Completed On a Journey[Radiant]

[Clyde Sullins]

88 Summer 513 Location: Roughly halfway between Ravok and Nyka Clyde did not really enjoy traveling. For starters, it was a bit monotonous, more or less the same thing happening day after day. Plus, you were out in the wilds, eating food not all that good, trail rations. Stuff easy to make and put together into a semi edible and somewhat filling form. His group had already made camp for the day, and had most things settled, so he decided to go on a short reconnaissance mission around the perimeter... Which was oddly similar to him taking his dog on a walk. But no, it was a recon mission, at least if anyone asked. It was starting to get a bit darker out, the sun lower on the sky. But his dog was of a special breed that could see just as easily in the dark. Plus, it was well trained, he did not doubt Rye for his skills, whether in alerting him to dangers, or in seeing in the darkness. Or perhaps even leading him back to camp. He was wearing his normal gear, cotton clothes, boots, a belt with a light hammer tucked into it, and a old wooden staff in his right hand. Not for walking really, just because he always kept it with him. All of his apparel would appear normal enough, and were quite mundane. Except for one thing, his robes. While they looked like a normal set of grey robes, this was only appearances, as he had that side showing. They were actually enchanted, and far more than they appeared at first glance. If he had the outer side showing, they would look very nice and expensive, and would have the symbol of the Ebonstryfe emblazoned on the front. While he had not personally Magecrafted the item, he still respected it, and knew it was a good piece of work. As such, Clyde walked along through the wilds, alone but for his trusty guard dog walking before him.

[Radiant]

The Wildlands, the stretch of wilderness encompassing the Sylira region, filled with nature's beauty and horror at the same time. Plants, herbivores, predators, landspawns, and the like. All in all, very few could actually pose a thread to the Master Reimancer who could decimate a whole bandit camp without so much as exhausting himself... but on this day, that would change.

Clyde's guard dog kept accompanying beside its master faithfully, its keen eyes and noses searching for any kind of threat. It found nothing so far, nothing that its master couldn't handle... or was it?

Suddenly, the dog could feel a foreboding feeling in its gut, the natural instinct for survival kicking in and it didn't know why, it saw nothing, sensed nothing with its sharp nose, and tasted nothing in the air... just that single feeling as if his very being told him to leave the area immediately.

"Subject... located..."

Strange telepathic voices echoed inside Kreig and the dog's mind as if a demented mage was talking to them in their mind, but the eerie calm and emotionless nature of the voice showed that the source of the voice was no some crazy mage.

If Clyde kept on walking forward, the aura would get heavier and heavier until it was very obvious to him that something was definitely there, his dog barked and whipered at him, urging for its master to just turn back to the safety of the group.

[Clyde Sullins]

The first sign that something was wrong, was a voice in his head. Normally he would have thought this was someone sneaking up on him, but even if they were a master of stealth, someone getting that close to both himself and Rye without them noticing? He whirled around to look behind him, but saw no one. "Subject... located..." What the petch did that even mean, he thought to himself. He turned back about, but still saw no one, and cautiously walked forward. Either he was going crazy, which he doubted, or someone was messing with him... And by his logic, going back the way he came would not serve his purposes. For it would just mean people in the way, in his way, in the way of his magic. He doubted anything he could not handle, would be better served by being with the group. Either it was within his capabilities to handle, or it would not matter if they were there as it would blow through them like a tornado through a forest of saplings. Perhaps if it was not so true, and so logical a decision to arrive upon, even Clyde would have felt his decision and thought process was callous, with an air of superiority. But it was not to him, for in his mind he knew his own limits better than anyone, knew just how strong he was, and in some cases how weak, and had reached the decision for valid reasons bearing this in mind. So he walked onward, forwards, his reasoning and logic assuring him it was the right path to take. Or at least, the best one in this situation. Perhaps even a bit of curiosity was mixed in, though he would never admit such a thing had affected his decision. As he headed forward, he could feel it, feel IT, upon him. Though the air was clear, he could feel it heavy and cloying, harsh on his air as he sucked in a lungful of normal air empty of any polutants. And he could also hear... A sound... A high pitched sound, almost unnoticed, but slowly growing in intensity as he walked forward. But not a sound, at the same time... Not in the literal sense. For he could still hear everything else, it did not block anything out... Which meant he was not really hearing it, not really tasting or breathing it. Magic was about, that was for sure. Clyde held out his left palm before him, and thought about his res. Pictured it billowing out of his hand. Willed it to do so. As he did, a cough of bright silvery gas exuded out, only to be confined to a circular space a foot in front of his palm by another extension of his will. As he pictured shaping it with his hands, rotating his hands around the small ball shaped cloud, and watched as the res imitated his wishes, and formed into a ball of dense gaseous res before him. He continued to let it flow out for a bit longer, till he felt he had a good enough amount, judged upon a whim, and dropped his hand back down, glancing at the globe of res. "You know Rye, I think something is amongst us, which does not belong. I do attract them, don't I?" With that, Clyde began to walk forward again, unperturbed but for the high pitched sound and the thickness of the air, keeping the ball of swirling gas floating a few feet in front of him at chest height, with barely a conscious thought.

