Nemo let out a grin at Tsukihi's proposition. "Well, that's mighty considerate of you, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist... I suppose I might have phrased it wrong." He said, scratching his head. "I'm not here to see your boss, I'm here to retrieve your boss. And I'm not leaving until she's coming with me, regardless of how well she's feeling." Nemo explained. "You're not going to make this difficult for me, right Tsukihi?" He finished.

”Retrieve her…? Tsukihi pondered. What reasons could this man have for kidnapping her boss? Was this guy from a rival gang looking to become the new top dog in New York? The different scenarios that played out in her mind made her blood boil.

Tsukihi shook her head. ”Ah won’t let that happen!” She yelled. Tsukihi conjured up her enchanted gladius from her mana inventory. The gladius was about three feet long altogether, with runic carvings on the blade and a slight mana glow. She then activated her runic tattoo (a small bracelet-like tattoo with runes in the style of barbed wire), which created a transparent mana buckler shield. She was about to charge the man when she heard a loud yelp from above, and looked up.

---

Raiya had been watching and listening to everything. As soon as the man revealed his name, Raiya decided it was time to grace him with her presence. She stood up drunkenly, and attempted to put on her leather jacket. Her numb fingers couldn’t figure out quite how to get the coat on. One sleeve was inside out, and she kept pressing her hand into it as hard as she could until it unraveled the right way. The sudden loss in tension made her lose her balance. And she tumbled over the guardrail of the vip skybox, falling down to the ring below. She tumbled through the air, and for a moment it almost looked like a tragedy was to take place. Until at the last second, just before hitting the ground, Raiya flipped rightside up, landing on her feet. Tsukihi let out a gasp, but didn't say anything. She just relaxed from her battle stance and let Raiya take the lead. The fall sobered Raiya up a bit, enough to make her speech seem normal.

”Nemo the Devourer. If that is truly who you are... Raiya flipped a lock of hair out of her right eye. ”Truth be told, I am having a bit of trouble believing that is indeed who you are. My late brother captured you himself a little more than a decade ago Raiya smirked connivingly.

”Although, regardless of who you really are, you did beat my Dealer’s Choice. Raiya pointed to the unconscious shirtless man laying on his belly next to them. ”And poor Johnny took quite the hit, he might never recover. Raiya squinted her eyes. ”What do you need me for? You said you were here to retrieve me. I have never met you before. So what do you need me for?” She asked.

---

Feelix stood face to face with a middle aged man who seemed to tower over him. Felix considered himself pretty tall, but this man was almost a giant. His bald head had an odd tattoo in the center of it. More importantly, though, this man seemed to know who he was which astonished Felix even more than his size. How did he know who he was? This man could be using manalysis, but an aura doesn’t indicate where a person is from. More importantly, Felix always kept his mana-wave signature suppressed. If a manalysis user was particularly exceptional at manalysis, he could see a small mana-wave signature from someone who suppressed it if they were within direct proximity of them. But, even that wouldn’t be enough to tell where a person is from. very odd indeed... Felix thought to himself.

“Funny you should mention it. My status as an, “altar boy”, as you called me, has been changed from altar boy to apostate. If I could just have a moment of your time, I think you’ll find what I have to tell you particularly interesting. Don’t worry, I am not here to solicit my religion to you. What I have to tell you is a matter of utmost urgency.” Felix explained.

John's comment seemed to throw Altar Boy off for a second, most people usually were, but for his credit he recovered quickly. His rambling didn't interest him too much until he said "Apostate", meaning he was kicked out of the pearly gates. Good, if it was true. But John had no reason to trust this man just yet and continued to stare him down, "Well then...come on in. Don't mind Hellion, she's harmless. Oh, and don't touch anything...for your own good." said John in a tone which could be described as disinterested, but the rules of hospitality forced him to at least listen to what this peddler had to say.

The living room was a bizarre mashup of wards, herbs, and heavy metal memorabilia. John gestured to the couch as he began to fill two glasses with bourbon, handing one to Alter Boy before swinging out a chair and sitting in it backwards. "So spill it church man, what do you have that's so important that you need to come to my backwoods. Hmm"

Nemo palmed the dagger attached to the back of his belt as the woman spawned weapons and looked ready to charge. However before a fight could start the abrupt entrance of Raiya postponed it. As she spoke Nemo ran the same tests that he did Tsukihi earlier; this was the person he was looking for. She had the coolest jacket of all the people he had fought that night, only someone with fashion sense that good could have put together this club to him.

