Yuno sat at the table silently for the most part as Raiya and Nemo first exchanged words on his actions with the knife and the state of their relationship as friends or enemies. If she had known more about why such things transpired between them she may have interjected, but something told her she likely wouldn’t get a straight answer even if she asked. Yet, when she glanced for what she thought would be the last time she took note of the guns she had seen before but never had a chance to collect her thoughts on. Barbaric was the first term that came to her mind. Was in the spirit of magic users to use such things? Hardly, at least in her mind. Logic told her that using tool to their advantage was perfectly legitimate, but it was one of the few things her emotions took care of due to the lack of control she put upon the idea of firearms. Faster than the eye can see, but unlike magic she may commit to the bullet will damage whatever it comes into contact with and hardly has the grace or elegance that one may see in the effects of her gem or rune magic. It simply felt too easy, a cheap way out for her if she had ever resorted to a straight up gun compared to the time developing magic, but this man’s aura also told her that he likely wasn’t the type who shared the same notion and romanticism towards magic she can have. Her thoughts on the matter ended prematurely with Jessie beginning to talk to the fairy beside her.

It worried her slightly that she would have to deal with a gun toting man and a fairy summoning woman during times like these, but Jessie seemed harmless enough even if her table manners were less than appropriate. Even her time thinking on Jessie was cut off as well with the arrival of the outspoken Travis who almost masked his sleepiness with his greeting, Yuno caught the bags his eyes kept hanging below with her keen sense of perception and usual manner of looking people back in the eye. “The shade of the skin beneath your eyes match that of your hair Travis.” She stated towards him with her normally trained smile. Finally having a desire to speak up within the mess until the most foreign person in their party came up from the depths of the mansion. Speaking with the term master with made Yuno have to turn her attention away from the man from the north towards Felix with a questioning raise of an eyebrow, however she kept her winning smile on as to not break her normal appearance. It only broke when she took bites off the plate she had gathered in front of herself which was considerably smaller than Jessies and likely most of the others at the table. “Looks like we are all here if I recall.” She commented at the time assuming Jessie had been the person Felix went to get before she had gone to sleep. Unknowing of what he went on to say afterwards which made her regret her choice of words.

“Dead?” she questioned aloud in slight surprise. It’s not as if she expected safety at first, but it was far too soon compared to what she had imagined if such a task actually got violent with other groups. It didn’t take a leap of imagination to assume other groups looking for the paragons might not take kindly, but to do so much damage and already kill one of theirs in the matter of the first night was almost unthinkable. Yuno’s smile was erased from her face with that as the tone within the room was obviously changed at the end of Felix’s speech. Raiya broke part of that tension even if it was rather crude. Yuno had to resist shooting a small glance of judgment on the woman who was already drinking in the morning and uncaring for the loss of such life. However, one thing was for sure: The Guardians of Paragon was hardly a name that rolled of the tongue for such a task. “With the news sources and such going on you would think I would find you less believable, Felix.” She first replied as Felix knew she hadn’t even formally declared to join in the first place. “But… a man of your nature and at least from what I can feel wouldn’t be up to the tasks you described or the type to blame others. In fact if you were after those who had their name on that list you would have likely killed me from atop the Redwood.” With the second part of her statement done she sighed slightly before smiling a bit. “While I do regret the loss of life you had to endure at least let it be known I shall go along for this Paragon hunt. I don’t need to know if what you say is true to know that those who just attacked you can’t have them and I wouldn’t sit by to let it happen.”

Nemo didn't seem to have much of a reaction to Felix's warning. "Sounds good. I'm constantly in a state of having my life threatened. It's what keeps the day fresh. It's what keeps the grass green, and the waffles at a perfect point of syrup absorption before they get soggy."

Afterwards he glanced over to Raiya, a small smirk on his face as he took another bite of his waffles. "Well, the good part is that four more spiked drinks like that down the line, anything will be exciting."

Felix's mention of Thadeus got him thinking. It was the first name given to someone on his opposition. He mentally began to put together a case file for later with any information he could.

Morbid much? Travis was rather taken back by Felix's unexpected and sarcastic reply. Catching the Arch-Mage's sigh afterwards, Travis eased his attention back and took a sip from his coffee-filled mug before reaching out to the inner table to fetch his breakfast items. So much for lightening the mood or stating a conversation.

