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The New Age (Azecreth and Princess)

Karina led them in silence, not because she didn't want to talk to them but because she was trying to keep quiet. They needed to enter the caverns, because the place that beast nested in could only be reached by tunnel. They wouldn't be able to get in by just walking in, they had to go another way.

Mia was a tad confused when they moved behind the back of a seemingly abandoned warehouse. But Karina stepped in front of a large cargo box and smiled. "Alright, we can enter through here." She whispered as she moved to the side of it and began to push. It was really heavy! But the secret entrance was the only way to get to that tunnel.
 
Following along, Isaac kept his silence as they headed towards the rear of the village. He trusted that Karina knew what she was doing, and he would go along with her wishes if that was what she wanted she wanted them to do. It didn't harm them after all.

At last they arrived at the back of the warehouse, and Karina announced that they were where she wanted them to go, before she began to try and move a large box. That certainly seemed heavy, and Issac let her go at it for a few seconds before he intervened, stepping forward and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Let me," he instructed.

With that said he closed his eyes, drawing on that inner power before using Move psynergy, and visualizing his force pushing the box out of the way with an invisible hand. And with that overwhelming feeling inside it was easy, even moreso than usual. Soon the box would be out of the way, and they could continue on their mission.
 
Karina watched in absolute amazement as she watched the ghostly hand push at the box, easily moving it to the side. It was...beyond amazing to her and felt even better. "Wow...so you guys really are the real deal." She muttered. She had never seen anything like that!

"Mmhmm! If you need anything heavy pushed around, just ask Isaac next time." Mia told her as she peered down the hole. She could see the ladder leading down in the dark. "Umm...did you bring a torch?"

"The torches are down there." Karina said as she lowered herself into the hole. She couldn't let herself be distracted, even if that was one of the coolest things she had ever seen before.
 
Isaac let out a breath as he released the psynergy, opening his eyes once more. Yet he couldn't help but notice that his reserves were barely drained. Admittedly he'd gotten very good at psynergy during their journey to save Weyard, but even with a simply Move psynergy he should have felt something. Yet this was like breathing to him. Just another odd thing to add to the list thus far.

"I'd like to think I'm a bit more useful than for just moving furniture," he commented off to the side, still taking the good natured jibe like a friend would. With that said he walked over to the hole and looked down, noting the ladder and how deep it was. Well, they had done worse.

He glanced over to Mia before joining on the ladder, heading down. "Guess there's only one way to go," he notes in the process, still following Karina's lead. So far so good. They just had to hope that the good luck endured.
 
The hole wasn't that deep thankfully, it only took about a minute to climb down. Once Karina was on solid ground she immediately stepped away so Isaac and Mia could make their descent. Then she found the torches she was speaking of, an entire bundle of them left in a barrel. She grabbed one and struck it against the cavern wall, the fire instantly coming to life. She would have to light all the torches that were mounted on the wall so they could see easier.

Mia decided to take a torch herself but she didn't light it. It just didn't hurt to have extras, especially if there were any monsters lurking around here. "When we get to the main cavern, it will be lit better. No one has used this passage in a long time. Well, except for me of course." Karina noted as she started walking forward. She should have been more nervous than she actually was...maybe after seeing what Isaac just did she felt a little safer with the two.
 
The climb down was relatively swift, and soon enough Isaac found himself at the bottom of the hole and the entrance to the tunnel. There was darkness for a few moments longer as he stepped to the side, allowing Mia to land as well, before Karina lit a torch. That cast illumination about the area, and he looked around as he took in the tunnel. Yep, like every other tunnel he had ever been in.

"Alright," Isaac replied as Karina confirmed that further in would be better lit. He would trust her, and even if it ended up not being true Mia had a torch as well. So with that said he followed after her, a hand drifting to the pommel of his longsword, just in case. In this sort of place, who knew what might be lurking about? Better safe than sorry.
 
Their footsteps echoed as they walked, through the tunnel. Eventually they came across a larger cavern, and Mia could see tracks where the mine carts were pushed. But what was with that eerie glow? When they reached the larger area, tiny rocks protruded slightly through the cave. It took her a moment to realize that they were glowing. It actually was an amazing sight to see rocks being able to light up a cave that way.

