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Fire Emblem: Wretched Whispers, Act 2: Warpath


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"Farewell, Piers." replied Wolfgang, who then went up to the librarian to enquire about some books he could read. "Oh, I'm looking for some book on enchantments and more advanced dark magic. A scholar needs advance his studies, you know!"

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Taima frowned, then shook her head. "You know, it's getting kinda late, and there's not really anything I want specifically from those stores, you know? May as well just head back to the inn, see how the others did today, get some sleep, all that, you know?" She shrugged, not really being committed to any specific course of action, but figuring that maybe saying something would help them make a plan somehow.

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The librarian jumped slightly, having not noticed Wolfgang's approach, dropping some kind of rust-red medallion he had been holding on the table in front of him. Wolfgang could make out all magic runes scrawled all over the object, although he couldn't read any of them. The elderly man cursed under his breath as he examined it for any kind of chips or scratches, finally breathing a deep sigh of relief when he concluded there were none.

"My apologies. You startled me there." began the librarian, turning to Wolfgang at last. "As for your books, what you're looking for shouldn't be that far away." He hesitated for a few seconds, before making his way towards a nearby bookshelf and taking down two books from it, as well as another from the adjacent shelf. He then placed them on a nearby desk. After they had been set down, Wolfgang could finally see their titles: 'Dark Intrigue', 'A Study of Enchantments' and 'Magical Accuracy'. Which was he going to pick?

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"Oh, my apologies! I didn't intend to startle you! Now, let's see... I think, I'll pick...Magical Accuracy for now." replied Wolfgang as he picked up that particular book and sat at a nearby table, beginning to read it.

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[OOC: If anyone wants to finish stuff up from before this timeskip that's totally fine, just things have been stalling out so it's been due time for one for a while]

Finalizing Training

The second strike Ivan made was even quicker than the first, and connected easily with Dervas' armor. "Good work," he complimented. "Ha, you practically don't even need training if you keep this up. I would advise you to keep perfecting moves like the ones you used right now- with a bit more accuracy you'll be a fine fighter. I apologize for the somewhat abridged lesson, but I have more training I need to assist with."

The captain, meanwhile, was quite pleased that Peter indeed recovered, and hit back hard. He grunted and fell over for a moment, before standing and shaking Peter's hand. "You've already improved a good deal. Just work on honing the fundamentals, got it? I think that's about all you need. Have a good day, yeah?"

Nightfall

"Hmm... maybe you're right, Taima," Sheikah agreed. "Alright... gotta talk to Cara sometime, like it or not. There's a bunch of room keys on the bar counter, Orpheus- I dunno if she counted 'em out, but you can probably snag one for yourself, yeah?" She sharply inhaled before starting to walk towards the inn. "No point in stalling around... let's get going."

The trio headed off to the inn, this time Cara standing behind the bar once again after her breakdown. Borvan was nowhere to be seen, presumably having left. "Hmf... I still don't want to talk, Sheikah. Just go about whatever your business here is."

"That's fine. I was just planning to get some early rest in. Have to be up early in the morning, after all," Sheikah managed to state rather calmly. "If you don't want to discuss things, then I'll just leave when we have to and you can go on and pretend I was never even here. But if you want to try and get together, I'd like to try and be friends again. Maybe tomorrow, if you're feeling up to it."

The barkeeper frowned and turned her head. "I said don't talk to me... if you are sleeping, then have a good night. I have nothing else to say."

"Fine... enjoy your own night, Cara." Sheikah headed up to her room and set down all her belongings, collapsing onto her bed and sighing. It's not easy... I knew it wasn't gonna be easy, but I guess the path for vengeance is one that is constantly changing. No point dwelling, I guess... After some time, she dozed off to sleep- a calm respite after a hectic day.

----------

New Day/ Excitement!

"Hey, wake up!"

The voice of the boss could be heard at every door, knocking early in the morning to bring the mercenaries downstairs. "Gotta be up early, and we've got a special guest! C'mon!" The company quickly gathered downstairs to be confronted with Vacheres standing tall next to the bar. Cara was nowhere to be seen, likely not up at such an early hour.

"Greetings, Hart's Hollows. For those who I have not met, my name is Vacheres, a traveler. Some call me the world's strongest man." the man introduced himself. "I've met your boss and have heard of your good deeds, and would like to extend an invitation to you. An annual tournament is held here among strong fighters, scheduled to be today. However, we've lost a significant amount of entrants due to the intensifying war, but it is a rather significant event and trying to refund it or something similar would cause a great deal of trouble. I will be hosting the event, and any of you who wish to join are welcome to do so. What say you all?"

