Fandom Soul Eater: F.A.T.E

[Sir Les Paul]

Irina​

"The Research Witch"​

Species Witch
Location Russia, Republic of Karelia, Valaam, Northeast Forest line
Mission The Waking Forest


​

Tags: Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider

Irina and Adrian continued their dance, freezing the treants and forestry around them. The clearing created by their magic and general destruction continued to grow until the very ground they were standing on was frigid and the air in the vicinity showed their heated breathe between every wave of enemies. That was, until the waves slowed down. Not only did the forest itself only have so much it could throw at them, but with the plants dying as a result of the ice magic Irina was using, the magical properties of the forest lessened greatly, at least in their immediate vicinity. This meant little for Adrian, but it was a game-changer for Irina.

Without the plants draining her mana, her repertoire of spells expanded greatly.

This could not have come at a more opportune time, especially in the case of Sara. The intelligence of the enemy only demonstrated itself again as it found a cheeky, frustrating method of preventing her escape to the tree line. In the moments she elected to use Soul Conduction with Eva, more illusions were created inside the cage itself. In this case, these illusions did not necessarily create what wasn't there, but hide what was. Timing them with the use of Soul Conduction meant that Eva was being used for blunt force destruction as opposed revealing the illusions. The end result of this strategy was Sara leaping into a trap laid by the net of vines and branches. Upon jumping to what appeared to be a clear spot with little risk, she was nigh-immediately caught and entangled by vines that tried pressing her directly into the cage.

Irina was having none of that. With her power mostly restored, she was able to conjure a magic circle around herself to crash a series of twelve icicle spears into the cage, tearing it apart nearly entirely and damaging most of the treants, killing one on impact. The smaller treant at the bottom evaded the icicles, but it hardly mattered as soon after, it was skewered on offshoots of icy spikes that she generated from the icicles. Meanwhile, the half-destroyed cage began freezing over, killing the vines and making them easily brittle enough for Sara to dislodge herself from with a simple yank.

Once Sara was out of immediate peril, Irina found herself panting and exhausted. Spells like that would have taken a lot out of her normally, but the situation was worsened by the amount of mana drained by the plant life. She would have to change her spellcasting methods to reserve mana, and larger spells like that would be all but off the table for anything other than an emergency. The magic circle faded, and she switched elements. She cast a simple fireball at the largest treant in front of Nadia, and hitting it full force with no small amount of impact. It reacted by blocking it with one of its shields, but regardless, it was lit aflame. From those flames, Irina created a small set of fiery snakes that traveled up its left arm and wrapped around it, burning it intensely until that specific arm fell to the ground, leaving it with only one arm to fight Nadia.

"We're not done yet," Irina shouted. She was determined. Even with her mana down to around half of her total reserves, she knew she'd regenerate some of that, and didn't believe their opponent could fight like this indefinitely, either. The amount of mana this Leshy had to be consuming to fight with this many greater treants at a rage had to be enormous. Truly, though, her ambition didn't come from raw logic. Her determination was fueled by her curiosity. There was a mystery here, and she needed to solve it. What truly was at force with Irina was a touch of her personal pull. Had she been a Meister, it would have been the Madness of Knowledge. In this case, it was the Pull of Knowledge. She just had to know.

"Your comrade is protecting me fine. Destroy all you can, then move for--" she began shouting, but was cut off by howling in the distance. A new foe, or perhaps an old foe reskinned. If their Soul Perception was active, they would have seen dozens of new Soul Signatures pop up, and they came barreling into the group from all sides. If the treant Sara faced was based off Midori, these were based off her. Each one another small treant, smaller than a normal werewolf, but most definitely in a beastial stance. Humanoid features still present, but primarily feral. It seemed that the size and strength of the original treants weren't effective, but the smaller ones proved a greater task for at least Sara to deal with. If these ones were as nimble as her, then even Adrian and Nadia would have issues reacting to them.

"Maybe not. We may need to just run," Irina said, changing her plan in accordance to the new opponents being summoned to the battlefield. Her hunch that whatever was controlling these creatures couldn't maintain that mana cost for long seemed to be spot on. Each one of these likely cost far less mana to create and maintain, but it refused to just let up on the assault. It was changing tactics. Even if that was true, how they proceeded was still an important question. Try and make a stand here, or run from the slower, larger treants deeper into the forest and fight the new wolf-treants as they came.

Adrian found himself growing frustrated with the shifting targets and terrain. Fighting these smaller treants was more up his alley, even if they were more agile. If anything, the change of pace was welcomed. What he didn't like was the lack of direction coming from Irina. A quick grunt that could have been a sigh or a scoff from any other individual escaped him, and he looked over to Nadia. "Less talking, more doing. I need instructions. If we're running, we need to go. If we're fighting, I just need to know what to stab," he shouted, almost demanding an answer from their leader. Irina seemed wish-washy in his eyes. Whether that was from her adjusting to the new opponent or not trying to step on the toes of Nadia, he neither knew nor cared. He just needed a decisive answer.

 

[The Regal Rper]

Collab | The Shwn Inn | Deda Ville, Romania

Again, Elly surprised them both, but their expressions failed to show it. Neither one of them had noticed the presence of the Enforcer, or his magic at work in the area.

Super Soul Perception was nothing to laugh at. Every Meister and Weapon could learn Perception, but one had to be born with that level of clarity.

It was disturbing in its own way. The update she gave of the enemy gathering nearby the hotel however was not surprising, neither was Noah’s barbed comment.

Ileana’s expression did not change, but her jaw muscles clenched slightly, more noticeable to Vilda’s eyes than most of the others. It was a very subtle shift in her jaw that then relaxed.

Though he had a point that pointing where they would go hadn’t been the greatest move for subtlety. Vilda couldn’t deny that at the end it didn’t actually matter. They were being watched, so no matter where they went in these villages, they would be trailed.

The conversation stopped short with the sudden interruption from the Baroness herself. Her invitation was the same result the rest of them were thinking.

And Midori made some fair points, as did the others. The information they lacked going in was fatal, even if they had provided them as much as they had the lack of true faith in who they were was a problem. Noah made that clear, and the comments from the others confirmed that. As cold as it was to say screw the civies, it mattered little in the end if they all died on this mission.

Gauss listened to all the talking points and merely sighed. Even with some slight variances in opinion, such as Noah and Arkayis, the general consensus was to flee. Personally, he wasn’t on board with that notion. Perhaps he was foolhardy or overconfident, but he didn’t believe that the events surrounding them would lead them to a target they couldn’t handle. The fact no surrounding DWMA information showed there was a reason to be concerned only cemented in that fact to him.

Midori spoke from experience, so perhaps there was something Gauss didn’t know. Regardless, of the two options he presented, it seemed that the group favored one. They might have had different approaches or ideas about it, but leaving seemed to be the answer.

Gauss was a man of his word.

”Well then… unless there’s some key information you’re keeping secret,” Gauss said, his bright eyes falling to Ileana and his focus currently on her, as if wishing she did in fact have some type of information that would turn this vote on its head, ”it seems the majority vote is to leave, in which case, we’ll be planning out precisely how we intend on doing that.”

His eyes darted over to Midori, though his stare hardened into more of a glare. ”I would hope that if we follow your decision, you would at least keep at an appropriate pace. Not all of us can react to bullet fire,” Gauss added, his intent to someone call out the selfish and bold claim Midori made in regards to leaving and simply making a mad dash to the airport.

Gauss wasn’t exactly happy with how the others spoke, especially Midori. There was a lot of aggression and what were effectively insults being flung around. He couldn’t deny that his actions perhaps worsened the problem, and he didn’t feel like arguing with any of them over whether they were ultimately for the better. The way he saw it, they were going to be found out at some point regardless. A small group of foreigners with weird appearances and Soul Signatures would eventually raise a red flag to someone. For all the stealth Midori preached, it’s not as if everyone there was in fact a Hoshi that could hide themselves in plain daylight. That was an unrealistic expectation.

Unrealistic expectations seemed to be the theme of this mission. The most experienced member of the team was in a different role than his usual and had a wholly different approach than what Gauss or Annika, two of the other Meisters, normally used. For all the points Midori had, he seemed entirely blind to the actual team he was on. Gauss could only grit his teeth knowing that pointing out that fact would only lead to pointless debate and even more heated arguments.

He was at the very least trying to remain reasonable.

“ There’s no secrets I’m keeping” she stated, in a sense of bluntness. “ I’m getting tired of that specific line of thought.”

“ There is a comm tower not far from here.” She explained. “ It has a jammer that has been blocking communication. Alvilda and I have passed it several times when doing our research around these areas. But it is guarded. I can’t handle it by myself alone, there’s about fifteen or so armed guards, none Meisters or Weapons, but they do have their hands on armed weaponry. As well as one or two lesser Bloodsuckers. I could take out the bloodsucker, at least one on my own but not while being fired at. You however” she directed this line at Gauss, “ could easily neutralize their weapons.”

Midori looked at her with the most incredulous stare feasible. While only Elly might have been completely aware of these thoughts, the look on his face made it clear he not only questioned her, but questioned her intelligence and ability. All the while, he wondered how she made it into the CIA of all places. She withheld up until this point knowledge of the location blocking ingoing and outgoing signals. She knew the number of guards. She knew their weaponry. She even knew there were lesser bloodsuckers here. This whole time of them asking questions and dumping information, she didn’t mention that until now. She should have led with that. It entirely changed the landscape of the mission.

How. Was. She. So. Shit. At. Com-mune-I-kay-shun.

Death-dammit all, Midori wanted to strangle her there and then.

Midori remained in awe at her stupidity for a moment, his mouth slightly agape.

Gauss was the first one to chime in as Midori remained silent. ”Well, I mean no offense… though that new information might change the vo–

Midori grumbled before cutting him off. ”Fuck the vote, Thales,” he interjected, only briefly switching his gaze over to him before back to Ileana. ”Why the fuck didn’t you tell us that earlier? In one fell swoop, you could have clued us into the fact there are more Bloodsuckers in the area, that they’re armed, and an idea of how many thralls are here. Getting comms up is a literal game-changer. One message in and out could secure us information that either confirms or denies whether we can handle the threat level,” Midori went on, absolutely tearing into Ileana now.

”If anything, I question how you got into the CIA being that incompe–” he went on, only this time to be cut off by Gauss.

”Enough. There is no reason to insu–”

”--the fuck there isn’t, Thales! She should have led with that, it’s common sense. It’s not an insult if it’s fucking true, man. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is more dangerous than ignorance,” Midori explained, giving his extremely opinionated and obviously highly-frustrated insight on the matter.

“He’s right,” Ileana replied calmly.

“But there’s no point wasting time going to free those comms just to get a message in.” Vilda interjected. “We’d have to make our way back here if the turnout was just the solution. We could execute the Baroness in the end and should finish the job. We should be able to contact HQ without the need for it. We can use the Room Number to call Lord Death.”

Fundamentally, Midori agreed with that point. In fact, it was his exact plan had they split up. Lord Kidd kept knowledge of the number and contact method quite secret. If these two actually knew it, it would give some credence to their identities. However, the fact they spoke about it so casually and revealed it to the group again only made him question their competence. As to whether or not they could actually execute the Baroness was a different question, but that would be answered by intel from the call.

These two may have been agents of the DWMA, maybe even of the CIA, but they were easily the worst agents of a high tier he had ever seen when it came to sensitive information.

”That… is an option,” Midori said, ”but not one I expected either of you to have. It’s what I intended to do after getting to a more secure location.”

”As most know, Kidd gets pissy when you openly share that number,” he commented, pointing out a fact any one that had ever received that tidbit of knowledge would know. With that, he finally got up from his seat and from Elly. In the nearby area of the room where a desk, TV, minifridge were, also sat a microwave. Common for these tiny commuter rooms. Midori had no problem with demolition and simply ripped off the door of the microwave.

He then returned, breathed heavily on it so that a thick condensation from his breath formed, and handed it over to Ileana. ”Do call him, and keep it from prying eyes,” he said, at this point questioning if she even actually knew the number to get to him. He already did the first step for her, unknowing of her little compact mirror she could use. The microwave door had more surface area anyway.

She took it carefully, and then distanced herself from the others by extension as Alvilda moved in front of her to block view of her for only a second. It was quick, jotted down on the condensation: 42-42-564, and it took her only a moment to scribble it down before she stepped out of where her partner had only a moment before stepped in front. The screen already rippled, already gray that dispersed like water droplets on the surface. A cold mist leaked out from around the gray rippling pool and in just two seconds of waiting, Lord Death’s voice emerged.

“Ileana Dubios,” he identified even before the image revealing his face had fully formed from the rising mist that pooled around the screen. “This must mean you have finally made contact with...” his eyes turned to the group, scanning them all, before his gaze returned back to the Investigator.

A floating head and shoulders, Kidd gave a single command in the same calm tone he was known for: “Report.”

“We have discovered the source of Deda Commune’s problems, more precisely it’s made itself known, My Lord.” She replied. “The Baroness Alina Calinescu has taken over the Deda Commune. The previous reports filed were likely angles of misinformation in regards to some of the reports about attacks around the area. Comms are down because she has managed to procure a radio signal jammer. The Baroness has control over a number of bloodsuckers that serve her, has many thralls consisting of both some of the mercenaries sent here as well as likely the citizenry, and has an outside ally supporting her in her control. She directly invited us up to her castle, and if what she said in regards to her ally is true it’s likely it has also been harvesting and providing some of her servants' souls, tying into some of the outside activity we noticed around the area.”

“We find ourselves at a standstill however.”

His eyes turned to Midori, and then swept over the group as a whole. “And what stand still would that be?” He asked. It wasn’t even demanding, nor was there a shred of annoyance, it was the same calm politeness he spoke in before. “Speak, any one of you. If you have differing opinions, make them clear to me now.”

Midori had no qualms about speaking to Kidd. Though this was a more formal situation, the two often had more informal discourse. Most were often humble before him, or at worst, extremely nervous. The Hoshi, while respectful, was neither hesitant or nervous, boldly explaining his side of things.

”Prior to this call, we had no knowledge of the specific Bloodsucker in question, nor her abilities. She was bold enough to invite us to an obvious trap after dark, and seems to be interested in us, either as new thralls or playthings. She has threatened us with hostages, has multiple lesser vampires working for her, and there still exists this unknown variable referred to as the Enforcer. With comms down and no method of safely acquiring new information, Gauss put it to a vote as to whether to stay on mission or return to the DWMA to relay findings. The majority voted to return, though that vote was spearheaded by myself. I did intend to separate from the group and call you directly as to avoid this method of communication becoming more public, but that is obviously a lost cause at this point,” Midori explained, giving Kidd the details of their current situation; more so, the rationale behind effectively abandoning the mission.

”Essentially, without an effective way to gauge the threat level, the prevailing logic was that a team more suited for fighting Bloodsuckers might be appropriate, and that way may only worsen the situation or run in to our deaths,” Midori explained, summarizing the topic more succinctly.

Kidd was silent for but a moment, before he said: “One moment then.” The audible sound of rapid clacking became present and Kidd’s eyes shifted to something else outside their perspective. “Baroness Alina Calinescu?”

Vilda confirmed.

“"Alina “Baroness” Calinescu is perceived to be a low three star to high tier two star threat.” Kidd read off another screen, looked over the assembled group of agents that made up the team with Midori, glanced over at the two investigators that had been a part of his frustration, and then was silent for a second as he thought.

“I agree with you Midori. It was sound logic to decide to pull out of this mission.” He stated, and that seemed to be the end of it.

Then he said: “However.”

“You should be able to finish off the Baroness, with the assembled team present. Even if I were to provide a Three Star team of Bloodhunters now, the Baroness is aware you are there, might have known a group would be coming if she has thralls within the community itself, and this is not the first time I have sent Bloodhunters out after her for them to return empty handed. If she does not leave by the time I send in a new team or unit to handle her, she will likely leave a trail of distractions as she has done in the past to once again, throw us off her trail.As well as this ally that aids her. I believe you all could leave without harm working together. The problem is, aside from not just the complications it would create with the Eastern Branch which are moot at this time, she would disappear again, and the last time we were aware of her presence was years ago in Russia, during the MIBVI.”

“Alina Calinescu” Kidd went on, “is a High Vampire of old stock. Her skills as you have seen for yourselves are high in terms of shapeshifting, blood control, and psychological feats of both illusion and hypnosis. If she is calling you up to her castle, this makes the job easier for you all. And Elly” Kidd turned his gaze onto her, his eyes, briefly abnormal, turning more humane once more, “you’ll be key to tracking her down. Your range and clarity exceeds anyone else’s and her signature will be marked strongly by the presence of power radiating from her soul. The Commune may not be large but you most certainly will be able to detect the clear difference in her spirit without needing to see it. Focus on that, and maneuvering past her traps will be easier.”

“Alina is a dangerous combatant but she is not a true physically focused one. Even among the High Vampires she was once a part of, she is the weakest among them, and is not one to stay in fights that will forfeit her life. If possible, I’d personally want her captured, but if it threatens your lives, execute her.”

“Now, in relation to this ally of hers” Kidd said shifting topics. “What do you know, or rather with its presence, how do you want to approach it if you decide to stay on this mission.

Midori listened to Kidd, not quite hanging on every word but heavily weighing what he said. He knew a fair bit about Bloodsuckers. A few centuries old gave her plenty of potential to have grown into. She focused on her Blood Magic heavily, obviously. If she preferred to avoid direct conflict, it meant she likely wasn’t a threat, like the infamous Mosquito. Killing her might not be out of the question. If it was him alone, the chances might be dramatically lower. She likely had a thousand dirty tricks up her sleeve to avoid death.

Gauss, on the other hand, had two elemental weapons–both of which could be highly destructive–and Annika likely had a few Magitech goodies in her arsenal that may also provide the necessary utility to put her in a more suitable position for slaughter. In either case, he still didn’t believe capture was an option for them. Even if they could get said chance, it would likely be the Baroness feigning a forfeit to spare her life and looking for the most immediate escape if such mercy was permitted.

The world would be better off without her, and that was the easiest option to achieve for them of the two.

