Viola
*After meeting the mayor of the village so desperate of adventurers, Moxie and Arthur has reached the forest. This place is where you're going to exterminate vines, 5 at the very minimum but it'd be preferable to do more. The forest doesn't look wrong, but for some reason you feel rather uneasy about this place. All the citizens of the village formulate conspiracy theories about the forest, some say it's someone working from the shadows, others think the forest is displeased and wishes to get rid of humanity, and others also think it's a great tribulation from the gods. Of course, in the grand scheme of the world, this isn't such a big issue... Yet.*
Antoinette
*Arthur would contemplate a bit about the oncoming challenge. Vines? It shouldn't be that difficult, considering that plants had an obvious weakness to fire and the like. Preceding the journey to this village, he actually had been idle for a good amount of time before he had noticed the opportunity to make some extra coin. Slipping in and out of various settlements, stealing some food and the whatnot, he found out that vampires, being of the undead, did not need any food to be sustained, energy-wise. He could still taste the complexions and various flavors the meals throughout the days had given him, like the juicy savoriness of a beef shoulder, or the buttery, earthy taste of potatoes, yet he never felt 'full' anymore. It was as if the pleasures of eating meals were ripped from his being, the pleasure of being able to eat until you were full. Now that he had turned into a vampire, he learned to get used to the void in his stomach, the feeling that you could very well go out to eat something, but you wouldn't be able to eat anything without being ravenous for more. To be frank, it was both good and bad at the same time; for one, he didn't have to spend any of his money on food, or even water for that matter, but on the other hand, the sensation of pleasure-eating being ripped from his being still bothered him, to a degree.*

*He looked towards the person he had been assigned to accompany. Apparently, due to the influx of adventurers that had flocked to the village, the mayor had decided that it would be best to split up into different groups to eliminate the threats of vines. His particular partner, this time, was a black haired Kitsune girl. She had four tails, which were all visible to the eye, but oddly enough, one of them was singed and bare, which Arthur found... Odd. To say the least, anyway.*

*One of the more questionable things about the girl was the presence of a metallic arm on her right side, which was pretty odd. Perhaps it was the scar of some fierce battle that had come to pass? Hmm... Doubtful. Judging by her frail demeanor, Arthur imagined that if a fight broke out that would cause her to lose her arm had happened, the opponent would more likely have killed her rather than leave her maimed. Unless, of course, they took pity on her.*

*He took notice of the silent awkwardness between the two as they arrived at the forest. Once they had stopped, he turned towards his ally, keeping his arms by his side. He would then open his mouth to speak:*

"Well, now that we're here, it's probably a good idea to introduce ourselves. The name's Arthur. What about you?"
Sabrina
*Moxie's hands were in her coat pockets the entire time as he strolled alongside her little band of summons. Felix had told the young woman about the job, and decided to point out that they needed money... Badly. Since Felix was the one entrusted with monetary affairs, Moxie decided to listen to his advice this time. The trek was long, and arduous, but most importantly... **Boooooring...**
Her little group found themselves playing "I Spy" Too many times to count, and eventually Felix just decided to start firing at random animals and butchering them for meat. After all, it made the trek a bit less... ~~Fucking dreadful~~ dull.

Moxie smiles warmly at Arthur and her iron golem waves at her. Felix scowls and narrows his eyes at the other kitsune, the grip on his bow tightening. Felix has a bad feeling about most people in general, and Arthur isn't an exception. To be honest, very few people are. His main goal is to protect his summoner, and nothing stops him from doing just that. He's shot at many a bandit to do his job. Felix seems pretty unnerved about this situation, and the various wolves around Moxie also seem a little creeped out by the forest. But Moxie and her golem either don't notice, or don't care.*

"I'm Moxie. Nice to meet you!"

