Taliya had been serious about putting them all to the test as two days of intensive training could attest. Ethan had been wowed by Kensen's knowledge of wind magics - magic which, while his own, he was admittedly a novice - and the variety of applications it could have. Much of it was out of his reach and would remain so for a long while but the possibilities had inspired him to push through training. Kensen's other student however didn't quite share the level of enthusiasm as Ethan did. The style of fighting seemed so... Unconventional to Nymira. And the fact Kensen was able to take flight meant much of his style couldn't hope to be applied to the Dimuran princess either and she'd have to compensate for such. It was fair to say her kin was a capable fighter as she'd seen him first hand, but it felt insulting that his abilities should overshadow hers. But in her agreement with Taliya she would be trained, and she did so, albeit while biting back numerous critiques of her instructor. In all likelihood anything she might say would be overshadowed by Ethan's idiocy and enthusiasm, a waste of her breath at best.

Nymira's training consisted of two parts: refining her flames and trying to imbue her weaponry with magic. Her 'enchanted smithing' as it was called - a term she'd never heard until recently, was only uncommon among Dimuran as a number of subjects within Adelon reportedly shared the same magic. Yet few could claim they had any magic suitable for combat as well and the natural process was to try and combine the two. After attempting and failing to create a vortex of flames as Kensen was able to she'd devoted most of her time to bolstering her blades with flame. She had done it before albeit temporarily and the fires were never too hot, lest she melt her own weapon. Trying to set the blade alight with a powerful flame and do so without reducing it to liquid was much more difficult than she'd anticipated. Her first attempt ended with a partially deformed dagger, her second fairing little better as she caused the heated blade to fold in on itself. It wasn't until the second day of training and after a dozen attempts she'd finally managed to ignite a proper flame on her weapon. Firing a fireball or releasing a stream of fire was fairly simplistic: you channeled the energy required and released it. But to retain her weapon's durability, the intensity of her flame AND focus on a fight? The princess was finding herself coming up infuriatingly short on her exercises.

Ethan was handling his training considerably better than Nymira - perhaps in part because he never considered himself exceptional to begin with - and took to his lessons with a fervor. Kensen had been respectful yet quick to point out that all of the training Ethan had received up until that point had been effectively moot; Cedric's earth based magic called for a forceful, static and rigid style of casting. Wind magic conversely was fluid, fast and meant to confuse the enemy with erratic and quick movements. Gusts of wind, while a viable attack, were hardly the best application of wind spells. Short, controlled bursts were better suited as quick strikes while arcs of pressurized air were a highly effective weapon against opponents at a distance. With no weapon to his name unlike Nymira he couldn't quite hope to imbue anything, not that he'd even know how, which had given Kensen and Ethan an idea. With his non-lethal mentality it would be difficult to willingly teach any fatal moves, and so a compromise had been reached: learn spells which could harm but not kill. And so Ethan had begun to learn to augment strikes with short bursts of air, in essence creating an area of effect with punches and kicks. One slight problem remained however: while serviceable with a blade the wind magi was dreadfully poor with hand-to-hand combat. It would take a lot of training for him to even hope to use it in combat.

As Nymira carried on with her training Ethan had to take a breather, ducking away to join Amuné and Wyth at the edge of the training grounds. Flashing a weary smile he turned and collapsed backwards into the grass as a breathless laugh escaped his lips. "He's... One heck of a teacher..." the magi commented, lifting his head and looking at his practice dummies. Their burlap hides were well worn and ripped in places where his control faltered and the wind had torn clean through. "But he's fair... Doesn't give me too much grief when I mess up." Aside from the reminders that he'd kill someone with his current level of skill, or to be more exact the lack thereof. The style was like night and day in contrast to that of Cedric's and yet it felt much more natural, his magic clearly more suited for this. Wiping sweat on his sleeve Ethan turned to Amuné, smiling as he ripped up a few pieces of grass and playfully dropped the blades upon her head. "How's your training going? Is Gage still... Well... Gage?"



That should conclude the installation process and the trial period. Cecil was capable of activating the barrier on command and, should the demacite shard burn out, he could use his own battery as an auxiliary source until the shard could be replaced. Which shouldn't be for a good while assuming his calculations were accurate, which they usually were. The installation had been painless and quick which left only the actual testing of the device. Pending Cecil's ability to use the barrier and erect it on time the practical tests could be as painless, or painful, as he wanted them to be. Norman of course took no pleasure in subjecting the Machina to anything which might cause harm but there was no other means of testing a shield other than throwing attacks at it. And on the off chance Cecil was injured somehow? They were right near the shop, repairs wouldn't be terribly hard to do!

"If we're confident the shield is ready then we can begin the projectile tests. Cecil, could you stand at the far end of the room please?" The scenario he'd had in mind was quite simple: load a simple, miniature ballista with increasingly heavy objects to find whether the barrier had a breaking point or not. In theory everything they had to fire shouldn't penetrate the shield, nothing shy of a greataxe or warhammer should have enough force to do so. Testing spells against the shield wouldn't be possible without some of Taliya's people to help and at the moment none were available for the experiments.

"Just to be sure we're clear we're going to fire an array of increasingly dense objects at your shield to test its durability. We'll start with a rubber ball and work our way up to an iron cast, which I suspect only the latter may have a chance of penetrating your defenses," Norman commented, furrowing his brow then as he examined the slew of items prepared, "Probably... Ah! But you don't need to worry, I won't be firing any of these directly at you! Just in the general vicinity. And it's not as though the majority of these can even cause you damage." To prove his point Norman used the rubber ball and bounced it off of an assistant's head, annoying them but causing no actual harm. His expertise in near all things mechanical was only rivaled by his eccentricity when he became excited, a trait that the people of Mutebo had quickly come to notice. If he asked anyone for assistance on a project they were typically quick to turn him down, but those of the shop were contracted with Taliya and, by extension, Norman. Simply put they had no choice.



Being late was as synonymous with Lionel as Taliya and a hard drink. But even Lionel wasn't usually this late to report back. His job hadn't been far and it had been easy enough in nature: help guide back a few stray magi to Mutebo for safety. The people they were bringing in had no records and weren't wanted by the Church so there should be no complications but something was clearly holding them up. With Gage and Kensen both working with new recruits and she herself having to manage everything Taliya had no choice but to go outside of her group for help. She needed a person who knew the area well, who knew Lionel, and could hold their own if anything should happen. The list of people she'd trust to travel on their own was woefully short but someone needed to go. Luckily she'd just the person in mind, and she was owed a favor so she knew they were good for it.

As expected Adrianna had been absolutely ecstatic about having to go and assist Lionel. It was no secret that the two of them got along terribly but Taliya could care less, a job needed to be done and preferences be damned. Adrianna had traveled alone for a long time and knew the lay of the kingdom well, sending her only seemed natural. The job was simple enough: find Lionel and the magi and help them get home safely. Had the boy gotten distracted by something? It wasn't wholly unlike Lionel to meander and go chase a girl or get caught up in something non-work related. All the chastising and smacking in the world didn't change that.

"I'm having second thoughts, I should have sent you." Gage was in between assignments and juggling his teaching duties, sending him off to find Lionel was out of the question. But he'd been with her longer than most people and she knew he was reliable, magic or no. He made a short remark about being stretched thin to which Taliya scoffed at. It meant he was good and his services many, a compliment that fell utterly flat to the rough man. Leaning back in her chair and drinking from her flask Taliya peered out the window and watched a handful of her people at work, frowning as she sealed her drink. "If the Church finds him we're fucked, you know that right? He volunteered for the job but I'm beginning to think it was a mistake. Dumbass is going to get himself in trouble."

"I doubt we're lucky enough for him to get caught. Little shit'll come back home with more people than we bargained for, and probably be in debt to boot," Gage remarked with a snarl. Too many people to keep track of and he was glad that duty fell on Taliya's shoulders, not his. Slinging his weapon over his shoulder he paused at the door and looked back to the leader, drowning herself again in a flask of mead. "Keep drinking like that and you're going to be no use to anyone, Tali," he grumbled before leaving her be. He'd be the first called to help Lionel if anything serious happened but for now they'd leave it to that Adrian kid. Wasn't much of a fighter but he had healing magic at least, better than nothing.



Well that had been fun. On the bright side the men sent after these people were quite thoroughly dead - as most people with holes blown in them tended to be. There were going to be some words exchanged when they finally did reach Mutebo: nothing at all about this job had mentioned there might be Church hunters after this group. They at least got the better end of that scuffle of theirs. Save for the now limp arm hanging at his side the clients remained totally unharmed and he himself was alive if a bit beaten.

"Seriously what did they do...? Sleep with the bishop's wife or something?" A grunt somewhere between exertion and pain as Lionel popped his arm back into its socket. The look on the faces of his wards told him he looked exactly as awful as he felt. Shame, not half an hour ago he'd been doing quite well sweet talking a pretty redhead in the group, now she looked like she might hurl seeing him. "It's not that bad, honest! Most of the blood isn't even mine." Why he'd thought that might be of any consolation was anyone's guess. Watching one of the women faint he let out a long winded sigh as the others began shouting at him, claiming he was a danger to them and too reckless.

