Dominique
With the time bought by the wolves attacking the vines for him, Gabriel would look around at the others and see they had taken care of the vines. He would then trace the vines that attacked him to find the core and stab it with dagger, taking a quick step back once it was done.
Arthur
*With Katachan being on the verge of vomiting from the overwhelming nausea she'd stumble over to one Gabriel's wolves without a second thought and picked up the entire beast as a source of comfort while they buried their head into it's fur for the time being.* "I feel disgusted with the world right now..." *They muttered into the wolf's fur while hiccuping away at their twisting stomach and then they simply waited for someone to take the lead to where they may need to head next.*
Kanesha
*Mevis with his amazing coordination with Hitoshi, practically as if they were of one mind, would sync their combination attack to utterly annihilate the remaining vine. Mevis would smile, pleased by the outcome. Even if he was weak on his own, by working together with Hitoshi he felt he could accomplish almost anything. He would normally say good job or something, but they were still on the job so they had to remain silent. So he would look over to Hitoshi and would shoot him a thumbs up and a grin.*
William
"That wasn't so bad... But I suspect it'll get harder from here as we go in." Having checked the roasted vines out of curiosity, Kohm decided to take a sample of the roasted vines with him, cutting away a segment with a bush knife and stowing it away. It wouldn't be some sort of scientific marvel but was still interesting to note that the smell actually did remind him of a simple dish of roasted roots. Perculiar.

After that, looking at the heaving Katachan, Kohm sighed and shook his head, walking over. An outstretched hand revealed a small clump of dried orange peel. "Take a pinch of this and chew slowly. Mildly bitter, but it might relieve some of your nausea. In fact, take it all with you. I have a feeling if you continue to fight up close, you'll need it."
Sabrina
*Hitoshi's smile would be hidden by his shroud, but his warm little chuckle might be slightly audible.

Bless him. Mevis doesn't give himself enough credit, Hitoshi thinks, in his own language. While it's true they were still on the job, Hitoshi makes a mental note to pour his praises onto Mevis when they get out of this. Hitoshi thinks that the boy needs to give himself a lot more credit than he does, but for now, Hitoshi can help with that low self image.

He turns to Katachan, but ignores her for now. He feels a bit of sympathy, but with the other Macen and Elf there to help, the central team should work well enough without his assistance. Hitoshi and Mevis can stick to what they're good at, and the other 3 can stick to their strengths.*
Viola
*Gabriel cuts the core in half cleanly and then avoids the gas by stepping back, what one could do with the core when it's intact is unknown. Katachan, after having ways bitter bitter orange, feels rejuvanated but still has unreliable senses, at least he doesn't have his stomach turning anymore.*
*Meanwhile at group stealth, they have killed both the vines without destroying their core, maybe it has some value? Anyways, both of the groups have finished off all the vines, and now should trek on through the wilderness.*
**Gabriel cuts core, avoids gas.**
**Katachan's equilibrium is normal, senses may be unreliable.**
**Kohm has discovered that the roots smells like baked potatoes and spice.**
**Mevis and Hitoshi has killed the last of sneaky vines, having all loot intact.**
Dominique
Gabriel would observe how cutting or damaging the core releases some form of nauseating gas. Maybe it could be used for something, but he isn't sure yet if it would be appropriate for his practice. He would turn to face Katachan when his wolf whined in surprise at the hug. "Are you okay? We have to keep going." At least the other Macen has offered her something to help. He commands his wolf to nudge her to her feet as he offers a hand.
Arthur
*Katachan would simply place the wolf down for the time being after chewing on the orange that was given to her by the stranger. She'd then just wave off Gabriel for the time being as her senses were still not with her at the time, the oriate simply continued to walk through the wilderness hoping her her senses wouldn't completely fail her, she as well would attempt to see if she could spot anything in the distance.*
```Using lvl.2 Hawkeye.```
William
Kohm shrugged at Gabriel. "Seems like she's fine, but understandably still a bit out of it, as it would appear. Well, lets not tary. There are probably more out there..." With that, Kohm squinted his eyes as he also looked around, checking if there were more vines lying in wait.
