"You copy yourself because you're too dull to come up with something original." Nemo chimed back as he prepared himself for their attack. He extended his arms out towards the two but criss-crossed them over into an X. After taking a second he fired off one blast from each of his palms towards the two. It made a loud screeching whistle as it flew through the air.

After Felix had explained his spiel to the large man, he expected him to answer, but instead he seemed frozen in place. Felix walked over to John, and waved his hands in front of his eyes, but nothing, no movement. Then Felix looked to his side to see the hell hound frozen in place as well, and that is when it hit him. He ran to the blinds and on the window and bent one of the middle blind columns slightly to see outside. On the street and sidewalk there were various children and adults making their way home, all of them frozen.

It doesn't make sense. Felix pondered This must be an advanced stasis bubble. Stasis bubbles are normally used to prevent non-magical beings, like regular humans, from witnessing a magic battle. But everyone in this city is a magic user, so why is this whole town frozen?

Felix held his head in his hands as he pondered, and that's when he saw it, the golden runic bangle that he stole from the guard in Mamertine. It was still on his arm, and it was glowing profusely. Immediately, Felix activated his manalysis, only to realize it was too late, there were two men outside that were not there before, and one man inside walking down the hallway with a very familiar, dark conniving aura. Thadeus. Hurriedly Felix grabbed the parchment list and tucked it away.

Thadeus turned the corner, his aura intimidating. His dark blonde hair was slicked back in a short ponytail. His dark beady eyes holding the same conceited air they always had. He walked in with a smile on his face, his head slightly tilted upwards.

"My, my, my. Felix. You've certainly been busy, haven't you? Breaking into Mamertine prison? And breaking out one of the most dangerous criminals in Catholic history? It's almost like you are thinking about coming against us." Thadeus smiled slyly, and strode over to the couch John was sitting on and sat down next to him.

Felix's eyes narrowed, and his hands clenched into fists.

"How did you know where I was. How did you freeze all these people?" Felix asked through clenched teeth.

"Both of those questions can be answered with the same answer. The runic bangle you have attached to your arm there. They are oh so very hard to make, so since last summer the boys down at Mamertine created a tracking spell in case anyone decided to steal one, as you did. As for the stasis spell, well after your little stunt the boys down at mamertine devised a new stasis spell a few hours ago. This spell allows us to freeze anyone besides the ones with the runic bangles." Thadeus raised his hand to show the bangle under his sleeve.

"Smart. So the next time there is a prison break they can freeze everyone inside the prison besides the employees."

This is bad, if I take off the bangle now, I will be frozen. I have to get out of here.

"MANAEGIS!" Felix shouted as he stood up. His latent mana-well brimming forth into physical reality and taking shape in the form of blue glowing armor and a sword.

Felix was about to jump out the window when he sensed something most sinister. A massive mana-wave signature being poured into a mana glyph.

Thadeus was still sitting down, his smirk even more grandiose than before.

"Your men standing outside... They aren't guarding the door. No one can get through the stasis field without a bangle. No, they're creating a massive spell." Felix put together.

"Correct! An Agnis Sphere to be precise. And if I am not mistaken, it is about time I take my leave." Thadeus stood up, about to depart.

"AN AGNIS SPHERE! ARE YOU INSANE!? THAT WILL DESTROY THIS ENTIRE VILLAGE!" Felix yelled in anger.

"Well, it's not the first time I've done this... I seem to recall an incident 4 years ago... Anyway, I've got to go, goodbye for now." Thadeus said in a pompous tone. Then with a bright flash, he blinked out of the house.

Felix looked at the frozen John.

I can't move him. All people within a stasis field are glued in one place with the force of the mana used in the spell. Suffice it to say, even if I had the strength of Hercules, I would end up crushing him before picking him up. The spell is already finished, so it's too late to stop it.

Felix punched the wall, leaving a four foot hole to the outside where his fist was.

"DAMNIT!" Felix yelled

There wasn't enough time for Felix to create a barrier strong enough to combat an agnis sphere spell. So Felix tried to get as far away as possible. Jumping through the wall where he punched, making the hole even larger. And dashing as fast as he could, which in Manaegis was about 70 miles per hour. Unfortunately it wasn't fast enough. Before Felix could reach the outskirts of the village, he was caught up in a torrent of flames and explosive force. Without the manaegis he would have been ripped apart, and even still he could feel the manaegis cracking and leaking his mana out into the torrent of flames. Eventually Felix lost consciousness due to the lack of oxygen.

When Felix awoke, most of his manaegis had been broken completely, dispersing into mana. Only his helmet, his right gauntlet, and his left sabaton were left intact. The highlight of the news was that Felix survived, somehow. And none the worse for wear either. His clothes were still in pristine condition, and he didn't even have so much as a scratch on his skin. But when Felix stood and tore off his helmet, he saw a scene of complete and utter devastation. All the buildings were razed to the ground in heaps of ashes and burnt two-by-fours. There were charred skeletons everywhere. Felix hung his head for a moment, and then continued his walk out of the area.

