Aeterna - IC

[WriggleRid3r]

Kalkun, Rockhill District

---

"The night sky is beautiful here, isn't it?" Rosmerta walked outside with two bottles of ginger ale and sat down next to Kris. The skies really were beautiful, with star-studded darkness that enveloped the ground like a blanket over a newborn baby. Without all the hustle and business in the cities, the night sky became easier to appreciate.

"I don't know about you: you are young. But I was born outside of HiveNET. You know, the supposed outside world." Rosmerta handed Kris one bottle of ginger ale and started the story. In the inn, Nicole was still performing. "It was a big city, called New York. All the busy people and all the busy streets. I hated them all. So when Hive began, I immediately enrolled and moved here. My idea of Kalkun was, and is, how it is right now: peaceful village where everyone does what they're supposed to do, and enjoy a peaceful life uninterfered."

"What's your story, traveler?"

[Kristia]

Kalkun, Rockhill District

Kris took a bottle and saw its contents, a nice drink and kind of rare in this times of war "You may see me young, but Im twenty years old and lived for quite a long time in the wilderness in the outside world" she said smelling the beverage, ohh the luxuries of such drinks. Taking a sip of the ginger ale, the huntress then took a the already prepared rabbit she got while coming to the town "Would you like some?" she said wanting to share the food

Hearing the question of her background made the huntress think about it "Hm.. my story, it all started in a town way far in the outskirts of the big city of Chicago, my people never liked technology because of the pollution and destruction it caused to the nature, so we barely had any luxury of the big city." she said and then chuckled

"But that didn´t stop us to go and see the cement towers and its hinabitants, we used some of our camping weeks to go to the cities and with time the HiveNET appeared.

Soon Kris looked at the sky "The mayor of our town actually promoted it and of course if the big guy said it was good, the others would follow, I enjoyed this reality, traveling between the many lands and towns, with time the people of my age tried to be rebellious and went on as thieves. In my case I went alone traveling and discovering many places and people, even going in adventures.

Then her tone went grim "Then Tyruss appeared with his empire and sticking everyone here, I managed to survive the massacre of many towns with some other survivors, yet when I battled an empire soldier and took of his helmet I noticed he was one of my friends in the outside world. Right now I want to find a way to get back and don´t take me wrong I like this world, but there are people here who are trapped against their will."

Taking a deep gulp to the ginger ale Kris finally said Right now Im searching for this reality´s limits or errors, all the electronics have a human error and I intend to find it"

[Jaeyjay]

Regius South District - Slums

---

The sun has just begun setting, but most of the common people have already gone to bed. The reason for this was not that everyone had an early bed time, but rather that they did not want to die. As all the other districts in Regius were well-established, the only place where one can freely deal with underground trade in Regius was night-time in the slums. Everyone in Regius knows about this truth, even Tyruss and his men. In fact, they all support it. For such a large city, there is obviously a huge underground network, and it is best to give them their own place to do business rather than taint the other districts in Regius. Most of the people there are either part of Tyruss's men or freelance mercenaries. In short, this is where all the corrupt activities of Tyruss's faction which should not be shown to the public are held, from drug trafficking to assassinations of major figures.

Sunat views this as the perfect haven for his line of work, assassinations. He does not support Tyruss or any of the rebelling groups, he just wants a steady source of jobs. As the center of all attention in hiveNET, Tyruss's faction seemed to be the best people to work with as they will always have enemies in need of extermination. Sunat had just finished a job of eliminating the head of a small, growing rebellion in an unnamed small town north of Regius.

Walking through the slums of Regius, Sunat returns from the job. A normally crowded and busy road, he is able to freely walk to his destination as people avoid him because of his intimidating look. He finally arrives at a large bulletin board in the middle of the slum, filled with fliers for different jobs. There are multiple factors involved in making a decision: the location the target is at, who the target is, and what the reward will be. Since there is no one rushing him, he takes the time to examine each one and find the best choice.

[Katrix]

Everbloom Forest - 12:52

She was being cooked alive. While being exposed to high temperatures was normal for her so she didn't freak out from having a burning fireball in her hand, this was something different.
She was not being exposed to high temperatures. She was beginning to boil herself. If she didn't retreat she could die. However she didn't want to let the boy get away either.