”We know little to nothing about this third party, unless there is yet again more information Agent Dubios hasn’t shared in a timely fashion,” Midori responded, now being quite blunt and even somewhat rude. ”If we could ignore them, that would my preference–at least until the Baroness is dealt with,” he informed Kidd, ”I don’t exactly speak for the team nor am I its leader, but if you believe we can kill this target, then I would wager our best bet would be to do so as soon as possible and before nightfall. Elly and I could splinter off, feigning a retreat to the DWMA, while the others attempt a full frontal assault. With local comms still working, this could give us the element of surprise and allow Elly to watch from a distance before we strike,” Midori explained, going about his plan, ”I find it doubtful that she would reveal herself openly, so that plan falls apart if we have to go explore her castle. I personally am of the opinion there is safety in numbers, so if we do go dungeon diving, doing it as a group with Annika and Elly watching for traps and tricks would likely keep us in the best shape until we get the chance to kill her. I don’t believe we have the means to capture her, so I would prefer to go for a quick, clean kill.”

Gauss noted the entire three-sixty change in attitude from Midori and now his gears were finally ground to the point that silence wasn’t quite on the table. He wasn’t sure if the man was simply putting on a front for the Shinigami or if he didn’t respect the current leadership enough to give that type of input, but offense was taken. ”You certainly change tune quick with Lord Kidd on the line, Hoshi…” he commented, emphasizing the use of his last name just as Midori had done to him earlier.

Ileana interjected immediately, as Kidd’s eyes shifted from her at Midori’s comment to Gauss.

“I am afraid I do not have more information to provide on the Enforcer, whatever it is, all we know is it has been responsible for attacking the mercenaries and gangs around the area, and with the Baroness input, if it is to be trusted, has been providing her souls as well. That is all.” She stated with a bow of her head.

Kidd’s eyes shifted from Gauss back to her and her partner. Vilda’s expression remained blank but the way her hands behind her back clenched signaled she wasn’t entirely comfortable with Kidd’s silent impassive stare.

“Noted.” He said finally.

The way Ileana’s shoulders tensed was probably sign enough she knew there would be words later.

“The rest of you.” He turned his attention to them. “Your decisions?” And as he turned his eyes to Gauss, it implied him also given his earlier comment. “I’ve heard from Midori, what is your input?”

Gauss was hardly content that he was cut off, but realizing that the Shinigami had asked the same question twice, dared not derail the situation further. Midori had hardly proven to be the most reliable teammate present. Gauss didn’t have to question why the man was in that original Paean Program, just how the hell he got out of it.

”I would elect to take a page out of one of my partner’s books and just burn the whole damn castle to the ground in broad daylight. I’m sure we could do it. No need to deal with traps that are hidden or dangers inside some perilous walls. Arkayis can melt stone. If she gets out into daylight, then she’ll be weak enough even Midori could stab her on his own. If she tries to flee through tunnels–cause why wouldn’t there be underground tunnels in a Romanian castle–Elly has Soul Perception that can pick her up for literal miles, so we could easily pursue,” Gauss responded, presenting his alternative to the convoluted infiltration plan presented by Midori. He was frustrated enough that he just wanted to burn it all to the ground. Besides, he was sure that would make Arkayis happy.

Either way, the answer confirmed both individuals were in agreement about attacking in general.

“I would highly advise against collateral damage. The Romanian government and us have always had a tense relationship but that became even worse after MIBVI, melting or torching anything of significance in the area are not reports I want to see at the end of this mission.” His tone here was stern, whether it was an offhand comment or not, collateral damage was practically linked to the hip with almost all DWMA work. “Last thing we need are more complaints. Alright, that’s Gauss and Midori, anyone else?”

Mentions: n/a

Participants: Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun

Interactions:: Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen Peckinou

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Daniella Ethalyn - Valaam Island, Russia

​

As the situation continued to unfold and the likely Leshy continued to copy them, or was he? Either way, a new threat was coming, this attack put them in a dire straight, but the Russian could smell the blood in the water, and she grinned, they had the bastard on the run and internally a conversation could be held, while externally only seconds would pass, if even that.

‘Dani, we may need to resonate, I want to continue the advance and smash all of the bastards here, then run that tree fuck down, I will state my reasons for doing this to the rest when I tell them, but do you wish to do this, or would you rather we run?’ Nadia asked.

‘Oh, great. What the fuck are those?’ Dani growled at the treants mimicking Sara, more rhetorically than genuinely. The question of whether to back off or continue to fight characterized Nadia’s growth. Dani could tell regardless of their connection which she preferred. Perhaps just as surprising was the sword’s willingness to continue. ‘If you still have fuel in the tank. The trees sure as fuck aren’t meat golems or witches and they already seem to be getting shaky. Rip and tear, I guess.’

‘Da. Besides, running I feel like will only set us back to start. Or worse.’

‘We’re good and the witch and Adrian seem to be doing fine. Sara and Eva look like they’re having the least fun… Overall, the shrubs seem to be worse-off than us,’ Dani agreed.

With that settled, Nadia announces the plan of attack. “We do both and neither. Adrian keep moving with Irina, do not run, all of our speeds differ so much we’ll get strung out, at the same time we stay put the big ones will overwhelm us…

So we advance, I have never worked with you before nor her, but I have with Sara… We will have to trust our training and be quick with movements. I will resonate. Irina, I always want you at the center, Sara with Eva, Adrian and Dani and I shall form a tri formation around you and we advance at your speed. This formation will rotate who is in the head or the rear depending on the threat… With one or two fighting what is behind us. The more the big ones have to move, the more energy the old man of the woods has to spend. We will only stop when he does, then we all discuss a better plan! For now Adrian, test the runners when they get closer, and keep ears open, be ready to move in position with us, Irina support whoever needs it, but I want one of us always between you and them, Sara, act where you are needed, I’m going to cut down some of the others after I deal with him.”

Swinging her blade, Nadia during her command relay, drew one of her DWMA issued blades and hurled it with enough force to imbed into the wood, to make a step as she readied her next attack.

“Vstavay, tovarishch! Davay, tovarishch!” (Get up Comrades! Forward Comrades!) With that she and Dani began to resonate as Nadia stepped off on her left foot, diving into the one armed shielder as she cleaved into its center of mass, around the shield before kicking off, aiming for the disrupted trio, as she dived low, aiming for the legs of the treants with a rapid series of movements, aiming for the back of the heels and knees, or what made up for them in this mass of tree and trunk. Right now she could not afford to burn up too much energy, but she was their main offensive element.

Interactions: Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - Romania
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Deliberations continued, with all parties seemingly growing tired of various jabs and accusations. Noah seemed to find it amusing that she believed Midori may in fact just make a dash for the airport by himself, whereas Gauss made a jab in his direction whether as a manner of retort to Midori's criticism or actual belief. Though none of them knew, Midori had in fact told her at one point that he would bail if he felt she was dragging him into a crapshoot. That was before he saw her positive points and made a speech about making her relax, but still. Elly didn't expect him to simply tag along on what he believed to be a suicide mission, nor would she blame him. That was why, when trying to convince him, she made appeals and correlations to their total survival rate, his included, were they to stay together.

The detective also seemed to be growing somewhat irritated with the suspicion she was garnering, which Elly thought was decently earned. Waiting for Midori to remark on the omission of information about the radio tower, Elly spoke after. "Aside from not sharing that tidbit, were you in our shoes, stumbling into a village ruled by vampires, thralls, some vagabond, and dead-inside civilians, would you not hold some suspicion?" She inquired rhetorically, then moving onto her reasoning. "Omissions and circumstances aside, when the priest arrived and we flashed our badges, he said you were with the mercenaries. Now, if he knew that you were DWMA, it would be a tad strange for him to attempt to lie to me in an attempt to persuade us to relinquish you since he already knew of our allegiance. Perhaps that was simply your cover but, nonetheless, with everything else that has occurred, I wouldn't wholeheartedly trust anyone that appeared, badge or not."

To Elly, suspicion wasn't something to take offense to. It was reasonable, especially in a precarious situation. Now, she didn't believe the biker was necessarily an enemy going off her soul signature, demeanor, and other tells. However, that didn't mean she wasn't hiding anything or holding something back. Case in point, the communications tower. Yet, by the same vein, the woman knew the code to contact Lord Death via the mirror. When Death answered her by name with some semblance of familiarity, that said plenty about the woman's affiliations and likely would have saved time and suspicions in the first place.

Elly shifted her balance to one side of her hips with folded arms, the fingers of her right hand tapping idly along the triceps of her left arm. "High two to low three..." She murmured in thought to herself. Shapeshifting, blood, illusions, and hypnosis. Certainly an annoying enemy to fight, though Elly could make some of those skills negligible. Her attention was drawn at her name being called, taking particular note of the way Kidd's eyes shifted, however she didn't reply directly at that moment. Instead, she hummed, mulling it all over.

"I'm more concerned with this Enforcer at this point. Aside from being capable of circumventing some of her abilities, she's woefully arrogant, which is fantastic for us. However, the 'Frog Man', seemingly had struck a deal with her and warned her against challenging us, meaning he's far more cautious..." Sighing a bit, her hand snaked up to massage the back of her neck. "I vote for Midori's plan. If we all just charge in, I guarantee this enforcer will come and pincer us. Best I'm able to spot him coming and sound the alarm to all of you, or any other tricks and traps for that matter."

RedArmyShogun Peckinou The Regal Rper Merciless Medic Mook-LandStrider

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara Middleton​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Near Weeping Woods, Russia
Interactions: Nadia, Dani, Eva, Irina, Adrian, Treants
Mentions: N/A
RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider Sir Les Paul

Sara hadn't realized that going from illusion-breaking to using Soul Conduction would've been a bad thing, but she realized too late when she was caught up in vines. That panic was short-lived as Irina saved her, and Sara was able to relay her message to Adrian. She looked back as she heard a set of strange noises that reminded her of a hunting party, and realized these things running at them were supposed to be her.

Now she was starting to wonder if it was just copying them.

Due to her panic, she couldn't tell if these treants were looking any worse for wear. There was just a lot of them, and she didn't know if there was ever going to be an end. There had to be, but just how strong were they?

She went back to making sure any illusions were broken, keeping near Adrian and Irina to avoid getting picked out.

But Nadia - despite lacking tact in social situations - was still an admirable leader. Right as her panic was starting to settle in, Nadia gave her the courage to continue. She moved by Irina and intended on moving with her, smashing anything that got in her way. Thankfully, while these wolf treants were rather fast, she had the knowledge to predict what they were going to do brief moments before they got too close for comfort, only for Eva's lantern flail to smash into them with the intent on knocking them back. She entrusted that Irina would help her if need be, but she still fought those back who tried to attack her or get through her.

"Let's go, Irina!" She said, not wanting to stay in one place for too long.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Noah Wiley​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Inn, Romania
Interactions: Midori, Gauss, Arkayis, Death the Kidd, Ileana, Alvilda, Annika, Elly
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul Peckinou The Regal Rper Mook-LandStrider EmperorsChosen

Right when they were planning on leaving, Ileana spoke up about a comms tower. He wanted to roll his eyes. At least he got his answer, but it was ill-timed. He didn't need to jump on her when Midori was already doing that and especially when Gauss and Midori were arguing, so he let everything play out, offering some semblance of his calming wavelength when he could to Gauss to keep him more or less in check. Calling Lord Death was certainly something he hadn't realized would ever happen, but here he was listening in on the conversation between Death and the other people here, mainly Midori. The vampire not being as strong as they suspected had proved his point earlier that if they had more information, they could accurately assess the situation, not that was anything to write home about.

Midori's plan was to have him and Elly away while the others infiltrated. Gauss's idea was to burn the place down, but was told no.

Man, he really didn't want to be making decisions right now, nor did he want to vote. But he did speak up.

"I'm unsure if they'll just pick ya off. No offense, Midori, I'm sure ya 'n' Elly can get yerself outta most situations. But ya won't be able to provide accurate help if ya end up gettin' picked off by somethin' outside, especially if it has anythin' to do with this Enforcer. If ya don't mind fightin' somethin' we know little 'bout, then by all means. But ya might not be able to get back to us in time if yer held up f'r too long. A full frontal assault would likewise put too much attention on us, but that's moot if she's already expectin' us. In fact, it'd likely help bring her attention away from anyone sneakin' around. I'm merely speakin' as to what to do. I got nothin' else ta say, 'n' certainly no complaints." He ended it with a respectful tone, opting to just stay silent for the remainder of this talk before they moved on.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Midori☆Hoshi​

"Dark Star"​

Species Death Golem
Partner Eloise Keegan
Rank Two-Star

Location Romania, Deda Commune, The Shwn Inn
Mission A Bloody Investigation
Status Frustrated

​

Tags: RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider

"Pick me off?" Midori asked, though clearly rhetorical. He took offense to the notion that he, or he and Elly, would be so easily eliminated simply by breaking from the group. The two alone had many virtues that the group as a whole did not.

"It's highly unlikely the Baroness has Soul Perception on her own; she likely uses it through the thralls. Same for the other lesser ones. Chances are, she couldn't see through my suppression if she wanted to," Midori explained, giving some of his speculative insight as to the abilities in play here. "Elly has a Soul that's hard to perceive. If I transform into my dual blades, Elly hides me in something a little less conspicuous, and she gathers some local clothes to blend in, they'll likely be none the wiser. Especially if we lose line of sight," Midori went on, giving even further details about precisely how he intended to initiate the subterfuge. He doubted Noah or any of the others really knew the extent of what he would do for espionage.

"Besides all that, I'm trained to stay transformed for hours at a time and Elly can use her Perception to see anyone that could spot us long before they actually do, so we have a solid chance at staying in the shadows. It's not dumb luck," he told them, only further giving reasoning behind why this tactic could work. It was almost as if he had done something similar in the past.

"Lord Kidd confirmed who Ileana is, and there is no lying to him. Any further questioning of her is pointless," Midori told them with a more blunt tone. He obviously was the least satisfied with her performance, but he did believe what he told him: crucifying her was a waste of time.

"As it stands, I also don't see a purpose in restoring comms. We already got through to Lord Kidd. Besides that, each thrall we leave alive will be a constant drain on her. If we have to fight her, we want as many advantages as possible, which means slaughtering an army of thralls would only provide her more available mana to fight with. Lesser vampires matter less, but they may have a telepathic link with her, so they could just as easily reveal our plans and positions," Midori went on, giving his input as to the other objectives, and now introducing the new strategy: killing as few thralls as possible to keep their mana cost active on the Baroness.

"As for the Enforcer, the only real question I see is whether or not he is loyal to the Baroness, or if he's a third party that will fuck off as soon as a fight starts. If it's the former, we should kill him as soon as possible. If it's the latter, then ignore him entirely," Midori suggested, remaining fairly true to his intention to ignore the Enforcer as if they were an arbitrary piece on the board. They needed to kill the Baroness, not worry about pawns.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Thaddeus Thales​

"Gauss"​

Species Human
Partner Noah Wiley, Arkayis Misonuka
Rank Fate Agent

Location Romania, Deda Commune, The Shwn Inn
Mission A Bloody Investigation
Status Irritated, but being calmed

​

Tags: RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider

That Death-damned healing wavelength was like a cheat code. A part of Gauss wanted to be angry, if only out of retaliation for his bruised ego and the nasty attitude Midori was demonstrating, but Noah prevented him from edging that side of himself out, even suppressing that tiny portion of himself that just wanted to take petty pot shots at him. It took him so far out of character that he wanted to be frustrated at Noah for even doing it, but couldn't bring himself to even do that.

Gauss sighed. There were still many points being presented across the board. Noah had his own opinion, casting some doubt on Midori and Elly splitting. Ultimately, he didn't actually provide much of an alternative. Criticism without an alternate option wasn't really productive. Elly had more comments on Ileana, but Gauss found himself agreeing with Midori insofar that criticizing them no longer mattered; Kidd confirmed their identities, and regardless of their competency, they were in the situation now. She was more concerned about the Enforcer individual, and Midori answered that--as one might expect an assassin--by either killing him, or ignoring him.

Gauss had to mull it over. Annika was all for the attack, and Arkayis would likely go along with anything Noah would, though he favored the more destructive route. Gauss tried, but burning the place to the ground wasn't an option--for better or worse.

"What it seems we're all in agreement on at this point is that we should attack the Baroness," he announced, his voice strong but not terribly bold or enthused.

"I would wager that everyone would agree to do so before dark," he went on, "but what we do not agree on is the how. There are several other factors at play, like the thralls, lesser vampires, and enforcers."

He stopped for a moment, scanning the room over, trying to piece together what he considered a valid plan. "We do still have time. This place is small. If Midori wants to go off the grid with Elly, then so be it, but we don't need to waste that time. You two can track down the Enforcer and gather intel on him, engage him if necessary. If he is on her side, then we want him eliminated before the attack. If he isn't, we might get more information. If you can't kill him alone, then retreating and returning to us so we can eliminate him as a group only further increases our success chances. If he's that significant of a threat, then if he did pincer us in, it could be a problem. Unfortunately, if he does give us any intel directly, we'll have to take it with a grain of salt. If we had Eva, we could clearly see if it's lying, but since we don't, he could just as easily lead us into a trap as he could help us. Thus, you will have to use your best judgement," Gauss explained, giving more direction to the plan of Midori and Elly going it alone.

"As for the rest of us, I suggest we keep up the charade until we hear back from Midori. Sitting around does nothing, and while I can definitely think of some more fun ways to use the time, it may look suspicious if we all just sit around and wait," Gauss told them, "so we either need to try and track down the hostages or go to the jammer area, if only to keep up the distraction for Midori and Elly. Neither are really important to our success anymore, but it will either make us appear as sympathetic agents that refuse to let hostages die to strategical ones that want comms. We could give the Baroness a false impression of us, which we could later use to our advantage."

"If we try to free those hostages, then she may try the tactic again later, and if we ignore it then, we could have an upper hand. None of us can track as effectively as Elly, but I do think that trying to free the hostages while those two go after the Enforcer is our best plan of action," he outlined, coming full circle as to what he thought each of their divided teams could do best.