"I'm not the one that lied about their position now am I?" Lionel pressed, smiling angrily as he sat on a stump and began to try cleaning himself, "Any more surprises and you all are taking the walk to Mutebo on your own. I didn't sign up to fight groups of hunters." They hadn't been any big name hunters either but there had been 5 in all, and raw power advantages meant very little when it was 5 on one. The fact he'd gotten out with some cuts and a dislocated shoulder was quite miraculous actually and he'd be able to undo it all once he got a little more energy, for now he'd have to put up with the dull throbs of pain. Maybe he hadn't signed up for that but he had agreed to help out in exchange for using Taliya's resources for his own ends, fair was fair after all.

"Not that any of you care but we're going to be waiting a bit, I'm about to pass out. And unless one of you wants to fight the next group we're staying put." The thunderous silence either meant they were fighting over who got to play hero or that none of them wanted to even try. He was guessing the latter. Smiling to himself Lionel wiped traces of blood out on the grass before going to the discarded packs of the group, fishing through one of the bags for an apple to snack on. A woman complained he wasn't being kind enough and they would speak to Taliya later, to which he simply smiled and tossed the apple in the air. "Go ahead, she's not going to do anything," he laughed, catching the apple and taking a bite, "Mmm... Complain all ya want though! By the way, where'd you get this apple? It's good!"

Cecil was not too into the whole augmentation process that he had to undergo to get his barrier all installed, he really had to admit that he wasn’t a big fan of anything regarding his body. The last time something installed itself into his body he went on a rampage and nearly lost everything and even though Norman was the one working on him he couldn’t help but not feel safe. This whole shield thing he was supposed to be getting, was he going to be absolutely safe using it? It wasn’t one of those things that popped up and anything that was in its path would get clipped and cut off, surely? It may had gone through the trial period and he had seen it work alright for him whenever he activated it for testing, but how it worked was still beyond him. He would truly have to trust in himself to be able to activate this barrier at the right moment as to not put his friends in danger, if they still thought of him as a friend.

He hadn’t seen the others much if at all over the past few days, they were all busy doing their own things and when they weren’t doing those they were off with food or sleeping. He didn’t know what to say to them anyway, they were all busy with their own things and had their own worries. It wasn’t that he had much to say to them anyway, maybe tell them about his shield and other things he’s been working on with Norman. He wanted to tell them about how his day had been and what he had been up to, but he felt like he couldn’t too. To do such things made him wonder if it was too ‘human’ of him, to find excitement in getting new things and wanting to show them off. He didn’t actually know if people got a little creeped out whenever he did things that seemed like something a human would do, he remembered Amuné did when she first met him.

He probably shouldn’t be thinking about such things, he was supposed to be doing tests with Norman on his shield. He couldn’t help but feel a little secluded from the rest of them, but then again he had been feeling like that for some time now. All he needed to do was help Norman test his barrier, then he could go back to thinking about other things. It would be bad to get distracted at this time, especially when Norman was talking about projectiles.

“Uhh! O-Okay…I mean yes sir…” he spoke as he made a very quick and brief run to the other side of the room, feeling rather unprepared but willing to try, at least. This was important for everyone, he just hoped he’d be able to pull it off alright without malfunctioning and going haywire in the workshop. Rubbing at his gauntlets momentarily he looked up at Norman as he explained himself, just to make sure he wasn’t going to be setting him off probably. He was certain it would be okay, he just had to believe he was capable of telling the difference between friend or foe. They weren’t going to cause him harm if they hit him, he had to understand that even with the demonstration given to him. Giving his gauntlet a shake he held it up in front of him before gasping as his shield activated, the energy it gave off catching him off-guard as if he never expected it to actually work. “I’m ready, I think! Please be gentle…I mean, throwing something is different than firing it…”

Despite having asked about her combat abilities, Ethan didn’t seem to care much about her answer. Turning back to Ethan after she posed a question of her own, she found that he wasn’t even paying attention to her anymore. Though she was a little annoyed that she was putting effort into socializing with someone that was clearly only being polite before, Adrianna reminded herself that it was better to form less ties with these people. After all, they weren’t going to stick around when things got tough. They were merely people with whom she could share space while they went in the same direction.

Adrianna went her own way after the meal, thanking Ethan for treating her as the man went off with the others to train. She didn’t much understand the point of it. There was only so much they would pick up in the few days they spent here in Mutebo—it wasn’t like a few short days would turn them into hardened soldiers, ready to face whatever challenges they expected to encounter. But she barely knew these guys, and whatever was prompting them to put a crossbow in an 8-year-old’s hands instead of leaving her with responsible adults to raise was not her business.

When she was asked to go find Lionel and bring him back, along with his charges, Adrianna was less than thrilled, though she kept the majority of her complaints to herself. She didn’t know why Taliya would have trusted Lionel with such a task, or why she cared so much about him returning. She asked, but Taliya reminded Adrianna that she was owed a favor. “For what?” Adrianna challenged, crossing her arms. She hadn’t been in dire need of Mutebo when she arrived. She had come initially because she had helped one of Taliya’s men, and he wanted to return the favor. They should have been even.

She could have just left, and she seriously considered it as she wandered near the path from Mutebo in the direction Taliya had indicated. If she simply never returned, Taliya wouldn’t have to know why, and if their paths crossed again, Adrianna could have easily stated that she had been spooked by some armed travelers, and didn’t want to lead them back to the mage safe-haven.

As she walked, Adrianna kept her eyes and ears out for signs of Lionel, or whoever might have intercepted him, but her mind was coming up with elaborate reasons why she could get away with never returning. The sound of shouting tore her from her thoughts. She heard the word recklass, and moved closer to the yelling, keeping herself largely hidden until she verified that one of the voices belonged to Lionel, and he wasn’t actively fighting.

Adrianna emerged into the clearing where the group was situated, earning some gasps from a few of the people nearby. “It’s okay.” She said, putting her arms up defensively. “Taliya sent me.” She looked from the closest person to Lionel, who was sitting on a stump and eating an apple. He was also covered in blood and looked a bit bruised. She could feel how worn out he was, and though his injuries were not extensive, she had a feeling that he had already been healed a bit after…whatever altercation transpired.

Looking from side to side, Adrianna felt for any other injuries among the group, but didn’t sense or see any. Whatever trouble they had faced, Lionel had been the only one to look the worse for it, though the others hardly looked like fighters. “She said you were taking too long. I figured you probably got distracted fucking with people’s livelihoods. Seems I was right. Who’d you piss off this time?”

Lionel responded noncommittally, and no one else seemed to want to add anything to enlighten her further. He asked if she wanted to fix him up, and Adrianna stared at him for a moment before letting out a deep breath and walking over to him. Even though he had already healed himself a bit, she could still tell that the blood on his clothing wasn’t his. Interesting. Perhaps he was more competent than he let on. “Sure. That’s my job.” Adrianna placed her hand on his shoulder, the one he had just put back in place, and took a few long slow breaths as she concentrated on sending her energy into his body to take away the aches and bruises. There wasn’t anything life-threatening to heal, but he was going to be a lot more comfortable for the rest of the trip. For his own magic, though, he would need to rest, something Adrianna was sure that he knew.

“Need to sit and rest for a while longer?” She asked when she was done. She wanted to get back as soon as she could, but she didn’t want to escort these people back herself to get the task completed sooner. As much as she didn’t like it, that meant working with Lionel for the time being.

Lionel, fortunately, seemed eager to get moving again once more anyway. Adrianna shifted her pack as Lionel rounded up the group, and moved to the front to lead them. If her magic had been something combat oriented, she might have moved to the back of the group, to help respond with magic to an attack. Since most of her magic was healing, and her actual combat skills were close combat oriented, she moved up front with Lionel to lead the way back to Mutebo.

If he had complained and wanted her to go to the back, she would have, but he said nothing, so she figured it was fine. Still, she didn’t exactly have anything in mind in terms of small talk with the man. She could chat with some of the people they were escorting, but they had already formed their own tight-knit group. You don’t need to constantly try to make friends. Adrianna reminded herself, walking quietly beside Lionel.

"Sir? Please... Just call me Norman. 'Sir' always felt too stiff for my liking." Norman's face contorted as he recalled an unpleasant memory before shaking it off and turning to his ballista. The rubber ball would be the first projectile and suffice to say hardly a good judge of the effectiveness of Cecil's shield: Amuné could be fired upon and be unharmed from this. But rather than rush into matters they should work their way up, both to find what eventually might break through and whether or not repeated blasts would weaken it. Common sense said yes but only testing would tell. "A very astute observation! Though its not as though this weapon fires terribly quickly, nor are the projectiles we're launching at you terribly large. In all regards we may as well be throwing them for all the damage it might do." Sensing there might be a slight unease Norman poignantly repeated the final word - twice for Cecil's sake, since in all likelihood he would emerge from today totally unscathed. Probably.

"Ah, so it turns on still! Good, good! We can rule out faulty wiring then, which means we're good to begin! Just stand still and er... Take it like a man, hm?" Much like the table on which Norman stored his ammunition the joke fell flat, only a single cough from one of the assistants breaking the awkward silence. Smiling despite himself the engineer then proceeded to load in the ball and take aim, firing for center mass where Cecil's plating should be heaviest - to shield his core and energy. With little more than a dull 'thwap' the ballista launched its munitions and the ball bounced harmlessly off the shield, not even registering it seemed as the field remained entirely undisturbed. "Well it seems that should a bird ever fly into your shield you're protected! Or if a child should lose their ball." But errant winged beasts and children's playthings were hardly the purpose of this shield. Taking then a ball formed from a fallen tree's trunk Norman carefully placed it in his weapon and aimed again, smiling as he casually fired it off the shield to the same result. "And random flying pieces of wood, we're off to a good start!"