As soon as he crossed the threshold of the stasis barrier, the bangle stopped glowing.

The bangle!

Felix found a large boulder and sat down on it. He then conjured up a small, sharp, thick manaegis knife. He charged the manaegis knife with even more mana, making it vibrate slightly. This is the only way Felix could outright combat mana enriched metals. Making the manaegis more densely enriched with mana than the metals he was combating allowed him to more efficiently guard against mana enriched weapon attacks, and slice through mana enriched armors. Placing the knife under the bangle and using the flat back of the knife to apply leverage between the bangle and his wrist, the bangle soon snapped off his wrist landing on the ground with a fizzle and a crack. Felix looked down at the broken bangle and began to get lost in thought.

One of the potential guardians is dead. And it's my fault. How could I be that stupid? Did the person who sent me the vision know that one of the guardians was going to die before I could enlist him? But, Thadeus... I now know the truth, and the truth is that Raiya was right. Thadeus was indeed the one who wiped Piccola Village off the map. Which also lends credence all the more so to Thadeus being apart of the Jesuits. But what do I do now? I suppose the only thing to do is continue forward.

Felix pulled out the parchment again. The next name also happened to be the last name on the list, "Artos Bane". The location was another weird one. "North Pole-Afloat on River. Find the village"

"Oh boy, I absolutely love cold places." Felix said sarcastically to himself. He then checked his manadial. Looking at the north pole, zooming in he was only able to find one village. He memorized the coordinates, and created a rift. Before jumping through it, he put on his manaegis. Manaegis was an excellent insulator, any wind or chilled air that touched manaegis was repelled, and so the manaegis wearer was always the same temperature as when he put it on. After he put on his manaegis he leapt through the rift.

---

@Zelosse

Arriving at the sub-zero village, there were only a few buildings in Felix's view; a leather working shop, a general goods store, a pub/inn were the only buildings within eye shot. Using manalysis, all of the people in the village were Talents. Remembering what the Parchment said, Felix looked around to see if he could find the river. Off to the west there was a sheet of black that contrasted the whiteness of the snow, Felix assumed this to be the river.

Felix took a deep breath and was chilled to the bone. Even the manaegis couldn't prevent the air coming in through the breathing and eye slits. Felix ventured forth towards the river. It baffled Felix that there could be a liquid body of water in this weather. But with mana saturating the earth, all sorts of anomalies happened on a daily basis.

Out on the river towards the middle was a raft made out of ice, and Felix could make out a figure laying upon it. Felix enchanted his sabatons with mana to allow himself to walk on the calm river surface. He continued to walk out until he was about five feet from the raft.

"Artos Bane. Do not be alarmed, my name is Felix Glasius, and I have come with a proposition." Felix said, in a calm, courageous tone.

---

@Cottonmouth

Both Tsukihis used their shield to block the screeching blast, and both shields absorbed the blast but were disintegrated. Both Tsukihis used the propulsion spells and propelled themselves all across the ring, zigzagging in a dazzling choreographed display. Eventually they made their way towards Nemo. One propelled themselves in the air slicing an arc at Nemo's head, and the other slid on the ground slicing towards Nemo's legs again.

Yuno tilted her head slightly again as Travis acted differently than her first glance my expect of a man with hair and clothes such as his. It wasn’t too often that several people called her miss or lady in a row like the had tonight. With her expectations being off and the fact Travis even bowed back Yuno couldn’t help but laugh slightly to herself. “Well, the appearance doesn’t quite match the attitude I expected if you will forgive me for saying.” She commented towards him before looking back towards him directly slightly puzzled. “The Acadamia as well? I guess that is likely considering the amount of magically talented people we have.” She then added on to her statement as she came to the conclusion. She couldn’t help but notice his age compared to hers, and that he could possibly even be a graduate at that time. Taking note of his case at the time as well she continued her attempts at deductions, but there wasn’t too much she could she could add after he showed his style of dress wasn’t a good measure. “It’s nice to be so close to home. The familiarity does help with the transition after walking through the gate. Though, as we wait for Felix it seems we are free to roam around and choose our own room which I have yet to complete. Yet, I feel like that can wait since it’s not like a building this large is going to run out soon.”

When she finished speaking she turned and walked back into the center of the living area before sitting down with her small snack in hand and taking a bite. “We left so fast I didn’t eat dinner, though luckily I think this shall be plenty for the night. Appetite doesn’t seem to be a big issue when my curiosity is peaked.” She said aloud towards Travis if he still was wishing to talk. “I do wish that he gets the recruits and arrives soon. The urge to confirm that his story is true is building so I know I have a reason to stick around and not just fall back into my studies! I can say I am slightly surprised that you are here so eagerly as well if you are from the Academia if you have tasks there you are supposed to do instead of chasing the story Felix told.”