Spreading a bit of cream cheese along the circular flat portion of his bagel, Travis was then greeted by Yuno in the manner of addressing the clearly evident marks under his eyes with the color in comparison with the color of his dark hair. "Oh, hardy har har." Travis replied back, mentally cursing at himself for laying down the foundation for ending up on the receiving end.

Just as everyone had assembled at the table, Felix then made a rather grim announcement with the list of names in his hands. He explained that during one of his recruitment trips, he had a fatal run-in with one of his own. While he himself made it out untouched, the fellow whose name was on the list did not make it. Travis was sure that the silence everyone had given Felix as he described the encounter became deafening. It was now evident that while everyone was fated to join this grand mission, it was not without its risks. The list of names on the small parchment in Felix's hands had now become a hit list.

Travis paused for a moment to inspect the coffee in his mug before deciding there was not enough caffeine and added plenty more sugar cubes into the mix before taking another gulp. While the threat of death did startle him, the risks involved however here no so different than his original expedition in Mexico. While the enemies they may face sounded as if they were leagues above any Disciple he had ever ran across, that concept did not faze Travis as much as it would have with most Untalents. To say he was afraid would be an understatement, the idea was terrifying. But he nonetheless still believed that he was fated to use his knowledge for something greater. Besides, he was sure there would be plenty to study on their journey of theirs and he simply could not return to the Academia empty-handed, especially AWOLing his original mission.

"I wasn't that much better off back in Mexico," Replied as he took another sip from from his mug, "so color me undeterred."

Artos stared off into nothing as he processed the sheer power one would need to accomplish such a feat of destruction. To obliterate an entire city, even one as small as his own homeland, would take tremendous power and an unimaginable amount of hatred. For Artos the concept of death was one embraced years ago at the hands of the snow and the stalkers there in. Men and women fell to the blades of their neighbors when the time came to survive. Granted that was rare but it was not unheard of. In the north you fought off the grinning specter of finality every day.

"In the north, death is common. Welcome, almost. Every man, woman, even children, are taught that it is an accepted part of life. To face it and fight is what makes you stronger.. That someone would do such a thing to these people, with no chance of defending themselves, is an evil that should never have been committed. My resolve to join you on your quest, Master Felix, is only made stronger with this knowledge."

His hand grasped his hilt tight as he imagined the lost souls harvested by such monsters. At least when you died in the snowlands it was fighting with every breath to continue, be your end by tooth and claw, spear or sword, or the tundra itself.

Jessie sighed after hearing Felix's announcement.
"Look, I know that this is super important to you, but I don't feel super invested. Especially considering my skepticism about how honest you are being with us."
Jessie took a long sip from her coffee.
"That being said, you did get Man of War's approval, Im still in, but on the thinnest of strings. If things get too hairy, if I see a situation that I don't think I would be able to make it out alive, then Im gone. Im giving you this one chance Felix, for your sake, lets hope things go smoothly."

Felix smiled. He was glad that honesty paid off, as everyone opted to stay, some even more vehement about their mission than before. Though, there was Jessie who seemed a bit offset from the news.

Felix closed his eyes in silence for a few seconds I'll see to it personally that this team is well equipped to handle any task.

Felix opened his eyes and began to speak again.

"I see before me a team. A team that can and will triumph against any evil that dare stand in the way of our mission. Our mission to ensure that the Paragons never fall into the hands of evil. To ensure that it could never even be entertained as an option in the future. From this day forth, we shall be known as Paragon's End." Felix smiled with a grandiose jubilant smile. It was as if Felix was overjoyed that he had at least done his part in bringing together the names on the list, the guardians.

"That leads us to our next item on the agenda. Now that we are a team, it is highly important that we stay in constant communication, both on and off the field." Felix pointed to his black and silver wristwatch-like with the spherical manacrystal in the center, known as the manadial, "I know that Nemo has a manadial. But it appears that none of you have one." Felix rolled his hand in the air, and a wooden box conjured instantly from a pocket dimension and fell into Felix's hand. He opened the box, and their laying on a purple pillow were five manadials, all identical to the one Felix wore, which was a black metal-link band, with a silver stripe inlayed around the circumference and a circular almost sphere-like mana-crystal in the center.