Kanesha
*Mevis would collect the cores and continue stealth with Hitoshi while following the group. Though the job made no mention of it, he was worried at how close these plants were to village. It might be the plants have even captured someone. It would be somewhat difficult to find anyone with this much foliage, but plants don't produce body heat like living creatures. So Mevis would shift his mask to cover his face as he activated his thermal vision to scout out the area on the off chance that there was anyone lost/captured in here. It's what a hero would do after all, and even if there was no one captured it at least made it easier to follow Hitoshi since he couldn't hide his body heat.*
Dominique
Gabriel would follow suit with the rest of the group. He strained his eyes, and nose, to try and spot any more dangers before it came upon them.

`Gabriel cast Predator Senses for 5 Mana, leaving him with 105 Mana capped at 110.`
Sabrina
*Hitoshi continues to follow Mevis, readying himself for potential attacks as well. Although he lacks Thermal Vision, he sees if his Night Vision might help at all, allowing his eyes to glaze over and look more like a blind person's eyes as they begin to allow him to peer into the darker corners of the forest.*
Viola
*With the stealth teams attentive searching, they had found a couple bodies to the left of the path they were taking. The bodies are cold, likely dead, Hitoshi without his thermal vision is able to see a bit more details, they are decaying. Hitoshi would able to observe that they've been rotting longer than a week, maybe 2 or so.*
*As the entire group moves forward, They notice splashes of blood on the leaves of bushes they walk past. The area is a source of a putrid smell, they must getting close to a hotspot for assassin's vines, at the very least. They might be getting closer to the source of all this!*
Arthur
*Katachan would simply unsling her mace again in a defensive guard as they walked. She kept it at an angle ready to block or guard another one of the members if necessary. Her jackal like ears would flicker as she listen for any movements and her eyes glared across the forest looking for any signs of danger.*
Dominique
Gabriel would wrinkle his nose in disgust over the putrid smell and the stack of rotting bodies. He continues to look around, in case there was another ambush. His two wolves would be sticking close to his sides. Gabriel weaves his hand through the air once more, summoning his third wolf.

`Gabriel cast Spirit Wolf for 15 Mana, leaving him at 90 Mana capped at 95.`
William
"Goodness gracious. It doesn't take much to see that we are moving quite close to where we need to be, with all the splattered blood, and that smell wafting through the air." Kohm muttered, ignoring the putrid smell as he continued moving with the group, looking around.
Unconsciously, the grip on his spear tightened slightly.
Kanesha
*Mevis would grit his teeth in frustration, and shift his mask away as he turned his thermal vision off, shaking his head in disappointment. They were beyond saving, once more Mevis was too late...*
*The self-hatred would only last a few seconds though, well aware that such thoughts could prove fatal on a mission. He would simply make a mental note that after this job he was to return and collect the bodies so that at least the families can have closure and give them a proper grave. As they moved into a new area, the stench would fill Mevis' nostrils, causing it to scrunch up in disgust. They must be getting close to the core, meaning they were likely going to encounter more of those vines. Mevis would take a readied stance while trailing behind Hitoshi, ready to jump in at the slightest sign of danger.*
Sabrina
*Oh FUCK.

Hitoshi struggles to stop himself from vomiting as he smells and sees the bodies. How... How long has all this been happening? What the hell happened here to start all this!?

Hitoshi's head fills with various thoughts, none of them pleasant. He almost instinctively feels behind him for Mevis, and when he touches him lets out a quiet sigh of relief.

The horrific visuals here make him think back to... Those days. Those days Hitoshi wants so hard to forget, to imagine he never took part in. But it happened. Hitoshi has never been able to forgive himself. Probably never will.