Nemo was still trying to piece what Tsukihi had meant when she said the boss wasn't feeling well. Something was definitely off with what had happened so far. But he couldn't quite put his finger on it yet.

"I had always hoped they'd call me Smiley. Sadly that one wasn't as popular..." He commented. "Himself? I don't know if that's the term I'd use. You can't forget Garvian and the scores of men he brought with him." Nemo remarked. "Though I suppose Felix was the only one left that could pull his weight."

"Good question, I've recently been tasked with a new mission. The details I can't really share here, but that's not important yet. You see, I've done a lot of jobs by myself, and that little stay at Mamertine was more than enough for me to realize... I need a partner. Or a bodyguard, if that's what you want to call it. The point is that things will be a lot more entertaining with a plus one at my side to shake up the routine. That's where you come in." Nemo explained.

"For beating thing one and thing two here I want to raise the stakes in a little wager. I'll fight anybody here you choose, if I win, you work for me and have to do what I say until my job is done. If I lose, I'll do whatever you want." He finished.

@Ghost Queen
Felix followed the man into his house which was filled with various occult nick knacks, and music memorabilia. Felix eventually took a seat on a couch in front of the large man.

"I know that pagans and the church have a rocky past, which is to say it as lightly as possible. But the reason I am here is the same reason as why I am not here on any official capacity, why I am no longer affiliated with the church that raised me. What I have to tell you goes all the way to the top of the catholic church, and also branches out to different groups that are not affiliated with each other." Felix cleared his throat and continued.

"A few months back, the catholic arcanocracy held a summit. During that summit a fellow arch-magi by the name of Thadeus brought forth a motion to start a search and collection of artifacts of horrific power named, Paragons. Having done extensive research on the Paragons myself, I was well aware of what these items were theoretically capable of. So naturally, I voted against the motion. The then papal-magi had also voted against the motion, and the motion was denied. I had thought that would be the end of it, and it was for a few months. Unfortunately, soon after the papal-magi died and was replaced by Thadeus's brother, Cornelius. Around three days ago there was another summit, and Thadeus brought forth the same motion he did before. Only this time, the vote was in his favor, and the papal-magi made the Paragon search top priority." Felix took a deep breath.

"Normally, if a motion as passed that I do not agree with, I will voice my displeasure, and wash my hands of the matter entirely. But that night, I had a horrible dream. In the dream a voice told me many things. It told me that the Catholic Arcanocracy was not the only group looking for the Paragons. It showed me all the brutal ends this world would come to should any group get their hands on these items, any group other than a group I create. This voice told me to gather up a group of guardians to get the Paragons before any other group can, and seal them away so no one can ever get their hands on them. When I awoke from the dream, I was sitting at my desk, with a quill in hand. I had wrote this-" Felix pulled out the parchment from the side pocket on his backpack, unfolded it, and placed it on the coffee table facing John. "Somehow, in my sleep, I was made to write a list of names and locations. Your name is among the various other names written here. I have already gathered most of the others on this list. They are all back at my headquarters."

Felix thought for a moment before continuing.

"In the dream I had, I was shown that it wasn't just the Catholic Arcanocracy that could bring about the end of the world. I was shown that there were many other groups hungry to get their hands on the Paragons. Societas Academia, the Disciples of Salem, the Cult of the Enlightened... All of them are bound to bring about the end of the world in their own way if I don't stop them... If we don't stop them. John Barrows, I don't know why, but I need your help. You are essential in stopping the end of the world. So please, will you join us?" Felix finished.

---

@Cottonmouth

"Hmm? A bodyguard? Well, fancypants, what if I chose myself as the fighter? What if I wiped your smug little grin off the face of this earth right here and now? No one would blame me. You came here uninvited, no doubt took out my bouncers to do so. And you almost killed my Dealer's Choice and fight official. I am sure that would warrant a show of strength from the boss herself, no?There are probably some here that would think me weak if I myself didn't confront you and take you out like the trash you are. Raiya tilted her head back and cackled briefly, baring her fangs. The sobering up that she received from her fall seemed to only be temporary, because she was starting to feel cloudy once more.

"Where would you be then? The one you wished to recruit as your bodyguard being the one to end your pathetic life?" Electricity crackled in her hair, her eyes began to glow a radiant, stormy grey.