"Please, everyone take one. If you aren't familiar with a manadial, they are much similar to a smart-phone. You can browse the mananet, look at GPS, even call others. I have programmed all of these manadials so we can communicate on the field. When a call is coming in, the orb will flash. Just pick up the orb and put it to your ear, it will stick there until you take it off. Since the sounds are transmitted through manawaves, the sound quality is much better than what you would get from any cell-phone." Felix levitated the manadials to each person at the table who did not already have one. "Which reminds me, Nemo I will need to program yours as well so that it is in the same network group that way I can call everyone at once."

"I expect everyone to be in constant contact out on the field. As the coordinator, I will be responsible for directing you all, but I can't direct you if you aren't listening." Felix explained.

"I have also enchanted all of the manadials with a spell that allows me to use my manalysis from any of your manadials. Which means, I can provide very detailed information about your surroundings, and direct you accordingly." Felix took another sip of his coffee.

"Are we all clear so far? Any questions?" Felix asked.

---

Raiya knocked over Nemo's tea juice.

"Oops, looks like I got a little excited from my spiked drinks." Raiya smirked.

Then Felix gave another spiel, named the group something generic, and then levitated watches to everyone.

"Tch!" Raiya scoffed,
"I suppose you want me to wear a dog collar as well? Why don't I just put the leash on myself while I'm at it." Raiya muttered to herself, only those sitting close enough could hear her.

Raiya knew that it was easy to keep tabs on someone if you knew the mana-signature of their manadial, which is why she refused to use them herself. Just a few modification enchantments could turn a manadial into an advanced wiretap, which to someone in Raiya's line of business, would be very bad.

But, regardless of her complaints, she still kept it. Of course, she didn't put it on her wrist, wrist jewelry was never her thing. She just simply slipped it in her coat pocket.

"Already got you covered Felix." Nemo said as he lifted his forearm up from the table and faced his manadial towards Felix. Nemo's manadial for the most part looked identical to a real luxury chronograph watch with an all gold finish and a white dial. The only difference was the small mostly clear crystal placed below the 12 o'clock marker. "In the past I didn't only use my senses to track people. Accessing or hacking manadials was a necessary portion of my job. I'm already in the network. As for the enchantment, I'm afraid that wont be possible. The dial was made to automatically dispel any additional spells in order to keep myself secure. Not to mention my own abilities would do that to any foreign magic as well. He explained as he held up his bandaged palm with the X rune.

The sound of his cup of tea shattering on the ground diverted his attention away from Felix. He glanced between Raiya and the broken cup before leaning back in his chair and pointing at her with a small grin; the opposite reaction one would suspect. "I knew it, you're a Picasso fan too. 'Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.' One of my favorite quotes." He looked down to the broken cup as the liquid flowed outwards on the floor. "What does it make you feel when you observe? Would someone identify with fragility the cup, or the power of it's unseen smasher? Or maybe they see themselves as the tea, now freed from it's porcelain cage... I find it fascinating." Nemo asked, using his manadial to snap a picture of the shattered cup afterwards.

Nemo should definitely still be locked up.

Paragon's End, huh? Has a fitting ring to it. Travis never anticipated their team would have a name; then again, he had not anticipated being here in the first place at all. It was clear that Felix appear proud of what had had organized and if everything was is he said it was, he had a right to be. If everyone out there was after the Paragons, including this Thadeus fellow, he will need all the help he could get.

Noting that communication would play a crucial role, Felix produce a wooden chest via a mana-created dimensional pocket, a spell that perhaps proved far more reliable than Travis' convenient carry-on. Once opened, within the box were several manadials that Felix had had previously shown and briefly demonstrated their function. It was soon afterwards that Felix had asked everyone at the table who didn't own one themselves to take a manadial for themselves.

"Much obliged," Travis replied as he took ownership over one of the manadials, "Never got use one of these before."

As he studied the fascinating little device, Nemo brought up a rather interesting point as he unclearly described his previous 'line of work.' Nemo acknowledged compromising the manadials was a part of his tasked need to track any - Travis assumed - unfortunate individuals to be in his sights. The fact that these devices could be tampered with and be modified against its owner both impressed him but also made Travis somewhat uneasy; it was the thought of being tracked was what bothered him. Who knew whom they would be up against that could pull the same thing on them. But then again, as Nemo explained before he engaged in a bit of smack-talk with Raiya, there could be a way to prevent that possibility from happening via an enchantment. If that was the case, could other enchantments be applied to the manadial too?

