Marsh Kingdom

[Bloodedge]

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7838/47314633441_e334618855_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2f62S76)

[Apollymi]

The blonde-haired adventurer known as Miki had her hood pulled up on her head as she floated along acccompanied strange Lizardmen who were taking herself and her companion back to their Chieftain. The lass' feet never made footfall, instead she floated along extended over the top of her mottled green pillow. "Marshes... are intense," she murmured about the place beneath her feet which she had no intention of making contact with. She was more than well aware that she couldn't really navigate with the same ease as the Lizrdmen and could only hope that she didn't need to make footfall anytime soon. Within her mind, other things were more pressing, 'Why do they keep referring to us as a couple though... we aren't a couple. I don't think I've done anything besides maybe that kiss that would even make that seem like a thing,' her mind raced while she didn't have to respond to anything. 'Well, I guess I also touched his junk but I will never. Ever. Ever. Mention that to anyone, ever...' she concluded, her own face slightly red as she realized it would be very easy to assume the pair was a couple given their general interactions and if someone had enough information.

[Bloodedge]

While Miki floated atop her pillow to traverse the Marshlands, Kou was nowhere to be seen from a bird's eye-view. When she commented on the intensity of the surrounding area, he became visible. His head peered out from beneath the pillow, as he'd been hanging onto the bottom since they entered the swampy land. He had no intention of touching the ground either, nor did he want to put their mount through such a thing, only to later need to clean it somehow. "Yeah. Probably would have picked up a magic carpet or something before coming here normally," he stated. None of the Lizardmen in their company had any issues, but then again, this was their homeland. "Apologies, Adventurers. We would have acquired better transportation if we knew this did not suit your needs."

[Apollymi]

As Miki floated along, she didn't initially realize that Kou was hanging on to her pillow. Until of course, the lad poked his head out to mention a potential magic carpet or some other form of transportation. Of course, Miki realized the nature of putting their mount through such a thing and as such she shifted slightly to the right to give the lad some room. "Oi, Kou, you can come up here, yeah... no need to dangle or anything~" she said to the lad having given him enough room to travel they way she'd taken to doing it, strung over the pillow in a manner most comfortable. It would leave the pair of them in close quarters, but no closer than they'd been when sharing a hammock. As such she didn't see any problem with the situation. To the Lizardmen, Miki only shook her head a bit. "Don't worry about it. It's part of adventuring..." Miki mentioned of having to figure out this sort of thing in the spur of the moment.

[Bloodedge]

"Oh? Sweet!" Kou said when he was offered a space on top of the pillow. Frankly, he was becoming tired of holding onto the bottom of the object, but he didn't want to impose at all. With permission given, though, he flipped himself over to land next to Miki. With that, he had a few words to share with the Lizardmen. "I don't think I had any needs coming in. Well... I wouldn't mind a motorbike or something, but I doubt you have that here..." he said. Interestingly enough, such a statement warranted a glance from a few Lizardmen. "Is that the new Human technology you speak of? The thing with... wheels and some device that makes it move magically?" asked the Lizardmen's leader. Kou's eyes widened right away, and he seemed completely in awe as he settled atop Miki's pillow. "... No way..."

[Apollymi]

The gift of space atop her pillow weapon was offered by Miki and accepted by Kou without much hassle. She was quite happy about this and content to float along like this for the time being. It seemed the Lizardmen weren't familiar with the technical needs of humans but these were well traveled enough to have heard about some new technology in the world. When Kou mentioned wanting a motorbike, the Lizardmen made mention of a similar device somewhere out in the world, a piece of human technology. "Sugoi... this whole place is catching up pretty fast. I can't image getting something like a motorbike in a magical place like this~" Miki chimed, her earlier thoughts about advanced pieces of technology like Air Treks racing through her mind at hyper speed. Moreover as Kou settled in properly beside her, she felt a certain warmth and comfort she might not have had a name for yet, but was still utterly satisfied by, that feeling.

[Bloodedge]

"I'm gonna have a bike. I'm gonna have so many bikes. Like... seven, or something," Kou said upon hearing that there were, in fact, motorized bikes in this world. In a matter of moments after placing himself atop the pillow of Miki, Kou found himself letting his head sink into relaxation. He was elated at the idea that he could have a motorcycle in this world, but that was something for later. For now, they were encroaching upon the kingdom itself, which happened to be a very interesting, circular structure with proper walls in place around it. "Huh..." Kou said, taking note that there were also segments of the Marshlands nearby, which were burning at present. He wasn't sure if this had anything to do with the coming rebellion, but it couldn't have been good. "Just in time, I guess?"

[Apollymi]

"Seven... bikes?" Miki questioned. The number seemed a bit outlandish and extravagant. Of course, she couldn't really argue the usefulness of such things, specifically if different bikes were made to take on different terrain or anything of that nature. It was just a very interesting thought that the lad wanted so many without further details. A giggle came from the blonde as she happily rode along side the lad atop of her pillow. "Well, if it makes you happy..." she mused only to look out at the occasional fires they were coming up on. "Hm, those are troublesome... last time we saw fires around Lizardmen they were using them to keep warm in harsh climates. They should be native to this spot though," Miki began working through potentials for this particular situation. She decided in her last few moments of thoughts to question the Lizardmen directly before taking any potentially unnecessary action. "So... are they actual enemy fires or your Chieftain's front-lines?" she asked this question even while preparing, mostly by pulling her hood up onto her head and preparing to have to disappear in more direct combat.

[Bloodedge]

"Yep. Seven bikes," Kou confirmed. Whatever he intended to do with such a quantity of motorcycles, he wouldn't say. In actuality, his intention was only to possess them as a variety package of sorts. He continued resting atop the pillow, and looked toward the pillars of smoke rising from the flames as well. "If it's enemy fire, it just makes it easy to find where they are. It's not like they can ambush us when we get there; I can turn it into ice or something," he said, in the event that the fires did belong to the enemy forces. "They are neither. Those flames come from Shamans, both ours and theirs. The occasional splinter group makes a move on us from time to time, all to weaken our forces before the masses attack."

[Apollymi]

Miki thought possessing seven of something was a bit excessive, but she couldn't really comment upon it, because she possessed large numbers of things in her life that most people didn't, for no reason other than liking said items. She didn't hold against him his desire to possess so many motorcycles, she instead had her eyes focused on rising pillars of fire. According to the Lizardmen escorting the, these fires belonged to Shamans of both sides of their conflict, but they didn't make it sound like these things would require immediate action. As such Miki relaxed just a tad, "Sou ka, that's a long-term strategy but... I suppose it is more likely to work than a full-frontal attack against equally equipped enemies," Miki said her brows furrowed at the thought. She didn't much understand the Shamans of this particular region, but if they were on both sides of the conflict it could be assumed there was a certain amount of neutrality boasted by them. Still, Lizardmen at large didn't seem like beings who went much against nature for politics and the like so them having this sort of internal strife didn't make much sense... perhaps light would be spread upon this topic soon enough. "I guess there isn't much need to worry unless they attack..." she concluded. With that she was content to continue lying on her stomach as they floated along atop her pillow. She was using this slightly higher than normal line of vision. To map major things to be found within the Marshes.

[Bloodedge]

"It is... very beneficial to our attackers. You will understand when you speak with the Chieftain. This way," the guide spoke, seeming to be quite bothered by whatever information he was withholding. Kou perked up and raised a brow as he viewed this Lizardman, wondering what sort of trouble they were actually walking into right now. "Sou ka..." was all he said aloud. In due time, they were entering the Chieftain's domain within the kingdom. A long, cave-like hall led to an elevated throne within this building, and the path was dimly-lit by torches along either wall. Upon the throne was an old Lizardman with dark scales, deep, red eyes, and a tribal headdress atop his massive mane. Upon seeing the Adventurers presented by his now-kneeling emissary, the Chieftain spoke. "Thank you for answering my summons, future Heroes. As I'm sure you've heard, my child... My own scales and blood, would see me overthrown..."

[Apollymi]

The thought that there was something very beneficial in attacks to the Kingdom made Miki's left brow rise. She couldn't quite pin it down, but something about the statement seemed rather ominous. "Hm..." Miki mumbled but said nothing immediately. Her head though was full of misgivings about their present situation. 'Something tells me... I am not going to like whatever is going on here...' she concluded her thoughts as they made their way into a cave like structure to stand before this Chieftain. Such a person was rather interesting to view, full mane on a Lizardman with a headdress and piercing red eyes which spoke of an intelligence uncommon in animals but that coldness that was always there. In response to this greeting Miki lowered her pillow a bit so her feet, and by virtue of this Kou's could reach the floor. She'd stand for the most part as she had no desire to outright disrespect this Lizardman. "Families are kind of complicated, I get that but..." Miki paused thinking about how best to phrase her next sentence. "No one said anything about it being your son. They did say you were potentially in danger and that it was the same group that we defended Dwargon from, but we pretty much wiped out that army," Miki explained of their current amount of knowledge. "How are there actually still enough of them to do any real damage against your own army?"

[Bloodedge]

As they stood before the Chieftain, post dropping from the pillow, the Adventurers were given an interesting segment of information regarding the rebellion happening here. "Yeah... Definitely didn't hear anything about a kid," Kou added to the notion that they knew nothing of the Chieftain's son being responsible. Such information would have been nice to have before they arrived here. Kou still wasn't opposed to helping out, but he'd rather not have been surprised to discover that he'd walked into a domestic dispute within the hierarchy of the Marsh Kingdom. The Chieftain bowed his head in shame. "It saddens me to admit that my own son aims for my head. The boy is tainted. I do not know what ails him, but he seeks the throne of the Lizardfolk. The old ways... They must remain intact. That is why I seek your help, bearers of the Ancestral Feline." Kou's brow raised once more. There was something which still didn't add up, so to speak, and it was the simple matter of this alleged 'benefit' to the enemy forces. Luckily, the Chieftain added a bit of specification due to Miki's query. "The boy, he... is a gifted Shaman. More gifted than our kind has seen in years. Lately, he has taken to dark, lost arts. The dead... whether they be his own forces, or ours... If they are Lizardfolk, he can make them rise and fight by his side."

[Apollymi]

Walking into the middle of a domestic dispute or internal affairs wasn't at the top of Miki's priority list. That being said, helping out the Lizardmen was beneficial to their overarching plan. Over the course of their conversation, the Chieftain of the Lizardmen, explained that his son was a talented Shaman who'd gone a bit power mad. This was a sort of standard troupe among such instances as infighting. What was more though, was the method through which this young Shaman was creating his rebellion. Apparently, he could bring the dead Lizardfolk back to fight on his side, making it so, their efforts in Dwargon had created a large gap in the size of their comparative forces. Beyond all this, the matter of a necromancer existing was something shocking to Miki, it was almost exciting, barring the circumstances of finding out such information and knowing they'd have to go against such a person. 'Mystically inclined Necromancer, with daddy issues and a physically imposing army of dead talented warriors...' Miki's mind wandered over the points of most importance. "Sou ka..." she said aloud. Inside though, Miki was going through the idea that it would be a pain to deal with this other Lizardman doing what he wanted. Beyond that they'd need to keep the causalities as low as possible and perhaps find a way to make sure the dead stayed down. Her mind began to wander across multiple potential strategies, combinations of runes, and her own known skills to try and find the best possible solution.

[Bloodedge]

"Reviving dead Lizardmen, friend or foe... huh." Kou was quite disturbed by the information regarding the Chieftain's son. This had the makings of a major challenge, though actually felling this foe would be very worthwhile in the end. "If the two of you would help us... help me... I would be in your debt," said the Chieftain. Kou sighed, yet he did not intend to refuse this offer. He was, however, part of a team. With that in mind, he looked toward Miki. It wasn't that he assumed she would refuse at all either, but he sought confirmation. "I'm down. What about you?" he asked.

[Apollymi]

Miki continued sorting through the options of her mind, even as Kou analyzed the situation himself. He'd come to the same sort of conclusion she had, or at least she assumed by his given words. Beyond this though, the Chieftain himself was pleading for help, for himself and his people. Miki wouldn't deny someone such a thing when they asked for it earnestly and Kou was the same way. When the lad answered, he answered only for himself, though. Miki found this a strange about the two of them together, though they were content to do many of the same things, and often had the same or at least similar ideas, they were both content to make sure that the other was on-board for any specific activity. Rather it was simply that their partnership allowed them to retain their solo-player autonomy though they still worked together to complete goals. Something about this kind of partnership was truly satisfying to Miki and she'd come out of her deep thoughts with a nod. "Of course, I'm in too. I was actually thinking about potential ways to help out," Miki confirmed her own willingness to be part of this particular quest. Though it was a rather daunting task potentially, she felt like there was much to be gained from it, as such she was content to see it through. There was but one more question Miki needed to ask, mostly because it might hold some key to figuring out how to defeat this next enemy with as few casualties as possible. There were a lot of unknowns in this situation though, and Miki played enough video games in her life to know when something had greater meaning than the small story it was part of. There was a bit of curiosity lingering in Miki and she'd express it in this moment as tactfully as she could. "I do have one question Chieftain... by custom how do the Lizardfolk treat their dead?" by asking this, Miki chose to question the burial rites and ceremonies surrounding death for these particular people. There were lots of differences from culture to culture and she hoped in finding out this information she might be able to think of a good way to separate this rogue shaman from his potential army.

[Bloodedge]

"Sou ka," Kou said upon receiving Miki's confirmation. There was one other person who had input, though, and it happened to be the small Fairy who emerged from Kou's bag once again. "Oi! You can't just exclude me! What if I don't want to do anything?" he asked. Kou looked at the Fairy strangely, having only one answer for the one known as Puck. "Then... don't do anything? You haven't even been doing anything the whole time you've been with us." Puck seemed to take some amount of offense to Kou's rebuttal. He flew around in a huff, flailing his arms about while working through a response of his own. "Me!? I do everything! I'm the one keeping you lowlifes in order. I'm Manager Puck!" he exclaimed. Kou maintained his strange expression, then began laughing at the Fairy. "Right... You're the manager. So, you keep us straight, and we'll handle the grunt work."

Meanwhile, the Chieftain was met with a question regarding the Lizardmen and their rituals surrounding the deceased. He sighed, knowing their methods were very much conducive to the use of necromancy in all of its forms. "Our fallen brethren are left with a connection to our homeland. The trees. Their bodies remain in the trees, with enough space for their spirits to travel between our realm, and the ancestral plane. The only exception is given to leaders, who are placed in sarcophagi beneath where we are now."

[Apollymi]

Two things happened around Miki, the first being the emergence of the fairy Puck, who claimed that he also got a say in what they did and did not do. This was fair enough to Miki, but watching the small creature's interaction with Kou gained a bit of a chuckle from the lass. She could do nothing but shake her head, and had only one thing to say. "I'm not a lowlife..." she commented absently before going on about her way. It seemed beyond this, the Chieftain had to explain the burial practices of the Lizardfolk. Apparently, they chose to return their dead to the earth, while maintaining their connection to the lives of their ancestors. Putting them into the trees likely helped to fertilize the lush forest around the marshes. That being said, it did leave their bodies very open to manipulation of all sorts. Miki recognized this, and her eyes widened gently at the news. The biggest saving grace being that at least the Lizard Kingdom's Chieftain, received special burials all in a single place so they couldn't simply be accosted in the same way. "Sou ka... that's good to know. I'll do my best Chieftain..." Miki said choosing not to comment on how outlandish she found their burial practices. At present there were quite a few things which needed her attention. She needed to figure out where bodies were being taken from currently and devise a defense for that area, maybe even set a trap. Beyond that, she also had to figure out how the Chieftain's son figured out necromancy a lost art... there were still many pieces to fit together in this puzzle of the world.

[Bloodedge]

"Lowlife!" Puck exclaimed with a forefinger aimed at Miki. Since it seemed Kou had acquiesced to his demands, Puck was satisfied to let the Adventurers do what they felt necessary. "Do what you want, but always listen to the teachings of Puck the Supreme! You'll be alright, my proteges!" he said, following this claim by flying back into Kou's bag. The Chieftain nodded to Miki, then looked to Kou. Now was the time to carve their path, and it seemed the blonde lass had her own ideas. "Me too. We'll find out what's going on, and we'll deal with it... yeah?" the lad concluded, shifting his gaze toward Miki.

[Apollymi]

Miki looked at the small fairy boy and laughed. Puck seemed to have some rather grand ideas about himself, and Miki didn't have the heart to break the lad's immersion. "Hm, I suppose I'll take protege over lowlife..." she said in an apparent good humor. About this world though, Miki had a few ideas, and she would explain them a bit. She turned and looked in Kou's direction and gave him a few of her thoughts on the matter. 'There are a few different kinds of necromancy. If we figure out which form of it the Chieftain's son is using, we'll likely have an easier time overcoming him and his army. The only way I can think to look into it, would be to check some of the disturbed graves though...' she communicated directly to Kou.

[Bloodedge]

"I dunno. Lowlife is just another way to say underdog, so I might stick with that," Kou replied to Miki's assertion. Moving on, there were observations to make regarding the necromancy being used, and Miki made note of this when mentioning the number of Necromancer types found in Age of Eternity. 'If we have to check trees for corpses, we may as well get a move on. Sounds like you know what you're talking about, so I'll follow your lead, and help out however I can.' With that said, Kou perked up and prepared to depart. It was apparent to him that Miki had whatever knowledge they would need to solve the initial mystery of this scenario, so he figured he would become more useful only afterwards.

[Apollymi]

"Underdog has an interesting ring to it... I'll consider that one~" Miki said with an affirmative grin. As they carried on a mental conversation, it seemed that Kou was willing to go along with what Miki had to say about necromancy and help her on her inquisition. "Hai, we'll return when we have news," she said to the Chieftain. And with that Miki also took the action necessary to leave this place. She began floating out of this place stretched across her pillow, stopping for a moment to offer a place beside her to Kou. Whatever the case, it was imperative to figure out the type of necromancy being used by the Chieftain's son. Miki almost wanted to assume a specific type, but given what the Lizardmen had to say about the powers of this particular individual she couldn't simply make the assumption. So she supposed finding some burial sites would be the thing to do first, "I guess, we should look for trees with holes in them. I also want to check the tomb below the Chieftain's Throne Room, but I figured we could do that after checking the marshes," she explained of her own logic. There were some very specific things she was looking for as far as burial disturbances.

[Bloodedge]

Both sides agreed to the path worth taking, and Miki took the initiative in floating off. Kou walked alongside the floating pillow, only to eventually be offered a place atop it. Keeping up the pace beside it, he hopped up and rotated himself forward, allowing him to land face-down atop the cushion. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Besides... if anything's going wrong already, I'd rather see the leaders last, instead of having them be the surprise." Kou managed to relax against the pillow, and he would remain in such a state for the duration of the journey, if left uninterrupted. Still, he was ready for any challenge to come... if any such thing were to even appear before them on this leg of the trip.

[Apollymi]

Eventually with Kou alongside her on her pillow, Miki would lead them to the outskirts of the marshes. Here she'd begin looking for hollow trees with openings, figuring them to be the easiest. By her own approximation the ones with the largest holes were likely what she was looking for and she'd begin her search at one on the western front. Here she allowed the pillow she was atop to float up to the hollow and she peeked down into it. "Hm... I found one!~" she said happy that there was indeed a grave here. Much to her general satisfaction there was a skeleton within and it didn't show any signs of life. That being said there was something strange about it. "Hm... it is..." she thought about it for several seconds. She extended a finger and drew a strange rune, this one a sideways hour glass known as Dagaz. This particular rune would settle and create a small glowing orb of light where it sat, so she could see better. With this illumination, Miki finally understood what she was looking at.

The skeleton of the Lizardman within this place, was intact for the most part. Standing upright with what should have been his arms crossed over his chest and his head up and proud. But as she looked along its skeletal remains, there was something off about it. Several of the bones of its body were missing, fingers, toes, and tail bones were missing from this corpse. These weren't so bad alone, but the number of them that were missing from a single place was a bit disturbing was beyond normal. What was more, with the added light she could tell that they hadn't simply fallen off. "There are bones missing from this one. Bones are used in the simplest form of Necromancy. You can grow skeletal armies with them. The problem is, they are all kind of weak when they are formed that way... they don't have flesh and aren't very clever. They simply attack until they are disrupted. I supposed Lizardman bones are pretty strong, but..." Miki gave pause while she thought out loud. "If this is all that the Chieftain's son was capable of, he wouldn't have asked us for help..." Miki said with a decent amount of confidence. "Bones can be destroyed and are less likely to hold their forms when they are too far away from their masters. Blunt force is enough for those, the Lizardmen could handle it on their own..." she muttered, her long term thoughts coming together, her face deeply upset in her own concentration. The rune she'd cast here dispersed and she drew another, just in case. Using this as a 'West-most point' she drew the rune, Wunjo as the start of a containment field specifically for Lizardman corpses. "This implies he started off a pretty standard Shaman, bones aren't endless, and used simply as part of the cycle. It requires access to the bones too, something you kill or someone you know... it fits into the balance of nature but... whatever he is capable of now, is outside of that... so I have to find out what doesn't make sense," Miki said this was all mostly to herself, but aloud simply because she was used to doing this sort of thing. Soon after making her western point she headed south checking other graves looking for a change in collection method.