Tsukihi could tell that the Raiya was not sobered up at all, and the moment of clarity she had was quickly waning. If she were to unleash her full arsenal, unrestrained in the club, she would kill thousands. Even if Raiya was vicious, she wasn't heartless. Raiya needed her gang members, and allies. Murdering them by accident would be the last thing she would want. Oh no...

Nemo seemed overly calm despite Raiya's threats. Oncoming mortal danger seemed to be almost commonplace for him at this point. He took the time to further analyze her. The pieces of the puzzle were falling together, reaching an apex when a peculiar smell hit Nemo's nose after focusing on his senses; her breath smelled like alcohol.

"She's wasted." He thought, almost grinning.

It all made sense now, her sloppy looking fall, Tsukihi's comments, and Raiya's increasingly audacious and impaired way of speaking. "Here I thought girls were supposed to smell like flowers." He mumbled to himself, probably loud enough for the two in the ring to hear.

"So you want to kill me then if you win?" Nemo asked. "Sounds good." He said plainly. "Though If I'm not being too bold, I might suggest for you to rethink your choice of fighter. Tsukihi here tells me you haven't been feeling well, I'd hate to fight someone when they're not at their best."

@Cottonmouth




"You will not survive me a second time." Artos mumbled.

There was no time for a proper defense so the hooded polar warrior took the only route he could. A thin layer of ice coated his blades laying beneath the snow before the last of the water rushed up from the ground to create a shield. The rocket exploded through the half formed shield with enough force to launch Artos back a dozen feet through the snow to slam into a brick wall, blasting the air from his lungs. His limp body slumped down as the snow resettled around him from the explosions. Kringle had escaped through his bullshit bag and Artos was left with the bitter taste of loss. Granted, he had won and forced his unexpected enemy to flee the field, but the fight replayed in his mind from start to finish.

"Should have finished it faster. Played around and got caught unaware."

Artos put his hand to the ground and slowly got to one knee, a soft grunt as he got to his feet. The bouncing grenades had been a game changer, the sheer force of each tiny metal ball was agony across his flesh. Thankfully it felt like nothing was broken, his armor having taken the majority of the blows. The snow was already melting now that the creator of the field was gone but was of little consequence. The ice cold crystal clear water of his homeland was still frozen completely around the area, a quick flexing of his will had the individual shards shatter and float to his call, a chunk of said ice carried the hilts of his swords to their master. Both blades in hand, the ice thawed to water and returned to the canisters on his back, thankfully without dents from the collision.

Artos stared up into the sky and crossed his arms. It was going to take time to fix his equipment after the oaf had ruined them. Wordlessly Artos retrieved the ruined pauldron and departed the scene of the violence. Already there were people coming to inspect the noise. By the time inspectors came to survey the scene, the winter fighter was long gone. His route was quick and precise, visiting a leather shop to purchase a replacement to his damaged pauldron strap before sewing it back on. When the sun lowered in the sky, the darkness found the wanderer once more at the waterfront staring into the shimmering black surface.

"Onwards then, to new experiences."

The river did not flow dangerously as he hopped over the rails. The arctic magic formed and froze a small raft for its master who, after softly landing in the floating raft, lay down upon its cold surface. Tomorrow would be a new day. A new chance at honing his abilities.

Tsukihi looked with a troubled expression at Raiya who was ready to attack.

"Please, Raiya. Ah have no doubt that ya can beat him even drunk. But without control ya might just end up killin people we need. Please let me fight for ya." Tsukihi begged.

Raiya turned and looked at Tsukihi's troubled expression. Seeing Tsukihi's face calmed Raiya down, her eyes returning to normal.

"Yes. I could easily destroy you right here and now. But where would the fun be in that? Tsukihi is by right hand, and her power is almost as great as my own. I'll let her take it from here." Raiya leaped from the ring and landed back in the skybox. She sat back down in her seat and watched patiently.

Tsukihi breathed a sigh of relief, and resumed her fighting stance. Her legs apart, and knees bent, she cast a protective mana barrier that covered her body in an invisible force field. Then, she cast a propulsion spell under her feet which threw her at Nemo faster than the blink of an eye. Her shield in front of her face. She used the momentum to fly past Nemo and arc her sword horizontally at his chest.

