The white wolf taking the place of Nina paced around a bit and sat in front of Shujin and Janus. "Well that was simple enough," He said, his tail wagging. He looked back at it and gave something between a shrug and a nod, scratching the back of his head with one leg. "Bedlam has done worse things to me. Like that time it turned me 10."

---

Artemis raised his hand and stopped, indicating the others to stop too. "Hold on, I think I have something that might help with this." He opened the Dreamtide with one hand and the pages started turning, stopping somewhere in the middle.

"Ah, yes, here it is." He said, reading what looked like a spell over and over again, mouthing something. Finally he closed the book again and raised his hand parallel to the ground.

"Rise." He said, lifting his hand. Particles of dust and dirt lifted with it, stopping at chest level. "Find." He told them, slashing his hand through the air and scattering them. They sped off into the forest, looking for other people.

"I learned that one from an earth mage, right before she found me hiding in the shadows." He said in explanation. "If anyone comes within 20 feet of us, I'll know.

"Aye, aye sir!" Celia saluted, and followed diligently out the town gates and onto the road. A bubbling of adrenaline was already pulsing through her veins, and small crackles of violet lighting occasionally snapped across her fingers. It was this energy that readied nearby earth to be used, and the fact that it was already practically buzzing around her showed how determined she was to get through this. No more wandering thoughts, no more silliness, it was time for work...okay, maybe a little silliness to keep up morale.Though, she didn't know what "a little" meant when it came to such a thing.

After a bit of a walk, the scenery was changing to reflect the rocky Web Valley. The pale stone did sort of remind Celia of the light strands of a spider's web. As the Valley drew closer, some signs were scattered about warning travelers to be cautious, or to outright turn around. "They really should put these on the Bosco side..." Celia mumbled to herself, thinking that if they did, this would have been avoided.

Jayce started looking a bit more serious as they came upon the valley, giving his arm one final test before going in, in the case of actual combat. Raising his hand to his face, he flexed it,causing the hand to spin around on a pivot, before locking back into place. Extending his hand, he forced the hand to press forward, a piston pushing it out from the wrist three times in succession, quicker each time. Noire, deciding that she needed to show off too, jumped in the air, and a red magic-glyph appeared, shifting her into her dragonfly state. She buzzed around for a bit, stick still clenched in her maw, before she rose quickly and then fell into a nose-dive, a purple magic-glyph appearing. As she went through, she emerged in her spider form, and within a second, she shot out a glob of webbing at Jayce's waist, forming a speudo-belt of spider-silk. Turning to Celia, before she could even say anything, Noire shot one at her too, forming a similar belt, which she then touched with one of her extra-appendeges, and connected it to Jayce by a faintly visible line of string.

Jayce tugged on the string lightly, before saying: "This'll keep us from losing one another. Noire's gonna stay here in case we need a vertical escape, and she's going to be going along the top of the valley to see if she can find the party. Sound like a plan?" Jayce had a look of determination on his face that showed he was ready to find these people, and that he was sure his plan would ensure success.

Celia watched her two companions prepare their own magic and armaments, Jayce checking his arm and Noire transforming to link them with a web strand. The young girl decided to prepare herself as well, since her magic did actually require some prep. She held out her arms to both sides, and closed her eyes. Violet sparks spiraled and snaked from her arms to the ground, licking the sandy, dusty surface. A dark, iridescent mist formed, before giving way to a shimmering light among it. The shining particles gathered in Celia's hands, forming a compact whitish-blue sphere, surrounded in the mist, about the size of a small melon. It was more than enough to work with, since her stardust was pretty reusable.

Holding it in her hands, she nodded to Jayce. It was getting to be mid- to late-afternoon, now, and she didn't want to be stuck in such a dark place at night for long. She could easily produce light, but that wouldn't dissuade any possible nocturnal predators. "Sounds like a plan." She affirmed. With that, Celia began to walk down the slope into the edge of the valley. Soon enough, the walls would pass their heads, and they'd be in the Web's clutches.