``190 Mana, with 125 Mana removed due to summons. 65/65 Mana left.``
Michael
"Got a bad fuckin' feeling about this place..."
Sabrina
*Felix nocks an arrow on his bow.*
Michael
"...Wish my creator gave me a fuckin' axe or something."
Antoinette
*Arthur would begin to eye what seemed to be a small party of entities from various different... Races, to say the least. There was a Felind archer eyeing him down, gazing at Arthur with a look that he didn't like; it reminded him of those people that were arrogant enough to look down on you without any conceived reason. The look the Felind had given the kitsune was somehow a look of disgust, combined with a hint of aloof-ness as well, a look that threw Arthur off ever so slightly. To be honest? Plain and simple, Arthur didn't like the archer one bit.*

*There were other creatures flocking around the girl named 'Moxie' as well. Three wolves, all of which looked equally gray, but displayed such stark different personality traits, that Arthur wondered if they were somehow domesticated wild wolves. There was one that seemed to be lazy, one that was overly hyper and exuberant, and one that looked like it wanted to smack the both of them in the face. How curious... Arthur wanted to go down and examine the three of them further, but he knew that the Felind archer probably wouldn't allow it. He did find them all quite cute, however.*

*Finally there was... A golem. Getting flashbacks at what happened at the prison escape, Arthur remembered how difficult these things were to fight, and even more so how difficult they were to kill. Unlike the golems he fought at the prison, which were icy and seemingly made out of snow, this golem looked to be made out of pure metal, almost as if it's body was composed entirely of iron. It wielded a large, wicked metal sword; a zweihander, from first glance, and towered over the vampire as he stared down the beast. For now, it didn't look too hostile, but at the same time, Arthur got a feeling of danger from the beast. Or, perhaps, that was due to that ominous atmosphere that was radiating from the forest. Gripping his sword, but then letting go, he would sigh to himself, then hold out his hand, signaling a handshake.*

"Good to meet you, Moxie. Side note: That archer of yours looks... Intimidating. And he has quiet the sailor mouth as well. Could you tell him to, like, not look down down on me? Gives me the creeps. Almost like he's already calculating a way to kill me, you know?"
Margaret
*The golem nods at Felix pointedly as though he agrees with Arthur, and slaps the back of Felix's head.*
Michael
"Ow! What the hell?"
Sabrina
*Moxie shakes Arthur's hand, nodding her head at Arthur's points as well and chuckling. It's hard to control summons that have minds of their own.*

"Yeah... Uhh, I'll try. Phil helps me out, but you wouldn't **Believe** What I gotta deal with at home. **FOR A SUMMON,** You aren't very obedient, are you!?"
Michael
"Moxie, I'd like to think you see me as a little more than *Just a summon*, thanks very much!"
Sabrina
*Moxie notices Arthur's armour and halberd. It looks simple at first glance, but as she looks closer at it, her face shows more and more glee as she notices just how special it all is... Is... Is it all enchanted!? Mox always **WANTED** To see enchanted stuff!*

"Whoa... That's so cool..."
Antoinette
*Arthur would grow slightly uncomfortable as Moxie leaned in to admire his armor and halberd. To be completely honest, he preferred the halberd form of his weapon rather than the sword, so he hadn't changed it back at all during the downtime between the last quest he took, and this one. He had gotten his armor enchanted once more by Dragor in New Salvainia, a favor that Arthur deeply thanked the dwarf for once more. It had the magical property of being regenerative, silenced, and most importantly, twice as difficult to break than the average. Oh, and there was also the benefactor of the armor being lighter than it should have been, due to the Greater Featherweight enchantment he had applied to it as well.*

*From first glance, it would seem that Moxie's little party of summons would be... Slightly dysfunctional, to be honest. Though, they really did feel like actual people; he read in books that summons were typically dregs and minions used to carry out the dirty work of a summoner, so it was a mild surprise to him when he actually found a group of summoned creatures with a personality. They felt alive; something that Arthur, as edgy as it was, lacked. Being a vampire, to be completely honest, wasn't the worst thing that had come to happen to the kitsune. In fact, it wasn't too different from being a normal person. The only true changes in his everyday life was the fact that he didn't feel the natural warmth from before in his body, and that whenever he glanced at the veins in his arms, they would be colored a light ivory instead of the usual red he was used to for so long. He wanted to keep the fact of his vampiric powers hidden from people, lest they attack him under the misconception that "Vampires are evil!" And whatnot.*