If someone is going to end up joining these bodies, it better be Hitoshi.*
Viola
*A whirring noise is heard near the main group, the stealth group likely has heard it too. These noises were coming from 2 differents sources, both on opposite sides of each other. There are also assasin's vines popping out of the bushs directly from those weird sounds, 1 to each of the whirring noise. Another vine is infront of the main group, these vines appears to have pieces of bark attached to 2 of their vines, possibly acting as a makeshift shield. None of the stealth group seems to have any vines near them.*
**Main group are in another clearing, more foliage than the last clearing, could cause a forest fire if not careful.**
**Stealth group are in the bushes, about 20-40ft away from the main group.**
**Slinger Vine1 has appeared to the left of the main group, Slinger Vine2 has appeared to the right of the main group.**
**Infront of both slinger vines is a Shield Vine, named Shield Vine1 and Shield Vine2 respectfully.**
Dominique
"*Fuck, not again.*"
Gabriel would raise his shield in front of him, ready to block the vines' attack. He would send his three wolves to attack the slinger on the right first. Otherwise, he doesn't cast anything for now.

`Gabriel's Predator Senses runs out and he recovers 5 Mana, putting him at 95 Mana remaining capped at the same amount.`
Arthur
*Katachan would wordlessly engage the first shield vine on the right so that Gabriel's wolves could get to the slinger properly. She would extend out her mace and smash into it if possible without being caught entirely in the gas like last time.*
William
Immediately, Kohm's right hand quickly goes through the well-practised motions of the 'firestorm' rune. 
A split second later, a massive fireball bears down on the shield vine on the left.
```Firestorm (15 Mana) Cast. 135/150 Mana```
Kanesha
*Mevis seeing the main party taking on the right, would look over to Hitoshi and motion to the ones on the left. With their stealth and speed, they might be able to sneak around the shield vine and get to the slinger one directly. Mevis would make his way over and if is able to get into position, try to grab the slinger so Hitoshi can finish it. If not, he prepares to use Sonic Blast to intercept whatever the left slinger might throw.*

```Sonic Blast maybe used 102.5/110 mana remaining```
Sabrina
*Hitoshi attempts to sneak closer to the vines from the left. He swings at the slinger vine, and then tries to get a thrust in from behind at the shield vine.*
Viola
*Hitoshi and Mevis are attacking the slinger1, Mevis was caught and a rock got slinged to him at 60fps, but after that, whether or not Mevis dodges or blocks the hit, Hitoshi should have no trouble cutting off a tendril without it noticing his presense, but isn't able to reach the shield vine yet.*
*Gabriel blocks no attack, but is probably still holding the shield up for the rock being thrown at him at 60fps. The wolves runs toward Slinger2, but Shield2 attempts to wack them both with shields on it's 2 tendrils. Katachan also runs up to Shield2, overwhelming it and allowing him to cut off a tendril vine.*
*Finally, Kohm shoots a firestorm at Shield1, burning it up into a crisp, unluckily, nearby foliage is starting to burn. The fire, if allowed the spread could cause conciderate damage to the forest.*

**Hitoshi and Mevis runs up to Slinger1.**
**Rock is being hurled at Mevis at 60fps by Slinger1.**
**Slinger 1 had a tendril cut off, not dead yet.**
**Shield 2 makes an attack against Gabriel's wolves.**
**Slinger2 throws a rock at Gabriel.**
**Katachan cuts off a tendril of Shield2, still alive.**
**Shield 1 burnt to a crisp**
**A dangerous fire has been started.**
Dominique
Gabriel braces himself for the incoming rock. He *Could* Just put up a magical shield, but he feels that he'd be okay without it for now. He aims to 'receive' the thrown rock with his shield, angled to deflect it to the side like how a modern baseball player receives a ball. While he's blocking with his shield, his focus would be directed away from the wolves and they would continue with his previous command of charging at the slinger, so it would depend on if they were fast enough to clear the distance before the whack comes.
Sabrina
*Hitoshi finally uses a spell here: He utilises Get Over Here to try to catch the rock before it hits Mevis.

Assuming it does in fact, catch the rock, he then spins it around for a bit and slams it into the shield vine from behind.*

**Get Over Here used. 10 mana expended. 120/130 mana remaining. It moves at 120fps and has a length of about 15 feet.**
William
"Son of a-" Kohm cursed his luck, as he realised his mistake in judgement. Hopefully, after this brief skirmish, they would have the time to quickly extinguish the fire. 