Training was never easy and training a new skill only added to the difficulty. Ethan had been there when he'd learned swordplay, when he'd learned magic - albeit incorrectly it seemed - and when he'd learned to hunt on his own. In retrospect perhaps training in how to read a map properly and use a compass would have been good. Would Kensen laugh if he asked for that? Or would he argue that it was a waste of time, and that magic was more important.

"Training sure stinks. You screw up loads, you see how well everyone else does and it makes you feel pretty crappy, you know? Makes it hard to focus on what you're doing," Ethan agreed, nodding his head knowingly, "Especially if your teacher is a jerk. My instructor in the town guard was kind of tough. Not unfair but uh... Well a lot like what Gage is probably like. But you know what? They usually know what they're talking about. And know what else? If you can stick with it you'll come out better than when you started! Which is kind of obvious... But you know what I mean!" Cedric always argued people learned best through adversity. You didn't question how to do something or try to reinvent things until you understood the basics, it's why Ethan himself never dabbled much in his own magic: he scarcely understood it. Kensen on the other hand clearly knew what he was doing, hence his willingness to follow the Dimuran no matter how tough he might be. And why Amuné should follow Gage for the same reason.

"It's probably not fair for me to say 'tough it out', but you really should keep going with it. Even if you don't have to fight it'd make hunting loads easier for you. And then you could catch something for Wyth for lunch!" Reaching over Ethan scratched beneath the moorcat's chin and chuckled as he nuzzled back, giving Amuné's head a gentle pat then. "If I can find some time I'll come say hi if you want. Maybe ask the guy to be a bit nicer? I mean he does seem kind of... Well like a jerk, but I'm sure he's not totally heartless. If we just talked with him I'm willing to bet he'd be more than happy to lighten up a little." Or they could go to Taliya and ask her, though he felt like doing that was only going to piss off Gage.

Hells this was infuriating! Between the failures of her ability to imbue her weapon and practicing under Kensen's gaze, Nymira found herself growing increasingly irritated. For mere seconds at a time she could manage but much longer and the flame began to quickly fade away. And it wasn't that she couldn't see the use of the ability either: a permanently heated blade meant easier and cleaner cuts, coupled with burns to inflict more damage. People were far less inclined to fight someone whose weapon was alight. That said she was just as content to use her magic as she had been, enchantments be damned. She was torn between the two and yet had conceded despite her reservations to learn. If this would earn her favor with Taliya - and in turn whoever led Mutebo itself, then she'd suffer through it. All of her other training had been far more rigorous besides, this just happened to be the most infuriating.

----------

Of course Taliya had sent someone after him. And of course it had to be Adrianna. Not that Lionel minded all that much - Adrianna was good for a laugh or two - but as far as being combat capable? The jury was still out on that one. If they did come under attack again that meant just one more person to watch over, though having a healer to keep him going certainly made it a little easier. Not that he'd welcome another fight - pain was painful after all - but it was of some peace of mind knowing he probably wouldn't die.

"Rest? And waste this beautiful day sitting around? I think not!" came Lionel's reply, a cheeky grin sent Adrianna's way. Resting wasn't an option no matter how much he might need it or how his wards might complain. The sooner they reached Mutebo the better and unless someone suddenly dropped dead they didn't stop for anything. Though from the way their company was hounding him about taking a breather you'd think someone was on the verge of dying. He was the one who'd just fought! Growing irritated from one of the woman's constant remarks Lionel gave her a quip about keeping her mouth shut or she'd attract all sorts of beasts to them... Only in far more rude terms. Thinking himself a knight defending some maidens honor perhaps one of the men then began to argue with him in turn, something the healer tried to tune out entirely. And he was successful in doing so right up until the man grabbed his shirt to stop him in his tracks. Letting out a sigh Lionel turned to face the man, smiling as he came so close his spit was speckling the boy's face.

"Are you done? Feel better? Got that out of your system?" Unsurprisingly a patronizing attitude did little to diffuse the situation. "Listen, if I leave you here you die, got that? So suck it up and keep moving, the traveling won't kill her but hunters just might. If you're so concerned with her safety then shut up and keep moving, alright? Unless you're just trying to posture to get into her pants?" That seemed to have struck a nerve. Lionel smiled and leaned aside when the man threw a punch, grabbing his arm and wrenching it as he swept the legs out from under him. Holding him on the ground he rolled his eyes as the man struggled, twisting his arm slightly to make him stop. "I've got a real simple job for you okay: Listen to what I say. Can you do that for me?" The man muttered a reluctant yes and thus was released, though Lionel was far from done with him. After helping the man to his feet he turned the man and pointed towards the trees before giving an order. "See those trees? I want you to walk over to every single one and apologize for wasting the oxygen they've worked oh so hard to make for us." Asked if he was joking the boy gave a deadpan stare and pointed again, sending the man off with no small degree of loathing, a stream of curse words spewing from his mouth. "A hug might help too! Trees like hugs!"

Cecil frowned in a pretty disapproving manner, really not feeling too sure about how calling Norman something respectful when he was helping him so much. He would had thought someone would like to be treated with respect like that, but whatever he could still call him Norman without too much of an issue. It was probably for the best anyway, especially considering Norman was supposed to be treating him like an experiment and if your experiment was calling you respectful things you’d be less inclined to try and harm them like with the shield. Cecil was pretty prepared for testing the shield, he would be able to tell if there was some loose connection before throwing it online and would be able to tell Norman that it was indeed not working. It would be pretty difficult when it was built to be similar to him moving his arm in response time. He was a little worried about future testing though, he knew that Norman would start out light but eventually would want to convert to much heavier weapons to test the power of the shield on. It was probably something an engineer would do anyway even if it might cause him distress, seeing as how any stress could be simply repaired.

Anything being thrown in Cecil’s direction would be stressful, whether it be something soft and harmless or tough and harmful like a stone. Even with Norman’s reassurances he was going to be nervous. Staring at Norman as he spoke he waited for him to start firing, not actually understanding that he made a brief little joke at the same time: he was a Machina, not a man nor was he designed to look like a man but a little kid. That was really confusing, maybe he was making fun of him or something for being unable to be one. Seeing him getting ready to shoot he instinctively put up a defensive stance as if expecting it to hurt a lot, instead he barely felt it if at all as it bounced away. Feeling a little confused he looked around for it before to Norman, staring at him for a moment before gasping. “Will the bird be okay?? I don’t want to hurt it!”

Cecil’s main concerns came from being able to harm others with the shield rather than protect them and if it had any recoil, meaning that ball that the child should lose could spring back at twice the power it hit him with. He didn’t know how much of a shield it was when compared to a weapon, seeing as how it was composed of energy. Gasping when Norman fired another ball at him he stared at him in annoyance, not liking how there was no warning to that one. “Can you tell me when you’re going to fire stuff at me? What if I took down my shield just then…” It was awfully distracting to have random stuff thrown at him, especially if it could harm him. He figured he would move onto stronger stuff to throw at him, but so long as he told him so that he might brace himself. In truth he didn’t really care about little bullets or whatever those things were, he was more concerned with magical attacks and whether he would be able to defend those; however, Norman wasn’t a Magi for all he knew, so that might be a little tough to test. “What are you going to toss at me now? Rocks? Metal? If my shield goes down without you saying you’re going to fire something at me don’t blame me. I don’t know how long I can keep it up, I’ll still tell if it’s going to go down though”.

One would think that the people they were escorting were being held against their will by how rude their exchanges with Lionel became. Adrianna kept her own mouth shut initially while the group complained about not taking more breaks. She wondered how long they had been making their way to Mutebo, and looked back a few times to try to gauge whether any others were injured. She was pretty confident they were all fine, albeit tired, and had her attention drawn to Lionel as he demonstrated a new side of himself, sparring verbally with one of the women.

He had a point about attracting beasts, but he certainly could have said it more eloquently. Adrianna sighed, and turned to step in and diffuse the situation a bit, when one of the other escorted people began to rant and rave. When he grabbed Lionel and the man continued to patronize the larger, stockier man, Adrianna rolled her eyes.

The two began to tussle, and Adrianna let them duke it out, but drew her staff in either hand as she stared down another man who nearly leaped into the action. The last thing they needed was a loud brawl in the forest. She was putting them away again when the other took the hint and Lionel finished putting the man back in his place. He insisted that the man apologize to the trees for wasting oxygen, and Adrianna couldn’t hold back her opinions any longer. “Now you are wasting time and oxygen, Lionel.” She said, shaking her head as she turned to the man rubbing his arm still. “Don’t go apologize to the trees. Or if you want to, do it while we walk. We are wasting time and daylight.”

Adrianna turned from the men and began to walk off. She heard Lionel insist that the man continue with the apologies, and she tensed, debating leaving him behind. Taliya told her to go and get him back, but she had made sure he was still alive. Couldn’t that be enough? She only took a few steps, but could hear that no one was following her. It made sense, really. Even though the people they were escorting wanted to move along, they trusted Lionel. He had kept them alive this long, though she really didn’t know how. Still, she would have loved to wound his pride by having all of them just walk away and leave Lionel waiting to be appeased.