They seemed like psynergy stones, raw and unrefined. Not like the ones they could touch to gain back their power. Karina squatted down and put out her torch before setting it down on the ground. She wouldn't be needing it from here.

"So...was this always like this?" Mia asked her as she looked around at the dimly lit cave.

"No, before we had to use our own means of lighting. We call these stones moonstones. If we taking them out of the walls, they will slowly stop glowing. But I've gotten them to glow before on my own when I hold them." Karina told Mia as she started walking again down the main path. There were many paths, actually. More tunnels. Mia was glad that Karina was with them.
 
In the beginning, the cave wasn't terribly different than any other cave that Isaac had been in, with chiseled walls and slowly winding it's way deeper into the mountain. It had been crafted as a part of the mine, he would guess, though it was hardly a challenge to figure that out.

At last they arrived at a larger cavern, tiny rocks protruding from the walls that glowing a dull white, filling the cave with natural illumination. Even he was impressed, as he stepped over to a wall to get a closer look at the. At the same time Karina explained what they were. He glanced over at Mia, his mind immediately turning to those psynergy stones as well, confirmed as she mentioned that it hadn't always been like this.

"It's pretty," he noted as he reached out to tap one of the stones, giving it his own examination. At the contact the light flared, the stone growing brighter for a brief moment before subsiding back to normal. That wasn't just maintaining a glow, that was something else entirely.

His slight detour over, Isaac rejoined them as they headed down the main path, with Karina leading the way. That was good, what with all the side tunnels. It would be very easy to get lost in this place. "I see you've managed to avoid having this place generally overrun by monsters," he noted as they walked along. It was lucky, if not unusual. Well, with the one exception notwithstanding.
 
"Ahaha, that's because the big monster scared them away," Karina told him as she slipped her arms behind her back. "Most of them can smell its scent. It's all over the place from when it hunted in these caves frequently. After the monsters mostly left, it stopped hunting in here. Which is the only reason why we're able to even try to continue mining. Still, it comes around every once in awhile."

"I suppose that makes sense." Mia stated, though she was still on guard anyway. "So when we kill it, that means the monsters will come back eventually..."

"Probably, but we can deal with them. They've never been too much of a problem. They just...make the work day longer I suppose." Karina said with a shrug. "Anyways, we have about a thirty minute walk before we reach the end of this tunnel. It leads outside to a spring. Every morning the monster comes there to drink. Sometimes it hunts too. We might have to wait a little bit for it, but I know for sure we can catch it there."
 
"I see," Isaac replied with a slight hum in turn. That was...odd, to say the east. Most of the time the large monsters and small ones tended to live in coexistence, at least as far as he could tell from what he had seen during their journeys. Was this another effect of the return of Alchemy, or a simple difference in species? He supposed that he would find out soon, once they had a chance to observe the thing.

He also noted the problem with their plan, but it seemed that Mia had beaten him to that. "Well, if you say so," he finished once Karina had finished with her explanation, and that the return of the monsters wouldn't be a problem for the town. He certainly hoped so, since he would hate to solve one problem only to cause another at the same time.

"That should give us some time to set up a proper ambush," he agreed as Karina laid out the plan ahead. He was still willing to give her the chance to take this thing out first, but there was certainly nothing wrong with a second look. Perhaps they might see something that she had missed.

With that said he would walk on, examining their surroundings as they made the trek to their destination. Soon it would be time to fight, and he was ready for it.
 
They continued to walk a little while in silence until finally Mia could see brighter light up ahead. It wasn't the glow of the stones in the wall, it had to be the sun. The scent changed in the air to something fresher and she knew. Karina seemed to pick up the pace from here, and led them out of the cave. The light was a little harsh, but after she got used to it she saw something amazing. Lush greenery and plants surrounded a pond that seemed to form a river. A waterfall was the source, and there were trees everywhere.