After a moment of thought, Kohm stays put, as he decides the current situation would not require his help, and help might even impede his teammates.
```Regen 10. 145/150 Mana```
Kanesha
*Mevis wouldn't mind getting hit by a rock, especially one that only moves about as he can move. Mevis would actually believe himself to be fast enough to avoid the rock just by moving, not even taking into consideration that Hitsoshi would help him. Instead he focuses on the spreading fire. If this fire spread it could end up burning the corpses, and that was something he couldn't allow. He didn't have any water spells, and his water skin wouldn't be enough. Given the fire was just starting, Mevis decides to endure slight burns in exchange for putting out the fire early but using his reinforced hands and legs to grab/kick the nearby dirt to smother the flames out as quickly as he can*
Arthur
*Katachan would use her ability Herculean strength as her body emits a slight red glow to it. She'd suddenly draw back her mace fully and smashed the vine shield with the strength she could muster in one go.*
```Herculean strength used. 10/25 Mana. Stength is currently 13 plus 10 provided by weapon enchantment on impact. ```
Viola
*The racing rock to Gabriel gets deflected off by his shield, one of the wolves were able to dodge, whilst the other got hit. The other wolf is still chasing the vine and gets a grip on one of it's vines! Hitoshi's speed, alongside his magical witchery, was able to redirect the rock towards shield1! Mevis is taking some effort to take care of the fires, after 2 turns of doing this, he should minimize the risks.*
*Vine Shield1 puts up its shields up to block Katachan's epic blow! But it wasn't enough to reach the core, folks, but that's alright! He broke both shields and vine tendrils, the vine has been defeated without destroying it's core.*
*Kohm just stands there.*

**Gabriel blocks**
**Wolf has it's teeth dug into a tendril of vine slinger2**
**Hitoshi has hit bullseye with his redirection! Destroying Vine Shield1 even more!**
**Katachan has neutralized Vine Shield2 without destroying it's core!**
**Kohm waits!**
**Vine Slinger1 attempts to whips Hitoshi real quick, what a big meanie.**
Kanesha
*Mevis spends his second turn to put out the fire, knowing full well if you leave a job like this unfinished it will only keep on growing.*
Sabrina
*Hitoshi isn't in a proper defense position, but attempts to defend himself by drawing his katana, which definitely stands out as an odd weapon in Salvanian territory, and sidestepping, attempting to cut off the vine. After that, he backs off for a bit in order to let the beast lose track of him, before coming back to thrust at its core and finish the job.*

**125/130 Mana.**
Dominique
With the rock deflected, Gabriel would attempt to take out the slinger vine. And the only way he knew how at this range would be to shoot at it. He would his energy in one hand, the one not bearing a shield, and launch a compressed blast of air at where the vine's core should be.

`Gabriel cast Force Ball for 5 Mana, putting him at 90 Mana, capped at 95.`
Arthur
*Katachan would rush to the vine that had lashed out to strike Hitoshi. She reared back the mace similar to last time smashing the head of it directly into it if she was able to with cohesion to Hitoshi strike if possible.*
William
Noticing Mevis try to extinguish the flames, and that every other opponent seems to have been accounted for in a way that was hardpressed for him to help out, Kohm grit his teeth and rushed towards the flames, preparing to help to stomp the fires caused by his own hand out.
Viola
*Katachan would be too far away to help Hitoshi, so he runs up closer, but fortunantely Hitoshi was able to evade and cut the tendril off, killing the vine without destroying it's core. Gabriel's air blast had finally worked and defeated the vine. Kohm helps putting out the fires he created.*
**Hitoshi kills vine slinger1**
**Katachan runs up to Hitoshi**
**Gabriel casts air blast to kill slinger2**
**Kohm and Mevis puts out fire.**

*They have killed all the vines.*
Dominique
Gabriel would recall his wolves to his side, checking on the one that got smacked by the shield vine. He grabs some chicken bits out of his satchel to feed to his wolves, a rewarding treat for them, as he heals the one that got hit.