"Artos Bane. Do not be alarmed, my name is Felix Glasius, and I have come with a proposition." Felix said, in a calm, courageous tone.

The ice raft rocked ever so gently as it drifted along the river, Artos breathed steadily and rested in the familiar confines of what could very well be considered a floating coffin. The battle with the bearded fellow had left him in a state of readiness, alert even in the utter calm. The presence of another being didn't startle him in the slightest, nor did his presence alarm the fighter, the opposite was in fact true as Artos readied to land the first blow. The water signaled his attack as it churned once like an air bubble popping, spraying the frozen water in a torrential downpour even as it froze over in a flash of absolute zero temperature. The wave of frozen energy rippled from the raft, rich and deep.
Kringle had not exhausted a great deal of mana in their scuffle, and the restorative calm of the river had already begun to repair the cracked bones and various bruises. In the heat of battle these were nothing more than nuisances to be ignored.

Artos coiled like a spring and launched out of the raft in a leap at the stranger, both longswords in hand, intending to finish the fight quickly. A look of shock sparked in Artos' eyes as he analyzed the opponent on the glance. Heavily armored and standing on the river before it had been frozen was a feat to be proud of, with Artos himself still unable to do so at will without freezing it. Adrenaline coursed his whole body to fighting fit at the thought of battle with such a developed practitioner of the arts.

There was no time to see if the fellow had been frozen to the ground or not so Artos went in with a scissor swipe, both blades crossing over each other in unison like scissors in an attempt to decapitate the opponent. Both blades to either side he reversed momentum and went for an X slash at the torso to try and test the armors durability before rushing in once more, precise jabs and slashes intended to force the opponent back on their heels. With luck the fellow would be rooted to the ice and unable to dodge, without luck it would be a test of skill.
The hunger of battle manifested in the blue glow of mana like a halo around the fighters body.

There would be time for talk later.

"Time to finally live up the title of Devourer." Nemo mused after he fired off the two blasts. He immediately charged a spell up in his bandaged palm. It manifested in the form of a festering black orb. He crouched down and slammed it to the floor of the ring as the two Tsukihi's rushed him. It quickly sprawled out like spilled black ink into a intricate magic circle on the ring in a short area around him. While most of it couldn't be made out, it could be seen that Nemo was standing in the middle of a large magic X that encompassed the whole circle.

For a second it seemed that Nemo had almost given up and was about to to take both attacks for the team. But the rather sinister smile on his face gave a hint that wasn't the case. As soon as Tsukihi and her clone came into range the circle briefly lit up and two peculiar sounds were emitted; a quick energy charge type noise followed by a shattering break. Almost like the spell itself had exploded with a bang. It caused a displacement in the air around it's range, the floor of the ring cracked and any metal below twisted and grinded.

The real virtue of the spell could be observed to anyone with a keen sense for mana. One of the Tsukihi's-the clone-was quickly torn to shreds and faded away towards Nemo. The only Tsukihi left was effected as well, most of her mana was immediately and violently ripped from her. With the clone out of the way Nemo was easily able to focus his energy on countering. Especially considering he strangely just received a considerable amount of mana back to his reserves from the spell he just used.

The Tsukihi attacking from the air at his head was the only one left. Nemo ducked under her to evade and slammed his open palm into her torso. He attacked her by resonating his raw mana energy out of his palm and into her body. It propelled her upwards towards the ceiling. Nemo followed up by shooting a magic blast upwards towards Tsukihi as she ascended. It didn't hit her, but instead sped past her and hit the ceiling, engraving an X shaped rune on it. Nemo outstretched his arms and fell backwards in a trust-fall like way. Just before he hit the floor he faded away into a distortion like effect and emerged out from the rune on the ceiling. Nemo twisted himself around and faced Tsukihi just as she reached her arc. He latched onto her from behind with a firm grip and caused them both to spiral into a head dive back to the floor of the ring. They accelerated quickly on the way down, spinning quite fast and emitting white magic trail as well. Nemo rolled out just before they collided, causing Tsukihi to take the hit right to her neck and back like an atomic powerbomb from hell.

The last thing that could be heard before Nemo finished his Izuna drop (and the fight) was his adrenaline filled laugh on the way down.

