His shoulders were gripped tighter and tighter as Raoul looked over his shoulder keeping his eye on the other man’s manic unnerving grin. The man squeezed his shoulders tightly. He was begging to hurt the dhampir on purpose as he continued, “I don’t like it when my profits are affected okay? I’m not like my boys at all. I like the nice things in life like money and power. I would give you and your little friend out there the option to leave but you messed up all my men. I can’t just let this go so easily, I’m gonna teach you a lesson on what happens when you mess with my profits and my Mud Worms”.



Raoul nervously chuckled, “Hehehe, I’m sorry I think I’m just a little lost” as he felt fire build up in his body. Suddenly from his waist, a small circle of flames appears causing the aasmir man to jump back to not get burnt.



The dhampir pulls his whip wand out again and cracks it against the floor causing a long thorny vine to emerge from the wooden handle.



“I was only joking, of course, bandit leader you’ve been found trafficking bogskippers for your good. Me and my associate will bring you to justice so you may be punished under the eyes of the law, I guess I’ll be the one to drag you to the courthouse”.

With only a single Mud Worm standing between himself and Raoul, Videl would call out for Lumi's attention. "Come on and get this one as well..!" As these words had left his lips, the remaining Mud Worm would slash out at Videl with his short sword in hand. Rather than allow for its master to be harmed yet again, however, the dancing chain around Videl's waist would come to life and deflect the blow ^{[Dancing Chain]} that the Mud Worm had thrown Videl's way. In the span that it took for the dancing chain to deflect the blow and fall inert, Lumi would have crossed the field before bellowing out that all too familiar frosty breath. This chilling wind would wash over the Mud Worm, keeping the man too distracted to focus on Videl.

"Good job you two." Having said his piece to his pets, Videl would rush off towards the building that he had seen Raoul enter not too long ago. Given that the door itself hadn't been properly shut, Videl would proceed to kick the door open before rushing about in search of Raoul. It had taken him a moment to locate the man but once he had, his gaze would simultaneously fall upon the bifocaled individual. Thanks to Raoul's wielding of the whip, and the clothing that the bifocaled man had worn, Videl could easily ascertain that this man was another of the Mud Worms.

"I highly advise that you stand down, sir, if you're hoping to make it out of here." Although he had said as much, Videl hadn't ceased his movements there. While he held no intentions of killing the man, he was assuredly intending on roughing the man up. That being said, Videl would remain firmly planted in place before twirling around his spear. Throughout that twirling motion, Videl would find himself thrusting his spear out towards each of the mans shoulders. He would have to adjust his grip appropriately as he had done so, so as to maximize his reach ^{[Titanic Reach]}, but thankfully the spear would shoot forward appropriately. As it had done so, a sharp whistling sound would emit from the spear, the spear itself picking up in speed ^{[Spear, Double Strike, Thrusting]}. Within the next instant, Videl would find that his spear had pierced into the mans shoulders, knocking him off guard. Unfortunately, however, things wouldn't come to an end here..

The Mud Worm leader sneered at Raoul, “Oh wow someone’s here has some cool fire tricks, very nice. Almost singed my clothes off there friend better be careful”, the aasmir fellow replied as he stood at his full height towering over both the gentlemen at an impressive seven foot.



Raoul simply scoffs and rolls his shoulders this bastard had messed up him just by his powerful grip. It felt like he couldn’t even move them for too long without feeling a searing pain. Just what type of maniacal crazy fellow were they dealing with?



The fellow chuckles at Videl, “Oh what? Does the mister hero over here think he and his little friend here could beat me? Fat chance, do you know who I am? Well, I’ll tell you, I’m Gaspar Deckardo, not just the leader of this lovely band of criminals but I’m a powerful ex-royal guard who was destined for greatness”. As the man rambled on about how he was a powerful ex-guard who had been banished from his post for his vile and extreme measures he was completely distracted. Videl took no time to make use of the man’s ego thrusting his spear into his shoulder.



The man staggers falling back onto his feet kneeling for a second before standing back up, his cocky smile wiped from his face.