*Moxie herself seemed to be unguarded and under protected compared to a good amount of people he's been with. She seemed to be equipped with only a leather cloak, some clothes, and some boots, but that probably meant that she had spent most of her money purchasing things for her summons. However, this begged the question: Why waste your time and money improving others' success when you could boost your own instead? Arthur didn't get why she would abandon the thought of her own well being, instead improving upon the state of her summons. Though, he would continue to look at her as she admired his armor and weapon, finally opening his mouth to speak:*

"Yeah, it IS pretty cool. Very expensive as well. Though that arm of yours... I've seen someone with a similar item before, but how does it work exactly?"
Sabrina
*Moxie's archer readjusts its shoulders and looks around its surroundings once more, acting as what seems to be the most "Guarded" One of the bunch. It may seem as though he's the voice of caution and reason in the group, and even the golem seems to take notice of this and ready himself for combat, holding his weapon on his shoulders and looking around, with a much more menacing appearance now.

The wolves would scatter somewhat, searching for enemies. The lazy wolf seems to... Not really care, and the excited one quickly gets distracted and tries to chase its own tail. Nox claps her hands and points to the inky darkness of the forest, and it gets the message. She adjusts her cloak and looks at her own arm. She's seen someone with an arm like this? Cool... Maybe she'll pay them a visit some day. That might be fun.*

*She shrugs with a nonchalant demeanour, as though the arm really isn't a big deal to her.*

"Eh. I enchanted it. Runes and stuff."
Antoinette
"And... What happened to your tail?"
Sabrina
"I burned it. Stupid mistake, I guess."

*Again, Nox acts like it's no big deal.*
Antoinette
"You... Burned it? How would you burn your own tail?"
*Arthur was becoming slightly more intrigued as this conversation went on. Could she be a pyromancer like him as well? Eager to find out, he would await her answer, keeping his arms by his sides as he looked down.*
Sabrina
"I tried making a potion. I think I spilled something on it, and, ya know... *Stuff happened.*" 

*Moxie scratches the back of her head with her prosthetic arm and then unstraps her crossbow, attempting to reload it. Because she isn't particularly strong, she has a very hard time putting a bolt in it. But eventually, she manages.*

"Being an Artificer ain't easy, ya know?"
Antoinette
*Arthur would pause for a moment, thinking about what Moxie just said. An artificer? What is that? Some kind of mage, or even some kind of tinkerer? He would have to steal a book about that later, probably from the mayor's mansion or something. And... A potion? That was something new. He'd never had the chance to mess around with any kind of potions before, let alone be damaged by it. He sensed a slight tinge of hostility coming from the other kitsune's voice, and he read the mood that he didn't like to antagonize her further. He would stop pressing on with the subject, and turned towards the forest.*

*Since it was night time, his senses were boosted a good amount as he stared into the lush, dark green fauna. They were sent to destroy some assassin vines, which shouldn't be too big of a problem. He could easily dispose of those if he got close to said vines with his fire, but he was still a good bit uneasy on how Moxie would deal with them. He would gaze into the forest, trying to gain a sense of what lied within.*
Sabrina
*Moxie looks a little guilty when she notices Arthur's reaction. She never **Meant** To be rude, she just thought she was explaining why she had the singed tail. Maybe it was her tone. That's often not so great. Yeah.*

*She holds her crossbow by her side and steps behind her golem, who pats her head as he readies himself for combat. The wolves reform and follow side by side around Moxie. Felix stands between Moxie and the Golem, bow at the ready, steeling himself.*
Viola
*Whilst taking a good look of what's around him, he notices that there are definitely vines nearby. But he would have no clue as to any where-abouts, they are practically sitting ducks here waiting for the vines to attack them. Good thing is, if Arthur cannot see in this dark, neither could they... Hopefully, that's just an assumption, who knows. As you continue, you to see signs of death nearby, seeing splotches of blood on the leaves nearby. A clear sign that something must be done or else innocent people will pay.*
Margaret
*Phil makes a rumbling sound as he notices the blood. Something evil is here, and Phil wants it to die.*
Michael
"Watch yourself, lads and lasses."