[Bloodedge]

Kou perked up when Miki announced finding a Lizardman burial site. His gaze fell upon the tree she approached, and he didn't find anything incredibly off about it initially. Only when Miki brought attention to the lowest form of Necromancy did he remember seeing such a thing in the game Age of Eternity, and subsequently take note of the pieces missing from this skeleton. "Sou ka. That's from the Bone Army build. I've seen that a lot; it's one of those resource management builds." Knowing there were at least two higher tiers of Necromancy in this world, Kou wondered why the aforementioned build was so common among them. Irrespective of this, though, there was a great concern for the other forms of Necromancy being what had to be in place. "So... what's the next tier? Is that what we have to be worried about, maybe?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Kou was at least a bit familiar with Necromancy himself, if not from doing it, than from seeing it used in multiple builds in the game Age of Eternity. "Bone Army as a build will turn you into a pack-rat. But... it is exceedingly effective once you get the rotation down," she said with an affirmative nod. She imagined the realness of this world, made it a bit less effective for the creation of large armies, unless one had semi-unlimited access to corpses, like the ones they were searching for. As they moved on from this tree, Miki floated them by several others, she paused only long enough to peek into them, and see what kind of conditions the bodies were in before she continued moving. She'd take the time they were moving between trees to answer Kou's questions. "Corpse Build is next up from Bone Army. When used it basically just lets someone raise a body as soon as it falls. It will fight on their side with its current physical ability until its body can't move anymore. It's better than bones because they can take more damage, but it's harder to use properly because they require a lot more to raise. That's the exchange and why most people don't use them..." she said with a firm nod. As they flew by another hollow she noticed it wasn't empty but instead had a body within it, that was missing an entire arm, leg and tail. The head remained in this one, but this body had obviously taken quite a bit of damage. More than a single battle would have dictated. "The thing is, that means the Corpse build is the one which would be most useful with the bodies of Lizardmen, as they are pretty physically tough. I had a similar idea when using Orcs... and I made due with fewer overall 'pets' to raise a single large 'Zombie' of the Orc persuasion for a few levels," Miki mentioned. But something about this wasn't right. "But my problem with this is, that even the zombies aren't really that hard to kill. They are strong but it shouldn't be that much of an issue. So... I am wondering if he's managed to become something stronger than that... Or if he's figured out how to raise multiples that are at the strength of the corpses, because that could be problematic and he has an entire army and that shouldn't be possible..." she said, at this place she put down another rune, this one Ansuz. She was creating a strange combination of runes for a bounded field, but she thought it might help keep the numbers of called dead to a minimum. She followed around the outer edge to the next area and looked through the hollows in the hopes of getting some hint of what was going on here.

[Bloodedge]

"Sounds like an annoying type of glass cannon, piling up resources for skill use instead of holding potions and shit," Kou asserted. He could agree that the first two methods of Necromancy would be virtually useless for staging a rebellion, but there was also an itch on the back of his mind from an earlier claim. "Hmm..." he muttered, thinking back to words spoken by the Lizardman who led them here. "That one guy... He said all the deaths at Dwargon were helping the enemy. That amount of bodies isn't something you could just pack into an Adventurer's Bag..." As he considered this, Kou became more and more concerned by the idea of what would meet them in the future. Mostly, he was bothered by the idea of what would naturally come next in Necromancer tiers. What he thought of was something he knew to have been a top-tier build in the game at some point, until being tweaked by the developers for being considered a 'tier 0' build. When this memory appeared to him, his eyes widened. "Death Knights..."

[Apollymi]

Kou remarked that the build Miki mentioned sounded annoying because of the lack of potions and other disposable items. She could only chuckle because she knew better, but only because she put some thought into her initial build. "Iie, it doesn't have to be a glass cannon. If you choose a good starting race, with high regeneration or a decent class with the ability to use supplementary skills in high volume, then you can just be a cannon. A bit tank-y even, if you wanted to lean that way..." she mused, knowing she'd chosen such a build for herself, and it was very easy for her to get there considering her chosen skills. Beyond this point, as they made their way east from the south she came across the sort of hollows she'd been dreading. Moreover, the speech that Kou was giving her a horrible feeling deep within the pit of her stomach. "Ugh... Death Knights were completely nerf'd in-game, so I had to look into it to be sure. Now I have a different problem and that is figuring out if that part of the game mechanics directly translate to this world..." she said finding this not to be a tree hollow, but a broken stump with only the foot prints within to hint at anything being there. "The whole body is missing and strong enough to break through the tree. It is the most viable option that he has the ability to create Death Knights, which would make him a Lich. But... I wonder if the nerf made it into this world..." she said with a knowing smile. "When the Death Knights build was nerf'd in-game, they made it so you could only raise a Death Knight of something you'd killed with an A or higher Disaster Rank. You also had to possess an artifact of it and pray on the Lich King's O-bel-isk..." there was a break in Miki's speech as she realized something important. Her general explanation covered and easily connected to how such things could have been connected back to this world, but there was a key piece she'd only just realized had been mentioned before. "The guys who brought us here said he was raising Lizardmen friend or foe, which if there is an obelisk nearby would be an explanation of his power. And they wouldn't know about it, because the Obelisk only shines for those with the ability to host a piece of the Lich King, mages and those with connections to the cycles of life and death," she said calmly but there was just one more problem. "But I didn't see anything unnatural in this whole area..." she looked towards the north and it was back near where they'd come from, no more marshes only the burial mound of the Chieftains.

[Bloodedge]

It seemed the Bone Army build wasn't as specific as Kou thought. Miki stated that one could build such a character even as a tank, if they wanted. He imagined dealing with such a thing would be a nightmare, if said tank had proper resources to keep their army steady. Miki was also privy to the knowledge regarding Death Knights in Age of Eternity, and wondered if their alterations had any effect here in this world. "It'd be hell, even if we were dealing with the nerf. We're not quite at A-rank in Disaster Rank. If this guy has more than five of those, we could be done in by even the nerf," he asserted. All this talk of a Lich was making things worse, considering Kou assumed whatever this Obelisk was, they'd have to deal with it in order to deal with the Lich himself. "So, he'd need one of these Obelisks to be a Lich... but there isn't one visible here? Are we sure this guy is doing Lich stuff with that last burial site? If so, I'm guessing we'll really want to find that Obelisk."

[Apollymi]

Miki nodded to Kou. It seemed he understood the gravity of the situation even without her explaining it. The rank of A as a Disaster was equivalent to about level 50... and they were a bit shy of that themselves. Given this if multiples of such creatures existed under the control of the corrupt Lizardman Shaman, it would be a daunting task for them to undertake. "It would be pretty difficult. I tried my luck against a pretty high ranked creature while I was teetering below level, and it took me a while and every tactic I had just to kill it. Even if we are both capable of doing that, the introduction of even a third creature would make that a bad day for us..." she added her own ideas. As she looked at the shattered tree everything about it told her that it was likely Lich related abilities which called to this creature. She thought about it for several seconds longer, choosing to explain her logic in this moment. "I am fairly certain it was Lich related. It could have just been a corpse raising, but... nothing of the creature is left here, not even its weapons. Zombies aren't raised with enough of an AI to properly wield their own weapons, they just create bone or blood variants of their class weapons. Besides, I am pretty sure this area, directly west of the mound for the Chieftains is reserved for the honorable warriors. Those who served the Chieftain as strong sword arms, meaning that one was most likely to have a Disaster Rank of A, besides maybe... the Chieftains themselves..." she said with a fairly good understanding of the hierarchy of Lizardfolk, gained mostly through looking at their dead. "Finding the Obelisk is important. If we can find it, we can damage or break it. If we do either, it will weaken the Lich it is connected to. Not physically but spiritually, and cause his control over his minions to falter enough that they degrade a bit. If we manage that then we can keep him from raising multiple other Death Knights and likely increase our chances of victory by quite a bit..." she concluded with a nod. "But, it's a little weird, because I know in AoE if you break the Obelisk of Lich in PvP they are immediately alerted... if it works that way here we probably don't want to do anything to it, until we are ready for the battle..." she murmured as a precaution unsure of how the mechanics of the game would transfer into this world.

She was almost certain about the aspects of a Lich she'd seen here, given some of the other quests she'd completed within the game Age of Eternity. With that in mind, she floated towards the mound looking along it until she found a large stone set of doors, which barred its opening. These doors seemed to ooze mana in high quantities, that contained the chill of death. "Hm... that's pretty weird. Even I can sense this..." she said looking up at the door and noticing that several talismans had been placed along this opening as if to seal it shut from the outside. "I wonder if the other Shaman felt the magic coming from here and decided that they didn't want it leaking out into this place?" Miki questioned. Though she wasn't a mage by class association, what she felt here was the chill of death in much greater quantities than she'd felt the entirety of their travels around the marshes.

[Bloodedge]

"So, we've confirmed a Lich... and have reason to believe these are the A-rank Lizardmen being raised here. Besides that, the Chieftain's kid has to be using other forms of Necromancy as well, since the bones from those other ones were missing and all." Kou had become quite reprehensive about what they were undertaking, and he felt the situation could only worsen if the former Chieftains weren't intact when found. Just the same, the mechanics surrounding a Lich's Obelisk were somewhat frightening, especially when considering that they didn't know the Lich's location relative to it, even if they found the Obelisk itself. "The Lizardfolk's army won't be able to handle that sort of thing. Even if they manage to take out a bunch of Death Knights, they'll be the cause of just as many... if not more during the fight. Think it would be a good idea to go at it with less people, even if we manage to take out that Obelisk?" he asked as they entered the burial site of former Chieftains. Once inside, he hopped down from the floating pillow, taking it upon himself to walk around a bit while inspecting. Miki could feel the Mana in this room as well, and to Kou, it was something which felt like the peak of an icy mountain. "The Mana can't escape here. But... there's probably a funnel somewhere that leads up to where the current Chieftain is. Seems like they're doing the Companions thing here with their leaders, but... I guess the question is, are any of the old guys missing?"

[Apollymi]

"Yep, that is pretty much what I am saying..." Miki mentioned in response to the lad. She knew what she had to say about their present situation was probably a bit daunting, even so it wouldn't do any good to lie about it i present circumstances. Instead, she chose to focus on the current tasks at hand, even as they discussed potential strategies. In response to the idea that they should take as few people with them as possible Miki could only agree, squeezing her pillow even closer to her body. "Hm, yes. Though they likely won't want to agree, it would be best if we didn't involve too many of the Lizardfolk in this, especially with them being the prime targets of necromancy."

Once they were wintin the confines of the mound she had a look around. She took notice of several sarcophagi which should have contained several bodies of the previous chieftains arranged in a circular pattern. Within the direct center of the room a large pillar totem which glowed with the familiar sting of death. "Sou ka... that totem is the Obelisk... I didn't know they had different appearances depending on where they turned up," Miki said almost certain of this fact. Beyond this, she floated around the area, sans Kou to have a look at the sarcophagi. Here she found all but two of them still contained their bodies. The two that were empty were ones of larger than normal size and gave her a bit of a fright. "Good news... all of them aren't empty. Bad news.... the ones that are empty seem to be huge which leads to bad thoughts about their classification. If they 'Companion' like them, it is assumable that these two who are missing are the kinds of warriors that will pose both of us a problem..." Miki mentioned in an offhanded manner. Even beyond all of the craziness of this moment, she was looking forward to the next moment. There was an excitement within her person that she couldn't rightly explain.

[Bloodedge]

"They don't all have to agree. We just have to make sure they listen," Kou replied. As he wandered around the room, he gently touched a few of the sarcophagi to get a proper feel for the bodies within. They were certainly powerful individuals in their respective lifetimes, as their energies were still present, and potent, in their graves. "This isn't good. These guys look like they're pretty far back on the list, and they feel... strong," he mentioned to the blonde Lancer. Upon discovering that there were two missing bodies in this group, and that their size was so massive, he shuddered. "Two Berserker Death Knights? Lizardmen, at that? Fuck," was all he could say. If Miki was right in her assumption about their Classes, these two former Chieftains alone were going to be a very, very large problem. Moving on from that train of thought, though, Kou's attention was brought to the Obelisk. Something within him really wanted to destroy it here and now, but he thought the better of it. "So, we have to take down an army of Death Knights, and at least a Bone Army as well. We also have to take down somebody strong enough to raise all of those, and we have to do it with just us. Can't we just do it all at a keyboard?" he asked rhetorically, hazarding a hesitant and nervous chuckle.

[Apollymi]

Miki heard out what Kou had to say and nodded. He was quite right, all they had to do was get the Lizardfolk of the land to agree with their plan and stay out of the way of it whether they liked it or not. Even so, they were warriors and probably felt at least a little negatively about being discounted by a couple of scaleless heroes. Beyond this his point about the former Chieftains made her sigh audibly. "Hai hai, if the past ones are like this, then making sure the current one stays off the battlefield is a prime directive. The last thing we need is to be fighting one of those with any kind of intelligence attached to it..." she mumbled. She also was finding this to be a growing and insurmountable task. At the point that it was mentioned aloud that two Berserker Death Knights were among their list of people to combat, Miki found herself rubbing her face consciously. "Hm, that might not be too bad. Depending on what was poured into them when they were risen, destroying the Obelisk will likely weaken them a bit..." she said of the pair of what would likely be the most challenging enemies they'd faced so far. That being said, Kou's continued commentary made her laugh just a bit, she truly felt the same way and would rather be playing the game without potential life and death aspects attached to their outing just now. "I am with you, I'd much rather be giving the commands than fighting this one directly..." she admitted. Soon after she was clapping her hands against her cheeks until they were red and she'd once again settled into the idea of what they'd have to do.

"YOSH!!" she exclaimed a few seconds later. "Alright. We go back up, tell the Chieftain to keep himself and his men out of the line of fire. Sometime after that... we destroy this Obelisk drawing the attention of the Lich. I can potentially set up a massive defense around this place to keep everyone from having to take on any of the really high level enemies. And then we..." she paused giving a gentle motion of her left hand between the pair of them. "We take on the Lich and his underlings directly. Keeping as many Lizardfolk out of this entire skirmish as possible," she commented. Though this plan was rather quickly flung together, it was fairly solid by her own approximation. Miki, didn't often take risks while playing Solo, and she wouldn't take any unnecessary ones with her partner either.

[Bloodedge]

It seemed they were just about ready to make their move, and Miki had even managed to hype herself up for the coming events. Kou nodded with some hesitation, but eventually hopped onto the pillow again. "Ugh... Guess there's no turning back anyway. We need the Lizardfolk to accept us, or we'll have an even harder time down the line. You set up the defenses, I'll kick-start the offense, and then... I guess we hope it works in our favor. Let's go," he said. Kou had managed to hype himself up to a certain extent, not quite matching Miki's vigor, but due only to the fact that he'd talked himself through the awkward state of reprehension. "I still don't like it, but if it's as annoying as I think it'll be, I guess we'll get our just rewards for coming out alive and on top."

[Apollymi]

Kou still seemed to retain a bit of his resignation about the situation. Miki understood this to a great extent. After all, they weren't just preparing for a game, as far as they knew, their actual lives were on the line in this particular skirmish. And beyond that their eventual livelihoods would be dependent on how they managed to conquer this next task. Even while seeing it as daunting, Miki managed to hype herself up for it, a bit more than she would have normally been capable. Truth be told, if Miki was at home, playing her game, she likely would have taken an hour or two away from the game, had a snack, went to the bathroom and done several other manner of things before diving into this. Even so, there was absolutely nothing left to do but dive headfirst into this. "Atta boy. We gotta work on your pep talks though...this one almost isn't one..." Miki mentioned as the lad joined her back on her pillow and she floated towards the exit. Her path would take her all the way back to the Chieftain as they discussed their battle tactics. Her words had been in jest, but she supposed if she didn't make a joke of this situation, then she would be just as likely to fall into a depression over their task. "Hm, I wonder what I will get out of this, I hadn't gotten around to going to the Lizardfolk when I was playing in-game. To be honest I'd have no idea what to expect from this entire thing..." she said. Even more so than their early experience in Dwargon and the Fairy Forest, she had no idea what was coming from this particular situation. Soon enough though they'd find themselves back in front of the Chieftain with news good and bad to present to him as far as their potential fight against his son, an apparent Lizardfolk Lich.

[Bloodedge]

"I... don't really do pep talks," Kou said in all seriousness. Quite frankly, he would have been more content to turn tail on this quest and return later, if they didn't have to react in real-time. It didn't help that he'd also never gotten around to dealing with Lizardfolk and their quests, though he knew they were quite a pain to deal with in PvP. He could only hope for an easier experience here than what he'd dealt with before, but as Miki guided her pillow with them to the Chieftain's throne, Kou would notice that this wasn't going to be as easy as anyone hoped. A strange and eerie Mana was present within the room, coming from multiple sources and not feeling very kind at all. This Mana was intentionally masked, but putrid enough for Kou to notice the difference in the ambient feel of the room since their last visit. Numerous skeletal servants had already been summoned to the area, and were hidden in shadows throughout the cave-like room, waiting for the opportune moment to strike down the Chieftain... and the Chieftain himself seemed quite unaware. Noting the vacant expression on the Lizardman leader's visage, Kou chose to whisper to his companion during their approach. "There's a lot of aggro here. It's nothing too strong, but it's a big threat to the chief here. I think we should be careful."

[Apollymi]

A giggle escaped Miki at the words that Kou shared with her about specifically his lack of ability to give pep talks. She could almost call this an understatement but she understood that sunny dispositions weren't an everyday occurance. Beyond that point, she was also not really good for pep-talks when aimed at other people so she understood a great deal. "Hai hai, I'll give the pep talks then, mostly to myself so I don't completely back out of everything, but I'd like to think they might work for other people too~" she mused. As they floated along, they made their way back to the chamber which contained the Chieftain and within there were several aggressive presences which Kou took note of. Miki hadn't initially felt these skeletal servants, but the mention of them by Kou made the register on her mental radar. "Hm..." the sound which left her mouth was low. He was quite right, this group wasn't a major threat to them, but it was a threat to the Chieftain who didn't seem to notice the difference in quality of the room he was now standing within. "That's a problem... but I suppose there wasn't much of a possibility of this one waiting for an extremely long time to make a move. I'm going to need to use my weapon in a minute I think..." she mumbled, figuring the lad would take the hint and remove himself from her weapon at his earliest convenience.

Upon reaching the Chieftain's fore, Miki dismounted her pillow landing on the ground before him and allowing it to float in the air behind her. "We know what we need to, in order to help you Chieftain. We only really ask, that you and your men, stay out of any conflict that arises..." she said in a very straight forward manner. In her own mind it didn't really matter if the Chieftain's son figured out their plan or not, because it wouldn't change regardless, all they could do was try and set up the area for the best possible outcome, and this included securing the area around all of them. Her eyes darted around the room and she readied herself for a potential battle.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, probably. On your mark? Got a plan?" Kou said in response to the idea of Miki utilizing her weapon. He was ready and willing to move at a moment's notice, but first came the exchange with the Lizardman Chieftain. "You are the Saviors, blessed by the Ancestors. If it is your wish that my people stay away from the conflict, I can only put my faith in you. I ask only that you please... save my son, if possible." These words came from the Chieftain's mouth as his eyes closed, and his head lowered. He was clearly remorseful of the situation at hand, and noticing this made Kou wonder how much of this uprising could have been the Chieftain's own fault.

[Apollymi]

"Basically I am going to do something a little sketchy, I could use a bit of a distraction while I complete the bounded field I am working on... then we can take care of everything else..." she mused. It wasn't like a super high-tier plan, but she figured it had just enough spunk to work for this. The words from the Chieftain though, were ones which made Miki feel strangely. She understood potentially the regrets of parents and this man didn't want to be rid of his son in so brutal a manner as his untimely demise. When considering how such things generally worked out for NPCs, Miki could only nod and try to be reassuring. "I will do what I can, for your son. But I can't lie to you and promise he will return..." she said and following this would come a whistle, and said whistle would convert her pillow into dozens of small blades like kunai which would then take off behind the Chieftain, aiming to impale various enemies in an attempt to deter the assassination attempt. Of course, this would be signal for whatever Kou intended to do to start a distraction here and now. Miki already had the final rune of her collection in mind, and knew what it should be, but it needed to be placed behind the throne of the Chieftain to be effective.

[Bloodedge]

"Distraction, huh? Hmm... gotcha," Kou said, having already decided exactly what he was going to do. A sly grin crossed his face during the exchange with the Chieftain, who seemed saddened by the idea that his son might not return alive. Only a moment after said interaction, Miki began her assault on the bone army settled into the surrounding area, resulting in an expression of shock by the Chieftain. "What is this!?" the Lizardman questioned. Kou had every opportunity to explain thereafter, but instead... he chose to carry out his own plan. With his right hand raised high overhead, he flashed a bright smile. "Alright chums, let's do this!" he chanted. By slamming his hand on the ground beneath him, Kou invoked the summoning for the Ryuuko mount, Xerxes... or, as its alternative name would be spoken...

"LEEROOOOOOOOY~!!!" The mount appeared in a burst of Mana beneath Kou, roaring in a way that would stun the surrounding enemies as the Ryuuko slammed the ground, sending out a shockwave to launch them into the open. "Masters! I will aide you!" it spoke, much to the surprise of Kou. "Wait... WHAT!?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Kou was on board with trying hard to create a distraction. The saddened expression of the Chieftain didn't escape the notice even as she began to slay the bone army around them. Having done this enough to guarantee the Chieftain's safety, several loose kunai shards of her blade whizzed around the room as she took up place directly behind the man's throne and began writing the necessary rune to tie together all previously placed ones. "I know it's a lot to place faith on. But I really will do my best... but first your safety and that of your people," she commented. She knew by the old man's speech he likely had some regrets, and if she could, she'd do all that she could to make sure he got to rectify them before it was too late. But there were more immediate dangers, like the bone army currently trying to get to him, and the ones who'd infiltrated the area. The last of the runes was applied below this old man and it would have a strange effect. The sage green mana which seemed to be connected directly to Miki would settle this newest bounded field spreading and pulsing outward. It would only need a few moments to take effect in full, and in that time, Kou's distraction seemed to be underway. He called forth their shared mount and much to Miki's surprise the Ryuuko currently named Xerxes spoke of helping his masters. Going on to stun the enemies present as they landed. "HE CAN TALK?!" this was Miki's only question to the world at large. She couldn't honestly believe it. Those members of the bone army not annihilated by her or Kou would be rendered docile and immobile by the bounded field she'd created, as would anything 'dead or undead' such would keep this Chieftain and his people safe for the duration of their strike against the Chieftain's son.

[Bloodedge]

"Apparent-fucking-ly!" said Kou, who was equally surprised by the Ryuuko's speech. Since Miki had stunned the other skeletal Lizardmen, Xerxes darted around the room, brandishing claws to cleave through every skeleton he came across. Whilst plowing through the attackers, he spoke again. "You have named me, Masters! I have evolved!" he said as bones flew all around him. These bones seemed to be moving a bit, as if they were meant to pull themselves back together. However, the effect of Miki's runes kept this from occurring wholly. "... Alright. That happened. Guess the reference is out the window, then. Level 28, too. Next?"