She gave Vox a quick message "Track him!" before she summoned a great wind knocking her into the air of the ground and carrying her several meters away from the boy.
She had not given up however. While she assumed that she was outside of reach of him she had still indirect reach to him. She could not move the air he was breathing in.
She could however create suction sucking further away sucking the air out off him. While she was not completely following orders as he was not to be killed she couldn't think of another way.
Most other people survived it however.

No one in the area could survive for long without any oxygen, and she and Vox were currently the only ones that had some. Most animals would probably die, but she didn't care.
What use were they for her anyway?

[wonderweiss]

"Huff... Huff... I'm... I'm almost there... Just five... Just five more minutes..."

Hell Master had escaped the mud hole area, but was excruciatingly deprived of his energy. Sometimes, he would give himself jolts to get him going, but even so, it didn't remove the fatigue. Only give him more energy to move on.

He saw a woman floating in the distance.

"Oh, a flyer? Must be the target. Wait a minute..."

He recognized the outfit anywhere. It was Sidna!

Ha, I knew it! She must be in the middle of a fight. And boy, she looks wrecked. Ha, she couldn't handle this one. How rich. Oh well. I'd better watch the outcome, make sure she doesn't get her ass handed to her. I'll wait for her to finish. It'll piss her off if I intruded. Come on, don't fail me now!

He summoned a weak thunderbolt to give him a large amout of energy. He then ran off, shortening his time to get there to 3 minutes.

[Kilelicus]

Everbloom Forest - 12:53

"Sidnaaaa~ He's much faster than you~ I can't track him, he's going too fast!" Vox sang.

Speed magic was far too dangerous to deal with head on without at least one of the generals around to help. Malus with his own aggressive speed, Vohr with his clever fire tricks, and Tenebrae with her ability to blind an enemy

"You should probably retreat~! There's no way you'll catch up to hiiiiim~" He continued "And you're already in poor shape as is~! Besides. He'll be out of your range soon enouuuuuugh~"

---

Residuum Steppes - 12:59

After cleaning his blades of blood in the pouring rain, Phenom took a moment to rest under a tree off the side of the road he was on. He was heading north-east, a town called Adhibe. It was a trading hub more than a supply route. He figured it would make an excellent place to rest up. Shame it was a days walk away.

"Sigh... maybe I should camp out here for the night. There's plenty of patches of bush to hide out in, I suppose..."

He pulled several blades of grass out of the ground and studied them, briefly.

"Hard to believe that this is all virtual... Seelisch truly is a brilliant man... If only he could figure out a way to break Tyruss's code..."

He threw the grass as far as it would fly.

[S121]

Everbloom Forest - 12:53

Jason knew that soon, he was going to lose consciousness, but he could do something risky...

Jason had never tried this before, but he had thought about doing it from time to time. First, using his power over speed, Jason slowed down the chemical reactions everywhere in his body except for his nervous system and respiratory system. This would slow the effect of the sleeping powder on him. Second, he released the green robed woman's atoms, allowing him more power for his last ditch effort to escape. Next, Jason began to affect all the atoms around him, sucking them all towards him. The trees and grass began to slowly lean towards him as he sucked up every loose air molecule in a 40 foot radius, bringing them all into his vicinity. Even the green robed woman's robes swayed towards him, as if he was turning into a black hole. Jason then began to pack the air molecules to tightly that they then began to condense into water. Little droplets of water formed on his body as he charged this attack. Finally, when he could no longer contain the energy he had built up, he let it go, creating what sounded like twelve sticks of dynamite going off.

The shockwave was so powerful, it began to rip pieces of the ground away from him and snap some of the nearby trees in half. Jason's shockwave blasted the green robed woman and the man 50 feet away, onto the ground. Everything in a 50 foot radius was affected. Everything was either ripped out of the ground or broken. It even affected the girl with the chainsaw katana, sending her on her back.

Jason was so close to passing out. His vision was turning purple as his sight began to fade. His blood pressure began to drop and he began to lose his balance.

(Please... Just.. a little.. more!)

Jason then used the very last of his energy to squat down and push off as hard as he could. As he jumped in the direction of the Rockhill District. He then augmented his speed and flung himself into the air.



