It's a normal morning in a quiet village of Nilosan, a village located deep into the forest that recently got out of the news' eye after the Grass Wyvern that was threatening it's existence was purged by the Royal guard.
In this fine morning, two promising adventurers leave the inn, these two having arrived the day before to accept a request from the guild about a Dryad having recently been spotted deep in the forest, normally something people wouldn't worry about but with recent events pointing to monsters becoming more and more aggressive this simple quest became more fattened with gold. While most people stay clear of it to make it gain more weight this clearly isn't the case for these two which, although disgraced upon by others, accepted the quest with joy.
One of them is a swordswoman, a class not many go for as, while is it a known fact female adventurers only make up for 30% of all casualties in adventures, most of them meet a gruesome end with monsters. This one specifically has been training to beat the status quo and wields a proud iron sword along with steel breastplates and leggings that cover most of her body, one would call it a full armor if they didn't know any better. Although this is an unpopular pick amongst sword users as it limits their movements and makes them heavy. Apart from armor she has long, brown hair with blue eyes, and is of a medium height for a woman in her twenties.
The second adventurer is a Crusader, although unbenefitting of the name we know, as most Crusaders taking quests around are mostly adventurers that haven't gotten the job they were striving for, and were forced into the guild by debt. Royal Crusader is a job not held by many, something every adventurer with a big build hopes for, the pinnacle of body strenght one would say. On the other hand this guy has a tower shield and an evenly big sword, although not easy to wield he trains everyday to swing it better. He's pretty tall, as most crusaders are, and has a pretty big build, wearing steel armor all over his body with a helmet that covers the back of his head... And most of it, which he hides for a certain reason: He's... A bit bald.
"So... I know we haven't talked in a while, to break the ice a bit, what are your thoughts on what's happening these days?" The Crusader asks, making sure his helmet is on properly as the two start patrolling the village, slow and steady steps, they had only been doing small talks up until now, not really getting into what separated them years before, as the two actually have history.
"You mean the whole conspiracy about the princess, witches and the king? Really bad time for all of that to happen, what with all these monsters starting to act... Well, wilder." The swordswoman comments, not looking directly at the crusader, instead just looking around during their patrol
"Well, I atleast hope it doesn't turn into another witch hunt, last time that happened the streets were painted red..." The Crusader comments, vividly remembering events that happened over a decade ago "Not that I can say much, afterall I use holy magic, so I could never see myself using those prohibited spells" The man continues, putting a hand on an item on his belt, a very costly tome that he recently got his hands on, but one only containing basic holy spells... Yet.
However, as the two are looking around some screaming is heard throughout the village, the two immediately rushing towards it and quickly discovering the source... And the cause.
A little girl is crying her eyes out as a spike the color of the void is impaled right through her arm, blood coming out of her arm, mixing with the tears as a devilish laugh fills the air, the crusader moving before the little girl which falls to her knees, the two adventurers looking wordlessly ahead to a monster fitting of it's name: Imp.
"How did a monster get this close to a village? I thought adventurers frequently rounded these parts!" The swordswoman says, pointing her weapon at the enemy.
"The other guard must have already been... I don't think we can take on an imp by ourselves, sound the alarm!" The crusader says, knowing these low rank adventurers couldn't possibly take on an imp during these times they're strengthened with their limited skills, instead the swordswoman takes up a blue crystal in the form of a hexagon, before slicing it with her sword.
The crystal shatters at the attack, not being sliced but instead breaking into pieces... And an alarm starts to ring out from it, alarmed citizen running out of houses and rushing in the opposite direction as the imp frowns a bit, not content with the situation.
With his terrible laugh ending the Imp takes a look at the two and smiles again "Fun, fun! It looks like even weaklings such as you will take a part in the majesty's rise! I was worried he wouldn't have any fun with all these useless meatlings but it seems you all have some magic tricks!" The imp speaks up, in a strange language which the two strangely understand, to their surprise as well.
"But alas, I have no more time to waste here! I've done what I came for, but since I'm already here..." The Imp says before pointing his small hands to the sky, dark essence starting to come out slowly before suddenly everything turns black, the only visible things being the two adventurers, the child, the imp... And one more creature, a Harpy which was previously hidden in a bush, wearing a coat around her to hide the wings but the bird legs make it kind of obvious, now the bush not being visible anymore the Harpy seems to stumble back.
"Oh! What mighty luck! It looks like I caught more than I thought in my spell! Let's see if Harpies can survive my STAR FALL!" The imp says before starting to laugh again "I'll see you around.. If you survive!" He continues before seemingly dissapearing in the darkness, but that doesn't concern the four as something else does more; small, pellet-like crimson objects falling from the darkness onto the void that the four are stuck in.
"Don't let them hit you!" The Crusader says as he immediately brings out his holy book, chanting inhumanely fast but not understandable words that soon come to a halt as a yellow shield appears around the three.
The swordswoman grunts as she clutches her sword "This spell can't last long, it's too long range." She deducts from having seen enough magic in her travels "Once it's over bring the child to the evacuation point, I want to pursue the Harpy." The girl says, seeing the Harpy getting pelted a few times, struggling but managing to avoid a few of the comets.
"That's crazy! She's probably waiting to lead us onto an ambush, harpies always travel in groups of three or more!" The Crusader answers, frowning as a crack appears in the shield.
"Don't worry, I've got this. Unless it's a commander with my new skill I can handle a few untrained Harpies." The Swordswoman says as she bolts out of the protective spell, the pellets starting to slow down. The Harpy turns tail, turning to the forest for a change and the crusader only able to watch as his companion in adventures gives chase to the running enemy.