He then stood forward and a pair of white wings appeared on his back and his eyes glowed a bright white. As he stood revealing his true form his face contorted into a wild manic grin, “Whoa there fellows calm down there, we’re just getting started here, don’t get too ahead of yourself kid that was just a lucky shot”, he then grabs the spear from his shoulder pulling it out and throwing it behind him.


“You see I was thinking of letting you two go, I was even thinking of making you two my Mud Worm Generals but no you two had ruined my mood”.



He then holds his hands forward white hot energy surging from his palms as he forms two small bolts of light. He then throws them at the adventurers, one at Videl and one at Raoul.

Gaspar Deckardo? Videl had never heard of this man. And even if he had, why should he care about some ex-royal guard that couldn't maintain his post? Rather than listen to what the man had to say, Videl had followed through with his attacks, knocking the man down a peg in the process. Unfortunately this wasn't enough to keep the man down. After rising back to his full height, the Aasimar would proceed to throw a couple of bolts of light in the direction of the pair.

Before doing anything else, Videl would reach out to his spears consciousness before summoning the weapon back into his hand ^{[Spell Blade, Always There]}. This would only take an instant, allowing Videl to react in another manner before the bolts had make contact with them. And the method that Videl had chosen in that instant to protect the both of them? Well it was a rather simple one really. Videl would proceed to channel his glacial mana deep within the silver circlet that was bound around his wrist. From there, he would call upon the moisture in the air and summon forth a dense wall of ice ^{[Glacial Wall]}, effectively blocking the pair of bolts. Given the power that was behind those bolts however.. This glacial wall would soon shatter, leaving the pair exposed yet again.

"Look here you two-bit royal guard reject.. A certain friend of mine would really prefer that I give you a second chance in terms of turning yourself back in.. Unfortunately for you, she's not here right now. And quite honestly? I'm not all that happy with the way that you're running things here. So fuck off..!" It was one thing for Videl himself to be put into danger.. but for Raoul to end up at the end of this mans attacks? Now that was taking it too damned far!

Raoul didn’t have any time to think of a good response to such a fast-moving technique, he was about to resort to a technique he hated using. He was tired and He closed and concentrated clenching his fists tightly as he thought and could feel his limbs feeling light but before he could finish transforming he heard something grow from the floor in front of him and Videl and then a loud pang of a strong object hitting a wall. He stopped attempting his technique and looked up to see that a glacial wall that was in front of him just melted. The bolt of light that intended to hit him instead was gone, he smirked knowing that was probably Videl’s work. He was happy to have such a dependable companion on this mission, to say the least.



“Thanks, friend”, he managed to say before shaking his head and feeling a sense of determination from knowing Videl had his back. He then takes out both of his whips and cracks them on the ground in front of him facing towards the mud worm leader. He then moved forward striking the man and cracking his weapons against his right arm pulling back and wrapping them around it.



“Yeah, what my buddy hears says it’s right, I know what you are and I see who you have become. You’re just some loser who’s made he fucked up his glory days, don’t blame us for being stand-up guys. Unlike you both of us still have a lot going for us and I know neither of us will become some washed-up shell of their former self as you did”, he pulls as hard on his whips binding the man’s right arm in place.



Gaspard simply chuckles, “You little kids don’t know real power so don’t go thinking you’re some hotshots yet. By the way, thanks for the pale guy I’ll just make it better”, he raises his free left hand and sends out a long beam of pure light (Binding Light) that quickly heads towards Videl attempting to wrap itself around him.

As Videl watched that beam of pure light head his way in a rapid manner, various solutions to the situation had begun to rummage about throughout the T'saya's mind. He had several things that he had considered but none of them were all that useful at the moment. When it came to dealing with magic.. Well he more often than not just let Sylvari deal with it. His defenses were more geared towards physical attacks unfortunately. And while he had a couple of ways to defend against this spell, he hadn't quite wanted to be left with no other actions to take.