"Think I see blood... Bloody nasty."
Sabrina
*Nox chuckles for a second before the weight of **SEEING BLOOD** Hits her.

Uh oh...

She readies her crossbow again, waiting for something to happen so she can react.*
Antoinette
*Arthur would nonchalantly gaze into the forest, definitely noticing the abundance of nearby assassin vines that lurked in the forest. Though, he couldn't tell exactly how many of the vines there were, he would stand there knowing that waiting for the vines to attack them would likely lead to their downfall. He wondered, however, if the vines could tell where his position was, even in this dark. He doubted that they had any organs used for eyesight, so they likely relied on the vibrations that they made on the ground to pinpoint where their targets were. As he walked in, he noticed the abundance of blood nearby, crimson splotches dotting the landscape of the leaves of the forest. Something had died here, more or less recent.*

*Walking in, he wouldn't be able to see a good bit, due to the darkness, but he would nonchalantly guess with the position of the blood on the leaves, the vines had to be nearby. He would hold both hands up, and simultaneously cast Enveloping Hell with both of his hands. The area in a 24 foot circle would suddenly be ignited with flames, setting fire to whatever was inside the radius. If he were to start a fire here, obviously the vines would soon fall to the flames, unless they were resistant to fire. That would suck.*
``` Enveloping Hell cast. Remaining mana: 175/210```
Viola
*The flames emitted by Arthur caused a fire in nearby bushes and trees, but it did have the intended effect of killing vines, he had burnt up 6 vines just by doing that. Though the lumber village might not agree with the methods of burning down the forest... The fire starts to spread to other vegation and trees, causing an even larger fire. This certainly would not go over well with the village.*
Sabrina
*Nox's first instinct is to react with utter amazement. What a powerful spell... She needs to learn something like that! Maybe. Her golem tries to shield her from the fire... Although of course, they're far enough from Arthur that there's no worry. Yet.

Felix immediately gets pissed, and the wolves begin to cower, their natural instinct being to hate fire.*

"Uhh... This isn't good."
Michael
"You bloody idiot! How are we supposed to get paid now!?"

"You'll put us into **DEBT** At this rate!"
Antoinette
*Arthur would take a look at the surrounding damage, admiring the destructive power he had just unleashed. The burnt up remains of six vines would lay littered across the circle, all turned into ashes by his flames. However, the damage would come with an 'unexpected' collateral: the forest would suddenly catch on fire, each passing second spreading the flames further throughout the area.*

*If he were to be completely honest, he didn't really care that much about the damage, as long as the job got done. 6 vines, huh? That was a good amount. Though, he wanted to continue on into the forest, with the desire to exterminate any other vines that he found. Seeing that the forest was already on fire, how much could a few more flames hurt? Though, he would be slightly annoyed at the Felind's remarks at him. Frankly, he didn't care, so he ignored him, and continued on into the forest.*
Sabrina
*Nox continues to stare with amazement. Although she really should be scared... She isn't. It's magic! Super powerful magic, at that! She wishes she could use magic that strong... She has a lot of summons, sure, but nothing good for defending herself... Maybe she could learn something like that soon. Who knows?

Felix continues to curse under his breath, pissed off at this little bastard for ruining the mission. If they have anything to pay back for this, Felix wouldn't allow Nox to take the fall. He looks behind the group for a moment.*
Michael
"At this rate, we may as well leave... The mental patient decided to light the village's wood supply on fire."
Margaret
*Phil shakes his head and tilts Felix's head back to facing the direction they are heading. They have a job to do, they may as well get it done to the best of their abilities.*
Antoinette
