Luné Alpenglow
While her armor is made, Luné calls for her best to come to her. She expends 60 of Codex’s Mana to level up the Bears to Level 8, putting all of their points into Constitution. She speaks to Sebastia as the gathering begins to form, “Sebastia, I will leave the strategy to you. As for information you need to know, Void Sprites and Wolves are our highest levels, at 10. Void Sprites will be unavailable as they are being used in the Voidic Oracle’s Room, so that leaves Wolves, Bears, and Sproutlings. I want to keep the Sproutlings here to protect the Dungeon, likely with you or Imai. I just leveled up the Bears, so that they are now our highest health Monster.” Sebastia nods in response, saying, “I understand, my Lady. I will have the Bears acting as a frontline. The Wolves will be cavalry, meaning the job of range must be outsourced to the Lake. Are you able to contact it at will?” Luné shakes her head no, and then looks around. She points at a wolf, and says, “You, I need you to sprint to Lake of Codex, and act as an envoy. Receive a buff from Sebastia before you leave.” The Wolf stands and trots up to Sebastia, who casts the protection on it. The Wolf sprints off, ready to act as an envoy. Sebastia speaks, “We will go to Lake of Codex first, to bolster our numbers, and then move in the direction of the enemy. Hopefully we wi-” A howl can be heard in the forest. Then two wolves and a merling exit the woods, heading to the house. Luné lets them, knowing that is the way to update the map. She opens the map so Sebastia can see.
As the map is updated, Luné receives 200 mana, and smirks. She just got a massive boost. She quickly orders the wolves to bring the Merling back to Lake of Codex and standby there for the main party. She immediately expends 180, leveling the Wolves and Bears to the maximum they can be for now, which surprises her at first, but makes sense, as the cost to level increases from 16 onwards. Though she cannot at the moment, she knows what she wants the Bears to be, and adds 3 more points to their health, and the remaining 4 to their Spirit, giving them 10 mana to expend, but no spells they know. The Wolves already have their niche, and she simply increases their Constitution by 2 and Strength by 3. Luné speaks, “The Wolves and Bears are now level 15. Bears are now at 100 health. They should be far more effective Tank units.” Sebastia nods, and looks forward at the gathering of monsters. Cloud sits among them, and Sebastia speaks, “Cloud, come up here. You’re leading the Wolves. We need to talk strategy.” Cloud stands and walks over, ready to learn the plan.
Sebastia begins speaking, “You and your Wolves will act in a harassing role. Attack from the flanks, poke through the frontlines, be nuisances, but do not get stuck in. You are the Cavalry. You should never be stuck in the middle of the enemy. Push through, get through, or hit turn run. The Bears will be the frontline infantry. Stick behind and around them, or utilize their big frames to your advantage and surprise a few enemies with sudden attacks from above or below. I will be remaining at Lady Luné’s side during this. Leave her sa-” As Sebastia talks, Luné gets a feeling from the Envoy, and focuses on it. She finds herself in the space with Lake again.
Lake glows brightly, but his voice betrays his fear and panic, “Hello, almighty Codex!” Luné speaks, “Calm down, Lake. We’re not under attack just yet. Prepare ranged fighters. We will be sending a force of Wolves and Bears to you for your fighters to join. They should remain behind the Bears at all times, unless they cannot get an attack off. Your Water Sprites will do nicely in this role, keep your Merlings at your core to defend you.” Lake glows brightly again and laughs, “Sprites? Who has Sprites!? I have Sylphs! HAHAHAH!” Lake seems to be less fearful now, just proud. Luné speaks, “That is good. I’m glad you upgraded them. We will need them. Now, you should be getting an influx of 200 Mana soon, one set of scouts is returning.” Lake bobs up and down, then says, “I understand. I shall level up as much as I can!” Luné nods as she says, “Do not ignore your Merlings. You will need protection. When the force arrives, let your Sylphs join them, and the force will go to Fort Pontifex. With this emergency meeting done, we will be there soon.” Before Lake can say anything, Luné disconnects from her Envoy.
As she opens her eyes, she sees the Bears in a line of 10, with the Wolves in chevrons of 5 at the sides. Cloud stands at the front of the formation, in the middle. Luné sees Sebastia walking up and down the line, she then stops and starts walking back to Luné, “My Lady, we are ready.” Luné looks at the Smithy, to see that her armor is not done. She frowns, and then starts walking to the back of the formation, “Then let’s get going.” Sebastia follows her, and they take position in the middle, and behind the Bears. Sebastia calls out, “Formation! March!” The line of Bears begin to walk, with the Wolves following, but pulling in behind the line, and beside Sebastia and Luné. The trees will require the formation to split sometimes, but they can remain close enough together that if something happens, they will not be at a disadvantage.
