The Hunter - Frederick & Lynn

"Harper Goldshine. What a silly name, but it matches because you're a silly man!" she said as she dropped down from her mount, dusting off her rear as she neared the mage without fright of what he might do to her. Apparently she was about to confront a crystal make magic with only her fists and occasional fear inducing roar from Zlatan. The reason why she was so courageous at this moment was partly because of the fact that she was perfectly safe within the protection bubble that Zlatan had sustained until now. Harper Goldshine backed away inch by inch as Lynn got closer, as if he was scared, but Lynn was pretty much toying with him. He was even more cowardly than his underlings. To be frank, he deserved to be called a 'pussy' by Lynn because he definitely and undoubtedly was one. His crystal guard was up still so there was no punching it without getting bruised first. She didn't exactly know how she was going to break it since there was no weapon around. There was only dirt and rubble lying around. She might had to play with him until Fred came to her or something. "Are you scared of me?" she asked with a pretentiously concerned look. The crystal mage didn't reply. "Aw, don't be scared. I promise it won't hurt!" she grinned. Zlatan was right behind him in case the dude wanted to try anything funny but he wasn't stupid. He knew that he would become Zlatan's dinner if he openly attacked Lynn, and you didn't want that. You didn't want to be chewed alive by the great winged beast. Harper Goldshine must have witnessed one of his friends being chewed up by Zlatan a while ago. It was awfully gory as well.

Zlatan was getting a bit impatient - he couldn't wait to get this job done. Who knew how many other of his treasure hunting buddies might show up suddenly and this sure win was going to turn into an unwanted defeat. Lynn knew that, but she was not capable of doing anything to the man as of now since there were no weapons for her to use or anything really. She could work with mostly anything, most of the time, but this time all she could find was dirt and rubble as mentioned before. The only thing she could think of doing with the resources available was to start picking up tiny rocks lying around and throwing them at the crystallized human which she knew was totally hopeless. What could small rocks do to a B ranked crystal defense lmao. So she would continue to toy with this man without balls. Zlatan growled behind her as a constant reminder that she should execute him already without wasting time otherwise there might be more of his friends in these ruins who - if they had sensory or something like a tracking device or whatever - would find out in due time that their boss Harper Goldshine was being attacked by someone and everyone else who came along with Mr. Goldshine was dead in a pile in a lake of blood. It was actually a large puddle because imagine all the blood of five humans. That make a large puddle that small fish could swim in if it was water and not blood that made up the puddle. Lynn had some blood on her person as well, as she had done most of the killing and was going to do one more before she was doing with this job. Hopefully Frederik would come to assist her in finishing this crystal mage who had crystallized himself to look like a giant human shaped candy.

Slowly but certain it started to sink into the mage's dense head, that the opponent he was facing wasn't just your regular run off the mill kind of legal mage. No he started to understand that Frederick anything besides normal, as the formerly dark mage power started to raise. To the point that his magical presence was so high that it started to put pressure on his enemy. That it came vividly clear, that the sabertooth mage was not just out of his crystal mage's league. But that he exalted far beyond that.

'You'd better be ready...'

The moment after Frederick uttered his threat, he dashed forwards. Crashing and shattering his own barrier that just now protected his very being from a hail storm of emerald spears and shards. His sudden rush was so strong and so fast, that only left behind was a vague lingering presence of his magic, a black smoke like substance that slowly dwindle up into the air and vaporized into nothingness. Similar to steam, as it would escaped a kettle filled with water. Reaching it's boiling point after sitting on the stove for some time.
This was Frederick's own adjustment to the oh so popular flash or quick step. A magic that mast mages enjoyed. Surely it still wasn't as fast as those kinds of spells, but what it lack in speed. It definitely made up in strength. But still, for an enemy such as this, the sudden dash and reappearance right in front of him was still insanely fast.

Frederick appeared right in front of him, crashing through two or three shards that the man fired at his direction. But only shattered when facing against a far stronger force. Within the same second Frederick had appeared in front of the mage, he's struck at him. Using the force of his speed as well as his own strength to punch the man straight in his guts. Creating such a colliding punch that even the air moved around for a moment, before the man was send flying into the nearest wall.

