Fantasy Grand Ultima

[Seikaze]

"To those who are interested, please line up here. The Forest tour will start after 10 minutes." A Woman in a tour guide uniform shouted near the inn.


Some people got up and changed their clothes from bathing suits and shorts to outdoor attire and lined up near the tour guide. Rika also followed them and also bringing his.... Cookie. Again, he was really excited so he ran so fast without minding his surroundings accidentally bumping onto a blonde girl with glasses that looks 29-ish. Rika fell to the ground same with the girl.


"Yow! S-Sorry. Eh...hehe?" Rika took his cookie that fell (No, it was in a plastic wrapper) and immediately got up and ran towards the line.

 

[OnyxReaper]

Elija had mindlessly followed the announcement for the forest tour, thinking that he'd have to atleast find something to do to pass the three days until his contracts deadline, Elija had prepared everything beforehand and analysed maps of the area to memorise escape routes... "Maybe I have a right to a little bit of fun once in a while" he gently muttered to himself as he walked his way towards the tour group. Still donning the black robe which shrouds his body, he remains a few feet away from the tour group, but is still patiently waiting for them to start

 

[HiyoPuushiie]

After petting the cute bird, Ferena now explores the forest looking for odd and interesting things..."hmm..." she found nothing but a tour group.


"I wonder~" then an idea came up...


Ferena waited until they start walking, but it bore her so she left and continues to explore the the vast forest...

 

[OnyxReaper]

Elija walked along with the group for a while, till he felt an unfamiliar presence, someone was around here that was not in the group, there really shouldn't have been anyone here bedded the tour group as well. He quickly split off and began to look for that odd, unfamiliar presence.

 

[EvilLaugh]

There was one who split from the group, most likely he sensed the presence of the stalker elf as well. Amelia shrugged, there was so little that caught her attention during the Forrest tour anyway. He felt broken, most likely a yellow core compared to her prismatic one, at least they told her it was as that was the only available explanation at the time. The reason why she could not cast spells properly was because the other one or two elements were still somehow locked. Now was not time for such frivilousness, she was bored and very curious as to what the yellow planned to do, and for that she needed to get his attention.


She pulled a paper bullet from her pocket and loaded it in her makeshift catapult, her fingers and a piece of robber band. Filling the essence of paper with all that means she could muster, without making the impact too much of course, she shot it, flinging the peice like an arcane missile, an especially weakened one. Weakened it may have been it retained one of the more useful aspects of the middle, it could never miss, ever. She would love to see his expression when it struck him.

 

[OnyxReaper]

The projectile slammed into the back of his head. The hood of the robe was pulled off from the sudden gale and the man turned around, his expression looked somewhat monotone, but a darkness from within was ever present. He quickly forced a fake smile and laughed half-heartedly "Hey, you there. What was that for?" The 19 year old covertly pushed his fringe to cover his eyes at least.

 

[EvilLaugh]

"Curious." She replied vaguely as she looked at the fake smile and the way he tried to hide his face. The cool silent type, yet with angst, probably a horrible past with some cliché deaths a vague acts of violence. So predictable these types were. "So what are we going to do about the ditz of an elf thats following us around? She held up the line a while ago, I could use the payback, or are you as yellow as your core?" He would bite, they always did.

 

[OnyxReaper]

Elija just turned around and kept walking as he pulled his hood back up "I won't play games with a girl like you" he snorted derisively a little "Though I guess I am a little surprised that you noticed the girl, and me" he keeps walking, taking the chance to readjust the robe "and Hun, acting like that towards another is really gonna get you hurt some day"

 

[EvilLaugh]

Five missile struck the back of his head simultaniously as she smirked at him. "Oh, sorry honey, were you talking to me? Aren't you from Manatus? Don't you know the ways we practice, the ways the arcane can overpower most if not all the rest simply because it all takes mana?" She frowned at him, lowering her glasses to add some semblance of seriousness. Another five batches of arcane missiles made from paper were ready and waiting just in case. She could make them less than toys in a heartbeat, and make them impact the next half. "So are we going to look or not?"

 

[OnyxReaper]

Elija just walks off from the girl, securing his hood and generating a minute barrier behind him, he'd destroy and reform it instantaneously if need be. "I said I wouldn't play games with you" as he walks, his robe is pushed by the wind and reveals a portion of his black sword for a moment. He continues to walk, preferring his solitude.