After almost a half-hour, they reach Lake, and find two Wolves sitting. These two Wolves enter the chevrons on the ends. The left chevron has an extra wolf on its left, and the right on its right. The Sylphs begin floating out of the water. The Sylphs look like small young ladies, whose dresses are always flowing like water. As they are joining the formation, mostly as a blob, Sebastia cringes a little at seeing such an unorganized mess be created behind her neat formation. Despite Sebastia clearly wanting to whip them into a better formation, the formation begins moving again. As a force of 10 Bears, 12 Wolves, and 15 Water Sylphs, they begin moving towards where Fort Pontifex lays.
Isabell Jordan
The Priestess sat quietly beside Koto, watching Miyoshi’s condition carefully. Imai enters quietly, and taps the Priestess. She looks and then starts to follow after a small wave. Isabell exits the house, finding it rather quiet compared to earlier, when Bears would be roaming, Wolves playing, and those creepy Void Sprites would float aimlessly. Granted the Void Sprites are still around, but there are far less of them. Zeuz stands quietly, watching the forest. Imai walks to Zeuz and Isabell speaks, “It is quite quiet at the moment. Is something the matter?” Zeuz looks at her, and nods, “That horn earlier, was Fort Pontifex. With a set of scouts returning, the little Lady just left to get ranged fighters from the Lake, with a host of Bears and Wolves.” Isabell is shocked, “She is already making a move? I thought that would be an unwise decision. What if that horn meant Fort Pontifex is attacking?” Zeuz nods in response, understanding the thought, and he answers, “Hence why Imai is still here. Her armor can take a damn strong beating, and she hits far harder than anyone here.” Isabell sighs dejectedly, then looks at Imai, then at the forest. She finally asks, “What way is the Lake? And do you know where Fort Pontifex is?” Zeuz smirks, “Coin.” Isabell looks annoyed, then says, “Screw it, I’m walking to Pontifex. I’ll just join them there.” Zeuz raises an eyebrow, “You sure about that Priestess?” Isabell looks back at him, while walking, “I’m not just a Priestess. I’m a Hero.” She snaps her fingers, and suddenly her outfit has changed. No longer was she wearing holy garb, but rather a full set of steel platemail, with gold trimmings and the emblem of Material on its chest. She begins walking as she summons her tower shield as well.
Fort Pontifex
As the Fort sits quietly, waiting for the enemy. It watches the woods around its clearing, through the eyes of Pontifex Ravenlance. As the Pontifex moves off the battlements, it feels his intent for a prayer service. Summoning the maximum number of the skeletons it can reasonably remove from guard, it lets Pontifex Ravenlance begin his sermon. Preaching about the health and safety of everyone in the Imperial Human State. Calling for Material’s blessing upon them, and the defense of the Fort, and by extension, Humanity. Fort Pontifex listens quietly, joining in the prayer as it begins. It can hear the voices of each of its soldiers, “Material, guide my blade. Protect my brothers and I so that we may see our families again at duty’s end. For eternal life and happiness, help guide our hands. Protect us as we protect Humanity from the threat of your other children. Allow us to defend ourselves.” As the prayer comes to an end, the Pontifex raises his head, and calls out to his brethren, “We have a fight ahead of us! Brothers, take up arms to protect your family, and your nation! Let not one of those Void worshiping Halfmen set foot past our Fort!” Though a silent call to arms, the Skeletons know his words, and raise their swords in silent cheer.
Fort Pontifex feels a presence calling for attention. The Pontifex feels it too, or rather hears it, as one of the Skeletons on the battlements calls out, “The enemy is here!” The Pontifex calls out, “To your stations!” Skeletons begin running, to the battlements and gate. Knights move to the stables, to gather their non-existent horses. The Pontifex calls for his Cardinals, who approach. Though their bodies are no longer human, they still act human, and the Pontifex does not seem to notice the glaring inconsistencies. A confusing call is heard, however, and the Fort must see it for itself, and looks through the observer’s eye sockets. It sees a holy warrior of some kind. Their tower shield is emblazoned with holy imagery, and their steel armor has golden trim and the emblem of Material on its chest. The great helm blocks their face, so the Fort cannot tell if they are a Skeleton or not. However, this is a problem. The skeletons may find it impossible to attack such a creature, but why is this humanoid monster dressed like a holy warrior? And then they see it, the force of animals, exiting the woods. At the back, two Humans stand. This Holy Warrior is truly a Holy Warrior. No matter. The Pontifex will take them down.