She weighed her options for a few moments before stopping and waiting for Lionel to determine that they had wasted enough time and could continue. “Are you finally done lording over these people?” She asked.

"I don't know...Being a lord might be fun." He replied with a snarky grin.

"You may act entitled enough, but you have to be at least a little responsible." Adrianna said, holding her fingers a few inches apart. She shook her head at the thought of people actually relying on him for anything. Why Taliya had entrusted him with this was beyond her.

With that, she began to walk once more, silently grateful when she heard footsteps behind her once more as the others began to follow. They went another mile or two before Adrianna heard something up ahead. It sounded like a cart and horses. She stopped, holding up a hand to indicate that the others should pause, and then turned to Lionel, mouthing “Do you hear that?” as she pointed in the direction further up the path.

He indicated that he had, and she gestured to the trees. “I’ll go check it out.” She whispered, and then drew her bo staff once more. Once they started to move off of the path, she darted to the other side and moved between the trees, then turned and quickly made her way to the direction of the cart. Surely enough, only a short distance later, Adrianna made out the cart, and its two drivers. One she recognized from Mutebo, and so she stepped out of the woods and waved. The driver brought the cart to a stop, and Adrianna spoke with them briefly, letting them know she was traveling with a group up ahead a little way, and to expect them shortly thereafter. They appreciated the warning, and mentioned something about Taliya being eager for their return.

Adrianna jogged back to the place where she had indicated for them to go off and take cover, and waved them out. “It’s just some folks delivering supplies from Mutebo. I told them to expect to see us so no one was spooked. Let’s keep going.” She said to the group before turning her attention back to the path. Going ahead to scout had slowed them down further, but hopefully they would get back soon, and Lionel wouldn’t pick any more fights with their charges. “So who are these folks?” She asked Lionel as they began moving once more. “Mages? Inventors? Protestors?”

Norman let out a chuckle as he loaded the next munitions, amused by Cecil's concerns. How peculiar that a Machina was worried about a living thing, but then Cecil always displayed an unusual level of empathy didn't he? These tests were as much a trial run for the barrier as it was an opportunity to watch Cecil in action. Partaking in combat was not his forte - a sharp mind and some tools did little against Magi or trained soldiers - so this was as close to a field test as the engineer could hope for. Rather than dissuade Cecil from backing out of these tests or console him and his concerns Norman loaded the ballista, pausing only when he requested some warning for the projectiles.

"I'm more than happy to if it helps. Though you do know of course that doesn't make this a legitimate test," Norman pointed out, resting his arm on the table as he leaned against it, "Your enemy won't stop and say, "Excuse me but I'm going to strike you now!" You won't have the luxury of knowing when an attack is coming, its impractical. But then I suppose we're not testing your reaction time but the feasibility of the shield. I digress then, I'll tell you when the shots are coming, let's resume shall we?" The next step up was a small rock, or at least small comparative to a boulder. Certainly denser than the hollow wooden round he'd just unleashed. This time he waited for the barrier to be erected and made certain it wouldn't flick out before releasing the latch and firing off the stone. As with the other munitions it hit the barrier and failed to penetrate, causing ripples to scatter from the point of impact and the stone fell harmlessly to the floor. "So it seems like you're able to defend against stone as well! Though that certainly registered on the barrier, I have to wonder how well it can take a metal or cast weight. Do you feel ready?"



Nymira stared at her dagger intently as the blade's temperature fluctuated, ebbing and flowing like the waters upon the shore of a river. She could create the heat, that wasn't the issue, it was keeping it steady. With patience already thin she glanced to Kensen to ask for a suggestion and bit her tongue seeing Amuné touching Kensen's wing. Why was the child here pestering her instructor? Shouldn't she be training with Gage? And why was Ethan still sat upon the grass neither working or even attempting to practice magic? Was she the only one actually doing anything? Growling lowly she turned towards one of the wooden striking dummies and heated her blade, slicing at its neck and burying her weapon halfway before the blade abruptly cooled and became lodged in the dummy. Pulling at it and finding it stuck she cursed lowly and let it go, reaching up and placing her hand upon its head before setting it alight.

"Hey, don't burn down the dummies!" Taliya would kill them if they ruined the training grounds! Ethan was already nervous enough about angering the woman without them setting fire to everything. The Dimuran didn't look to care much as she simply glowered at him before moving to a new dummy, leaving her dagger nested in the neck of her victim. Looking to the flames and the princess fitfully, Ethan groaned before hastily approaching it and throwing a gust of wind at the flames in hopes of snuffing them out. Only they failed to do so and instead broke apart the charred head of the dummy, sending a piece flying and setting a nearby crate on fire instead. Yelping in panic he went to the container and - having no other ideas - began to kick at the crate to try and put it out. "N-Nymira! Help!"

What was that clown fussing about now? Ah, he'd spread her flames about like a fool instead of letting them die off on their own. Rolling her eyes the Dimuran made a sweeping motion and at once her fire died off, much to the relief of a very panicked Ethan. Taking a moment then to retrieve her dagger from the first dummy she wriggled it free by popping off the head of the mannequin, kicking it aside and moving to the second. "If you're through with playing with Amuné, there's something I wished to ask you Kensen," the Dimuran pressed as she examined her dagger. The edge was dulled and chipped from forcibly freeing it, damn it all. An easy fix but even minor annoyances were a headache right now, Amuné included. "If I heat the blade any more than I have I'll melt it, but I can't figure out how to maintain a steady heat. I'm tired of, what is it... Stumbling in the shadows. How do I do it?"



Lionel had meant every word of it when he'd demanded the man to apologize. Perhaps he'd been a little overzealous in expecting the entire forest to be apologized to though: they'd drop dead long before the man every finished his task. So a few trees would suffice, and even with the skeptical looks and Adrianna questioning him he stood firm in his decision. These people had been headaches the entire trip - both literally and figuratively - so this was at least a small bit of payback. After the man had properly appeased the wrath of the woods, or rather Lionel, they were on the move again. Complaints were mercifully far and few between now that Adrianna was present; the members spoke among themselves now as opposed to questioning their leader every waking moment. Things were finally looking up!

And then Adrianna decided to try and play scout. From what Lionel knew of her she had very little in the means of combat ability - which was to say none - so letting her risk getting in a fight was tantamount to letting her get herself killed. He'd have chased after her too were he not in charge of the group behind him, and he weighed their collective lives over her own. Whatever concern he might have had was quickly washed away when Adrianna returned not long after and revealed the travelers were traders from Mutebo. So they had said anyways, not to be paranoid but you should take what people on the roads said with a grain of salt nowadays. When she mentioned they should expect him and the others he didn't know whether to laugh or dopeslap her, so he went with the former and smacked his own forehead.

"Well then here's to hoping they don't decide to kill us, or turn out to be hunters!" Lionel spared Adrianna further ridicule and instead motioned for the group to keep on: they were nearly there anyways. Once they did arrive in town he'd hand them over to whoever was waiting at the gates and be done with them from there, if he was so fortunate. Or since Adrianna was here now maybe he'd just let her take them the rest of the way and be done with it entirely. Taliya would probably love that.

"Bunch of nobodies really, just a few folks trying to avoid losing their heads on a chopping block." It came out casually and with such little interest one might think Lionel was discussing the weather, not someone's life. "The woman at the back was a healer, she's accused of poisoning troops. Dumbest thing really, she near got sick eating a poison flower, she wouldn't know the first thing about killing someone. Intentionally anyways. The tree-hugger is a former guard from one of the cities, got in a fight with some of his mates and used unsanctioned magic, was going to be thrown in a cell. The older guy's some teacher in a school... I forget where, but he was using his magic to manipulate things. And the other one with the scruffy beard is some washed up Magi that's been on the run for a while apparently. Real useful bunch, don't you think?" Grinning to himself Lionel chanced a glance over his shoulder and saw all four glowering a him, giving them a wink before putting his hands up and shrugging his shoulders. "Taliya's not excluding anyone. 'Magic's not something you can put laws on, it ought to be as free as living' or something like that. Though depending on who you ask we aren't exactly living free either. Not since the Church started its little crusade."

Cecil was always going to be concerned with hurting others because of something he couldn’t control, it wouldn’t had been very good of him to give away his machina identity either if something hit him and he didn’t even flinch but whatever hit him was broken on the ground. He was very aware of everything that could give him away down to people accidentally bumping him and feeling nothing but metal under his clothing and his body being cold to the touch. He had been actively avoiding contact with others for the months he’d been active for and wasn’t going to cut it out and calm down just because he was getting comfortable in his setting. He remembered when he was asked how he lost his legs one time, but that was the extent that it went to as everything else about him just made him out to look like a traveller who had geared himself up for fighting off thieves and what not.