That being said, Videl attempt to duck beneath the spell that was heading his way. Unfortunately it was just too fast for him at the moment. In an instant, after the light had grazed him, said light would proceed to wrap around him like a vine, cutting down on the immediate amount of movement that he could make. This was.. a truly annoying situation for Videl to have found himself in. And yet it wasn't enough to prevent him from acting. Thankfully he had quite a few useful things within his arsenal.

Hoping to play on the fact that he couldn't exactly move at the moment, Videl would begin to channel his glacial mana within the silver circlet that hung around his wrist. "..you seem to be forgetting that there's two of us.." While it hadn't felt like the best plan, Videl had attempted to distract the Aasimar with the fact that Raoul had still remained. This was to allow for Videl to subtly move his spare hand in the direction of the man before them. It was a difficult feat, thanks to the binding light that had currently encapsulated him, but it was one that he would eventually come to achieve. And once his fingers had gestured themselves towards the Aasimar man? A thirty foot long, narrow beam of freezing energy ^{[Frost Pulse]} would push itself out of the mans fingers, slamming into the Aasimar and continuing to do so until the man either got out of the way or collapsed. This spell was quite taxing on the T'saya, so he was loathe to make use of it like this, but there weren't very many other options at the moment.

Gaspard grinned as he saw his attempt to bind Videl was a success, chuckling, “Oh what boy? Didn’t think about that one did you?”.



Raoul was shocked; he was hoping for Videl to take on the man for the most part and himself to support him with everything he had. Suddenly he found his partner bound up and throwing him to the giant winged shark in front of them.



Before he could say anything else the aasmir man simply chuckled, “Oh that’s right how could I forget the pale guy over here? Come over and let’s have a chat”, the man said.



Suddenly as Videl gestured towards the man thinking he was going to summon his spear once more he grabbed the whips that seemingly kept his hand in place and pulled them easily taking Raoul with them. He pulled them and held Raoul still in front of him as he took Videl’s Frost Pulse head-on. The dhampir couldn’t help but let out a pained cry as his already cold-blooded body was simply bombarded with an incredible beam of frost. As soon as the attack was over Raoul was shivering uncontrollably and was barely able to utter a single, “Why?”, before getting thrown to the floor as he lay there frostbitten and barely conscious.



Gaspard breaks out into laughter, “Hahahahahahaha, look at that you murked your teammate, brutal move. Can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it though, the poor guy never had a chance. Now let’s just make this quick so you can join your friend in heading to the afterlife”, he then charges forward his fists glowing a bright hot white burning smite as he attempts to punch Videl’s head off.

To Videl's surprise, this Gaspard fellow had taken advantage of his current state to secure Raoul within his grasp, pulling the detective into range to serve as a human shield in the next instant. Given how cold-blooded such a tactic was, Videl never would have thought of it.. This was a failing on his part. Something that he would have to make up for after dealing with the man before him.

A heavy sigh would proceed to escape the T'saya's lips as his eyes had settled down into a cold, emotionless gaze. The former royal guard had truly pissed him off. To the point in which he was discarding his emotions and willing to go as far as was needed to remove him from this mortal plane. That being said, in the moment that Gaspard had proceeded to rush at him with glowing fists, the chains around Videl would break apart. This had allowed for Videl to take the moves that were needed for what would come next.

Given that there wasn't that great of a distance between the pair, Videl would have to act in the moment. As Gaspard had continued to rush him, Videl would quickly run his fingers across the spearhead of his weapon. In doing so, he would allow for the spearhead to be coated in a layer of ice that sharpened its edge ^{[Cold Touch]}. From there Videl would thrust his spear out towards the mans hands, hoping to cripple him. As the glowing fists and the sharpened edge of the spear had made contact, the two would find themselves blown back from one another. They would continue by rushing back into combat with one another, a similar effect occurring this go around but with the spearhead actually digging into Gaspard's fists. Although his hands were now bloodied, Gaspard had found himself laughing throughout the entire ordeal. It was as though he truly thought he could finish things here and now.