Jayce gave one final look-through of his lacrima stock as they walked along, everything was in order. He waved Noire goodbye as she shifted to her dragonfly form and flew over to the center of the valley, settling down her supplies, and then scouting out the area before returning to her "camp". As they descended, Jayce kept an eye out for anything suspicious, beyond the flying fish, but couldn't see anything. He kept close enough to Celia that the line wasn't strained, and couldn't help but stare at her compacted stardust sphere...kinda reminded him of a giant lacrima. Looking up, he noticed it was pretty late in the day...they'd likely have to have Noire pull them out later. Unless they got lucky.

Darren explained the limitation of his magic, and Rutger tapped his chin thoughtfully. The thick undergrowth of the forest, and the dense foliage of the trees, did mean that Darren's vibrations would be bouncing off of everything and overlapping until they were so thick it'd probably be impossible to get any specific information out of it. Fortunately, Artemis had a solution. He used one of the spells he had recorded in his book to sent out floating motes of dust, so small and floating so gently as to be nearly imperceptible if one wasn't looking for them.

"That'll do, I think. Thanks, Artemis." the fire mage said. Looking back at Darren, Rutger had another idea. "Darren, why don't you try sending periodic vibrations through the air, straight up above us, as we move on? Artemis's Earth Magic will cover the ground, but there could be an enemy flying up above, or floating observation Lacrima or something like that. In the open sky your vibrations would be clearer and let us know before we enter their line of sight."

Turning back to Mombaki, Rutger motioned out towards the forest. "Okay, kiddo, you're up. See if you can track these guys down." He held out the map to the wild magician. "Use this, if it helps. We should be right about here. Try not to scout too far ahead, or you'll get out of the radius of Artemis's spell." He tapped a finger against the paper.

As the small group began moving through the wood, Rutger held up one hand, palm open. No flame appeared, but he could feel the warmth of his magic power tingling through his veins, gathering just below the surface of his skin. If anything got past his allies, he would be ready to hit it full force. He kept his eyes open, glancing around here and there as Mombaki led them through the shadows of the trees.

"By the way, Artemis," he whispered, his curiosity overcoming desire for stealth, "Does your book have any interesting fire spells you could teach me?"

Around the entrance, there was no sign of life besides the flying fish, which were a marvel to Celia. She didn't let herself get too distracted, though, The branching pathways began, and soon they were within the maze's grasp. It was a winding series of trails, a lot leading to dead ends, with some showing a little wear from over the years of lost travelers. It was a confusing mess of rock, and the quickly setting sun was against them in the already dark valley.

According to the map, they would have to make their way to the Bosco side in order to explore fresh territory and hopefully find them. It was possible that they may have come further in, and that Celia and Jayce might find them on the way. "I don't think we're gonna find anything around this side..." voiced Celia, wondering if maybe they'd have to set up camp for the night above, and try in the morning. She was determined to get as much done that night as they could. Soon enough they were at an intersection of about five paths...

"Oh, dear...which do we choose?" Celia questioned, a little lightheartedly.

Jayce watched the walls carefully as they went along, looking for any signs of climbing gear being used; maybe the party had scaled the wall and were camping up on a clifface. It was unlikely, but it was still possible. As they walked along, Noire zipped around above in her dragonfly form, keeping an eye out in all the passages they hadn't been going through. Not like it mattered, she didn't see anything.

As they came upon the five way-intersection, Jayce stopped and pondered, resting his chin on his artificial hand. "All right, five roads, some are gonna be dead ends...Only one way to figure this out." Jayce channeled every bit of his training from the Rune Knight Militia into his brain, and with a determined look on his face, he pointed straight forward at the path ahead...then the one to the left, then the farthest left, then back again to the right. "...Eenie meanie, miney moe..." Eventually Jayce pointed to the one just to the right of the center and said: "THAT WAY!" desperately hoping that that was the right path as he walked forward.