[Apollymi]

Miki was surprised by their mount talking, and Kou seemed to share in this surprise. Beyond this point though, Xerxes himself would be the one to explain the occurance as simply a matter of his own evolution due to being given a name. "Sou ka, naming made him evolve. That... makes sense... I guess..." Miki said as if she was still gently astounded. Whether she had a true explanation for this or not there were other things to be concerned with. Both she and Kou had reached level 28 in taking out the Bone Army within this compound, but there were still other matters to attend to. "Hm, next the Obelisk, then by the time we are done with that... it is likely our attackers will try to come to us. These little ones won't be able to rise again right now. And if we break the Obelisk they won't again. You lose the lowest tier of summon you have when someone breaks yours..." she said with a decent general knowledge of the game mechanics, which was the only thing allowing her to make assumptions at this point. "There there, you got to make the reference once~" she mentioned of the lad's earlier battle cry, having a chuckle at the thought of it now. She moved then, heading towards the doorway with her hand out to receive the full sized spear she normally possessed within it. "Uh, Xerxes, could we get a lift back to the burial mound?" she asked of the creature. It sort of felt wrong to give it orders if it could talk, she felt like it gave the beast a certain amount of free will she wouldn't want to infringe upon. They still had to destroy the Obelisk which she'd heard was no easy task, but with Xerxes along in Miki's mind it wouldn't be that much of a problem.

[Bloodedge]

Kou continued to stare at Xerxes, and it seemed he wasn't the only one doing so. The Lizardman Chieftain had taken to prayer upon witnessing the power of his ancestors in this beast's existence. "Embodiment of the Ancestors be upon us," he chanted. Kou heard this, and took only a moment to look strangely at the Chieftain, before returning his attention to his party. "Right. Off to the Obelisk, then," Kou spoke, stepping toward Xerxes, who responded to Miki's request by bowing and offering his back to the Adventurers. "It would be my pleasure, Master!" At this point, Kou was already hopping atop the Ryuuko, offering a hand to Miki. Xerxes would wait until both Adventurers were in place, and take off at an even faster speed than the previous norm toward the Obelisk they previously visited. "You give me such power, Masters! Thank you!" Xerxes said, while Kou settled from the shock of the take-off. "Whoa! Is that what this is? Power!? This feels like drugs!"

[Apollymi]

The words of the Chieftain weren't lost upon Miki, she also found herself looking strangely upon the old Lizardman. His words were kind of encouraging and yet seemed slightly misplaced, as if he had strange ideas about the mount this pair and ended up with. Beyond this, their shared mount seemed to feel it some sort of honor to transport them both and even lowered himself to make it easier for both of them. Kou went up first and at the extended hand Miki reached out with her own and used it to help manuever herself onto the back of the creature. Soon enough they were off, and at an increased speed and power. This was once again explained by Xerxes, who claimed they'd given him much power as a pair. "Sou... ka... I guess that is fine. I wonder what his stats are like now?" she mused aloud, having while they positioned themselves after take off gripped Kou closely her chest pressed against his back. "He's pretty intense now. I'm oddly proud of him..." she said about their shared mount. Regardless when they returned to the underground place which housed the Obelisk they'd find it in a slightly different state.

The concentric circles of sarcophagi now had skeletons placed around them, all of them meandering being lulled into docility by the established bounded field. Even so, a great number of them gathered in the center around the totem which housed the Obelisk. This gave off a rather intense cold chill of death and seemed to be exuding even more power than it had been before. 'Sou ka... he knows we're moving. We have to take this down quickly...' she thought to herself. "Alright we take that down and it should become obvious where our enemies are coming from. I don't think these skeletons will be much of a problem, we have to focus the Obelisk though. You might have an easier time of it Kou... magic might be an easier way to take it down..." Miki mentioned figuring the lad would understand. Though Miki had no doubt she could likely use one of her skills to take it down, she knew that it would be best to save any energy she could for the upcoming long term battle against two Berserker. Beyond that, several flesh zombies were still able to move and were approaching the center as well. They would need to be fought off properly.

[Bloodedge]

"Uhh..." Kou also wondered what the stats of their mount were, and amidst the tumbling ride and Miki's breasts pressed against his back, he managed to check said stats. "They're... all... A. Except..." He couldn't even finish his statement. Xerxes boasted better parameters than both Adventurers, and even managed an EX rating in Stamina. Kou couldn't believe what he was seeing, but he supposed they did have a Legendary mount. In no time at all, they were brought to the Obelisk. Multiple enemies awaited them, but that didn't much matter. Kou nodded to Miki and her suggestion, readying his sword by channeling his Magic Power through it. "If you think that's for the best, I'll go. Keep these other guys off my back while I charge, yeah?" he asked of Miki before his charge to the Obelisk began. Interestingly enough, Xerxes was ready and willing to participate as well. Even though neither of his masters boasted the skill to utilize him in combat, Xerxes was capable of making his own decisions now. As such, Kou's charge was met by his aide. "Master!" Xerxes exclaimed as the dead army closed in on the encroaching Kou. A mighty roar came from the Ryuuko, carrying his Mana throughout it to ravage and tear asunder the opposing forces with great ease. Beyond this, the roar pushed Kou forward with increased velocity. This resulted in the lad's outstretched sword being jammed into the Obelisk, while his face slammed against it from the sudden movement. "Fuck!" Kou said, recovering soon enough to make use of his blade's positioning and slash upwards, cleaving through the Obelisk using the force of his Mana Burst skill.

[Apollymi]

Kou looked into the stats of their beast and found them all to be A except for one. With this knowledge Miki also looked into the mounts stats and found the EX rating in Stamina. With this and the all A ranking alone the Ryuuko had better stats than both she and Kou. "Su-sugoi! His stats are better than mine, and better than any mount I had in game!~" she seemed to be amazed by this, but mostly it was due to the speed at which such a thing was achieved. She'd gotten more than decent use out of her mounts previously and even so she was about to be further amazed. Kou agreed to her plan and asked only that she back him up. "Got ya' covered..." she said her spear raising in the air and breaking into dozens of smaller Kunai. She was about to whistle the command which would have let them fly a roar came from their mount which was infused with mana and propelled Kou forward at even greater speed, and beyond this, worked to dismantle all the undead creatures here. Kou met with the Obelisk in a less than happy manner but, overall this was a vast improvement. "Sugoi! I didn't even get a chance to do anything... Xerxes you're amazing!~" Miki praised the creature without holding back, hugging the back of its neck from where she remained atop it. "You too!~" she gave compliment to Kou as the Obelisk shattered and she felt the pulse of death energy along with it. The breaking of the Obelisk stopped the animation of all bone and flesh creatures within the bounded field created by Miki and what was more, it would decrease the strength of everything else they faced, including the Lich himself. Additionally, something small and glowing would be picked up by the lass, from the ruins of the obelisk. Only to be forgotten in the moment.They gained a mass of EXP from this moment as well, enough that they were pushed past their next level without having to do much themselves. 'I wish I'd had this while I was playing alone. I would have been unstoppable...' she thought to herself.

[Bloodedge]

"Thank you, Master!" was the response of Xerxes, who went on to nuzzle up against Miki. Meanwhile, Kou stumbled away from the crumbling Obelisk, holding the side of his head. "Ugh... what even..." Kou regained his composure well enough to witness the fall of the undead minions. With that, he could consider this leg of the journey complete. However, he recalled Miki mentioning that the Lich would know of the Obelisk's destruction. The true journey would begin soon. "That was intense. Right. Look out for a roar from behind, Kou," he muttered to himself, seeming to have every intention of using his real name, but being forced by the Nexus into the name of his Avatar again. The Mana vanished from his sword, but he wasn't keen on sheathing it just yet. No, there was much more work to be done. He only had to await whatever came their way next, as far as he knew.

[Apollymi]

Something about the large dragon-esque creature nuzzling up to Miki was likely odd, but she enjoyed it regardless. Given what had happened to the Obelisk she knew they could expect the higher tier of summoned dead to show up soon. Giving one final squeeze to their mount she hopped down as well, her being suddenly felt cold as she felt the stirring of the dead, a splash would be heard and then several more, as small flames began to appear from the depths. They looked freshly raised, and had the same markings as their previously defeated Lizardmen from Dwargon. They seemed to be pushing themselves to walk burdened with purpose. They were coming up from below through a stream which ran directly beneath this mound. "Sou ka... I wondered how they would get back here..." she murmured as a ship sailed through this area, with several undead Lizardmen of high quality jumping down from the forefronts. "These look like the ones we took out in Dwargon. They literally sailed down stream..." she said frowning deeply. She supposed it would have made sense for them to come here, to defend this Obelisk but with it destroyed they were no longer invincible undead, simply the same creatures with the same minds they'd faced before. Undead Avengers, Shamans, Spearmen, Archers... dotted their ranks, but they were only 5 levels higher than they'd previously been and as such well within line for destruction by this party. These weren't the Beserkers but she expected them to be holding up the rear, the last line of defense between the Lich and them. This was visually something strange to Miki and she couldn't explain why but she could swear she'd seen this before, 'Why does this feel like something that should happen in-game...' she questioned only to take up stance of readiness so they could properly aim to take out their opponents.

[Bloodedge]

Kou made the right decision in not putting away his weapon, it seemed. Before long, the larger and more powerful army was upon them, and he remained at the ready. Xerxes, as well, was fully prepared to assault these forces after so much as a word from his masters. "We beat them all once. I'm picking up some different guys this time, but they're way out there. Everything in between should be a cakewalk. I'm ready," he announced, taking his place beside Miki and Xerxes while fueling his sword with Mana again. "Big sweep? I dunno about you, but I'm thinking big sweep."

[Apollymi]

Miki got to see the undead versions of Lizardmen they'd already slaughtered and also thought it would be easy enough to dispatch them again. Though her mind still wandered to her original thought about this place, she looked to Kou at her side and nodded to his suggestion of a big sweep. As it to mark it, the large form of her spear was remade above her head and she reached for it, but didn't touch it, instead allowing her open hand and skills to begin twirling the large weapon in a circle. "Hai hai, big sweep seems to be about the best possible option. Between the three of us it shouldn't be a problem at all..." she commented absently finishing this with a whistle which sent the still twirling spear forward, upon meeting the first of the wave a large gusty tornado would form blowing back the group at large and killing the weaker enemies introducing them to true death in that moment, those not killed by the gust, were stunned for a moment or two creating an opening wall for them to approach. "Let's go!" she mentioned as she took off towards her weapon, whistles beginning to follow her movements as she aimed to disappear into the crowd of Lizardmen and begin her proper assault of the current wave of enemies.

[Bloodedge]

"On it, then," Kou said, placing both hands on the hilt of his weapon. Since Miki seemed to be targeting the landlocked part of the enemy army, Kou nodded to Xerxes, signalling the beast to remain behind and ensure his passage to the shore. Kou was then on his way to said shore without much issue, all while his sword was charged with more and more magical energy. Once again, he wore a snarky grin as he reached the shoreline and looked out unto the approaching ships, blade ready for a slash of epic proportions. "Getsuga..." With a single, mighty slash, Kou unleashed massive quantities of magical energy from his sword. This produced an energy wave that stretched across the river to cleave through the ships before they arrived. "TENSHOU!!!" he exclaimed as the wave was unleashed to annihilate the enemy army's transportation. He could already tell many of the passengers upon these ships would not be felled, but he had at least bought time for Miki to handle the enemies on land before the others' arrival.

[Apollymi]

Miki's assault on the ground troops seemed to be going pretty well. As Lizardmen moved about, her spear moved almost effortlessly, when she turned she saw Kou launch an attack, and beyond this heard the words spoken as the attack name. Her eyes widened and all came to a standstill around her. "HA! Did you really just Getsuga Tensho?" she asked most rhetorically seemingly in a good humor. Even so, a Lizardman wasn't about to wait for her to have her chuckle and lunged at her, this action was met by a simple sidestep complete with a whistle that spiked this creature to the ground without much thought. "Yosh! Focus Miki!" she said to herself, though she'd tried to say her own name in this moment, the Nexus corrected her. This little personal pep-talk out of the way she pulled her spear from the back of this creature and threw it once more.

This time her whistle would be continuous and she'd take off at a gentle paced walk. This whistle strangely had the melody of the song from the movie Kill Bill and would cause the weapon to kill and generally pillage those around her as she slipped out of their physical distance with great ease. About thirty seconds after this and she'd finished off the first wave of the land-dwellers and moved on to the ones who'd abandoned the ships destroyed by Kou. By the time this occurred more Undead Lizardmen were swimming up from the river and Miki had taken to the use of her Alpha skill, she pulled back her weapon in her hand and launched it forward causing dozens of killing blows and pierces to occur in rhythmic fashion before her. She knew the greatest of their enemies would likely be approaching them soon enough. The two Undead Chieftain Beserkers would make their way to the shores, letting out a mighty roar upon making landfall. They seemed triggered upon seeing the deaths of their comrades, and one immediately turned to head in Miki's direction, while the other headed for Kou. Miki took note of this from the roar, just as her level was pushed higher still, and she reached the first cap of 30 and by virtue of their bond, Kou would reach this level as well. In this moment though, something strange would happen and it would seem as if time stopped.

[Bloodedge]

"Hell yeah I did!" Kou confirmed. He'd expected Miki to understand his reference to the wave attack, and she made it very clear that she did. Their greatest threat, the former Chieftains of the Lizardfolk, were quickly approaching. They didn't seem too happy at all to have lost their comrades, and knowing they were no more than undead servants themselves, Kou was quite bothered upon noticing this attitude. Even though the pair of them hit level 30, Kou believed this would be a very... very difficult challenge. That is, until...

"Ugh. I don't like the look of these guys. This is gonna be..." Mid-sentence, Kou took pause. He intended to comment on the threat encroaching upon them as they reached the initial level cap, but everything seemed to have stopped besides Miki and himself. Kou felt as if he were having an out-of-body experience, and in fact... he was. The Nexus entered him, activating and awakening a power which put him in a mental space similar to that of the video game's character creation screen. The Nexus' light overtook Kou's body, beginning to transform it into that of another. In this pure white form, the lad grew taller, and even seemed to be developing dragon-like wings and a tail, as well as horns which pointed upwards. "Huuu~" he exhaled, producing a scorching-hot steam from his unseen mouth in the process. "Burning. I feel... burning..."

[Apollymi]

Miki also didn't appreciate the attitude being given by the undead Chieftains. She wondered if they weren't also classed Avenger based on this, but before she got a chance to think about it. The Nexus entered her person as well. All that seemed to stop around them, left Miki's consciousness outside of her body, and beyond that gave her the ability to create another character. She gained strange features, pointed ears and jewel red eyes. A long blue tail sprouted down her spine along with a set of white and blue dragon wings. From her forehead, antler like horns also appeared. Her body seemed to get a bit taller, but within she felt something very different. As her body finished forming she looked to Kou and noted his ever changing appearance. "Hm, that's interesting, having a tail is gonna take some getting used to..." she murmured as mists seemed to rise around her body sticking to her skin like dew. "Hot is the word you're looking for...literal steam coming out of your mouth..." she chided. Her body seemed to be shifting like the tides within, a constant ebb and flow of turbulence. "This is one isn't the same, so I suppose this one needs a name too..." she mused, this thought alone brought her to the part of her mental space which would have looked like a naming screen, allowing her body to solidify in that light. "Tatsuki~" she said with a wiggle of her hips which made her tail move about in space. Her choice in name seemed to be in a strange pattern, but that wasn't really important in choosing a name her form was fully actualized and she got to see within the Nexus the type of creature she'd unlocked for herself. 'Dragonoid?' she thought about this one, and was a bit shocked, perhaps it simply came from actively pursuing the Lizardfolk Questline.

[Bloodedge]

Kou's mutation continued until he couldn't really be called Kou anymore. His hair and eyes both gained color, becoming a hue akin to that of a ruby. The color returned to the rest of him in an interesting manner, unveiling a dark tail and wings with webbing reminiscent of magma, more so even on the spikes protruding from his wings, and the horns on his head. He wore a sleek pair of pants, boots, and a long, red, open jacket with a high collar with nothing beneath. His open mouth now bore a full set of sharp fangs, and the nails at his fingertips had become sharp like talons. "No," he said to Miki, nearly growling as more steam escaped his mouth. "I feel burning!" He wasn't so taken by the form he now boasted, and was more into what he could feel from it right away. There was a strong aggression within him that wished to be quelled. With his gaze set on Tatsuki, he felt almost compelled to use her as an outlet. For whatever reason, the female Dragonoid speaking her name only furthered this sensation, prompting him to reveal his own name as a rebuttal... and, in a way, a challenge. "... Akashi."

[Apollymi]

Tatsuki, as she'd now taken to calling herself looked upon the lad formerly known as Kou as he named himself. This was after of course, a growling correction of her previous speech. Somehow something about the way this was done, made her left brow raise, in slight curiosity. Platinum blonde hair which was close to white flowed down her back in gentle waves as she felt this newfound animosity and the sensation within her own body pulled her towards it. "A-ka-shi~" she repeated the lad's name with nothing but amusement in her tone, and the slightest lisp created by a combination of a forked tongue and new fangs. But there was a seriousness in her eyes which implied she understood the challenge presented by such a name. She looked over his new attire, and didn't get a chance to see her own, which seemed a bit like several tiny armor pieces strung together, all the way down her arms and up her legs but with her rear visible in small lace panties. Beyond this, her legs were also trimmed in lace and opened before her shin armor started and ended leaving her barefoot. Even her tail gained armor and the blue color of it became hidden underneath."Figures you'd choose that, still..." she seemed to be thinking something about this, but as both of the people in this pair had been named, they'd soon find time returning around themselves, even as they stared each other down. Their new presences were enough to initially cause confusion in the Berserkers. At first they refused to approach, it seemed the combined presences of these people who were staring daggers at each other was almost enough to deter them, but another roar from both of them seemed to add a bit of courage. They charged ahead at their intended targets but for her part, Tatsuki never looked away from Akashi. Within herself she felt a deep stirring like a monster thrashing about beneath the surface of the ocean's waves. Her own challenging nature present in an unaltered gaze.

[Bloodedge]

The male now called Akashi snarled. It seemed Tatsuki had picked up on his animosity, and brought forth her own... which Akashi noted right away. He didn't even bother acknowledging the army of undead Lizardfolk. For the time Tatsuki stared him down, he did the same to her. As he looked onward, he even took to hovering, the occasional flap of his wings carrying him in a counterclockwise circle around Tatsuki's location. All the while, his gaze remained fixed on the female. "..." Akashi's mouth opened, but no words escaped him to join the steam passing his lips. His wings flapped once more, carrying him forward at breakneck speeds. He drew back his left arm on this path, thrusting it forward with claws bared, seeming keen on tearing through Tatsuki's torso.

[Apollymi]

Tatsuki also began to hover just off the ground. She obviously had no care for the battlefield around her in the present moment and instead had her eyes focused upon the lad who was now hovering around her. He had nothing else to say, and instead only steam came from his mouth. She seemed to interpret this strangely, there was still something of a challenge present by his actions, and when he charged she felt it. Deep within the core of her being that forked tongue of hers emerged from her mouth for only a second and it was as if she fully understood what was happening here. Instead of his claws making contact with her torso, she met them with her claws, as she extended her own hand to meet his. Their hands being forced together at a rapid pace with enough force behind it to create a shock wave of magical energy. This oddly was a contrasting set of energies, one of fire, and then one obviously of water. It would become exceedingly obvious as their contact would cause this explosive steam to blast off the pair of them, causing the outright disintegration of the hordes of the Lizardman's undead army. Beyond this, the two Berserkers were blown away by the contact alone, not to be heard from for a little while thereafter.

[Bloodedge]

As Tatsuki rose to meet his circling, Akashi found himself reacting strangely to her movements. Even during his charge, his gaze wavered in an interesting way. He looked toward the arm she rose to meet his attack, but he did so the moment before she moved it. He seemed almost confused that her arm moved when it did, as if it happened later than he expected. Either way, their hands met with an impact that sent out a mighty reverberation, which obliterated the enemies Akashi didn't even seem privy to. He was far too focused on the meeting at hand to even be bothered with something so trivial. Now, he seemed to be adjusting to himself in this form. "Sou ka," he said as his eyes darted quickly around, scanning various points on Tatsuki's form. Flames as hot as Hell itself began emerging from Akashi's forearm, wrapping around his entire arm and spreading all the while.

[Apollymi]

Their actions seemed to mar their battlefield in quite the obvious way, the Berserkers were stunned taking several moments to gather their wits as a huge wave of enemies fell to this initial clash. What came next was rather strange though, as the joined hands of these two Dragonoids seemed to illicit a strange response from Akashi. He seemed to be gaining a greater depth and understanding of his new physical self, and at the same time, Tatsuki was doing the same. Flames spewed from around the boy's hands at a temperature much greater than any she'd had contact with. Just the same, her own body produced water which swirled around her fist at the contact and pushed back against it. More steam, more power, to combat the burning hell fires against her skill controlled in such a way as to aim to drown them, but that didn't seem to be possible. "That's...new, and warm..." she mused as her nostrils flared ever so slightly. It was to her as if she was leaning on her ability to smell, and beyond this that there was more to it than simply knowing what this lad was like. Still she couldn't stop herself from continuing to push against this lad, as they aimed to figure out their new forms.

At the same time, as flames grew up Akashi's arms, and rip-tides seemed to be growing up the arm of Tatsuki, the two Berserkers took on new forms. Their screams echoed, and brought new power. They gained a new title in Avenger as they noted the deaths of their fallen comrades. And each of them grew stronger because it. Both were already level 50 and now they gained Mad Enchancement as an activated skill. The aimed to charge this pair, at a speed which was enough to make the ground tremble and between them one carrying a mace and the other a sword both aimed to bring their weapons down upon this duo of dragons completed by a jump in the air. This would allow the strikes to start above their heads and aim to take them all the way through their bodies. The one wielding a mace aimed his attentions at Akashi, while the other sword wielder aimed his slash at Tatsuki.

[Bloodedge]

"Heh..." The exchange of pressure between these two was only becoming more intense over time, but alas, an interruption was destined to occur eventually. The former Chieftains made their way at last, boasting the added power of an additional Class. Akashi's eyes shifted quickly toward the Berserker Chieftain who brandished a mace against him. He seemed far more annoyed than concerned, and a simple shift let him sway around the downward-swinging weapon. The mace passed through the air to Akashi's left, only to land in his left hand after it separated from Tatsuki's. "Oi. You're in my way," he said calmly, yet with a great fury within his glowing crimson eyes. In the very next moment, his right hand reached out to tap the Berserker's chest with a single finger. Such a simple act would result in the undead Lizardman to ignite in the Flames of Purgatory, which would burn away every last molecule of its victim, smoldering its way out of existence only when there was nothing left to burn, or whenever Akashi decided the flame needed to cease.