“I know! I’m not stupid!” Cecil spoke quickly, almost angry by Norman’s doubt over his intelligence. He was highly aware of what an enemy would do, but this was a test and not an actual situation where he would automatically be ready, especially after testing the shield to know that it definitely works. He felt like he was being talked down to just because he looked like a child. Making sure his shield was back up and going to be able to run properly he readied himself again, groaning lightly. He was certain his shield was going to be able to hold up against tougher and heavier attacks from Norman, but he had to make sure and hope that he wasn’t going to end up breaking the shield and having to get a new one made up for him. He was worried he was going to cause it to break by asking for tougher attacks, but after the last battle he wanted to make sure just how tough the attacks could be and what he could hold his own against. Keeping his position with the shield up he waited for Norman to start firing stuff at him, gasping when something hit the barrier causing it to make a reaction. It was startling, but it didn’t bring the shield down at least. “I…guess it was okay…I-I’m ready for tougher things! And don’t be mean to me this time! I’m smarter than I look with these things! I was made for combat…”

--

Kensen was particularly bored with the usual song and dance in this training regime stuff, even if it was quite important that they received good training. He had gone through it all before back when he first arrived and was mostly reflecting on what he learned during that time and applying it to both Nymira and Ethan. It wasn’t that he was bored of teaching them, he had just done it all before and doing the same thing over and over again just made him feel weary. It was probably going to get better the further along in their training they were, but they weren’t showing any particular signs of high improvement. They still had a long way to go and if he was to keep interest in this he would need to switch up the training a little bit. Ethan was just being lazy and not bothering to do much, probably thinking that wind was pretty useless to know. That was quite stupid if he did think that, wind could cause someone to lose absolute control over their actions and even throw attacks back at another, nevermind allowing speed and high jumps and all that. Ethan was just being lazy at this point.

Getting a little annoyed at how Nymira was treating her practice targets he let out an annoyed sigh before he took notice of Amuné, looking down at her when she gave his clothing a tug. What did she want? She hadn’t exactly spoken to him other than rage at him for her telling her off for being prejudice. Narrowing his gaze at her he adjusted his goggles, waiting for her to ask her question. If she wasn’t going to ask something he was just going to ignore her, but eventually she did ask her question which just brought back memories of the children of Mutebo trying to pull his wings. At least this was with permission first, so getting mad over that wasn’t going to happen. “…Alright. Just don’t tug, injuries take a while to heal”. He recalled the last time his wings were torn to shreds, a memory that wasn’t entirely too pleasant for him.

Folding his arms he let out a sigh as she began to touch them, finding it not all too pleasant to say the least. It was like someone gently touching your arm, to say the least. Looking to her when she cut it out finally he frowned, listening to her blab on about kites and magic. “Hmm, you can make a kite for gliding and use it without magic, you just need to be high up enough…” he spoke, looking away again. “Flying can be exhausting, though. I mostly just use wind magic to keep myself afloat for long distances. It’s like running without feeling anything below your feet but the weight is in your back”. He didn’t really know a life without being able to fly, even the youngest of his clan could learn how to use their wings once they knew they had them. It was just one of those things, just like how she was aware of her ability to walk when she was younger.

Hearing Ethan starting his yelping he sighed and looked off towards the commotion, seeing everything already out of control just from him looking away for a few moments. These two were supposed to be near the same age as him and yet they were acting like idiots. Either way, that dummy was going to need to be replaced and those things were a pain to make. Rubbing his neck, he looked to Nymira who decided to approach him, not without throwing a casual insult. She really did lack social skills, it was a wonder that she would even be considered a diplomat for her people. Staring at her as he expected something about him going back to her clan or whatever he instead stared at her blade, feeling a little curious as to why she was being so casual about a problem. She was trying to hide her pride for sure, but it wasn’t a big deal to him as much as it probably was to her.

Groaning lightly he reached back, pulling out one of his kunai. “If your blade isn’t able to take the heat then there’s not much you can do about it other than get a stronger metal. Normal blades won’t be able to handle heat for very long unless you plan on carrying around a bunch of temporary weapons. Maybe you should spend the time you have here to make stronger weapons”, he spoke, spinning it on his finger before holding it tight, his magic causing it to set aflame momentarily before it died down into a steady heat. “You’ve got to learn how to control the temperature through emotion during battle. Feeling too high strung and angry at your opponent will just cause your flame to be unstable, so instead try and remain focus! Fire magic isn’t only about fire and throwing it around, you should be able to control the temperature of your body and something you hold. I could make my own nails hot and burn my opponent if I wanted with the level of control I have. You’ve just got to focus on not causing something to combust.”

“If Jerard is a hunter, then Taliya has bigger problems than being desperate enough to send me to rescue you.” Adrianna said. He just needed help focusing on his task. If she wasn’t there, that poor sap would probably still be apologizing to trees. Of course, she hadn’t seen how complainy the group had been before she arrived, so she didn’t think they were terribly annoying at all. In any case, Lionel might not even know Jerard, but Adrianna knew he was quite involved in Taliya’s resistance efforts.

In any case, Adrianna was rather annoyed that Lionel had such little faith in her, and thought that telling the drivers to expect them was a poor idea. Next time she would just let them shoot Lionel when he surprised them. Don’t be like that. Then you’d have to heal him.

“Oh look. They didn’t kill us.” Adrianna donned a sarcastic voice after the wagon passed them on the road. “How fortunate we are.” Lionel really brought out the worst of Adrianna’s attitude. She had tried to be decent towards him, but he was just such an asshole.

“No, but these morons with us are killing me.” Lionel complained.

“We can hear you!” One of the women called out in response.

“Oh, you can do something right? Well done!”

The exchange prompted Adrianna to ask about the people they were leading, though Lionel’s remarks were quite condescending. She frowned at his initial remarks and shook her head. “Every life matters, Lionel. Maybe you don’t think they matter to you, but that doesn’t make their lives worthless.” She hated to think what he would say about her when she wasn’t around. What’s more, with such a poor attitude, Adrianna couldn’t imagine what she was ever supposed to learn from him.

Lionel went on to tell her about a healer who didn’t know much about plants yet, a guard who lost control of his magic, a teacher, and another guy. Overall, they didn’t sound like bad people, and Adrianna shrugged. “They certainly could be.” She replied at the end, though her tone was genuine. Why Lionel seemed so eager to see all of these people as useless was beyond her. She considered how to challenge Lionel without being driven to apologize to a tree in the process, but Lionel spoke up, about Taliya this time.

She scoffed lightly at Lionel’s remark quoting Taliya, shaking her head in disagreement. That might have been a mantra of the resistance under the old leader, but Taliya was more interested in Magic as a weapon, and anyone who chose not to use it as such was the lesser for it. “I don’t know what you drugged Taliya with to get her to say that. All I’ve heard is, ‘If you aren’t going to help us fight, then get the fuck out of the way.’ ”

Turning to the woman near the back, Adrianna spoke up a bit, walking backwards for a few steps. “Miss, if you are looking to learn more about natural poisons and poisonous plants, there are some books that the healers keep that I am sure they would be willing to share.” She said before smiling brightly at Lionel. “But you also don’t have to learn how to kill people.” Of course, Taliya would be a little annoyed if the healer stayed in Mutebo and did nothing, but if she was a half-decent healer, she would be accepted. Hell, if she showed up when it was her shift, she would probably be favored over Lionel at the least.

Huh... Anger and annoyance, Cecil really did experience a full range of genuine emotion. Why? For what possible reason would a Machina ever be fashioned to harbor emotions? He had a suspicion that gnawed at his gut like a rabid dire wolf. But suspicions were unfounded, he'd have to ask some questions and see what he could dig up on Cecil. Not wanting the Machina to notice anything amiss he put on a smile and made another playful jest as he loaded the next round, aiming just off center-mass and letting it fly. Ripples but no shatter, a sign the shield had actively deflected the projectile and held firm. The density of rock and forged metal was still quite far - closer than metal and wood to be sure, but hardly a good measure of the shield's ability. And this was nothing to say of its ability against magic, something which could only be tested by a Magi. Which with luck would come courtesy of his friend and not one of the Church's people.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to insult you. Just a playful jab, nothing more! All in good fun yes?" Very curious. But again like so many other things with Cecil neither here nor there. Now was time to test the shield, and to be more precise, to fire the metal munition. It was the heaviest round they had in the shop and probably the equivalent of the heaviest physical strike Cecil's shield would take. "Brace for this one, no guarantee the shield can take this hit. I'm firing to your right as well just so you're aware. Counting down from ten." Perhaps not the best choice of words to instill confidence but he was being honest. Honesty was the best policy right? As the count hit zero Norman let the weapon do its work, hurling the weighty object at Cecil's shield. In the blink of an eye it struck and sounded as though it slammed against a brick wall, a thunderous crack echoing through the shop and causing everyone present to cringe and cover their ears. When the sound had passed Norman looked up and laughed, a wide grin plastered on his face, his fists raised in celebration.

The shield had stopped the projectile! While he and the others had missed what had happened - too busy covering their ears - Cecil would doubtless have seen the shield shatter partially and fold in on itself only to replenish and repel the metal orb. Laying several feet away and partially flattened was the metal weight, Cecil's shield having repelled it with relative ease. "Astounding! It works, it completely works! The sound was a little unexpected but I'm sure we can work that out! Your shield just stopped the equivalent of a cannonball!" the engineer exclaimed excitedly before cupping his chin, "Well admittedly a low velocity cannonball, and a small one, but a cannonball nonetheless! If you channeled even more energy to the shield however I'm certain it would withstand any blast! We couldn't have hoped for a better result!" The rest of the workers chatted excitably among themselves while Norman approached Cecil, grinning broadly as he slapped the Machina on the back, shield down. "I think we can consider today a success! Now that we know the technology works its a simple matter of mastering it. Well done Cecil, very well done!"



