range of the Diverse. The heavy axe swung at him, but flux flowed into his arms and a single heel as he drew strength from being grounded, using both blades to parry the heavy weapon away.

After redirecting it, he brought the other sword to the other side of the axe in a scissor-like motion, twisting it to the side while stepping his feet down on the surface edge of the axe. That manouever placed his sword directly before the brute, and it was a matter of bringing the blade upwards to strike the man on his neck.

Without allowing for pause, he brought his other blade in an arc-like motion from below the axe, and cut horizontally even as his first blade cut vertically, creating a cross-like laceration on the brute.

Withdrawing both blades, he rushed forward and gave a flux-enhanced stomp with his boot, felling the giant before diving both blades into the man's chest repeatedly until he stopped flailing.