His yellow eyes then darted back to Lord Kidd, who was awaiting the input of others and now had some of that alongside a formulated plan. "Any objections?" he asked as a generality, aimed at everyone, but mostly wanting the confirmation of the Shinigami.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Irina​

"The Research Witch"​

Species Witch
Location Russia, Republic of Karelia, Valaam, Northeast Forest line
Mission The Waking Forest


​

Tags: Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider

Irina soon found herself in the middle of the team, and while that had it's benefits, it did make her use of magic considerably more difficult for risk of friendly fire. Not only that, Irina happened to be the slowest of all those present, making this coordinated movement somewhat of a slog. It was sufficient to outrun the larger treants, but only barely as they never actually lost any aside from the largest treant during their rush forward.

Nadia with her Resonance was more than enough to cleave the legs of the largest tree off. The bolster to speed and strength was nothing to scoff at, and even though she nor Dani had implemented the benefits of their greater Wavelength Control into the Resonance, their skill in Resonance alone had grown so that its activation and use were no longer as taxing as they had been in previous weeks. The dense, hard outer bark of the trees that acted as a tough outer skin was now cloven through like a hot knife through butter. Once the treant was grounded, resistance from it was futile at best, made worse by how top-heavy it was to begin with.

The new treant-wolves proved to be an entirely different beast to combat. They flooded the forest, trampling through the ground and growing in number until their numbers could be described more as a horde and their movement a stampede. Sara and Adrian proved to be at the biggest disadvantage here as the blunt force of Eva could easy knock the beasts out of the way, flinging them into their wooden brethren and sent tumbling, but not sufficiently to keep them down for long. Adrian similarly with his stabbing motions could only deal so much local damage and as they continued to be surrounded, his movements became more and more restricted.

With her ability to cut and slash, Nadia was easily the most efficient against these particular enemies. At least, for a while.

Their triangle of back-to-back protection fell apart, and in no small part due to Adrian. After several small scrapes and an eventual tackle from one of the treants that broke through, he found himself too close to Sara for one of his normal transformations and his own anger overtook him. Not Madness, not like before. This was that notorious temper of his. Wavelength radiated from him and that all too familiar feeling of rage through that wavelength became more prominent. He lunged forward into his section of the horde and transformed spikes all throughout his body. His shoulders, eblows, hands, knees, back, feet. He became a human spike ball of rage, resonating with himself the entire time, and using a new tactic of not only stabbing the surrounding enemies but impaling them in positions that he could stretch out and tear them apart.

It was somewhat reminiscent of when he went Mad against the dolls, but differed in that his raw speed and strength were much lower, and his transformations remained static. He couldn't perform those wicked and wild constant transformations, only use his spikes in various ways to tear apart incoming enemies, and shoot out spikes to prevent oncoming attacks. His rage was more controlled. More focused.

The problem is it did break the circle.

Irina was more than happy to take his place, now capable of casting spells of her own without worry about endangering anyone. Before leaping directly into combat herself, she realized the problem Sara was facing. Nadia could slash through the targets. Adrian could tear them apart with some extra effort. Sara didn't have much to go on with. Irina fixed that. Or more accurately, she helped Eva. She cast a spell in the local area that would empower all three weapons with the element of ice. Adrian was outside of its range, and Dani didn't so much need it, but Eva could now freeze these treants upon contact and shatter them like glass.

This did mean Irina was locked into using the ice element. As long as she channeled that spell, she didn't possess the skill to dabble in another element. Her method of combating her portion of the triangle was to freeze the ground in front of her and shoot out spikes of ice to impale incoming wolf-treants, which happened to be about as effective as Adrian in front of her tearing them apart.

The waves continued, only slowing for what looked like a shift in the paradigm of treants. The wolf-style body shape changed as a flood of significantly larger, more feral treants came in, resembling bears and nearly as large as the original treants. These must have taken some time to create while the waves of wolves rolled, and the forest itself was become considerably thinner and flatter as the trees that were used as resources for this army were simply running out. The group managed to slowly but surely deforest the area, albeit in directly. There was a notable barren spot for around a few hundred feet around them where only the largest and smallest of trees remained. The underbrush had been trampled flat and more average trees consumed.

Adrian was the first to encounter these new bear-like treants, and they did manage to take him by surprise. They were nearly as fast as the wolves, but significantly stronger and more durable akin to the first round of them. The weapon found himself trying to scrap with three of them, only to get flung across the ground by one of their large paws from an attack he didn't manage to dodge from his rear. These creatures were fighting intelligently, capable of flanking him while distractions were made.

Worse off, that only fueled his anger more. Standing up and subsequently coughing up some blood, his wavelength flared like a bonfire, and it became far less stable. Nadia would have the skill to see that he sacrificed all of his stability for raw power and Sara could smell the bloodlust and iron in the air from it all, his blood and rage flowing out. This particular boost wasn't enough to allow him to immediately tear through the bears as he did their wolf counterparts, but a new tactic arose where he generated multiple spikes in succession to create what could be compared mostly to a drill, which he used to bore holes in the bears, slowly but surely. He also began taking a page from the book of Sara, electing to jump around and even on top of these new treats so that he could land quick, successive blows without become an encircled target. While he slowly but surely chipped away at the few he had, the group would now be encountering them for the first time.

Each the size of a large SUV, each as stronger or stronger than the individual themselves, and each with paws nearly the size of a road sign coming down on their targets speeds no bear could actually move at. The only saving grace for those encircled being that their size also meant fewer of them could fight at a time. Irina was cheekily copying the tactic Adrian used, although less of a drill and more so simply impaling the bear repeatedly from a range until she could get through its thick protective layer of bark and denser wood, proving that these creatures could in fact still be fought. Adrian hadn't yet taken one down, only tearing them apart chip by chip, but now having multiple around him that he was dancing with, slowing down his process.

"Is... he gonna be okay out there?" Irina asked after yet again reassessing the situation. The boy didn't seem to actually have the firepower necessary to take these creatures down, and she doubted he could fight like that indefinitely. The concern was him was real. She on the other hand doubted Sara with her now freezing lantern partner Eva or Nadia with her Resonance would have issues cutting down this new foe given what she did to the largest. "I don't sense more, so if we can cut through these, we may get a reprieve..." she told them, informing them of just how desolate this fight left the surrounding area.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

An Expansion of Repertoire​

Tags: The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic

---

April 11th, 2067​

”We have a lot on the agenda today, so let’s not waste time,” Rand announced, getting directly to the point. The four had met as described at the Wiccan Embassy. There, he led them through the front chambers which had statues honoring the heads of all of the Royal families that comprised the Court with its grand center staircase featuring Maba between its two sets of stairs.

What he wanted was behind them. They went through the overly-designed and lavish building, something clearly brought together using magic to adorn it with over-the-top furnishings. Had this been made by human hands, it would have been as impressive as the Taj Mahal or any other wonder, but it lost a little of that majesty knowing it was made by magic.

Out of the back entrance was a large, semi-enclosed seating area meant for outside entertainment. Just beyond it was the lush, perfectly green and even grass maintained by the staff. Here is where he wanted to train. Far away from the actual Embassy, but still close enough to see it.

”We have three objectives for today. First, I want to teach you all some utility spells. It has come to my attention that each one of you are hyper-focused on your specific field of magic and in turn know little outside of it. As sorcerers, this is a shame. Witches like myself might have a particularly tough time diversifying their roster of spells, but you ought not. All you three need to know are the Witch Script to add them to your grimoire and a basic understanding of how the mana flows,” he explained to them, rattling off in quick succession what his goals were and pointing out some admittedly quite true points about their current spells. Furthermore, he pointed out an advantage they had as Sorcerers, which wasn’t the common way of thinking about it.

”After you all learn the spells I have in mind, I’m going to individually tutor you. I want to expand your horizons with your current spells. How you think about your magic and your approach to it can open new doors to spells you hadn’t previously thought of. I don’t care if the results are useful or powerful, the principle is to change your thinking,” he told them, quite boldly informing them of his intention on shifting their perspectives.

”Lastly, I’m going to teach all of you a very powerful spell. A ritual that requires a reagent. I imagine this will actually take up the bulk of our time, but if you can learn it, it can save your lives if you ever as a group encounter an adversary you have no other hope of overcoming. After our time on Dall Island, I believe a fall-back plan like this is in order,” he told them, informing them of what could be the most difficult thing they would learn today. Hopefully, they wouldn’t exhaust themselves or their mana beforehand.

”On the ground, you will notice three bags. Inside each bag is a blood pen for inscribing your grimoires, some practice paper, reagents we will use later, mana crystals if you exhaust yourselves, and a set of brooches the DWMA insisted I hand out. I informed all of you to bring your grimoires, so hopefully we have everything we need,” he told them, pointing out the obvious set of three white canvas sacks that were in fact on the ground. Blood pens were unique items that allowed a Sorcerer to write in their grimoire without the normally required method of cutting their finger for their blood. The brooches were similar to but not the same as the ones handed out to the leaders of the other teams. These instead were all spider themed, white in nature, and had a remarkable resemblance to the white spiders they had brought with them. Each brooch functionally did little aside from provide some resistance to Madness and act as a GPS locator, but they would assist with the Pull should it ever become a problem.

”We’ll begin with the simplest spell: Magelight. Maria, you saw me use this in the Dall Oak. It creates a small, floating ball of light that only serves to illuminate the darkness. Instead of just giving you the spell to write in your grimoire, I do want to see how well you do at trying to make a Magelight type spell. That is why we have practice paper. You will use it to write in Witch Script how you think the spell will operate, then we test it. Simple as that,” Rand explained to them, now getting into the specifics of their current training regiment. This type of training was considerably different than any of them might have received at home. It was not only expedited, but it made this process sound easy. A spell like Magelight was borderline pointless given flashlights and phones existed, and even Mages of previous eras rarely wasted time learning spells that were trivial, hardly parlor tricks. Yet, here Rand was insisting on it.

”I won’t force you to go completely at this blind. The trick to writing Magelight as a spell is to give the spell form. It’s a little ball that floats around you, and you can guide. You must remember that, and the specific parameters of it. More than that, you need to understand what light is. What we think of as light is actually just a small spectrum of visible energy. Electromagnetic energy in the form of a massless particle called a proton. Light is not fire, light is not some antithetical concept to darkness. It is just a form of energy we can see. I can think of a dozen different ways using science to write a spell for Magelight, so there’s quite a few ways to approach this. Fundamentally, all you need to know how to do to make this spell successful is give it a set form, specific instructions, and make sure it radiates visible energy,” he instructed them, giving them all clear and relatively simple information about how this spell worked. Sure, it could be made more complicated, but that was the beauty of writing spells in a grimoire. At a certain point once the spell worked, one was essentially just coding the spell to be more or less complex and specific. Of course, making spells from scratch was something that was typically deemed incredibly difficult. This spell may be rudimentary, but asking a bunch of relative novices to create any spell and have it work was a large ask. Yet, Rand not only seemed to expect it from them, but expect it to go swiftly as he had other plans for the day.

Having went along with her instructions and attending the meeting, Maria listened to what all was said and then examined the contents of the bag and what items were included. Upon hearing the request of Rand, Maria was still in a largely good mood from her birthday celebration, though looking a little ragged from all of the work she had done in the days between this. Which meant, she did not broker a complaint nor dispute. Writing a new spell was a bit much to ask, even if it were only the first of several things he wished for them to do today.

”Must it be an orb in form and for general lighting by function, or do we have some leeway in how the spell should be? I care not if it must be your own, or rather the own of it’s no doubt long ago creation, but I wish to know what freedom I have in pursuing it.” She asked Rand immediately.

Rand clapped his hand and offered Maria a smile at her forward-thinking in regards to the lesson. ”Good question, Maria! For now, I would like you to focus on making it an orb. In your free time, you may experiment with the shape and characteristics. A more advanced version of the spell, for example, can emit ultraviolet light and is used in forensics, but also needs to be more focused like a standard flashlight since the light can damage your eyes. I would urge all of you as you experiment with your spells to consider safety first. Many a bright mind has been blinded by their own success,” Rand said, answering her earnestly and coming across as fairly professor-like.

He then chuckled and added, ”pardon the pun.”

Raph was not only elated to start training, but even more so in seeing the little brooches they were to wear. He immediately ogled at how cute it was before putting it on immediately, even grabbing a blood pen and pulling out his grimoire. It was suicide for him if he tried to walk around without his grimoire with him at all times, so he always had that and his demon tool on.

As Rand explained what they were going to be doing, he let out a soft ‘tsk’ at the task they were given. Easy, he thought. He could ace this. They needed to learn a bunch of utility spells and expand their horizons. He realized now that sorcerers weren’t completely kept from doing simple spells that didn’t pertain to their theme like most witches were. At least, he thought. As Rand spoke of how to write it and answering Maria’s question, Raph had already started writing in witch script on his scrap of paper with his new blood pen. The thought of a reagent-use spell for emergencies was something he’d love to learn, too.

Right now, he was a sponge.

Without sitting down, he stood there and got to work. On a spare piece of paper, he wrote down instructions for the small, compact, intangible orb of magical energy to appear within a vacant space in front of him when created, emit visible light, and to hold an anchor similar for his chains for magical flow to follow the flow of Raph’s magical energy like a signal to allow for spatial movement. This would also allow it to follow his chains as his magic surged through them if his control over the ball itself is too far for him to send signals. Once that was done, he looked up to see if Rand was watching. “So, like this, dear teacher?” He cooed with full confidence he got it right the first time.

Rand shook his head disapprovingly at seeing the additions made by Raph. He sighed, but kept his cool to rationally explain why. ”There are some minor issues, but one major one. Your script is a little redundant. You describe the size twice, which could cause problems in the spell parsing. I would suggest rewriting it to only reference size one time, and making that size more clear. Give it exact numbers. You also refer to the ball as intangible, but that’s not necessary. As it is only constructed by light, the only thing it could interfere with are objects that refract or otherwise interact with light. I’m not sure how that wording would go, but sometimes it can cause the light to not work right. For example, it may not reflect off of shiny objects or a mirror. I’m not sure, the physics behind that are a bit beyond me,” Rand explained, going into great detail about the specifics of how Raph wrote his spell.

”Now, you did do something wise. You describe it as emitting the light instead of just generating it, meaning it would likely behave more like a natural light source. You also told it to fill a vacant space, which is a good call. I would note here that for spells you create from here on, you can actually take that a step further and add the script for ‘if and only if’ there is a vacant place, meaning the spell will naturally try to find a spot of suitable size that is vacant or it will fail. That might be useful for this spell, but it can be in more testy ones where placement is important,” he explained, offering Raph some praise for some of the wordage he used correctly. Rand tried to balance the scales, especially before his most impactful criticism.

”This spell despite the tiny flaws might have worked if not for that anchor mention you made. You see, your anchors are essentially a whole different spell. To insert them into this spell, you would need a reference spell defined by a witch script in the same text tree. Annoying though it may be, many grimoires do have indexes in the front with defined reference spells just for that. Yours may not yet, but it will as I progress you through spellcrafting. More importantly, and as you may have guessed from how I described a known process for this, there is a specific structure you need in your witch script to add on a secondary effect like that. It may seem like a small effect to you, but it adds a lot of function to the spell. The spell you attempted to write with that would be… at least two pages long, if not three. See, you describe the anchor as ‘following’ the light, but that’s not quite accurate enough. You also don’t describe precisely where the anchor is in relation to the light. These types of inaccuracies, assuming they don’t cause immediate spell failure, may cause some type of catastrophic spell failure when and if you tried to connect a chain to it as you would a normal anchor,” Rand went on explaining, going well into detail that was outside of the range of this lesson. There was truly a reason he wanted them to keep this simple. There was infinitely more to teach them than these basics, but they needed to start somewhere.

”Actually… Raph, go ahead and cast that spell,” Rand suggested, more positively and supporting than one would expect given his critique of it. ”I want to see what it does. I may be good, but even I can’t predict the outcomes of spells when you write them like that. It’ll be a learning experience for us all,” he explained, giving some rationalization as to why he wanted Raph to try it.

Raph was confused. He did well in some parts, and pretty much fucked it up on others. He tried taking it well, but his own sudden frustrations exploded within him was exacerbated by his pull. The brooch mitigated some of the pull’s sensation, but it wasn’t a lot, and he was left with mentally counting numbers to distance himself from his emotions. He took a deep breath as Rand went through the critiques, trying to calm himself, only to pause and look at Rand curiously when he said to try it out.

Huh… Okay…? He was going to, anyway.

Holding the piece of paper, he extended his hand and focused his magical energy through the paper and the script to his outstretched hand to make magelight. As mana surged through Raph and the paper for the casting, the flow of it was much more intense than he expected. Not in raw power, but in volume. The casting of this single spell despite its deceptive simplicity came at the cost of what could have been five or six chains.

Beyond that problem, a few more were immediately obvious. The light that did in fact fade into existence was tiny. Unlike the light that his Magelight emit, which was a soft, warm light that could illuminate a large area, this one was more akin to a glowing marble. Unless one was using it to read a book, it would have effectively been useless. It was, at the very least, a successful creation as it seemed. Stable, floated around freely in the air, didn’t seem too dangerous.

”So… Raph… what signals or commands are you going to send it? Do you have any idea how to control it? You weren’t very specific in the spell, so it could be anything. Thoughts, finger pointing, smoke signals,” Rand went on, now trying to test out the command feature Raph attempted to implement. This one admittedly wouldn’t have been difficult to add, had Raph simply known the correct parameters and been more specific in his description of the signaling system. It might have cost more mana and been a more strenuous long-term drain on him, but it would have been entirely possible.