A few more seconds would pass, and Frederick slowly straightened himself. Thinking he'd finished the opponent with this move. However as the smoke from the impact cleared, he saw otherwise. Right before he hit the mage, right before he'd send the man flying. His lips moved, almost whispering. Which was the incantation of a spell. But now as the smoke had largely cleared, the result of that whisper was to be seen. '....Crystal Armor!' his voice was loud, still strong as he finished saying the indication. A title for a spell, that gave away what he just did. Right before he punched he uttered something, the start up for a spell. That took hold the moment he was flying, shielding him from the otherwise crippling impact, and giving the chance to walk out of the very hole. While being covered in a protected layer of crystal shards.

'hehehe, surprised?!' taunted the mage 'This is my strongest form, enhancing my power and defense. Which in fact is strong enough to even withstand and even return the damage of your puny punches!'

Frederick had to admit, this was a surprise. So much even that he'd realized that he was facing a real opponent. Sure he still wasn't such a match that even like this he could hold out long against the black clad Frederick. But he surely was smart enough to fight on par with Frederick, even if it was just momentarily. Shame, he could have been a real addition to the guild, if it wasn't for the current opposite sides.

'Tch, you're quite the trickster aren't you' replied Frederick. 'Fine then, come at me, and I will be taking you seriously for this'

Lynn kept saying all these things that made Harper Goldshine shake more with fear. It wasn't because she was enjoying it, she was wasting time so that if Fred decided to come her way and assist her, he could. Zlatan's warnings never ceased, a constant reminder of the limited time they had and the scenarios that could unfold with every second they killed. Relax, Lynn told the anxious beast. Obviously there was no reason for him to relax, but he tried to stop speaking too much in her head. He knew she was wasting time, and he knew why, but it might bring out negative results if they were not careful. Time was running out and it was only a matter of time until Harper Goldshine could muster up all the courage he had left in him to fight back, and if he did it recklessly, Zlatan might not be able to protect her mistress.

"Oh fuck it!" she yelled, disappointed at how Fred was taking too long to finish his business with the other mage. Surely it was known that he should come to her aid once he was done with his business? Whatever, she had changed her mind now. She had told Zlatan what he needed to know mentally and she jumped, the lion picking her up and throwing her on his back. He rushed forward, grabbing the treasure hunter with his mouth and soaring up in the sky before looking for Fred. Not long after, they found him, fighting the other crystal mage. "There," Lynn told Zlatan as she pointed her finger at her guildmate's location, to which the lion flew straight towards. Harper Goldshine was struggling like a fish out of water, flailing his arms about. And as soon as they reached them, Zlatan dropped Harper Goldshine from his mouth and spat out some crystal pieces that got stuck in his mouth.

As Frederick and the enemy mage collided in attacks, Frederick quickly learned that his enemy was surprisingly agile. Despite being inside a suit of emeralds and other expensive materials. What made matters a tad more difficult was the fact that just punching away at the enemy did nothing, except hurting his own hands. Leaving Frederick with the only option of evading every attack he made, while waiting for the perfect opening to strike.

The fight went on for a minute, with Frederick managing to jump out of harms way every time the mage attacked him. Punches, kicks even shard blasts seemed to miss the elusive sabertooth mage. To the point Frederick could hear his enemies breath become heavier, his body started to fall behind with his attacks. And Frederick knew that the moment to strike was near.

While evading an attack or two, Frederick noticed that his enemy readied himself for an attack as well. The very type of attack Frederick had been waiting for all this time. The crystal make put both his hands together high above his head, forming one giant fist so the speak. And swung them both down like a sledgehammer.
This was the moment Frederick waited for, in that instant, Frederick stopped evading altogether. And braced himself for the incoming impact. Which he easily stopped by raising a single arm aimed at the incoming fist.

With no way of defending himself right now, the enemy mage was entirely vulnerable. His attacking move, stopped with a single hand by Frederick. While suddenly up to the mage's stomach various magical pentacles appeared. All neatly aligned in a single row. In that moment time seemed to stop for a second, as the eyes of the two mages met. Just right before, the pentacles started to lit up, and from like a cannon. A thick powerful black colored beam was shot. Straight through his opponent and into the very ceiling.

When Harper Goldshine was dropped to the ground behind Fred, he was just finished off the mage. "We brought this for you," she said, to catch his attention. The last remaining treasure hunter was shaking from head to toe, even though he tried his best to put on a fierce expression on his face. She needed something now if she wanted to do something to this guy, a weapon of sorts. Zlatan could easily make a dinner out of him, but he wasn't given the order and so he stayed put, not suggesting it to Lynn as well. He didn't do that - suggest things that is. He only took orders and now he wasn't given any commands. The ice dragon slayer, sadly was not in the mood to use her magic, like all other jobs actually. She had weapons or her fists, but right now her enemy was too hard to punch with crystal coated in layers over layers over his own skin. She wondered how he was breathing right now.