 

[EvilLaugh]

"Yellows, always the cowards." She said offhandedly as he walked away, just loud enough fro him to hear. If he didn't bite, she would hunt the elf on her own, if he reacted to violently, she could easily pierce any weak barrier he could make. Yellows strictly broke barriers, that was all they were useful for, even if he did try to make some semblance of magic work, hers, as bad hers was, was infinitely superior. If it was a mana core she fought, then she wasn't so sure. This man, he was a joke not even the failure mage was afraid of. "Bye bye then, just run to your little hole and sulk there." If he even moved, the arcane missile storm would fall from on high.

 

[OnyxReaper]

He turned around. Taking off his hood and staring at her. With full knowledge of the idiot he was being, he simply turned and walked towards her. The barrier he had prepared shattered, instead he formed dozens of tiny crystals that hid beneath his robe, poised to guard from any attacks. "Hun, you're a lucky one that you said this to someone who takes things like this lightly." He began to move towards her, his hands swinging lazily by his sides. Looking pointlessly over confident. A small glimmer could be seen from inside of his robe as he advances, still acting and looking casual

 

[EvilLaugh]

She laughed. Well, it was an interesting experience, really, she doesn't do it as much as she liked, but she would enjoy this moment for a while. It looked like he actually thought he could get to her. She wasn't stupid, she knew if he got close, it was over. Still the shards around him were weak, and she meant collectively. One serious shot from her band, no, one serious shot from a wink would disperse it, not shatter it. The legendary Shards of the Protector was useless against an Arcane Mage, as mana in its purest form would always be hers to control.


"You're killing me yellow, really." She said in between bouts of laughter as he approached. The storm was still at the ready, soon his own shard would be under her thumb. She imagined the look on his face when it happened. "Okay, you got me. What are you trying to do?"

 

[OnyxReaper]

Elija looks at her, a fake grin on his face in an attempt to make him look a fool "my what do you mean, I'm simply a tourist here, my robe is because my skin is very weak to the sunlight you see, and I came out here because I suffer from intense paranoia when I believe I am being watched" his face accidentally shows a smile, it quickly recedes however "so I simply came out here to put my own mind at ease"

 

[EvilLaugh]

"Then we have something in common. I don't like the elf, you don't like the elf. I know you have shards under those robes, you know you have shards under those robes." She said as a matter of factly, the music that was her laughter gone with the wind, replaced with cold indiference. "I thought I also made it clear a while ago, you can go if you wish, yellow, I will simply go and interrogate the elf myself. I really don't understand why you're getting so worked up about this." She said innocently. There was really nothing false with what she said. The yellows were indeed cowards in her experience. She did not ask for a battle, she even encouraged that he run away, as it was no contest. She was technically in the right here.

 

[OnyxReaper]

"Well, whatever, I don't even care anymore. It's not like you know who I am and it's not like I'll ever be around you for long" he shrugged as he pulled his hood back up over his head and turned around "I'm here on a contract, I am to... Silence a certain individual, he's corrupt and is rumored to be the head of a mercenary group that butchered a town, I'm here to kill him, then I will leave this place and collect my Rin" he keeps walking "Oh and don't worry, it's not the person who I'm looking for right now, I'm just curious."

 

[Plight]

A collision!? What a perfect moment to try and determine the time it would averagely take her to hit the floor. One point seven seconds, if her estimates were in the right. Quickly, she picked herself up. See, this is why she hadn't brought GLASS TUBES. Plastic bags were just so much more practical in wildlife flora collection. Imagine if everything had broke in her bag? Thankfully, she had foreseen this scenario.


"Yow! S-Sorry. Eh...hehe?"


An elf? ...Not like it mattered, the aggressor had run off to the line. Surely an accident, and she wasn't one to create big deals out of such trivial inconviniences.


MORE IMPORTANTLY!


The forest tour had begun! She immediately made a mental note of the amount of participants. A hobby of hers, if you will. She recounted everytime she collected a new seed, leaf or root into a plastic bag. That's how she quickly noticed people had run off. How disgraceful! Be it due to lazyness or simple disorientation...how could you pass up on a chance like this? Given, not all the flora was unique to the region...but she had collected AT LEAST 7 specimens in the few minutes since the tour had started. She kept asking the tour guide for his local knowledge on the plants. While some of the tourists grew annoyed...the guide and most of the others seemed to be enjoying the in-depth exposition of the surroundings. Or so she thought. She didn't care, really...


There were plants used in dye, laxatives...poisonous specimens...even a herb grandmothers believed to work on homemade remedies! Aurele was truly a botanist's dream. She had a few colleagues stuck back in the lab that would probably enjoy cultivating the plants. She made sure to check her thermometer for the local temperature, and the amount of sunlight the plants seemed to be recieving. Man, vacation-work was so fun!