Tsukihi's rush, while quick, was easily predicted by Nemo given the spell cast at her feet. He crossed his arms into an X shape, creating a flat magic shield to block her swing; it immediately faded afterwards. After that he swiftly made a grab at one of her legs as she flew past him. If he were to catch her he'd immediately pull her back and slam her to the floor.

Tsukihi anticipated the grab and added another propulsion spell, blasting her forward faster than Nemo's grab. She then tucked into a flip and propelled herself at the ground Next to Nemo, tucking and rolling behind him, slashing her gladius out at the back of his legs.

Nemo hesitated to attack while she rolled. She was fast, and after the first attack it began to get hard for him to keep up with her. He was starting to feel rusty after all the years in prison, that's for sure.

"Not the pants!" Nemo thought as he saw her slash from the corner of his eye. He jumped up and over the blade just in time for it to miss. He was left suspended in the air after the jump, leaving him wide open and probably about to pay a price for saving his trousers.

Tsuhiki reverted her moment of the slash and twisted her torso, lashing out with her transparent runic buckler and smacking at Nemo with it. The buckler's runic energy would certainly add extra energy to an impact, so getting hit with it full on would send anyone flying about ten feet in the other direction.

Nemo braced himself against the buckler with his right shoulder, taking the hit with a audible "oomph" and getting sent backwards across the ring. He managed to keep himself upright in the air and landed on his feet, almost stumbling over as he slid to a stop from all the momentum he still had.

Nemo let out a small laugh and rolled the shoulder that took the hit around a few times. "That's better, put some feeling into it!" He said. "You fight better than the rest because you have a reason to fight me. You fear of losing your boss." He continued as he charged his right hand with energy and waited for her next move.

@Cottonmouth

"While ah am flattered ya consider me above tha rest of these lowlifes, ya misunderstand the reason why. Ah aint above the rest of these neanderthals because I fear losing mah boss. Though truth be told that would be a major thorn in mah side. Nah, ah am above all these peons because ah train for moments like this every day. And mah trainin partner is the only one who has ever beatin me." Tsukihi finished with a grin. And then created a series of propulsion spells under her feet. The propulsion spells made her criss-cross around the ring so fast the naked eye couldn't keep up. The final propulsion spell made her fly directly towards Nemo's backside, to which she trusted a lunge attempting to skewer him.

@Prodigal Son

Nemo's head cocked to the side during Tsukihi's response. His pleasant attitude quickly changing to that of a scowl. "No, no, no, it wont do, the fear of losing someone is touching, it's compelling, it's beautiful. Art is beautiful, it makes me feel. But the fear of losing a battle... it doesn't inspire me. It's bland." He explained, not paying much attention to her movements. "Art isn't dull, art is spontaneous, not predictable." Nemo said, his gaze turning behind him. He used his empowered hand to grab onto Tsukihi's blade before it could reach him; somehow stopping her completely.

His touch immediately nullified any active magic energy within the blade. Nemo's firm grip on the sword kept her in place despite small cuts to his hand. "If your fear is weak, then you will only come to fear me instead." He finished, his tone becoming more grim. He immediately followed up with a heavy mana empowered kick at her left. The kick was made to bait out herbucklershield, and had enough concussive force behind it to still rattle someone through a block. His next move was to use his last free hand and blast her point blank with a strong pitch black X shaped attack from his bandaged arm. If it were to hit it had enough power to knock her half-way across the ring.

Tsukihi blocked the kick with her runic bangle only to be blasted across the ring a second later. If it wasn't for the forcefield she had cast on her body at the beginning of the match, she probably would have been knocked cold. As it was, the shield aura absorbed all of the damage she would have sustained, but also broke, leaving her vulnerable. She took the time to cast another mana shield upon her body, before making her next move.

Tsukihi stood stalwart and then replied to Nemo's nonsense.

"Ya think ah give two rats asses about yer 'art'? Ah couldn't care less about what ravings ya spew out of yer mouth." Tsukihi spat. "Ya'll disgust me. Ahm gunna end this here and now."

Tsukihi took her sword and drew a three foot circle in the air in front of her with the tip of her gladius. In the middle of the circle was a roman Jupiter glyph.


"Jupiter lend me your power and strike my foe true!" Tsukihi shouted.

Immediately large tendrils of golden electricity arced forth from the glyph, all taking different paths but all converging upon the same target, Nemo.