[Radiant]

"Subject displayed the ability to manipulate: Res

Subject is classified as: Reimancer"

The echoing voices inside Clyde's head became louder and more clearer as he trudged forward, the aura was now so thick that even common men would feel that an unnatural occurrence or being was here. If one listened closely a low-sound continuous high-pitched humming could be heard. Clyde's dog, due to its naturally sensitive ears, started to whimper and crouched down, driven to extreme uncomfortableness due to it.

A pack of wolves could be seen running towards Clyde from the front, they were howling and whimpering similar to Rye, they ignored the reimancer and just passed him as if he was a tree.

...........

"Subject 90, Classification: Human, Threat Level: Unknown.

Subject 91, Classification: Canine, Threat Level: Minimal

Continued Observation On Subject 90."

A flash of white at the corner of his eye, when he turned to look at it, he could see nothing, but Clyde could feel that something was watching him. Another flash of white, another head turn, and still, nothing could be found. It seemed that this being had some unknown ability to move like light itself, utterly defeating even master acrobats and flux. To locate this being, it would require Clyde to use some other methods than just to rely on his naked senses.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde was becoming increasingly perturbed by the words being spoken in his mind. He did not think he was going crazy, instead he assumed that some sort of magic was at fault, even if he was unsure what. But it was the only thing that made sense. Though it was an odd mechanism of magic, to think to others, saying things which in some occasions informed him slightly. Was it meant to throw him off, or to mess with him? Or did the thing not know it was doing it? Or just not care? The last option was one Clyde was hoping was not true, as it meant bad things by relation. It knew he had exuded res, and that he was a Reimancer... Which meant it knew he was a mage, and knew enough of magic to recognize res and already knew of Reimancy... Which meant this person or whatever, had a good deal of knowledge of magic. That or perhaps it also could do Reimancy... Admittedly Reimancy was one of the more easily identified magics, but he could not rule out this thing being a Reimancer. He had not even transmuted it, and yet it already knew. As Clyde moved onward, he could hear a sound, a gentle hum growing in intensity, at a high pitch which was beginning to become annoying. To bad it was not a actual sound, so putting his hands over his ears would do nothing, as far as he knew. Suddenly, he could see shapes, and readied his res, mentally preparing himself to cast it out, to transmute it, to strike them down... Only to make out the shape as wolves, something he had fought before, more than once. But they ignored him, running right by, more scared of whatever else was about than the human mage. By its next words, he could only assume that he was subject 90, and that he was being watched by whatever mentally spoke to him. But then he saw a blur of movement, and tried to catch it with his eyes, failing pitifully. Whatever it was, it darted about out of sight, just out of sight. Always just out of sight... But he could not nail it down as it darted, craning his neck as it moved, never quite catching it. Which meant he would need to use magic to find it. Since Rye seemed all but useless in the moment. Auristics, of course, seemed a obvious choice. If he could already sense it so easily, taste and hear the effects of its impression rubbing against the periphery of his own aura, than detecting it by aura vision should be quite easy... It would be like a blazing fire in the midst of a dull grey field. Clyde would speak, using the words as a incantation, for his next casting, this time of Auristics. "Zipping and diving and plopping it goes... I sit here with res, just waiting on my toes..." As he spoke he forced djed into his eyes, working to activate his aura vision, to look about for the aura of the creature or being or thing... Not going deep, just looking for the initial obvious flare of a strong aura, just opening his Auristics the proverbial crack. He continued his chanting as he wove his aura spell, looking about trying to find it, trying to locate the things aura. "Rude with a attitude, is what you are... If you keep this up, neither of us will get far..."