It's too bad for the failed royal guard that he had forgotten about the third member of their party.. Just after the two had successfully warded one another off, Lumi would break through the shabby wall of the hut they were in, her frosty breath sweeping across the area and freezing the pair in place for the time being. All in all, while things hadn't quite come to an end yet, this had allowed for the three within the room to have an advantage over this Mud Worm scum.

Taking advantage of the current events to try and bring things to an end, Videl would run his spear through the mans chest, causing him to cough up blood. Gaspard would find that he was actively dying but hadn't quite reached that point yet. Videl had dealt him a fatal blow.. but it was within his means to heal him if he so wished. Of course, before he could even deal with that, Videl would opt to make his way back over towards Raoul, emotion starting to return to his eyes. The T'saya would reach around his own neck to grab a hold of a necklace ^{[Essence of the North]} before snapping this necklace in half over Raoul. A few ounces of sparkling, ice-cold water would trickle into the nearly unconscious man's lips, stirring him to life and healing him of all of his wounds. "Let us free these Bogskippers and get out of here for now..." There was a tinge of regret hidden within the T'saya's words that was barely noticeable but given his usual demeanor, it was likely that Raoul could catch on if he so wished.

“Ugh this hurts so bad”, Raoul groaned as he tried to get up from his state but unfortunately he was too badly injured by Videl’s spell.

He was very cold and it hurt him to even breathe at this point. He got blasted head-on and was feeling the immediate effects of it, his body feeling frozen as if he stepped into the coldest lake of Frost Gale. He could barely keep his eyes open in his dazed state only glancing to see flashes of Gaspard and Videl’s fight. Raoul chuckled slightly, noticing his associate was seemingly winning but stopped as the movement in his body hurt. He felt a slight chilled breeze come over as Lumi sent her frost breath into the room. Is this really where his journey ended? Dying at the hands of his friend trying to fight off a maniac criminal, wasn’t that bad. Although he did wish he had more time to do things he’d like, find his dad and beat him up, open up his official business, and settle down. He smiled as he faintly saw Videl trickle some potion into his mouth, the liquid tasted awful and had no effect considering he was a dhampir.



“Can’t work on me, my coat has red vials, pouring some into my mouth will be enough to get me up”, he whispers in a pained tone. He couldn’t notice Videl’s regretful tone considering he was losing consciousness at the moment.

Without dwelling too deeply on why his potion hadn't worked, and as to why Raoul had requested these strange red vials instead, Videl had done as the man asked and begun to search his person for said vials. Once they were within his grasp, the T'saya would pop the cork on them before pouring a couple of them down his gullet. If he didn't have similar experiences with Sylvari, he would likely have been concerned about the entire ordeal. Especially once he bore witness to what was contained within the vials. At the end of the day though, the fact that Raoul held a vampiric curse hadn't really bothered him any. The only issue that Videl had with the whole thing is that his amulet was once again ineffective. He had acquired it for the sole purpose of helping others, since he had no means of healing others outside of this, and yet neither time he had attempted to make use of it, had it worked.

Once this much was taken care of, and Videl was sure that Raoul was no longer perishing due to his spell, the T'saya would rise from the ground and make his way on over towards the failed royal guard. His life was coming to a close and Videl had strongly considered granting him mercy by offing him now. At the same time, however, he had wondered if he should give the man a second chance to turn his life around. That was what Sylvari always pushed for after all. Unfortunately there wasn't much of a manner in which he could assist the man. Not any longer, after having wasted this potion on Raoul. That being the case, Videl would simply stand over the man whilst staring down at him. "If you happen to survive this, Gaspar Deckardo, than I sincerely hope that you turn your life around. My mercy does not extend past these second chances."

From there Videl would turn back towards Raoul, offering him a hand to assist him up if he had still been upon the ground. And if he hadn't? Well he would simply wait for Raoul to free the Bogskippers before returning to Lumi's side. She had more or less just burst through the shabby walls that their current location provided. Given that she had come in here so recklessly, likely in hopes of ensuring his own safety, Videl would have to treat her with the utmost care to ensure that she was okay in his own way. "So I guess that's it, huh? It's too bad that we can't feasibly wrangle them all together and haul them off to a jail cell. Still.. It might be best if we informed the locals about this location, so they can mete out justice on their own terms. I'm sure that they'll have cells waiting for everyone that participated in this act."

