Ww - the coming storm

[Esme]

Taking a large step back, Leslie regarded the man carefully and a bit wary. Not trusting him in the slightest. That was the second time at random he had hit her, and from experience, that wasn't a good sign. Shaking her head for a second she stayed silent.

 

[bettsyboy]

:: marco closed his eyes and took a deep breath ::


Marco: "don't worry, it was just a test, flexibility, speed, concentration, high marks on all... but i am the least of your worries"


Marco: "you see, you have great potential, and i intend to bring out that potential.... in other words... im asking if you would become my apprentice"

 

[Esme]

Shaking her head again, Leslie made a confused look, "Why would you even need one?" She asked a bit afraid. Not entirely knowing what an apprentice was in the magically world, or if she could honestly belief him, it made her a bit scared.

 

[bettsyboy]

Marco: "its simple really, you see, i have reached a point where an apprentice is needed, that part is complicated, but the point is, if you become my apprentice, you will see the world, become powerful, it will be rewarding.... if no less harsh"


:: he awaited her reply ::

 

[Esme]

Leslie nodded her head slowly before looking at the ground, her foot rubbing her ankle. "What would I have to do, exactly, don't cut anything out or I won't even consider it."

 

[Riddle78]

Steven led Alec and Zaria to where he remembered the orphanage stood. But,when he reached there,he was greeted with a crushing sight.


It was gone. All that was left was a plot of land,with a single,marble wall placed in the middle. Steven approached it,eyes wide,with his one natural eye welling up. When he reached it,Steven reached out and touched the wall,or rather,memorial. Two entries hit home for him,orated to his mind by his reading spell.


Jill Lovenmark,Caretaker. Twenty three.


Steven Adams,Resdent. Ten. No identifiable body found.


The memorial's heading read "Mother Mary's Home for Orphans memorial" and at the end of the list of names read, "Rest in peace"


Upon reading these names,Steven fell to his knees,now openly crying. "Why...? Why did they do this? All they wanted was me! Why did they kill the others!? They were innocent! Why did I run! I was a coward,and evryone else paid for it! Why!?"

 

[Coro]

Vent sighed.


He wandered around the school again for a while.


The fight with the magical man had struck a chord with him. Those had definitely been Umbralus marks that appeared when he died. But what did that mean? Vent could tell this wasn't Hope's doing. It was too open. And Borghen wasn't the kind to use someone else.


Was there another faction in play? As far as Vent could tell, there was still some remains of Nightrise, Hope and Borghen, and rebel demons and mages. Three other forces. Was there a fourth evil presence in this world?


Vent didn't wanna think about it.


He wondered if anyone he knew was still around school, as he wandered aimlessly.

 

[Sui]

Argo lay his old demon acquaintance inside a bed in the library, it was a small, dark, cramped room with a bed and a table, but it was dry and clean.


"Here you go, you can rest here for a bit, Woodwind and I will rustle through the papers a bit, try to find clues on what exactly this mountain was built for"


He closed the door quietly behind him, and strode back to the library.

 

[Coro]

In the Umbralus scroll Vent carried, Olivia pondered.


Vent wants to learn more rune-based magic, huh? She thought, thinking of his desire to learn the Meido.


She shook her head.


'Idiot!' She sent to him telepathically.


"...... Master?" Vent asked, pulling the scroll from his pocket.


'No, retard. It's Alec.' She sent back angrily.


Vent scowled.


".... Not nice. What do you need?" He asked.


'You wanna get stronger? Head to German mountain range. There's a magical library inside, with epic proportions of magic within.'


"Hell yeah!" Vent exclaimed, fist pumping.


Without hesitation, he pulled out his staff, and tapped the ground, teleporting to a peak.


He looked around, while Olivia fed him a mental link. He knew instantly where to go.


Without thinking about it, Vent leaped across the mountain tops, towards the cave he could picture in his mind.


Reaching the cave, he sprinted right in. Vent grinned slyly; thinking he'd find something awesome inside. He eventually had to use his staff's energy to generate light.