The sudden drain had surprised Raph, and he had to actually put some focus into generating the ball of light, but once it was there, he was a bit proud of himself. Though nothing like Rand’s Magelight, it was still progress. He just had to fix up the language a bit more. The little ball of light was rather adorable, even if it was pretty much more useless than a night light. When Rand asked about the signal, Raph tilted his head in some confusion. “Uh… My magical energy. I wrote it down as the user’s mana. That could literally be anything I do, yes, as it’s not supposed to be specific. At least, not for this moment. I just need to know if it’ll hone in on my magic and only my magic, as a sort of test before I fix it up.” Whether that was an attempt at saving his pride and himself from the irritant of his madness or if that’s what he was actually going to do was unclear. However, he did bring out his demon tool and made the chains longer. As he swung the chains around, he looked back at his page.

Now that he thought of it. He did put an anchor on the ball of light itself, and it could literally be any anchor. An amused smile crept up on his face as he chuckled and threw the chain length at the ball of light to attach it, thinking it would likely work as one of his other anchor spells. That proved to be an immediate mistake. Upon the anchor coming into contact with the ball, the entire spell collapsed, causing a small feedback of mana to be shot through the air. As the ball was so small, it could not create a substantial shockwave, lest it could have.

While Rand, Maria, and Ark wouldn’t have noticed much about this, Raph was in direct contact with this feedback not only through the chain, but as it was his spell. This was catastrophic spell failure, the exact thing Rand had described. It was impossible to tell which of multiple factors caused it, but the effects were obvious. It wasn’t immediately painful, but it was extremely uncomfortable and managed to scramble the mana Raph was using to create his chain, causing it to fall apart and dissipate as well.

”Not… exactly what I expected,” Rand admitted upon seeing this, ”but, I won’t call it surprising, either.”

He looked over Raph, making sure his student was okay. He was. It would have hurt his pride more than his body, soul, or even mana supply. In just a few short moments, the sorcerer would have been back to normal, though perhaps a bit shaken.

”Raph, would you share that spell with Ark and Maria?” Rand asked him, ”giving them the chance to learn from this can help them avoid it the future. I know you may not like it, and it won’t feel good, but I expect you three to always share your findings. Three heads are better than one,” he explained, giving the logic behind why he wanted Raph to do something that could have been seen as humiliating. It was for the greater good. There would be times where he could benefit from the findings of both Maria and Ark, success or failure, and starting the process of sharing knowledge now would only pave the way forward in doing so.

Raph’s shaken state was from the sudden pang of hurt pride that hit him first before the scrambled mana had reached him, his eyes wide with panic and discomfort. All he felt was disappointment and he was extremely upset. Upset with himself, upset with being the first one to do this. Honestly, he had no reason to blame anyone else, yet his tried and true method of shifting the blame onto Rand momentarily to ease himself reared its ugly head. “Heh, using me as some laughing stock guinea pig then…?” His accusation was quiet, but the crazed look in his eye disappeared when he looked at Rand properly. Blinking, he furrowed his brows. “Uh… Never mind… Pretend I didn’t say anything…” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, then looked at Maria and Ark. “Yeah… Yeah, don’t wanna fuck up their chances either, huh?” He put a spin on his situation however, putting himself in a better mood as he smiled, though it was strained. “Well, I don’t mind being the little vanguard in magic writ.” The complete 180 he did was proof of the efforts made in therapy at least, as he seemed to be fighting his madness pretty well. Though, it still stirred something ugly in his chest.

He walked over to Maria and Ark with the bravado he showed when he asked Rand about his writing, smiling politely, yet with no warmth as he tried to rein himself in. His sing-songy tone held a strain to it, as well, as if it took considerably more effort to say what he was going to say than making any kind of high powered spell. “Don’t make silly Raphy mistakes now~.”

Ark leaned forward, eyeing the script carefully. Like the others he held a pen, wore a brooch, but his response to Raph was immediate as he studied what he had scribbled down.

“You’re being silly now, calling yourself silly. If you think that was bad you should see what I did when I was experimenting with Fire Magic on my own.”

He didn’t go any further than that comment though, and instead, raised one of the scrap parchments as he too considered what exactly he was going to do before he scribbled his own Magelight instructions.

Fire and Heat. Those were actually what he’d started with. Archer’s inspiration with weapon creation had its influence and the House he grew up in had been what had given him the idea to go the opposite direction to the form of magic they naturally excelled in.

In a lot of ways this sort of reminded him of his first experiments with Fire Magic. Creating flames and testing how well he could control them, heat, size, intensity- all while trying to avoid burning anything in the controlled area his Grangran helped him test in.

“Let’s see” Ark muttered to himself.

The orb materialized in the same way he might have conjured a ball of fire. He focused on the intensity of the light, as well as the size of it. The instructions created a ball big enough to fit in his large hand, though instead of creating an anchor, Ark focused more on the location in space just like he would have if he were creating an actual flame. In this case right above the same hand that held the parchment he wrote the instructions on. A fixed location, at least for now so it could be worked on later. If Magelight were like the fire he commanded in combat, changing the fixed position wouldn’t be difficult. He added in the instruction that essentially did what he might have done if he had conjured a ball of fire, the ability to extinguish it immediately, allowing him to control how bright the light was by extension tethering it to how much magic he fed the orb.

The pen stopped, and Ark observed. The end results were more stable than Raphael, but still demonstrated some slight issues. The orb did appear above his parchment paper as instructed, but it was an intensely bright white light that was more annoying than it was helpful. Ark specified he could control the luminosity, but not the color or what brightness it would be initially conjured at. As the spell was written, the magelight remained only in its original slot. Ark would need to edit the spell for movement. He failed to consider far less possibilities than Raph, with only the initial brightness and color being the initial issues.

With any amount of testing, he would find out that while he wrote the capability for extinguishing the spell, he did not write an instruction for how he would command it to do so. In essence, he created a door with no knob. The potential was there, but not the method. At the very least, this didn’t matter a considerable amount as channeled spells could most often be canceled simply by cutting off the supply of mana to it, which a Sorcerer could do at will; they just couldn’t cast the spell without a conduit. In that regard, this was a self-resolving problem.

Between his students, Rand saw incremental improvements with some challenges still existing between them. He hoped the blinding white light would not discourage Raph as a sign of success, but more so that the comrade immediately following him did not quite cast the spell perfectly, either.

”I would call it usable in an emergency, but not passable by my standards," Rand said, commenting on the Magelight that Ark had created. ”I told you that you needed to make visible light, and you did, but I kept it vague to show you that if you don’t give the specific command for a nice, soft light for illumination, you might end up with more of a short-range flash than a nice floating light. Granted, in the right circumstances, this could still be useful,” he explained, noting that he intentionally kept some of the instructions slightly hazy for the sake of learning.

”You did get size and placement right, and I commend giving it a static location before experimenting further if that was your goal. As you three go on to make and test spells, often you will want to only change one part of a spell at a time to tweak that change until it is ideal before you move on,” Rand told them, giving the group another tip in regards to spell creation for future endeavors.

”Maria, you’re up next, and you have the most advantage being that you’ve seen how Raph and Ark wrote their spells and what they ultimately created with them,” Rand said, shifting his attention over to Maria and more importantly, away from the obnoxiously bright light. ”I’ll give you an even further lead. Specific details matter. As you saw, Raph was more specific with his description of size and it came out how he wanted. He didn’t use measurements, but instead related it to the size of his hand. That kind of description will work most of the time, but it would change if you cast it from his paper, for example. It would be the size of your hand, not his. If you tried to cast one the size of, oh say, something as vague as a dog, it would likely come out the size of whatever dog was at the forefront of your surface thoughts as the caster. This is where those tiny specifics play a big role,” Rand explained to her specifically, giving her even more insight to how this would work.

”If you try what Ark did with an adjustable brightness, you will want to make sure you define how bright it should be initially, and that should be listed before the command for adjustments. You did get to see my Magelight in the Dall Oak, so you should have a good idea of how mine looked and the color. For the sake of all our eyes, do try and make a nice soft, yellow-tinted light instead of a bright, white LED,” he told her, almost giving her an unfair advantage with the extra information, though this wasn’t due to the fact of being partial to her. He simply wanted to expedite the process.

”As a note to all of you, this may seem annoying or frustrating at first, but remember that as you learn to write spells, you adapt to the mindset of writing them, so it does get easier. You also only need to write the spell successfully once, then it should be on paper forever. I won’t say that the process gets easier as you go on, but I do promise that these first steps are often the most rocky,” he announced to all of them, trying to reaffirm the importance of this process. Admittedly, he was teaching them a skill decades before most Witches even dabbled with it, but that was a conversation and revelation for another time.

With the demonstrations from the other two, Maria took specific notes, it seemed the kishin was in the details. Color, shape, size, purpose, length, width, shape, angle, and brightness. “Hmm…” Raph’s failure had to be grating on him, given how he was, he was not as calm as he let on, and even his offhand remarks to himself seemed forced. For his part Rand did passably but not well enough for it to be in general use by his own judgement.

With what had been learned, Maria took the blood pen in hand and released the lock of her grimoire, pages flickering and flying open till she reached a point to stop. From there her work began. With speed and purpose she wrote something in greater detail and length than either of her partners, and taking what they had did correct and wrong, making her own spin on it.

Firstly, the ball would be summoned by incantation that was physical in nature, her ring and index finger tips of the right hand would tap into her thumb twice, and then twice more to deactivate, in addition it was set to anchor in movement of her right hand, with commands being etched to follow in direction and distance with a open palm movement of said right hand, forward and back, left, right, up, down. With a limit of two feet within her personal sphere. In addition its brightness was controlled by the amount of mana fed to it, as well as size, being anchored directly to her hand and her hand size alone, it was roughly the size of a softball, though it had one, and was set to start at a low dim, a twirl of her index finger to lower or raise the brightness in a clock or counterclockwise dimension, as well as one, or rather two peculiar traits…

For one, it had what could be best called an “eye” an iris that could direct and focus the beam, or naturally converted more light to the front, rather than equally all around, and secondly, that it had a setting that could be manipulated with her mana and a single tap of her index and middle fingers to her thumb, to make the light red in place of the soft yellow white that was requested of her. What the reasoning was for this would be explained later, provided it all worked to design.

Tapping her thumb and fingers together a ball of light suddenly emerged at her fingertips, growing and positioning to rest just in front of and in line with her right hand. Feeding mana to it and lessening it both constricted and enlarged it, as the “eye” was then left to linger on each one of them as Maria had one of her disconcerting smiles and giggle fits, before upping the brightness and pointing it at wall, space just in front of her.

Testing out the red light feature she explained. “I’m used to low light conditions or at least the uneven lighting one would find in a workshop or factory. Red light does not interfere with one’s own natural night vision and would enable me to read.” With another tap it goes back to the yellow and white, waving her open palm, the light moved within a narrow axis tied to her own person. She was satisfied with it, if Rand would be or not was the question.

“In principle writing the commands was simple, commanding my dolls and wires requires such.”

”Bold of you to write directly in your grimoire without testing it prior,” Rand commented, which in and of itself was one of his only real criticisms of the approach Maria had. She did in fact learn from all the lessons Raph and Ark had set before her. Of course, her time in the workshop and tutelage under Mirai probably played no small part in this success. As a crafter, attention to detail was important. He knew firsthand that she valued both function and form as well, meaning all the more attention typically went into her creations.

”I would in fact approve this spell, but I do have a substantial critique about your approach,” Rand went on, not sure quite how to word what he was about to say, especially given it could have easily came across as a matter of preference. Though, to his mind, her method was vastly inferior to the alternative.

”Your Magelight is almost entirely dependent on specific hand signals. It’s common for gestures to be incorporated into functions of a spell, especially for a Sorcerer. However, most of the commands you described could have been replaced with sheer thought, and the willpower to do so is no more demanding than the focus it would take to weave your hands. I’m sure your manual dexterity is good given your work, but the requirement to stop what you’re doing with your hands to control it only really serves to be a burden. The idea of a utility spell is for it to be as useful as possible, and by nature, this spell could become a burden, or at the very least, far less efficient,” Rand explained, trying primarily to address the philosophy of this spell. These were not her dolls that might have required some type of hand gesture, nor the wires she used to control anything. She didn’t need to preserve that theme of her magic. In his mind, it factually only held this spell back from reaching its full potential. Had she not incorporated them, he would have been considerably impressed at the otherwise first-try attempt, regardless of how much help she was given.

”Consider this. Any time you would use that spell, you are likely in a low-light situation. If you’re working on something and using it to replace a flashlight, for example, now you have to drop your tool, move your hand to reposition, then pick up your tool. If you’re exploring a cave, you have to take that moment to move your hand to use the light to scout areas ahead of you as opposed to just thinking about it. If this spell remains as is, then those tiny bits of wasted time over the centuries of your lifespan will add up to entire days wasted, if you make consistent use of this spell,” Rand explained, putting a different twist on why he found the particular control scheme of the spell as written so disadvantageous.

She had wrote it in the Grimoire rather than on the test paper. It was then she seemed to register what she had done as she sunk back in her chair, and in a rare, extremely rare at that, she actually showed a hint of emotion on her face, and suffice to say, she was pissed.

“...I… Yes, I got carried away with my work and added it to the book, now I must erase it…that will take time and blood… Ah… And to use the mind, of course, well now I know what improvements to make.” True to habits, she then stuck her right thumb to her mouth and bit it hard enough to draw blood as the scowl on her face vanished.

Gaining some composure from the act she stares at Rand as if nothing were wrong, or at least explaining her train of thought. “I had intended to redesign the spell later and attune it with stones in some of my dolls heads. Eyes if you will, with the corrections from the two and that in mind, I simply allowed my work to take me.”

Rand mulled this over. It made sense that Maria was carried away. This type of highly structured learning was probably right up her alley. How quickly she made an effective spell somewhat proved that, though she was most directly correct that erasure would take some time. Normally, the process only required a few drops from the person that wrote it. Maybe if she was accustomed to erasing what someone else wrote, it might require more blood, if only to empower the process. Either way, there was too much to teach to splinter off at the moment.

”At a later time, I can teach you how to make a magical reference so that you can create a spell that will effectively implant the Magelight into the eyes of your dolls, much like Raph tried to do by making a floating anchor. I should probably teach all of you that at some point, actually, but it’s an entirely different set of lessons in and of itself. That, or you could create an entirely different spell, but magical references are more versatile,” Rand explained, offering her some support for her future plans with the Magelight spell. He could see some utility in glowing eyes or flashlights for her dolls, so it wasn’t a waste per se.

”For now, everyone, we are racing the sun. Let’s not overcomplicate these spells. Also, let’s remember to write them on the practice paper before you put them in your grimoires. It’s wise you learn how to make this type of infused paper yourself, but that’s for another time. I’m sure Mirai can teach Maria, and Maria can teach you; it’s not difficult at all and far cheaper than buying it outright,” Rand went on, trying to proceed with the training as intended. He truly was keeping the pressure up due to the schedule. ”You can alter them to be more complex later, right now, we just want the basics,” he told them, reiterating the point.

That message sank in. It took no more than ten minutes for the three of them to have nearly identical Magelight spells working properly, ready to be transcribed into grimoires and even edited later. After the first spell, the group got into a rhythm. Rand made it apparent that he wanted to teach them some basic spells from every major elemental school of magic. That alone was surprising given few Witches or Sorcerers dabbled in so many various fields, but their mentor was known as the Witch of a Thousand Spells, and that moniker was proving itself.

Rand demonstrated a pretty firm understanding of magic and theory, but also that of science. He went on to explain that when he joined the DWMA, he hated most science and Magitech especially, believing they were shallow attempts to recreate what true Magic could do. After some time spent in the labs and acquiring friends in the DWMA, he saw that wholeheartedly wasn’t the case. Science, philosophy, rational thinking–he found them all incredibly interesting and important. The work Magitech did in bridging Magic and Science was impressive, though it did fall short of proper casting at virtually every circumstance. Still, the group got a lesson about their mentor as they learned about magic.

Reason being, he informed them that his method of teaching was entirely unorthodox. It wasn’t listed in any ancient tome or passed down through the Mabian line. In fact, it was something he and a rare few others were paving the way for: learning to utilize Magic through scientific understanding. He forsook the common understanding of elements and schools of magic and instead proposed the thought that some casters had an easier time with certain schools of magic because their function was close to their innate magic, but that the actual mechanics had the most to do with how that spell actually effected the tangible, physical world.

It was a new model of thinking, experimental in every conceivable way, but it wasn’t without its merits. In just a few hours, the group of Sorcerers had picked up both an understanding of physics and a few new spells. From the school of water, they first learned how to effectively control a small volume of it. The spell could be scaled up heavily at the cost of more mana. Ark would find this spell especially difficult as it was so intrinsically counter intuitive to his own innate magic, but he was in fact capable of using it. All three of them with practice could perform the same feat: move roughly five gallons worth of water from a standing body into a stream.

That spell might have seemed mildly useless, but he promised it would make sense later.

The next spell was also simple and something Ark fundamentally didn’t really need. It was a simple firestarter spell tied to the ability to manage the flames. Had they all known how to use this on Dall Island, the dynamic may have changed. Ark helped with this spell as it was his specialty and soon enough, the other two were able to create and manage flames with ease.

Next came a combination of two spells. Spell Layering was the act of using two spells in conjunction with another for a more profound or different, unique effect. Rand elected to combine the Firestarter and Water Movement spells to create a spell that allowed the User to heat a small body of water until it boiled, then move that steam into a new container to condense. This took some while to pick up and was arguably the climax of their new spells as it was, without a doubt, the most difficult. However, at the end, they were all successful in creating this complex, layered spell that resulted in them each being able to boil and subsequently move water vapors so that they could create distilled water.

Next, he taught them a simple ice spell. Again, Ark had a tough time with this one as it was the literal opposite of his normal spellcasting, but it served a simple purpose. To create ice cubes. Once distilled water was made, they could cool it immediately for drinking. The point of this spell wasn’t just a parlor trick, either. He wanted to show the group how the heat management with the Firestarting spell was essentially the same mechanic here, but in reverse. While they could control the intensity of the heat with one spell, they could do the same to make something cold. It was just water, but it was the principle of the lesson, short though it may be.

The penultimate spell was one from his own school of magic: wind. It was an insulation spell, following the trend of heat-related spells. The spell created a barrier of wind around its user, though with the right edits it could be made larger, and in doing so made it difficult for the transfer of heat. It also blocked wind and other contaminants. This was yet another spell Ark had some difficulty with as he primarily used Earth Magic, but he did eventually get it.