...

"Hey, excuse me!" Sierra told a passerby as she pushed through. "Sorry, pardon me!" Jeez, why is it so crowded? The quirky guard maneuvered her way through the people amassed near the palace. Maybe I should've went the other way! So many people are here! At long last, she reached her destination at the inn, entering. "Hello everyone!" she spoke cheerfully, until freezing at the sight of Vacheres. "Oh no! Die monster, you don't belong in this world!" She readied one of her swords, pointing it at him and jabbing at the air, Vacheres looking at her somewhat confused.

"Uh... Sierra, was it? This is Vacheres, a perfectly normal if very tall man. No need to threaten him," Sheikah explained. "A tournament, you said? I can't speak for everyone, but I would be honored to join."

"Oh. Sorry," the guard murmured, sheathing her sword before her eyes lit up in anticipation. "Oh, but you said tournament, right? Can I join? Also, uh..." She paused for a moment to think before frowning. "Umm, darn, I had a message I was supposed to give you guys but I forgot it... probably why I don't get sent to deliver many messages, huh..."

"Well, overlooking that small mishap... of course both of you can enter. The entry fee is 200 gold, but simply making it past the first round will earn you your entry fee back. If you're interested, just let me know. I'll be here until it begins, at noon."

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Taima's eyes lit up, hearing about the tournament. "Ooo, I'm in for sure. Though I might go see if there's anything that could help me in it first... But I'm totally in. The name's Taima Rai, I use lances, need to know anything else?" She was considering heading to the boxing ring before the tournament, but she wasn't quite sure which order would be the best. She considered for a second and then nodded. "Also, hey boss, I'm going to be heading back to the boxing ring before this, get in a bit of a warm up, you know? Wanna come with me, maybe try your hand at it again?"

Edited by scorri
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Reading through more than half of the book before retiring for bed thereafter, Wolfgang swore he'd come back and finish reading up the book.

Of course, his plans came to a halt the next morning when a tall man named Vacheres came to the group, inviting them to a tournament of sorts.

Excellent! Now's a chance to practice what I read in 'Magical Accuracy' yesterday... I should be able to circumvent my weakness now!

"Sure, I'll signup for your tournament. I've been itching to test out some of the things I read in a book yesterday." he replied to Vacheres.

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After a lazy evening, Celestia joined the others downstairs, and despite a quirky display from the guardswoman that doubled as Mina's significant other, it seemed that there was to be a tournament held... an interesting prospect.

"Can you tell us anything else about the tournament, Sir Vacheres?" The templar asked, figuring she may as well get it out of the way... the barkeep didn't seem to be around, which would certainly but a damper on her other plans to get something to eat...

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"It's planned for thirty-two entrants," Vacheres begun. "If you win your first round, you get your money back, and then you get 200 more for every round you keep winning. The top four entrants will be given standard but effective weaponry suited for their style, and the ultimate winner will be given a further prize- can't say any more about that one, though. All you have to do is let me know you're interested, and pay the entry fee when it starts. Four and a potential fifth is certainly a good start."

"Boxing ring? You didn't have your fill yesterday, huh?" Sheikah teased. "I dunno if I'll be up for it myself, but I'll watch you if you make a run, yeah? Noon's not for a while, so we've got plenty of time."

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"Sounds good to me. I was thinking about grabbing another lance first, so lets head that way." She led the boss to the local armory and headed in. Inside she found a long lance with a hooked blade, perfect for dragging opponents off of horseback. "Hmm, yes, this one will do just fine." She paid for the weapon and left. Heading towards the arena, she spotted another, small shop, that claimed to sell scrolls. Remember the scroll that Artemis had read that had seemed to help her in battle, she hesitated. "I... Let me go check that one out really quick, ok?" She headed into the shop, looking over the scrolls. She picked one of them up, but quickly set it down, finding herself drawn to a specific scroll. Picking it up, she skimmed it and found it was describing a technique that allowed for quick attacks that prevented enemy counters. She hesitated and then walked over to the counter. Placing the appropriate amount of gold down, she took the scroll and left, doing a more careful reading of it this time. Walking with Sheikah towards the arena, she nodded. "Hmm, this technique seems really useful. I think I'll have to try to put it to use in the arena today. I'm going to need it against that World Circuit. They seemed pretty strong."

Taima buys Horseslayer and Cancel Scroll, uses the scroll

Edited by scorri
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"The top four, huh? That's not too bad, if you only need to win one round to make your entry back... but even that might be asking a bit much... there are a few people even here that I don't think I'd have any decent shot of beating unless I got really lucky... and you wouldn't be asking us if we were all that much stronger than the people you have lined up already... that wouldn't make for good matches..." Celestia replied with a bit of a sigh, as she contemplated it.