[Radiant]

"Subject display high amount of magical ability. Switching Observation Priority to: Top.

Next Step: Reveal Observer"

*SSSSSSSSSSSSS!* A deafening high pitched sound immeidately struck the master mage when he activated his Auristics. His senses overwhelmed by the immense aura the mysterious being was emanating, it had a spark of divinity in it, far too much for a mortal to handle for an extended amount of time. When he turned his head, the sickly glow of the... being's aura could be seen. Lashing the air with its immense presence. If Clyde didn't turn off his auristics immediately, the information would be too much for his senses.

If he turned it off, he could see that a very bizarre creature was standing in front of him. Watching the reimancer with its void-like black eyes, its milky white skin and mouthless features only added to the increasing wrongness of the abomination. It had the shape of giant wolf with a snake for its tail and a humanoid head. The creature moved with soundless steps, circling the Reimancer. Rye barked and barked in fear mixed with anger, desperately trying to protect its master.

"Subject 91. Threat Level: Annoyance. Will Terminate Upon Further Disturbance To Observer"

It was clear that the creature did not like the dog barking at it, and it was also obvious on what it meant by "Termination".

[Clyde Sullins]

When his Auristical vision did become active, it was like looking into the sun. Blinding in intensity, making one want to shy away and close your eyes. Looking at this exposed aura was not to different from such an experience. He could feel the sound in his teeth, making them ache, could feel it in his bones, like they would shake loose from his body. As he saw for a moment the aura, it flared to life before him, like an explosion of flame, the force of it nearly knocking him off his feet onto his rear. By instinct, pure defensive instinct, he tried to close off his Auristics, picturing it as a slamming door in his mind. He cut off the flow of djed, returning his senses to the normal mundanity they normally were. He had only looked at it for a moment, a tick, perhaps a few of them, but even that had been enough to tell him the scope of this encounter. But what the petch was that thing? When his dazzled eyes were able to focus on the sight before him, a odd hodgepodge of creatures was visible, like some crazy offshoot of a creation only a morpher could envisage. But it could not just be a morpher, not a mundane person altered, not with a aura like that. Its head looked human enough, except for its lack of a mouth, and its black eyes. Its skin was also odd, a odd whitish color, which on a human would not appear healthy. But then, he had already realized this was not a human, so perhaps it did not indicate illness. Clyde began to turn to face it, keeping them both face to face, as the thing moved about without noise, effortlessly. He could see elements of a wolf in it, similar to the ones he had just seen, along with a long tail that appeared more like a snake than a actual appendage. "Rye, sit!" Clyde spoke to Rye, trying to get him to hush before this thing went through with its threat and indeed killed him. Then Clyde just stared at it, the ball of res still before him keeping steady, ready to be thrown and transmuted into an attack at the creature should it turn violent. For now though, he did nothing but stare back at it, staff in hand, studying it in turn as he was studied. "What... What are you? And what do you want?" A note did come into sudden clarity in his mind, something he had not understood when first hearing its mind speak... It had chosen to show itself, it had not been caught or seen by him because of his own skill... Which beyond showing its ability, also said it was not simply here to just kill him. At least, not at the moment.

[Radiant]

Hearing his master's voice, the dog finally complied, sitting down and just stared at the creature with hostile eyes. Rye didn't like it, this creature was mocking the shape of his proud canine species. The creature finally stopped moving and remained motionless, in a stand off,

"Subject 90 Displays Control Above Subject 91

Observer Calculating..."

It suddenly spoke telepathically and went silent.

"Calculating..."

It remained motionless.

"Most Efficient Way To Procure Information From Subject 90..."

........

.....

...

"Dismemberment"

BGM and OOC Info :

Saya no Uta OST - Scream

Oho! It's on! Let's see what Clyde can do!

And then when Clyde blinked, it suddenly vanished. High-pitched humming violently echoed in his head. He could feel the being moving with inhuman speed, appearing at the corner of his eye every time.

The Journeyman flash-stepped to Clyde's back and tried to slash it with its huge claws, if Clyde somehow managed to deter it, it would jump back while launching its serpentine tail to strike Clyde's neck. It would keep doing so until it received a wound or Clyde was dead. If it received a wound, it would flash-step the moment Clyde blinked and appeared at a high tree branch above him.