Aside from Magelight, the spells he had taught the three up to this point and gave them a firm understanding of almost all dealt with heat. They were, as he described, utility. Each one also had a significant drain on their mana. By the time they had learned to distill water, their Mana Reserves from the testing and toiling had become quite low, burning through a Mana Crystal each to recharge. Rand explained this as it being a result of how different these spells were to their innate magic, and thus how inefficient they were at casting them. Efficiency would come with time if they elected to practice them, or if they increased their mana pool in general. Still, these basic utility Spells alone proved that magic outside their natural field could leave them as drained as major fights did back on the island.

The final spell was a complete change of form. It was an Earth Spell, one even Ark didn’t immediately know. It was simple at core: Soften Earth. It did exactly as described. It magically (and temporarily) decreased the density and hardness of stone or minerals. It was an incredibly niche spell, but in the few situations it could be useful, it could be a make-or-break utility to have. That, and as Rand explained, the Earth element was the natural opposition to his, so he was less skilled with that set of magic, and thus his creativity for it ran slightly dry.

Regardless, in just one afternoon, the three Sorcerers managed an impressive feat: they learned a spell from each of the major, traditional schools of magic. Rand also used this moment to explain how he questioned even the current structure of the tier system. As it stood, each of them would have just elevated their ranking to Tier 4, yet did not grow in power. If they were Tier 4, that would have effectively made them equals to Rand, and it didn’t take a genius to know that wasn’t true. Rand had an agenda set forth here trying to break the mold, shifting their perspectives to try and open their minds to different ways of perceiving Magic.

A short break led to the next objective.

”I already know what I want to teach Raphael,” Rand said, transitioning on after their break. ”I believe his innate magic is more complex than just creating steel links, and we’ll test that out,” he went on, explaining his goal with Raph specifically.

”I similarly want to make you two think outside the box,” Rand said, shifting over to Ark and Maria. ”Ark, you use your gauntlets for the majority of your spells. You’re a specialist in that regard, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, I want to try and think of ways to implement your strong elemental spellcasting into effects you haven’t yet. If your current spells are a kit, I don’t want to redesign your kit; I want to add to it. I have some ideas, but they’re quite simple. I was hoping for something more complex. Try to brainstorm something, if you can,” Rand instructed, ”and if I can find a way to make the idea work, we’ll work on it. If not, we’ll go with my more basic approach and see if that works to open your eyes some.”

He nodded, giving some thought to what exactly he could add to his kit while Rand went on to Maria.

Rand sighed. ”I have thought about you long and hard,” Rand said. He didn’t even take a moment to consider the double entendre that sentence could have been. ”You have new weapons, a broom, the new gift I gave you, and your magic itself is fairly unique. I can make threads like you, but you by far exceed my use of them. I don’t think I can advance your spellcasting given my own in your field would pale in comparison to what you can do,” Rand explained to her, offering her quite the humble admission of how her fighting style was quite difficult for him to adjust to.

”My ideas, simply, are either to figure out if you have a base element your innate magic works well with. Ark has Earth and Fire, Raph is closer to fire as he’s demonstrated with his chains. We can find out yours–if you do have one–with a simple test,” Rand offered her, ”or, I could show you a few more complex applications of spells that might work well with your new toys. The spindles I created for you actually have a rune anchor built into them so that you can reference it in spellwork to alter the effects of your thread, which could be useful. Or, alternatively, I could try and teach you the basics of Summoning Magic, so that you could summon dolls from the workshop to the field if need be. The choices are really yours here, and there’s not a wrong answer; I just don’t think I can help you with your thread or doll spells, specifically.”

As each of them in turn were given instructions and the basic spells learned, individual lessons were offered, for each it seemed clear cut and simple, they each had something in mind, though both by no means sounded easy. Maria however found herself met with some small praise and several choices, each with pros each their own, as she outlined her thoughts.

“Rand, I don’t know in all honesty. Learning if I have an element and which sort would open more doors down the road, as we reach off into other things, but it would be something that is only useful in the future, near or far.

The spindles would enable me to do more complex, or command delayed movements from even my smaller constructs, or to extend my range. Unless you see something more in it than I.

And then there is summoning, while I’m used to carrying what I have, being able to summon in replacements or even being able to call in dolls and gear not on my person, would allow for easy reinforcements or for it to seem as if I am unarmed… Well, asides from the knives. It would solve a lot of logistical issues too, though I would need mana crystals to make use of it.”

Seemingly stumped, she was curious for his thoughts on the matter. ”Part of me says the summoning knowledge, because on the Island mission, having lost two of my darlings hampered my combat abilities, but I am curious for your preference, in which would have the best use for the time being. You are the witch of 1000 spells… Though in all honest being given three knives, I should just learn knife fighting…”

Rand pondered her question. He had listened to her recite the options he provided her, blended together with her own input on each, and some commentary formed from her critical thinking. She did have a keen mind, if anything, she was often prone to overthinking. She was much the type that could miss the forest for the trees. In this situation, however, she was truly in a tough spot as she had a difficult decision to make.

It was true. Summoning Magic, even if done with Mana Crystals, would be a massive boon to her. She needed her dolls for the majority of her combat effectiveness. Knife fighting was out of the question. Not only was Rand not particularly skilled with knives himself, they weren’t truly relevant to the point of the objective. The spindles and new tools she obtained recently did create multiple layers to her fighting style, and integrating them with new spells could be advantageous.

As his mind churned, though, it was actually the first option that seemed more and more ideal. If she could pick up a few offensive elemental spells, it would mitigate the issue of how detrimental the loss of her dolls were. Not only that, Summoning Magic would take some time to use effectively. It had one purpose, to transport items directly to the caster. She would require Mana Crystals at her young age and mana pool to use it, and even then she could run out of said crystals or even run out of dolls making the spell pointless.

She could develop her fighting style on her own with experience. While he could probably jumpstart that process, how she fought would inevitably be up to her. What he taught her today would only be another step in a journey that would last her a lifetime. Besides that, if he taught her niche spells now, whenever she did expand her repertoire, they may become moot or have lesser integration.

Learning her elemental affinity seemed like the logical choice to him. It would still plunge her forward in her spellcasting, it would give her versatility that could avoid her being entirely reliant on her dolls, elemental-based magic was common enough she could research it on her own, and once she did start creating a more comprehensive fighting style, she wouldn’t have another huge factor to upheave what she had learned, if she learned this now.

Still, he couldn’t deny there was an appeal to the other options.

”I’ve thought about it,” Rand responded after a short delay, obviously thinking over the question of what his input was. ”In your situation, I would think that learning if you have an elemental affinity and what it is would be the most beneficial. I can teach Tier One Spells from most major elements, and you can research it easiest on your own. More so, if you do learn some elemental spells, it means you wouldn’t be as affected by the loss of a doll, and furthermore it means that you can start developing your more intricate spell layering with that element in mind,” he explained to her, summarizing the thought process he went through to achieve his decision.

”I would admit Summoning Magic may provide a more profound, immediate boon to your current spellcasting, but if you’re looking at the long term of your learning and development, determining which if any affinity for elemental magic you may have provides the most overall benefit,” Rand added, giving her the insight that he was considering the overall impact of her choice, not just ‘for the time being’ as she had worded it.

Listening to his own reply Maria nodded in kind, finding his reason sound enough. Giving a nod she would consent to it for now. ”Very well, Rand, I will do what you suggest for now, though the rest of those I may bother you about in the future.”

”Well, I don’t plan on going anywhere any time soon,” Rand replied to Maria, ”so long as there’s time, I’ll teach all I can.” Afterwards, Rand performed a come hither sign aimed at her bag, and immediately after, one of the sheets of enchanted paper flew into his hand. He pressed his thumbs down onto both edges of the paper, and slowly but surely, bright blue lines of mana began encroaching onto the pristine white surface of the paper, forming various circles, runes, and Witch Script.

”Once this is done, you’ll put your thumbs over where mine presently are and channel mana into the paper for roughly five minutes or so. At the end, the paper will have gauged how capable your mana is in the five primary elements and the five main subtypes of magic; which would explain why this is called the ten point test,” Rand explained, though his inscription was still ongoing. It did seem this process took a fair amount of time, even for him.

”Raphael, some insight to my goal with you: your primary magic is chain magic, but you only consider the physical aspect of it. On a fundamental level, conjuring chains is just a type of magic pertaining to metals. When a subtype of magic presents itself, it normally does so with unique properties. If you conjure chains, then there are probably some hidden properties to your magic you haven’t explored. Chains are fundamentally used to restrain or secure things. In a thematic sense, you may also find your magic capable of restraining others, or restraining magic, something like that. I intend to explore this idea with you with the goal of figuring out whatever unique property your chain magic should have; I find it hard to believe your magic would revolve entirely around creating just chains, ” Rand asked, his eyes falling down to the paper to watch the magic traces continue to unfold. Swirls and circles were now forming near its center, the script itself completed along the edges, top and bottom, now primarily forming circles that straightened out into the form of two mirrored octagons on both the top and bottom half.

”Ark, have you come up with any ideas?” Rand asked, quickly shooting over to Ark to see if the Sorcerer had brainstormed anything. Given how on the spot this was, he doubted Ark would miraculously come up with something suitable, but it didn’t hurt to see what thoughts he might have. As he asked that question, though, the paper finished, and he handed it off to Maria. ”Just be patient for your results. The mana will flow from your right hand to your left along the top, then again from left to right on the bottom. Once it comes back full circle, it will stop draining your mana, and you’ll know it’s done,” Rand explained, making sure Maria knew what to expect from the paper. While she could watch the results unfold in real time, it would only make the situation like watching a boiling pot. Even Rand knew it was best not to suggest against watching, though, as learning such key parts about yourself and your magic was a special moment.

Doing as he had asked, Maria begins the ritual, well if it could be called that, feeding her own mana into the magic paper, when Rand had moved his hands away she continued, as the energy went full circle. Not sure what would happen next, she simply asks; ”Now what do I do? But ah, see to the others first.”

"I have…ideas but nothing concrete." Was the Earth mage's reply. "This whole experience has shown me that outside of my own I'd struggle a decent portion in application to some of the other elements. And since I've been thinking about it a while, I was considering incorporating weapons into my combat. Not like my father." He added to stop that comparison first, and illustrate what he was thinking second.

"My gloves for example, I can activate them at will with my own mana and create all kinds of terrakinetic weapons with the right movements. If I were to branch out I think I'd want to create gear or Demon Tools that possess different elemental effects that I could summon."

”Unless you’re willing to compromise on a magitech weapon, like my own, I would suggest you seek the guidance from another to create such items,” Rand responded, putting the issue of Demon Tools into a blunt, simple answer that brought the topic to a grinding halt.

”It did create one for Maria, but my eye and access to research aided in that process greatly. Learning how to create them involves both learning the associated skill, such as blacksmithing, and figuring out how to augment the materials involved with mana, spells, or rituals at every step you can… then figuring out what specifically happens when you do. Demon Tool creation is one of the most guarded secrets in Witchkind,” Rand added, giving more context around this question. ”Almost every young sorcerer wants to create their own Demon Tools, but it’s not normally even feasible at our ages. The spells required to do so often have high mana costs or skill requirements, and if you lack a mentor, you could spend decades or even centuries testing out what does and doesn’t work through trial and error.”

”Maria, as talented as she is, only has her footstep in the door of Demon Tools. Her dolls, as magnificent as they are, do require her outside spellwork to function for the most part. They’re dolls, not golems, not true independent Demon Tools, not artificial beings. She has spent years working on it under Mirai, a Witch of sufficient renown my grandmother respects her,” Rand continued dumping information, but only because he truly wanted to drive this point home. Ark had Demon Tools passed down from his family; they were hardly insignificant, either. They should be cherished. Maria had the guidance of a well-known Witch. In his eyes, they didn’t precisely know how lucky they were.

”If you want to utilize weapons for more close-range combat, that’s not a bad idea. You could either make them via your own spellwork, or as I said, commission a magitech item. Given the nature of your spells, you could easily sculpt Earth to make a weapon and set it afire or layer spells to make it erupt into lava upon contact. If you want to go down that route, I can help you. I know the spells to create elemental weapons, so what I would need to do is help you adapt it to your element. Earth is fundamentally very different than Wind, but the Witch Script would be quite similar,” Rand said, shifting topics back over to a more hopeful one and presenting Ark alternatives to his desire.

"I would be quite open to that actually." Ark stated. "I've made makeshift weapons out of earth before but those were on the fly decisions and not to the standard of a decent weapon."

Watching as the graph filled out, the paper glowed a bit, leaning towards a wiccan sign for the element of wind somewhat heavily, with another factor towards force, whatever that was. Still, an interesting diversion, Maria has to admit. Still, she had an answer she figured. ”Rand, it is done.”

With the final decisions and tests made, the rest of the training went along smoothly. In fact, it was by far easier than learning the utility spells, mostly because what they were learning now dealt with their strengths. That played an important role not only in the drain it had on their mana, but likely in their natural understanding of the subjects.
Rand first started out by explaining how the test worked in full to Maria. He explained she had a greater affinity for the wind element, which he seemed delighted in. Wind, and Sound by extension, were his primary elements. If anyone was to teach her Wind Magic, Rand was a prime candidate for it. Force magic was slightly different. Force Magic involved telekinesis, kinetic and potential energy control, barriers, and various other spells that revolved around the concept of a simple push or pull. Force Magic was quite rare to appear in a sorcerer as it was often perceived as a school of magic that was primarily innate or instinctual. Maria likely had some unique sub-variant, though either way, it was a useful and versatile field of magic.

Rand first conjured her a set of two books and directed her to read them while he assisted the others. Both were overviews of the respective schools of Magic that Maria was shown to be capable of. Wind Magic in literature was described as somewhat fickle, and highly reliant on the caster. While most spells could become more powerful as they went up in tiers, this was the most true for Wind Magic. Furthermore, Wind Magic perhaps more than the other four elements benefited highly from education. Aerodynamics and understanding physics could play important roles in what more advanced spells were capable of.

Because Ark was effectively learning a set of two spell concepts in one, he was next. Rand instructed Raph to sit in and listen to the lesson as some of the concepts he was teaching Ark may transfer over to himself at some point. The first topic Rand outlined was how to more effectively create weapons. He explained that while regular Earth-Shaping spells could most definitely result in a crude weapon, writing out a set of predetermined weapons as spells would ultimately be both faster and result in higher quality weapons.

Rand instructed Ark to use his phone to simply search for images of suitable weapons he would want to create, then taught him how to draw a scaled graph on scrap paper that a spell could use as a physical reference. He further went on to show Ark that one drawing may not be enough. Creating multiple references from different angles or incorporating a z-axis would show more of the weapon, and thus create a more accurate version of it. Beyond that, he could add more layers to the spell, adjusting what type of earth it was made out of and transmuting it if it wasn’t present. He could go as far as enchanting it with mana immediately and adjusting its density if he wanted. There were plenty of layers to the spell, but luckily, all Ark had to do was design the spell to work once, then he could copy it over and draw the next.

It was at this point he brought everyone around to simply give them a new spell. Unlike the previous ones, he didn’t make them work for this one, nor did he force them to understand it yet. That would take too long and the utility of this spell was too great to not show them. In effect, the spell allowed for a Blood Pen to target a spell written in the blood of the user, then copy it to another piece of enchanted paper. In essence, it was a copy and paste spell. He provided them an example of the Witch Script for it, and continued on with training.

Raph had just received the same lesson as Ark, but now it was time to shift to himself. Rand and Raph went through a dozen scenarios or more testing different traits of his chains, using various complex spells Rand created on the spot to test them. In the end, it was determined that Raph and his chain spells had two unique qualities. The first was incredibly simple, yet incredibly important. If Raph were to use his chains to restrain or otherwise impede someone, they could be enchanted far beyond his normal skill-level to be heavier and more durable. In short, his chains almost wanted to be used for that purpose. This use wasn’t exactly niche, either. The idea of holding someone back or literally chaining someone up was a primary use of chains in general. Now, with a simple spell, Raph could make that effect even greater, if he managed to get his chains around someone or something.

The second more notable trait is that his chains could suppress a target. While they couldn’t make something like spellcasting impossible, they could most definitely make it significantly more difficult. Without a Meister present, it was presently impossible to determine if they had the same effect on spiritual energy, but even if not, the ability to suppress magic from a spellcaster was a massive boon. It took his chains from a farcical theme or niche sub-type of metal to an actual, potentially dangerous threat.

Of course, both of these traits had a large drain on Raph in terms of his concentration and mana pool, but such was to be expected from advanced spellcasting.

Given the complexity of these spells, Rand allowed Raph to keep the copies of the two functioning alterations to his chain spells with him to study, then to ask questions when he got hung up. What Rand told Raph is that he needed to be able to recreate the spells with a full understanding of how they worked. Only then could he start applying them to his other spells on a large scale.

From there, it seemed Ark was still working on all of the specific parameters of his new weapons that he wanted. He seemed to have the idea down, but was tailoring each one to his liking. Which, in and of itself, was fine with Rand. Spells were meant to be personal.

He circled back to Maria. While she hardly had time to finish the books, they did at least give her a theoretical base to work off of. And, boy, did she. Maria was a sponge for knowledge. Even if it wasn’t a workshop where she was accustomed to, she picked up on theoretical concepts quickly, and her generalized intelligence wasn’t something to be underplayed. She wasn’t a case of a sharp mind in a single field, but one that could be applied to others. Perhaps not all, but enough to be considerably impressive.

While the other two worked on their respective assignments, Rand began teaching Maria some of the basics. First, a simple but potent gust of wind that could be launched from her hand. She quickly understood the theory behind it and much like with Magelight, transcribed it quickly. In just a few attempts, she could launch a burst of wind from her hand. It wasn’t the most lethal, but it most certainly could get her some distance.