Nemo returned the favor by drawing a similar circle in the air with his hand, topping his off with an X instead. "Fighting is art, if you don't care about art then how can you call yourself a fighter?" He asked as he put his palm behind the rune. It immediately expanded into a much larger magic shield, blocking and immediately absorbing almost all of the tendrils.

One passed by however, snaking around and heading straight at him. Nemo caught it with his bandaged hand, receiving quite the shock but not putting out much of a reaction. The X on his hand quickly absorbed the tendril right into his palm. "Pain is something I have learned not to fear, tell me Tsukihi, do you fear pain?"

With the conversation cutting off midway it seems Yuno was almost at a loss of what to do for a moment before her stomach signaled for her attention. She had almost forgotten that due to her conversation and travel with Felix she hadn’t gone back to her dorm hall as normal to engage in her evening meal. Leaving her with a rather empty belly that only was noticed after she had a chance to relax her attention and focus on the area around her. Felix’s base had been breathtaking after all, from the architecture which created these amazingly spacious rooms to the details of the wood railings, kitchen counter tops, and fireplace that made her almost think that there could have been no better home to be transported into. The familiar redwood made it still home in her mind as she found herself moving off towards the fridge for a brief moment to check what the man who invited her over may have had in stock. If it was anything like the house she probably wouldn’t even have trouble finding something small to devour before the man gets back. Second later she had a spoon in one hand, a Jello cup in the other, and a small smile on her face as she partook in the late night snack. Yet, the smile faded for a second as she heard a voice call out around the corner she stood.

Poking around it with the spoon still in her mouth briefly she finished her bite as Travis came into view. Her first impression of the boy within the cabin was one of partial familiarity. As if she had once seen him perhaps in passing, but it escaped her as to what it might be. With a small portion of mananalysis use though she was sure of one thing: He was likely untalented which surprised her. Of course, he may just be surprising it which she couldn’t blame. Hiding from strangers was smart after all and she had to admit to herself that her mananalysis skills weren’t anywhere developed to some of the more talented mages in the world, as she had been much too busy most of the time emphasizing her other areas of expertise. With that first impression of his magic though and his less than average hairstyle Yuno almost thought he was in the wrong location. Despite having told herself to know better than to judge a book by its cover by all accounts he didn’t seem to even belong here when hunting for magical items.

Knowing how to mask her confusion and interest behind the trained smile she held Yuno didn’t let it stop her from giving a proper introduction. Moving out from around the corner and setting her snack upon a nearby table Yuno was able to give Travis a small curtsy that she had given the others. “You’d be correct. It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Yuno Whitmore.” She said to the man ahead of her before standing back up straight with her arms gently across in front of her. Her gaze shifted up and down him for a second as she got a better look at Travis. Unlike her knowing him however, he likely knows her name with her unique appearance and odd state of ‘popularity’. Not one of friends, but one of at least being well known in her studies of her peers. It’s hard to miss the white haired girl in one of her usual white outfits after all when her mother is known in the Acadamia for skill and being a professor.

At first, if briefly, there didn't seem to be any reply to Travis' witty attempt to draw attention. He stepped in further in to the mansion and eased his carry-on chest gently down to the smooth redwood floor and and looked around the seemingly empty space around him. Not a moment sooner did his wandering eyes catch a white-haired girl suddenly stepping into view. He found it odd that just by looking at her did she appear familiar as if he knew her somewhere.

The girl politely introduced herself after confirming Travis' announced query from before; Yuno Whitmore was what she called herself. Instantly did Yuno's last name strike a fiber of recollection. Professor Whitmore was someone he quickly remembered as one of many teachers he learned the art of magic from in earlier years. If anything, she had become a role model that inspired him through his studies. Of course the same surname would eventually lead to her daughter to which he too would know about. Not personally, but it was hard not to overhear whispered rumors and passing-by chats of the expected child-prodigy of a famous Acadamia professor.

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Whitmore," Travis commented before giving a friendly bow in greeting, "My name is Travis McGrath, its good to see another student from the Acadamia. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is at dumbfounded, if not intrigued about our current quandary."

"Tha only thing ah fear is complacency" Tsukihi sneered.

She then drew roman gemini rune, this one on the ground. Then she shouted, "Twins of Mercury! Please grant me your boon, that I might fight with twice my strength."


Immediately a bright flash of mana consumed her, and when it died out, there were two of her that looked exactly identical.

"We'll end this right here and right now." the two Tsukihi's said in tandem, both pointing their gladius at Nemo.