Preyed Upon

Lyra Karant

Preyed Upon

All things considered, this was going to be either a real challenge, or an absolute cakewalk. Lyra still truthfully could not decide which one of these it was, nor was she so egotistical to let that fact get to her head. After all, she'd been putting in the time and the work to make sure that the standards of her magic were absolutely up to scratch for work like this. What was the point of trying to master two separate forms of magic if you weren't willing to put in the work to be good at it, right? To that end, she was taking more and more dangerous jobs to ensure that she was keeping herself sharp. This time, it seemed, she'd gone an extra step further - Lyra was playing guide to two of her fellow guild members who seemed to be interested in a challenge. Unwilling to back down from the plight of another, Lyra had most readily agreed to take on the challenge. Truthfully, given enough time and effort, she very likely could have handled this herself. Howver, as she was all too willing to reason, it wasn't just about her, and the blossoming of her fellow flowers benefitted everyone around her. There was no shortage of other work regardless, so it was not like she had to hog all the jobs for herself. Besides, it was a good thing to meet other people and work with them. It would be important for the future.

The first thing Spirit would see in the distance were four sprouting incandescent pink wings and a trail of magical glowing petals behind it, which was one of the upsides to the odd combinations of her lacrimas and the fact that she was becoming rather arcanically gifted besides. The next thing would be the entire form of Lyra Karant herself - pink haired and with a smile on her face always, she seemed the absolute definition of calm at this point. In fact, it radiated off her to the point that Spirit would most certainly feel her presence before she even arrived physically. At the moment she did get closer, her feet touched the floor and she nodded at the white-haired man. It didn't take much to sense his magical presence; it was certainly strong enough to be felt. That meant that, yes, she had found the person she was looking for.

"You must be Spirit," Lyra greeted him warmly. "I'm Lyra. It's nice to meet you. I'm guessing Aurora will be here shortly, and when they do arrive, we'll begin."

She had to at least maintain the appearance of confidence, even if she was absolutely screaming on the inside at the idea that she was the senior here. That never happened. Actually, it was to the point that she wasn't even sure of her ability to lead, much less keep two other people on their feet during a fight. If she wanted to be successful here though, her healing and her magic would have to do all the work for her and allow her actions to speak much louder than any word she could now. Had she brought supplies? No, truthfully. It did not seem necessary; they would likely be in and out within a few hours and on their way home soon enough. If she'd made that mistake, well, she'd certainly own it. Besides, the ability to fly certaily trivialized most needs for a lot of resources anyway. That said, they couldn't fly, so chances were she'd be hoofing it along with them anyway.

Truth told, she was looking forward to the chance to really test her strength, anyway.

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Lyra Karant

Preyed Upon

Unhesitatingly, Lyra shook Spirit's outstretched hand. It was not only the polite but friendly thing to do, which absolutely was right up her alley. And yes, a lot of what Spirit was asking made absolute sense. Wings were amazing, and the fact that she had them was a shock. "I think the wings are an odd but welcome side-effect of my two sets of slayer magic coming together," she commented, thinking about it long and hard. "They're definitely handy, and hopefully they will come in handy today too."

However, something he said caused her to chuckle a little bit. "If you're getting things telepathically, you should absolutely get an iLac if you don't already. I get messages from my mentors all the time when they want to talk to me, and it really does make picking up work a lot easier. And besides, they're free! I've got one and it was absolutely the best decision I made," the rose mage commented.

Then, finally, there were three. Between them all, they certainly made an interesting bucn - friendly, fiery, and reserved; between them they certainly covered almost the entire range of human social spectrum. There was a certain strength to having such a mix, and the pink-haired girl hoped that strength would show through today in the job they were taking.

"Great, you're here, Aurora! It's nice to meet you. Let's get going, and I'll talk you both through a few things on the way up." It would be far easier to explain what she knew, and the inevitable plan, as they moved. There was a bit of ground to cover, which meant that they had plenty of time to discuss the job that they were undertaking on the way. Which meant that, as she took the lead walking normally, she could start to talk about everything that was happening here.

The walk itself went up the side of a mountain, into some low-lying shrubland. The terrain, while a little hilly, wasn’t entirely difficult, and the path up the hill only had a very basic difficulty in terms of the rocks that were on the ground. At best, they might encounter a sprained ankle if one of them tripped, but as long as both Spirit and Aurora were used to walking, there really wouldn’t be much difficulty taking the brisk walk up to where the last known sighting of the monster they were hunting was.