The spells went on. The most common offensive wind magic was the Wind Scythe, which was a simple slashing spell with wind. She caught onto that, and had it down. Then came the ability to imbue a weapon with that magic, allowing her to enhance the cutting ability of a weapon in a similar fashion. Some spells, such as flight, were beyond her current skill level and mana reserves, but she could hover in the air. Rand even excitedly tried to teach her some Sound based magic, but found that upon her first finger-snap sonic boom, her mana depletion hastened heavily. She could use it, which meant she had some affinity for it as it was a Wind style of Magic, but the drain from doing so increased considerably.

Ark had finished his assignment, proving to be able to now conjure relatively high-quality earthen weapons as constructs, so it was on to the second part of his training. Much like Raph, Rand left Maria with a spell for her to pick apart and apply the mechanics of. It was a spell he personally used often. A combination of two effects, this spell would once cast allow the user to channel it for as long as they had concentration, and in doing so move at considerably greater speeds. She would have to balance the reduction of air resistance with surges of wind behind her to create these somewhat linear bursts of speed, and that Rand felt was sufficient challenge to consume her time.

Back to Ark. His weapons were impressive, but fundamentally, they were just earthen constructs. Nothing terribly dangerous about them. Rand added the second layer here to change that. Incorporating his fire magic into these weapons, Ark would be able to turn certain parts of his weapons into lava constructs that retained their shape. Given that lava burned at something like two thousand degrees, give or take, this would definitely increase their combat potential. By the rate they were going, he doubted they would have time to go about the spells to make the lava edges detonate or be able to be reshaped, but there would be time for that later.

Rand showed Ark how to create a spell reference. In essence, Ark would need to create a set of tags around the spell he wanted to reference, such as the weapon created, and then use that reference inside the second spell which had the intended effect. This was uniquely different from spell layering as the spells were not necessarily cast simultaneously, though they could be. Instead, these were two separate spells where one was dependent on each other. This again would be a long and tedious process for Ark. He would need to reference what sections of a weapon would be turned into lava, write out the script for them retaining their shape, was taught a new mechanic that allowed the channeling and concentration of the weapons to now be dependent on the channeling of the lava, which would make it easier overall on him to control, and several other lesser factors such as how to stop the channeling and what to do if the weapon broke, as to avoid catastrophic failure.

As it stood, once the weapon itself was made, the only part that required concentration on it was the magical enchantment on it. What this spell did was change that type of enchantment. Ark needed to be incredibly precise with his Witch Script to make sure the enchantment worked as intended, had failsafes, and wasn’t as dangerous to him as it was for any old idiot to try and wield what was effectively a lightsaber.

With Ark on that task, Rand was back to Raph for a moment. Raph had a difficult task here insofar that the actual adjustments to his Chain Magic essentially overhauled how they were cast and their effects. It wasn’t just “adding a new effect”, it would require adding this effect once it was completed and integrating it into every spell he wanted it to be a part of. He would need to ultimately rewrite the vast majority of his spells with this new understanding, which meant there was no shortcut here. Raph mostly had the process down for the restraint enhancement, but hadn’t but started on the suppression, let alone using the two in conjunction. At the very least, this was a process that once he accomplished once, the experience would make it easier for the others.

After several hours and plenty of exhaustion, each of the students here did accomplish their goal. Ark was able to consistently create a handful of lava-enchanted weapons, Maria had picked up on Wind Magic, and Raph had at the very least been able to integrate his two new effects into his basic chain spells. Each of the three had a world of possibilities to work on after this as well. Ark could create additional spell effects on his lava weapons at a later time, Raph still needed to apply his new effects to other portions of his spell kit, and Maria had entirely new elements to deal with.

Maria did pick-up more spells while waiting on the other two. After the speed enhancement spell, Rand taught her a different type of transmutation spell which he used to great effect. It had a handsome mana cost, but was especially deadly. By transmuting the amount of oxygen and hydrogen in the air, she could create an explosive mixture that only needed a spark to ignite. Extremely dangerous, a high possibility of backfire when used, but given what she did with her doll in the tournament, that seemed right up her alley. To match it, he tried teaching her something from Force Magic, but it turned out her affinity for Force Magic was much weaker. A barrier itself was still outside of her range without practice, but she could do basic telekinetic pushes and pulls.

Overall, the entire group massively expanded their potential. While Maria learned the most spells, Raph and Ark learned two that had the potential to reshape how they fought entirely. Ark opened up a new world of possibilities with his weapons. Not only that, the possibility to use them in conjunction with Maria’s dolls only made them that much more dangerous. With what Raph learned, nearly every spell he had grew exponentially more dangerous, if he could execute the right setup with it. It was a toss-up as to who actually came out of this with the most.

”I can tell all three of you are already pretty exhausted,” Rand said in a nonchalant tone after having the three regroup following a short break. ”Even with Mana Crystals, the constant spellwork takes a toll on your body,” he went on, ”but, you three still have one more spell to learn before I dismiss you, and it’s… probably the most difficult one.”

From his own bag, Rand pulled out a blackened, leather bound and passed it around. It was entirely full of the most complex Witch Script any of them had ever seen, to such a degree it seemed absolutely nonsensical. Witch Script could be used to write poetry, send letters, design outlines and decrees from the Wiccan Council. Inside that book was page after page of seemingly random sequences of words, half-words, and unknown characters.

”You won’t need to learn what’s in that book, but that book is the crux of this spell. That is called a binding tomb,” he told them, ”and you’re about to learn a very powerful binding ritual. It requires at least two people and can be used with up to eight. In theory, the spell is forbidden, but my grandmother is allowing me to teach it on the basis that there may come a day when we face a foe we cannot defeat. On Dall Island, for example, if we had to fight the queen, we probably would have lost. She may be gone now, but that type of threat still looms,” he went on explaining.

”You will not share this spell. You will not teach your families. You will keep it a secret from everyone you know,” Rand explained, then looking over to Maria specifically. ”Even Mirai. This type of spell can seal other Witches, too,” he informed the group. Afterwards, he pulled out another three sheets of paper, each of these imbued with the Crest of Maba, which was an eye with a witch hat atop.

”You can decline. To learn this spell, you must sign a Contract of Silence. Should you attempt to teach another Witch this spell, you will be rendered blind, deaf, and mute. The only exception would come from a Witch of the Mabian line, in which case the contract becomes void. The only reason that failsafe is in place is in the radical event we need more individuals to seal a target,” he explained to them, outlining the demands of this spell, ”and do not underestimate what this target can seal. Eibon and my grandmother used this spell millennia ago to seal A Great Old One inside the Book of Eibon, and that required only seven of the eight total participants.I’m sure you can imagine what the ancient Witches had in mind for the use of eight, which is why it is normally forbidden.”

It was honestly not the final thing he had expected them to learn. Out of anything really he’d expected some sort of group spell like what they’d done to create the field of Lava, but then again Rand was right. If they had to fight the Spider Queen they’d met, they would definitely have died.

“Alright” he said after a brief pause. “I’ll sign it.” Without any hesitation in his voice. Deep down, he wouldn’t pass up this kind of opportunity to learn something new, and he knew it. Even more so the idea of teaching anything like this would never have crossed his mind even without the repercussions.

He knew House Astraeus well. The only reason they had been neutral at first during the Second Hunt was because it was a waiting game to see which way the bucket tipped before they’d sided fully with their home realm. Teaching them a game changer like this, he’d be better off just leaving Guild and DWMA entirely. “The faith your grandmother has in you and your judgment must speak volumes even without the repercussions.” Ark noted.

Then again if she didn’t, he probably wouldn’t be here or even have the eye.

His own House didn’t even bother to train him much- all he’d learned, he knew from his grandmother, his father, and his own voracious interests in experimentation as well as experiences through the Guild and things family resources could acquire. His eyes turned over to Maria and Raph, the latter of whom he was less concerned about saying a word. Raph’s pride would see him die before he did anything of the sort so he wasn’t really concerned about it. Maria however, her dedication to her mother figure did make Ark glance her way. “Think you’re interested in the risk?”

For her part, Maria had spend much of her time looking at the books, till the copy and paste spell was taught, pulling her away from her own task, this was at least worth the distraction and would be useful with the magic paper they had on hand to transfer spells rather than filling the book in alone, a proofreading asset more than anything before the transfer happened. Though it may have other applications aside from that. Next with some occasional hands on instruction from Rand she learned several wind spells, Wind Blast, Wind Scythe, how to imbue her weapons with the cutting power of wind, how to hover, a sonic boom equivalent spell... Well, she couldn't say she learned that one, though it did show she needed further training and practice to unlock or expand upon her own mana pool, provided she could still gain from such. It was a powerful spell, but a bit too strong for her as she now was.

Then there was learning speed burst and air resistance, minus the obvious buffs it gave to herself, she was already envisioning how best to utilize this magic, how to combine it with what she had, and possible training to seek out. Provided those potentials would train one such as herself. Maria next found herself using a differing formula of alchemic conversion, to turn bits of the area around her into a bomb... Worryingly to some perhaps, this spell came all too naturally to her, considering the application of turning her own dolls into suicide drones. In essence it was not too different, though the spell had self damaging potential as well.

Finally coming full circle and getting away from the wind element, there was focus on the Force aspect. In the here and now, she was a bit too weak to properly make use of it, or at least an advanced use of it, she learned telekinetic push and pull. Coupled with all the rest and what she had now, she had much to practice on and with.

She would have scant time for a few weeks to do naught else but train, build, sleep and eat... Still, Rand had done much for her, she would have to make something for him, the question was what? Still she didn't have much time to reflect her tired head upon that as he showcased a book that was full of gibberish. Unused, or at least forgotten signs, it was as absurd as it was ancient.

He then went on to explain the spell, or rather what was within the book, a tome of binding. A forbidden spell for use on that which they could not defeat. What was its purpose, what did it do? And soon she had her answer, and it was an answer she would have better off not having. The fact such a spell existed was not outrageous, or even surprising, in fact it made sense. Short of Death, the Maba likely had other means in her possession to stand up against those who tried to topple her, or there was a means to lockdown those deemed too needed to live, yet too dangerous to trust. But to be told she could tell no one about it, more so Mirai gave her a cause to pause. Her answer would take a bit of pondering and formulating, as her doll-like features betrayed some hint of inner conflict. What would Mirai do? There was little point of asking, the woman loved Discovery and likely had arcane knowledge that she shared with none, not even Maria. It was possible with her being in the good graces of the Maba and rather old herself, that she likely heard of the spell or may even have used it. And still it took two of them to make use of it, one could not just go rogue and cause problems… Could they? What was the conservative member of the Guild, or former member to do?

“I… I will, learn it. If I am so trusted, with such a thing, I cannot very well just leave with knowledge of it. And as you said, it may be useful later, even should I not be able to pass it on. I am part of no house nor family, and Mirai will never be one I need to use it on, lest a calamity has happened. I do not wish to have my mind muddled of such events, though my debts to you only seem to grow.” She said of Rand. Reaching for the Paper, she followed in the steps of Ark.

Ark was correct, Raph wouldn’t want to destroy his pride by saying anything about this spell. This spell was entrusted to them, and he’d rather die than give up any information about this spell. He did, however, watch Maria. He was just dying to rest after a long day of learning spells and how to code this script, which he was getting better at. Runework wasn’t his forte, but he was getting there, and he also needed to make an index for his spells. Now, he just needed to get his hand on that test paper. “Once I sign, I’d like a sheet of test paper to check my elements to see if there’s anything else I can do with my spells.” He said, then he signed his name on the only paper that didn’t have a signature.

Rand informed Raph that he could provide him a paper afterwards, and continued on with the signatures from all three participants. Their names signed, their fates sealed if their tongues became loose. He collected the contracts, though there existed no real need as the spell would have worked regardless, and proceeded with the next steps in this final lesson.

It was an entirely different process. He did not insist they learn how the spell worked as it was written. He didn’t try to teach them that part. Instead, he informed them of what they needed to know. The spell required reagents, which was rare and often banned. First of all, the spell required the grimoire he showed them, but it also required each one of them to have an item like their blood pen. Specifically, a Magical Item or Demon Tool that could write an inscription in blood. Blood Pens were expensive, but found at most shops in a variety of types. Some were fancier than others with better, more unique designs. Some lasted years or decades whereas disposable ones like he provided would only work for a few weeks or months, depending on usage. It didn’t matter which they had as long as it worked, though he did warn that the item would crumble into dust at the end.

He copied over the spell into each one of their grimoires directly, then explained precisely what would happen. He couldn’t actually have them practice the spell to fruition, but he could get them through the primary steps. There were three. The first was the setup. The casters of this spell would need to surround the target and the Grimoire would need to be inside the casting range as well. Once this was done, each of the casters would recite the first verse:

”Sanguinem meum et virtutem meam do circulo liganti”​

He suggested they write down these words in a nearby page, and this much they could practice. When this far, blood wrapped around their hand to the pen, and from the pen it began to pour down like a fountain. It was a disproportionate amount of blood, but the spell didn’t necessarily have to drain them. He cast the spell with them, creating a four point shape. The blood created straight lines between them to make an awkward square, then inside it formed a circle with erected purple barriers. The book inside began to float and glow once this occurred, but no more.

”Praedicamus id quod in hoc circulo non huic mundo destinatum est”​

The next verse. Although when it was said, nothing happened. As, nothing else was in the circle. At this point, Rand elected to stop the casting, canceling the circle and allowing the book to fall back to the ground. He collected it, but explained what should have happened. Chains would erupt from the book and bind the target. In fact, anything caught inside the circle would be caught. These chains would glow blue at first, but once the target was sufficiently bound, they would disappear and turn into red strips of a silken material. Once that was done, it confirmed the casters were sufficiently powerful to seal whatever was the target.

The last verse was also latin and just as cryptic as the others:

”Alligamus quod minime huic mundo”​

Rand explained the purpose of these lines. They were commands. Necessary for such a powerful spell. The first incantation connected the casters by blood and created a circle to both seal the target and protect them while it was sealed. The second was a proclamation that all casters needed to say. It was an agreement that whatever was bound was not meant for this world. The last incantation did not need to be said by all of them; just one was needed. It enacted the seal. It would suck whatever the book chained into it via the silken threads, close it, and permanently lock them into a pocket dimension created by the book.

The spell was powerful. It was dangerous. That much was clear. The blood drawn from each of the casters was used to further empower the spell. There was no need for magic circles or runes or any other fancy spellwork with this. That was all done via the grimoire. Just using the spell vastly amplified the power of the casters, which made sense. Even if eight Witches of the Mabian line wanted to seal a Shinigami, they would need something to enhance them. If they could just do this at any time, then logically they would have won the war long, long ago.

This one spell even not taken to fruition was still enough to leave each caster incredibly drained. As if they had trained for a week straight. They were not depleted, but exhausted. From the entire day, sure, but mostly from the impact of this spell. The magic circles they used on Dall Island were powerful, but even they paled in comparison to what it felt like this spell could do. The power that flowed between the four of them and the blood that connected them created a magical aura that was a whole tier above what they had cast previously.

”This spell is dangerous. It will drain your mana quickly, and harshly. Even if the casters can overpower the target, there is a chance that the process will kill them all in depletion. The more powerful the target or the fewer the casters, the worse the chances are,” Rand explained to them. He was also drained, his breath heavy, that professor tone he had somewhat gone as he said this.

”It’s why Maba never used the spell for its… intended target. When seven sealed a Great Old One, three died. That Old One was weaker than Asura, by all accounts,” Rand told them, ”so this truly is a last ditch resort, and only for something that you believe may be a fair trade for your life. Or, that of your comrades. Those that die first are typically the weakest.”

With that last warning, he dismissed them. He didn’t give them a grimoire. Not yet. But, the knowledge he imparted was nonetheless valuable. The blood pens were theirs, any extra paper they had they could keep. Brooches, too, obviously. None of that mattered as much as the new skills and direction he had imparted them with.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Daniella Ethalyn - Valaam Island, Russia

​

‘What in the actual shit…’ Dipping into her soul perception briefly, Nadia turned her gaze on Adrian as the hulks behind her fell upon their weight and selves, Adrian was in a mood that only grew worse as more and even deadlier foes came to bear, literally wooden bears… Which begged a few questions, such as where this Leshy was originally from…

Still that didn’t matter, for now she had to hope the loose cannon would listen to her commands. ‘I’m not sure what I’ll even do with him, hasn't went mad though so won't worry about it...’ With her brief training and how their own relationship had developed, Nadia dialed back on the amount of wavelength she was using in its quantity.

‘We can deal with him later, this is going to be a marathon. Are you with me Dani?’

‘I’ma smack the hell out of that boy later…’ Dani’s growl reverberated through their soul space. ‘Yeah, I’m with you. I think we can win, all things considered, and still have some fuel in the tank for the slushy thing.’

‘I‘ll leave that to you, however, it seems in this case it will depend on us. Unless we want to see those two going mad. And Leshy, he’s a Leshy, more likely than not. Still he’s tried to kill us three times in a row, son of a bitch is what I’ll be calling him.’

She said with a grunt from within their soul space as she took in the new arrivals, the Leshy would not speak with them after this, the forest was too damaged, even if it were by his stupidity and Nadia wasn’t about to forget the small fact that he used four different types of enemy with the sole task of killing them all. No, the treeman would be told to go fuck himself.

‘A slushy is what he’s going to fucking be,’ Dani remarked in response.

Speaking up, she had little assurances that this would work, that he would hear, much less obey, though she didn’t plan to assume dictatorial powers of this mission, orders were needed in the here and now. Speaking out to Irina she frowns.

“Just hold the front with us Irina, you seem able to handle yourself… As to him, one crisis at a time.” With that, Nadia would leave the taken down Treants to fall apart or to crawl at them, neither gone nor forgotten as she charged into the bear line, slashing her sword into the back of a couple and kicking a third across the face as she hopped back, and continued to hop back. This would funnel them one by one, or so she hoped.

“Adrian, finish off the ones behind us. These may not be beyond you but the price for you to win will be too great, we have more threats here later. Sara, split up the pack or do as you see fit. Irina, watch your back, I took their legs, not the cores, unless the old man of the forest lets them go it will be a threat for us sooner or later.”