Lionel smiled at Adrianna as she chided him, though it was rather forced. Through clenched teeth and closed eyes, perhaps trying to hide his emotions, he uttered lowly, "I never said they don't matter. I'd never say someone's life doesn't matter. They're just useless to us. There's a stark difference between being useless and not mattering. I'll help anyone who's worth helping." And he'd kill anyone that was worth killing. A bit contradictory perhaps but he knew full well what it meant, for himself and for anyone he dealt with. Simply put he wasn't here to make friends or be nice - it wasn't generally in his nature to do so - he was here for his own reasons. He cooperated with Taliya and her people because he deemed it worthwhile, and he helped these people because he was asked. Their lives weren't meaningless, he'd defended them by risking his own, but as far as the people themselves went? He could care less. He didn't wish death upon them but he'd just as little desire to remain in their general proximity. Once they reached Mutebo he'd be just as fine if they never crossed paths again.

"And I suppose that's a fair point about Taliya, maybe I took some creative liberties with her words," the healer admitted with a laugh, "Nothing gets past you huh? You know people so well." Oh Saints be damned why was she trying to encourage these people? That woman was hopeless, she HAD been trained according to her story and she was still a dolt, trying any more was a waste of time and energy. Let her find her true calling, something that didn't involve potentially killing patients. He got it, Adrianna was trying to be supportive, but they didn't have time for niceties and for buttering people up. The world wasn't that sort of place anymore, certainly not if you were a Magi. You either made yourselves useful to the Church or hid, and Magi who were useless to the Church were killed. Magi who were useless to Taliya? She was a little more forgiving but even she had her limits, you had to pull your own weight or you were out. He wouldn't say it aloud but just because these people were being brought to Mutebo didn't guarantee their stay.

With their destination just a little further along Lionel was already planning his next "trip". On to the next thing, he could probably even hand off their little gang at the gates and leave immediately. Though he really should rest, the trip had taken way more out of him than he'd have liked and he did need some supplies before going out. Damn, that meant he'd probably have to help these people get settled. Glancing back again he met the group's collective glares and made a face at them, sighing and scratching at his head. "I've never understood diplomacy or being a "man of the people." How anyone can deal with the public is beyond me..." he grumbled, looking to Adrianna and smiling thoughtfully, "How do you do it? Deal with people and not want to smack each and every one I mean. The questions most people have about the most basic things... I never realized how dumb people are. Makes you pretty fortunate the Church actually teaches you a bit."



Nymira furrowed her brow in frustration hearing Kensen's reply. Of course she knew fire magic was more than combustion. She understood the fundamentals of her own magic - her father had gotten her some of the best warriors to help show her its use - she just couldn't make her magic do this. Did they perhaps possess different kinds of fire magic? Ralthor's blessing took many forms and no two were wholly identical. Even her father had a form of fire magic that was unlike any she knew, both beautiful and terrifying in its power. And for her own part she had her smithing magic, the ability to melt and work with metals without a cumbersome forge. So was there just a possibility that her magic simply couldn't do what Kensen was demanding? Or was she truly this incompetent?

"Gage doesn't want to be what exactly?" Spoiled runts, they have to labor for a single afternoon and already they complained, wanting a new tutor. While the matter of who taught Amuné mattered little to the man it was a small matter of pride. Like hell his instruction wasn't good enough. He'd taught dozens of men and women, he'd trained a handful of those in Taliya's ranks now. Gage was reluctant to admit the fault was his own and rather blamed Amuné for lack of initiative. Anyone could fire a crossbow, that was the beauty of the weapon. Any regular person could pick up a weapon and with some basic training use it in combat. And the beautiful thing about weapons? In a world where magic reigned supreme Magis were still just people. They died like the rest of them. It was something the girl would be wise to learn instead of looking at Magi as some supernatural beings.

"Perhaps if you weren't as unapproachable as a Vox she'd take more to you," Nymira offered up dryly, the mention of a native beast to her homeland flying entirely over Gage's head. Not that it mattered, the man was simply insufferable to be around. Having a tough teacher was fine so long as they were just in doing so and taught you a lesson in the process. None of her mentors had spared any favors for who she was and she'd come out the better for it, and Amuné would too. If her mentor wasn't just a foul man to begin with. Nothing of what she had seen of Gage since their arrival redeemed him in any sense of the word.

Well this was fun. Everyone was having fun right? Not really too many positive ways Ethan could spin this. With Amuné cowering behind Kensen and Gage and Nymira looking like they might go at it... Probably a good idea to step in. Placing himself between the Dimuran and Gage he held out his hands, smiling uneasily as the two never stopped glaring at one another.

"H-Hey, shouldn't we be getting to training, Nymira? There's a lot left for us to learn!" Ethan urged with a chuckle, "And uh... Maybe there's other stuff for you to do instead, Gage? I uh... I bet Taliya's got some work for you?" Meeting the man's gaze he let out a meek sound as he was grabbed by the shirt, being pulled closer and grabbing at Gage's arm reflexively. Stupid mechanical arm, he couldn't even budge it!

"Do you think me her lap dog then boy? That I just do what she asks at the drop of a hat?" Gage growled, rolling his eyes as Ethan stammered unintelligibly. Letting go of the younger Muran he shook his head and gave Amuné a final passing glance before turning and leaving. "Your problem now Kensen, I'll take the runt back when she's done being ridiculous." He'd better things to do than chase around a fitful child.

Ethan managed out a farewell to the grumpy man as he left them be once more. Fixing his shirt and collecting himself he shot Nymira a look of disbelief as she called Gage an "insufferable bastard." While maybe not wrong she wasn't helping the situation any, if Gage were still here they'd be right back into it. So much for a nice, easy training day. Nymira was going back to her training now and Kensen was preoccupied with Amuné, and Ethan himself felt thoroughly spent. "Hey Amuné? How about we let Kensen train with Nymira and we do something fun?" he offered, probably to the disapproval of his instructor. He wasn't trying to get out of training but it was obvious Amuné was not going back to Gage, so someone needed to stay with her. And he was happy to do as much. "That is if Kensen's okay with it? I'll train extra hard later, I swear!"

Adrianna didn’t see it. Lionel seemed to think there was a big difference between not mattering and being useless. It was a nuance at best to her, and she shrugged noncommittally at his utterance. It just sounded like more complaining to her, and she didn’t care to provoke him further about it. She felt as though her point had been made.

Lionel at least accepted her point about Taliya. The woman was no saint, and she was glad at least he wasn’t so thick as to have missed that about her. His voice was thick with sarcasm as he commented on her knowing people well. “Well, some people wear their emotions and opinions on their sleeves.” She replied, glaring right back at Lionel. He was one of those types of people as well. He wore his thoughts, or at least what Adrianna assumed were his thoughts boldly upon his sleeve. He clearly felt as if he was better/smarter/more valuable than the people around them. He thought his pride and ego was more important than anyone else’s, and the group’s safety as a whole. Lionel made that clear when he forced the man to apologize to the trees. She didn’t understand why it had to be so hard, why the man couldn’t simply be polite to the group he was asked to escort.

Lionel then asked her about dealing with people and being civil about it. “Clearly not.” She mumbled at his complaint about not being diplomatic. She tensed as he again brought up her history with the Church. Why did he always have to be so crass? She didn’t like the idea of calling people dumb. Adults were the product of their upbringing, and in this world, rumor and fear spread much more quickly than truth and trust. “People are…ignorant because they are lied to for their entire lives. Magic being one of the worst.” Adrianna sighed, glancing back at the group before continuing.

“I mean, we are taught that magi once protected citizens of Adelon from beasts of the void, called heroes and revered as they brought peace among the races. Hell, the royal family is said to be a pure line of incredibly powerful magi still. And yet nothing is controlled by them. The Church controls it all, and to them, magi are a threat. I wouldn’t be surprised if they removed the royal family entirely, though I can’t imagine any of them lifting so much as a finger of resistance.” She was perhaps speaking out of turn about the royal family, and were she in their presence, she would likely have silenced her tongue for fear of losing her head. The things that came from her lips may have been somewhat common thoughts, but they certainly weren’t commonly spoken. Still, the fact of the matter was that no ruler in the last few generations involved themselves in the affairs of the Church. She had seen the King once or twice at large events, making a brief appearance, but they were more of figureheads than actual leaders.

“Magic is dying out, and one would think that the King would care. Maybe they haven’t even noticed and are just inbreeding to keep their own line strong.” She scoffed, looking ahead as she continued. Adrianna realized that she had gotten swiftly off the topic of Lionel’s question. “Sorry, I got a bit sidetracked.” She shouldn’t have been gushing to Lionel. He was probably the least trustworthy man here, at least judging by their conversations so far.

“My point is, I can’t blame people for not knowing. The Church has twisted people’s minds into thinking things about magic, about magi. They have made learning about it all but impossible, apart from pledging to follow their code, even though their code is what is destroying the very essence of magic in this world. The Church has us all turned against each other, and a dumb populace is a moldable populace.” It made sense for the Church to keep people from sharing too much information. That is probably how the Church kept the royal family so content, by sparing them from the pesky details like crime, education, and healthcare of the people of Adelon.