Isabell Jordan
Isabell looks to her side as she hears the call of a wolf. She can see Cloud, stalking up to her, growling. She pulls off her helm, and watches as the Boss Monster immediately stops tensing up, and returns to the line. Putting the helm back on, she can see Luné and Sebastia watching the situation. Cloud returns to the front of the line, and then silence. She looks at the Fort, and puts her shield in front of her. She summons her mace, and is ready to start bashing skeletons. Sebastia calls out, “Formation! Attack!” Isabell begins sprinting forward, shield raised, the Wolves begin running around the battle, trying to draw fire from the battlements. The bears begin running directly for the gate, which is wide open, as it has only splinters for a gate. Massive amounts of bolts of water fly towards the battlements, slamming against some kind of protection spell. Isabell notices the Skeleton mages keeping the barrier up. Running at the gate, Isabell enters with two bears. Slamming into the line of Skeletons, she slams her mace down on a skeleton, getting a red “10”, she then pushes it with her shield, trying to make an opening. The bears are doing the same, except with their paws. Seeing as the Skeletons started lining up in four lines, filling in as a skeleton falls, she backs off, letting a Bear take her spot.
Slamming shield into the ground, she calls out, “Hear my call! Become like steel! Break their line!” A holy light bursts from Isabell as she casts one of her many rejuvenating buffs. The Bears’ wounds begin healing, and their attacks hit with more force. Breaking through faster, soon a hole is made, and Isabell exploits it, as the Bears are too large to. Rushing forward, she holds her shield in front of her, taking a few glancing blows that bounce off her armor. She sees a rundown Chapel of Material in the center of the courtyard, and charges for it, planning to take it and use a territorial buff to make it impossible for Skeletons to overwhelm or even enter the Chapel. As she enters, she sees two Skeletons in armor, with holy symbols. One has a bow, and is tall enough to be an Elf, and the other is short and draconic in nature. The Dracenewt charges her, while the Elf fires a glowing arrow. Dodging the arrow, it suddenly turns, and strikes her back, pushing her forward, to be slashed at by the Dracenewt’s axe. The armor takes the brunt of the damage, but she doesn’t like how it hits. She wasn’t paying attention to numbers anymore. This is just a fight.
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She swings her mace at the Dracenewt, who barely dodges, and then she blocks the next arrow with her shield. Trying to dodge out of the axe’s swing, she hears it scrape the back of her armor, nearly catching her leg. She charges the Elf, and swings up with her mace, only to see the Skeleton do a backflip away, and fire two arrows as it does. Both miss, but makes her have to stop charging or she would have been hit. The Dracenewt runs up from behind, swinging down again, only to miss, as she jumps to the side, swinging at the skeleton. The Elf fires again, hitting her pauldron, while the Dracenewt side steps her swing, and swipes with its own axe. Blocking the axe, Isabell lunges forward, slamming the mace down, managing to finally strike the Dracenewt, who hits the ground, and bounces up slightly. The Elf runs forward to stop her from getting the killing blow, and uses its bow extremely effectively in close quarters.
Pushed away, Isabell attacks the Elf instead, knocking it to the side, as the Dracenewt swings upwards with its axe, cutting into Isabell’s armor, and grazing her body underneath. She feels the pain, and casts a healing spell on herself, as she blocks the next strike, and feels an arrow plink off her helmet. Striking fast and hard, she swings at the Dracenewt, bringing it to the floor again, and this time, as the Elf comes to its comrade’s aid, she swaps target, and smacks the Elf. An interesting feint, and then she crushes the Dracenewt’s skull. She rushes the Elf after that, and finds it retreating out of the Chapel. She lets it run, and rushes to the altar, where she crouches onto one knee and does a prayer.
Luné Alpenglow
Luné watched quietly. Seeing the battle unfold. Luné tries to focus on the senses of one of her Bears, getting a clear picture of the interior combat. The Bear slams down on a few Skeletons, causing two red “12”s to appear, which Luné finds odd. After all, her Bears have 6 Strength. She sees a few wolves running around Skeletons, and causing mayhem. Then a more interesting Skeleton exits the Chapel, running off to a building in the middle. She wonders where Cloud is, and soon sees her running through the fight, dragging down Skeletons and being a nuisance, just like her wolves.