With his demonic looking staff crackling with bright electricity, the shaggy brown-haired Vent strolled into a greater chamber. A look of awe took his face as his Umbralus markings glinted in the light.


Something caught his eye.


Xavier.


"..... Xavier?" Vent said gently, realizing that he was asleep.

 

[Sui]

As Argo returned to the endless dusty shelves to research, he felt a disturbance in the magic as someone new entered the mountain


"We have another visitor... doesn't feel like a hostile force... he doesn't know we're here though..."


Argo waved his crystal staff, and light bended around him, effectively rendering him invisible


"I'll go check it out..."

 

[Coro]

Vent glanced around. Inside this magical mountain, his own sensory magic was a little out of tune. He didn't like being surrounded by rock.


He backed up a bit, and kept an eye on Xavier. He hadn't seen his pal in five years.


Were there other people here?


Vent held his staff in front of him, it's demonic look crackling with electricity.

 

[Sui]

Argo returned to the room where he left Xavier asleep, there he saw a figure bending over his old student's body


Slipping through the partially opened, Argo remained invisible.


"Nihilum Magus" the whisper slipped through his lips.


The door slammed shut, and magically locked, and an aura filled the room, snuffing out any stray magic, including the electricity staff, and his own invisibility


Before the magic shock wave died down, Argo had already whipped his silver wand out of his robes, and had it pointed at Vent


"Who are you, and how did you find this place?!"

 

[Coro]

Vent whipped around on the intruder.


"What- Huh?" He exclaimed as his staff's electrical aura died.


He pointed it ahead of him, ready to use it as a weapon.


".... Better question. Did you do something to my friend?" Vent asked fiercely. "If you did, you're gonna get it, buddy!"


His eyes narrowing, Vent prepared to use his Umbralus, the markings along his arms and upper body wriggling the tiniest bit.

 

[Sui]

Argo's eyes glowed slightly in the dimly light room.


"Well, I cast a spell to help him sleep better. He needed it


You should have seen him when he crashed in here... poor kid..."


Argo's gaze drifted down towards Vent's arms


"I wouldn't do that if I were you, I could squish you like a bug...


If you really are his friend, I have no hard feelings against you. you may stay and care for him if you want.


But I warn you, any harm to him, and you will not leave this mountain alive."

 

[Coro]

Vent growled.


"... I've met enough people in the last few days who could 'squish me like a bug'. I'm still un-squished." He spat.


Relaxing a bit, but looking miffed, Vent slid his staff into the back of his belt.


Glancing over at Xavier, he sighed.


"I'm Vent. I used to go to the Academy. Xavier was a good friend of mine. You?" He asked, offering his hand.

 

[Sui]

Argo nodded


"I'm Argo Silverstream. I used to teach at the Academy, Xavior was a student of mine for a short while."


Argo slid his wand back into his robes to show a sign of non-aggression


"I fell out of favor with the Counsel of Mages though... So without their backing, it's impossible to get a teaching position."


He waved his arms and the door unlocked and swung open


"Enjoy yourself, call me if you need anything"

 

[Coro]

Vent chuckled.


"Anyone outta favour with those bastards is good in my books." He said, pulling his hand back, a tad dissapointed.


But Vent immediately coughed, on purpose, an attention getter.


".... Actually, I do need help. I came here with something in mind." Vent explained. "What do you know about runes and runic magic?"

 

[Sui]

Argo turned around surprised


"Runes? Runes you say?"


He smiled, as if he knew something that no one else did


"My boy, I specialized two things back in my teaching days, Runes, and Ancient Magic


And since Ancient magic hasn't been created in hundreds of years, that leaves one thing for me to work with"


He waved his fingers in the air, and a series of very complicated runes danced in the air in front of him


"There isn't a person within the nearest seven planes of existence who can hold a candle to me as far as runic magic goes"

 

[Coro]

Vent grinned.


"Then it's your lucky day. Ever heard of Umbralus?" He said, showing the twisting and intertwining swirling tendril-like marks along his arms.

 

[Sui]

Argo nodded,


"course I have...


Tricky magic though, that stuff, you're had been done pretty well, but I've seen better..."