"As Nemo, interestingly noted, are there other functions to these manadials as well?" he Felix.

Jessie grabbed a manadial as it flew towards her and gave it a look over. She then pocketed the manadial, finished off her coffee, and stood up.
"Im going to go get myself properly dressed. Can't go off saving the world in my pajamas."
She picked up her tome which had been resting on the table and headed back off to her room, her fairy floating behind her.
When Jessie arrived at her room, she shut the door behind her and tossed her new manadial onto her unmade bed. She turned towards her suitcase and pulled out an assortment of clothes while Salise set herself down on the nightstand.
"Its been a while since I've worn this, hasn't it?"
Jessie said to the fairy as she started changing into the outfit she had picked out.
"Its a good thing the old lady has that one size fits all weaving magic, it probably wouldn't fit me anymore if she didn't."
Jessie noticed a full sized mirror in the room, and once she was finished changing, she looked at herself in the mirror and smiled.
She was wearing a modern take on a classic summoner uniform. Black jeans tucked into knee high leather boots, a tight thermal shirt with only a left sleeve that also covered her hand except for her index and ring fingers. Her right hand had a fingerless glove on it. She picked up and put on a standard zip up hoodie from her bed. Its hood had a fluffy lining, and the right sleeve had been cut off and neatly hemmed to match the undershirt. She picked up her tome and attached it to a small strap on the belt of her pants.
She then glanced over at the manadial. She sighed, and strapped it securely on her wrist. She looked herself over once more in the mirror and nodded before heading back out to the kitchen to reconvene with everyone.

"Well, as I said, everything that you can do with a smartphone you can do with a manadial. Though there are also more things that can be done with manadials. Like the enchantment that I placed on all of your dials that allows me to use manalysis through any of your dials. They are fully modifiable, though if you don't know very much about the spells required to keep them running, it might be for the best that you don't mess with their programming." Felix explained.

It appeared that everyone had received their dials. Jessie left briefly and came back, wearing a new outfit, an outfit that Felix had never seen before, and he surmised it must have been a traditional garb of the summoner.

"Onto the next and last order of business, Our mission. I am to guess that most of you know nothing or next to nothing about Paragons and what they do. Most people know nothing about them next to whispers of legends. One of my biggest duties at the Vatican was researching Paragons. Doing any and all book research I could get my hands on. I poured over tomes after tomes of information. I even at one point had to go on an expedition to excavate a tomb that had a scroll that could possibly lead me in the right direction. What I had found was a slew of useless information, but a few bits of information that we could use. I am going to lay everything I know bare for you guys." Felix sipped on his coffee and then stood up. As an instructor he knew it was important to have good posture when wishing to communicate with conviction, and sitting down only hampered that.

"One of the most important facts I learned about the Paragons, was that not only were they near endless powerhouses of mana energy, but that each one had specific purposes. Or if you would... they each had different readily available abilities. They could, with the right runes and tampering, all be used to fuel any spell, sure. But, it would take an expert to harness the mana to do whatever you wished with a Paragon. There are nine in total, this much has been corroborated by at least four documents I had read. Each one, also corroborated by many documents, has their own unique abilities. As the name implies, Paragons embody specific ideals. It seems that the abilities each have are where the names for the ideals come from."

Felix looked down, scratched the back of his head and began pacing, "Or perhaps it's the other way around, maybe the ideals were instilled into the creation of the Paragons. The problem is that there is no proof they were created, or if they were formed by random happenstance. But I digress."

Felix stopped pacing and looked looked back at the table of people.

"The idea that each Paragon has an individual ability is what spurred me to look at various places for tales and legends of artifacts that granted extraordinary powers. This of course lead me through many ancient documents. Even the Bible has many mentions of artifacts with powers. The Ark of the Covenant, the Budding Rod of Aaron, and many others. Though, just because an artifact was mentioned doesn't necessarily mean it was the work of a Paragon. But around the time I was looking through these ancient documents from various places, a scroll came across my desk. The scroll was papyrus, and about seventeen-hundred years old. It was written in ancient Greek, and damaged just enough to almost be illegible. But it's contents revealed the name of each Paragon, the ideal of each of the nine. Unfortunately that was all I could salvage from it, I am sure the original contents also listed the direct abilities of each and not just the names. But the names themselves gave off hints as to each ability."