`Gabriel cast Healing Touch on his injured wolf for 2.5 Mana. He now has 87.5 Mana remaining capped at 95.`
William
The battle ending as Kohm and Mevis worked to smothered the last embers in the foliage, Kohm sighed in relief as he nodded to Mevis in thanks. "That wasn't so bad. But I expect that things might get even more troublesome from here"
Kanesha
Mevis didn't exactly apperciate people who didn't fully think through their actions so he would simply nod slowly at this stranger. It was partly his fault for starting this fire after all. What if it had set more on fire than they could manage? Mevis would close his eyes, realizing how negative he was being. Everyone makes mistakes, just got to be more careful in the future, and that's exactly what he intended to tell the stranger.
Russel
"Wasn't so bad *This* Time. Things will infact only get more troublesome from here if you keep on using your flames carelessly like that. Be careful next time..."
Sabrina
*Hitoshi allows his concern for Mevis to take hold a bit more than it should, walking over to him and looking over every part of his body, including tilting his head from side to side. When he's absolutely certain Mevis is fine, he breathes another sigh of relief. 

He finds himself being very protective of Mevis, even if the boy is tougher than him physically. He grabs Mevis' shoulders gently and nods to him.*
William
Kohm merely chuckled, knowing that he had erred.
"I apologise, instinct came into play and I misjudged the probability of starting a fire during that split second."
Seeing Hitoshi come over to Mevis, he deigned to not interrupt their conversation, walking back to the main group with light whistling from his mouth.
Kanesha
*Mevis would nod, and similar to what he had done with Ralki, he too would look over to ensure Hitoshi was alright. He wasn't as outgoing like Ralki, but he got the feeling Hitoshi would try to hide his injuries so Mevis wouldn't worry. He was glad to have someone look out for him, but it would make his job harder as a hero if he couldn't do the same for Hitoshi. But from the looks of things, though nothing short of expected, Hitoshi was fine. He would then nods toward Hitoshi*
Russel
"Yeah, sorry about bailing half-way. Just wanted to make sure the fire didn't get out of hand. Thanks for catching that rock for me. Looks like another favor I owe you"
Jeanne
"No, it's... It's what friends do, alright? You do not owe me."
Sabrina
*Hitoshi's always been the kind of person to look after his squad, even back in those days. This isn't anything new.*
Viola
*The party is split with a choice, go back and report the bloody forest that they have been seeing more evident as they've been walking, or continue on until they find the source. Also of note to report is that the vines have learnt how to use shields now. Continuing on would be more profitiable, and the party would get their full pay.*
William
"So". Kohm started. 
"We could go back and turn in our findings. I'm sure they will be quite glad to know about the shield vines, and it also gives the next batch of adventurers precious intel to prepare. However..." 

Kohm frowns.

 "At the same time, we also risk giving whatever is behind these vines space to breathe, as well more time to commit these crimes. Worst case scenario, next time there might be even larger a threat than what we are seeing currently, which could be very dangerous. While continuing forward might expose us to more risks, the vines we faced weren't too much of a threat, which makes it a reasonable choice... What do you folks think?"
Dominique
"I think... We should continue. We were comissioned to find the 'root' of this problem after all." Pun fully intended, not that he'd admit it. He still has plenty if energy left and his wolves are healthy.
Kanesha
Mevis would smile at Hitoshi's words. He was right, they were friends, and looking after each other is what they do. He would give reaffirming nod to Hitoshi.

"You're right, it was foolish of me to say that. We've got each other's backs cus we're friends. Need no reason or favors to do so."

Mevis would then listen in on the group's conversation. He was glad to there that they had the same idea as him. A hero wouldn't leave a dangerous place like this to claim more victims. However, he wanted to make sure the group weren't being overzealous just because they were able to handle these vines. 

"I don't think counting the vines were as a measurement for what is to come is a wise decision, but I would have to agree that we can't exactly leave whatever is causing this alone, lest we return only to find the vines stronger and with more victims to count..."