Karina hurried over to the side of the river, studying the ground. No fresh tracks...perfect. They were on time. She hurried back over to them and pointed at some man made steps carved in the rock. "We should get to higher ground up there, so it won't see us." She told them before she started walking up the steps. "Uhh, and some rabid animals might bother us. Or mutant bees...." Ugh, it was hard to stay hidden when things didn't leave her alone, but she had gotten lucky thus far.
 
It was some time later, but they soon arrived at their destination, with a bright glow heralding the cavern exit. They had arrived, and Isaac hurried forward to join them as they emerged into the open. There was a wide open space, a pond surrounded by lush and verdant greenery, plants and such. It was quite a pretty picture, and he joined the other two as Karine began to look for tracks and such.

"Well, this is unexpected," Isaac noted as he joined the rest of them in walking and examining the place, the river that was formed from a waterfall. Trees, the river, stone and a cliff nearby.

He glanced op before nodding in agreement. "Alright." He shrugged then as she mentioned the possibility of animal attack that might crop up. "We'll handle it if they do." Compared to what they probably had to fight, it wouldn't be that bad. He and Mia had fought a llot of wild animals previously. "Guess we just have to wait."
 
"While we wait, let's eat too. I brought plenty of nuts and apples to snack on." Mia told them both as they reached the top of the steps. They did have a decent view from here, they could see practically everything. Something told Mia that this was once a nice area to relax in for the town, judging by how there was obvious man made stairs and there were lots of tree stumps around the body of water that pooled at the base of the highest mountains. It probably wasn't exactly safe anymore.

"Really?" Karina asked just before his stomach growled for the first time. Before, she was too stressed out to even notice that she hadn't eaten. Now the very mention of food made her tummy act up. "Good idea...I didn't really eat before I left. Now I'll have plenty of strength to take on that monster." She told Mia as the cleric fished out the food from her backpack. She pulled out a smaller sack and opened it, offering it to Karina.

"Help yourself then. You too, Isaac." She told him with a smile.
 
Isaac sat down on the rock stairs as he looked out on the environment before them, simply appreciating the beauty rather than worrying about potential attack by any monsters. There weren't any around at the moment, but that was fine by him. He would enjoy the peace and good times while they lasted.

A chuckle escaped at the mention of food just before Karina's stomach growled Fortunately Mia had the solution to that as sh produced food, snacks that would serve in the place of a real meal for the moment. When they got back they would have to buy something more substantial, but with what they were going to fight it would be best to face it on a full stomach.

"Thanks," he said, taking a handful and slowly eating it as he watched the flowing water and the trees. "Shouldn't be long now. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do." Perhaps it was short sided, but if Karina was confident in her success then he would be interested in her skills and abilities.
 
"Are you going to make her fight the monster on her own, Isaac?" Mia asked him with a smirk as Karina finished chewing the apple in her mouth. She was a little nervous...she wasn't sure how good she'd actually be. These two, she could tell they were experienced fighters and she would probably not be that good. Too much pressure...

"I can fight it on my own, or at least I can try. I don't know how well I'll do, but I've been training pretty hard. I, at least for the most part, know how to use my sword. And I was practicing a few tricks with the thing I guess you guys call psynergy. I've kept it a secret, because...well I was already weird enough. Using my power unintentionally without meaning to. But I knew it was important use whatever means I had to fight this thing." She explained before continuing to gnaw on the big red apple Mia had given her.
 
"No," Isaac reassured Mia with a shake of his head, even as Karina explained what she had done to prepare for this fight. It was a bit much to expect her to have the same kind of experience that they did, but it didn't mean that they had to carry the entire thing for her. She had wanted to take a shot first, so that was what Isaac would let her do. Certainly it was not the worst decision ever.

He took a few bites from his snack before going on. "But she said she wanted to do this, so that's what I'm going to do. If it looks like she's in trouble then we'll step in to help out. If that's alright with you." He looked to Karina to see what she would think, though he had the feeling that she would approve of this plan. He was going to trust her and her abilities, and she would have to pull through.
 
"Yeah, it's fine. I'll be fine!" Karina told Mia with a reassuring smile. Mia just frowned at that. She didn't quite get why they just wouldn't stand and fight with her, but if those two wanted it this way, she was outvoted.