Lynn needed something to trigger this guy to fight them. It was hopeless if he just kept trembling like a dog in the cold. "What about the treasure, Harper?" she began. "Aren't you going to find it anymore?" He stopped trembling. Good, keep going, Zlatan prompted. "What were you searching it for? Maybe it was a 'who' you were searching it for. Your family? Someone in your family?" Harper stood straight now, glaring straight at Lynn. The scowl never left his face. "Is it your mother?" Lynn smirked. "Your father?" She walked sideways away from Zlatan. "Your dead brother?" she asked, randomly, but she had struck the chord and had Harper yelling and charging at her.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" he shouted at the top of his lungs and came straight for her, crystal spikes appearing out of thin air aimed at her. It wasn't going to work though. She was still in the bubble's range.

"Oops!" she laughed.

'Behind you...'

In his anger Harper obviously forgotten where he was dropped. Or better yet, who it was he was dropped at. The moment Lynn taunted the man, his anger took hold of him and in the meantime didn't take note anymore of the obvious dangerous presence in the room that was Frederick.
So the moment the man shouted in anger, was the same moment Frederick took this opportunity by the balls so the speak.

In an instant he'd appeared behind the man, intimating him by forcing the man to remember that Frederick was still in the room. And the moment Harper would turn his face, Frederick swung his fist engulfed with a dark mass, right in to the mans face. Which off course, send the man flying several meters away.

But the results were anything from what Frederick, or Lynn probably hoped to be. Instead of an instant knock out, the man known as Harper stood right back up. Only anger had infected his mind, his sound judgement. Meaning that his own emotions where currently fueling his own magical capabilities. To the point his own magical power started to become vividly clear.

'Crystal-make... golem!'

His power increased a tenfold, even Frederick could feel that. It took shape in a white glittering form that at first swirled around him, until it slowly started to stick to him. But his latent magical capabilities wasn't the problem, but more what he was using it for. In front of Frederick, and beneath for Lynn as she was still on her flying stead Zlatan. Harper changed, his body morphing and changing as it grew larger and larger. Until he stood at least over six meters(thats 20 feet Lynn!!) tall. And to make matters worse, he now had four arms. Each as thick as barrels with fists that could easily flatten the livestock of simple farmer.

The treasure hunter was enraged to the extent that he had the courage to turn himself into a giant crystal human, with four arms! "Ohhhh shit," Lynn said, laughing as she watched him grow. "Isn't this an exciting turn of events!?" she asked both Zlatan and Fred. The lion knew they were fucked, and gave her an 'I told you' expression. She shrugged. "I knew he had it in him," she said, sticking her tongue out and turning to Fred. "I know you can one shot this guy. You're not second in command of the guild for nothing," she grinned almost in a crazy manner. It wasn't going as planned now, and Zlatan was a bit mad at her for not listening to him. But there was no point in being mad at him now, and all they could do was something else to take him down. Lynn had a plan and hoped Fred would know it if he knew how to strategize shit.

Hopping onto the winged lion, Lynn ordered her companion to fly up to the big crystal man's face, in order to distract him while Fred could do something with his little dark magic and put this bitch where he belongs. Zlatan once he reached eye level with the dude, started flying around him, causing his top left arm to jerk up and try to catch them. "Do it for your dead brother!!!" Lynn shouted, laughing. Zlatan was an expert at flying and so he dodged the random thrashing and flew so that the arms hit the ceiling, making the already ruined ruins get even more ruined. She hoped that Fred could defend himself down below. She couldn't see much with all the rubble piling now and all the dust. She knew he could handle himself though.

It was a colossus of a being, fully armored and shielded an impenetrable layer of diamond. Or to be more accurate, his entire being had probable become the very material Harper utilized with his magic. Meaning that just punching away, or simple blasts wouldn't be effective anymore. Leaving Frederick with the only option of using the more powerful spells in his arsenal. The only problem was, he was still standing in the middle of the ruins. Making it a tad uncomfortable to fire a spell of larger magnitude.