"I'd like to give it a try, but... well, I'm not the sturdiest person around. There's a huge difference between fighting in an open field where I can kite an opponent back until I can finish them, if they're stronger than me up close... but I don't know if I'm suited for a small arena..."

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Orpheus had returned back with the rest of the group, having already claimed a key for his own earlier.

----------------------------

The next morning came quickly and talks of the tournament were interesting. Whilst the temptation to join was very present, he'd been eyeing up some of his new comrades - some of which seemed rather potent, far more so than a simple farmer's boy. Still, surely he could make it through one round? The chances of being paired with one of them was fairly low, so he'd break even at least. Even if he lost, the opportunities for betting would still be present. All he needed to do was pick the right fighter and he'd be away.

"I'd certainly be signing up, two hundred isn't too much to part with anyway." he replied, making a mental note to pick up some more robust equipment - his axe had began to look rather feeble quite suddenly.

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Wolfgang turned towards the man confidently signed up himself- he hadn't seen him around before, so was he a new recruit of the Hollows?

"Oh, I haven't seen you around before, but I assume you've recently joined us? The name's Wolfgang night, a traveling scholar of dark magic." he told the man.

Edited by Bluedoom
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The last thing Mel remembered from the previous evening was collapsing on the bed in the room she'd been sharing with Celestia, as the other woman paced about, and read some tomes.

Waking up the morning after, she found herself surrounded by blankets with no Celestia in sight. Not a problem though, she simply yawned and sat up. After taking some time to get herself all cleaned up, and into some fresh clothes, she put her robe on, picked up her tomes and money, and sauntered downstairs, where the tall man was! The tall guy! He was so cool! Mel brightened up, and popped up behind Celestia, wondering what was being discussed. After a bit of listening in, she was even more fired up than from having seen that tall guy. "Monsieur Grand Homme!" she called out, raising a hand. "Am I allowed to participate een zis tournoi? I sink eet weell be razzer fun!" She smiled, and almost bounced in place, getting rather giddy about it. The boxing the other day, that left little interest to her; she wasn't much about fighting with her fists. But if she could use her magic... Well, the thought was far more appealing. "Oh, I weell juste 'ave to go and buy somesing before I do..." She remembered the shopping she'd spoken about the previous day, and that couldn't wait.

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A strange man in a dress with a goatee had approached Orpheus, and from the sounds of it he was one of the group. He didn't look particularly menacing, the poor fellow looked like he could barely lift a sword. However, the mention of magic made him sound far more potent - eliminating any fantasy of an easy early round opponent. Still, he seemed like a decent enough guy, at least decent enough to say hello.

I'm Orpheus, I much prefer something I can swing to a good read." he answered, extending his hand. "I joined last night, funny what kind of work you can run into just by wandering around."

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"Well met, Orpheus. Where do you hail from? Did you ever plan to be a mercenary?" asked Wolfgang, curious to know how this man simply waltzed into the group or even what he was doing prior to that.

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Declan shuffled down to meet up with the others who were already awake, barely able to keep his eyes open. He'd had some... less than pleasant times sleeping last night, with a couple of nightmares plaguing the swordsman throughout the night. Nonetheless, he felt it necessary to come down when he did. After all, it wasn't like he could get any more sleep with the sun as bright as it was that morning...

When he heard about the tournament, he woke up just a bit more. Fighting for sport and profit was always something he felt he could do well if mercenary or bandit work didn't pan out, and now he was able to do it anyway. It was an interesting turn of events, anyway. "A tournament, eh? I'm in. Though, I may need to do some things around town..." Like apologize to Vale for leaving so abruptly yesterday...

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Peter woke up feeling a bit stiff the next morning. That training yesterday took quite a bit out of me. Everyone wandered over to some sort of arena, so he decided to go there, too. Perhaps he could do something about his lack of gold. Hope they don't charge an entry fee. Now, who did he recognize?

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Ivan be nodding at captain before leave, help was still usefully. Ivan figured doing enough for day, and turning in for good sleeping.

After Ivan be see new sun, be go down to the arena again. Ivan hearing and seen some of new friends in arena too. Soon everyone being under the rule of demons in this place, iron rule. Ivan did heard about tournament from this Vacheres, and well, Ivan might just joining. Though Ivan still be needed new lance of injustice...

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Back to the Ring

"Whatever works for you," Sheikah shouted after the armor knight after she ran into the first of two stops, following her in to the arena. People were slowly flittering into the stands at the boxing ring even in the early hours of the morning as the two entered. "Just here to watch my friend again, yeah? Stepping on to bigger and better things."