He grabbed Vent's arm, and held it closely for a better look, his now-glowing eyes picking up all traces of magic in the weave


"Meh, It's a decent hack job at least. I could make a better one if I tried


Did you want me to rewrite the runes for you or something kid?"

 

[Coro]

Vent grinned.


"Now we're talking. These could use a tune up, especially the older parts. But that's only the second thing I wanted to ask you." Vent said smiling.


"..... I want you to teach me some core runic magic for me to use. Rune magic is among the strongest, and if I can intertwine more with the Umbralus power I've already mastered, I'll get substantially stronger, I think. And that's sorta what I need right now....." Vent explained, trying not to go into detail.

 

[Riddle78]

Borghen sat in Hope's cellar,and held one of the skulls before him with his normal sized hand. He smirked,and pressed one of his claws to the dome,and began carving a rune in it,while chanting an ancient spell,with only two words. "Krush Morra,Krush Morra,Krush Morra..."


He finished the first rune,whichcovered the entire dome of the skull,and went down to the brow. He smirked in satisfaction,and placed it on the floor. Borghen held his right arm out over the skull,and brought his claws to his wrist. He sliced his arm open,allowing his blood to flow onto the skull,hardening it,and empowering the rune. It glowed a vibrant teal,representative of the Primal Element Wind.


Borghen placed the skull on his body,dome out,and fused it to his body. He examined it,and was pleased with the result.


"One down,seven more...But only four skulls left...I'll need to find more mages to kill."


Borghen continued his work,and made one rune for Primal Lightning,which gowed a dazzling magenta,Primal Darkness,which glowed deep violet,Primal Light,which glowed a brilliant gold,and Primal Earth,which glowed solid amber.


After placing the runed skulls in his body,Borghen set out for Chicago,knowing there was a large concentration of magi there.


"Tremble mortals,and despair! DOOM HAS COME TO YOUR WORLD!"

 

[Sui]

Argo spun around and strode out the door


"Well then, if we're gonna give you a crash course in the touchier aspects of Runic Magic, then we should go to a different room


I must warn you, what I'm about to show you isn't condoned by the Academy"


He walked down a few more halls, and entered a large empty room, barren of all furniture but a couple empty books on some shelves in the back


"We will do a crash course of the basics here"


With a snap of his fingers, the walls themselves cast a faint light, illumination the entire room


"Here, pick up one of those books there, and show me what you know"

 

[Coro]

Vent chuckled as he followed Argo.


"... I'm cool with 'not condoned' stuff." He said, pointing at his arms.


Vent winced when Argo asked what he knew.


".... I sorta slept in that class. I didn't think it would be very helpful in a fight at that time. I basically know nothing about actually using runic magic except my Umbralus, but it's basically integrated into my body." Vent explained.

 

[Sui]

Argo nodded


"Ok, then we have a lot of catching up to do"


He picked up a quill, and scratched out a page full of markings


"These are the basic one hundred thirty two characters that complex runes are made up with. once you understand the grammar of the magic, the magic can flow freely through that.


When you create a runic circle, you allow magical energy to move constantly through the runes, and thus, the magic will remain in effect until the runes are broken, or rewritten. That's one of the best aspects of runic magic.


The other strong standing point is that it draws it's magic, not from the user, but from an outside source to keep the magic moving. Just like that mark on your arm. you didn't create it, and yet it remains on you, and active. It draws it's power from it's host, in other words, you"


Argo drew runes on the ground, as as if a well opened up and spilled a torrent of energy out of it that swept around the room, picking up everything that wasn't nailed down and sweeping it around the room.


Argo snapped his fingers and the flood of magic shut off instantly, and everything crashed to the ground


"I drew my power from the earth itself. There is unfathomable energies right beneath out feet. The trick is drawing it out, and feeding your runes.


But to do that, you first must learn the language of magic, to tell magic to spring up and do your bidding. you must learn to talk to the spirit of magic with your writing."


He tossed a book to Vent


"You must learn the words before you can learn the grammar. Get to work, copy all one hundred thirty two symbols down before we can get started actually writing sentences"