"Well, okay. I don't want you to think I don't believe in you, Karina. It would just be faster all around if we all just surprised it." She said after she started snacking on her own breakfast. Karina just shrugged before she finally finished her food.

"Probably, but I just want to see how strong I am. I also don't want to trouble you both, if I don't have you. You're going through enough trouble being here anyway." She told her before her eyes glanced back to the waterfall. Where the hell was it?
 
Isaac was soon to finish his food as well, even as Mia voiced her reservations with this plan. That was hardly a surprise, and as far as he was concerned she did have a point. But he had made up his mind, and that was that. Unless things changed he would stick by the decision he had made.

"Don't worry," he told Karina with a light smile. "We're used to this sort of thing, so it's no problem. If it was we would have told you." And wasn't that the truth? Compared to what they had fought and done before, this was practically nothing. Still, he did glance over to Mia, as if to try and say that he would be careful. They would get involved before Karina could get in serious trouble, he promised.

But for now he sat back and relaxed, enjoying their surroundings as he waited for the thing they were here to face to show up. It shouldn't be too much longer, right?
 
Karina just nodded, though she didn't turn to face him. No, she was focused on listening for the monster.

And finally, she heard it coming down from the mountains. At first, the noise was distant. But then it started growing louder and louder as the beast descended down the cliffs. It suddenly appeared before their vision, landing on the ground with an audible thud. Mia tensed a little as she came to its vision. It was sort of an amphibious creature, although it partly looked monkey. It's maw was filled with sharp teeth, it's hands were the size of two mens heads put together. Karina had already left, to go sneak up on it as it drank from the river and that cued Mia to follow.

Karina drew her sword before inching towards the monster, feeling all her nerves starting to bundle up. But it was fine...she knew it's weakness. At least she thought she did. It liked water, so it wasn't long before it finally decided to submerge itself inside of the river. It was then that she called upon that strange power that was "psynergy" from what her friends called it.

A single spark could be seen above the creatures head before a bolt of lightning came down and electrified the monster, the water increasing the damage significantly and causing the monster to roar in pain. It's yellow, beady eyes looked around in confusion as it thrashed in the water and as soon as it saw Karina it leapt out of the water...much faster than she thought it would considering how much she thought she had injured it. She raised up her sword in defense as it landed in front of her, easily twice the size of any human. Without even a thought, it swiped at her and as much as Karina had prepared herself to fight against another sword, stopping the brute strength of a monster just wasn't something she could prepare herself with and she went flying to a nearby tree.

That was really all Mia needed to see to know that she and Isaac needed to take action.
 
At last the beast arrived, large and threatening with a loud thud as it landed. It seemed like a large monkey of sorts, though it could also go in the water as well. That would make things interesting for sure, and Isaac got up to follow Mia as she went to keep an eye on Karina and see how this went down. It was the dangerous part of their adventure now, and they would have to be careful if they wanted to succeed.

Indeed it did seem that she had at first, hitting the creature while it was in the water and electrocuting it. But it was not enough as it recovered, leapt out of the water, and swiped at Karina, sending her flying into a tree. That earned a wince, since he could guess that that had hurt.

As Mia leapt into action he did as well, drawing his Longsword as he raced to confront the creature. Sure, it was tough, but he was still confident in their chance of success. They had faced much tougher things before. At first he moved into a guard position, stepping in front of Mia so she was protected while she used her psynergy and such. Of course he wouldn't stay that way, jumping forward and striking with powerful slashes before returning, making sure that she wasn't exposed for too long.

Just like old times then.
 
The monster threw up both arms to defend itself against Isaac's blade. Fresh, green blood oozed from its cuts as Mia casted her healing spell on Karina who was a little dizzy from the blow. She instantly felt better...more than better even. That familiar sense of cold energy sparkled around her and she was back on her feet and ready for more. Karina was fast, faster than she should have been. Because right when Isaac retreated to Mia's front, she was charging at the beast just in time for it to lower its arms and become vulnerable to an attack.