@Zelosse

Manaegis made from Manalloy was a robust material. Manalloy, being resistant and repellant to physical materials, also extended to water. In fact, Felix could have walked on the water without enchanting his sabatons with an extra layer of mana. Water like every other physical substance, is naturally repelled by manalloy. The problem is that, with water being so easily displaced by other physical objects, and gravity pushing down upon the manaegis, it made it extremely difficult to balance. Felix had tried this years ago when first developing manaegis. Felix had only his sabatons equipped during this time, and he found himself instantly upside down fully submerged in water. If he had not dispelled his sabatons from his feet all those years ago, he would have surely drowned. This was different in a full suit of manaegis. If Felix were to step out in full manaegis without a mana enchanted outer-coating, he would instantly loose his balance and fall on the water as if it were a solid platform of slippery-wet ice. And as he would try to get back up, he would continue falling every which way like a bouncy ball, and it would surely look abysmal, depressing, and perhaps a bit funny to all who would watch the spectacle. However, Felix used an outward balance mana enchanted coating to keep himself balanced on the water. The coating automatically applied adjusted force in real time to keep the user upright. This small, otherwise useless spell, was developed by Felix specifically for his manaegis.

Because of a mixture of manalloy's flawless structure, and repellent nature to all things physical, there was no small microscopic nooks for water to get in. This fact mixed with the fact that solids are repelled equally as much as liquids meant that ice could never adhere to the surface of a suit of manaegis. The only possible way to freeze a manaegis would be to fully submerge the armor in a large basin of water and then freeze that water; effectively freezing the armor in a large chunk of ice. This meant, that when the water blasted forth from the raft and landed on Felix, as it froze, the chunks of ice slowly dripped off of him because the ice had nothing to adhere to. Additionally, as the river froze, the would-be icy grasp that could have rooted him there could not find any hold on the perfect material, and thus he simply stepped out of a frozen imprint of the bottom of his sabatons. Knowing that solid ice had very little friction, Felix discarded his previous enchantment spell on his boots for a different one. This enchantment created a small gripping force between his sabatons and the ice to keep him from slipping.

Felix then activated his manalysis and felt the man's mana-wave signature, attuning himself to the movement of the mana-waves rather than relying on his other senses for the combat. Instantly Felix knew the was striking towards his chest with his two blades. Analyzing the blades, he could tell they were normal physical material, thus not able to damage his manaegis. So, Felix allowed the attack to connect, as well as the additional jabs and slashes that came after. The attacks did little to nothing, and as with the nature of manalloy, the manaegis was still sparkling in perfect condition.

Felix looked the man up and down, and noticed the swords looked special. As if they were handcrafted by an artisan for Artos himself. With this in mind, Felix conjured up a manaegis sword, making the blade thick and blunt; as opposed to his atomic sized blade edge, so as not to damage Artos' swords.

"I really don't want to fight you, I am here to recruit you to save the world from its many inevitable ends. But if the way you talk is through your swords, then so be it." Felix declared. Then he launched himself in a lightning fast manner that he could only attain in manaegis, and did a diagonal slash at his legs hoping to knock him off ballance and subdue him.

---

Tsukihi was knocked cold by the powerbomb, but still alive.

Watching this whole spectacle sobered Raiya up all the more.

Raiya returned to the ring with a scowl on her face, as she hurriedly attended to the wounded Tsukihi. Good, she's still breathing. She just got knocked cold.

Raiya stood up and addressed the white haired man who was by all accounts the winner of this bout. The spells he used, and the mana signature that his aura gave off. There was no doubt about it, this was Nemo Smiley. Raiya's expression grew even more annoyed.

"You should be in Mamertine Prison, wasting away for the rest of your days." Raiya pondered out loud.

There was something about this picture that did not sit quite right with Raiya, but with the alcohol still very much clouding her thought process, she couldn't put the pieces of hte puzzle together.

Nemo's positive expression as he took in the fresh victory air quickly dissipated after Raiya's response. "Did I not entertain you?" He asked, looking a little hurt. However this quickly turned to a brief chuckle. "No matter, no matter. We've only just begun." He added.

"Maybe I should, but alas, it appears that's not how the cards fell isn't it?... It's a lovely world we live in." He commented.

"But hey," He started, making the gesture of smacking her shoulder despite the distance. "At least you can say I'm not as bad as they say, right? I've heard people say terrible things about me. And you... you were what? Like..." He scratched his head, "eleven at the time?" He used his hand to try to downsize her height to what he expected her to be in the past.

"Lets just say for the moment that I've been far away from home for quite some time," Travis chuckled in reply towards Yuno's observational gesture, "That and these past few weeks have been rather...Eventful."

While it didn't seem all that visually apparent, Travis could not help but catch Yuno's eyes inspecting his appearance. Honestly however, he could not blame her from being skeptical of his choice of attire. As to what he had hinted towards, his time in Villa Nueva had demanded if not forced him into blending in with the crowds in culture. That and the unfortunate case of misplacing his lugging carrying his outfits and spare clothing but it was that instance he blamed on the ground crews once his flight arrived in Mexico.

"I firmly agree on both accounts; the scenery is definitely pleasant to return back to. Though I must say, I did not quite expect our illustrious friend to have such a fine place, especially in our own back yard."