Luckily Lynn was already one step ahead of him, and had engaged the giant diamond formed Harper. While riding on Zlatan, Lynn taunted their enemy more and more. To the point, Harper started grabbing and punching the two of them out the air. Naturally they'd easily evaded every attack he threw at them, and only managed to hit the ceiling. To the point it started cracking and eventually coming down.

Boulder started falling down, and through it the light of day started to shimmer down. Enough so that at some point there was hole in the very roof, big enough to illuminate the entire chamber. Which was perfect, now all he had to do was keep Harper occupied. Preferably in one place, while Lynn riding Zlatan would make a dive for him and come pick him up. And hopefully create some distance between them and Harper.

'LYNN!!' shouted Frederick. But noticed he didn't even have to continue as Lynn was coming straight for him. Apparently she had a plan similar to him, or perhaps she simply came to the same conclusion when the roof over their heads had opened up.
Before Lynn would come and grab Frederick away, Frederick first had to make sure Harper would stay in one place. So he snapped his finger, and created a large black spot underneath Harper that grew larger and larger. To the point it covered almost the entire floor. And from it, large black tendrils would emerge twirling around. And wrapping themselves around the crystal golem, to the point his movements were redistricted enough.

Zlatan plummeted to the ground at a high speed, still trying his best to not have a chunk of whatever that made up these ruins bury him together with his mistress. Lynn quickly slid a bit back so that the lion could pick Fred and throw him on his back. Now that they were thinking the same, Lynn felt really good about this. Everything they were doing was going smoothly and it was satisfying to know that this tiring job was coming to an end. She loved that feeling, that feeling of accomplishment. Usually she would still be worried about things that could happen to them when she thought it was gonna end. "Get on!" Lynn yelled over the noise of all the stuff falling. The winged lion would then fetch Fred and hurl him on his back. Just as he did that, a dark spot would appear under the crystal man, spreading all over with stuff coming out of it and grabbing hold of the giant.

"That will keep him down," Lynn noted out loud with a nod, before patting Zlatan so he could fly up above the giant. The finishing blow remained to be fired by Fred as Lynn had no spells in her arsenal. Hopefully this will do and finish off Harper Goldshine for good. Since they have got Fred with them, Zlatan flew up high, splitting air as he shot up skywards, and as soon as they reached a certain point above the crystal giant, came to an abrupt halt but steadied himself so Fred could get a good aim at the monster. "Alright take your best shot. This is our last chance, I guess," she told her guildmate before scooting back a bit to give him space. She had already pictured herself in a bar after this job.

Thank god for the collapsing ceiling, as the big chunks of debris forced the giant Harper to protect himself to some extent. And even hinder the man some more. While in the meantime, Fredericks guild mate. Or better yet, her flying winged pet, Zlatan. Had taken a dive downwards, only to pick up the mage clad in black.

Being thrown on in one fell swoop, Frederick couldn't help it but to hold on to the first thing he could grab. But since Zlatan was also flying straight up into the air, to create as much distance as possible. Frederick was entirely unaware of what, or better yet who he was grabbing. But the moment Zlatan spread it's wings to silently fly in a horizontal manner again, Frederick also came to the realization that what he was grabbing onto was the front of his partners waist. As if he was the infatuated girlfriend of a motorcyclist.

Quickly Frederick released his grip, while also coughing once before answering Lynn. 'ehe.. yes, you're right' he answered a tad flustered. 'Just make sure to keep Zlatan as steady as possible'
As Frederick stoop up while still standing on the broad back of this mighty beast, he looked down. And stared straight into the distance beneath him. The ruins had become significantly smaller, compared to when he was standing in front of them. And in the midst of them, was a blue colored glittering entity that raged on. Trying to break away from the surrounding debris as well as the tendrils that had wrapped around its limbs.

Suddenly his face turned extremely serious, as he released any limiter he had on himself. Creating a magic pressure around him that would even put strain on his partners. Then his mouth started the mouth, faintly uttering some sort of incantation. Which became louder and louder while simultaneously the sky around them started to blacken. It's clouds become a darkish grey, as if a storm was coming. And even the light around him started to fade. While Fredericks entire being started to be surrounded by a mass of his own magic, a mix of black and dark purple.

One by one, a large variety of magical pentacles appeared in the sky. All following each other in a single line all the way downwards. Only to end right above Harpers head, who just now stopped raging as he felt the sudden increase of magical power. As well as saw the different sizes of the pentacles. Hell the biggest one easily covered almost he ancient ruins.