Laura did thought that she would have to spar with the master of the Mystic Ram guild, so when the girl asked her if she was thinking about him, Laura nodded. Fortunaly, she wouldn't have to fight him, and that made her feel a little more comfortable. She still didn't had a real idea about how to use her magic for combat and fighting the strongest one on the guild first would probably be a bad idea. Apparently, Laura was now going to fight the girl she had been talking to, but had to go warn the guild master first. After taking a deep breath and focusing on her messaging again, she resumed her telepathic position. "Please lead the way"

Rutger had a good plan, and Darren nodded to him with a smile. It was a great workaround, and it still allowed for him to be extremely useful with his magic. "I could definately use my magic like that, and I'm surprised that I never thought of that before. Thanks." He said, staying close to his group so that he wouldn't get lost.

Kori smiled and nodded at the woman, moving around the counter and walking to the back of the guild hall where Talon's office was. She turned around to look at the telepathic mage and motioned for her to follow. "This way to his office." She said before moving again, walking up to the door and knocking on it lightly.

A soft grunt could be heard from the other side, signalling that Kori could come in. The wind mage did just that and walked in, looking at her guild master sitting in his chair. The tanned man smirked and stood up. "So, that kid came back to prove himself? For running away like that, he's going to have to fight ME! I'll go easy on him Kori, but he needs to learn to not walk away from people like that, and I'll drill that lesson into his head." He said somewhat darkly, causing Kori to squeak in surprise and shake her head and hands violently.

"N-no! The boy didn't come back. Someone else wants to join the guild, and I'm just here to tell you that I'm going to spar with her out back. I really can't let you fight her, so I'll be taking this one!"

Celia stared at the path Jayce had chosen, then back at him for a second. And then, she laughed. More than she should have. It really shouldn't have gotten her that badly, but she expected a more...mature conclusion from the man. She still nodded, though, and started heading down the path. Flying fish were soaring over head, going all around the valley. If they weren't looking for a group of lost people, in a perilous location known for it's labyrinthine qualities, maybe it would have been a peaceful, calming sight.

Celia trudged down the path, which seemed to get narrower and narrower. The sun was nearly set by now, it's bright orange hues dimming down into wispy purples and blues overhead. A nocturnal chill had descended over Web Valley, making the young wizard shiver a little. Shorts and a short-sleeved blouse really were a bad idea.The path eventually let out at a more open area, a sort of giant ring closer to the valley's center. Moving her hands gracefully, Celia molded the sphere in her palms to become more like a cone. She lifted it to her mouth and yelled, "Hello? Anyone out there?!" Her voice echoed off the walls. She waited, and hoped, for a response.

Jayce chuckled slightly as Celia laughed, even finding himself a bit ridiculous. Of course, it wasn't like there was a much better option at the moment, Noire combing the canyon could take days to do it thoroughly, and it wasn't like the party would stay put at the sight of a giant dragonfly dog flying through the sky then darting back. Noire had to work on her puppy dog eyes for that.

As they travelled along, the setting sun signaled a change in temperature; the canyon was low into the ground, and undoubtedly would get even colder as they descended to where even the moonlight wouldn't reach them. Feeling like it'd be good to stop for the day, since nobody seemed to respond to Celia's whistling, Jayce reached into his pouch and pulled out two lacrima, one was a deep red, the other was a dull grey. Pulling back his forearm to reveal a small circular slot, Jayce packed the two in before cocking the forearm back into place, and raising his arm into the air. flicking his wrist, a hole opened up in the center of the palm and a red-flare shot from his arm, whistling slightly and leaving a trail of smoke on its way up, before it burst in the air like a firecracker, leaving no residue. Noire came flying down within a minute and set her bag on the ground, before her and Jayce went off to strip a tree of some bark nearby. Within a few minutes, they had a decent campfire going, and Jayce took a seat beside it. "Wonder if we'll even find them..." he said as he patted Noire's head as she lied down next to him.

A forlorn expression on her face, Celia gazed into the growing fire. It wasn't often she felt sad, but when it came to the issue of human life...it really got to her. This wasn't about the reward money anymore, but about saving lives. And just on the first day...it was looking bleak. She began to root around in the food supplies for a bit of bread, warming it a bit and taking small, thoughtful bites.