Karina jumped so her blade could reach to its shoulder, her weight adding to the impressive, fluid movement that was her sword slash. More green blood splattered across her dress and face but she didn't even flinch. She was graceful, more graceful than you'd expect from someone who hadn't really been in a real fight before. Maybe that was why, her form was so perfect that it was flawed for a real fight. She could have easily been countered by anything that was sentient. She landed on the ground next to it and instantly backed away, regrouping with her two partners. "Thanks Mia," She said quickly before she heard the monster screech again and charge straight at them. Not a normal charge, it's body was glowing with psynergy that they could all see. Red psynergy...Mars psynergy.
 
Isaac noted the blood he had drawn with some satisfaction, and he would admit he was further impressed by Karina jumping in to strike when he had moved out of the way, flawless in execution. Of course that wouldn't work so well against someone who could better anticipate and respond, but for a situation like this it would serve. Still, it was good that the two of them were here, as far as he could tell.

There wasn't much of a chance to talk though as the thing charged forward at them, and it wasn't hard to miss the red glow that symbolized Mars psynergy. "Get out of the way," he said called before doing just that, alert and ready for whatever hit would come from it. For the psynergy it still seemed to be just a charge. And while it was unpleasant that it could use psynergy, they could still win. Or so he hoped.
 
Karina moved out of the way easily, but it was Mia who's reflexes were not as fast. She took the brunt of the hit, but her own psynergy shielded her from most of the force. She slid back with a pained grunt before using her pysnergy to counter attack. It seemed amphibious, but mars psynergy was the only thing she needed to see to know that this thing would be weak to her spells. The air chilled dramatically as ice raised up it's legs and torso and all the way up to his head. There was silence for a moment before the ice cracked and shattered. The beast let out another roar, this time more ear shattering. Karina flinched and sheilded her ears. Ugh! It was so loud, she couldn't focus! What the hell was it doing?

It turned it's attention to Isaac this time, drumming it's large hands against the earth. The cold was gone, replaced by heat that cracked the ground open. A geyser of magma shot towards him and Karina realized that she could have not defeated this thing by itself. She was mistaken, it's weakness was not lightning like she had previously thought... "Isaac, watch out!" She wouldn't have been able to forgive herself if they were injured, all because of her...
 
Coming out of his dodge, Isaac was able to see Mia get hit by the beasts charge, but as he expected of her she was quick to use psynergy both to protect herself from the attack and to launch her own counterattack as well, coating the thing in ice before it managed to smash free. There was no surprise, since after such a long time traveling together he knew that she could handle herself. He'd still guard her of course, but for now she could be worried about less than Karina, who was a relative novice to all of this.

But it recovered, and he quickly found himself the focus of attention as it struck out at him with it's psynergy, channeling magma from deep within the earth. The heat rapidly grew, and he hardly needed the warning as he reacted to the oncoming blow. His psynergy flared even as he dodged to the side, drawing on his reserves as it took the heat and the pressure, though it warned a grunt in the process. Well that wasn't pleasant, though it could certainly have been worse.

Coming out of the roll he struck, charging forward with his body held low as he struck upwards with his longsword, moving around it to land a few more slashes and strikes before rejoining the others, to let the battle continue onward. It had proven a tougher foe than expected, but they could still do this. He was sure of it.
 
While Isaac distracted it, Mia took the time to cast another spell. This one was not strong, but it would certainly make the creature wet. It didn't like that very much, but it did not turn to her. Now that it was wet again, Mia turned to their Jupiter adept. "Karina, prepare your lighting spell again! Focus, feel your psynergy and imagine the bolt. The harder you focus, the more effective it will be!" Mia called out.

"What? Oh...okay." Karina nodded at Mia and then closed her eyes. She admitted that this was something hard for her to do, but now that she was focusing on it, even while hearing the monster roaring and charging again at them, she could do this. It was going right for her again, but before it got a chance to reach her she used her ray attack on it. This time it was much larger than the last time she cast it. The creature once again let out a howl of pain. It's muscles twitched as it towered above Karina, who quickly followed with a counter attack with her sword. She thrusted it into the monsters chest, aiming for it's heart. It was the killing blow, and it gurgled pathetically before she pulled out her sword and backed away.

It landed with a thud, and Karina was in shock for a moment. What...did they...actually kill it?
 
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