"Back again, eh?" the bulky man asked. "You put on a pretty good show yesterday, so we've no problems letting you back in. You know the rules- drop off your equipment, drop off your cash, and get going."

"Here we go! Our first run of the day!" the announcer shouted excitedly. "Our challenger is a returning one from yesterday! She defeated the Major circuit then and is returning for the World Circuit! Let's all see how she fares!"

Tournament Talk

"Glad to hear so much interest from you all. I can't imagine any of you would be barred entry, considering you've done good work for the country. If you've no further questions, I must be off soon- there's still much to be done before the event," Vacheres explained.

The door behind the bar opened, Cara stepping out confusedly, her face still showing drowsiness. "What's with all the noise?" She looked up at Vacheres, somewhat scared. "I don't remember you from yesterday..."

"Haha, well, I'm not a part of the company. My name is Vacheres, and I don't plan on sticking around for terribly long," the dragon rider explained with a laugh. "Sorry that you appear to have been awoken rather early. I'm just here to try and see if they're up for joining a local tournament."

"Mmm... it's fine," the innkeeper mumbled. "You all want breakfast, or something? It's in your payment..." She eyed the other people among them shrewdly, stopping at Sierra. "You're from the city, aren't you? You with these guys too all of a sudden?"

"Nope, just visiting since I'm supposed to be a messenger! I sorta forgot my message, though," Sierra responded cheerfully despite the somewhat negative statement. "Hmm, I hope I remember it before it's too late! I sure hope it wasn't too important." She wandered amongst the group aimlessly for a moment before stopping at Vale, poking him on the shoulder. "Hey, I saw you carrying a sword around yesterday, right? What's your name?"

Edited by Reinfleche
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Well, that seemed to be the end of that, then. The barkeep also happened to arrive, so Celestia made her way over to the counter.

"Yes, actually... if you wouldn't mind, I think I'd like some breakfast, ahh... what do you have available?" The templar asked with a smile

Edited by Ether
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Tossing her coins onto the table, Taima nodded, slightly hesitantly and then took a deep breath. "Right Sheikah. Lets see how well I can do today." She went into the room and stripped off her equipment. Wrapping some bandages around her hands, she nodded. She had some bruises there from yesterday and figured having some padding would help. Heading into the ring, she gulped and then settled into a fighting stance. Maybe she could use the technique from the scroll she'd bought earlier today.

The first fighter entered the ring and she managed to deal two quick blows, but took a solid blow to her stomach in return. With a slight stagger, she managed to quickly deal two quick blows in response, leaving her opponent collapsed on the ground. "Ha... They hit harder in this circuit at least..."

The second fighter bounced around in his corner before the bout started. She managed to deal a solid blow right at the start, but missed the follow up. She hadn't quite figure out this technique it seemed. She quickly used the move that she'd been taught yesterday to guard against the return blow before dealing a solid strike, resulting in another downed opponent.

Her next two matches seemed to go in almost a blur, resulting in her suddenly facing the final opponent in the ring. This one was going to be a tough one, she could tell. The small man was bouncing quickly back and forth. She managed to deal two strong blows against the man, but he charged forward and rapidly knocked her back, slamming her into the ropes of the ring. Groaning, she swung back at him, but missed, barely missing the first of the man's counters but taking the second blow solidly in the stomach. Groaning, barely able to stand, she slammed her fist into the man's stomach and sending him flying across the ring. The man started to push himself up, but collapsed on the ground, unable to get up. She panted, tired and barely standing. Thankfully, the ring's healers were quickly healing her. She sighed in relief and got ready to exit the ring.

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"Ah, très bien!" Mel said, as the tall man said that everyone should be fine with participating. She was more than grateful for that, humming her way along as she followed Celestia towards the promise of food. A good breakfast would be the best way to start this day. "Ben, moi aussi, madame! I would love to 'ave somesing to eat." She smiled, and glanced at her friend, mentally humming an old some from her home. "So 'ow was your evening, Celestia? I must admit, I fell asleep very early. I probably was not good company après ze bass. Désolé." She laughed awkwardly at that, wondering what Celestia had even done after she'd gone and dozed off.

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Orpheus laughed, he rarely planned particularly far in advance. "I figured it seemed like something to do." he replied, not having really thought much about why exactly he'd gotten involved with these people. "I came from a village in the lands claimed in the war, nothing terribly interesting out there, so I figured I'd go see what the rest of the continent's like. People always need mercenaries, so it's the kind of work I ended up doing."

Edited by Shin
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