Those 3 that had split off had no idea what they were missing.

 

[EvilLaugh]

"Oh, okay then, Blood." She said almost offhandedly, she did have to think a while to give this mercenary fellow a cool nickname. She had assumed he had blood on his hands, and judging by his calm demeanor when threatened or taunted, she would conclude he was almost dead inside. "Still quite stupid to do something like that based on a rumor, but whatever pays the bills right?" (Rin is the curency now, since when?) She said before she began walking in the opposite direction, hopefully towards the elf. Still, he was a killer, and she turned her back on him willingly. She still had a solid grasp on his shards, pure mana just in a different, more solid form, and her own missiles just in case he struck.

 

[OnyxReaper]

(( I think Seikaze called it Rin a while back ))

 

[Seikaze]

((Yes. Yes I did))


There. There was something weird there, thought Rika as he heard a " WHOOSH " followed by other faint sounds of traveling bolts of magic. It was not far from here. Because of traveling the wilderness below Wind Kingdom, Rika's senses have been trained a little bit so he was able to hear something. He looked one last time at the Tour Group and saw the girl he accidentally bumped earlier ago was having some deep thoughts of her own. Setting that aside he split off the group and ran deeper into the forest sideways from where the group is. After a while he saw two people talking. A girl and a boy? Are they fighting? While Rika was thinking, the two moved away both on opposite directions.


"Who... Who am I going to follow!? Firstly... Why am I even following them!?". Curiosity of course. The fact that something happened earlier means that something is going on. After heavily sweating, Rika decided to follow the girl which had the rubber band and glasses, besides, that pocket watch made her look like a mysterious person. Rika then breathed deeply and.....


" [Aeraform] ", Rika whispered to himself. His body started to emit wind waves that circled him mildly which concealed his presence.


Success! It was his first try on that magic that he somehow learned while taking a look at very dangerous animals back at Gale Region. He then moved on to follow the girl silently.

 

[EvilLaugh]

She felt the mana move around her, it was passive and non-hostile, yet it was there. The feel of the mana was fickle and evershifting, fast, obviously a wind core. It was quick and unrefined, obviously intended for more natural senses, and it was a barrier of sorts. She could pick a fight, and demand answers, but the feel of it was young and childish, most likely only curious. That and it was a mana core she was up against, she was not confident in absolute victory this time. He, or she, had the peace of mind to hide anyway, most likely he, or she, was prepared fro the confrontation. So diplomacy then. "Hey, why are you following me now?" She asked neutrally, the rest of the arcane bolts around her dissolving into plain mana and returning to her body.

 

[Seikaze]

Rika was just silently following curious to see what this person is up to but then suddenly.....


"Hey, why are you following me now?"


FAILED. He had horribly failed by not thinking that only his presence was concealed not his magical aura being released and detected by who knows who. Of course he knew that trained mages can detect magic but that did not come to his mind earlier. He did not have something to conceal his magic so he had no choice. Rika removed his wind cloak and the winds shifted again. I saw those arcane bolts... She seems protective, he thought to himself. "Uhh... Ok. You caught me. I just wanted to know what that incident earlier was about."


He was sweating heavily again, he might get attacked for what he just said. But then he waited for a response.

 

[EvilLaugh]

"Oh, well maybe you can help me then." She said pragmatically, turning to see the figure of a boy more or less her age. He was definitely not the threat she envisioned, he was downright scared from the looks of it. "There is this elf somewhere in the forest for some reason and I have reason to believe she is up to something. You want to come?" She could use another set of eyes and ears, and it looked like the boy did not intent to harm her. Also, it would be a treat to see a wind magus in action, considering she herself was a pure mana type. She needed all the experience with other cores as she could get, except for yellows, she could deal with those herself.

 

[Seikaze]

An elf up to something? So this is what the two have been talking about? Then what was that fight earlier about? Nevermind that fight. This girl has quite some serious looks up close. " Oh S-Sure! I want to see an elf for the first time anyway. " Rika did not bother to mention the part about wanting to know what that elf was up to. Curiosity fully consumed him thats why he said that. "So this is why you guys split up from the tour group.." Rika said while thinking deeply.

 

[EvilLaugh]

"Exactly, you in?" She asked again, not really willing to waste any more time with this boy. She could not bait him into a fight, and if she did, it would be a proper one, not one she would win. She didn't need him anyway, she could already feel the elf doing whatever she planned to do. Time was of the essence, and with his speed, she could clear that distance as fast as possible. It could go either way, and she was still kind of upset that she held the line for so long, it's like people have never seen an elf before, it was crazy.