As Luné watches the battle unfold, she hears Sebastia say, “Something must be wrong. The battlements are still firing on the wolves outside of the Fort. They should have focused their attention on the interior by now. Recall four wolves. I will be entering the fray.” Luné does as Sebastia asks, and has four of the wolves out of the interior return to guard her and the Sylphs. Sebastia begins sprinting forward, directly to the wall, and as she runs, a spell is cast, and she speeds up twofold. Arrows rain down on her, and Luné gets worried, but Sebastia is already halfway to the wall. When Sebastia reaches the wall, she simply jumps up to the top, and slashes through one of the mage skeletons. The Battlements devolve into a melee with the Swordmaster, and Luné watches in envy at Sebastia’s capabilities.
Sebastia Rin
Sebastia was not paying attention to any numbers. This was a proper fight. She could not lose focus, or she would die. She cut down skeleton after skeleton, and soon removed all of the Mages, allowing the Sylphs to fire over the wall and into the courtyard. It was possible that they would harm their own Monsters, but Monsters are replaceable. Sebastia keeps running down the battlements until she cannot anymore, and she jumps down. She has a feeling of where the enemy Dungeon Core is, and begins sprinting that direction. She was not going to let this last too long.
She enters the main building, and finds a Skeleton Archer, aiming at her. With a quick slash, the Skeleton falls, and its armor clanks to the ground. Sebastia sees plenty of skeletons laying in piles, and at the center of the room, a Dungeon Core, guarded by a Skeleton in a set of rusty steel armor, with a broken great helm. The Skeleton raises a hand, and four skeletons raise nearby. Sebastia raises her sword, ready to cut them down. The four new Skeletons rush her, and are cut down with ease. The Skeleton raises its hand and a burst of holy light emanates from it, the Skeletons in the room jolt, and Sebastia is shocked by the sheer number standing up. All of the unraised Skeletons stand up, and begin charging at Sebastia. She takes this opportunity to retreat. That’s a bad idea to fight alone. She exits the building, sprinting to the frontline with several Skeletons still following. She enters the Chapel, and finds the Knight she had glanced at praying at an altar. She turns to fight the horde, but only finds a few entering the choke point she had found.
After she dismantles the few skeletons she turns around, and approaches the Knight cautiously, only to hear Isabell’s voice, “-sanctify and protect.” Isabell stands abruptly, and turns, facing Sebastia. Sebastia speaks, “What are you doing here?” Isabell answers, “I cannot simply let another Hero of Humanity face a challenge alone. I just finished consecrating this Chapel. The undead should no longer be able to enter.” Sebastia shakes her head, then says, “That’s no way to consecrate a site. Let me show you how it's done.” Sebastia raises a hand perpendicular to the floor, and summons her banner, then she yells out, “Consecration!” She picks up the banner, and slams it down, planting it firmly in the floorboards. A burst of light rips through the building, and out.
Fort Pontifex
Everything was going rather well. The enemy was beginning to be pushed back, but suddenly, the Fort had a feeling something was wrong. A sudden holy site was in its Chapel. Taking a look, it sees it will not affect its Skeletons, as it is a Holy Site of Material. The Faith of these Skeletons is Material. It smirks at the silly Holy Warrior, but sees the woman who had ripped through the battlements like a hurricane. As the woman stands, a banner appears, and Fort Pontifex feels dread course through its entire being. Suddenly a bright light pulses from the center of the Fort, the apex of which was the woman’s banner. A bright light bursts up into the sky from the Chapel, and at the top, a roaring lion’s head appears, and the sound of its roar bursts forth to the ground.
Fort Pontifex could no longer see the Chapel. It had been completely removed from its influence, and that terrified the Fort. It looked around the Fort, seeing its Skeletons suddenly become inferior in all ways. It looked towards the Lion’s maw, and read the description;
Grandia
Error
Isabell Jordan
Isabell looks at the banner. She doesn’t recognize it, but she knows it is important, because she feels the air change. This is no longer only Material’s. This is now something else’s and Material’s. She speaks, baffled, “What did you just do?” Sebastia lets go of the banner, and says, “Welcome to Grandia. Now, time to fight.” Sebastia turns around, smirking, as she walks to the door, ready to continue fighting. Isabell follows, understanding now. Sebastia just claimed this land for Grandia, and as such, it is no longer Fort Pontifex’s. As they walk to the door, Isabell hears something behind her, a whispering, and she turns to face it. At the banner she sees several Knights standing. She is confused, but says nothing.