Felix paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts before continuing.

"The first paragon is the Paragon of Espial. The name suggests that its power is related to watching, more importantly watching people. So I began looking into different documents that told stories about artifacts that allowed extraordinary sight. One of these documents told me about the formation of Societas Academia. Before Societas Academia had a large base of Enlisters, they had no way of finding potential students. This was back around the 1800s. The document went on to tell about an artifact that allowed them to find anyone suitable for a student position, simply by asking. I believed that this was the Paragon of Espial. I began to investigate closer, and found out that after they gained a solid student base, they had developed Enlister spells to locate potential candidates. No longer in need of the Paragon's help, they sealed it in a catacomb under this very forest."

Felix paused once more, this time to allow the information he had stated to sink in to the ears that were listening.

"After Raiya had left the Arcanocracy, I began to have my own doubts about the Church as a whole. These doubts are what led me to build this cabin out here, close enough to the known Paragon site that we could get there first. Far enough from the site to not be located. I have the location, the exact coordinates of the catacomb containing the Paragon of Espial. This is where you will all be going today." Felix explained.

"Unfortunately, I will not be going with you on this expedition. One of the points of today's mission is for me to examine your magic and fighting styles. I will be watching closely to figure out how to best put your abilities to use. Also, if anything gets too hairy, I am always one spacial rift away from helping. Which leads me to an important sub-item, team formation. Since I am not positive of all of your abilities I will be entrusting team lead to Nemo, and Raiya. They will both take point, I will be in constant contact with everyone and instructing you all closely, so I will still be calling the shots. But if anything happens to me while you guys are out, or something interferes, Raiya and Nemo will call the shots from there. As for rear guard, Artos, I know your fighting style relatively well, so you take rear guard. Everyone else stick close and follow Nemo and Raiya."

Any questions?

---

Raiya gave Nemo a bizzare and disgusted look.

"You're insane." Raiya stated.

She pushed away her plate, as she was done eating. And poured herself another drink.

Raiya listened closely to the part about Felix making this cabin after Raiya left the Arcanocracy, but dismissed it as a lie to get back on her good side. Her expression turned into a grim face of anger.

Nice try, Felix. Trying to be passive with such a blatant lie? Hoping you might make amends? It's going to take a lot more than that.

She didn't quite seem to mind that she was going to take point, she only got a hint of anger at the thought of having to share point with Nemo. But the anger faded when she realized that this was the fate she had resigned herself to by allowing herself to be tempted into a bet with someone like him.

"Everybody's a critic..." Nemo grumbled after a sigh as he leaned back up into his chair and returned to his waffles. "Insane? More like, insane-ly funny. Or... insane-ly good looking." He thought as he finished the rest of the food on his plate.

Nemo followed what Felix was saying closely. The thought that they were already so close to their first task gave him the feeling of anticipation. Though it naturally was pretty easy to entertain him after eleven years of being in one dark room. He was already ready to go himself, and waiting for everybody else's response.

Artos took the manadial watch and quietly examined it, aware that though it was not quite bulky it was still not familiar enough to take a place anywhere he could think of on his wrists comfortably. Still, a gift was a gift. Removing one of his gauntlets revealed the scarred pale blue flesh beneath, proof of years beset with hardship. The communicator was placed upon his wrist and the glove slipped on over top of it more comfortably than he would have imagined. It would still likely take some getting used to though he mused to himself.

The mention of him being in the rear guard brought him to full attention, keenly aware that his job was not one of scholarly intent. This group served a function and Artos' place was where the fight got thickest to give the, he wouldn't say weaker per say, less combat inclined party members a chance to find where they fit if and when combat was met. Problem with that was Artos himself had no idea how best to make use of their talents should it come to blows against an unknown force. Time would reveal that answer but it was again an uncomfortable and unfamiliar sensation.

"When do we depart."

An eager gleam came to his eyes. The first step to overcoming his weakness was approaching and every step after would get him closer and closer to his goal. Artos had promised himself that he would survive the ordeals, absorb any and all information he could on improving himself not just with the blades but with his own magic, and overtake his mentor in combat when the time came. In the traditional way of the north.