Taking up his carrying chest along with him, Travis followed Yuno further into the mansion to what appeared to be nice lounge right nest to the kitchen. It seemed Yuno was enjoying a late snack before his own arrival. Travis contemplated having a small something to pass the time but decided against it for the moment in favor of transferring himself to the couch opposite of where Yuno sat. Once she had mentioned her own concern toward he studies in regards to her role in all of this, Travis suspected she was still fulfilling her role as student. While technically he was in the same boat, his academic aspect gave him plenty to study up on outside the secretive confines of the Academia.

Gently placing his unusual cargo beside him, he responded to Yuno's analytical comment, "Regrettably, my personal expedition to the Mesoamericas has been more trouble than I imagined. As a Scholar, I must admit, I had not anticipated to run into as many hazards as I had 'fortunately' stumbled across."

"But what I do find promising is Felix's wealth of knowledge concerning the Paragons - have you ever seen the word in your studies before? Personally, I find these Paragons far more fascinating and worth my productive time studying than debating the existence of Aztec gods. But most of all though, have you any reason to doubt him? All of our names and near-exact locations were on his parchment; I put quite a bit of effort of not being found and yet he located me easily...Especially during a somewhat, awkward, moment..."

Travis tweaked a section of his hair, rubbing his finger against his threads before examining the tips his digits. Sure enough, he found a faint trace of soot had glued to him. With a frown, he flicked his fingers against each other in hopes of doing away with the cooked debris.

"I was thirteen. And you most certainly are just as bad as once rumored, but there is something restraining you, holding you back. I just can't figure it out right now." Raiya shook her head, holding her sneer.

"What do you want, why are you really here?" Her glance briefly went to Tsukihi on the ground. Tsukihi's body fidgeted as she struggled to regain consciousness.

Nemo's head cocked to the side after Raiya's rather cold initial response. His grin seemed to be a little less genuine than usual now. Various thoughts ran through his head after her final statement. "So I can threaten Felix with you. Because I can use your well-being to blackmail him in case he turns on me. He knows I can hurt you." His eye twitched before he straightened out, seemingly shoving back any temptations he had.

"Restraining? No no, art cannot be controlled. I'd just simply hate to get off on the wrong foot with my future partner in crime. Can't have any bad blood between you and the person who is supposed to have your back right? So today I was a little more... graceful in my performance." He said, seemingly having trouble himself to try to find a word for it as he looked over to the X shaped indent on the wall by Johnny's body.

"Like I said earlier, I'm here for you, Raiya. Till my mission is done you gotta do what I say. My problems become your problems. And I'm sure some of yours will end up being mine as well. As for the mission itself, I think that will be clear pretty soon, possibly from someone else, and definitely someplace else." He said, flashing his return teleport card in between two of his fingers to her.

Raiya balled up her fists. She wanted to tell him no. More than that, she wanted to kill him and end his nuisance of an existence right now. But, with all the onlookers in the club, and her own sense of honor, she couldn't.

So she walked over to the Tsukihi, who was now sitting up and rubbing her head, and held out a hand to pull her up.

Tsukihi accepted and used her grip to pull herself up

"You aren't really going to go through with this, are you?" Tsukihi asked.

"It looks like I don't really have a choice in the matter." Raiya patted her on the shoulder and gave her a smile. "Are you okay? Nothings broken?"

"Nah. Ah might have some hair-line fractures and definitely some bruising, but ah'll be fine." Tsukihi replied.

Raiya's smile turned into a stern, commanding expression. "Good, because you'll need to be in tip top shape to keep operations running around here while I'm gone. I am not sure how long that will be, but let's just plan on it being a while." She then turned her attention to the onlookers and everyone in the club. "So until I'm back, Tsukihi is acting leader of the Crux gang, anything she says goes." Raiya raised her voice for everyone to here.

Tsukihi couldn't believe what she was hearing. Not only was she not being punished for her failure but... she was being rewarded? "Ah-ah-ah-ah ah don't know what t' say." Tsukihi stuttered.

"You don't need to say anything. Just... don't make me regret it." Raiya said as she turned and followed Nemo.

"You better not be wasting my time." Raiya said threateningly.

Yuno set her small snack down once again as it was finished once he finished his statement having been only menial cup to tide her over rather than a large late night meal. Nodded towards him once in the process to show her continued attention the girl then adjusting her seating position. Moving from what had been her straight up seating she lifted her right leg precisely before crossing it over her This was done to near perfection from practice as to adjust in a way that wouldn’t be appropriate in a skirt while her hands fell into her lap. Her eyes slowly went away from straight analysis to being a bit more carefree once he was done speaking. Inside of her mind she decided her desire to continue such a view of him would not cater to any needs now since he was fairly willing to discuss his views on Felix and engage in conversation. In fact her smile shifted minutely from the trained one she held before to one more genuine as she enjoyed the bit of company she wasn’t constantly used to. As she held the smile Yuno finally shrugged in the direction of Travis before replying. “I have no reason to suggest he could have been watching me especially if he lives so close to where I am from. Mainly due to the fact I could be found where he met me often. It’s just as believable as his story after all. I don’t have evidence to support trusting him outside of his word, but I do find myself inclined to view him as truthful. As far as my instinct tells me he is honest and that is why I am here to aid for now. Just as I told Felix, the moment his statements are made true through my own eyes I find no reason to run away on this adventure.”

