At the Greenshores of the lake, Olu and Jaden waited in silence with Belin and Leafolio as they watched the approaching force slowly get closer. Belin had wanted to master his new weapons and had asked Olu and Jaden for aid, Leafolio on the other hand had just been following Olu around for the past several days.
"The Plant thing kind of scares me," Jaden decided, having taken stock that their enemy's had no archers set up she took the time before their approach to try and calm her nerves with small talk before her first proper battle under Bree's service.
Leafolio's head slowly turned to look at her; she shivered under their gaze, "It's mostly because it can turn their head three hundred and eighty degrees, but their skills at being silent also kind of get to me,"
"I rather like them," Olu said merrily, "It's nice to have some company that doesn't go around crying about how I hit too hard,"
"You would use that thing as a training partner," Jaden said, shaking her head as she looked at Leafolio. Does it have a name or…"
"Hush now," Belin said as the large, muscular man drew near. The Enemy comes for us." The Man showed no signs of slowing down as he charged them. Jaden was ready for a horse-drawn battle when Leafolio raised their wooden arms and began charging a spell.
The spell turned into a glowing orb and shot out something reminiscent of lightning, hitting one of the horses and sucking them into the orb; the man fell to the ground, getting trampled by his comrades behind him. The Large man saw this and jumped from his stead as it was struck with the spell. After a moment, Leafolio removed most of their front line by removing their horses. The rest began getting off their mounts.
"Ah yes," Belin laughed as Leafolio continued to steal their mounts. "Mistress Bree did ask us not to harm the horses, didn't she?"
"Alright, respect where it's deserved," Jaden noted. Leafolio waved their arms once it ran out of ponies to plunder, and the orb disappeared into their inventory. "That said, there are still about a hundred or so men,"
"Charge," The large man declared. "Kill the Golem first," Leafolio took visible offense at being called a golem as their eyes turned red; they held their arms forward, and thorns burst to life on their arms at a forward-facing angle before running in front of Belin and shooting the thorns out, the thorns pierced through the enemy's armor and took down any who were hit, however due to Leafolio's poor body design they were unable to aim very well and had to fall back and allow it's allies to take the forces.
"I thank you for your aid, my friend," Olu said as he unsheathed his katana. "I'll have to remember to investigate the matter of your name," Jaden summoned her mace and shield with flames, and Belin put on the weapons that had interested him personally, a pair of Red Boxing gloves with a large Yellow Star on both of them.
"I have never seen these weapons before," Belin noted, "but they were among the ones Mistress Bree gave to me to test out, so I trust they are weapons fit for a true warrior to use,"
"I must agree they are unlike any weapon I have ever seen," Olu said before moving at high speed to intersect part of the army; Jaden swung her Mace above her head and ignited it before slamming it towards the ranks and sideswiping it away from Olu, neatly splitting the army in half. While Olu and Jaden began slaughtering the foot soldiers, Belin ran to the man with the great sword.
"You think gloves can beat me?" He laughed as he swung his sword at him; Belin felt the tingle of danger and dogged the blade, he turned and punched into the man's chest; hoping to put a dent in the armor, only to instead leave a large crack running across the chest plate, sending the man flying back, the man caught himself and ended up on one knee as he held his chest, having just managed to avoid being seriously injured. His zweihänder still in his hand
"I see," The man said. "They look like oversized mittens, but they must be enchanted," Belin looked at his glove and realized they were glowing faintly,"
"Wow," Belin said in awe, "Enchanted weapons, I must honor this reward by giving her your sword!"
"A good Idea," Olu said as he casually fought several men at once without paying much attention. "I have heard she likes that." Upon seeing his men easily overwhelmed, the large man gritted his teeth.
"This is bad," He decided. "I could lose,"
"Most likely," Belin agreed. "But if you bow before our Mistress, she may spare you; you may even be allowed to serve as a protector if you prove your worth," The Man clenched his teeth.
"I am the great Balphazard Greeir," he declared. I am an envoy of the holy church, and in the name of the gods, you must be slain." He raised his sword and smiled as Belin ran to him.
"But I'll start with the weak one," Belin realized too late that Balphazard had been charging a spell and turned just in time for Balphazard to teleport behind Leafolio, who attempted to turn and fight, only for Balphazard to drop his sword and grab Leafolio by the arms.
The sound of piercing flesh and metal could be heard as thorns shot out of Leafolio's arms, but Balphazard did not flinch. He snapped both of Leafolio's arms off in one quick movement, and with a single kick, Leafolio were sent sprawling across the ground.
His armor began glowing brightly as Leafolio's arms were absorbed into the armor. He clenched his fists, and metal thorns began to pop out of his armor.
"I'll absorb all of your powers and use them to destroy this town," He declared. "I'll have several days before the magic degrades, so I'll take my time and enjoy this holly quest properly," He raised his hand, and all of the thorns aimed themselves at Belin. Before he could shoot, he was sent sprawling across the land. Jaden lost interest in the weak soldiers and slammed her mace into Balphazard's side.
"You mother fucker," She called out in rage. "I was just getting to know that guy; how am I going to tell Mistress Bree that I allowed one of her original followers to be crippled," She attempted to recall her mace, but Balphazard grabbed it; she let it go and grimaced as he absorbed it.
"Come now," he declared as his arms set alight with flaming thrones. "I shall send your beast to the fiery pit you crawled out of." Before he could move, the entire battlefield shook as a large object hit the ground. They all looked at it and were met with a face unfamiliar to all but Leafolio.