"Alrighty then, I think I may have an idea or two..." Travis' reply to Felix seemingly trailed off as his mind, now fueled caffeine" began churning out numerous possibilities he could intact on his manadial.

Eventually, Felix began the briefing and divulged his knowledge of the Paragons further. While re-confirming that the Paragons were practically bottomless mana well, he also claimed they also possessed unique abilities, each Paragon providing a different skill than the other before or after it. Suddenly, Travis wanted to get started examining one of these things as soon as possible.

The Paragon of Espial, as Felix described it, possessed the ability to observe other individuals, but to what extent? Travis surmised being able to spy on people through walls; an excellent skill to have given his recent bad luck. Another thought occurred; can it only watch people, or could it also observed objects too? Asking so many questions about an item yet to be re-discovered was pointless and did his best to stop 'drooling' over the subject.

What then became nearly as fascinating was that the first Paragon to go after was in Redwood National Park, the same place Felix decided to setup his base of operations in too, just to be conveniently within reach. Clever. "Its amazing what one could find in their own backyard." Travis commented aloud in amusement of the irony of the situation, likely to be interpreted in different but logical conclusions.

But this confirmed one suspicion of his that had developed when Felix first contacted him; the Academia does know about the Paragons and the individuals - the very individuals he spoke to way up in the hierarchy of the school indeed have lied and danced around his questions relating to the Paragons. Felix was becoming possibly right about other organizations, even his own Academia, could be after the Paragons. Were they after them? Travis couldn't say, but it was surely valid enough to say the top professors know about them. The very thought however made him sick; cheated, that something like this was kept from him so dishonestly.

"I've none," Travis replied, fully understanding the team's formation, "personally, I am eager to get started."

Yuno sat in and listened to Felix’s explanations on manadials as well smirked slightly to herself while taking a sip of tea. Felix’s joy at times could seem a little infectious despite the fact he had dropped the bomb on the death of a possible recruit not moments ago. Setting her up down and examining the band given to her she didn’t need to focus entirely on the words Felix was stating due to her familiarity with the device. Of course her mother owned one and on more than one occasion Yuno had found herself in possession of such an object. Their use and important was rather extraordinary and the fact Felix gave them all one was very intelligent in her eyes. Constant communication when they could fall under attack at any time was good to have, and luckily they didn’t look bad either. These dark bands with the silver inlays could easily pass for jewelry in the eyes of a normal person at least. “Thank you, Felix.” She stated once it was handed to her which quickly made its way to being attached to her wrist. “If you are able to give information like that and teleport, I presume you will be directing us than instead of being with in in person on our hunts? Perhaps it would be best for you to be available to teleport in once conflict occurs.” It made sense to her at least, a sort of general and guide for them from home base since he was capable of it and watching their missions from a tactical perspective instead of being distracted by being there in person. A little later her question would be answered on the matter as Felix explained the mission.

Raiya’s response to Felix slightly annoyed Yuno once again, and more and more she tried to discern the relationship between the two and why it seemed to be in such a state. It didn’t help that Nemo found himself interjecting with Raiya as well which Yuno could only describe him as rambling nonsense. <Perhaps someone would simply think it was an accident, such questions hardly count as philosophy...> she told herself in her mind as she glanced across the table before returning to her manadial. Fiddling with it slightly as she once again determined to not get involved with the actions of Nemo and Raiya. It was then Felix continued on and got into the meat of the meeting: The operation itself which immediately grabbed her attention once again. Famous items of history being paragons didn’t seem to far-fetched as she had learned many things of the past were magical growing up. Lending to their significance in the eyes of non-magical history that turned them into legends which Yuno had read growing up. Inifinite magical power wasn’t just enough to have in a paragon, but to also have such specific abilities? It made her have a greater desire to hear the names of the other items and their relevance. The legend of the philosopher’s stone, tales of Excaliber's scabbard keeping one immortal, legendary Japanese blades said to cut and reform objects, the Holy Grail, and many more where the first items she even came up with before he described the first Paragon.