She looked to the stars emerging above, their glittering shapes radiating in every direction. Were the travelers already among them? Celia couldn't say for certain. She looked to Jayce and Noire, asking a somber question. "So, how many days do we keep searching?" Celia inquired, wondering how long they would be able to stay without ending up lost themselves, should something happen.

Jayce...didn't really know how to answer Celia. He was starting to feel a little down, remembering the guys from his company that got lost in the fog...And his arm. Rubbing the wrist of his metal arm, he almost felt...a tinge of something. Something akin to a phantom pain...remembering. Shaking it from his mind, he pulled out a bit of jerky from the pack and took a bite, Noire chewed a bit of meat from her own supplies, being smart enough to ration without being told to. Leaning back, Jayce rested his head against the wall of the canyon and looked up, before finally replying to Celia with: "Don't know. Might take a while...but don't worry. We won't get lost. I'll make sure of that."

Jayce got a stick off the ground and started poking at the bark in the fire to stoke them, making sure it'd keep going for a while. Rummaging through his pack, he eventually pulls out a sleeping bag and tosses it to Celia, saying: "Go ahead and get some rest, I'll take the first watch, then Noire. Hey, tomorrow, you wanna try going around the top of the valley to get to the Bosco side?"

Laura followed the girl to the office, but stood outside while they were having their conversation. She felt as if the man inside was speaking kind of in an harsh way, and that made Laura feel a bit less confortable. Still, after taking a deep breath and calming herself, she entered the office, assumed her telepathic position and sent a message to the guild master. She still couldn't focus on more than one mind, so the other girl wouldn't be able to hear her message. "Hello. I'm Laura Merilli. I would like to join." After sending her message, she opened her eyes, looked straight at the guild master and gave him a cute smile.

Shujin gasped and breathed out heavily, deforming his armour. "Very nice Nina. Impressive." He chuckled. "And to you too Janus. We will definitely put in a good word with master. Your magic is exactly how I remembered it." He smiled.

Turning on the spot, he spoke abruptly. "I guess we'd better collect our payment. Screw it, 33,33,33, and the remaining 1% we can put into the guild safe."

"Do you really think this is over?" The wolf whined, laying his ears back. "I've only got about five minutes left as a wolf. Maybe there's more to this cave? I can walk through walls too!" He immediately stood up and ran through the nearest wall, his head reappearing on the other side of the cave. "By the way, call me Nick for now. Nina isn't exactly a boy's name."

Although inwardly shocked, Talon Smiled at the woman who spoke telepathically to him and said nothing for a moment, allowing the feeling of surprise to pass over him. He had never talked from one mind to another before, or gotten a telepathic message, but he had heard of a small amount of mages who were capable of doing such a thing. It made sense why Kori didn't want for him to fight the young woman, as the magic she was currently using was probably her main and probably only type of magic that she could use. "I see." He said simply, using a calm tone that was unusual for him.

"While I'm not entirely sure about the effectiveness of this kind of magic in battle, if she has the heart to fight, then I say that she's more than welcome here. No sparring needed." He said, his smile turning into a smirk.

Holding the sleeping roll close, she nodded her head. "Sure. That sounds like a good plan." Celia began spreading out the sleeping roll where there was some space near the fire, laying down and setting her bag beside her, as well as the still condensed sphere of stardust. The inherent magic of the particles held the dust together, not requiring any maintenance from Celia until she wanted to mold and use it. Before settling down for a bit of rest, she looked to Jayce. "I'll take the watch after you. Noire deserves a good night's rest, from all of that flying she did. I'm not just a cute facshhhhh..." She tried to sound tough, but was already nodding off and asleep by the end of her sentence.

He rolled his eyes. "Nin.... Nick. You can run through walls back at the guild." He laughed. "I need a stiff one, Janus needs to speak with master, and you need to eat the cake I'm going to buy you." His voice was kind, but grainy and grunted. "So lets go and get our reward." He rolled his shoulders, and cracked his knuckles. He hadn't used magic like that in quite a while.