It would not launch its most deadly weapon yet though... not yet, it still didn't view Clyde as "threatening" enough for it to do so.

OOCFeel free to RP the Journeyman's attacks as well

[Clyde Sullins]

OOC: Alright, bear in mind Clyde does not really use incantations... Ever... Usually he just uses gestures. So bear this in mind when you read them, for they might be a bit... Odd... Or bad. But a incantation seemed more fitting for a few of the bits. IC: Clyde continued to wait on this being, not making the first hostile move. For if he could, dealing with it civilly would still be preferable to fighting. But if it came down to it, fight he would. He followed its mind speak, knowing he was subject 90, hearing as it made mention of his controlling subject 91 which was Rye. He was interested to here what it wanted, to gather information from Clyde, subject 90. What did he want to know? Why did he not just directly ask? Before he could reason further on this, it followed its own line or reasoning to a conclusion, how to deal with him and gather the desired info... To tear him apart, of rip or slice apart. That one word, dismember, could be fulfilled in many different ways. But it all meant his death, and he was having none of that. He began to act as soon as he heard it, but in a blink the thing was gone, then back in another spot, and gone. What the petch could move like that? But when it first disappeared, Clyde had already began a basic defensive arrangement of res, preparing it as needed, and issuing it forth. It began to gush out of him, in two main area, his legs, and his torso and hands. The leg res was exuded as a liquid, and began to run down his legs, over his boots and feet, to soak into the ground beneath Clyde, slowly widening its radius around him, and its depth. He would continue to issue this forth till a good 10 foot diameter circle of earth below him was soaked in res, roughly five foot in every direction, with him as the epicenter, and several inches deep. That would be his end goal. However, this would take longer than the other issuance and arrangement of res through the air around him. At the same time as issuing the liquid res from his legs, he also began to issue out of his torso in every direction a cloud of gaseous res, saturating the air around him in every direction for a good 3 or 4 feet, around, and above. It was bright silver and ethereal, giving off a faint glow and life of its own. Not forgotten, but not the main focus of his current defensive preparation, his first globe of dense gaseous res still floated in front of him from when he had made it before seeing the thing, maintained, but not increased. For now... But likely once he got his starting preparations complete, he would add to it again as a main attack force. What he did now was mainly for defensive usage. All the while exuding his res, he spoke a low chant, as much to concentrate his magic, as to keep himself calm and focused, and in the moment. Ignoring his odds or anything else. "You slip and you bob and you zip all about, but really you're nothing but a rude little lout... You think yourself so strong that you can do as you please... But when I am done with you you'll be on your knees..." When the being finally appeared behind him, Clyde made a small gesture of his hand, like he was swatting at a fly. As he did, a chunk of the gaseous res directly in between Clyde and the thing would fly towards it, breaking off a layer, and igniting once it got close and looked like it would hit the thing it was aimed at, transmuting into flame to splash against it, trying to roast it, a gust of flame several feet in diameter. But still small in comparison to the total amount of res he had exuded. He would then exude more gaseous res to replace the spent res in the first defensive attack, using the time to finish up his defenses around and below him, before going on the offensive. OOC: You know, now that I reread his incantations, I realize it sounds like he is rapping...

[Radiant]

The creature was about to slash the mage's back when a fire suddenly lashed upon it. It made no scream of pain or any sounds at all, but it did flinched when the fire burned its white skin. It jumped back and tried to strike Clyde with its tail when another fire lashed upon it. It then flash-stepped to a tree branch, eyeing the reimancer, its face and half of body singed by the heat.

Then... it shimmered as if the very air around it bent. It began to change shape... like a mockery of a Kelvic, when the air calmed down, it was now in the shape of a female Zith, albeit with a body size as large as a male zith, with the same void black eyes and mouthless features. The burns on its skin were also visibly regenerating... at a very fast rate.

"Subject 90 Displays High Combat Ability. Threat Level: High. In Progress Of Updating Threat Level.

Observer Disengages Limiter"

It swooped down, its unnatural way of flying revealed the wrongness of the creature. It would try to cause numerous slash wounds to Clyde's neck. It moved with even more ferocity than before, flash-stepping and zig-zagging through the air.