Shifting her head slightly finally gazing away to turn towards the ceiling Yuno let out a small sigh of relaxation. “To return to your first question, no I am not well acquainted with the paragons besides for a few facts here or there. And as for your debate of the existence of Aztec gods I would be curious so ask why you would study Aztec over other cultures and their religion before more prominent ones. Not out of more prominent ones being more correct or more debated, but I simply wonder your specific choice. But, instead of just asking that I am curious about the soot.” She commented towards Travis before her head fell from the side of where it was to re-engage eye contact. “Is it a tale of excitement or just a simple happenstance that you arrived here like that? Now that you explained you were a scholar I can’t fully determine the best reason it may occur. They don’t happen to get so close to fire often unlike some Ruin mages I know. Then again, the Ruin Mages who have had such close experiences with fire end up worse for wear. By the looks of your clothes though it seems like a blast hit you rather than straight fire or else I would more burning. Unless you happened to be a coal mine but I will take the lack of coughing and what you happened to be studying as not that.”

Artos felt both blades grind across the impossibly hard surface of the strangers armor and had to suppress the urge to cry foul play. Again and again every slash and every thrust met the armors surface and didn't even leave a trace of its passing.
The logical mind of the frozen warrior couldn't begin to fathom the strength of this strangers magic. All that was clear now was Felix possessed powerful protection but that glimmer of hope had him questioning the offensive potential of this knights power. The thought was answer when Felix brought a blade into play and swiped at Artos's legs. Sheer instinct had the nimble warrior in the air with both legs tucked in to avoid potentially being cut down then and there.
The sound of the blades swipe was the only tell. The fighter had blunted his weapon? A mockery unlike anything Artos had ever experienced. Raised in this subzero climate it had been beaten into the core of his being that anger would lead to his death every time. Calm and cold as their homeland the warriors embraced their anger and turned it into power.

Artos' rage burned with a heat unlike anything that he had felt before in his life. Already weakened from the ordeal with Kringle, exhausted and bruised, all thoughts of his pain were burned away in the searing intensity of his concentrated humiliation.
The winds atop the frozen river moaned a baneful tune to match its champion as he brought every lesson he'd ever been taught into play. Brilliant uses of the terrain, blasts of freezing wind and walls of ice broke vision and gave opportunities to ambush from every angle. His blades snapped together into the double ended polearm, Artos struck from every and any angle. Every failed attempt only burned his fury brighter as his body was pushed beyond its capabilities. Stubborn pride demanded one of these two be a victor. It would be Artos!

Jets of icy water exploded around their frozen platform, following the mana rich demands of this white lands champion to flow at this armored menace with the intent to freeze him solid, inside and out. The faceguard was the only vulnerable spit!
The waters nearly reached their target, tantalizingly close, but the sensation of falling overtook his senses. The clatter of steel.. Both of Artos' hands refused to move as he fell to his knees in the water drenched ice. His breathe was unsteady and both eyes unfocused.

Artos managed to get a single glance of the armored man before finally slumping over in the snow. The last thing the prideful swordsman felt was that very same pride shatter under the weight of his failure.

Felix watched as Artos gave it his best effort to take him down. Unfortunately for Artos, but fortunately for Felix, the manaegis proved too resilient to take down with ordinary methods. That's when Artos attempted a different method, controlling water to force it through his visor.

Smart Felix thought. Had he not faltered from fatigue, Felix might have been in a spot of trouble. Felix was about to retaliate before the water could reach his face, but then Artos fell back, dropping the spell.

Felix stood over the prideful, blue skinned man. With manalysis still active, he examined the man even further. His aura was clear, and flowing like water. It was clear that water attributed magic was the only type he had trained in. And if Felix had to guess, his aura had always been that clear color, even from birth. Most likely passed down through his bloodline, making it easier for him to attune to water magics.

Felix snapped himself out of his train of thought. He then unattached his helmet from the armor, holding it in his hands briefly before dispersing the helmet into its mana state. It erupted in a brilliant blue blaze briefly, before diapering entirely. Felix wanted to make sure the man could see his face, he thought it would be more sincere.