Kensen didn’t really know what to make of this group now that he thought about it, seeing as how one of them had proceeded to touch him and eventually had him going into a bit more depth regarding fire abilities. He didn’t really want them to be treating him like either a strange being or an all knowing master when he either didn’t like being touched by essentially strangers or find himself stumbling on an answer he didn’t know if it was right or not. Luckily Amuné wasn’t being too grabby with his wings and merely checking them out briefly, same went for Nymira’s questions not being too far out of his reach. For a group who were essentially clueless about the ways of magic and general etiquette they were certainly willing to learn.

Amuné was still proving to be pretty annoying to him, however, as she was proceeding to use the chance she had to touch him to talk to him as well. He was busy and she wasn’t part of his teaching, so her talking to him was just wasting his time just that little bit more. Groaning lightly when Gage was mentioned he looked away briefly, not particularly wanting to talk about him. Gage was a complicated man but knew what he was talking about with it being easy to push his buttons without actually setting him off. Sure, he wasn’t great with kids, but he was an expert in his field.

Briefly looking back at Amuné when she retreated behind him he growled a sigh, spinning around. “Can you leave me out of your little quarrel with Gage? I don’t need this nor do I have the time…” Why was he being seen as this neutral force, anyway? Maybe it was because half his expression was hidden due to his goggles, but he wasn’t going to take them off around these people. He had his reasons for using his goggles, but he wasn’t going to let them know why that much was certain. But enough of Amuné, he had his own duty to fulfil that didn’t involve looking after kids.

Making his turn back to Nymira he was a little more annoyed than he had been before, certainly. Wanting to get back into talking about something he actually cared about they were quickly graced with Gage’s presence once more, groaning in annoyance once more. Why did he get stuck in the middle of everything? It was so horribly common for him that he even had people doing it when they were still strangers to him. The faster he was able to train these two the better when it meant he’d have his freedom back to do whatever he wanted with his free time again, even if it was usually the same routine. Looking to Nymira when she insisted on insulting Gage he couldn’t help but believe he was simply going to be the one who was going to take all this bad energy and have it converted into a very unfortunate situation for himself. All that annoyed him quite a lot, especially when he was the youngest out of the top three and usually had all the blame placed of him.

This was just beyond childish. He didn’t have time for this. Glaring at Nymira from behind his goggles he grunted when Gage decided to assault Ethan briefly, staring at the pair as Gage decided to back off, leaving him with Amuné. “What? She is not my problem, you lazy ass!” To hell was he going to babysit some kid just because Gage was as bad as a bad-tempered toothless mutt when it came to behaviour. Why did he have to get stuck in the middle of all this crap? Looking to Ethan as he made some suggestions he grunted a sigh, backing off from the lot of them. “I don’t care what you do. She’s not part of this whole training regime you’re supposed to be under so if you want to slack off with her and make work harder for me and you later then you do that. It’s either that or she doesn’t get in the way of any of this and leave us to it like she was supposed to”.

--

Cecil would be happy if he could have this tested as quickly as possible to relieve stress on himself, it was all a bit too much to be shot at and hope that it was going to work or face minor destruction upon his body. Sure it was important to test these things out, but all this time in between was just making him worry even more to the point of breaking. Joking around could be done after he had been fired at and survived without a mark. He didn’t understand how it was a good time for joking. Hoping nothing bad was going to happen this time he closed his eyes briefly as Norman fired another shot, his arm experiencing minor shock but nothing that would cause harm. Frowning, he stared at his arm momentarily before looking to Norman again, sighing lightly. “I guess so. I’m just not used to it, I guess…” Feeling a little less than confident he held his shield up again, preparing himself as Norman made the countdown. Norman was pretty confident usually, but if he was warning him so much to brace himself then he better hang tight. Closing his eyes, he held his ground, his feet well glued to the floor. Not looking forward to this he let out a gasp when it suddenly hit, feeling it throughout his body as he slowly opened his eyes again, staring at nothing at first before slowly looking to Norman.

He was rather scared after that, but he didn’t want to admit it and just stared quite blankly before slowly looking to his shield, giving his arm a rub. “Oh…I did? A cannonball?” Whatever that was it must’ve been impressive, but it was hard to feel impressed at it when he didn’t really know what a cannonball was. Norman certainly seemed excited, then again it was his own invention and he had been treating it like a toy so far until he was told off. Giving the shield a brief shake he put it away, gasping when Norman slapped him on the back. Frowning, Cecil moved away from Norman, rubbing his back as if thinking he had slapped something on him. “I-I guess so, I mean it was you who made it so I don’t know what I did well”, he spoke, shaking his head, “I just stood there while keeping it up. I didn’t do much else. But I guess it works against physical stuff…but what about magical? Is that the same thing? Will it be able to hold? Do you have magic to test it?”

Lionel wasn't after a philosophical debate, not with Adrianna. She didn't know enough to even consider including in that sort of discussion. He'd give her this much though: she understood people were a product of their experiences. Though to say that adults were merely that - to suggest their actions or faults were a product of how they were raised - that was a farce. The whole point of growing up was to learn and better oneself, not to cling to the idiotic beliefs and ideas you held as a kid. The world wasn't quite as friendly and forgiving as most children believed and it was a lesson that many people learned too late in their lives. Or some far too early.

"True, but there's willful ignorance and there's just plain ignorance. I hate the former more." Regarding the first idea with a loathsome expression, Lionel shook his head and sighed. "People die on the streets on the cities, some beg for money and just a simple meal while wealthy citizens, fellow citizens, pass them by. I don't know if that's willful ignorance or just callousness, but I hate it." People in Adelon were far too content to look at themselves and themselves alone. Regards for your fellow citizen was all but gone, what should be a common trait was now a rarity among the kingdom's people. And what reason was there for that? Why did people suddenly turn on one another? Why were cries for help ignored? No matter how you cut that pie Lionel always found himself coming away with the same answer: the Church.

For perhaps the first time since their meeting Lionel found himself short of words to retort with. Adrianna was critiquing the royal family and the young Magi had to bite his tongue as not to yell at her, forcing a smile and placating her musings with nods of his head. So that was how people viewed the royal family? People just sat in a room, hiding themselves while the rest of her people suffered? Was that how everyone in power was viewed as well? He'd never really thought much about that before but there had been enough examples that he should have been full aware by now. Angry townsfolk screaming for a mayor to do more when they were at their wit's end, soldiers demanding their general send off for a mission that their leader knew full well would fail. It was a disconnect between those in charge and those who followed and it seemed to appear everywhere, even within Mutebo. Was it inevitable, or was it just poor leadership?

"I know the Church is clamping down on Magi but you make it sound like some conspiracy," Lionel laughed, waving a hand at Adrianna's claims, "There's just no use for Magi anymore, not really. The world isn't like it was when the first king formed the kingdom. Beasts are gone, there's very little if any fighting among Adelon's people, and Adelon is still powerful enough that other kingdoms don't threaten her. Maybe its just time Magi are done away with. Out with the old, in with the new." Thrilling though their conversations were Lionel gestured for them to stop as Mutebo's walls were soon within sight. A small chorus of cheers sounded from the group at their flank and he chuckled throatily, amused by their excitement. "It's sad really though when you think about it, and I get why some Magi are angry," Lionel muttered, stopping at the gates as guards came to meet and inspect the group, "You were all so proud and revered once. Now you're like rats, scurrying to whatever hole you can find just to stay alive. No wonder some are fighting back."



What should he be doing right now? Ethan watched Amuné tearfully dismiss herself and run off but made no moves to chase her, sat on the grass with a conflicted expression. He could imagine it being frustrating for her, being stuck with a man like Gage, and by no means was he 100% comfortable with leaving her like that. But they all needed training desperately even if Nymira might be reluctant to admit to it. The Church's Magi had attacked them a handful of times now and it was only by sheer luck they'd gotten away each time. And that wasn't even to mention the beasts either. None of them really wanted to be doing it but it could be the difference between making their next trip alive or ending up lunch. They had time to train though, and Amuné needed someone right now. Getting to his feet he started to make his way off the training grounds until Nymira called out for him to stop.

"If you keep coddling her she'll never grow, Ethan. Leave her be." Really from what the Dimuran could see the only problem was Amuné disliked her teacher. If the girl was going to run away from every single person she disliked then she'd spend her entire life on the run. "Besides she wants you to find her once we're finished, so let her have time to her own. Maybe she'll realize how ridiculous she's being." They didn't have the luxury of coddling a sensitive child right now. Sooner or later Amuné would have to learn to fight, if not for the sake of the group then for her own. She, Ethan and Cecil wouldn't be around forever and clearly this kingdom wasn't quite as civil as she first thought, certainly not if you were a Magi. If Amuné had any hopes of finding her parents and surviving until then she needed to know how to protect herself.

"Yeah but... Is it right to let her be upset like that? I mean she's just a kid." There wasn't much of a response from Nymira and Kensen didn't seem terribly fussed either, leaving Ethan alone with his sentiments. Maybe it was a Dimuran thing, he got the impression they expected kids to be made of much hardier stuff. But here was a little girl without her parents in a place she didn't know, anyone would be afraid and upset. Yet as guilty as Ethan felt for remaining here he knew he needed to train, and gauging Kensen's reactions to his efforts he still had a long way to go. Rubbing the back of his neck Ethan exhaled and clasped his hands together, returning to the training grounds and to his sparring dummy. He had to get better to help Amuné find her parents, and to help Nymira and Cecil too. And he needed to get better as to have any hope of getting answers about Cedric.