"I guess I'll start with the obvious question that you may have: hey, why’s a B-rank here too? Well, my role is mostly as a support role. I might be B-rank, but I'm really not that much of a fighter. I do best when I'm helping others. So much so that I'm confident enough that either one or both of you could take on an enemy with little else than help from me. It's both a blessing and a curse, if I'm being truthful."

There was a wan smile on her face as she explained that to them. It was a little odd, first, that she was declared B-rank; that was absolutely brand new to her, which meant that she really was still trying to get a handle on the dearth of her strength. Add to that, the last time she actually allowed her powers to run rampant the fact that she ate a tornado, and then subsequently spent three straight days in a coma, there was a certain level of hesitation when it came to fighting and using the full extent of her magic. The fact remained that she was terrified of the extent of her strength and how fast it was growing, meaning that she would absolutely relegate herself to the back line role until such a time that she was comfortable putting her best foot forward and fighting on the front lines.

”So. Tell me about yourselves and what you do best, and we can form a plan to help me make your strengths even stronger!”

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Lyra Karant

Preyed Upon

So between her two allies, they could handle the close and medium ranged combat, which suited Lyra just fine. This meant that she could hang back a little bit, cast her supporting magic - and attack if absolutely mission critical - and allow them to take centre stage and do well for themselves, which she would absolutely tell the others in the guild about. It helped to promote others and allow them to shine in their own way. That was the plan, which Lyra had every intent on sticking to. If it could help them advance, then so be it! Lyra was not going to hold back on their regard. The pink-haired girl wanted them to succeed, after all.

"I'm both a fire and a wind slayer," Lyra told them by way of explanation. "It seems like an odd combination but I find that it works rather well. It lets me stay high up in the air away from the front line and support my allies from a distance where most enemies just can't engage me. That's the idea, anyway, which... well, it doesn't always quite go to plan." There was a light scratch of her cheek at that, because in a moment of real talk, it really didn't always go to plan. Nothing ever did. Most plans did not survive contact with the enemy. In theory, between the two of her compatriots, they could keep whatever it was they were fighting under wraps long enough to allow her to stay high, keep her allies shielded, and keep them healed at the same time. It was the best plan she typically came to a fight with

There was a momentary pause as Spirit said something that came across simultaneously blase and interesting at the same time. He definitely wanted open communication, but in her opinion the bluntness wasn't entirely required. Instead, she chose to stay quiet. She carried a very strong aversion to both physical and verbal conflict, meaning she wasn't exactly mentally in a position to argue with this situation.

Oh, look, a distraction!

"Spirit, although I really do appreciate your kindness, you should keep that potion. My healing magic should be potent enough even for myself that I could heal myself faster than I could drink a potion. Not everyone can say that, I think. Trust me, I think that it may come in handy in an emergency for you one day."

Then she paused. A long pause. It was a rather bated breath as her own senses picked up exactly what she thought she was going to find, which... well, that was mildly upsetting.

"Never mind that, my friends - I think we're here. Do either of you sense that?"

Whatever it was, it was a big and powerful presence in the distance. There was something just over the nearest ridge, past a few small shrubs that concealed the top of the ridgeline from view. There was no mistaking the strength of that presence in the air; whatever arguments they were potentially about to have were thankfully shut down at the moment of discovery of the enemy. Gods, what an absolutely lucky break. Totally not planned at all. No, there was no way that was on purpose at all.

"If either of you have something to add to the plan, now is the time before we engage the enemy."

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Lyra Karant

Preyed Upon

Already both of her compatriots were moving to engage the beast with their magic and, while Lyra couldn't help but be very proud of them for walking headfirst into the fray, they were already coming up against a powerful monster without any form of hesitation. That was a dangerous play - but then again it seemed like rushing headfirst into danger was the Luminous Rose way these days. Not like she had the right to talk anyway, did she? Lyra was entirely guilty of that herself and had no right to censure anyone for the exact same actions that she took.  A sudden gust of wind and the beat of wings followed her, as four pink forms sprouted from her shoulders with a beautiful rose glow. One mighty flap and she was airborne, a trail of magical petals following her wake as she took a high position over the battlefield to be able to survey it with eyes keener than a hawk's. Being this high in the air meant that the unfortunatley mundane lion could not reach her, keeping her safe from her enemy's reach.

With Spirit being thrown as far as he was, Lyra's finger twitched upwards; there would be a rush of hot wind over his body before he would feel the ailments of pain leaving his body. Healing her allies was her priority and keeping them alive was the first step in that promise. She had promised them that, and Lyra would not disappoint.

