Cavern of Evil (open)

[fatima]

She listened to the old one's words carefully, keeping her eyes to his in order to pay close attention. Her face turned a little stoic, letting things sink in for a moment.

"Yes... I know I can't save everyone. But if the sacrifice doesn't need to be made, why make it? They know and I know that we are all disposable to the plans of Overlord Zenon... I'm an altered human myself... all I remember is that I willingly came to Overlord Zenon to offer myself in exchange for losing my memories. He gave me a new life... and now, he needs every able body to find the one thing precious to him."

Looking at the rest of the pack she rummaged through a sack and whipped out a pack of Makai Cola, opening a bottle and taking a nice long drink before continuing.

"Even a lousy Prinny can be thrown at an enemy to do some major damage. Even the weakest of these pups can run fast enough to deliver messages between troops. If they die, oh well... that's what they get for screwing up. But the only way they learn not to screw up is if they live long enough to do so. After all, that's how you learned when your comrades fell, right?"

She opened a couple of cans of rations to the wounded bunch. The one with the bandaged muzzle licked and ate sparingly, but raised his head. Treia wasn't paying attention as she turned back to Avernum.

"Trust me, there will be a use for even the w-"

The laser shot rang through the air, and Treia barely had time to turn around when the light zapped onward in her direction... a Baciel had found them...

And the one with the bandaged muzzle fell dead at Treia's feet after he Wild Rushed to her in order to block the blast.

"H... how?! ... FORMATION NOW!"

Treia was in too much of a survival mode to mourn the death of the fallen beast. She finished her cola and tossed the bottle aside, giving her more energy. The group quickly formed with the three which were unwounded and they all started moving around in circles in order to make it harder to hit.

The Zombie King didn't budge to move... and she half-expected that. Treia was being brought into a brutal real-life situation. She drew her bow as the beasts in front of her criss-crossed and dashed around while the Baciel just grinned evilly and reloaded.

"Keep the healthy ones alive! ... He's deadly at range! Move out!" she ordered.

[Overlord Sothmir]

Avernum almost surged forth the destroy the Baciel, but he quickly controlled the urge to annihilate the creature. He would not always be there to pull her out of every dangerous situation she fell upon. He would not tread on her pride, nor her chance to prove herself by removing the threat with the power he held. He watched beasts begin their formation and attack pattern. These creatures were very loyal to her, willing to die for her, and use their techniques to protect their teacher and master, and to destroy her foes. He watched as the battle began, ready to assist if she seemed to be too close to death. If Treia were to die, he would have it happen on a battlefield, clashing with the armies of the Overlord's foes. Not by some nameless, wild Baciel who had the audacity to attack while creatures much more powerful than he were about.

He observed the battle from where he stood. He would lose a deal of respect that he had come to obtain while observing the girl if he had to intervene to save her, but regardless of this, he would not have her die in this battle.

[fatima]

Treia walked over the one who died and dashed out with the others. Another one of the wounded was shot dead by the wild Baciel, which scattered the formation as the shot rang out in that direction, but Treia gained her composure and shot an arrow aimed at his head which fell short and landed on the collarbone.

"Remember! Dodge and attack!" Treia shouted.

One of the wounded ones started circling in the other direction, getting the attention of the Baciel. The big monster fired, but left a nice hairline down the back of the Beast as it shot forward towards the Baciel and rammed into it at full speed, leaving an opening for the rest of the pack. Treia knelt down past the dead body of the other fallen beast for cover as she fired another arrow into the fray. The Baciel was nailed in the stomach as the pack circled and made it hard to choose a target.

Unfortunately, the Baciel was getting smart and shot at one of the healthy ones, but once again was met with a Wild Rush at the moment he fired the cannon. His tail was gone from the blast, but the pain might have made him run faster. Treia charged up and jumped to fire a Poison Shot above the running Beasts, but high enough to hit the Baciel. Several of the arrows lodged in its chest... and it was still standing... but it seemed to take a step back.

One of the wounded seemed to be out of energy for another Wild Rush, so decided that if he was going to die today, he'd go down with a bang and sunk his teeth into the Baciel's firing arm at the elbow. The two healthy ones which didn't have to dodge teamed up with a double Wild Rush to the back.