"That was a valiant effort on your part. You do indeed possess some inherent skill. Skill that should be put to work. Skill that should be honed in the fiery heat of battle. I have knowledge that groups of evil men are attempting to bring about the end of this world by bringing together artifacts of great power, and the only way to stop them is to get to those artifacts first. I can guarantee you, there will be bloodshed. I can't promise you money for your service, but what I can offer you is a place to live and train, food, and guidance." Felix offered as he extended his hand to help the man up from the ground.

"So what'll it be? Do you want to help save the world?"

Do you want to save the world...

There will be bloodshed...

Honed.. skills... battle

The words were numb in his mind as the exhausted Artos tried to reply but found himself uncapable of the task. Exhausted from the ordeal and now the over exertion of fighting this man, his whole body felt like stone. Everything ached and his thoughts were hazy as total darkness crept up on him. But the thought of battle, training, a chance to explore, was an opportunity he could scarcely let slip by. Artos groaned and forced his hand to take Felix's and shook it.

"can't.. really stand."

A weak laugh accompanied his brisk statement as Artos turned his head to glance at the nearest short sword. In that moment of time it sparkled with the allure of not a familiarity, but of the unknown. How much more could he stand to learn on this journey? What new paragons could he achieve. Water froze along the edges of the blades and gently slid both blades to their master as Artos, with great effort, put both feet below him and stood with the help of Felix. The young warrior stared into the mans eyes, unconcerned with the fate of the world and more interested in the promise of challenge. Of growth. Artos' eyes had a glimmer of excitement at the mere thought of it. The glimmer faded when he reminded himself that this man had almost effortlessly beaten him. Crushed him into the ground like an insect. Pride still hurt from the defeat, Artos sheathed both blades and promised himself two things.

He would learn everything this stranger could teach him.

When he had completed this mans mission to save the world, they would fight again.

"Where to now... Master."

Felix raised an eyebrow at the, "Master," part. It's not that he had a problem being a mentor, he just felt the title of Master implied servitude. And, he was not a slave driver.

Felix cleared his throat, "Eh... You can just call me Felix. And we are going back to meet the team you will be working with for the foreseeable future."

With that, Felix slashed a cross glyph with his sword, and a spacial rift opened up. He beckoned to Artos, before stepping through it himself. The rift took him straight in the living room, the same place he dropped everyone else off at. Felix released his hold on the manaegis, it burning in a flare of azure flames, leaving him back in his hiking gear (blue cotton T-shirt, blue jeans, and hiking backpack).

Felix glanced around the room and noticed a disturbing fact, Nemo was no where to be seen. Panicked, he swept the area with his manalysis only to find Nemo's mana-wave signature to be absent from the premises.

"I don't suppose a fellow with white hair and purple pants was here when you all arrived, was he?" Felix said anxiously.

Before anyone could answer, Felix spotted a yellow sticky note on the fridge. It read: "Dear Felix: Got bored and decided to go to New York and get my bearings back, take in the fresh city air, try some of the cuisine, visit an art show or two, get into a violent clash with a certain gang, the usual tourist pleasantries. I'll try to behave my best."

Felix walked back to the small group in the lounge area, and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"We might have a problem..."

"Ah, I see you caught the result of one of my latest experiments. I really thought I had cleaned up better." replied Travis as he examined himself an any more traces of soot, "I'm sure you're familiar with runic spells, are you? I've recent came into possession of a tome detailing the ancient knowledge of writing runes. Interesting stuff, though I'm afraid many of the alchemists at the time were not familiar with modern science."

Just as he finished, Travis reached over to his portable trunk and sat is flat across his lap. The chest itself was not too terribly cumbersome for its size but was surprisingly relatively light. Pressing his thumbs against two ports of the central lock, Travis divulged slight portion of his mana into the lock which unlocked in response, swinging its smooth rounded cover upwards. Within the opened chest was a shroud of blackness, devoid of any shred of light and masking its true depth. Travis dipped his entire right arm into the carry-on abyss, betraying the chest's flat height in comparison to his arm. He soon retracted his right arm and within his hand was a small clear case with a small parchment of a rune printed onto it.

"Here, have a look-see." said Travis, offering the small case to Yuno to examine, "I have the rune confines as it is, apparently, very sensitive to mana - in fact, it doesn't take any large amounts of it to even cast. The rune itself creates a combustible by-product of heated gases ignites once it comes in contact with oxygen. The resulting explosion, as you can see, was much more powerful than I anticipated but very mana-effecient at the same time. I created it as a means of a plausible getaway countermeasure and as a creative trial using old methods and current knowledge.

Seeing another patch of soot, he quickly brushed the dusty stain from his shoulder, "...But I suppose it would be perhaps a bit, overkill."

"Never a dull moment." Nemo replied as he placed his hand on Raiya's shoulder and activated the teleportation card. Encompassing both of them in a bright white X shaped flash.