[Apollymi]

The break of their little test of wills, was created by the two attacking Berserker Avengers. Tatsuki herself seemed to be in place right until the moment at which the decisive strike was being made by her own opponent. But in the moment his arm settled, her nostrils flared with her mouth slightly agape. She moved to the right of the blade which came down with such swiftness that this creature might have thought his blow landed, at the very least his entire body was bowed by the pressure of his movements. But it would find when it tried to lift its sword, the bare feet of Tatsuki were balanced atop the blade. And she would causally walk up its length much to the confusion of the creature now below her. "I've no interest in you..." she said, also managing to sound more annoyed that she was interrupted than she could even manage to sound frightened of the potential death she could have suffered. As Akashi tapped his own opponent causing him to burst into flames, Tatsuki's left foot touched the top of the Lizardman's head. Her current stance had her looking down upon him with disgust for his current bowed state, but there was still a light in her eyes, filled with murderous intent. When this happened magical energy seemed to explode from her person, causing a swell of water within this creatures body so large that it simply blew apart within a matter of seconds.

Blood and water would blow outward from this creatures massive body, leaving it to rain down upon her in a gentle mist. A wide grin spread across her face and showed fangs and streak of sadism her other avatar wasn't known to possess. She turned to see the still burning creature as it no longer even looked like something which had existed. Her own jeweled eyes seemed to be amused as she took in the sight of burning flames through the bloody mist created by her own method of assassination. "Hm, Akashi is a really good name for you~" she said still amused. And with the death of these two their distractions from each other would end, and Tatsuki's eyes would shift back to Akashi.

[Bloodedge]

Akashi watched intently as his victim suffered the use of his skill, which he saw registered as Immolation through Nexus Vision. Greater yet, the heightened perception he had been noticing within himself was becoming more solid as he adjusted to this body and its powers. As the remains of the Berserker scattered to the wind, the glow in Akashi's eyes receded until it became a pair of golden rings within his irises. He focused these developed eyes on Tatsuki once the interruptions had been dealt with. There was something between this pair of Dragonoids the likes of which hadn't been seen since Dragons themselves roamed the world freely. Alas, it was not to be once again. Akashi's gaze was dragged away by the actual sight of Mana being pulled from the battlegrounds, from every fallen undead warrior, to a single location down the river. This Mana accumulated into something mighty, thick enough to be seen by even the human eye. With Akashi's enhanced vision, he could see the culprit from a distance. This was surely the current Chieftain's son, a Lizardman Shaman with a lithe frame, white scales, and deep blue eyes. From what Kou could tell, his scales were presently shifting to become more like those of a Dragon, and he was certainly gaining a spade on his tail the likes of which only Dragons normally possessed. Akashi's very instincts refocused all of his aggression toward what he was seeing here, and that alone. "Kisama..."

[Apollymi]

The skill used by Tatsuki registered to her as Honryuu but as she saw this she also saw that she was missing something. Given her current level of power, she didn't think much of this missing thing, instead her gaze refocused upon Akashi, until... the massive interruption which was the gathering of mana and the power of death. The shifts occuring in what was obviously their opponent was meant to draw the attention of the dragon, but once again she simply seemed annoyed. More so by this new Lizardman's appearance than she had been by the Berserkers. In the moment, that her attention shifted, her nostrils flared once more. And as her tongue traveled within the confines of her mouth she understood fully what it was that annoyed her about this new Lizardman with an obvious dragon tail. "Mayakashi..." her face twisted up in disgust as she stared in the direction of this creature. Though her original character persona had it in mind to save the lad, her current feelings lead her to believe she should do no such thing. Maybe this was because his actions interrupted what appeared to be a good time. Maybe it was because she found his actions deplorable. Or more still maybe she simply considered it to be the easiest way to get back to what she'd been doing.

[Bloodedge]

Still hovering above land, Akashi floated slowly in the direction of this new disturbance. Its power was steadily growing and bothering Akashi to no end with its repulsive sight. "Fools. I am Sharrkan of the Marshes, now a Dragon of the Dead. You've defeated my army just to grant me this power, the power of a True Dragon! This was my true final wish," the pseudo-Dragon said aloud. Following this, a single flap of Akashi's wings created a thunderous boom as he shot forward at supersonic speeds. His claws were at the ready to cleave through Sharrkan, and in fact, they did. Sadly, this image of the pseudo-Dragon revealed itself to be nothing more than another corpse made in his image. Having never seen the true form of this individual, even Akashi's advanced eyes couldn't determine right from wrong as numerous other copies appeared around the river. Still, he offered his rebuttal. "You ain't a Dragon at all. You're a newt with a thick hide."

[Apollymi]

Tatsuki stayed where she was for a few moments longer, watching as the newest incarnation of enemy, a Lizardman turned Pseudo-Dragon named, Sharrkan claimed the title of Dragon of the Dead. He claimed that this had been his ultimate wish, which made Tatsuki's left brow raise. Such a sentiment belonged only to players, given this she wondered if this young man even realized how much wanton destruction he caused for the sake of his 'wish'. She watched as Akashi, aimed to claw down this vile excuse for a Dragon only to have another corpse fall instead of his. It seemed that even his eyes could be misled in this moment, but as she'd settled into her abilities she began to wonder if he could trick her nose. "Shallow wish..." she said with a gentle flare of her nostrils, as her eyes closed if only for a second. It was almost as if she was disappointed in something, but the truth was she wished to concentrate. Within her mind's eye she saw the waves associated with all the smells within this closed in space. Mostly she looked for someone else living within this place, corpses smelled, and all the ones left in this place had a particular smell attached to them. All she needed was to identify the proper Lizardman left among the armies of the dead. "Others paid a steep price for you to end up a knockoff..." she stated knowing that his wish lacked hubris. Beyond this she finally moved of her own accord as her eyes opened gently and she aimed a slightly transformed clawed hand at the face of what she thought was the 'real' version of Sharrkan. If she made contact with his face after moving at rapid speed to reach him, she aim to toss his entire body by his head towards the ground placing him below her in the way she currently viewed him. This throw was done with enough force that the movement of her arm would leave a crater behind, whether his body was caught within this maneuver or not.

[Bloodedge]

"I wield the power! You two seem to have gathered some power from the Lizardmen and that half-Dragon bastard cat over there, but I am a True Dragon! I wield the power of the dead beyond the Underworld's influence! Do you understand? Even my minions are beyond you now!" The implication made by Sharrkan was not missed by Kou. In becoming something like a Dragon, Sharrkan gained a power over the dead that kept them from returning to the afterlife. Something about this seemed to annoy Akashi more than anything else thus far, though he wore a grin of pure arrogance.

A pool of death energy had begun pooling around Sharrkan, filling the river beneath him with its essence. When Tatsuki made an interesting approach toward the true Sharrkan, he remained nimble enough to at least begin moving away, quickly raising another of his undead clones between him and the approaching claw. Tatsuki's strike would take the clone with it toward the land nearby. Even being slammed into a crater with a head that was most certainly splattered from the impact and Tatsuki's claw, it began regenerating through death energy, which only continued to be produced from the initial 'kill'. In the meantime, though, Akashi descended to join Sharrkan atop the river. The mere act of him getting close to the waters began evaporating even the energy-tainted river at a very rapid pace. "That it?" he asked of both Sharrkan and Tatsuki. With that simple query offered, he looked toward Sharrkan, and held out his left hand. "What happens when the immortal dead can't come back?" A raging flame appeared around Akashi's hand as he said this, boasting enough heat to form what looked like a large crater in the river around Akashi, simply due to how rapidly it evaporated the water in a certain radius. His eyes darted around as if he were counting the number of undead minions Sharrkan currently possessed, and then...

"Rengokuryuu no... Ennetsu Jigoku!" The flame from Akashi's hand erupted into a massive blast, great enough to wipe the entire area of trees, moisture, and all life across a fifty meter radius. He didn't seem to care who was caught in this blast, even if Tatsuki were to be consumed. This encompassed all of the minions Sharrkan possessed, while Sharrkan himself saw the incoming threat and sprouted wings to fly high into the air as quickly as possible, avoiding harm from the great inferno. He made every attempt to command his army, but the bodies were all failing to regenerate against the burning which never ceased until there was nothing left to burn. "Is running what a True Dragon would do? I don't think so," Akashi said in the end, instilling the idea in Sharrkan that these two individuals were, perhaps, a form of Dragon that transcended whatever he'd actually become.

[Apollymi]

The words of Sharrkan irritated Tatsuki, as she approached to kill him, she took note of something strange. Right at the moment where she grabbed him, the line within her vision tensed. She realized then that she could have chased him, and at the moment she'd reached her hand out, to touch the face of the creature before her, she'd grabbed the wrong one. She smelled death and magic on that particular individual and she knew exactly what he was. The crushing of the face of the one individual which tossed him into a crater below her, was met by her stillness within mid-air. "Death, Magic, and Cowardice don't make a True Dragon..." Tatsuki's words were true enough. Not only did she dislike this man for his personal cowardice, she also didn't like that he'd sacrificed hundreds to end up a lesser version of what he could have been. Her own logic dictated that if she made a sacrifice it had to be worthwhile. There were claims by Sharrkan that they could not take his army at their current power, much less him. And with this Akashi's actions became a present happening.

He hadn't a care in the world when he questioned what the Pseudo-Dragon would do if he had no army to call upon. When he lowered himself to water level it began to evaporate and boil. When he unleashed his attack, Sharrkan ran from it while his army burned. Since Tatsuki had initially rushed him directly, she was also within this radius, but her body didn't burn. She had no fear of this fire as her body caused steam to rise up around her. She was hot granted, but she did not burn or take injury here. She stared up at the white Dragon and understood exactly what it was that separated him from the sort of Dragons that she and Akashi were showing themselves to be. Tatsuki took the time to extended just her left hand towards this creature. "Kaiōryū no Suijin Hōen," magical water was created from her body in massive quantities. A magical spiraling surge took up a great amount of space between them and this particular enemy. It pushed even past the fires that were created by Akashi aiming to send a wave of concussive and magical damage towards Sharrkan, this massive surge would reclaim the river and lake and beyond that aim to swallow up Sharrkan and drown him in her power massively damaging and penetrating his body.

[Bloodedge]

Sharrkan was of little concern to Akashi, so the latter took the time to view his own work's results. The pseudo-Dragon's army was indeed regenerating, but the Purgatory Flame burned their bodies away at an even faster rate than they could recover. Soon enough, they would be nothing, but that seemed ultimately contingent upon Sharrkan's death. Interestingly enough, it also seemed to be the case that Akashi no longer had to do anything...

Sharrkan was distraught at the swift loss of his army, and even more so at the power wielded by these two Dragonoids. Tatsuki, left unaffected by Akashi's flames, set her sights on the Necromancer. The sudden creation of water in such massive quantity drew his attention, and kept it the moment he realized it was coming his way in a great burst. Enraged by the existence of such creatures as these, Sharrkan erected a spherical barrier around his person, enforcing it with death energy he reclaimed from his eternally-burning minions. The surge battered and battered against his barrier, while Akashi looked on and laughed at an interesting sight. "How dare you!? I am Sharrkan, Dragon of Death! I will be-" Suddenly, Sharrkan stopped speaking. Why? Even though his barrier managed to hold off against the torrent for a few moments, all the energy Sharrkan had available could not truly hold the water at bay. Akashi could tell from the beginning that it only lasted so long due to most of the water being diverted by the barrier's curve, and yet... the center point of the barrier had been taking a constant and direct beating for several seconds. When the barrier was penetrated, it did so from this small space, allowing a jet stream of this mighty liquid to burst through, pierce Sharrkan's hide and heart, and continue through the other side. Akashi continued watching from a distance as blood gushed from Sharrkan's mouth. That is, until the rest of his barrier shattered around the hole, and the stream carried him away until he was no more. It was at this time that Akashi flew into the air and viewed the massive lake that had formed beneath them from both Dragonoids' efforts. "Water is patient," he stated under his breath.

[Apollymi]

Sharrkan was indeed concerned more so than one would have expected given his propensity for running when faced with higher power. He kept his shallow vanity, shouting at the female Dragonoid that he was the Dragon of Death and aiming to barrier himself against the rush of water which aimed to consume him. Tatsuki watched this with nothing in her visage but the knowledge that she would have him. "You are tiny," Tatsuki said and she meant that as the truly encompassing insult it was. The moment he didn't run, the moment he decided to try and stay to prove himself... his death was assured. In this moment she got to witness her victory as the barrier created by the creature she'd faced cracked and he was pierced. His blood was added to the flow of water before he was carried away by the tides. Her hand lowered to her hip and her wings flapped as her tail absently splashed in the water before she rose, watching the ripple created by her own work.

Akashi's muttered statement caught her attention. Her pointed ears twitched as her wings carried her upwards and she was once again looking at the young man she'd been traveling with. There was an obvious bit of aggression still within her eyes, but there was something else too. This thing was the understanding that they were both similar creatures of noble creation, even if they wished to fight, they were both True Dragons and as such his existence was acceptable to her. Her body shifted around his as if she swam within the air, a large arcing motion would carry her around him. "Finally..." was the only word which left her mouth. It appeared to be that even if she respected this lad, she still simply wished to fight him, maybe there was something more to this than it looked like, but what felt like aggression was still buried within the fibers of her being.

[Bloodedge]

Akashi continued to look upon the results of their efforts, and as he did, a droplet of moisture fell toward him. He looked up as more and more water fell from the sky. It seemed all the carnage had produced storm clouds above, and filled them to their bursting point in only a few short minutes. A cloud of steam was soon around Akashi by the time this rain developed into a full shower, but by then, his attention was on Tatsuki. "Yeah... Finally," he said, agreeing with the lass. She circled him, and he, in turn, circled her as well. "You killed the newt..."

[Apollymi]

Their combined efforts within this space, created a storm cloud within the mound. Within the time of the passing of Sharrkan, this cloud burst and rain began to fall. This didn't seem to effect her negatively and she got to see the sizzle of the air around Akashi. His movements also started back up, and he circled her as well. "Sugoi!~" she mused at this rain. The other dragon agreed to her sentiment that their interruptions were finally over and as he circled her as well, they moved in tandem looking at each other. His statement about her killing the man known as Sharrkan was indeed true and she wouldn't deny herself the credit in this moment. "I did," she said with a casual flick of her tail. "You killed his army..." she said in a moment of appreciation. The tension in her body slowly seemed to be building back up, she wanted something from her companion and she wasn't sure what it was, but she was very sure, what was about to happen would settle it for her.

[Bloodedge]

As the Dragonoids circled one another in the sky above the new river, Tatsuki gave her response alongside a returned compliment to Akashi's work. A snicker escaped the male. "I did," he said, just as Tatsuki had moments prior. Akashi was also feeling this rise of tension again, and in doing so, he floated closer and closer to Tatsuki while still moving in a circular pattern. His gaze never wavered, now having absolutely no reason to do so. There were no further interruptions to be dealt with. "You're strong."

[Apollymi]

The rise in tension between this pair was nearly tangible to Tatsuki, and maybe it was to Akashi as well, as the male Dragonoid moved closer in his circling to the lass than she would have expected. Even so, she found herself drawn in even further as well, until they were only separated by the amount of space that would be needed for their arms to reach out to each other. "I am," she replied to the idea that she was strong. Unlike her other self, she was quite sure of this as a fact of nature. She was more sure of herself in this form than she could have ever been in any other. Her movements continued and a smirk came to her face. "And so are you." Her final sentence was indeed one to be taken as literally as she meant it. She wasn't sure about how she felt but her tension reached a point of nearly breaking, and as it did her clawed hand reached out into the space between them, as if she wanted to touch him, but thought better of it, given their affinities.

[Bloodedge]

Both parties drew nearer. In due time, they were close enough to make physical contact, but there was more. Tatsuki once again returned Akashi's clause to him, then reached out toward him without actually making contact. "I am," Akashi said with a snarky grin upon his visage. In saying this, he moved closer yet, until Tatsuki's hand was mere centimeters from the skin of his chest. At the same time, his left hand reached out to return Tatsuki's gesture. The amount of closeness between the two at this point caused an immediate reaction, in the form of incredible amounts of steam blasting away from them. In spite of this, Akashi only managed to inspect Tatsuki's form. "You're very open," he said, though whether he meant to imply a lack of defense, or a lack of clothing on this lass, was up for debate.

[Apollymi]

Their bodies were soon brought even closer together after a snickering reply from Akashi. This movement made it so that Tatsuki's extended hand hovered above the lad's exposed chest, creating a blast of steam from her to him and one from him to her, given his hand was now also extended. Given their current proximity she could do nothing more than inspect his form as well. When he commented about her openness she wasn't quite sure how to take it. Her own eyes had left his face to inspect his body, and by the time he spoke to her directly she looked up his body and back to his eyes. "Am I?" she asked as if to question this statement. In the meantime she made her own observation. "You're very hot," whether this was simply her understanding of his body temperature or a commentary on his attractiveness would also be left up to the imagination.

[Bloodedge]

The steam between and around them made no difference at all to Akashi. In fact, one could almost assume he didn't know it was there at all. He could only manage to focus on the lass in front of him, for whatever purpose this attention served. "You are," he said when questioned. Tatsuki's retort upon inspecting him as well was received with just as much confusion as she had within her. "Am I?" he asked. The steam would be fueled further thereafter, as Akashi slipped around Tatsuki's outstretched arm while also shifting his more to her side. This allowed him to move even closer without the pair of them touching, though their faces and bodies were left in incredibly close quarters. Only a slight movement would have them completely pressed against one another, yet the circling continued on Akashi's part, even from so close. The amount of steam spewing from the two couldn't possibly be missed by then. Akashi would follow with another rather open statement. "You're wet."

[Apollymi]

The steam around them, also didn't seem to be making much of a difference to Tatsuki. As they circled one another the only thing that had her attention was the male Dragonoid before her, and for whatever reason, he managed to keep it. Perhaps it was the short quips they were current sharing. Perhaps it was the fact they they were alone together, and perhaps it was something else entirely. Whatever the case, he confirmed his observation about her openness and questioned her own thoughts about him. "If you say so, I believe you," she mentioned. It seemed they both maintained a level of confusion about each other which was teetering closer to something... but what the female Dragonoid couldn't say. "You are," she confirmed her understanding of his hotness even as she shifted around her. It became more apparent to her as she shifted ever so slightly that they were very close together. Only a breath away from touching, his arm at her side and hers falling in place at his. There was a level of intimacy in this which couldn't be quantified, even by the statement that could have been taken many ways. The level of steam between them increased rather drastically so much so that even she could see it, though not necessarily as a hindrance. No, instead of that... this open statement was received with a chuckle and general acknowledgement of this absolute fact. "I am." Her words hung in the air so strangely, even at their current distance she continued to circle was well, feeling somehow compelled to not be the one who stopped first, nor could she be the one to back away. So, they would continue.

[Bloodedge]

The steam and tension weren't the only things steadily building between the two Dragonoids. The longer they shared this closeness, the more it became apparent over time that their very essences were clashing against one another, spewing raw magical energy outward in a way which shook the marshlands all the way to the kingdom. They reached a point where, even if Akashi wished to move away from Tatsuki, he felt as if he physically couldn't do so. "If you say so, I believe you," he said, once again sharing a repeated statement. At this point, he was being driven by forces that were beyond him. The left arm he kept extended beyond Tatsuki would be used to either pull her closer, or push her away. Whatever the case, Akashi seemed stuck between the two options, so he instead swiped right as if he intended to knock her to the side of him, though his movement also angled down enough that she would be pushed below if struck properly.

[Apollymi]

As they moved around each other they seemed to affect all. The landscape, other creatures, and each other, through steam, tension, and magical energy. She couldn't help but continue moving alongside this lad, and as they moved in such a way, she seemed incapable of deciding how to behave. He claimed that much like she'd already stated, if she said something he'd believe her, particularly about him. Strange as it was, their shared words and movements seemed almost necessary because of their continued attention towards each other. As they continued to shift in the skies above she could be sure that within his radius of influence, she couldn't decide if she wanted him close or very far away. It would appear she wasn't alone in this indecisive behavior as a swipe of the male Dragonoid's hand would leave her tumbling in the sky just a bit as her wings and body caught her within a spin or two. She'd been moved away from Akashi directly but not outside of his sphere of influence. And when she returned, it would be at sonic speed to return the favor of a swipe to his side, which would strangely aim to knock him up and into the sky from his left instead. If she succeeded in this she'd follow him upward falling back into her pattern of circling as if it was a simple test of her reaction.

[Bloodedge]

The stare-down seemed almost endless between this pair of draconic beings, but suddenly, the motion of Akashi ended it by sending Tatsuki spiraling, if only briefly. Her return came quickly, and with it came retaliation in the form of a melee attack to his left side. Akashi's facial expression was more curious than anything else as he was knocked aside and higher into the sky, and it remained unchanged even as his wings flared to stop his ascent. At this point, he realized Tatsuki had already joined him at this new location. He, too, fell back into circling in the sky. "You hit hard," he said, though he seemed no worse for wear than he had been before the impact. In fact, he was nothing but impressed that she'd been able to move him at all when her hit struck. It seemed that Tatsuki also hadn't taken any legitimate offense to his attack on her, and Akashi wasn't quite sure how to feel about that fact. "You're interesting."

[Apollymi]

Tatsuki's return to the sky and subsequent attack was met by a curious expression. She wasn't sure how to feel about this, but the other dragon of this situation also didn't seem to take offense to being attacked. If nothing else, he stopped his own ascent and even managed a verbal retort. She was quite intrigued as the lad showed no lasting wear after a hit that would have been considered massive to another creature. If nothing else, it made him more interesting than anyone else. "Do I?" she seemed curious about this, as her circling continued she looked at her empty palm as if thinking something were missing from her person to make that previous accusation untrue. She wasn't sure if that particular strike counted as being a hard hit, but his swipe had power behind it. "You hit hard..." she said seeming to find nothing else worth saying initially. But within the same conversation the lad had a bit more to add. And his words caused a small chuckle to pass the lass' lips. "You're interesting..." she finished. For some strange reason she felt almost locked into repeating words similarly to the lad. It was as if this pair of individuals were locked in a strange dance. She couldn't quite place how she felt in the present moment, but still there was tension and she couldn't quite place the feeling of it. A few more rotations and her body would spin horizontally causing the lass to lash out with her tail, as if she wanted to push against Akashi one more time just to be sure. The force of this spiraling motion would be enough to send him flying at their current altitude several dozen meters away if it hit properly, aiming to strike directly across the center of his body.