*Arthur would pause momentarily, considering what the Felind had jeered at him for. He was right; how WERE they to get paid at this rate? If Arthur were to be completely honest, he really didn't mind the lack of pay that they would(n't) receive upon returning to the village. His methods were his methods, and besides, if he wanted to make some bigger cash, he'd go ahead and take another of the Boss's missions. Though, this? This was a bit too easy, though that was probably because all of his opponents were just plants. He could stop now and exit the forest, leaving Moxie to do as she pleased, but that wouldn't be all that fun, would it? He didn't feel like doing any more work than he had to, however. If his methods got the vines killed, the vines were killed, plain and simple. After all, their mission was to eliminate the vine threat. It never said how they were to do it, and frankly, this method of spreading the fire across the forest would work the best. The other vines would most likely get caught in the collateral, burning to ashes due to his magic.*

*Though, the felind DID have a point. He wasn't worried so much about debt, but was more so concerned with the archer's tone. Simply put, he was getting annoying as all hell, and so Arthur decided to turn back to Felix, staring him down with teasing eyes.*

"Hey, if it gets the job done, the job's done, right? What's so bad about it if we're only employing the most efficient method?"
Michael
"Are you braindead? Did your mother drop you on your head as a baby?"

"Who am I kidding, of course she did."
Sabrina
*Nox's eyes widen as she hears the archer mouthing off Arthur. Okay... Bit much... She smiles awkwardly and puts her arms up, slowly lowering them. At this point, Phil starts to realise how awry this is going, and decides to engage himself by twiddling his own thumbs, his zweihander tucked in his left arm.*

"Guys... Let's... Not..."
Antoinette
*Arthur would raise his eyebrows slightly, stepping towards the Felind. Crossing his right arm over his left, he would get up all in the summon's face, speaking to him with an edge in his voice.*
"Got a problem? My methods work. You're welcome to go back to whatever hole *You* Crawled out of if you don't want to take part in this. You're unneeded. Unwanted. Dead weight, if you will."
Michael
"Indeed I do, you jumped up little shit. I haven't fought by the side of many an esteemed warrior and mercenary to have to deal with an overgrown child like you. I expect someone taking a job to use methods that won't **Ruin the end result.** Defeating the purpose of taking this job in the first place, aren't you!?"
Sabrina
*Nox finally has enough of this shit and desummons Felix.*
Antoinette
*Arthur would sigh in relief, thankful that he didn't have to deal with another bout of complications caused by a single unruly teammate. He would turn to Moxie, looking at her with weary eyes as he put his hand on his head, regaining his posture. Thank the gods that he didn't have to fight another person today; that'd be plenty annoying, if he were to be completely honest. Even though he could have easily taken on that archer in a fight, he honestly didn't feel like going through the stress and expense of energy. Putting his hand off of his head and to his side, he would relax his grip on his halberd as he spoke to Moxie.*

"Hey, thanks for that. Tell that felind to mind his tongue, or else his dignity won't be the only thing he loses today. Honestly, if he cools down, I'm completely fine with him rejoining our, ah, merry band. It's your choice though." *He would turn back to the forest, taking long strides towards the areas illuminated by the fire. Things were much brighter now, but the sight of a burning forest would distress him a tiny bit. Nevertheless, he would continue on, motioning for Moxie to follow.* "Anyway, er, let's continue on ahead."
Sabrina
"...Uhh.. Is it really safe? Might be fine for you, but, uhh..."

*Moxie really doesn't fancy walking into a **Burning forest.**... It's not exactly the kind of scenario she imagined when she signed up for this job.*
Margaret
*The golem pats Arthur's head with a vaguely sympathetic... Demeanour? It's hard to tell.*
Antoinette
*When the golem placed its hand on Arthur's head, he would jolt up suddenly, surprised that the creature had performed such an uncharacteristic action. Though, to be completely honest, he wasn't entirely against this. In fact, it was actually quite comforting, if he were to speak the truth. It certainly had been a long time since he had last gotten patted on the head. Even if it were from an artificial golem, the gesture would relax Arthur, giving him a feeling of slight euphoria as his head was patted repeatedly. Finally, he would have enough of this, and take his right arm and gently stop the golem from patting his head.*