Near Kalkun - Rockhill District - 12: 55

Jason soared 30 miles through the air, past the trees and into the Rockhill District. The only problem was, he was beginning to black out, due to the powder finally taking full effect. Right before he hit the ground, Jason strained himself one last time, to slow himself down. Jason hit the ground with a thud and rolled twenty feet. He finally came to a stop in a cloud of dust. Jason was covered in scratches and cuts from the fall, but at least he was alive. In the distance, Jason could see a town.

Using his last moments of consciousness, Jason weakly reached his hand out to the town of Kalkun, praying that someone would find him. Jason then collapsed to the ground, no longer conscious.

[wonderweiss]

12:55
He had finally made it to the field, but no one was there. He called out for his rival.

"Hey Siiiiidnaaaaa, I know you're heeeeereeeeee! Come on, I'm here to help out, I won't beat ya down like always! Come ooooon!"

He said he always won when he knew full well that all of their matches ended in a tie. He began looking around for her, calling her name and somewhat taunting her at the same time.

[Katrix]

Everbloom Forest - 12:55

Everything seemed fine. Until she noticed the boy beginning to create a suction of his own. ("That's just mimicking me. When I think about it that's all he have done this whole battle.
Mimicking me. Now I won't forgive him even more.") Then he did something she did not anticipate. He compressed it even more, creating water in the process.
This gave no sense to her why in the world would he do that.

Then it all exploded giving of a huge shock wave. She was knocked down on the ground again. She landed in a strong bush luckily so she was still able to stand up. ("That's a trick I have to look into and develop").
She then began looking around for Vox. Although she didn't like him to much she couldn't let him just lie here.

After looking for a while she finally found him. "Are you okay? No bones broken?". When expecting a answer from Vox she instead heard another familiar voice.
"Hey Siiiiidnaaaaa, I know you're heeeeereeeeee! Come on, I'm here to help out, I won't beat ya down like always! Come ooooon!"

("God no, not him. And not that attitude either. I'll show him to show some respect.") She quickly gathered a few branches, formed then into a ball, ignited it and launched it at Hell Master, but was sure to not hit him.
"Don't mock me like that when something like this happens. I would like to see you fight him"

[wonderweiss]

Hell Master moved to the side to make sure he wasn't hit.

"Theeeere she is. Hey listen, it's not like you to have your ass handed to ya like that. Give me a report, I'll write it down. Need any medical attention?" He said as he pulled out a miniature medical box from the cloak.

"Now just take it easy, he's gone. We may or may not conduct a search based on the report you give me."

[Katrix]

Everbloom Forest - 12:55

"Let you write the report. If anyone other than me is going to write something it will be Vox. He did at least see what happened. Tenebrae will be any any minute now anyway.
What reasons could she have not to come." Sidna began counting on her hand while saying each unnatural thing.
"A fire tornado comes out of nowhere, the weather switches in just a few minutes, extremely strong wind, a strong shock wave coming from here AND lightning bolts you summoned. I think there is plenty of reasons for coming here."

It was true. It was obvious that something had happened here. Sidna herself was hoping that they could spread the news as quick as possible.
The boy was probably asleep by now. No one could endure sleeping gasses for that long.

Another reason she hoped for Tenebrae to come was to just writing a report without anything else too boring.
Not something for her at all.

[wonderweiss]

He thought to himself, then finally said, "... Good enough for me. Alright, now hold still."

He began inspecting Sidna's body for wounds, searching thorougly, but limited enough to keep from inspecting 'places she'd kill him for looking at.' He then took a temperature check. He was shocked at the results.

"Oh man, was he a fire user? But I thought you could withstand this kind of temperature. This looks bad."

[Kilelicus]

Everbloom Forest - 12:58 AM

Vox continued to relax in a bush a decent distance from the others.

"Me, write a report? I'm afraid that will have to wait~ I don't have anything to write with, dontchyaknow?" he said playfully and with a very Minnesotan accent. "As far Tenebrae's arrival, I'm not so sure that's a guarantee~! Sounds to me like she suffered wounds similar to yours, Sidn... Wha, hey who turned out the lights?!"

"Shut up, you incessant child. I'm right here." Tenebrae chided. "What happened here? Why are you soldiers here? Especially you, Captain Vox... You're supposed to be with your unit, aren't you?"

"Oh, it's you~ Lady Tenebrae~! My unit was dealing with the rebel in Spera~! That's a violent one, he is. Always causing a ruckus, dontchya know? Uncle Vohr decided it would be safer for me if I stayed around Regius~! So I took a walk out here!"