[Bloodedge]

"You do," he said to the notion of Tatsuki hitting hard. Though she may not have believed her own strike was powerful, Akashi felt as if he stood above all creatures in this present state. The simple fact that she was able to take his strike in such a way, and deliver an equally potent attack of her own, was quite intriguing to him. Once again, he was staring Tatsuki down with eyes that saw well beyond the physical norm. He saw her movements happening just before they did, through acts as simple as the preparatory twitches of individual muscles. He charged forward in unison with the female, spiraling in a way that mirrored her path and lashing out with his own tail. Their tails clashed against one another, producing a delayed shock wave that cleared the lake below, and even affected the clouds much higher above them in the sky by clearing a massive hole in them. Following this clash though, Akashi decided to make use of his magical ability by heating the spike jutting from his right wing, which he immediately swung down at Tatsuki's torso like a molten sword far more solid than even Magisteel.

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Tatsuki's movements were followed rather easily by Akashi. He mirrored her own spinning attack causing their tails to clash instead of her being able to strike his open body. She was acutely impressed by this reaction speed, and by the impact they had on even the clouds near them. Tatsuki's nose twitched as she smelled a string tighten and snap as his action of follow through caused something strange to happen. Her body aimed to shift and she felt the coming heat towards her torso and aimed to block it with the extension of her left arm. This would meet the strength of a cleanly sharp super-heated wing which would surprisingly cut right through the arm which was left cradled against her torso as she floated backwards. Extra steam and heat came from the opening and strangely the water membrane which surrounded her body began pulsing around her lost left arm, which she held in her right hand as she examined it. "Huh... that happened faster than I expected," she mentioned.

Surprisingly she didn't seem very distraught considering she'd lost an entire arm above the elbow. In fact, her body began absently flying in a circle as her lost limb seemed to be rebuilding itself from the stump down towards her fingertips. The whole thing would be amazing to witness and it wouldn't take very long to happen either. The Dragonoid form in her case, came with passive hyper-regeneration. But beyond this as her fingertips finished she opened her clawed fingers and clamped them onto her severed arm. She forced magic from her person down into it making use of her innate abilities and magic. The water which flowed upward from her palm carved rune-like veins along her severed appendage and it glowed in a blue-green as she slashed at the air before her. This created a magical burst of water which swirled like a current on this downward slash, and though it wasn't technically aimed at the lad across from her, the surge created by the motion would aim to engulf him just the same.

[Bloodedge]

Akashi foresaw the reaction of Tatsuki to his attack, and in doing so, he saw the result of her defense if she had nothing to properly reinforce herself with. He would have considered this a bit sub-par after seeing Tatsuki's arm actually be severed by the blade of his wing, but there was something far deeper. He came to realize that he shouldn't have been capable of such a feat with an attack of such quality, and soon enough, Tatsuki proved this by regenerating her arm... and gaining a rather impressive weapon from the sever. Akashi's brow rose as the lass gave her newfound tool a little test swing. With the resulting wave moving toward him, he performed a simple shift and rotation to his right, thinking to be clear of its path with ease. This did seem to be the case, until moments after the wave passed him, at which point a straight line of blood spewed from the top of his left shoulder to the end of his left foot. The blood streamed quickly and poured to ground-level below for several seconds, but in due time, the wound sealed itself. "Sou desu ne. You're as strong as me after all..."

[Apollymi]

Tatsuki's test swing of her weapon seemed to have no effect initially. But then a slash appeared down the lad's left side and cut into him with extreme reaction. Of course, this reaction was also something which caught the girl's attention, as it seemed the lad was also prone to damage by her while she wielded a proper weapon. It appeared it was possible for them to damage each other in this way, but it wasn't necessarily something which either of them expected from anyone else. "Sou ka..." she said as she stared at the lad across from her, whose bleeding was surely subsiding as well. He thought to mention that the lass was just as strong as he was, and she could do nothing but agree with this statement. "I am." she said both of her own strength and the idea that there was a match for it. There was still bristling energy between them, but perhaps the simple acknowledgement of their likeness in this moment was important. "You're exciting..." the lass stated simply.

[Bloodedge]

Akashi floated nonchalantly toward Tatsuki in the wake of her attack. The slash down his body smoldered until there wasn't even a scar remaining, and by the time it did, he was within arms reach of the girl. "Am I? Sou ka," he said upon being referred to as exciting. In giving further thought to this clause, he supposed he could understand why this was being said at all. With that in mind, he realized the feeling was quite mutual. "So are you," he replied just as flatly as it was stated to him. In the meantime, Lizardmen were beginning to crowd the area below. The military force of the Marsh Kingdom looked on in awe at the pair of Adventurers flying overhead, calling chants of their great ancestors as they knelt before this incredible duo.

[Apollymi]

A smirk came to the female dragonoid's face in light of the words being spoken to her. She understood, in some manner that they shared some kind of strange interest in one another and that they both seemed to hold rather high opinions of themselves, and by virtue of acknowledging their likeness each other as well. "Hm..." before she would speak on this matter any further the army of Lizardfolk below seemed to have gathered properly. Though they were originally asked to stay out of this situation, all the battle had been taken care of by these two dragons. They were now being practically worshiped by those who approached, seeming to think they were of the same ilk as their ancestors. "Sou ka, they think highly of us too..." she said with a gentle flap of her wings as Akashi approached having healed up all of his injuries. Her eyes came back to the lad before her and she'd mentally already appraised and accepted him, and given this she began a most casual descent towards these soldiers, after all there was still whatever rewards to be reaped from the Lizardfolk.

[Bloodedge]

"They should," said Akashi in regards to the Lizardmen below, whom he regarded as inferior to himself and his associate. As Tatsuki descended toward the army, Akashi did so as well, albeit whilst keeping his gaze on the other dragon. During their descent, the Lizardman Chieftain stepped out to the head of the gathering and dropped to his knees, even though he'd needed a walking stick to make the journey this far. "Ancestors preserve us! You have bestowed your blessings and graced us with your presence. We expected to find the Adventurers who came, but it seems they were not up to the challenge. Please... my son, where is he?" This speech by the Chieftain was strange to Akashi, prompting him to look toward Tatsuki with light confusion spread across his visage. Something was odd here. Akashi was one of the Adventurers who came to this place, and yet... he wasn't. Seconds passed before his mind began to register that he was, in fact, a very different existence mere minutes ago. The same could be said of his companion. "You're not Miki..."

[Apollymi]

"Agreed." Tatsuki seemed to maintain a high opinion of herself in this form as well. She had nothing more to say about the adoration being presented by the Lizardmen below and seemed to only think it appropriate given what all they'd managed to do in so short a time period. Beyond this, she kept her eyes on Akashi as she descended, as he was one most worthy of her attention. What was more, they were approached by a meandering old Chieftain, the same one she remembered from before, but somehow he was quite different to her now. The question about his son brought to mind the fact that while she was someone entirely different she'd made this creature a promise to try and help his son. "The Mayakashi was washed away with the river... it could not be helped," she informed the Chieftain, unable to properly apologize for defending herself given her current disposition. Additionally, because of this the question posed by Akashi made confusion come across her face as well. "You're not, Kou." she said in similar fashion, though in having given the statement to the Chieftain she also realized that she was one of the adventurers.

[Bloodedge]

"He was dead long before that," Akashi added. It seemed the Chieftain couldn't quite believe this. He felt as if the soul of his son had yet to pass on, but who was he to argue with what he thought was a pair of his ancestors? "I see. Perhaps then, the boy's soul is doomed to never reach the Ancestral Plane," said the Chieftain. Akashi scoffed. He was more concerned presently with the strangeness surrounding Tatsuki and himself, and whoever they were at the beginning of this journey. "I'm Akashi. But... you were supposed to be Miki. Miki's... there..." As he spoke, Akashi drew even closer to Tatsuki, raising his right hand and pressing his forefinger against her sternum. "I can almost see it. And, I was Kou... I think..."

[Apollymi]

"Fair..." Tatsuki said of Akashi's assessment about the death of the son of the Chieftain. Whatever the case, the Chieftain seemed to think his son hadn't died because he felt no connection to the Ancestral Plain or whatever such thing they believed in. Perhaps he was cursed by his own meddling with death, but for Tatsuki such musings seemed to not really work. Beyond that there was one other very obvious explanation that her mind casually glanced over instead of focusing on. "Probably..." left Tatsuki's mouth without a second thought, she had to agree that the boy's sins were far beyond simple forgiveness. Whatever the case, there was now another bit of strange focus happening between Akashi and herself, even as the boy named himself in the strange way which seemed to mean that he did mean something else. He went on to approach her directly allowing a single finger to make contact with her sternum. She looked at the lad with a raised brow. His assertion that he'd been Kou made her look at him closely, "Sou ka... I can almost see that too..." she said as her own hand extended and the index finger of her unoccupied hand aimed to make contact with his sternum as well. "But we aren't them now... strange," she mentioned unable to fathom exactly how they'd come to be completely different individuals from the ones they'd started their day as.

[Bloodedge]

"Hmm. There's something else, too. Something bigger," Akashi continued, trailing his forefinger from Tatsuki's sternum to leave it hovering over her heart's center point instead. Odd though this placement was given Tatsuki's feminine form, Akashi seemed to have no second thoughts whatsoever about this action. "That one's familiar too," he said in a subconscious moment of acknowledging the girl beyond the Avatar(s). The name that emerged from his mouth was a whisper, seemingly spoken aloud accidentally and meant for none other than himself. "Ashi... kaga..."

The Chieftain thought these pair were strange, but as a Lizardman, he and the rest of the army had an automatic respect for this pair. What's more, he had a certain understanding of what they were getting at. "You two were the Adventurers? Then the Ancestors have seen fit to grant you the highest honor as their envoys!" Akashi had no concern for this chatter. He wasn't sure exactly what happened to the pair of them, but he did know there was something to be gained from this interaction. "So, we're like your gods now? I guess there's no need to even mention the support for our Guild, then."

[Apollymi]

The conversation between Tatsuki and Akashi only grew stranger over time. Both of them seemed to be aware at least partially that they were other people before the moment of assuming this particular form. And beyond that point, it seemed that Akashi recognized Tatsuki for much more than she was at face value. "Is it?" she asked, as if confused. Her finger now against his heart, she could say much the same. She saw within her mind the face of the boy she'd come to know as Kou and looming over that the tag of the gamer she'd come to respect in the streets of the city she grew up in. While she thought this over though, a whispered name came from the mouth of Akashi. She could almost swear he'd said something she'd recognized but... she had to be mistaken. Whatever the case the light of recognition in her eyes shifted to the Chieftain who mentioned the pair of them were envoys of the gods this tribe of people served. "Sou ka... that makes sense," she said. To the Chieftain she also had something in passing to say. "What he said," she mentioned.

[Bloodedge]

Akashi's attention remained oddly fixated on Tatsuki, even as they both carried on a discussion with the Lizardman Chieftain. He had come back to the level of familiarity he had with Miki, as well as the person beyond the Avatars, but his current self processed this in a different way than Kou. Even with this amount of focus though, he managed to continue listening to the Chieftain. "Your Guild? Well yes, of course. There is only one problem..." the Lizardman started, prompting Akashi to raise a brow. "We are far weaker than the other kingdoms, you see. There was once a great Chieftain among us who led the Marshes as a true and respected land, but I am without a name."

Akashi may have been listening, but he thought his own exploration of Tatsuki to be something more pertinent. The girl bore an interesting amount of exposed flesh, and his fingernail remained against her torso, gliding along it as he watched the steam erupt from the contact of their natural barriers. "You don't burn," he said casually before addressing the Chieftain's concern. "So, you don't have a name, and that means your kingdom isn't up to par? Get a name then."

[Apollymi]

Without the absent mannerisms of Akashi, Tatsuki's attention also remained on the other Dragonoid. She found the weight of his stare to be something she had to meet, lest she feel somehow weaker for not addressing it directly. Just the same, she had already come to terms with her understanding of herself and this lad as the pair of adventurer's who'd come to this place together. As such she was becoming more comfortable in this moment, all the same she wasn't exactly the same person she'd been before this point in time, she didn't have her usual reactions. Even as her ears gathered the words of the Chieftain she seemed less than bothered by what he had to say, enough that she didn't immediately reply.

In the meantime, her attention fully returned to Akashi, who had a single nail gliding along the exposed portion of her body, and strangely, the claw which had been over the boy's heart, was soon travelling a similar path along his exposed torso. At the same time steam was rising from the point where her finger aimed to make contact as well. Their natural defenses seemed to cancel each other out, "No, I don't burn..." she stated. "You don't drown," she said as she figured out that her own abilities should have surrounded this lad by virtue of how close he chose to be while she touched him as such. "Unnamed leaders are a problem... but getting a name shouldn't be difficult," she said seeming to find his words unnecessary as the problem he claimed to have didn't seem to have a reachable answer.

[Bloodedge]

"No, I don't drown," Akashi said to the female Dragonoid, whilst maintaining his transfixed gaze upon her steaming flesh. He seemed just as unfazed by the contact she forced on him, as she seemed to be by his forced contact. "This is a lot of open skin." As these words were spoken, he stared more intently, even tilting his head.

The Chieftain seemed quite surprised by the words of these two. Surely they didn't realize the gravity of the situation, but from what he was hearing, this pair intended to offer him a name. "Are you saying... you would name me!?" he asked of them. Akashi sighed, but didn't offer the Chieftain much more attention. "What's the big deal? If you don't have a name, and your kid was Sharrkan, just be Sharrkan. It's not that complicated," Akashi said, unknowingly causing the Nexus to interact with the Chieftain by granting the Lizardman a bright golden glow.

[Apollymi]

The mirrored speech that had been taking place between this pair when they were alone, returned seemingly without cause, as Akashi replied to Tatsuki in the same way she'd replied to him. There was something about this entire interaction which was still strange, but Tatsuki couldn't quite place what it was. Still the male Dragonoid stared at her steaming flesh and she stared at his, both of them having no real care for the conversation being had with the Chieftain. "Oh, is it?" she asked taking a brief moment to appraise herself, she supposed there was a lot of exposed flesh on her person, but as she realized more of her own tendencies when she was in her original body, she realized she was completely unperturbed by this level of nudity. "This is a lot of open skin." Tatsuki noted this lad had only clothing on and beyond that his vest was open and sleeveless, his torso was even more exposed than her own by this logic. As she stated this absolute fact her hand shifted so that more of her fingers made contact and thus more steam was created. She didn't understand the questioning of this Lizardman about the nature of being given a name and perhaps there was something more to it they hadn't considered. Whatever the case, she was more interested in the Dragonoid male before her than she'd ever be in the old Lizardman Chieftain, or so she thought...

There was soon something which caught the attention from the corner of her eye, as soon after Akashi told the Chieftain to simply take the name of his dead son, the man began to glow. "Sou ka..." she said finally seeming to grasp why it was such a big deal to the man moments before that he could be named by this pair. It became apparent by what was happening that it was impossible for someone without a name, to name themselves, as such the golden glow around this Lizardman was obviously him being granted a name by Akashi in this moment.

[Bloodedge]

"... It is," said Akashi, altering the response he would have given. At the same time, he used his free hand to pull on his jacket and open it more, as if inviting the intensified touch of Tatsuki. A sly grin was upon his face as he did this; he clearly didn't have a care in the world. His gaze briefly fell upon the glowing Chieftain. He suddenly remembered words spoken by the mount Xerxes, regarding being named and evolving because of it. Akashi saw a glimpse of the new Sharrkan being reverted to a much younger, more physically fit and imposing form. Sharrkan's scales became a more vibrant blue, his muscles grew and toned themselves, and his white mane became thicker and more luxurious than its previous stringy appearance.

The other Lizardmen of the Marsh Kingdom knelt before their Chieftain, who was quickly ascending to the state of proper King. "The Ancestors have given me a name! Great ones, I thank you! This blessing is the highest honor; you have my support for the rest of my days!" Akashi sighed again. He had already returned to staring down Tatsuki, caring little about the Lizardmen and their power structure. At this point, his entire hand was pressed against Tatsuki's abdomen. "I like this."

[Apollymi]

There was a slight shift in the way that Akashi replied to the previous statements of Tatsuki. This still mirrored her own but was offset by his current level of openness, which showed itself by virtue of him moving clothing out of the way of her encroaching hand as if to encourage the contact she went on to provide. In the time period in which her eyes shifted away from Akashi she got to witness the transformation of the Lizardman Chieftain into a much younger and more virile form. Even so, it didn't seem to appeal to her in anyway, and her eyes returned to Akashi even as it was claimed that the pair of them would have the support of the Chieftain so long as he lived. "Good," was all she replied to this 'Kings' assertions. It seemed he was very grateful, but somehow Tatsuki felt like this was simply something which should have occurred.

Still there was Akashi, whose entire hand was soon pressed against the exposed flesh of her abdomen causing extra steam to well up around them. At the same time her own hand had settled in a very similar way against his abs. This was a very interesting sensation for her, and one she appreciated, but it seemed she wasn't alone in this appraisal. As her eyes met Akashi's once more, the lad mentioned liking this and Tatsuki could only reply one way. "Me too," she broke the usual banter they maintained in this moment if only to admit she enjoyed this sort of contact, all while she leaned ever closer as if she had no intention of physically creating more space between them. Though these two adventurers were acquainted with each other, this level of intensity was normally missing from their interactions.

[Bloodedge]

"What she said." This was all Akashi had to say to this Lizardman 'King' for the moment. It became apparent that he was not the only one so transfixed, as Tatsuki pressed against him in a way which mimicked his own intensity. There was even a time in which eye contact was reached between the two, and Tatsuki reduced the amount of distance between them. Akashi shifted forward at the same pace, disregarding the Lizardmen as his wings flapped slowly behind him. His hand rose from Tatsuki's abdomen, after which he rested his palm on her chest. As odd as this entire exchange was, Akashi felt as if everything he and Tatsuki were doing was completely normal behavior. "Fight's over. Job's done. What now?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed there was agreement between this pair and both were content (for the most part), to almost completely ignore the Lizardmen near them for the sake of their own furthered entertainment. Both disregarded anything considered normal for interactions between two people, and neither seemed to care very much about it. As proof of this, Akashi's palm soon met the female Dragonoid's chest. Normal etiquette would have dictated some sort of withdrawal, and most definitely some extreme form of embarrassment given the number of people around to see such an interaction. But none of this came from the lass. Instead her gaze never shifted and the only physical reaction to such an action was the shifting of her tail from side to side behind her, and a slight hissing inhale which didn't indicate displeasure. Nothing about this seemed wrong to her in her present state, and given the lad had stepped forward she felt the internal and innate desire to not back down at all. Her hand began to casually travel lower and lower down his exposed torso, not even seeming to register a proper stopping point until the lad spoke again. And when he did, her hand came to rest right in the curve of the exposed part of his pelvis right above the golden belt around his waist. "There are normally celebrations when we finish the fight and our job," she said without fathoming what she was doing in a meaningful way, and while maintaining that unbroken eye contact. She enjoyed this closeness and didn't want him to stop. As the rest of the Lizardmen watched, none seemed to take issue with what they were seeing either for whatever reason.

[Bloodedge]

The Lizardmen were of no importance whatsoever after the final words shared with Sharrkan. Akashi had become fully immersed in his interaction with the other Dragonoid, who had shifted her own hand to match his own boldness. The Lizardmen seemed to be excited, with Sharrkan as no exception to this clause. However, this fact was lost to Akashi. His unwavering gaze no longer permitted so much as a blink. Either there was legitimately something occurring between this pair, or they were simply caught in some intense game of chicken. Either way, Akashi's right hand maintained a firm placement upon the lass. "Hoh? What kind of celebration?" he asked as his flapping wings began to lift him into the air.

[Apollymi]

The excitement of the Lizardmen around them could be linked to many things, none of them at the forefront of the mind of Tatsuki. Instead all of her focus was on Akashi who had upped the ante of their current interaction. She followed suit seeming to find nothing wrong with her actions. She was also unblinking as the lad maintained firm placement about her body her own index finger slipped into his waist line crooking gently to pull him closer. Her own wings flapped as well as she began to rise as well, off the ground with the knowledge that the dance which had taken place between them earlier would likely continue. "A celebration between us," she mentioned without any hesitation but also without managing to be specific about what she intended. This could have simply been part of their game of chicken, it could also simply be the way this version of the young adventurer was. Whatever the case, she'd all but forgotten the Lizardmen and even thoughts of regular things like collecting potential pay or loot.

[Bloodedge]

"Between us, huh?" asked Akashi. His query was fully in rhetoric, as he had a few ideas for what sort of celebration would ensue. As Tatsuki slipped her finger into Akashi's belt line to pull him closer, many of the Lizardmen - including Sharrkan - looked on in awe at the rising Dragonoids. "Ancestors grace us. We are permitted to behold the mating dance!" Sharrkan said to his subjects. The grin upon Akashi's face had become more wicked, and as his hand began to move down Tatsuki's torso again, his tail moved around his right side with the intention of wrapping around the lass. Whatever these two intended to come of this ritual, an interruption would soon present itself. As Akashi moved ever closer to his fellow Dragonoid, the massive power previously wielded by the young Sharrkan appeared again...

The white Lizardman Shaman was no more; this was true. However, that Sharrkan had not simply been an entity of this world. In fact, he was a player much like the Adventurers who felled the Shaman. Here he was now, stepping out into the open in the form of a human from Earth. He wore white canvas shoes, skinny blue jeans, and an oversize turtleneck sweater. His large white hair separated around his face to reveal only the bottom half, his right eye - which happened to be a deep aquamarine the likes of which had been seen in Sharrkan - and one lens of the red-framed glasses he sported. "Ano... someone killed me..." he said, grabbing the attention of the entire Lizardman army who sensed the familiar presence of the former Shaman.

[Apollymi]

There was no verbal reply from Tatsuki to the rhetorical question posed by Akashi. Instead the simple moment of eye contact intensified, and she only chuckled and gave an affirmative nod. Of course, as they rose, the excitement of the Lizardmen was voiced by the newly named Sharrkan. Apparently the reason they still had such an audience was because they thought to see an apparent mating dance. Still the girl found herself unable to stop of her own accord. The tail of this lad was soon wrapping itself around her, and her own mirrored this. But even as they grew ever closer together, they would eventually be interrupted by the appearance of a strange young man.

A human boy who seemed like a bit of a sheltered school boy, with eyes the same color as the white Lizardman Shaman appeared before them. Only now he wore regular human clothing. He even made the claim that he'd been killed this day and this was enough to finally break the attention that Akashi had on her. "It was me," Tatsuki mentioned having no problem admitting her part in the death of the Lizardman Shaman who previously bore the name Sharrkan. Still something about this situation was problematic and would require the attention of the pair properly. Mainly if this lad was in fact the previous Lizardman Shaman, it meant there was a bit less to worry about being in this world, knowing that death wasn't quite the level of permanent that it would have been in their own world. To confirm this information the girl's gaze found itself upon the white haired lad, and she looked for his player information to confirm he hadn't just re-rolled himself.