Calm and methodical, using their comm units, even if it were not for Irina’s Ice magic on the field, Nadia from soul and personality seemed equally as cold. Diving in with Dani’s bladed form in hand, Nadia ducked beneath a paw, so strong that it broke a tree behind her as she aimed for a stab into the armpit towards the core, every so often she would briefly activate soul perception before dipping out, all in an attempt to spot yet more enemies or the summoner.

Interactions: Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Rand Mabason​

"Soundwave Sorcerer"​

Species Witch
Partner N/A
Rank Two Star

Location Nevada, Mojave Desert
Mission A Last-Minute Rescue
Status Focused

​

Tags: RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic The Regal Rper

April 12th, 2067​

It was an early morning. 0715. The laughing sun was only beginning its onslaught of smoldering heat, and by the forecast, it was only bound to get worse. Barely an hour ago during the dawn of the new day, it was actually a pleasant, brisk morning with a soft, gentle breeze that carried the desert air. It happened to be one of the better mornings in Death City, in all honesty. Not that it ever truly cooled down in Death City as even its night air during the month was lucky to hit 75F. It was all comfort by relativity, especially to those agents that called the city home.

Death City wasn't the focal point of the emergency, though. It was out further in the Mojave. The cooler morning temps were not only pleasant, but made for a perfect time for EAT students to go Monster Hunting. The giant scorpions were still active before the sun rose, and many of them needed a few kills to keep their rank on the rise with the Extracurricular Office. Not that any of the Witches or Sorcerers alongside Rand had any experience or ability to relate, but virtually every other DWMA student knew the grind of completing these normally mundane missions during their time in class. Giant Scorpions were a common target for EAT students that had passed the One-Star Exam.

As long as a duo could break through their exoskeleton, even if it was after multiple attempts, all the fight truly boiled down to was dodging their stinger. It was the only fast-moving part of them at a close range. They were quick and mobile, but not so much that their pincers were a problem. In wasn't uncommon for them to the older scorpions to run or dig a tunnel to avoid agents, as they knew what the envoy meant: imminent death.

There did exist exceptions, though. These scorpions were notorious for their massive egg clusters. Hundreds of them at a time, if not thousands depending on the strain. They might have been cannibilistic, but even they could only eat so many of their unborn brethren before emerging for air. The large clutches made for an ever-present problem. No matter how many times over the centuries the DWMA tried to purge the desert of them, they always reappeared. More so, they grew and adapted. Culled and culled and culled again, but life found a way. Evolution took its course sometimes in dangerous directions. When their main predator were the agents of the DWMA, it only made sense that they would eventually adapt to them.

This was one such situation. Rand was called first to assemble his team. The previous mission which would have taken them across the world was cancelled. Instead, his team was deemed the most suitable for this one: to rescue six One-Star EAT students that left for a morning mission to cull the Giant Scorpion menace of the Mojave Desert. From the reports, this group all emerged from a cluster that remained significantly smaller, had some odd abilities, but primarily were incredibly resistant to spiritual attacks. Apparently, one of the duos could even use decent Resonance and it failed to hurt anything. When wavelength wouldn't work, magic would.

Rand awoke his entire squad early and had them assemble at the Eastern Gate of the DWMA. The group had left through the Entertainment District, though mostly because the scorpions there were typically fewer in number. Just less desert out there, so less room for competition. Especially for a species known for self-consumption. Their experience with the spiders of Dall Island, in theory, was another excellent reason they made for a prime choice for such a mission. Another insect, another day.

Unfortunately, as this was a last-minute mission and the majority of Maria's dolls were being prepared for flight, this meant the bulk of her dolls would be elsewhere. An unfortunate downside to her fighting style. Worse off was that the entire group was would be in a state of near hungover agony as the hit to their mana reserves from the training the day before. This wasn't ideal. It was last minute. It was a deviation from the norm. Their resources spread thin, mana not at its peak. That all only played more aptly into the fact it was, truly, an emergency.

The group had left in a series of the dune runners that were common for the DWMA, although this set was slightly nicer, and Maria was given a type of sled designed specifically for the sand and a larger vehicle to pull what few dolls she could muster. It wasn't much, but speed was a prime factor here. Rand had scouted the area already, but was unable to find anything in direct line of sight. Most of the scorpions were already in their nests as the sun had risen and apparently this breed didn't do much day hunting. There was no sound for him to pick up on. What he knew, factually, was that their current location was the last location that a message was sent from.

"Ark, use your Seismic Sense to see if you can find any burrows or caves. I couldn't find anything," Rand instructed, barking orders already. "Raph, help Maria unpack her dolls. There's no time to waste, and we have no other leads," he continued on, his tone stern and rationale clear. It seemed Rand took the rescue mission fairly seriously, almost even more so than Dall Island. He warned them time and time again of the dangers of Dall Island, but his tone wasn't as harsh then. It might have been the exhaustion, lack of sleep, or frustration with the change in mission for all anyone knew, but it seemed this was most definitely a different side of him.

"We're near the border and the terrain changes here. If they're not at this location, they're under us, and I can only imagine it's an unstable cave system," he told them all, explaining the situation as he speculated it. His face softened for a moment, but only because he had an idea. Rand knelt to the ground, placing his hand upon the hot sand below him and in the following moment, a series of two magic circled formed on the ground, glowing blue with multiple runes in a relatively simple pattern.

"Better idea. Ark, channel your Seismic Sense through my body. The Magic Circles will amplify your search range. There's no point in wasting time teaching or trying out a spell only to amplify it later," Rand said, giving Ark a new set of similar instructions based on the idea he had. He said little else to the others, but there was little else to say. They had a simple, but important mission.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara Middleton​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Weeping Woods, Russia
Interactions: Eva, Nadia, Dani, Irina, Adrian, Treants
Mentions: N/A
RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider Sir Les Paul

Sara hadn’t realized just how restrained Irina felt until Adrian had left the circle, but she was very glad Adrian did. Even if he was not doing so well by the looks of it, it gave Irina the ability to be more useful, especially considering she was a better answer to these things than Adrian was.

After being charged with some icy energy, she felt better as she was able to take down these smaller treants instead of just throwing them around. She did, however, notice the forest had thinned the last she took note of it. Was this Leshy using the trees as ammo against them?

Then that must either take a lot of power and he’s running out, or he’s going to run out of things to throw at them pretty soon.

That’s when she noticed the bear-treants heading their way, and Adrian’s attempts at hitting them as he bounced along the top of them as well as getting smacked around. But these didn’t have the lumbering strength of the bears, these bear-treants were a lot quicker than any bear should be. Even with her ice buff, she wasn’t so sure if she could do anything about those.

The smell of vitriol hit her nose and she looked over at Adrian warily as she bashed another wolf-treant in the head, smashing it to pieces.

Irina went ahead to make an icy drill for these things, but they needed to seriously get rid of these things. They were just almost there.

Nadia told her to split up the pack, so she made sure Irina was relatively safe before dashing off to one of the bear-treants on the side. Hooking the chain of the lantern flail around one arm, she amplified her wavelength through her legs and tugged on it as hard as she could to pull it away from the group, then pulled her weapon away and dove away from it as it tried to attack her. She ran from it, goading it to chase her before suddenly leaping towards it and aiming for its head with a well-aimed smash of her weapon to hopefully encase the bear’s head in ice. She wasn’t sure if these things even needed the head, but it was worth a try.

She then quickly dove back towards Irina to defend her (if she was even able to do so), hoping she didn’t leave her alone for too long.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Noah Wiley​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Inn, Romania
Interactions: Gauss, Arkayis, Midori, Kidd, Ileana, Alvilda, Annika, Elly
Mentions: N/A
RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Peckinou

Noah winced. Whoops, he didn’t mean ‘pick off’ as in ‘dying’, but he should have worded it better. As Midori began to explain however, Noah felt even better about leaving them alone. If they were capable of doing that (and he had forgotten about Elly’s hard-to-read soul), then he didn’t have any more worries. Their new plan of attack was to leave the thralls alive. It would force her to have to kill them off herself if she was even capable of doing that.

He could kind of feel Gauss’s want to be angry, but he wouldn’t let it get to his head. A leader should be cool-headed in his eyes, and he didn’t want Gauss to lose himself and make himself look worse just because of a bruised ego. Though, he wasn’t sure as to why they should deal with the Enforcer in any other capacity that wasn’t just killing him. As it stood, he was a threat that needed to be eliminated.

After Gauss said his idea on what to do, Noah felt a bit more comfortable with it. He gave his silent approval, not saying anything outwardly.

However, he did say something to him in soul space. ‘Huh, glad that worked. I’d much rather my leader ‘n’ meister be free from anger if he’s to lead. Ya can handle yer issue later. I'd like to zap Midori, but I’m unsure if he’d just take that as assault ‘n’ try ta hit me or ya anyway.’

Did that make Gauss want to choke the shit out of him? Probably, but he didn’t care.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Raphael Valerias​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Mojave Desert, Nevada
Interactions: Maria, Ark, Rand
Mentions: N/A
RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper

It was so early in the morning that - if Raph hadn’t taken the time to skip dinner and sleep - he would have definitely been grouchy with everyone or late. Or both.

But because he skipped dinner, he was very hungry when he woke up, and therefore had to suffice with eating something like a muffin to keep his energy up as they traveled to the Eastern Gate of the DWMA, then through the Entertainment District. Raphael was aware of these scorpions, as he fought a few of them before when he was still working with One-Star meister/weapon teams. Consequently, it was also when he last attacked one of his comrades for being a prick to him earlier that landed him in some hot water.

Hey, maybe he could redeem himself. Saving six One-Star students didn’t sound all that bad. That meant there had to be three meisters and three weapons if the team was built out of more common meister/weapon pairs.

Raph, however, was still rather drained from yesterday. Granted, these scorpions were resilient to wavelength abilities, not so much magic from what he heard. So, he felt pretty confident that - with his new entrapment spell - he’d be able to subdue them.

Riding in a dune runner was fun though, and it woke him up a bit more. He had to wear some unsightly goggles so that his only good eye didn’t get hit with any sand, but that was fine. It was when they stopped that he got anxious.

Being told to help Maria unpack her dolls, Raph hopped out of the runner and went to the back to help set up Maria’s dolls so they were either standing on the sand or sitting on the truck’s edge so she could give them commands. Not wanting to get Maria’s ire - as he figured she was going to be pretty grouchy today - he made sure to treat each doll with care so he didn’t get stabbed later in his sleep.

He heard Ark was told to use his Seismic Sense ability, and he looked out at the rest of the desert, the edges of the sand dancing with the heat as it rose and created mirages of faraway water. Clicking his tongue, he pulled out his grimoire in one hand and wrapped his three-link chain demon tool around his other hand.

Last night, he had perfected his restraining spell, so all he had to do was hold those scorpions down and burn or shock them. Today, he was going to make an index, but he couldn’t. So, he had to resort to using a bit more magic to do that properly. Either way, it wasn’t ideal, but it did make him rather upset he wasn’t fully built for this.

He looked over at Maria, eyebrow raised as his tone sounded oddly serious despite his smile (or maybe that was a grimace). “How many do you think we’ll find down there? I’m sure they haven’t all cannibalized themselves by now.” Simple, idle chit-chat to gauge where she was mentally right now.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Irina​

"The Research Witch"​

Species Witch
Location Russia, Republic of Karelia, Valaam, Northeast Forest line
Mission The Waking Forest


​

Tags: Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider

The entire battlefield changed.

The new tactics did spread out the herd and allow for new combat tactics to be applied. Nadia had good insight in battlefield control. The adjustment to their line-up was not the cause if the flow of the battle.

No. No that came from one pissed off man. After being bucked off one of the bears which soon started demonstrating a new trait of regenerating damage that wasn't lethal, the rage radiating from Adrian intensified and logic started to fly out the window. With his rage came a lack of control of his wavelength and that introduced a forgotten element of it for this fight. Each strike Adrian landed on the bears after getting up for the second time flooded them with his raw, unadulterated wavelength. Up until this point, he hadn't tried using his pain wavelength as he didn't think the treants would feel pain. Now, he just didn't care.

And, it brought the treant-bears to chaos. Their coordinated attacks fell apart. Their strength as a hole seemed be sucked away each time he riddled one of them with his spikes. They were not slower, but they hadn't the same sense to fight back. Their intelligence seemed to vanish, bringing them into a semi-feral state that only made them easier to fight. Without coordination, Sara would prove to have a significantly easier time navigating between the bears and bashing them with the icy enchantment that Eva sported. Nadia no longer had to be as concerned with their sheer volume as their hive mind seemingly broke. The need for complex strategy, though it would have been effective, vanished.

The treants no longer regenerated. They did not fight together. Their attacks were not in sync. The danger level dropped dramatically.

Not only that, but enhancements on them that made their wooden hides harder to cut or bashed through began fading. Nadia needn't use Resonance to carve through them now. While they couldn't be so easily clawed by Sara, she would be able to literally feel their wooden fibers crack and break under her vicious swings of Eva into them. This was a new sensation.

Irina noted this, too, but in different ways. Any treant near her ice was exceptionally slow, now sensitive to the cold. The mana that once coursed through them was diminishing in tandem with their fading strength and intelligence. She couldn't determine why, and she hadn't the sense to know what was going on with Adrian, but what she did know was that the network that connected all of the treants together was crumbling, and crumbling quickly at that. More so, the drain on her mana disappeared entirely, as if the presence of the network that connected the treants also vanished from the flora of the area that had been draining her previously.

Dozens of these bear-treants and even the remaining large treants in the distance shifted from a tangible threat to little more than target practice. Magitech Golems would have provided a better fight.

The hard-fought Victory that Nadia planned for appeared like it was going to turn into more of an annoying clean-up of half-assed wooden constructs. One could count it as a blessing as it made the mission easier, or an annoyance as it stole the thunder from her stratagem. Perhaps a bitter sweet touch of both.

With the bears out of sync and no longer fighting in any type of order, Irina found herself at a loss for what to do. They weren't coming for her. They weren't all even attacking, some of them seemed to sit still waiting to be approached and only reacting when such occurred. She could skewer them with her icicle spears, which she did once or twice, but it was little different than shooting fish in a barrel. It seemed like a waste of her mana given now Nadia could cut them down easily, Adrian could even impale them for significant damage, and Sara had no problem smashing through them one-by-one in quick succession with Eva.

"Not to look a gift horse in the mouth," Irina said, "but anyone know changed between now and five minutes ago when it felt like we were fighting a Spartan General? She was curious. She couldn't piece it together with her limited insight. She saw the effects of what was happening, but not the cause. It piqued her curiosity, but it also worried her. A question without an answer like this, if no one knew, seemed like it could be an added danger later. Or, perhaps, their foe setting up some grand trap for them in the future. To her eyes, there was no significant change that could have caused this.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - The Desert​

"Hmph."

Last minute mission her ass. This was the very next day, no, mere hours from when they last met, she doubted the blood ink in her Grimoire was even dry. Never mind learning the spells, repairing her losses, or even resting. Scant few days had even passed from their return. The early hour at which she was summoned was no big issue, in fact she was normally awake at 6 and often did not go to sleep till later in the night, often getting by on 6 hours... Still she was not happy, mostly as the work and time she spent on rebuilding was wasted, thrown away.

While at face value sending them made sense, they were also not just letting her retrieve her equipment on such short notice. There however were other Witches they could have thrown at this for the same reason... While Cyrus had a lot of praise for them she was unsure if this were the expectations of the dependable, or the dice throw of the expendable. Mayhap it was both.

So far, she only had her Alicia on hand and two smaller dolls she slapped together and outfitted, or rather these were the battle-damaged pairs from the island, this time outfitted with armor, shields and lances. The supporting two lacked the upgrades of the last four, and one she had converted to be used as a bomb. Then there was of course Alicia, the human sized doll that had many of her features and that was used for all manner of tasks, her personal escort more often that not. There was no way in Death's name she was going to have that one in a cargo deck for a flight, more so with their group down by two witches, she would be sitting next to her on any aircraft they took.

She would not budge on that, no matter the other concessions she had made. For that doll, was as of now her shining creation, she would not entrust it to some buffoon. Unfortunately, she was still tired and much like Raph had nothing to eat till it was already time to leave and her option was barely any better than his, consisting of a gas station style turkey and cheese sandwich. And soon they were off, riding across the sand, with her resources being carried on a sled behind them. Expecting the hopefully 6 agents would ride back with them, there was the small issue of how and where...

A question for another time as orders were quick to be delivered, as Rand was quick to give orders and dispatched Raph to help unload her dolls. She didn't really need the assistance, but Raph was already hard at work and careful as well. Maria could not be upset at that.

"As weak as the flesh may be, I hope we do find all six and with most of their limbs attached. While there are other things I rather be doing now, it is up to us to find those answers." With that she checked her own tools and weapons, she had brough all of her gifts and had a number of daggers slotted to her belt in holsters, for all intents and purposes she was ready, though not happy.

Merciless Medic The Regal Rper Sir Les Paul

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Valaam Island, Russia

​

As the situation unfolded, Nadia remained concentrated on the battle around them, Adrian unfortunately, yet unsurprisingly was not listening to anything she had to say, losing himself to his rage. He might not be feeding into Madness, but this made him even more useless to her. An ally that could not co-ordinate or follow any sort of orders was a liability at best and a good meat shield to fall in battle in place of her at worst. 'I should just rush in and kick your boyfriend. But that can come later.' Nadia said to Dani in their collective soul space as moves in to cut another of the wooden bears.

"Hmm..." That was too easy, the blade cutting too clean, the follow up too sluggish. 'Dani, drop me out of resonance, something is off...but in a way that favors us. Still, keep my speed up, we'll have to do the cleanup.'

With that she takes on a further two bears, slashing them down for Sara to deal with as she rushes back to the rear to finish off the greater treants from before. A few stabs, stomps and slashes and that was that. Hearing Irina's question as the situation collapsed in their favor, Nadia only had three ideas in mind and voices them, all the while walking over towards Adrian, a fist clenched.