The room began to appear brighter and the surroundings around him began to become clearer as the man drank his blood vials. He sat up cleaning his face from the ordeal before looking at his companion, “Thanks for that Videl I appreciate it and I assure you that the blood was obtained legally and humanely. One of the conditions I have for contracts is at least some blood and thankfully I have some connections that allow me to buy some myself through legal channels. Trust me I hate this fact about myself and apologize very much as you may find it disturbing”.



He looks down to see his hands pale white and cold as usual, this was just another reminder to the man about what he was. No matter how much he worked or tried his best to prove himself at the end of the day, he still was a monster. No matter even if he inherited the curse from his vampire father he was still a monstrous fiend who had the blood of the wicked coursing through his veins.


Gaspard looked up at Videla and scoffed, “Screw off kid leave me be, you were lucky's all don’t let this go to yer head. Don’t have much much choice than to figure stuff out now since you destroyed business so thanks I guess ya bastard”.



The dhampir takes Videl’s hand up and stands before offering the man a slight bow, “Thank you once again and I suppose so I’ll have to let the nearby guards know what’s going on so thankfully we should be fine in that regard. I’m sure that these scumbags will find their day under the cold hands of the law”.



He then walks over to the bogskippers' cages and begins breaking them one by one with his whip and freeing the little creatures the sound of delightful happy cries filling the room.

As Raoul began to explain to Videl that he had acquired his blood through legal means, the T'saya himself would more or less wave the situation off. He understood that there were those that needed to perform exsanguination on those from time to time and that some of those individuals could stave themselves off from consuming to much blood. Given everything that Raoul had shown to him, he could easily assume that Raoul was one of the better kinds of vampiric kin. "There's no need to worry, Raoul. I have faith that you've acquired said vials in a more than okay way."

Once Raoul had made motion to free the Bogskippers, Videl would move to assist him in the matter. He held no regard for Gaspard at this point. Whether the man had lived or died was up to him. Videl saw no further reason to involve himself so he simply wanted to clean up here and head on out. As such, in order to achieve that, he would take his spear and start to pierce through the remaining locks to the cages that Raoul had yet to secure. Once that was accomplished, he would watch as the Bogskippers took off from their cages and headed out.

"All that's left is for the pair of us to get word back to the city folk. And to escort the Bogskippers that remained behind to ensure that they make it back to their owners. All in all.. Despite everything that's happened, it's been a pleasure to work with you Raoul. I hope that we can make a habit out of this." Videl would then proceed to slap the man softly on the back before mounting Lumi and heading off to do exactly as he mentioned. Once the Bogskippers had returned to their respectful places, Videl would head off in search of Sylvari.

Raoul was relieved as Videl waved his concern off and he calmed down worried that the man would hold such a disturbing fact against him.



“Thank you, Videl. I appreciate your kindness and understanding. It isn't every day that I encounter a person who isn’t immediately ready to stake me through my heart. I assure you that everything that I do is done through the law and following the rules to the fullest extent”.



He then finished up helping the bogskippers out destroying the cages alongside Videl and wrapping up the Mud Worm’s despicable operations once and for all. He wiped the sweat off his brow. Surprisingly enough the bastards managed to get a decent number of the poor creatures under their capture. He smiles happily as the little critters happily chirp away without a care in the world.



“Another job well done”, he says proudly of their work, “You are correct in your words friend". He rounded up the last stragglers and organized a proper line, “I can say the same about you, my friend. It has been an absolute pleasure to work alongside you and your noble steed today. I hope that our paths align once more. I'd be happy to work with a dependable and strong associate once more”.



He chuckles and playfully punches the man softly on the shoulder before delivering the bogskippers to their rightful owners. He bids the man goodbye and heads towards the nearest tavern to get a drink and decompress.