So, this is why his base was in the woods as well it at least seems. Close to the first paragon and a good first target, but one that was harder for Yuno to simply go against. It was her school, and even if it was just a catacomb it meant breaking in. Making her clench her fist slightly under the table at the thought as she did her best to keep her face as usual. Eventually relaxing as she came to terms with the idea and the fact that likely they wouldn’t face enemies that knew who she was in the first place. Yet, what made her drop her measured facial expression for a moment was hearing that Nemo and Raiya would be in charge of such a mission. The two who hardly seemed mentally stable and cooperative would be leading them into their first goal? It took Yuno a second to look to the side and organize her thoughts on it to return her face to its neutral state. During this time Nemo likely caught a glance coming from Yuno’s bright sky blue eyes on the matter. <It doesn’t matter…> she told herself in her mind as arguing it would hardly be appropriate. It seemed Felix knew Nemo more than a few of them here and obviously knew his sister, so it made sense for him to at least trust them more than strangers. “I have no questions as of the moment besides if you know what the entrance to the catacombs may be like, and if you have any information regarding the catacombs themselves in terms of what we may expect to run into.” She stated as she adjusted her posture to speak the line. Keeping up the graceful act as she kept a polite tone of voice despite the inner annoyance, which wasn’t helped by Nemo’s lackluster attempt at humor.

It seemed everyone was content with what he had said. Although, as Felix announced who was taking point during the mission, he caught a glimpse of something in Yuno. Perhaps doubt? No... more like irritation. Felix made a mental note of that, and hoped it wouldn't be a problem.

"The catacombs, from what I understand, were already there before the Academia found them. The Redwoods have always been a place Talents have congregated. Ancient magi groups whose names since have been lost to the ages held these Redwoods long before we did. Why the Academia chose that location to put the Paragon of Espial, and whether or not they are even aware it is still there are both things I am not sure of. We can speculate all day on those facets, but at the end of the day that's all it would be, speculation." Felix explained.

"Well, if you are all finished with your food, I would suggest you get ready for your mission. Grab everything you need, and meet Nemo and Raiya outside in the front of the cabin." Felix tapped on his manadial after a moment everyone's manadials beeped. A blue glow slightly emanated from the crystal of all of the manadials, signalling a a message had been sent. Felix had sent the location of the catacombs. About sixty-four miles north of their current position.

"You will be leaving as soon as you are all ready." Felix said, "If you have any questions or need anything from me, I will be in the study."

With that Felix took his coffee into the study, and sat down at a desk, opening a book entitled, "Antiquated Tales of the Occult and Arcane."

---

Raiya puffed out a sigh of annoyance, and stood up, walking out of the cabin's front door. There she stood, leaning on a wooden stair rail post, waiting for everyone else to congregate outside.

Nemo stood up from his chair and brought his plate into the kitchen. "Aye aye cap'n." He commented with a salute as he spawned his coat and scarf and put it on as he made his way outside. He rested his hands in his pockets and waited for everyone else by the door. After a moment he brought up his left arm and checked his messages on his manadial. The blue light turned to white as as holographic display suddenly emitted from the watch, showing a map of the forest and where they need to go.

"So, looks like we're going to be leading the way for a bit, huh Raiya?" Nemo stated a bit awkwardly as he studied the map. He clearly was someone who didn't have much experience with casual conversation.

Jessie listened patiently to everything Felix had to say, and when he was done, she headed outside to the meeting zone. Nemo seemed to be interested in chatting with Raiya, so Jessie left them to it and and took her tome from its place on her belt. She opened the book up and began paging through it. Most of the pages were filled with text, but every once and a while there were pages filled with runes, diagrams, and the occasional summoning circle. The pages with summoning circles had tabs on them for easy locating. About halfway through the tome, she got to an empty page. She took a pen out of a pocket on the inside of her jacket and began to write in the tome. Her handwriting was rather poor, but it was still legible. After writing for a while and filling up a page and a half, she put the pen back into her pocket and closed the tome, strapping it back onto her belt.

Artos nodded at the general murmuring of everyone as they took one last chance to prepare themselves. No such requirements were needed by the swordsman and so found himself waiting by the door awaiting his first journey. His aura of absolute zero was intensified when the thought of outside crossed his mind. If it had been that awfully warm in this home then what hellish landscape awaited him outside. Artos grasped both blades and took a deep breath, reeling in his area of freezing influence to within an inch of his body and waited, focusing on his breathing exercises until the others were ready.