"Ah, right. A cannonball is a heavy ball of metal, sometimes iron, sometimes steel, sometimes whatever can be found lying around, melted down and cast in the shape of... Well, a ball. They're fired from a cannon and used against walls or often times aboard ships as a way of inflicting heavy damage. In effect your shield is as strong as a reinforced castle's wall!" Which was nothing to thumb one's nose at! Combined with the mobility and the quick regeneration and self-repairing nature of the shield it was a nigh impregnable defense. Assuming the energy sources never ran out. Looking at the Machina confused as he walked away after being congratulated Norman smiled and lifted his shoulders in a shrug of defeat.

"Magic? Afraid not, none of us here are Magi. Though there's no shortage of them in Mutebo, finding someone to test it for you wouldn't be too hard I imagine," Norman mused as he rubbed his chin in thought, "Why not try finding your friends and asking them? I'm sure Ethan or Nymira would be happy to, er... Blast you." Putting it that way didn't make it sound like nearly as positive as it should. But this was cause for celebration and the engineers in the room were doing as much, with Norman himself barely containing his excitement. Beneath his bubbling enthusiasm was a slight hint of concern however, not for Cecil nor any of his friends. He'd created that shield based upon a prototype his company had worked on ages ago, working largely from memory and improvising where memory failed. If he'd managed to recreate it then surely the company had completed the technology as well. And if they were pushing for more models to be made...

"Here's the Demacite you asked for sir!"

"Ah, thank you! That was fast," Norman remarked as he accepted a wrapped wooden container. "Since your shield runs independently from your core power I figured we should give you a few spare batteries, just in case. Its not the most pure Demacite in the world but it'll hold a charge all the same." Handing the container over to Cecil then he smiled and removed his gloves, setting them aside and gesturing for the Machina to offer over his gauntlet. "All you need to do is loosen the latch and replace the crystal inside the casing, simple as that. The Demacite's aspect doesn't much matter either since it converts any to raw energy. You do lose some power in the process from the shard but so long as you can find a supply you'll never run out of power. And in a pinch you can let it run off of your core power as well. I put an inhibitor on that circuit though, so you don't accidentally drain yourself."

"I think that should conclude our work for today, assuming you don't have any questions about how it works? Otherwise I think it'd be a good idea to go find your friends and test it's magic defenses. If there's any problems I'll be here for a while longer, we can take a look at it and try to work out any kinks."

Kensen didn’t have time for all of this. Gage was annoying enough without having his work shoved on him and only creating more tension between them, the man barely had any sense of responsibility. Amuné was being pretty selfish too, expecting others to carry her through everywhere where at her age she should surely be trying to find some sense of independence away from being a baby. This world wasn’t suited for all this coddling, people had to get tough or die even when a small child. When Amuné ran off elsewhere, Kensen let out a relieving sigh since that meant he didn’t have to also watch a kid while doing his job. It was hardly fair to dump everyone on him just because he appeared to be the most readily available. He’ll have to mention this to Taliya later, if only to have Gage get all mad and flustered over being tattled on.

“She’ll have to learn to stop clinging onto others and flailing around when it is a matter of protecting yourself from the face of death itself! She has an animal that follows her around and thinks she can rely on the fleshbag for protection. What even is the point on having a companion if you can’t protect them in return? Animal’s more of a slave in that regard”. It was probably pretty obvious that he didn’t have much care or relationships like that, the animal acting like a guard dog with no reward. “Shame your Machina getting all busted up like that didn’t spark any sort of desire to learn how to protect herself, even if it’s from someone like Gage”. Right now, however, they needed to get back to training if that was all over for now. There was nothing else to do other than the training, so best that happened instead of them all standing around like idiots. “Can you two get back to it? The more you do it, the easier it becomes”.

--

Cecil stared at Norman’s explanation of a cannonball before he lowered his head, contemplating it even further. There was a lot of simple things he still didn’t know about and he did want to find out about everything he wasn’t completely familiar about but seemed to be common knowledge for people, much of which was used in examples like that. A castle sounded interesting, but maybe he might know what one was if he ever came across something with big thick walls. “Oh, I see…I-I guess that’s pretty good then, yeah?” Norman was certainly excited about it so it must’ve been a good thing. If he could use this shield well enough then he would be able to fight in battles a lot easier once again. He was able to attack well enough, but his defences hadn’t really been thought about when he was made, it seemed.

Frowning when he was denied a magi test he sighed, shaking his head. He didn’t want to go out and bother someone, especially a stranger. “No…I don’t want to bother the others! They have all their own stuff to do, plus I’m fine for now after all that…” He didn’t even know what they thought of him anymore, seeing that they were stuck here because of him. They probably didn’t like it here and wanted to go already, but weren’t allowed to because he had been expensive to repair. None of them would probably want to test his shield anyway, given that he cost so much to repair and if either of them screwed up he’d be back to getting repairs once more.

Gasping when one of the engineers returned he looked over at him curiously, staring at what had been handed to Norman. It was that stuff that was inside him already, but he didn’t know what was the point on giving it to him. Holding out his gauntlet he stared curiously, frowning slightly as he explained what he was supposed to do with it. That all sounded like a lot despite it being such a simple process, mostly because he didn’t know where he was supposed to store it in the meantime. “Replace the crystal…and find more? I’ve never seen it before”. That was another thing he would have to be looking around for, but hopefully that was just going to be some small bother with him not actually needing to use his shield too much. He wasn’t going to be gung-ho with it, at least. Nodding when Norman announced an end to their day he looked to the door, frowning before he shook his head. “They’re going to be busy! Plus that can always wait. It’s not that important compared to what they’re doing. I’ll just, uhhh, power down for today. Maybe I’ll ask them later, but not just now…they’re so busy and don’t need someone like me bothering them”.

Lionel complained about people dying on the streets while the wealthy simply passed them by. Adrianna shuddered a bit at the memory of such sights. More specifically, she remembered when she was still in training with the Church, and she had wanted to use her healing on some of those people. Her supervisor at the time had scolded her for even making the suggestion, calling them degenerates who were just lazy and looking for handouts. If they wanted to improve their lot in life, they could do so through work and service to the Church. She even remembered trying to help them by telling a few people as much. Her words were not well-received, and it took her a few years more to understand why.

He went on to say that Magi didn’t serve any purpose anymore, but Adrianna disagreed. She felt like they were alive for a reason—even though mages were growing weaker, there were still beasts... and monsters. Perhaps it was just that the monsters they faced did not come from the void anymore. When she said that they should be done away with, Adrianna froze. Did he mean…some sort of extermination? The thought sent a shiver down her spine, and she was left is silent shock as he held up his hand to indicate that the conversation was over. The silence that fell between them was thick with tension, at least for the one in the pair who was not certain that the other was a mage. Did Taliya know?

She was still silent as he called them rats, though her knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip on her split bo staff. She could pull it out and strike him across the face. Would it solve any problems in the long-term? No. Would it make her feel better immediately? Perhaps.

Before she could, however, they were surrounded by the guards at the gate, and the people they had been escorting made their way around the pair to get inside to ‘safety.’ Lionel began to move off in another direction, and Adrianna made no effort to follow him. Her jaw was set, clenched tightly as she watched him walk away, regretting that she had healed him at all. After all, she was just a rat, scurrying—

“Adrian!” The deep voice broke her from her thoughts, and she turned in the opposite direction to see Malvin, one of the guards, heading towards her. Malvin was an older man, though still quite an accomplished fighter. He was certainly a mage, though Adrianna was under the impression that he did not need his magic as much as some other men did. She also knew that he had a family at some point, though since he never talked about them, she could only imagine that they were lost.

“What is it?” Adrianna asked, moving over towards him.

“Come over here.” He gestured for her to follow, and walked a roundabout way around the nearby buildings before wrapping around to the complex. Adrianna followed quietly for a while before she spoke up, again asking what was going on. He reiterated that she should follow, and then went into the complex, gesturing for her to follow. Inside of one of the offices, he pulled out a flask and took a swig before handing it off to her.

“What’s this about?” She asked as she cradled the flask.

“You looked like you were going to punch that twat…again. So I figured you needed to cool off a little and have a drink.” He leaned against the desk and pointed at the alcohol in her hands.

He was right, though it annoyed her initially that he had read her so well and made her walk nearly a mile out of the way just to give her a drink. She took a swig, though, and after a few more moments decided that he meant no harm by it. He was just trying to keep her from doing something else stupid. “Taliya’s got some kind of hard-on for Lionel, so I don’t recommend you make an enemy of him.” He continued.

Adrianna let out a breath and nodded. “Yea, whatever. Just…tell Taliya I’m not chasing him down or helping him out anymore.” She replied. She went ahead and chugged a bit more of the flask’s contents, feeling the burn as it went down her throat, before handing it back to him and opening the door. “That guy is a prick. And I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him.”

That got a raucous laugh from Malvin, to which he added a simple, “Fair enough” as Adrianna turned and departed from the room.