One breath out, the giving air of life. Flame blossomed upon the tender kiss of air, twice; her pledge to protect her allies meant that in that second both Spirit and Aurora would find themselves warming up with the promise of life. If nothing else, Lyra's shields were absolute; not only did she have exceptionally powerful damage-resistant shielding spells, this particular one came with the ability to repair minor wounds over the time it was active. Burning brightly as a trail of petals behind them as they moved, the rose magician knew that she had the strength and the power to stay up here in the air and cast forever, to whatever she needed. Not an attacker, she could keep them alive for as long as they needed to ensure that they both remained completely unharmed. This was her strength for sure. The absolute resistance of her shield spells was her primary ability. Given enough time she could boost their ability to cause damage, but not all magic could simply be cast instantaneously.

If they could see that high-- and Spirit could for sure, though Lyra truthfully didn't know how sharp Aurora's eyes were-- then all they would see was a woman focused, her left hand weaving patterns through the air as intricate pink circles followed in their wake. Conducting the battle as delicately as the air she rode upon, Lyra was entirely able to observe and ensure the outcome she wanted. Below her, the oversized mountain lion roared and kept swiping its gigantic claws, its monstrous fury an unbridled rage that would threaten to consume all of them were they not careful.

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Lyra Karant

Preyed Upon

Lyra's eyes tracked every movement beneath her as the melee raged on. Spirit and Aurora were constantly engaging their enemy; when one was in close, the other was moving back to engage at slight range. This meant that the enemy was covered no matter what happened, which was great; between her shields protecting both of her guild mates from the incoming sharp claws of the monster before them, it seemed that she could breathe easy for a short while. Actually, if anything, breathing easy was the last thing on her mind. This fight was not over until the enemy had stopped moving. Her teachers, all four of them, had ensured that lesson was imparted to her very clearly - whether it was the three Faulkner sisters or Rhett in the back of her head, there was an absolute need to make sure an enemy was actually defeated. Rule of cool pretending an enemy was dead was absolutely off the table at this point in time.

However, there was an opening that had presented itself; between Aurora smacking the lion around somewhat and Spirit shooting a bullet at it, Lyra had one chance to finish this thing; from high, she weaved a small burning circle through the air before a bolt of flame lurched forth. Similar to Spirit's, it was a high-speed attack that lashed flame across the lion's face with its scalding flame. Sharp eyes locked onto the target, Lyra watched the foe from where she hovered, testing it to see its response. For all intents and purposes she wanted to put this thing down and end the fight. It was struggling to move at this point. Eventually the lion struggled to its feet, tried to remain standing, then fell silent as it collapsed down. Its paws buckled as its large body gave way to pure mass, the beast no longer responsive as all of its bulk lay perfectly still on the stone and dirt beneath their feet.

Defeated, the monster lay dormant.

Lyra breathed out, before she allowed her wings to vanish from her back. Falling straight down, the wind caught her and rapidly slowed her descent before she fell, making her land gracefully near Aurora and Spirit. It was probably the best fall she'd ever done, but frankly it was one of the things she was practising, especially in an emergency. Being caught in a natural disaster sort of did that to you after all.

"Good work! Really well done. I think you both handled that admirably," Lyra told them warmly. She actually was thoroughly impressed. There was no way she could go toe to toe with an enemy the way they had. She didn't have the sense for it.

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Lyra Karant

Preyed Upon

And just like that, Aurora was gone. It was a rather unexpected exit, that was for sure. Spirit and Lyra looked at each other; there was a moment of shocking confusion between the two of them that could not be denied. How did you respond to someone just leaving all of a sudden? Well, whatever. It had been a good time taking care of that particular enemy, which-- by Lyra's count-- was still on the ground, defeated. At least they could guarantee the enemy had been beaten.

"Well, uh. Mission successful!" Lyra offered half-heartedly, entirely not expecting that situation and being completely unsure as to how to respond to it. "I suppose we should head back, too. It's a long trip back to Sakuramori."

Letting her breath out slowly, Lyra could feel the tension in her shoulders just relax away. It always seemed to catch up to her when she was fighting, given that there was plenty of stress that followed with it. The trip back down the mountainside was almost silent, because despite the fact that Lyra was still combat-capable, she still wasn't really sure how to handle most of it. Almost every job she'd taken on at this point did not see any kind of fighting, which meant that what little combative experience the pink-haired girl possessed was taken from an entirely small pool of memories. Without extensive fighting experience, which she did not possess, she wasn't really given the means to handle it. Instead, she shut down, keeping herself quiet on the way.

Once they got back to the village, Lyra made sure the others managed to make their way successfully before leaving herself. All things considered, that had been a good time. She could report the mission with her iLac on the way back.

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