[Bloodedge]

Akashi's focus was clear, but it was not allowed to be unwavering. The arrival of this human who felt like Sharrkan was a massive distraction that he didn't seem to appreciate, though he gave it his attention regardless. Since Tatsuki admitted to her participation in killing the lad, he decided to join in after heaving a sigh. "And me. Wanna die again?" he asked in all seriousness. The boy below chuckled lightly, shaking his head. "I'd rather not. Sorry for what I was doing. That form was in control; I'm not that much of a bad guy. I'm Rook," he said as the glow of the Nexus began to encompass him. "I guess I'll just have to make a new character." When this was said, Akashi looked toward the lad who called himself Rook. He was still quite dissatisfied with the interruption, but he now had the ability to watch as someone forcibly went through the strange phenomenon that occurred accidentally between himself and Tatsuki earlier. "Hmm..."

[Apollymi]

The indication that this boy was interrupting was quite clear. Though Tatsuki was dissatisfied by her potential interruption, she saw to them regardless. Sparing only a moment to chuckle when Akashi asked the lad if he wanted to die again. It was stated by the white haired young man, that he wasn't a bad guy, and the character he'd previously been using had been in control of his actions while it was his avatar. Tatsuki could understand this a bit, and found it true to her current situation. Even so, the lad spoke of simply making another character, and while the pair of them were still very into their own moment it seemed both of them had a bit of piqued curiosity surrounding the thing they'd managed accidentally a few moments before. "Hm..." she also expressed curiosity and a single eye aimed towards the lad who'd decided to become someone different. She was content to witness this moment, but did so from her current position wrapped around the flame-haired male.

[Bloodedge]

Akashi's placement also didn't shift. Even as he observed the small changes happening to Rook, he remained in close proximity to Tatsuki, with his tail fully wrapped around her midsection. In fact, the front of his body was eventually pressed against the girl, though his gaze settled on Rook. Rook's transformation granted him a slight increase to his already decent height, though it also slimmed his body, gave him a strange black skin-tight suit with golden armor segments and a crimson shawl, and added a crimson liner under his now piercing eyes. These eyes opened and fell upon the Dragonoids, and a cheeky smirk appeared on the reborn male's visage. "By the way, you two may want to find some privacy... don't you think?" he asked of them. To this, Akashi had only a single word to say as his tail shifted along Tatsuki's back. "... Nah."

[Apollymi]

Akashi ended up pressed against Tatsuki's front as they witnessed the birth of this new avatar. It was a strange thing to see, but she supposed she'd recently undergone the same thing, given this she had no room to judge. Beyond this point the changes to the lad seemed relatively minor, at the very least he kept the most of his human appearance and gained only strange clothing and red eye liner beneath his eyes. When they finally opened again, he looked towards the pair, claiming they might want to find privacy. Tatsuki couldn't agree with this, even as she found herself wrapped in the tail of the male with her, and more than obviously claimed by this amount of closeness. "What he said," she mentioned seeming to have no problem with being witnessed presently, though admittedly that likely would have been a hangup of her as a person. Still she was very much enjoying this moment and seemed content to be wrapped up in the warmth of this lad's body, her unoccupied arm wrapped around him, her tail flickering about his lower back all while she appeared to be less interested now that the finality of the lad's form had taken place.

[Bloodedge]

"Hmm... well, whatever," the lad said with a shrug, realizing these Dragonoids would not listen to advice even if it were given earnestly. As if to confirm this, Akashi returned his attention to Tatsuki and ceased the movement of his tail in exchange for having it grip the female's midsection. "Anyway. That celebration," said Akashi, only seconds before the lad below had something else to say. "So, I'll join your party then! My name like this is... Karna." And with that, Akashi sighed again. His left hand was free enough, so he aimed it in Karna's direction whilst filling his palm with flames. "Should I kill it? Do you want to?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed this new version of Sharrkan was much more agreeable, but he happened to have met the pair of adventurers while they were lesser in the same department. They'd done all they felt necessary to appease general conversation and further more had secured the Lizardmen and the Marsh Kingdom's backing for their endeavors. With this in mind they were more than ready to continue on to their celebration, which surely didn't include anyone else, and was likely inappropriate for anyone else anyways. "Yes, we..." she gave pause even as her wings flapped and she'd prepared to keep moving. Of course, this entire line of thought was completely disrupted. She made a noise which sounded something like distaste. There were several reasons for this, being interrupted, again. The idea that this former Lizardman who'd caused them so much trouble wished to join their party, the fact that he'd decided to give them his name even though neither Dragonoid had asked for it. She also sighed, watching as the flames grew from his hands and feeling happily squeezed in front of him. "I already killed him once. It'd be your turn... that being said..." she gave the air a sniff and allowed her gaze to follow this smell and avert her attention a bit more than normal. "I don't find his very existence as annoying as I did previously. If he wants to join us... check and see if he's worth it," she said assuming the lad would shoot the fireball at the lad or come up with some other test of his usefulness. Which ever case happened she remained wrapped around Akashi having no obvious interest in the male below aside from his potential usefulness.

[Bloodedge]

Tatsuki's reaction to Akashi's query made it clear that she had no desire to slay this other player again. She did make an interesting point, though. Akashi could also tell that this Karna Avatar was not so pitiful as the former Sharrkan, and would thus perhaps make a good pet, or something of the sort for their party. As such, he placed his right arm around Tatsuki, just above where his tail was, and... he unleashed the flames in his left hand as a raging inferno toward Karna. The white-haired male below didn't seem to think very much of this. He almost seemed to have expected it as his left arm rose and materialized a strange lance with a sun-shaped tip to divide the flames around him. This took a great deal of physical force to maintain, but the weapon Karna used was quite potent. The lance and its master both remained relatively unscathed as their surroundings were marred by the purgatory flames, and Akashi managed to only chuckle. "Yare yare. I guess we could use a pet. The other one's all grown up now."

[Apollymi]

Akashi wrapped his right arm around her body above his tail as he unleashed a great deal of flame below. Strangely, the lad beneath them met this with a unique weapon and though he didn't directly counter the flames, he did manage to part them. When they cleared he showed himself to be no worse for wear than he'd been before, which meant he was indeed quite a bit stronger than his previous incarnation. "Sou ka..." she said gaining some understanding of this new form of the lad. She appreciated him, and agreed completely that he would make a new good pet, as Xerxes had become something much greater as well. A small smile formed on her face as she continued to hold and be held by the other Dragonoid Male. "Hm, I guess we should greet him properly then..." she said taking note that it would be necessary to solidify the nature of their party connection in the passing moments. Though she was apparently quite comfortable in the warmth created by Akashi's body so close to her own. She used her left arm to stab her sword into the ground as she aimed to lower just a bit and when she did she extended this hand towards Karna. "Tatsuki."

[Bloodedge]

Akashi was neither impressed nor unimpressed visually by the survival of Karna, but the ashen-haired lad at least had the attention of both Dragonoids. When Tatsuki decided to descend and put away her sword to meet their new pet, Akashi descended as well. Never did his tail move from around Tatsuki, though he did give enough of a care to extend his free left fist toward the new Party member. "... Akashi," he said. Karna stepped forward, taking the hand of Tatsuki in his right, and pressing his left fist against Akashi's simultaneously. "Nakama," he spoke, solidifying the joining of the Party. Interestingly though, Karna appeared differently in this party than the other two, who shared gained Experience evenly. The ratio was presently 40-40-20 in favor of the original Party members, though Karna himself seemed to have no need of Experience at present, so the full amount was destined to be split between Kou and Miki... assuming they were able to return to those forms. "Are we done being friendly now? I was busy."

[Apollymi]

Even as Tatsuki greeted this new member of their party and her hand was met by his, her body was still wrapped up in Akashi's tail. This didn't seem to bother her in the least, though it was admittedly something which would likely seem strange. She viewed their party structure and found that it favored both herself and Akashi, evenly but only added in their newest addition in a way which made him out to be lesser. She would have had the presence of mind to wonder if this was because of the nature of the party created by the pair of them initially or if it was because their current forms only viewed Karna as a pet. Either way it was obvious that this little distraction was only meant to be little to them. After she was done with this greet she reached for her sword once more not wanting to leave it, but becoming sure that she and Akashi would be going back to what they were doing before this, whatever that counted as. Sword now in hand her tail twitched slightly as it slithered back into its original position and she moved properly back towards the embrace she'd been in originally. "I assume so..." she said calmly. "Met the new pet, saved the Lizardfolk... back to our celebration, right?" she questioned rhetorically a sly smirk appearing on her face as she started to devote her full attention back to Akashi.

[Bloodedge]

Akashi was clearly not the only one who was more concerned with the idea of continuing their little 'celebration' from earlier. Any potential distractions seemed to have been taken care of, and the Lizardfolk were content to observe the ritual they'd grown up hearing tales of. Karna was completely indifferent aside from the fact that he'd rather have found the pair at a better time... or perhaps even in different forms.

"Ou. No more interruptions." These words were spoken by Akashi as he pressed himself against Tatsuki, preparing to fully commit to whatever this celebration would be. In that moment, however, there was indeed one final interruption. Akashi's body began to overheat at an incredibly rapid pace; his form couldn't even handle the sudden surge of power coming from his core. This came as an incredible surprise to the male Dragonoid, but in a matter of mere moments, that didn't matter. His form seemingly melted away, returning to the state of being known as Kou, who stood in Akashi's place with a face colored by blood. "Eto..."

[Apollymi]

And just when it seemed as if they'd finally be getting back to the business at hand, something strange took place the likes of which Tatsuki couldn't have possibly imagined. Akashi pulled her body into his and she already being wrapped around him seemed to be fine with this. Moreover he declared there would be no further interruptions but before anything of substance could take place between them the lad's temperature increased by a rapid amount. This wasn't something that Tatsuki had an explanation for, nor did she care to think of one she was left strangely confused by the lad's reversion to his former form as Kou. Nothing of the sort had happened to her, and given this she was left only to look over this from strangely. "I am confused..." she mentioned as she stared down this form of the lad choosing to poke him gently, in the chest, with her tail while trying to find an explanation for this change.

[Bloodedge]

Kou was quite surprised, though it wasn't at all due to the sudden return to this form. Rather, one could say it was the person within both Avatars who was taken aback by the occurrences between Tatsuki and his other self. 'I remember everything... Why did I do any of that? Why was she doing that!?' was all he could think within the confines of his mind. Of course, being the only one to revert to a more human form, Kou was to be subjected to the continued mannerisms of Tatsuki, first in the form of her tail prodding his chest. "I uhh... I think I ran out of juice. Why are you jabbing me?"

[Apollymi]

Kou's return to his human form was something that was unappreciated by Tatsuki who'd now lost the pointed entertainment of her day by the loss of Akashi. Even so, the more timid version of him, seemed to be deep in thought and something maybe even akin to panic. "You ran out of juice?" she said it as if it was question but it wasn't. She could definitely tell the lad had burnt out a few seconds ago, still it was more than a bit surprising considering her thoughts a few moments before this. "That is... a bit boring for me," mentioned the white haired lass. "Oh well," she said seeming to have given up on whatever immediate desire she'd intended to have fulfilled by Akashi. Soon after he asked her about her activities in poking him. "To figure out how warm you are..." she mentioned of her poking behavior. True enough the physical aspects of nature granted by this Dragonoid form. Though she fully acknowledged that Kou was also Akashi, he wasn't currently the match to her current form, so her interest in him was lessened a great deal. Still not enough to make her completely remove herself from him. She stopped poking him and hovered just off the ground nearby instead, content to play guardian to this lesser form until Akashi showed himself again.

[Bloodedge]

Tatsuki's response was not a very pleasant one. Kou seemed taken aback by the mention that things had become a bit boring for the female Dragonoid, as no matter which way it was considered, the change of Akashi back to Kou was the key reason for such a thing. "Oh... well..." he muttered, raising his left hand to rub the back of his head. There was a bit of disappointment to be taken from this, but as always, there was nothing to do but move on. Of course, there wasn't much moving on to be done, when Tatsuki - in spite of hovering above the ground - left her tail around him. He looked toward this tail quizzically, almost as if wondering why she'd bothered leaving it there. In the end, he figured the optimal approach would be to ask a simple question. "So uh... what do you think we should do now?"

[Apollymi]

Tatsuki watched keenly the shifts in Kou's disposition as she answered his questions. It seemed that he wasn't pleased by these responses, but they made sense to her just the same. And by virtue of remaining so close to him, she got to witness his ability to move past the thing he found so uncomfortable about this situation. The stare she gave was disconnected from the type of person she normally was, there was alien and animal disposition behind her thoughts now. "I...don't understand you," she said this as a moment of observation but it changed nothing about what she was doing. She watched him stare at her tail and shifted it just a little without removing it from his person. Still there was another question on the table unrelated to the extension of her person around his body. A gentle flap of her wings and she'd look lazily around the area. "I choose before, my choosing now..." she paused her speech. "Isn't necessary. You can choose in this case... the Lizardfolk seem to want to do something. That would probably be more agreeable to you... Karna is also a somewhat viable option for input. If you wish to do something... I am agreeable to it," the Dragonoid lass said, watching as the Lizardmen seemed to give up on witnessing whatever mating ritual they thought would be taking place here. Instead it seemed other preparations were being made, ones which the boy in the form of his adventurer might enjoy. And though Tatsuki herself found very little interesting, she thought she could still enjoy being by this lad's side and seeing what became of his adventure. Whatever she was presently thinking, she still respected the lad enough to defer to his activity of choice when she wouldn't be getting the thing she'd initially suggested. Strangely, this form of her wouldn't defer to someone she didn't respect and by bouncing potential favor back to the lad, she was giving him a bit of a compliment. She also still retained enough interest in him as a person to prefer his company to others. Even if she couldn't enjoy him the way she'd initially intended.

[Bloodedge]

Kou's eyes widened. Tatsuki stating simply that she didn't understand him was more confusing to the young male than anything else thus far, and it was frankly a statement which applied in the other direction as well. If this Dragonoid form didn't understand the Avatar Kou, it could just as easily be said that the person behind Kou didn't understand the versions of Tatsuki. This was made even worse when Tatsuki chose to offer him the choice in their next activity. Thus far, Kou had been given reason to assume Tatsuki was the type of individual to be a dominating presence at all times, and thus would not be one open to suggestions from lesser beings. That was at least how he remembered feeling in the form of Akashi. "Eh? Well, I guess if I had to choose... I'd want to get a head start on getting our last approval for the Guild. We've had celebrations with everyone else so far, though, so I'd hate to leave the Lizardfolk out of the loop," he said in a more sheepish manner than he normally managed. At this point in the discussion, the Chieftain/King Sharrkan stepped forward and bowed to the Adventurers. "It would be our honor to host our saviors and champions. My daughter will surely see to the arrangements."

[Apollymi]

Tatsuki watched as the lad's eyes widened at her initial speech. She didn't know the cause of this apparent surprise, but she was quite keen to find it out. Everything about this lad gave her an unknown bit of confusion. Perhaps it was because she understood him in his other form, or maybe it was because of her own unresolved issues, whatever the case, she found herself staring with great intensity. In this time the lad spoke of wanting to continue their initial goal of getting approval from the other kingdoms and starting the guild. She was agreeable to this, but he also claimed that being part of the celebration with the Lizardfolk was something he wished to do. Her understanding of this was, that he'd feel bad if he didn't extend the same kindness to the Lizardfolk, that they'd extended to the other places they'd visited and championed. As she stared at him, she found his sheepishness about this point to be quite different. "Sou ka..." she said accepting his logic. Beyond this while they were discussing these points, the former Chieftain known as Sharrkan made his way to the pair of adventurers, adding in that his daughter would without a doubt contribute to making sure this pair was hosted properly. The angled red eyes of Tatsuki shifted, as the group was soon approached by a newcomer.

This newcomer was the apparent daughter of the former Chieftain, but not much of her could be seen. She was wearing a cloak which covered her face, and carried with her a staff of obvious magical persuasion. Her body was small, a great deal smaller than the other Lizardfolk present, and she seemed to be an adolescent by comparison. "I am the daughter of our King. It is a pleasure to meet our saviors. I had already taken the liberties of making arrangements for the pair of you. You also have honored seating at the banquet for our Father's Name Day Feast!" she said firmly but her voice was rather soft. "If you wish to celebrate with us, it will be so! And we'd be honored to have the Envoy of our Ancestors among us along with our savior!" she mentioned bowing to both of these individuals. "The Guardian has such foresight! The saviors plan to feast with us!" this was a word from a stray lizardman in the crowd and it caught the attention of Tatsuki in a very strange way. These people had also referred to their leader by his title, and this made her assume something which she stated in this moment. "Sou ka, you don't have a name either..." the Dragonoid mentioned. She felt strangely that this lass had gone through the trouble of accommodating them, even before she was certain they'd be staying. Such foresight deserved more recognition, in the eyes of the female Dragonoid. Even so, her words wouldn't initially seem agreeable. "That's problematic... I can't refer to you as such. You can't guard me..." Tatsuki said, before continuing forward. "I think...you should be Shalza. I call you that..." she said, naming the lass with purpose and watching as the Nexus took the initiative to rename the Guardian of the Lizardfolk. She grew to a much larger size, gaining an adult body which stretched the armor warn beneath. Her tail gained length and even her smile stretched and her lavender colored scaled glowed temporarily with power. She gained longer ears and amber eyes. "Our saviors named me. Ancestors be praised!" she said clasping onto her father and happily crying about this newfound power.

Upon witnessing this moment Tatsuki peeked over the shoulder of Kou and sighed. "Sou ka, they are both like that..." she murmured seeming to find some distinct pleasure in having named the lass appropriately after her father.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai," was Kou's simple response to the Dragonoid. He wasn't quite sure why he'd been put in this predicament, where he'd returned to this state while Tatsuya remained as she was, but it had become an awkward scenario rather quickly. Nevertheless, they would at least be able to continue their normal business. If things remained this way, there would at least be Karna to act as some form of median between personalities... hopefully. For the moment, though, the Adventurers would be met by the Lizard King's daughter. She seemed to have already organized a banquet in honor of the Marsh Kingdom's saviors, as well as the 'Name Day' of the new King, though Tatsuki took issue with the female Lizard being nameless. She was quick to rectify this problem, much to the newly-named Shalza's satisfaction. In this form from an outside perspective, Kou sensed a strange transference of energies between Tatsuki, Shalza, and some other strange entity that could only involve the Nexus itself. He was actually more concerned with this than he was by Shalza's reaction to being named.

If Kou had any questions regarding this strange transfer, it would be Karna who stepped up to answer. "You're both new here, huh? Ever notice how Champions have names, but normal MOBs don't? Yeah. That," he said with a shrug. Such a clause resulted in a raised brow from Kou. He understood Karna's meaning, yet still thought it strange how many mechanics this world shared with the video game version of it... Especially when this was clearly no longer just a game.

[Apollymi]

"Sou ka..." this was spoken in response to the idea that naming was the mechanic that made monsters and mobs unique in this world, but that would be put on the back burner for a few seconds. The strangeness between Kou and the Dragonoid surprisingly, wouldn't last nearly as long as it could. After the naming of the female Lizard, Tatsuki body began to ripple with energy. It was a bit like watching a rock skip across a pond. Such would happen until it reached the core of her person, and then, in a gentle splash the energy fell away and the Avatar of Miki was left behind thereafter. It was such a unique feeling to return to herself that the now blonde lass was once again getting a feel for her own body. She slapped her cheeks and had a look at her hair and even spun around in a circle. 'Yep that shit is weird. Really fucking weird. Animal instincts are not a good mix with my general personality...' she had an entire mental tirade while blushing intensely due to remembering her own feelings and knowing at least somewhere deep inside that they were indeed her own feelings. 'Ugh, I almost turned into one of those bound by fate love stories I like so much...' she ended the tirade rubbing her own face and realizing that she was silently having this entire conversation without saying anything to anyone else. "Um... too much energy in naming people, huh?" she said aloud finally gathering herself. She supposed she'd expended a lot of her own energy must making a sword out of her discarded arm in the moments prior to this as well.

[Bloodedge]

Kou was relieved to see a change occurring in Tatsuki, coming in the form of her return to the previous Avatar of Miki. He had nothing against the Tatsuki Avatar, but he had quite a few problems with the situations that occurred between her and the Akashi version of himself. 'Oh. Good... It'd be too awkward if I had to deal with all that again. That other me liked it, but that was just way too real for me,' he thought. Aloud, he chose to address Miki's statement about the energy cost of naming. "Yeah, now that I can feel it happening from the outside, it seemed to be pretty costly. Oh, and uhh... welcome back."

Karna coughed while stepping between the two newer Adventurers, drawing attention prior to any move toward the Lizardfolk's banquet. "Maybe the two of you can go to this celebration without being wrapped up in each other... in whatever way you planned on doing that. Or... ways? I dunno," he said with another step forward, leading him toward Shalza. "Sister? No, not like this. Shalza. Congratulations on your naming. I thought I'd have to name you myself eventually."

[Apollymi]

Miki having returned to herself was left to feel all sorts of ways, but much like Kou she was quite relieved. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the Tatsuki avatar, it was simply that her current mindset wouldn't allow her to properly digest her previous behavior. 'Ugh, I wouldn't really mind though...' the girl started to think something only to hear the words spoken by Kou. He stated that he'd observed the energy consumption from the outside and knew it to be costly and also welcomed her back to her original avatar's form. "Hai, Tadaima~" she responded sheepishly. Feeling quite her normal self she reached out for her now floating pillow to clutch it into herself, taking her off the ground in the moment. Meanwhile the newest addition to their party, made a comment that made the girl's face flush horridly red. Was she aware of what she'd said and done as her other avatar? Yes, but she didn't need that immediately thrown in her face from the outside perspective. "Ugh, I kind of want to kill you again..." she muttered into her pillow.

Soon after this Karna approached Shalza who was still just amazed that she'd been named. Even so, her superior senses let her turn to the lad who'd been her brother and she recognized him for what he was. "You would have named me?" she asked the lad with tears glistening unshed in her eyes. Of course, she soon toughened her exterior and crossed her arms somewhat pompously. "Even scaleless you are my brother. Be mindful not to upset our Saviors... your honor might help you earn back your scales..."