"THE KNEES! TAKE HIM OFF HIS BASE!" Treia yelled.

The Baciel threw the beast at his arm into another one of the wounded and aimed at Treia. Her eyes widened as he fired and knocked her several yards from her position. She rolled to prevent the landing to damage her worse, but she was badly burned from the shot and coughed loudly as blood ran down her lips.

One of the healthy ones broke rank and rushed over to her, sniffing her as she gagged. The beast took her arm into his jaws and yanked her to her feet, looking her dead in the eyes. She stared back for a moment and gazed at the battle.

The beasts got pissed...

All of them were 'dog piling' the Baciel's legs, one of them ripping the kneecap off of the guy.

Treia hobbled over with her bow and looked at the flailing Baciel as the hounds stopped their attack to look at their leader. Two more of the previous wounded died in the scuffle after the Baciel fell down and landed on them, which brought the body count to four out of the original unit down.

Treia dug her heel into the Baciel's crotch and pulled back the arrow on her bow.

"Piece of crap!"

Right between the eyes... and the Baciel stopped moving. Howling erupted from around the area... a cry of victory as Treia coughed again from her smouldering wound. Apparently, the word got around as another pack came from over a hill to see what was going on.

The Mystic Beasts were always plauged by the Baciels here... when one went down, it was a happy day for the packs. The one who got tossed from the Baciel's arm hobbled over and offered one of the Makai cola's from her sack as she sat down. She was getting licked right and left... and it did seem to ease the pain from the laser blast. She chugged the cola down, and the bleeding seemed to at least slow down. The beasts who weren't licking Treia were feasting on the remains of the Baciel. Respectfully, the pack that came to investigate didn't dare touch that other pack's kill...

[Overlord Sothmir]

Avernum had watched the battle unfold, the Baciel was actually struggling to fend off the Mystic Beasts, who often fell prey to these creatures. She lost even more of the creatures to the Baciel, however, and like he had said, sacrifices were made, and those who were not strong enough, in a sense, to make it to real battles were weeded out.

The Baciel's corpse was being devoured by Mystic Beasts of the original training squad, the others in the background just sitting and watching the pack of Mystic Beasts that had actually managed to slay a Baciel. He was proud of Treia, he did not even have to interfere even the slightest bit. However, she was grievously wounded...

He two two mighty steps, and he was over to Treia. He let himself drop to all fours and lowered himself as much as he could so that he could observe her wounds. A Baciel cannon wound was not an injury that could be ignored for any injury. The destructive properties of the star element were quite potent, and he knew it was an injury that very well be able to permanently cripple even the stoutest of warriors.

She was burned and bloody, beasts all around her licking her wounds and burns. His gaze went from her wounds to her eyes, and he gazed straight into them, and spoke.

"Treia, you fought well. I half expected you to die in that battle, seeing as how you weren't even prepared for the even of an ambush. The fact that you even survived it, let alone won without the intervention of the Zombie King or myself is an incredible feat. However, you are lucky it was just a Baciel, and not a Gambiel, a Adnachiel, or even the Verchiel that are known to be seen around these caverns. Now, tell me. Do you plan on staying here any longer, or do you plan on finding a place to heal those wounds? Or are you going to let yourself become an unnecessary sacrifice, as you keep going off about? You have not finished training these beasts, and I will not allow you to take leave until you fulfill and surpass Overlord Zenon's expectations, do you understand me?!" Avernum said, raising his voice exponentially throughout the sentence until it was at a full out roar at the end of the sentence.

The Mystic Beasts in the other pack backed away upon hearing the loud shouting of the Hell Dragon, but those who were faithfully licking her wounds only flinched, more concerned about their master than anything else. Avernum surveyed the land quickly, checking to see if any other Baciels or creatures of that sort were deciding to check upon their missing comrade. He did not see nor scent anything. He looked down on Treia again, and waited to listen to what she had to say. There was truly only one answer he would accept, and he waited to see if that was the response she would choose...

[fatima]

"Obviously... I'm going to find someplace else where there is less chance of a fatality to train... while taking it easy and healing up."

The Makai cola alone wasn't going to cut it for a wound like this... he was right, though. If that thing was any stronger, she would have been dead meat.

The pack that came to watch started digging holes for the dead. The biggest out of the group came over to her and laid down, offering her throat to her.

"W... wha? Y... you wanna come with me? I'm a vassal of Overlord Zenon. You'll become one of his soldiers if you come with me."

The Beast didn't budge... she would have a couple more than she started with, but ones not nearly as trained as the original group... it was better than nothing, though.

"Alright... we'll move out to the river area to rest up and resume basic training. Apparently, I bit off more than I could chew..."

[Overlord Sothmir]

Avernum let out a deep, growling sigh. Once gain, the Overlord's army had grown in size, but not in skill. The remaining ones who had learned any sort of tactics were outweighed by the inexperienced creatures. Then again, he did suppose that those who had learned would be able to tutour the inexperienced ones without wasting any of Treia's, his, or Overlord Zenon's time. Avernum stood over Treia as she walked towards the Dallos River area. If another attack happened, he would have to intervene, he didn't want to have to report the loss of an entire unit to Overlord Zenon due to the fact that Avernum refused to interfere because he wanted them "to learn". The creatures stood a good distance away from him, staying closer to their master, the Zombie King following closeby, being silent, as usual. He continously scanned the area about him, ready to destroy anything that even hinted at danger.

Mercy be given to creature that manages to even snap a twig too closeby...for Avernum would show none.

[fatima]

"Crap..." Treia muttered.

This wasn't good. She knew it. Still, those that survived got precious experience. They seemed strengthened after their meal. At least with her standing, they would be strengthened. Treia was silent as they walked, but the mouth of the cavern was in sight.

[Overlord Sothmir]

Avernum was still fully alert, knowing that other creatures would be more than happy to attempt to kill the vassals he was guarding. He kept an eye on the mouth of the Cavern of Evil, checking if any creature dared to pursue them. After he confirmed there was nothing, he continued to survey his surroundings, paying close attention to any sudden movement that anything would make. He knew that soon he would have to report back to Overlord Zenon, and that he would need to tell him about the casualties the unit suffered.

Yet, he did not feel safe leaving them to fend for themselves quite yet. He would continue to watch over them until they were a reasonable distance away from the source of the danger, and he would be more than willing to interfere with the battles to the greatest extent of his power, his concern with angering the Overlord still prominent in his mind.

[fatima]

Treia arrived outside of the cave and looked across the way, seeing a Flora Beast in the distance. She ordered her units to pause as she approached cautiously. The Flora Beast stared at her nonchalantly and yawned before speaking.

"My, my... look what the Nekomata dragged in."

"Listen, I'm a servant of Overlord Zenon and I bit off more than I could chew with training my group. You wouldn't happen to have a Flower Dance to heal us with, would you?"

"A servant of Zenon? ... Interesting."

The Flora Beast looked up at the Hell Dragon, knowing that if it refused, he would get a beat down.

"Well, considering you have that Hell Dragon with you, I might as well comply... but you owe me, little dear. My name is Fiore. I will heal you up if you take care of my little Orc problem... I'm trying to grow a garden further along... those nasty little brutes keep taking a whiz all over the flowers."

"More training for us..." Treia replied. "You would serve Overlord Zenon well."

"Hmph... if you got chewed up with a Hell Dragon at your command, I'm not so sure how compentant you really are... still, it would be fun. I can still use your carcass as a fertilizer if worse comes to worse."

With that, Fiore used a petal dance on the group to heal them of their injuries. The Flora Beast yawned and leaned over his petals.

"I'll... think about joining you. Show me what you got, girlfriend."

"You heard it pups! Move out!" Treia ordered.

[Overlord Sothmir]

Avernum lowered his head right to the level of the Flora Beast and growled angrily.

"I am not at her command...and if she happens to suffer any injury on this little errand you sent her on...it shall be you who will be a corpse fertilizing the ground, not her." Avernum snarled, gazing directly into the eyes of the Flora Beast. He did not wish for the Overlord's vassals to be wasting their time doing errands for smart-mouthed plant-creatures. However...he did need to evaluate how the wild Mystic Beasts performed before their actual training, in order to make a more accurate report to Overlord Zenon.

He followed Treia, watching her every move and command.