Chaos, of Probability
Chaos laughs happily at the situation. She summoned them to guard the banner this time! He was so happy to see one of his eldest creations again. He dearly missed her. Perhaps he could recreate her at some point. Maybe even for that other world he was making. “Project Emet” is the name, but perhaps it could be a fun place to place such a Heroine. He decided to take over the Summon, and draw her blade. Chaos whispers, “Remain in position, defend with your lives.” As the two exit he fully embraces the role-
Irae, the Silent Hero
She never felt more happy. Turning her spectral flesh real, and her armor into proper gear, she begins walking, the clank of armored steps feeling nostalgic. “If only Larz could see this.” Stepping out into the battlefield, she feels both sets of eyes on her. Luné and the Fort. They had noticed. Raising her sword, she speaks, “Icebreaker.” Doing a quick spin, and slash, the ground turns to ice, and then shatters, splintering into all, not only the skeletons. However, the skeletons begin freezing over, while Luné’s forces seem to be empowered. Sprinting at the closest skeleton, the longsword slides through its brittle bones easily, shattering it to tiny pieces. Irae kept running around, invigorated, and reminded of the siege of Grandia. The Cavalry counter charge was beautiful that day. Raising her hand to the sky, a banner falls nearby, summoning spectral horses and their riders, the colors of Grandia, proudly displayed on their chests. Rushing forward, the Cavalry pierces skeletons, and moves past, through Luné’s forces, harming none, and then through the walls. Irae yells out, “Audacity!” A black smoke appears beside her, and the demoness forms, slashing at the nearby skeletons with her whip-like tail. Irae slashes through several more, before drawing on her proper skill set. Dropping the longsword, the greatsword comes out, and suddenly everything is so easy to do. Irae was back, and better than ever.
Sebastia Rin
With Isabell beside her, she enters the Main Building again, and faces the Pontifex once more. With someone at her back, this should be far easier. The two get to work, cutting down each Skeleton that charges them. The horde was being cleared, though slowly. Even though they were doing well, the Skeletons began to overwhelm them. That was when she saw spectral Grandian Royal Knights, rushing into the building through the wall. In barely a second, the Knights had trampled more than twenty skeletons, and were not stopping there, as they began using their lances as they ran through, and out the other wall. Though that was neat, she didn’t remember that being a part of her consecration. But being confused could lead her to death, so she accepted the help with no thought, and kept slashing at the skeletons. Soon there were only five left, including the Pontifex.
The battle was drawing close to its conclusion. Sebastia and Isabell stood side by side, facing the Pontifex and his last four minions. Sebastia spoke, “Yield.” The Pontifex drew its sword and aimed at the two. The four skeletons charged, and the Swordmaster and Hero answered the challenge in kind. Clashing with two skeletons each, Sebastia dismantles hers first, with Isabell coming in as a close second. The two charge the Pontifex, and clash with their blades. Sebastia feels her blade be deflected, and hears the sound of metal on metal, as Isabell shields her from the counter. A skeleton begins to rise beside them, and Sebastia shatters its head, making it stop. Isabell smacks the Pontifex in the side, cracking ribs. Sebastia turns swiftly, and charges the Skeleton Lord, slashing from left to right, trying to take its sword arm. Pontifex, to its credit, is a rather good Boss Monster, and blocks the slash, countering with a spell to Sebastia’s chest, which knocks her back a few feet.
Sebastia comes to a stop by jamming her sword in the floorboards, and quickly getting up. Isabell blocks two strikes and attacks the Skeleton Lord again, aiming for the legs, and missing. Sebastia charges forward, going for a jumping attack, which she does, but takes a slash in the process. The Pontifex is knocked back, and stumbles, while Sebastia is slid a few feet away, and begins getting up, feeling the pain in her arm. Isabell charges the Skeleton Lord, slamming into it with her shield, and attempting to make it fall, which it does. Sebastia rushes over, and blocks a strike coming for her, before stabs down at the Pontifex’s chest. The Pontifex is pinned to the ground, and keeps fighting, as Isabell dog piles its sword arm, with her shield. Sebastia yanks her sword free, and brings it down on the Pontifex’s skull, cracking it open, and ending the fight. Sebastia stands, and approaches the core. She raises her sword, already knowing what to do, and slashes down.