[Bloodedge]

Kou's eyes widened upon hearing the interjection of Karna. His face became a brilliant shade of red, and he turned his head away. He was completely taken aback with no proper response to the new addition to their Party, whereas Karna managed to produce the quickest of responses to Miki's mutterings. "Please. I could kill both of you in my sleep right now," he said calmly, moving on right away. A scoff passed the former Lizardman's lips in response to Shalza's query. He seemed indifferent until Shalza's visage hardened, at which point she spoke of his connection to her, as well as his ability to 'earn back' his scales. "No scales for me, I'm afraid. I'll keep the fangs. Maybe I'll rebirth Sharrkan again later, when I'm bored with this form. So... this banquet you spoke of?"

[Apollymi]

Miki was still embarrassed, that being said, she still meant the words which had fallen out of her head. The immediate comeback of Karna made her eyes flickered up to the lad, and mentally she made a goal which she didn't speak aloud. Whatever this goal was, her normally displeased expression looked a bit more menacing than it did normally, and she averted her gaze without saying anything else. She didn't know why she felt this sort of animosity, perhaps it was a combination of too many emotions for a single go, or maybe it was suddenly being weak again after being powerful. But regardless she seemed to be deep in thought and would float quietly along wherever she intended to go.

With the silence of the saviors, Shalza was left to speak with her 'brother', who claimed he didn't want his scales again, but kept his fangs. He even claimed he might rebirth his other character at some point in the future. "If the Ancestors will it. So be it..." mentioned the Guardian of the Lizardfolk. Beyond all of this there was the bit about the actual banquet which brought her attention away from her own naming and general happiness. "Oh yes, of course. Saviors! The banquet is within the confines of the village. We've gathered some our greatest for food and drink. And offerings of all forms will be made to the Ancestors this day..." the Guardian mentioned. "If you would follow me..." she said giving another bow before heading off. At this, Miki perked up and floated along, this was a strange moment and she wondered how different it would be from their experiences with the other creatures of lore.

[Bloodedge]

"I think the Ancestors might be willing to make an arrangement," Karna said to the Lizard. With that, there was nothing left to do but attend the banquet prepared for the Saviors, and new royalty, of the Marsh Kingdom. He followed along behind Shalza, head held high with all the arrogance of an honored guest himself. Rather, one could say he was easily accepted by many of the Lizardfolk present, including King Sharrkan who still viewed Karna as his son. Kou remained abashed, though he moved forward nonetheless. For whatever reason, he could hear Karna snickering up ahead. He couldn't imagine why, but Karna had been one of the Lizardfolk for quite some time... and he knew what would transpire at celebrations such as what they were headed to.

[Apollymi]

There was a large gathering within the center of the Marshlands. A dais had been set up, complete with a bed of soft spongy leaves which made up a double sized throne which was meant for the guests of honor. Several fires blazed around the area in a circle, and another Dais would hold the King Sharrkan. The Lizardfolk all seemed to be moving about in various ways. Large plates of food and scantily-clad male and female Lizardfolk carried food about to various sources. Wooden cups were poured drink from vases which seemed to be made of terra cotta. 'Sou ka, they are like wild nature people. I can probably...' whatever thought was stopped by some very obvious public displays of affection taking place even within the center of this circle. 'Oh shit!' was her only thought as she stared out the corner of her eye as they walked.

All the while Shalza carried on as if such behavior was perfectly normal. "Saviors! This place is for you..." she said bowing before the dais. "We hope you find it most comfortable. All form of food and drink will be offered to you over the course of the night," said Shalza. At the speech of this recently named Guardian, Miki nodded, finally stopping staring at the train-wreck which was the outright way which the Lizardfolk seemed to approach life. It seemed their place of seating was set up as if it was intended for them to lounge about all day. Miki was fine with this given her own preferences while gaming and appreciated not being forced into an upright posture for too long. "Hai." she mumbled, still a bit distracted. Miki would wait properly for Kou to approach, before she'd also take a seat with him, using her weapon as a pillow for both of them.

[Bloodedge]

The trio joined the Lizardfolk at the location of their banquet. Kou was in utter disbelief from the moment he approached. There was an unusual amount of debauchery taking place at this celebration. In fact, Kou was quite certain he was witnessing full-on copulation between members of this humanoid reptilian species around the dining hall. 'Uh... This is what they mean by banquet?' he wondered. Still, he made a very conscious effort to keep his gaze averted from the promiscuous Lizardfolk, as well as from Miki as he kept on his path toward the arranged seating. Little did he know, his efforts would be in vain due to the eventual approach of local females wishing to acquire fertilized eggs, and strapping male specimens wishing to offer fertilization... both of whom sought their answer in the form of their 'Ancestors' the Dragonoid Saviors. Being quite the local to the Marsh Kingdom, Karna knew this group would be arriving to greet their saviors soon with their requests, so he was content to wait next to the throne. In the meantime, Kou accepted a strange tea-like beverage from a nearby Lizardman, and whispered over the cup to whichever of his associates heard him. "I'm not the only one who sees this happening, right?"

[Apollymi]

Miki was quite stunned by what she was witnessing, so much so that she initially had nothing to say. 'How are they so okay with this?' she wondered mentally as she watched with only what one would consider minor shame as copulation took place. Moreover once she and Kou were seated and he was drinking the strange tea drink offered him, Miki took one as well and upon hearing his words replied carefully looking within the cup she drank from. "Yeah, I definitely see it. I don't know why I am seeing it though..." she said as her mind began moving. Moreover there were young Lizardfolk males and females both standing before them as a group which made Miki's left brow raise. "I don't know enough about what motivates the Lizardfolk..." Miki said shifting her eyes towards Karna who was still standing by this throne. "Karna, what's going on here?" Miki directed her question towards the person with the most knowledge of it from their own experience. When they'd decided to travel the path of the Lizardfolk, they hadn't initially intended to befriend them, knowing this, they didn't have all the necessary information to make this celebration a happy one for everyone involved. And if what they were seeing was any indication, this might turn into some sort of international incident.

[Bloodedge]

"It looks like something that would happen on an HBO show..." Kou added following Miki's reply, hazarding a skeptical glance or two at the very free-willed Lizardfolk in the vicinity. What's more, certain members of the species approached the Adventurers on their joined throne, and one might note that the males alone were in line on Miki's side, while the females lined up before Kou. Synchronized kneeling would ensue from this group while Miki chose to address Karna for information regarding this approach. At long last, Karna was free to properly laugh at the fate of his new companions. "Survival is what's going on here. The Lizardfolk thrive in numbers, but the ancient texts speaks of their evolution to Dragonewts after being blessed by the Ancestors. You two are the Ancestors who descended from the heavens, but the Dance of Dragons never happened. The etchings say that if the Dance of Dragons goes unfinished, the Ancestors will bless their people with the evolution they've been waiting for," he explained. This shocked Kou, who began to mutter his way through his own understanding. "So... you mean..." he started, only to be interrupted by Karna. "The two of you didn't mate with each other, and everything they know says that means you're going to mate with them. They're lining up to see who each of you chooses."

[Apollymi]

"Yeah... reminds me of something I've..." there was a pause in Miki's speech as she realized the likeness in this moment to a show she'd followed religiously. 'Well, maybe it's different right? It can't be anything like...' whatever her thoughts were they paused in light of what was being said by Karna. Karna who mentioned that it was expected that the pair of them would have mated before. That did indeed seem to be where that was going, but it didn't really finish as such. Beyond that they were both now having lines of males and females in front of them, apparently waiting for them to choose a pair of them wanting to provide them with genetic material. "Why is that the leap? Who thinks that makes sense?" Miki asked aloud to Kou, knowing that it was likely he'd agree with her. 'It is crazy! I am human, a human teenager, at best I could have one maybe two kids but that is still an investment in time.' she thought quickly. 'Wait... why am I even trying to rationalize this? I didn't end up making it with the one person I know and consider a friend. I am not mating with a random Lizardman! Why would it be assumable I'd choose one of them when I didn't technically end up finishing with the one person it would have made sense to do it with?' Miki's mind raced her thoughts were too much even as she looked down on the bowed groups of people. She looked to Kou and aimed to begin the solo link of mental connection. 'I've never... I can't... I won't.' she stumbled through trying to explain her current disposition but settled firmly that she would not be participating in such an action with the Lizardfolk. She was too human and too much herself to think such a thing would be interesting. She wasn't about the Lizardfolk and she wouldn't even entertain it. Even her Dragonoid form didn't entertain the thoughts of the Lizardmen as her equal, as a human she didn't think herself better than them, but she had different emotions guiding her choices.

[Bloodedge]

Just as Kou expected, it seemed these Lizardfolk sought a method of producing a new breed of their kin through mating with Kou and Miki due to their Dragonoid forms. What Kou was more bothered about, though, was the alleged Dance of Dragons referenced in Karna's explanation. 'Sou ka. That did almost happen, huh?' he thought, his face reddening again at the idea. More to the point though, Miki seemed resolved to take no part in any mating with the Lizardfolk, and Kou had to agree with his response through their link. 'I don't want anything to do with that. Don't they have cloacae?' he replied. Karna, though he had no place in this exchange, figured the two would be against the Lizardfolk method of advancement. As such, he stepped out in front of their throne and faced the pair of them, leaning forward with a sly grin on his face. "Oi, I get it. Neither of you wants to do anything like that. It's in the ancient texts though, so there are expectations now that you're involved. You could always just finish the Dance of Dragons~"

[Apollymi]

'Right?! They don't even have normal junk. We're human proper at this point, I don't even know if that works. I don't want to figure it out... I also don't want to give birth and I know I currently don't lay eggs...' she thought in response, falling into her inner monologue speech pattern. Of course, Karna seemed to be enjoying this entire thing way more than he should, and added in that the Ancient Texts that these Lizardfolk followed stated that once this pair of Dragonoids were involved, there was a Dragon Dance to be completed or they would mate with a set of others. Miki's eyes widened, and the young business person in her was not okay at all with these terms or conditions. "Where are these Ancient Texts? I want to see them..." this was the demand of Miki. She was far too well-educated to simply take someone else's word for what Ancient Texts or contracts said. After all, people often viewed words through the context they wanted them to have, to fit their own desires. For all she knew, all of this was a simple misinterpretation and it could be cleared up and this event could be turned into one much more normal for the pair of adventurers.

[Bloodedge]

'It would be too weird, right? I can't do that with a reptile! I don't even... well... never mind,' said Kou. At the end of his message toward Miki, he turned away from both her and Karna, the latter of whom was beginning to say some rather bothersome things. "Hoh? Don't want that either, huh? Shame. I thought we'd all get to watch," the male spoke when it became clear neither of these two would willingly fall to the debauchery desired by the Lizardfolk. Miki even went a step beyond, demanding visual confirmation of these ancient texts spoken of. "I'm a member of your Party, you know? You should trust me more," he went on, clicking his fingers to have one of the Lizardmen nearby collect the ancient stone slab containing the Lizardfolk prophecy of ascension. Once it was before the Adventurers, Kou viewed it and noted that it was in a language he couldn't hope to understand. At this point, it was Karna who had more to say. "I'm assuming you can't read the old language of the Marsh People. It says 'The day the mate-less Ancestors bless these lands with their touch, the tribe will take the Ancestors' form.' History has determined that the closest thing the Lizardfolk get to an Ancestral form, is the form of a Dragonewt."

[Apollymi]

Whatever thought left the confines of Kou's mind, Miki wholeheartedly agreed with. She also couldn't imagine a situation where she as her current avatar could actually participate in such an action with a random Lizardman. Regardless of this point, when she demanded to see the Ancient Text they were gathered at the behest of Karna, who mentioned that they should trust him more as a member of their party. Miki sighed as she looked at the words written here and realized she also couldn't decipher them for herself. At the point of trusting this lad simply because he was a member of their party she did have at least a proper reply to that... "Blind loyalty and trust are literally the reason for every negative moment in history, anime, manga, and video games. I don't know why you wanted to join us, and as I am now, I know very little about you... assuming you'd give the absolute truth and not just the interpretation of it that suits you best is too naive," Miki stated, though unsurprisingly she couldn't read the language of the Lizardfolk and it was left to be interpreted by Karna, who mentioned in specific words what their involvement here was meant to be. "Sou ka... they want to create Dragonewts... but that is still a very large leap to assuming that one would need to mate with the 'Ancestors', " she mentioned with finger quotations. "To achieve this goal. That interpretation suits the needs and expectations of the group at large, not the necessary effort of all involved," the girl concluded. Contract negotiations were one of her few strong suits, and she fully understood that given the magical nature of this world it might not be at all necessary to mate with anyone to achieve the goal, though it could be one means to that end. As it stood she began combing her mind through the list of media she'd absorbed in her lifetime, as well as her in-game and in world experience, to try and find an alternative method to reach this goal.

[Bloodedge]

Karna scoffed. What Miki had to say about blind loyalty struck his ear quite the wrong way. "And yet, here I am. Maybe you should have reconsidered letting me in this Party if you were going to question something as small as this," he replied. Regardless of this discussion, the text was exactly as he said, and the Lizardfolk of the Marsh Kingdom took it as he implied. He shrugged off the fact that Miki and Kou would obviously be seeking an alternative solution to the problem ahead of them, chalking it up to one simple matter which he openly shared with Kou. "Sucks for you, friend. Sounds like she's really not interested in them or you." Kou's eyes widened in shock when these words were sent his way, but he returned to a state of deep thought thereafter. There was something else... like a missing piece to a puzzle. Kou bit his own knuckle in what seemed to be frustration, which Karna thought to be related to his previous statement. In a matter of moments, however, Kou clicked his fingers to draw attention for the idea he'd come up with. "Shalza!"

[Apollymi]

Karna seemed to dislike the words shared by Miki, if he didn't understand her level of caution when dealing with others it was obvious to her why this was the case. Miki as a player was often cautious simply because she'd been burned in bad deals before, that being said, it would be completely unfair if she didn't at least try to give people a fair shake every now and again. She'd crossed this bridge with Kou by virtue of his own actions repeatedly. "Here you are... if you don't understand my level of caution in a moment like this and you consider it small... then you've never been burned in such a situation, congratulations," she said calmly. There were too many moments in her life where a strange guy was too willing to see something non-sexual as sexual for her to willingly accept some level of expected sexuality. Video games and the like were designed to be open to interpretation, and she'd take her own in this case. The final thing shared by Karna in this moment caused Miki to snap outright, "This is a problem! Don't make a baseless assumption like that just because I don't want to be made a spectacle of, just because you see it that way doesn't mean that is how it is," she said unconsciously having moved forward with a direct show of anger in her eyes. She was apparently more upset that he'd implied she didn't like Kou than she was at the entirety of their current level of situation thus far.

In the meantime, Kou had gone into deep thought. He was biting on his knuckle and considering something like he had when they were completing various puzzles together. And at the end of his concentration he called to the recently named 'Shalza'. This would prompt the female Lizard to come forward giving a bow between the two lines of creatures waiting for a yes or no answer from their Ancestors. "Yes? What does our Savior require of me?" she asked seemingly curious as to why she was being summoned.

[Bloodedge]

"Touchy touchy," said Karna, throwing his hands up in mock surrender even as he continued to speak. "Don't jump to conclusions yourself. Everybody's had a bad experience; I'm just telling you how it is for these people. Maybe I was wrong, though. Looks like she'll take you in private, friend," he continued as his attention returned to Kou. Kou, however, had become focused on the task at hand. He'd come to a miraculous conclusion involving the use of Shalza, so when she approached and questioned her summons, Kou stood before her. "The Lizardfolk want Dragonewts, right? You'll be the key!" Kou's explanation came as he stepped closer to Shalza. His words, from Karna's interpretation, implied that he'd come to the conclusion of mating with Shalza. Karna seemed to feel somewhat negatively about this, but as Kou reached Shalza's fore, he looked upon her with a bright smile. "Dragon Princess Shalza. How does that sound?"

[Apollymi]

The conversation between Miki and Karna had gotten heated, so much so, that when the lad threw his hands up in mock surrender the blonde lass finally realized how far invested she was in confronting him. Doing so, in this way was a bit overt and the lass fell backward and rubbed her face. She hadn't managed to be so properly upset and flustered in quite a while. In fact, she didn't even have a verbal response, only a reddened face as she sank back down, luckily enough Kou was very busy in his thoughts and had called upon Shalza. His words to her, made the female Lizard's eyes brighten. "Ancestors would bless me personally, again... I'm stunned!" she also seemed to be on the line of thought that she'd be given the birth of a new generation of Dragonewts. Her 'brother' seemed to have a problem with this only slightly as Kou moved to approach her. That being said, Miki seemed to be utterly calm about it, given the conversation the pair had already had about not wanting to mate with the Lizardfolk.

What was offered was not the body of the Savior known as Kou but instead a title to go along with her recently given name. The Nexus acknowledged this and then something amazing would happen. The light of the Nexus would envelop her. Her body began shifting as the scales fell away from her fore, leaving only traceable lines in red along her exposed skin. Beyond this her tail became thinner and wings sprouted from her back. She gained long white hair and a human face still equipped with her golden eyes. The dragon princess Shalza gained horns and distinctly lizard-like hands and feel which were darker colored towards the ends of her appendages much like her scaling pattern had been. "Dragon Princess Shalza! I'm... a Dragonewt!" she proclaimed tears filling her eyes. All of this was witness by Miki and she finally found her voice again. "He's the one worth a bit of blind trust..." she said in passing to Karna, happy that Kou had helped to find a way to do the thing they needed to do here, without either of them having to compromise themselves. "Sharrkan, you too." she said calling to the King of the Lizardmen her intention to give him a title as well which would cement the power structure of the Marsh Kingdom, without the pair of them having to mate with anyone this day.

[Bloodedge]

Kou was under the assumption that granting the female lizard a title to accompany her name would lift her to a new tier of existence. Much to his satisfaction, naming her the Dragon Princess did indeed have the desired results, causing the Nexus to change her form to that of a Dragonewt. Interestingly enough, the transformation Shalza had was not very different when compared to the Dragonoid forms previously boasted by Kou and Miki. Her extremities remained more reminiscent of her reptilian self, but she certainly had a human form aside from that and her wings, tail, and horns. She appeared quite pleased by this development in her form and standing, which provided Kou with both satisfaction and relief. "You like it then? I'm glad," he said.

In the meantime, Karna looked on and kept an ear open for Miki. Apparently, the girl figured one such as Kou was worthy of the 'blind trust' he sought earlier. "You seem very sure of that," he said out of the earshot of Kou. "I'm no expert, but it seems like there's a bit of bias there." With that said, Karna stepped aside to allow the approach of King Sharrkan, who knelt before Miki. "My daughter has been blessed. It would be my honor to also receive the gift of our Ancestors."

[Apollymi]

"Of course I like it. Many thanks for gifting me such a blessing!" the tears of this now humanoid face were exactly the sort of thing Miki expected from the crybaby type this young lass appeared to be. She still seemed like a bit more Lizard than human but that was about the expectation of something called a Dragonewt. As this moved along, Miki would be approached by Sharrkan but not before she recieved more words from Karna. She had no clue what she'd done to end up on the receiving end of this constant chatter from Karna, perhaps it was simply payback from the universe because she'd been the one to kill him. Regardless, what he said about her surety of blind faith in Kou made her chuckle the further assumption that it was somehow biased made her shrug, though a faint blush seemed to be creeping up her neck. "Most opinions are biased. These ones happen to be based on experience..." she said before returning her attention to the point at hand.

Given the transformation of the Dragon Princess Shalza, Miki assumed the same would happen to Sharrkan if he was given such a title to go along with his name. Sharrkan was now bowed before the lass, claiming what an honor it would be to be blessed in the same way as his daughter, and Miki was more than happy to give him said happiness. "Well, when you're so enthusiatic about it, I can hardly say no, Dragon King Sharrkan... that sounds better to me..." she said granting this bowed creature an interaction with the Nexus which would aim to elevate his status one more time this day.

[Bloodedge]

"Iia, iia," Kou said as he shook his head. "If I'm being honest, I just wanted to figure out a way to avoid having an... experience," he continued. As these final words were shared with Shalza, Kou found himself looking toward other Lizardfolk in the area, who happened to still be up to some rather sultry activities. His gaze returned to Shalza within a matter of seconds, and when it did, his face reddened slightly as he took note of her current form properly. 'Ano. Maybe if this was the first option... Wait, no!' The lad worked to silence his own mind before turning his head away, noticing that the king had recently approached Miki to receive his own title.

"The words of someone skipping the point completely. You know what I mean when I point out the bias. I'll leave it at that... for now," Karna said, content to fall silent from there as his 'father' received the title of Dragon King. As the light of the Nexus enveloped Sharrkan, his build became slimmer, yet more toned. His darkened scales became thick armor, and his hair darkened as two large horns protruded from his head... which itself became that of a masculine, pale human. An ethereal glow came from his eyes while a large pair of black wings emerged from his back, and he rose from his kneeling position. "I rise as the Dragon King Sharrkan, King of the Marshlands! My eternal service is offered to the Ancestors before us!"

[Apollymi]

There was obvious confusion on the face of Shalza as the lad who'd gifted her the title and form she now possessed, apparently wished to avoid having an experience. The sentence itself didn't make sense to her, but she supposed if she needed to know what it meant, she would have. She bowed the lad and then looked onward to see the form her father would take from his title being bestowed upon him. As he came up with his new form, Miki's eyes were cut in the direction of Karna. He apparently thought she was simply skipping out on what he meant, even so, he was inclined to drop this point for now. Miki was relieved by this knowledge but noting that he intended to likely bring up this point again, made her develop the slightest headache between her eyes. 'Ugh, what did I do to deserve this? I mean if it was killing him, I probably should have enjoyed it more...' she thought. By the time she blinked this away, she was staring at the new form of the Dragon King and her left brow rose. "Glad to hear it." she said of the man's pledge of his eternal service. With all this done she was content to simply not make eye contact with anyone while being quite relieved that they'd managed to avoid any random invasion of their personal space. 'That was close... I'm glad Kou is good at thinking things through, I probably would have just gone nuclear if it was me alone. Whatever, I suppose I don't need a Massacre at Whiterun style kill on my plate...' she mentally mused having quieted her own heart quite a great deal. Having done this she finally turned to Kou. 'That was some pretty quick thinking, Arigatou... Think we will be able to enjoy this a normal amount now?'