With a bit of luck his blades would see use this day.

"Wilco." Travis gestured a mock salute of his right hands' index and middle fingers once Felix had given their team their objective and destination. Once the Arch-Magi retired to his study, Travis gulped the last of his coffee and now fueled by caffeine and sharing the same responsible thoughts like everyone else, dispersed from the dinning table in order to prepare themselves for their first mission.

After rummaging through his near-disorganized belongings, the Untalent had exited the mansion and joined up with the others outside, currently queue while waiting for the last few of their members to arrive. Travis didn't appear to of brought much along with him but what was evident were the two belts wrapper around his body and lower belts with several articles of tomes and and study material he believed to serve a suitable purpose holstered in their respective pouches. Not surprisingly, Nemo and Raiya were outside first with Jessie and Artos coming up from the rear.

Jessie, like Travis as was it seemed, displayed the same preparedness with tomes enclosed and attached to her belts where as Artos appeared to be less primed amongst the rest of the team but given the fact he was not the scholarly type, there was perhaps little he needed to bring with him and considering his mastery of his own cold arte, it potentially made sense why he seemed less prepared. Though what was perhaps intriguing was the atmosphere around seemed much colder than Travis remembered and was almost as if the aura around Artos has doubled its radius. Was it because of a shift in mood or was is a mere necessity in order to address the even warmer climate.

Normally, Travis would interject towards Artos on her current state but a closer inspection noted that he was currently establishing his well-being with the outside. Knowing how drained Artos first appeared in the mansion, Travis concluded that the outside must be even more punishing. While amusing as a first thought, for Artos' sake, Travis hoped they would not have to visit a desert of any sort.

As he stood in wait for the rest of the team, Travis continued to capitalize on his notes from last night, formulating the possibilities of his own printed suggestions.

"Ah, yes, we are leading. And I am sure there are no ulterior motives behind Felix's choice of team formation. Nope, not at all. Nope, he only chose us because he knows our battle style. Haha. HAHAHAAHAHA!" Raiya's sarcasm reached an apex as she started maniacally laughing, her face tilted up, back arced, and eyes wide.

The laughter stopped abruptly as she instantaneously regained her composure.

"Whatever, let's just get this started." Raiya said, monotone.

Then everyone started pouring out of the front door. People began waiting for other people. Some summoner chick was writing in her dumb book, same with the scholar nerd. The only one that seemed even remotely up to this task was the blue warrior with the cool aura, who gripped his blades in anticipation.

Still, Raiya couldn't help but crack a smirk. If Felix put her and Nemo in point position, and the frozen warrior in rear guard, that meant Felix was withholding some information from then. Felix obviously not only anticipated some opposition, but some strong opposition. Which meant, that things were about to get very, very interesting. And, no doubt, crushing a few skulls would take her mind off of what she drea-

Raiya shook her head before she could think too much about it. It seemed everyone was present, so she decided to take the initiative, and, with manadial in hand, she began to head north, towards the location.

"It's about seventy miles to the location, it would take too long to simply walk there, so I hope you all can keep up. Raiya said as she walked ahead. After she told the group, she said, "Biri Sokudo!" and was enveloped in a thin crackling blue electricity aura. Immediately she began walking going impossibly fast. The spell she had activated was obviously an electricity based speed enhancement. Her rate of speed was increased to eighty miles per hour, on foot.

With her size, she was nearly impossible to see with the naked eye, though if someone were to see her, they would see her zig-zagging through the gargantuan trees.

It didn't take long for her to reach the spot marked on the manadial. At first glance, the location looked just the same as the rest of the forest. Green, impossibly large trees, occasional bushes, fertile soil underfoot. But as she began looking closer, she saw that a group of bushes were hiding a sealed stone rectangle with glyph runes written all across it.

From what she could read, those who sealed the entrance obviously didn't want it opened. The seal looked recent as well, so it had to be a new seal slate placed by the Academia. Though, the seal was serious. It wasn't meant to just keep random wanderers out, it was meant to keep everyone out, and all who dared to even try to open it would be severely punished. If she read the runes right, if it was tampered with it would release a curse that instantly would liquefy the organs of all those within the immediate vicinity.

Since runic equations weren't Raiya's forte, she decided to wait for the others to show up.