A Family Heirloom [Mission/Solo]

There was one thing Orion knew, and it was that he did not want to fight anything here. It wasn't that he was afraid, but more so the fact that if he didn't need to cause himself trouble, why would he? The Yetis were fine, some of the dragonic being were also pretty chill, as long as they don't see Orion. It was easy...for the most part.

Most of the creatures in the area were large, and were easy to see from afar. The wyverns are easily heard, with their roars echoing aloud. There was nothing Orion had to fear, except for his own stupidity.

With a huff, Orion continued on his trek. The snow was starting to fall, and he needed to find a cave of some sort for shelter. A screech. "Fuck," Orion cursed, before laying himself flat onto the ground, making himself blend into the still-rocky environment with his dark garbs. He was not going to be wyvern chum today.

The snow never stopped. Orion had hoped that some reprieve will be given for him, but the heavens did not seem to smile upon him today. He was used to the tree-filled forest areas of Rhyolite, where birds chirped and sang. In Stalagmite Wastes, there was only the screeches of the wyverns, and the constant dread of monsters attacking. The beasts were quite vicious, but certainly avoidable.

"You have got to be kidding me." Orion looked up, and saw a mountain. It had been a wasteland until this point, with small hills that made it a bit more difficult. But this mountain, was something else. he could see something on top of it though, something that looked like a tower. A remnant of a civilization before the Calamity. If that were the case, then Orion assumed that the Ajedrez heir went that way.

"Think of the money.." Orion muttered to himself as he slowly made his way to the base of the mountain, hoping to find a path of some sort.

The walk up was...interesting to say the least. Orion was sure he was at least half-way now, yet, he just couldn't be sure. The snow was quickly adding up, and the density of the seemingly brewing storm was making visibility quite awful. If this did not deter the young Ajedrez heir from turning back, then maybe Orion might have judged him too harshly. This snowstorm would have made Orion turn back. He'd rather be in a soft bed, within a warm room, in his own place. Not here, in the middle of a snow storm, trying to find an heirloom for family that was clinging onto the past too much.

A screech, followed by three more, alerted Orion of oncoming wyverns. With a practiced ease, he covered himself under his cloak, and pressed his whole body on the mountain-face. He glanced to the side, and could see the shape of wyverns battling the storm as they flew westward. Their nest must be somewhere there, and Orion was glad he wasn't heading in that direction. Just as he was about to continue his trek, a spark of danger in the corner of his eyes alerted him of another wyvern trailing the three. He paused, his body not moving an inch, hoping that the fourth wyvern did not notice him. One. Two. Three. Four. And it was gone; westward.

"Fucking wyverns." With that, he continued his trek upwards.

To be honest, Orion was not sure why he thought he could make fire in this cold weather. There were three factors preventing him to do so. One, there was nothing to set aflame. It was all rock, stone, and everything in between inside the cave. There was no wood at all, and the cloth Orion had was not going to be burned. Best save any cloth for the cold, after all. Second, it was cold. Too cold. And gusty. The horrid conditions prevented him from making a fire, even if he had some sort of fuel. He was afraid to go further into the cave, at least, until he had too. He was tired, and was not really ready to face whatever lurked within. Third, and final reason: he did not want to attract any creatures to the smoke and flame. If he even had both fuel and good weather, it was still a stupid thing to set-up a fire, especially since Orion was not capable of taking down groups of monsters...at this point in time. He was a new mage, a lower ranking one, but he wasn't a stupid one.

"Should've brought booze." Orion cursed himself, as he chewed on the rock-hard loaf that he had packed himself. It was good ration, and the bread helped keep him full, especially since it was a heavy one. As he took another bite, he observed the cave he had taken shelter in. It was man-made. The walls were almost too-evenly cut into a half-circle. probably some sort of earth magic was used. The structure up the mountain seemed old, and this tunnel might have been a part of the it. Before he could continue his observation, however, he spotted a white-ish gleam just across from where he had plopped himself. He took a moment to realize that it was a bone. And from what it looked like, a femur.

"Fuck me."

"This place reeks," Orion cursed to himself as he shifted the bodies around. The skeletons littered around were mostly bones, with some flesh still attached to a few limbs here and there. The decay couldn't have been this fast, and the bones which were deprived of flesh were too clean. No, the thing that attacked this group had most definitely feasted. It wasn't uncommon at all, since the creatures who attack mages were mostly carnivorous. Orion wasn't sure what kind of creature, or creatures, had attacked this bunch. The heir of the Ajedrez family did not really have the capacity to talk about it, having faced too much trauma, as his doctor had said. Vulcans were not the likely culprit. Wyverns hated enclosed spaces like these. It must have been something else.

The sword had to be here somewhere, and Orion could not help but grimace every single time he sees a sword that's not what he was looking for. A ceremonial sword, they had explained it to be. Golden hilt, and ruby-encrusted, it would be quite the prize for anyone that comes upon it. It is also something that pops out, and yet, Orion couldn't find it.

"It has to be here," he could feel the chill once again invading. A cold draft swept through the cave, and for the first time in awhile, Orion felt dread crawl up his spine. Something was approaching from inside the cave. Something far more sinister than Vulcans or wyverns.

"It's not fucking here!" Orion cursed to himself, having searched almost every single body that littered the floor of the cave. This was the spot, since each corpse had on a specific uniform that held them as an Ajedrez family employee. But the sword wasn't here. It was neither under the corpses, and Orion made sure to lift every single one, even though it almost made him when the corpses still had some flesh in them. Nor was it tossed to the side, as the Ajedrez heir seemed to believe. Orion searched, and searched, and searched. There was only one possible answer now.

Orion looked towards where the creature had dragged a body into. It was dark, darker now than it was when he had first entered the cave. With a flick of his finger, a small electrical current began encircling his thumb, acting as some sort of light. He couldn't see anything without it now.

"Fuck me." Orion, resigned, went further into the cave. The sword must be inside, having been dragged accidentally by the creature when it was looking for a corpse to feed. The problem was, Orion was sure he was no match for it in a fight. He steeled his nerves, and continued on, hoping to find the sword before the beasts finds him.

It had taken a long time. A very long time. Orion had almost fallen asleep as well, his head bobbing up and down. He was able to stay awake, however, and had his ears pricked up for any sign of trouble. With a long delay, Orion finally heard the creature stop moving. There was no sound, neither the howl of the snowstorm, nor the beast, made any noise. The sound of silence, they called it. Orion hated it. Even then, he waited for a couple more moments, before making a move.

Small and steady. He didn't want to accidentally wake the creature up. Orion wasn't the most careful man, but he knew well enough that he could not do anything stupid. One wrong move, and he was most likely monster chow. A step here, and a small shift there, Orion made his move to get closer. He couldn't see anything, but as he approached, he could feel the creature's laboured breathing. The smell was more horrid than that of the pile of corpses near the entrance, and Orion almost gagged.

He couldn't see anything. Internally struggling for a moment, Orion finally decided to chance it. A small flick later, making as little of a sound as possible, he lit up his thumb once again with a small electric current. It was minute, and he hoped the creature did not wake up from it. With that, he finally saw the creature, and scowled. It was a fucking polar bear, and there were more than five of them. Looking closely, it seems that the one Orion encountered was the leader of the group. With that, Orion made his move.