[Bloodedge]

"People of the Marshlands, rejoice! The future is ours to command, all thanks to the Ancestors who grace us!" This announcement came from Sharrkan to the other Lizardfolk of the kingdom. In a matter of moments, the entire kingdom was singing the praises of their 'ancestor' saviors, though Kou could only clearly hear the words of Miki in his mind. 'Iia. I didn't wanna do that either, so it works for both of us I guess. I'm glad everything came together in the end,' he transmitted to the lass.

Lizardfolk had begun gathering around properly, and numerous members of the kingdom carried long, ornate pipes. Of the player trio at the banquet, Karna was the first to receive the main pipe being passed around, if only because he reached out to take it from its previous holder. Without worry or hesitation, he smoked two drags from said pipe before offering it to the 'saviors' hailed by the Lizardfolk.

[Apollymi]

King Sharrkan made an announcement to the people, which resulted directly in their singing the praises of the pair of heroes they counted as their 'Ancestors'. It seemed from this point forward the party would continue on in a different way, which was at least relieving to Miki. 'Hai hai... Even though it was really weird at first, I'm glad we could still help them out,' she said willing to let the young man go without thanking him if it was what he wished. Though this hadn't been their initial intent when looking for the Lizardfolk, she was satisfied that there was a happy-ending in it for them.

As they moved along, it seemed that there was a pipe of some sort being passed around. Karna was the first to take it, and took two hits from it without having to do much else. He went on to pass it along, and it'd be Miki who ended up with it. To avoid experiences like her earlier ones she held on to it for a few seconds, but decided in this moment she'd just try it. Her logic being if Karna was fine, she should be too, but if it was horrible she could always blame Karna for it. She took her first hit and she felt the fiery feeling of smoke filling her longs, she took a second one, only to choke and have smoke come out of her nostrils. "Ugh, it burns... why does it burn?" she asked aloud as she coughed but handed it to Kou. If he didn't participate that was also fine, she simply didn't want to be forced into any more compromising situations.

[Bloodedge]

'Hai. Same here.' This was the final message Kou shared with Miki through their mental link before he fully returned to his side of the honor throne. The Lizardfolk moving pipes about managed to take his attention away from the strange sexual activities others took part in, but made him even more curious about the methods of these people. Following Karna smoking the largest and most ornate of these pipes, and thinking nothing of it, Miki took a turn with the item. Her reaction of coughing was to be expected from her mention of the pipe burning, but since she'd tried it without fuss, Kou would do the same upon having it passed his way. Knowing of the potential burn ahead of time, he inhaled from the pipe slowly until the smoke filled his lungs and circulated its way outward through his nose and mouth. Meanwhile, Karna spoke in response to Miki. "It burns because it's smoke. Keep smoking it; you'll feel less of everything each time," he said, knowing well what each pipe - especially this one - contained.

[Apollymi]

Both the young saviors were now sitting or rather lounging in their particular throne. Their conversation within their minds seemed to match up very nicely Still Kou took hits from the pipe as Miki recovered from the initial burning in her lungs, beyond this point, Karna came in with more information which related directly to the burning sensation the lass had received in her lungs. Though she'd asked her question rhetorically, she couldn't really deny the usefulness of Karna in giving information on Lizardman customs. "Less of everything, huh?" Miki said, she wondered exactly what she was smoking now, but decided that much like drinking with the Dwarves and Fairies, she'd probably be happier if she didn't think about it too much. One final shake of her head would result in the burning clearing from her nose and she'd go on to relax. That being said, Kou seemed to have a much easier time of it than Miki had initially.

[Bloodedge]

As Kou took his second drag from the pipe, Karna set his attention on Miki. She didn't seem to gather the exact purpose of the pipe before smoking from it, but with her question on the proverbial table, Karna thought it worthwhile to reply. "Less of everything, yes. That tends to be how drugs work," he said blandly. Kou heard this, and was surprised such a thing could be so freely offered... and yet, he also seemed fine with it. In fact, he could already feel whatever drug this was beginning to work. "That's new. What kind of drug is this?" he asked while passing the pipe. In response to this question, Karna shrugged. "You think I did drugs back home? I dunno, something like opium." With that said, Karna quickly took two puffs and handed the pipe off to Miki. He would purposefully wait until he confirmed that she would continue smoking before continuing his clause. "Or ecstasy. Probably a bit of that effect, too."

[Apollymi]

Miki hadn't expected anything resembling an answer to her rhetorical question, even so, knowing that there were drugs on the table made this a bit more wary of a situation. But as said drugs had already begun working she couldn't muster anything resembling a normal amount of panic. 'Well, at least no one drowned me in liquor or anything...' she mentally mused. Of course, this was added to in thought by Kou who questioned what he thought it was like, it seemed that the boy known as Rook apparently wasn't much into drugs in his human life. Even so he would have likened such a concoction closer to Opium. 'Ah, those are used in hospital grade painkillers, that would explain potential numbness. Anything bad would be associated with prolonged use, so a bit now and again can't be all bad... Moderation is key.' she reasoned. So as the pipe was passed back to her, she took another hit, finding it much easier than she had the first time, until of course she heard the secondary potential effect. This would cause the girl to choke as she passed the pipe along. "Ack! Ecstasy?!" she questioned as if scared. Now it should be stated that it wasn't as if Miki did a lot of drugs herself, but she'd been forced into way too many parties with other rich kids to not at least have some idea of the lay of the land when it came to narcotics. Even so, the more pressing matter is why this young lad hadn't felt the need to share that half of the information before allowing Miki to take another hit of this particular drug.

[Bloodedge]

Whatever reason Karna had for being so devious, it was worthwhile in the end, as his work seemed to be paying off. He managed to bait a choking reaction from Miki as the lass stopped smoking the pipe, but she had already taken three drags in total before passing it off this second time. "What, did you think these people were publicly fucking each other just to do it? Who would even consider doing such a thing? Obviously not you, but that's what the pipes are for. Loosen up!"

The pipe had already been moved into Kou's hand, and though he heard what it was likened to, he accepted that he'd already smoked from it twice, and was already under its effects to some extent. For all he knew, he couldn't become too much more intoxicated from something like smoke... though he didn't know much, it seemed. Two more drags filled the ashen-haired boy's lungs before Karna reached out to take the pipe for his next turn. "Now there's a guy who's willing to party. Or... smoke away his troubles. I dunno. I'm not one to pry," he said between taking puffs for himself. "Not one to pry? Everything you're doing seems contradictory then," Kou replied, even as he became more and more relaxed in the throne for two. Karna only laughed, making an effort to hold the pipe out toward Miki once more. "Well, Oujo-san? Willing to live a little?"

[Apollymi]

The devious behavior of Karna didn't go unnoticed by Miki who was apparently the target of most of his attention for whatever reason. He further provided information, claiming that the pipes were the reason at least in part, for the obvious fornication going on between the Lizardfolk. He claimed such a thing was meant to help people loosen up. Miki couldn't help but be incredulous, why would she have assumed anything but anyone's nature at face value. "Firstly, why would I assume anything like that..." she said having finally cleared the smoke from her lungs. She found herself reaching for her drink which she finished to balance out the burning in her chest, which appeared there for the second time because of the meddling of Karna. Whatever the case he went on to say that he wasn't prying but Kou seemed like the type to just have a good time. Kou pointed out that he was obvious prying which brought a raised brow and much agreement from Miki. Having settled now though she was content to not say anything more until she was addressed directly. She looked at him skeptically for just a few seconds. "I really don't know whether you are nice and want me to have a good time. Or if you're just being annoying..." she said of the lad, still she supposed there was no extra harm in continuing what she'd been doing the whole time, though she was still particularly sketched out by Karna. She accepted the pipe from the lad, and managed to have two more smoke filled lungs of it this time without incident. Soon after she passed it along and her body took on a more relaxed posture as well, whatever the case of this drug she seemed to be a little less high-strung than normal.

[Bloodedge]

"Probably because it would be rude to assume they were just perverts," Karna quipped. As for whether he was nice or annoying, he wouldn't say with any certainty. Instead, he shrugged and chuckled. "Maybe I'm an annoyingly nice guy. It doesn't matter what I am. Smoke the pipe, and don't bother yourself with my motives," he continued without much else to add. Kou had the pipe again at this point, and he took no issue with continuing to smoke it. He had even continued to relax, to such an extent that he was eventually leaning toward Miki's side of the throne without even realizing that he wasn't sitting upright. "Whatever the case... this is some pretty good whatever it is."

[Apollymi]

Somehow a very wrong impression was given by Miki's surprise at the Lizardfolks' activity during this celebration. She scoffed at the idea that she somehow thought them perverted, because the truth of the matter was she didn't at all. Given her current relaxed state, she explained this even as her body shifted a bit closer towards the side of the throne occupied by Kou. "Perverts? Not at all, I was assuming they're just free-spirited and open. But go ahead and tell me how that is more rude than assuming they're on drugs..." she said flippantly. She was quite annoyed by the logic, but to be perfectly honest, she'd read and seen worse in other forms of media, she wasn't being judgmental of the Lizardfolk, she simply knew she wasn't about to participate in such a thing. After saying her peace the lass was content to simply lean in her upright position. She didn't have anything resembling a negative feeling in her body. Karna continued to prod, choosing to state that he was annoyingly nice and that she shouldn't concern herself with his motives... "Fine. Pass today, no promises about tomorrow," Miki said with a delighted giggle. Whatever the case was with this young man, he admittedly didn't seem like a bad person to her, so she was willing to let slide his behavior for now. Moreover, Kou spoke again, this time to the quality of the substance they were currently experiencing. "Agreed." she said taking a moment to simply enjoy this life experience. Not even seeming to notice or care about Kou's approach, though given their prior experiences, she didn't mind his invasion of her personal space. Perhaps at some time in the future they'd realize they were basically on a controlled substances tour of the kingdoms of this world.

[Bloodedge]

"Apparently you're making even more assumptions," Karna retorted with a scoff. "At no point did I mention believing you thought they were perverts? As I recall, never. You're such a hateful person, Miki-san~" he concluded. There was a certain amount of carelessness he boasted in this rebuttal, but when Kou looked Karna's way, he saw nothing more than a relaxed persona. The back-and-forth between Karna and Miki could be ignored to a certain extent, as he hardly saw anything wrong with the dynamic between the two. "Tomorrow..." he repeated quietly, thinking back to a declaration he'd made somewhat recently. "We should go back to Eonis," he said afterwards while passing the pipe again and relaxing further.

[Apollymi]

Soon enough after Karna spoke it was Miki's turn to scoff. Though she admittedly found it easy to argue with the lad currently known as Karna, she also knew his words were directed at her specifically. After all, the whole of this conversation was started with him asking if she assumed the nature of these people based on her reaction to knowing the make-up of their drug of choice. "But we started this conversation about my perception, so it was being applied to or aimed at me, even if it isn't being directly stated..." she said with a casual roll of her eyes, but she didn't think it was worth more conversation than that. She did nothing past this point but jokingly agree. "But, yes. I am totally hateful, didn't you see the face..." she said gesturing to her own visage, which she knew to be well outside of her control, and though she saw it in her mind as being agreesive, it was much more passive and spaced out. After this she fell back against her pillow thus taking up a great deal of the space shared between herself and Kou. She felt there was no point in arguing with someone who refused to see the fault of their own reasoning, and she was feeling the effects of her current drugging to such an extent that arguing didn't seem meaningful. In fact, she was quite sure he was the hateful one, picking on her for his own unexplained amusement. He didn't deserve the extra attention in her own mind. So instead she could focus on something else entirely and that was the statement given by Kou. The other white haired lad would gain her attention and hold it without fault, and she'd even agree to what he wanted with no arguments. Having no reason they shouldn't return to the other Kingdom. "Hai hai, sounds good to me..." she commented while giving a thumbs up and then staring at her hand in the air as if it wasn't attached to her body.

[Bloodedge]

Karna sighed. Regardless of what Miki thought about him, he saw a bit of an unnecessary connection between words shared between the girl and himself. "Right. I forgot to even think that we had to interpret things the way your brain does," he said regarding how his previous statement was taken. Nevertheless, he took the pipe in his hand and brought it to his lips. "Have it your way, Oujo-san. I'm just a perverted druggie, after all." With that, Karna took only a single drag from the pipe, causing the last remnants of the drug to burn out at last. With nothing left to smoke, he handed the pipe off to one of the lesser Lizardmen nearby. Meanwhile, Miki agreed to Kou's idea of returning to Eonis before moving on with the next adventure. Now that they had yet another party member, Kou found himself wondering what this would mean for the journey ahead of them. Xerxes was incredibly fast and reliable, but he could only support two of the Adventurers. "What do we do about travel? We should probably look into some sort of caravan or something..."

[Apollymi]

Miki stayed looking at her hand, concentrating on it, she eventually opened her hand and closed it feeling it and finding it to feel a bit detached from her person. Still she heard the words said by Karna and she wondered if he was purposefully missing the point she'd expressed or if he felt the need to defend himself. As if to further explain as he took the last hit from the pipe he claimed she could have it her way and debased himself as a druggie pervert. "Yare yare," she mused. Miki thought about explaining that it was more pressing that he'd been on some sort of murderous rampage when they'd first met, than it was to her that he found amusement in perversion or drug use, but it seemed like adding unnecessary fuel to a dying fire. And soon after while she stared up at the sky it was brought to her attention by Kou that their normal method of transport wouldn't really work for long term travel for a group larger than the pair of them. "A caravan was the initial plan anyway, so I think it would be reasonable. Xerxes doesn't seem like the kind of creature that should be made into a beast of burden or anything... maybe a filolial and cart would be worth picking up," she offered as an idea for all of their travel. "You wanted one initially anyway, right?" she asked remembering the lad's initial plan for travel. Though this wouldn't solve their immediate travel issues it was something which could be considered for when they reached Eonis again.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, a Filolial pulling a caravan is probably as close as we can get to Xerxes. It won't be nearly as fast, but Filolials can pull the most weight at a high speed." Kou spoke as his body became even more limp, eventually leaving him draped over Miki's side of the throne. The Lizardfolk nearby, who previously sought to mate with one of their two saviors, looked strangely at this level of comfort being found in even a single side of the pairing. Some indeed thought that they were, in fact, mated Dragons even though the Dance of Dragons had never reached its conclusion. This, however, would remain as whispers among most of the crowd who bore witness. "I'm not sure where we can pick up the caravan, but wild Filolials can be found in the Grasslands. Maybe that'll be a good place to check," Kou said as he shifted into greater comfort, only managing to rub himself against the blonde lass in making the attempt.

[Apollymi]

"Hm, I remember you saying that before. Sounds like a done deal," Miki said about acquiring a Filolial. Of course, as Kou seemed to find his body limp and finding comfort being draped across her side of the throne they shared, she too was shifting ever so slightly while adjusting her pillow so that her body took on an angle that allowed her to stretch over the same place. Their bodies would touch for a moment, but the blonde lass didn't seem to mind it at all. In fact when he brushed against her a bit she took the initiative to finish getting properly comfortable and leaned against his side as he invaded her space on the throne and propped them both up with her weapon. While she did this she had a bit of commentary to add. "The Grasslands huh? That's a bit of a coincidence or maybe not. There is a Merchant's Guild Outpost near there, and since we have a pass we can buy a caravan or have one built to specification at a discount. They also have tools, maps and its an easy place to come across info... if you're interested..." she gave this information and yawned finally lowering her arm onto her person but managing to find supreme comfort leaning against Kou, tucked against her pillow. The hushed murmurings of the Lizardfolk would go unnoticed by the girl in her current state as she didn't seem to care very much about anything.

[Bloodedge]

Miki apparently agreed with the approach of the Grasslands for the acquisition of a Filolial, and even knew that there was an outpost for a Merchants' Guild in that very area. Such a thing would be quite the boon, and if they were going to be in the area anyway, they could very easily kill two birds with one stone in a way. "Sou ka. I wonder if we can get some crazy design with an insignia or something on it," he said, realizing upon speaking those final words that there was something else to consider. What he didn't realize though, was that he was gradually sinking into Miki as he leaned, having lost his ability to feel most of his body. "If we're gonna start this Guild, we need some sort of logo to go with it. Besides that... we'll need a name. Maybe we should start thinking about that before it's time to start setting up."

[Apollymi]

After mentioning the acquisition potentially of the caravan and the usage of Merchant Guild services, Kou began to speculate the potential of changing the look of their carriage. "Probably... I mean I guess it would depend on what we wanted to do with it," she said launching a simple guess. Beyond his initial statement he seemed to have to think about something more. While he had these thoughts his body was finding more comfort and sinking into Miki's own. Her body also lacked proper awareness, all she noted in current times is that she felt comfortably warm, and as such she had no objections to launch. In fact she found herself further sinking into this comfort without knowing how her body was moving at all, as she nestled herself into the lad, thus increasing their contact. "A logo and a name huh? I guess those are kind of important, don't want to have to think of either on the spot," she said, knowing in depth the shame of wishing to change a name or logo having thought of it in an instant but not really liking it over time. Her mind began wandering through various options and possibilities as she tried to veer away from ones canon to this place and ones which were alive in other media she knew about, because of the likelihood of it already being taken. "Any ideas?" she asked of the lad openly wondering if he had an idea for either the logo or the name which would lead them to the other idea.

[Bloodedge]

The feeling of warmth was mutually appreciated. Kou became more and more relaxed as time passed, until the side of his face was eventually pressed against Miki's torso. They were on track to the decision of coming up with a Guild name, but Miki deferred to Kou for any ideas he may have had. Contemplation was upon his face, and remained even as he looked up to set his gaze upon Miki directly. His gaze lingered, probably far longer than necessary, yet he produced a response all the same. "Hmm. Nah... I've got nothin'. I think we've managed to get a lot done together, but we don't have a set chemistry or anything. Maybe we'll have an easy time coming up with something if we figure out what our actual team dynamic is. Y'know, like people who go to the co-op meta. Or did you have something in mind?"

[Apollymi]

As Kou settled further his head was eventually pressed against Miki's torso. As such when the boy looked up at her, she had a pretty clear view of his face. Both of them looked onward far longer than they needed to, but Miki didn't seem to notice this at all, especially seeing that Kou eventually came with an answer regardless. He claimed he had no ideas about their Guild name, mostly because they didn't have a set dynamic as a pair of adventurers. She considered this for a moment before she nodded, having gained the comfort necessary to allow her arm to rest over the lad's body as she offered her reply. Even as her other hand seemed to play with a lock of her own hair which she seemed to be part of her thinking process. "Sou ka, that does make sense. I hadn't considered that we don't really have a set dynamic yet. I wasn't into the idea of co-op initially so I didn't consider how or if our abilities could properly compliment each other, beyond what we've already accomplished. I should pay more attention," she admitted. But having this on her mind, she was a bit more committed to figuring out this particular aspect of their group and using it to help them come up with the best possible guild name and logo. "I don't have any immediate ideas either... if I get one though," she said hazarding a glance back towards him. "You'll be the first to know," she said giving a gentle nod and a rare unforced smile.

[Bloodedge]

"I didn't get to actually do any co-op in the game either. It's pretty hard for me to find a Party of people who don't just fall behind to get carried," Kou said as the slightest of grins appeared on his face, and his eyes closed. "That's why I like you." He fell silent for a few moments following this additional clause. Upon realizing what he'd said, though, Kou's eyes opened whilst he removed himself from Miki's person. "I mean you pull your own weight instead of trying to take a backseat and get free levels, is all!" he clarified in a hurry, seeming to have suddenly become quite frantic. "So, yeah, we'll eventually come up with something while we figure our group strategy out! When do we start moving again?"

[Apollymi]

As Miki relaxed she got to hear out Kou's side of his original gaming experience. It seemed that he also didn't get a chance to play this game cooperatively because of issues with being able to establish a party. Having felt this way herself, Miki could commiserate, and part of the reason she was fond of Kou was because he didn't assume she'd be one of those types. Much to the lass' surprise, Kou soon grinned and mentioned that her own work ethic was the reason he liked her. Such an honest speaking moment made the girl's eyes widen just a bit, but somehow made her feel rather warm inside. Before she could reply though, the lad removed himself from her, further clarifying what he meant by his earlier statement. A look of minor confusion crossed the girl's face as she settled into her now lonely sitting position. "Sou ka..." she said chuckling just a little. "I figured as much, it's cool... I understand. I like you for similar reasons..." she said maintaining the same amount of calm she'd had the whole time, though she admittedly felt a bit chilly without the lad at her side. As for the rest of his question after his quick explanation, she didn't really have a response. "I don't know. Whenever I guess... I'll be able to feel my bones again pretty soon," she mentioned shifting her eyes to stare at her hand. Internally she wondered about these freak outs of Kou's which he had a lot, but she couldn't allow her mind to wander on the subject too much because the lad seemed to be so forceful about the platonic nature of their relationship. She pushed for this a bit as well, not wanting to be seen as one of 'those' girls. Whatever the case, their adventure could start back up again at any time, and as such she prepared herself for it mentally.

[Bloodedge]

Kou's brief panic attack didn't have any visible effect on the recipient of his antics, much to his appreciation to the world. Her response was still somewhat shocking to him for whatever reason, but he didn't allow himself to be too bothered by the statement. "Sou..." he said, trailing off with his retort after only a single utterance. He continued to relax for a bit longer, before eventually having enough feeling and mental stability to rise from the throne. Karna was more than ready to depart from this location, and it seemed Kou was somewhat prepared as well. "Right. Well... I'm good to go whenever," he said.

[Apollymi]

Miki's response seemed to help the lad feel a bit more like himself. Though there was something in his reaction she couldn't actually place, she couldn't bring herself to poke at it too much, lest she get another strange reaction out of him. Regardless it seemed like the group at large was ready to leave and she could be no less ready. As such she stood and gave a gentle whistle which made the pillow she'd been leaning against float in front of her. It still contained a great deal of residual warmth and as such she flopped onto it as it floated along, seeming to retain a certain amount of her previously relaxed state. "Hai hai, Eonis is between here and the Grasslands, right? If we stop there, we might be able to hitch a ride for all of us into the Grasslands and save a bit of extra travel..." she mused giving her own opinion. "Also regular supplies, for camping and the like during the extra travel..." she added her ideas of provisioning properly for the next stage of their trip during a quick stop back in the Kingdom of Eonis. After this, she'd be more than content to float along with them as they left the Marsh Kingdom for the time being.

Continue the Adventure Here (http://www.roleplayuniverse.net/forums/showthread.php?853-The-Kingdom-of-Eonis&p=11761&viewfull=1#post11761).