'Forbidden Arts' Frederick uttered while each pentagram started to glow, and create a loud humming sound. Then it happened, a sudden stand still just before Frederick bellowed the end of his incantation, just when the pentacles glowed vividly, blindingly even. 'Void Testament!!'
Then everything went silent as an explosion unlike any other, took away any sight, any sound. And probably anything beneath on the ground.

As this was the finishing move from Frederick, the ice dragon slayer knew it wasn't going to be some silly spell. It was the real deal and she didn't want to hinder him in any way so she had told Zlatan to be as steady as he can, as if they were on solid ground. When Fred reminded her to just keep the lion steady, she nodded. "Done," she said. It seemed he was a bit flushed, his face had turned a very light shade of pink but being a great observer, Lynn noticed. He must have felt something when he held Lynn's waist on their way into the sky. She heard humans were like that. When men and women touch they usually get hormonal, and result in babymaking...or so she concluded from her previous observations. Lynn had never felt this way, not that she lacked hormones or genitals, it has just never happened to her yet. So when he was acting weird for just a moment, she smiled, not knowing what to say so she just remained silent. Fred would think that she was either a dumb or heartless thing (getting angry about it like a teenage girl or for not feeling shy of having her waist touched like most other women would). "Let's do this, Fred," she said firmly. It was high time this job was over. And once it was, she would just fly over to Sabertooth on Zlatan and chill with her guildmates at the bar, and maybe even bring Fred on Zlatan's back if he didn't have his own form of transportation. That reminded her...how did he get here int he first place? Maybe he did have a form of transport when he came here, but maybe not for the journey back home? Whatever the case was, she was ready to help if needed.

Lynn was sitting backwards when Fred was taking aim. She held onto Zlatan's mane with her left hand as she expected the impact of the spell to be pretty immense. The first thing that she felt was the wind. For some reason, the initiation of this spell had picked up the current of air, and it was getting stronger every second. Such power, she thought. That was what meant to be a second-in-command, huh? When Frederick started reciting something like a chant of sorts, she zipped her mouth. She didn't want to interrupt him although she was kind of surprised at this. She had never seen anyone mumble incantations and she herself had never thought about such a thing as a way of activating a spell. He sounded like he was reviving a demon or something. Once the incantation ended, some freaking giant purple pentagons appeared and it was not long before Fred shouted something like "FUCK DUSTY MAN" which made Lynn give him a very weirded out look. And then there was this insane blast that deafened and blinded everyone for a moment. When it was over, the giant crystal being was gone and so were the ruins...

"DUDE. CHILL OH MY GOD," Lynn screamed. She wasn't going to go nuts about him wiping out what might have been a totally legit historical site, but she just had to get that out of her system. Now they were ready to go back home, and if Fred needed a ride, she would give him. Zlatan roared softly like a victory shout, to which the female Saber laughed. "We're going home Zlatan! Isn't that exciting?" she said, messing up his mane, even though she knew he didn't really like that.

When the dust settled and their weight slowly returned, Frederick could behold the results of his spells. If there were any that is. After he blasted away Harper who had grown to a full-sized giant, he noticed that the blast radius of his spell didn't only stuck with their enemy. No instead it had taken out the entire ancient complex. Every corridor, every hallway, every building around it. It was all gone, take away by the very blast itself. Leaving only a scarred ground as a reminder what used to be. A blackened spot with no signs of life or any civilizations what so ever. No only a cheap reminder of tarnished bricks.

But the job was done, and that was what mattered. Harper and his god awful gang had been stopped from committing more crimes and grave robbery. Meaning that after their entire ordeal, Lynn and Frederick could finally return home. Back to their guild, where they could sit down and relax. And maybe enjoy a nice drink or two. Especially Frederick was longing for that drink, the very thought of gulping down a beer became more attractive with every passing second. Let alone the thought of soaking in the guilds famous springs. Where one would easily be rejuvenated from what ever kind of journey they would have gone through.

A moment after Lynn asked the glorious lion to take them home, it almost was followed up by Frederick asking her to take them along as well. As the thought of walking all the way back was kind of annoying. Especially after blasting so much of his own magic at an enemy.

As Zlatan, the winged beast that carried Frederick and Lynn bellowed a mighty victory roar, it also started flying again. Towards the horizon and towards their fabled home, the strongest of guilds. Sabertooth.