The spell took them straight back to the place he used the initial teleport: by the table in the kitchen. There wasn't much of a sound, but the same bright flash from before might of gotten someone's attention. "I have returned from my trip! I'd say everything went swimmingly." Nemo called out as he grabbed a chair and sat down, waiting for Felix. "I hope you don't mind, but I was feeling a bit lonesome after all that time in Mamertine. So I found a new pal to be my plus one for this mission. Build my social skills up a bit. Increase my ability to work in groups. I'm sure you can agree that will do me good." He rambled off with a grin.

There was a bright flash and Raiya could feel the familiar pull of spacial magic. After a brief moment, Raiya was standing in a comfy lodge. Raiya was feeling a very odd vibe coming from the cabin. It was fully furnished, and seemed to have many amenities. This freak better not be getting any perverted ideas. Raiya thought as she examined the room.

That's when she saw him. The specter. The phantom. The ghost she refused to acknowledge existed, and that's when it all started coming together.

---

Felix was still undergoing a panic attack even after there was a flash of spacial magic in the room. But when he turned and saw the leather clad, black-haired, Japanese tornado tha was Raiya, a whole different wave of panic washed over him.

"YOU BROKE A CONVICTED MASS MURDERER OUT OF MAMERTINE PRISON JUST TO GET ME TO JOIN YOUR STUPID CLUB!? Raiya broke out into a flurry of Japanese. Felix could only grasp every other word of what she was saying　but still got the general gist of it.

"I didn't break him out to get you. I broke him out because the parchment told me to. Him getting you was something he did on his ow-." A large sushi knife stuck itself in the ground right next to Felix's foot, any closer and he would have been in a large amount of pain. Raiya held her leather jacket open, revealing leather pockets inside that all hand sushi knives in them. She drew another one this one longer and pointier than the last.

"As if I'd believe a dead man," Raiya sneered. She reared up to throw another knife.

"I-i-it's true I swear. Tell her, Nemo. I told you to stay here and wait for the rest of the recruits." Felix stammered.

Raiya looked around the room and noticed other people. And though she was caught a bit off guard she didn't appear to be fully assuaged, as indicative of her knife still reared back in throwing position.

Yuno glanced over initially at the presentation of a rune that Travis had pulled out. Having been in the field of study, it wasn’t too difficult for her to understand the more complex sections of his rune once he explained it. Yet, being that it was more scientific and efficient than what most rune users use the design he had create was unlike most she had seen even despite her trained use of Rune magic . However, it answered the largest question on her mind about him being Untalanted. He knew how to manage his finite resource. While she can create a rune on the fly and not worry about her mana reserves if it was the start of a fight and she needed a quick save, he needed to meticulously analyze his runes as far as she could tell and possibly have them prepared all the way beforehand. Time and care into those aspects that someone like her wouldn’t understand as much if she didn’t need the same knowledge of her gems. “I’m sure some magic users might feel disturbed by having such a scientific approach to your tools. Much like how long ago philosophers and physicists disliked engineers for making their concepts become physical. However, I must admit even with the rune magic I do I haven’t approached in the way you have and I am impressed. More so by the fact you were so willing to tell me all of this instead of hiding your advancements.”

Looking back up from the rune she wanted to point out one portion of the rune that could have helped him be more articulate in the power desired from it. While not being the kind who would have created such an interesting rune herself, her knowledge of the field enabled her to find this feature and come up with a plan of action for the adjustment that may help out so he doesn’t blow himself up in the future. “Truly fascinating though, but I think I see the point that became more powerful than-“ she stated before the blur of interruptions came forth. Felix’s arrival prompted her to look towards the man with a greeting smile and respond to him. “It’s a pleasure to see you again. Recruiting going well?” she first replied before taking his description of Nemo. When he came back with a note she shook her head and confirmed what he likely just found out. “That note was there when I arrived. Rather odd to have left so fast when you were bringing back more people.”

Then from behind Felix came Nemo’s arrival which made her raise an eyebrow. More than one person was able to teleport like Felix just had? Felix’s spell for that was already impressive enough, but maybe it was more common than she thought. Her train of thought derailed when Nemo came in with his own woman, and before Yuno could exchange a greeting the woman before he began to call out in her foreign tongue. Knives flashed through the air and Yuno was stuck in the confusion as to what she should get herself involved in or wait there on standby. Being a bit rational however she determined than an Arch-Magi can likely handle someone with only knives if it comes down to it despite her rage. Yuno let her gaze fall onto the more ravenous signature she caught in the room. Not having the mananalysis capabilities of Felix to determine why he gave such a feeling off she kept her eyes on the person who felt like the greatest wildcard in the room. The woman was outwardly angry and upset, but that man had been the one to bring her here with that smile. While to those who may glance at her see a slightly confused face her eyes returned to the analytical and piercing blue she had given both Travis and Felix initially. Her gaze turning to a downright glare briefly if Nemo paid enough attention to her before she turned away to reexamine the confrontation. Her mind still focused on Nemo’s actions though.