"Even though you knew that I was operating in the vicinity? You seem to not care much about your safety, boy." Tenebrae said, annoyed. Vox tended to get on her nerves. It amazed her that Vohr was able to put up with him so readily.

"Operating? I didn't know anything about that~?"

"Oh, don't give me that, I know you could hear everything going on."

"Doesn't change the fact that I was taking a walk here just to enjoy the scenery~!"

"Whatever... Commander Sidna, White Hair, what happened here?" Tenebrae demanded.

[wonderweiss]

Hell Master raised his hand behind his head.

"Oh, come now, I should at least have enough respect to be called by my initials!"

Hell Master was only slightly less annoying than Vox. But in battle, he was proven worthy.

"Now then, as for what happened, well, I don't really know! Now then, for my drawn conclusions!"

Then Hell Master's face turned from smiling to serious.

"I don't know much, but based on how hard Sidna was fighting this opponent, he is a sturdy foe. And as for how he managed to make Sidna's temperature rise dangerously and wear her out, he could also put up a good fight."

He put a drenched towel on Sidna's forehead and continued talking while tending to Sidna.

"Now then, we haven't quite figured out what type of user he is. Only known evidence to it is that he made the temperature rise. He could possibly be a fire user, but look, she hasn't any burn marks among her. And a simple heating wouldn't do Sidna in the way she just did. No one we have encountered had that kind of ability, so he couldn't be a rebel. And it appears that he left the scene right before I got here."

Then Hell Master's face returned to normal.

"And that's how Sidna got beaten! I swear, if she'd only stop picking on people... Oh, this sucks, I won't be able to spar with her for a while! But don't worry, I'll take care of her for as long as it takes!"

[Major Mario]

Kalkun, Rockhill District (@S121)

---

"One, two, three... Four?"

A grizzled figure appeared on the road up to Kalkun, his attention focused on a small bag in his hands. His hands were calloused from months, probably years of labor, and his fingers had a few cuts here and there that looked like they were treated with antiseptic and a few bandages. Perched between his fingers were four green gleaming gemstones, emeralds. The young man chuckled to himself and fiddled with the largest one before tucking them back into the coinpouch. His name was Eric Reynard, one of many wandering merchants in Aeterna, or perhaps one of the few with his head mostly intact. Personally, he liked referring to himself as something else, but alas, that was another story. He carefully attached his pouch to his waist and patted the dust out of his side before looking over his shoulder.

Bringing up the rear was his trusty steed, Bob the pack-mule. A dirty mane weathered by long travel, a gaunt face, and patched-up saddlebags. Despite the spry and cocky way the mule moved, it seemed as if it had seen many dirty roads in its life, perhaps even more than Eric ever saw. The trader smiled at the creature. Through thick and thin the mule had carried his wares, his life, without much trouble. It ran fast enough to outrun a common bandit, it liked to headbutt wolves, and it didn't care one bit if it stuck out like a sore thumb in places like Regius.

Ah, Regius, Eric thought as his expression kept. Despite an evil bastard making his base of operations there, Regius was a fantastic place to buy or sell equipment. Eric loaded himself up with good weaponry, food, supplies, and a few odd potions here and there. Nothing too impressive, but it wasn't looked down on. Big things like warhammers and greatswords were a no-no. Bob could not handle the uneven weight and Eric didn't want to cut himself a fourth time. However, small weaponry seemed to fit just right for villagers and people who weren't fighters, which seemed to be the people up at Kalkun.

"Come on you beast of burden," Eric said to Bob. He scratched his brow under the heat of the sun and kicked a few rocks away. "We get some hospitality and I will personally hand-feed you some carrots. How does that sound? If we're lucky, there's a watering hole nearby. Maybe some whiskey... hehehe- Whoa!"

His foot caught on something prominent out on the road, nearly sending him into the dirt. Eric collected himself and looked down at the speedbump. At first, he figured it was a log of sorts, but on closer inspection, he saw it to be the body of some poor sap. Looked pretty banged up to him. Curious, Eric squatted down and poked the body. Felt a little warm... Perhaps he was still alive? Eric hoped so, yet at the same time, he figured the sap had some good gear on him. First things first, the wandering merchant checked for a pulse.