"You... Actually have a pretty good point. Er, I suppose you could just stay behind me or that golem you've got. Speaking of golem, this little guy's kind of... Physical, isn't he?"
Sabrina
*The golem looks a little disappointed, but nods and puts Moxie on his back, who wraps her legs around his torso and hangs off him. The golem draws its zweihander again, holding the weapon at the ready. It looks focused, and ready for combat at any moment.

The wolves continue to walk around the golem, to act as potential meatshields. The wolves are not afraid of death. None of Moxie's summons are. They're all aware of their potential immortality, which is part of the reason Felix got so mouthy: being a sentient summon has its advantages. Mouth anyone off, and you don't need to worry about dying. Because you'll just come back. It's great.*

*Moxie leans over the golem's shoulder.*

"Yeah, he's like that. I know he looks kinda scary, but he's actually a massive softie. I made him to help me out at the family farm, and I just kinda.. Kept going."
Margaret
The golem decides to beckon the lazy wolf and pet it for a little while before advancing further.

It makes a pleasant, soft rumbling noise as it does so.
Antoinette
*Arthur would eye the golem and wolves with a slightly less amount of apprehension. He was still wary of the golem, but judging by the wolves' reaction, he had nothing to fear out of the three of them. He would turn back to the forest, watching as the flames continued to spread throughout the landscape. Ok... Maybe this was pretty bad. At this rate, a large portion of the forest would be burned down to the ground, which was a pretty terrifying prospect, now that Arthur thought about it.*

*Because he had nothing else to do in this area, he would continue ahead and walk on, on the lookout for more vines and the whatnot, though he swore this time to not use Enveloping Hell; the consequences were too dangerous, and he could end up with some unwanted targets under his tab, targets that he didn't mean to dispose of. If anything, the last thing he wanted before the night ended was the mayor getting all whiney, then reporting him to some guards, who would then realize that he had this whatever-the-amount-was bounty on his head, and would then start tracking him down, et cetera. Basically, he didn't want to burn down any more of the forest than he could, though if a few more sparks flew here or there, those were out of his control.*
Viola
*They travel along, the pyromaniac and the summoner with a wise summon, who is desummoned. No sight of any enemies are to be seen, Arthur's sight isn't enough. They would have to be prepared for an ambush they could not avoid, because of a lack of sight. They hadn't seen anything special from these vines, because they are dead and charred. This work cannot be half-arsed or idiotically, they have to do this efficiently. Maybe if you get enough vines the mayor will pardon this act of arson.*
Antoinette
*Arthur would keep trucking ahead into the forest, noticing for the first time the abundance of fauna in the area. Even compared to the wilderness he'd lived in since he got branded as a criminal, the area was still overgrown with various different plants as far as he could tell. His eyesight, while great within the dark, wasn't enough to keep a good sight in the dark; he had to be prepared for an ambush or a surprise attack at any moment. He couldn't see Moxie, but heard the constant clanking of her golem behind her as they transversed the area as well. Only a pang of guilt had lingered after burning down a good portion of the forest, but that was gone now; what happened in the past can't be changed, so what was the point of lingering over it?*

*Trekking through the forest, he would continue to keep a good eye out on his surroundings. Suddenly, the thought hit him; he could just use Burn Up! To light the way. Though, that probably wasn't the best idea, since even though they were completely harmless to opponents, they could still set things on fire. That wouldn't work well in this case. Pausing for a brief moment, he decided to undo the concealment spell he had cast prior to the mission, revealing for the first time his illuminant tails and ears. The light would open up a good portion of the forest, so he could get a grasp of the surrounding area.*