Bad Results Of Self Judged Good Actions

The calm aura of the wizard quickly engulfs the entire tavern. The other travelers continue their sleep as the mana gently passes by. "You can say why you wanted to meet us so badly but… We already know." Tika says as the large figure of Gunnir now stands before, his two-handed battleaxe now drawn.

"I will repeat my offer then. Stand down and allow us to take care of the matter quickly. The matter is something between the nobility. Something I don't recall the adventurer guilds being supposed to take a part in." The masked one speaks as mana flows from his body. The mana sways unpredictably from his body as it forms around him and his companion. The shield forms around both often disappearing before it appears again. Tika tilts her head slightly sideways as she continues to control her own mana that fills this room.

"We're just protecting a man on his travels against bad-intentioned people." She responds and thus the conversation comes to a halt. The tavern-keeping couple quickly dashes upstairs as both conflicting parties simply look. As soon as the steps of the elder couple quiet down, Gunnir swings his two-handed axe. Scraping the roof as it makes Its way down toward the one not wearing a mask. The assassin dodges the attack whilst drawing his own weapons. A dagger in one hand and the other a long needle of some kind. It appears to be sharp yet the clear dark green liquid on top makes it hard to distinguish if it gets truly taken care of. Immediately he uses the needle to launch a counterattack, aiming for Gunnir's right eye. Gunnir turns his large body sideways, the needle making contact with his armor, unable to pierce through.

The one possessing arcane abilities does not yet enter combat. Both look at the battle, unwilling to lend a hand. A famous saying was passed down long ago by the philosopher Terin Kjin: "A true warrior is born of resolve. They train their spirit because of resolve, Their spirits hone their skills. So perhaps one can say that a warrior fights a mental battle. Yet it is their body they throw on the line."

The saying had become popular in the Holy empire to make it in their military tradition and later in the "Crippling western wars" it was used to convince soldiers to continue to fight even if the battlefield turned grimmer with each fallen soldier.

A mage on the other hand is the opposite. A mage is not honed but gifted, sure magic can be trained but if there is no talent or potential then no amount of "Honing" would ever overcome that. Instead of showing what you've learned, magic became the art of hiding what you've learned. If mages of the same caliber fought against each other then the first one to show his hand would be the one to perish.

'Gifted.' Tika smiles thinking about the term that made her father turn mad. That made him treat her like some creature of his bidding. 'I am gifted... But not because of my magic. But for those who accepted me even with our differences.' She thinks softly smiling as she recalls the red-haired girl who took her away from that nightmarish estate and the friends they made along the way. Hellas, Gunnir, Cristal, and slowly but surely another figure with green emerald eyes is getting closer and closer.

Tika's magic surges, keeping its natural calmness whilst Gunnir and the unmasked assassin continue their battle. The masked assassin follows Tika's lead as his magic that constantly spikes and disappears become more erratic. Three spikes of the magical aura pass before he casts a spell, at the fourth spike all the benches and tables are thrown via the use of his aura. Almost as if the world suddenly flipped, the furniture is thrown at them with incredible force. Tika creates a shield of magic before her, the furniture shattering against it. Whilst Gunnir and the unmasked assassin are both hit by this storm of wooden furniture. They both crash against the wall, buried underneath the pile of broken what were once wooden creations. The first one to stand on his feet again is the largest of the two. Gunnir throws the broken furniture off his body as he grabs his two-handed axe again, searching for his opponent. The unmasked assassin launches at Gunnir with now 5 bronze needles injected into his body. Two in his back, one in his kneecap, and two others in his right arm. The light armor whilst great to keep quiet does suffer the downside of being less able to reduce damage. His ally's attack hurt him more than it did Gunnir. Still, however, the assassin is somehow able to ignore this pain and what normally should have dysfunctional limbs and goes for Gunnir's eye.

The large ex-mercenary uses his taller frame and instinct to charge against the attempted surprise attack, dropping his two-handed axe. The charge gave no time for the attack of the unmasked assassin to be redirected as it now no longer will be in contact with the eye but simply with the armor. Once again the needle clashes against the heavy armor worn by Gunnir. His tall frame and the heavier weight of both the armor and himself are now on top of the assassin as Gunnir throws himself on him. Similar to the weight of a boulder, Gunnir crashes the assassin onto the ground. The following cracking sound is indistinguishable between shattered wood and broken bones. Gunnir reaches over and personally, snaps the two arms using simply his own physical force. Making sure that no other surprise attack can follow.

Another spike of mana forms in the aura as the masked assassin launches another erratic wave of mana in the room. This time Tika shields herself whilst using her calm aura to redirect everything thrown toward Gunnir. The spell and its sufficient countermeasures have already been figured out. She looks at her ginger bearded companion before her eyes open as wide as her mouth when she yells.

"Gunnir! No!" Tika yells as the unmasked assassin, even with a broken body manages to somehow still move. The needle aimed at Gunnir's eye again. The mercenary tries to avoid but is this time too late. The needle with a dark greenish liquid manages to connect, the tip of it embedding itself into Gunnir's eye.