"Only three things I can think of really, he lost his nerve and fled, something made the meld too painful and consuming, or it is a trap. As to things that could be too painful, that would be the loose cannon..."

With that said, she looks towards the rest. "If we are to continue then we do so while the Iron is still hot. And we make up a plan of action now. I won't have someone on any team I lead that cannot follow simple instructions. I don't care about what was happening, provided you have the sense of mind to even hear my words. I cannot trust you to hold a line and I cannot trust you to hold my back, so you of note should speak up Adrian. How best should we make use of one another, hmm?

There is still a threat to be delt with and I won't have random chaos as procedure. And by all means, you two offer suggestions as well, well you four." The later addition was towards the weapons as well as she keeps an eye on the rest.

"We move in three minutes."

Interactions: Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Adrian Hackney​

"The Maiden"​

Species Human
Partner None
Rank Fate Agent

Location Russia, Republic of Karelia, Valaam, Northeast Forest line
Mission The Waking Forest
Status Enraged, confused

​

Tags: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider Merciless Medic

"The fuck are you talking about," Adrian shouted back, his tone carrying as much aggression as the spikes he was still using to tear apart the remaining treants.

With their foes not only weakened but in disarray, even Adrian proved capable of ripping through them in swathes. Cleaning up the battlefield was no longer a difficult task. If anything, it proved to be a borderline pointless one as the treants seemed aimless and only reacted if provoked or if one came too near. They weren't quite like animals, even. With animals, one could see life in their eyes. Fear. Desire for self-preservation. All the little imperfect movements that came with being creatures born of this world naturally. These treants lacked any of feature even remotely similar to that. Of course, they were comprised mostly of wood, thus had no eyes to peer into or true faces to gauge, but the world was full of magic and seeing life inside of the otherwise inanimate was an odd skill most still acquired over time.

"You told me to go in," Adrian shouted, his spike ripping through the wood fibers that bound together the torso of one treant. "You demanded I get up and keep fighting," Adrian shouted again, continuing his speech, providing entirely contrary information to what Nadia said and every single one of the others heard.

"I got knocked down and you demanded I get back up," Adrian explained, his tone still seething, but at this point, his actions de-escalating as the rage he felt originally with these tough opponents was fading once they became these senseless, docile forest ornaments. "You wanted me to be a distraction. So what the fuck do you mean I wasn't listening to simple instructions? I didn't see your pale ass out there taking hits for the team," he said, his tone now switching to a more accusatory one. There was a distinct glare in his eyes. He wasn't happy. Not in the slightest.

Angry and confused, he stood there amongst piles and piles of broken treants, tree-limbs, and disassembled foliage waiting for an answer regarding this absurd point Nadia was making. He just abruptly stopped fighting, not that he needed to anymore. Or ever, apparently, according to Nadia.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Thorn of the Solomon Islands​

"Aegis"​

Species Weapon
Location Southwestern Montenegro, Bay of Kotor, Repurposed Mage Tower
Mission An Ancient Quarry


​

Tags: Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen

1012 Saturday - January 15th, 2067​

The Mage Tower of Stefan the Unseen. Over a fourteen hundred years old, and still as incredible as the day it was erected by its former owner. It was a myth and rumor to those in the underworld. A tower that could not be tracked, divined, or even seen with the naked eye. One not known after all these centuries to the DWMA. Stefan was rumored to even be tutored by Eibon himself, though that claim was never substantiated. If one had ever entered the tower, those rumors might have seemed more plausible.

The entire structure overshadowed any lighthouse one would have ever seen, if one could see it. The tower stretched higher into the sky than the roof of any ancient church, and dug deep into the ground with a cavernous interior built into the mountainous hills below it. One could go up or down its stairway for a short eternity if they were determined to explore the entire structure. To Witches and Sorcerers, this might have been nothing. But, to the ancient Illyrians whom Stefan allowed in on a rare occasion and subsequently wrote about their adventure, this place was a wonderland of impossibility.

By modern standards, the size might not be overwhelmingly impressive, and it certainly wasn't a truly unique, mystic situation of it being larger on the inside, but it still held up. True to the rumors surrounding his name, many of the runes and magical systems created by Stefan were left in place. Primarily, how it was extremely obfuscated. It could not be sensed or searched, it was in a difficult if not impossible location for normal individuals to reach by foot, and it was entirely invisible to the naked eye. The magic that fueled its lesser systems were long gone. It was not lit by countless magelights, nor did the books in its library fly off the shelf at a command. When it was first found, it was a filthy, dusty spire with no real reason or purpose, until it was given one. For centuries, it has acted as a bastion of the underworld; a place to hide from the law and DWMA alike, and is known to only a handful of people in the world.

Now, following that tradition, it is one of the main head quarters of the Plague Doctors. Inherited by Antivu from some of his loyal followers, the Mage Tower has acted for nearly a decade as a place of refuge and regrouping for the elites of their group, and even amongst them, only a handpicked few are given its location. After all, what's the point of a secret if no one can keep it?

Aegis overlooked the Bay. His arms at his side as the wind swept through the open stone window, blowing his black cloak and dispersing the heat it absorbed from the sun. The bay itself was a gorgeous site. The sun glimmering off its dark blue, the gentle waves creating ripples in the water, the entire area a thick, dark green of blanketed hills with only a few coastal cities off in the distance. At the height he stood in the tower, on this floor, he was high enough to get a far off glimpse of the absurd little houses on the tiny islands in the bay. He liked to stare at those. To wonder about life inside those little homes, as nice as they looked, always surrounded by the seawater of the bay, at the mercy of the rising tides. Beautiful though they were, they were also an affront to nature. Yet, some of them melded so well into the scenery that he could hardly hate them.

He remembered the first time he was taken to the Tower. Years ago. He had already spent several years with the Plague Doctors, and he wasn't trusted with information on the tower. He was only given that privilege around the time he offered himself up for the first perfected White Blood trial. He had no idea this place existed. He had been in the DWMA before. He had seen the constructs of Witches. He had seen what magic had to offer. Still, there was something charming and beautiful about the ancient nature of this place. The carved stone that dated it, the architectural style that would have been impressive in the era being ancient or at least classical now. The winding stone staircase that seemed to go up and down forever, or the elevator system that existed for a good two thirds of the tower.

None of that was his favorite part of it, though. He loved this part of the tower. The higher parts of it where he could stare at the sea and view the nature around him. In many ways, this tower was hidden in plain site. This tower had been used by criminals for centuries, housed some of the most dangerous Witches, Sorcerers, and Rogues of the last millennia, but it seemed no one in the DWMA or even the locals even knew it was here. That was a wonder in and of itself. He knew how the underground worked, how hard it was to hide from global governments and prying eyes. The constant presence of the DWMA nearly everywhere. The fact this tower remained hidden despite all that was nearly as impressive as the vista it had over the Bay of Kotor.

He let out a satisfied sigh, breathing in the fresh air and knowing he couldn't just waste his entire day here.

"Alex-Shiro-Astor, t'ank you for meeting me here. I know it's alwayz-a task ta get'ere undetekted," Aegis said, greeting his three pupils, and brothers in the White Blood. As always, he spoke fast, though clear. His accent had mostly faded in time, but it was still present. It was worse in other languages. Luckily, English was the common denominator here, so communication was easy.

"I'll skip deh don't ask why parts an' get right to deh point. We sen' some mercs to the island of Daedelon, an'... they didn' make it back. They won't, in-fact. They been turnt tah stone, you see," he explained, though he was only really scratching the surface of what was going on here.

"We gots ourselves a contract for teh livin' stone Gorgons make. Turns out, they don' actually turn ya with their eyes. It's a gas they release, says Orb Weaver. Surgeon says our mutations should make us immune, so I figure you can put two an' two tahgether," he told them, outlining precisely why they were the most apt for this, and what happened with the other Agents. He didn't seem upset or even surprised some of their lesser mercenaries didn't make it back. Aegis was cold like that. Always had been. Only really cared for the mission, and what Antivu told him to do.

"Deadelon is a fun little place. Death made it ta house all th' mythological creatures he thought were too dangerous to leave out there in the wil'. Crazy thought, but it's basically a zoo. Harpies, minotaurs, chimeras, sphinxes, sirens, you get the idea. There's a... delicate ecosystem there from what I been tol'. Some atha mercs didn' even make it to Stheno Peak, but they're piss-ants compared ta us anyway," he told them, all before turning around and letting out another sigh. Aegis looked young, but that was just his genetics. Being an Earth Shaman, he was destined to have this small, wiry frame no matter what he did. It was a miracle he could stand in as Antivu in the early days.

"What we want," he said, now more clearly and straightening out his accent to drop some of its eccentrics, "is for you to get on the island, burn the bodies of the fallen if they aren't stone, round up as many stone statues as you can, an' signal our stealth craft to extract them. The, uh... more inter-esting part is that we want as few fatalities as possible. If a bunch a creatures end up dead, the DWMA will find out on their census, and investigate. We don' want that," he told them, eying each one of them as they stood on the same stone platform he did inside the upper spires of the tower.

"In short, go to a island full of deadly mythological creatures, kill as little as possible--ideally nothing--then signal our boys to pick up a bunch of really important statues. I imagine you'll hafta defend'm while they're loading up the statues, too. Doubt it'll be just one round, either, given how much'a this stuff our client needs," he told them, his tone speeding up, some of his accent returning, and overall attempting to summarize their mission with a touch of his dry humor that often went unnoticed. The man, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't be funny for the life of him.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara Middleton​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Northeast Forest Line, Valaam, Republic of Karelia, Russia
Interactions: Nadia, Dani, Adrian, Irina, Eva
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider

Sara had successfully broken off the treant’s line, but as soon as she smelled the burning rage within Adrian reaching its breaking point, she casted a wary gaze in his direction. It didn’t sour into rotten eggs, so that was good. His pain wavelength came in a gush of a strange metallic smell that soured the iron that his soul was naturally, so she knew he was using his wavelength. It apparently worked too well, as if a hive mind had caused them all to feel the same pain and they were able to clean up quickly, especially with Irina’s ice helping her bash through them easier.

She decidedly attacked those who were just standing there, not wanting them to fight back once they got their bearings back from whatever had dazed them.

Once she was done, she returned with Nadia, as Irina asked her question. Then Nadia spoke, then Adrian. What was confusing was that while Nadia was saying Adrian was a liability for not following orders and Adrian said he thought he heard her say to leave the line, Sara looked down at Eva’s lantern flail and held it up.

The flames didn’t shift.

‘Get rid of any other illusions that there may be.’ She spoke to Eva. As Eva’s flames were doing that, she spoke up. “Uh, guys, if Eva’s flames aren’t turning blue then Adrian fully believed what he heard. While I do think Adrian’s telling the truth, I also know what Nadia said. I’m thinking along with visual illusions, this thing can also make us hear illusions. Which is why I’m having Eva’s flames help us… At least, I think it’s working. Either way.” She looked back at Nadia and Irina.

“Right when I started smelling the weird smell Adrian emits when he uses his Pain Wavelength, the treants started acting like they were all in pain, even though he only damaged one at the time. Are they all under some hive mind? I didn’t think trees could react to pain like that…” She then thought about what Nadia said about the Leshy. “Unless, this is the Leshy feeling the pain through the treants, like you’re suggesting, Nadia.” She wouldn’t have been able to come to that conclusion if Nadia hadn’t suggested it first. “Unless I’m enchanted with ice or fire like what Irina did with her ice, I’m pretty useless here. I can be a distraction because of how fast I am, and just as long as I’m not using Soul Conduction, I can have Eva dispel any potential illusions around us. But I don’t think I can fight as well as I can unless Adrian uses his Pain Wavelength to cause them enough pain to lose their durability.” She mentioned, her ears falling to the sides as she realized she was almost useless here if it weren’t for Eva’s saving grace.

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

Evangeline Konstantine
Valaam, Republic of Karelia, Russia
Merciless Medic RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen​

"It's not always so clear.” Eva said in reference to Adrian. “If he believes it then it will be true to the person. The person is not deceitful and the dead do not take offense. Its abit weird.” Eva explained as the battle progressed. Eva listened as Sara spoke up. “Alright, I have an idea.” she spoke from within the flail. Eva focused inward and began to channel within herself.

Fire building Eva let the pressure grow and grow, the hinges of the flail shuttering as she continued to let the conflagration build up. After a few moments Eva willed the bottom of the flail to open up letting a huge ball of flame fly out of the end. The ball impacted the ground causing a wave of flame to rush out from the center.

It passed friend and foe alike causing no damage. It dispelled and brought to the surface any deceptive spellcraft. The wave was a radiant blue light, those with a rapid reaction time or keen eyes witnessed what was truly happening where others saw rapid flame. From the radiant blue flames came spectral almost corporeal skeletal hands scrying every surface in a blindingly rapid fashion. Their long boney hands picking apart surface and thin air, taking account and revealing all that try to deceive.

As the area was scrubbed of falsehoods Eva felt an internal voice, the calling on her innate abilities seemed to stir something once more. She felt a shiver run down her spine and tried her best to ignore that hand which seemed to crawl across her back.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Alex “Alek” Smith​

Date: January 15, 2067
Location: Repurposed Mage Tower, Bay of Kotor, Southwestern Montenegro
Interactions: Shiro, Astor, Aegis
Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen

The sound of quiet munching could be heard as Alek had arrived where he needed to be, dressed in his usual suit and tie, and an ever-present scowl. Since the White Blood Trials, he had grown to be a bit of a glutton due to his heightened metabolism and because his body kept thinking it was hungry, he indulged in it with snacks. With a final munch, he had finished his food, and was about to dig into his pocket for yet another snack he brought with him, but he stopped. He side eyed the other two members alongside him, then went back to looking at Aegis as he explained what their mission was.

Man… The view behind him looks great…

“That’s a bit wack, not being able to kill anything. I’ll try not to be a dick to the gallery and smash anything.” He said in reference to the animals and mythological beasts there. “One massive petting zoo…” He mumbled with a smirk, pulling out his second snack bar. “Regardless of our immunity, I don’t think we should go huffin’ the stuff.” He yawned, opening up the protein bar as he went back to scowling. “So, what were those peeps doing over there then? I know that's not really in our job description, but just curious if it's possible we can finish up what they started if it's important. But I understand cleaning up's the priority.” He shared the same cold, detached tone with Aegis - maybe even joking or curious in some parts - when he spoke. He didn’t really care about the mercenaries getting in trouble either, but that’s because he chose not to be attached to anyone else. These three by his side, however…

That might be different.

Hell, he even offered the now open protein bar to either of the guys beside him by holding it out to them with a more neutral expression than the disdainful scowl or contemptuous smirk he held earlier. They’re here because they’ve been tasked with this - being White Blood mutated and all. Might as well give them something to tie them over if they were as god-awfully hungry as he was.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Daniella Ethalyn - Valaam Island, Russia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

'The hell's wrong with them?' Dani questioned given the strange shift in behavior of the treants. They had gone from organized and driven to aimless and passive, not that she was complaining. The break from resonance to conserve energy was a welcome reprieve, as was the absence of stress of a real fight. The witch vocalized her confusion, and it seemed they were all in the same boat. Dani noticed it started happening around the time Adrian started using his spikes and likely his wavelength, a fact which Sara pointed out.

"Can trees even feel pain?" Dani asked as if that was the dumbest question ever. However, the argument between Adrian and Nadia took more attention.

Adrian said Nadia threw out all these orders, something that might have been on point for old Nadia. However, Dani most certainly would have heard or felt her intentions, and Nadia was anything but pleased with him running off. Her reflection shone in the face of the blade as she stared at him. "Oi, Nadia never said any of those things, or wanted them for that matter. You think I wouldn't smack her upside the head if she tried throwing one of you to the wolves?" She replied sternly in an attempt to mediate the situation.

Still, a part of her was glad that his actions were brought on from manipulation rather than just anger. However, the other part wasn't a fan of the auditory hallucinations they now would have to deal with. "You're familiar with the Lachey. Can it make people hear shit?" She asked, looking to Nadia.

RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul Mook-LandStrider

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | Mojave Desert | Rings: 3/3

Out of his two companions Ark was the only one who really seemed to be the most alert and the least bothered by the early awakening. Being awoken after the exhausting day before, was nothing new. He had been awoken several times in the past, and on many of those occasions when he’d been called out to the field it had been because of a surprise attack or change in circumstances that required his immediate placement.

The news of what happened here, in some morbid way, was worse than knowing that prized Weapon wielding officers of the Nigerian Warlord, Prince Amaechi, were working in collaboration with hired Outlaw aid.

Even as he stood among his peers and neutrally waited for the moment they could take leave- Ark doubted he’d ever adapt to what one once considered, a normal sleep schedule again. It took little nowadays to really snap him out of sleep, a twitch or an unexpected sound and he’d be up instantly. It was preferable to being awoken by nightmares, of which he hadn’t had to deal with in quite some time. It was normal though when just half a year back, he’d been spending his time on less than five hours of sleep for two, sometimes four days. Hunting down stragglers with a team of Meisters and Weapons or his own initial team if he hadn’t been swapped over to a different one for his abilities.

All of this brought back a sense of nostalgia. None of which he really liked.

He was impatient to a degree, when they’d been given the directions of the last group of One Star’s last perceived location, he took the dune runner to its highest speed and hardly slowed down. In all honesty, using his own magic to travel would have been significantly faster, but he chose not to waste his energy on that. He could feel the mana-lag, the soreness in his muscles. Reserving energy was crucial here.

He hoped those One Stars would be alright even if injured.

Some part of him also hoped on some level, that none of the One Stars there, were One Stars he personally knew. Spending time among other DWMA Agents outside of the Guild had been somewhat therapeutic for him, and had always been something he did back in the African Branch. He swung between Guild and DWMA, and doing that had earned him many friends over the years.

Now, he wasn’t sure what he’d do if anyone had died on what should have been a standard, normal mission.

He was pretty sure though before they’d left he’d burn the entire nest till nothing was left.

He’d been about to commit to Rand’s instructions when he changed them, and nodding to him followed the command as instructed.

Mentions: n/a

Interactions:: Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun