Let's try this again [Mod]

[Holly Mason]

It was becoming very clear to Holly that she was very poorly suited to actually exploring alone, and it kind of pissed her off.  She didn't mind being a good supporter or even being in a more supportive role; that's what leaders DID.  The part that pissed her off was that it was becoming increasingly difficult for her to explore on her own and for her to actually accomplish anything alone in the outside.  That irritating, stifling feeling was creeping up on her again, but she refused to believe that she was powerless in all this.  She hadn't died yet, so maybe the third time would be the charm?

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

A pack of Shadows appeared!

Serial Maya

• Gigantic Fist

Absorb: Repel: Null: Strike Rs: Wk: Pierce
Cereal Maya

• Garula
• Agilao

Absorb: Repel: Null: Fire Rs: Wk: Ice
Surreal Maya

• Dormina
• Pulinpa

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk:

[Holly Mason]

Another day another pack of shadows.  Was it even possible to explore without encountering some?  This time she didn't mind so much because she wanted a little revenge.  There were three, if her estimates were correct they would be weaker on average, but her shitty attack power wouldn't be enough to finish them quickly.  Well, she could at least make her attack power slightly less shitty.  It probably wouldn't end the battle any more quickly, but damn did that spell make her feel awesome.  She was momentarily surrounded by a bright orange light and suddenly felt like she could take on the world.

There was no room to dodge in these tight quarters, she knew this.  It forced her to think a bit more creatively and she soon realized that she was just not being nearly aggressive enough.  Her role in battle wasn't that of a striker and trying to work solo like that was just getting her maimed.  No, her role was a supporter, but even when there was no one to support she just needed to make her enemies weaker than she was.  Standing back and trying to hide when there was no place to hide was just stupid.  If there was no cover she just had to create it.  Plus, she was curious to see exactly how stupid these shadows were.

Holly lunged forward before the shadows could even properly make her move.  It looked like one finished casting just as she started moving and the spell hit where she was standing a few seconds ago.  It was just a blast of wind so it wouldn't have done much to her at all, but it was still nice to avoid such things.  Another one cast some kind of bubble attack at her that made her feel a little weird for a moment, but she was able to shrug it off without slowing down.  The sensation was familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she saw it before.  The last attack actually did something to her.  As she was charging the group of shadows, one of them suddenly spawned this huge fist and nailed her in the chest.  It nearly knocked her off her feet, but rather than be blown back she grabbed the newly formed gigantic fist instead and dug a couple of knives into it to avoid falling off.

The shadow let out an inhuman screech and the fist receded back into its body.  Holly hadn't expected her stabbing to do much, but apparently she hit some kind of weakness.  She grinned.  This shadow would not be her target.  As the first reentered the shadow's body, she kicked herself off of the one that cast the bubbly spell, sending her towards the one that cast the wind spell and tearing through the one with the first.  It continued squealing, but that wasn't quite enough to finish it off.  That wasn't a bad thing in her mind.  It was time to test just how smart these shadows were.

She grabbed the shadow that cast the wind spell and hid behind it.  Would the shadows attack?  Would they move before attacking?  Would they avoid attacking and try to wrestle her away from their ally so they didn't accidentally hurt it?  The grin on her face didn't fade as she waited to see how they would react.  The bubbly shadow cast the same spell again and once again the strange sensation came over her.  She didn't feel tired, just a little out of it?  Tired...Yes she was able to place the spell now.  The last one that had it just had to punch her first.  Fortunately, she was still able to shrug it off.  As long as she could keep doing that that shadow would not be a threat.  She could probably deal with the fist shadow, so the one that she was holding onto would probably be the most difficult to deal with herself.  Fortunately, its buddies were about to take care of it for her.  The fist shadow did move in an attempt to get a clear shot at her.  She waited for the fist to get close enough to her and then stabbed her meatshield in the side sending it between her and the fist.  She didn't get hurt at all from the attack, and while the attacked shadow lived it was obviously hurt.  One more hit like that should finish it off.  The injured shadow sent another wind spell at her, but it was nothing she couldn't handle.

Rather than poke at either of the injured shadows, Holly decided to send her own blast of wind at the bubbly shadow.  It looked like it hurt about as much as she expected it to, so it would take a couple of hits to finish off.  Her meatshield however, was not going to survive long enough to attack her again.  The fist shadow winded up for another one and once again nailed the wind shadow right in the face cracking its mask and causing it to disappear in a puff of smoke.  The fist shadow didn't last much longer as one more volley of knives was enough for it to make it join its buddy.  And well, the last one couldn't do much to her to begin with, so it was easy enough to dispatch.

[Erithania]

Victory!



But no spoils.

[Holly Mason]

As the last shadow disappeared, but Holly still looked uneasy.  Was that really it?  There were no places to hide in these tunnels and she didn't sense anymore shadows so...that really must have been it.  Holly pumped a fist in the air and used all of her self control to not scream some victory cry.  For the first time in a long time she was actually going to get to explore this damn place and might actually get to leave before she starts feeling the need to pass out.  But more importantly she seriously kicked those shadow's asses despite her lack of attack power.

Life was good.