Travis quietly observed Zuri as she accepted his apology. With all the time he had kept her waiting, he had anticipated her to be dismayed of the freak situation that had erupted through his collaborated spell. In actuality however, she didn't even appeared fazed if not utterly exhausted and promptly accepted his reparation without any hints of anger or sorrow. Eventually, her eyes closed and presumably succumbed to rest before Felix came from behind and pulled Travis to the nearby hallway.

Even after the few minutes that had passed by, it was oddly notable how much distress came through the Magi's voice as he explained to Travis what he had witnessed. Apparently through the ordeal as the Causality Scryer worked the curse over, Felix had caught a glimpse of some sort of seal that drew from Zuri's manawells. The new theory was that the entity that manifested seemed to be Zuri's true state and the curse they previously set out to dispel seemed to possess a function they hadn't anticipated, keeping this hostile force in check. Travis rubbed his eyes with the index finger and thumb of his left hand as he tried to take in this new information, confusing and stressing as it was.

While the guilt of bringing pain unto a friend still nagged at him, the reward however was valuable insight on the problem they current faced. Evidently, this meant that it was back to the drawing board. Almost forgetting about its existence Travis quickly realized that the memory case that contained the Causality Scryer was still in his right hand. However when he looked down upon it, the space the runic spell resided in had darkened with some sort of black swirling mass now occupying it.

Travis raised his hand and opened it, revealing his discovery to Felix, "While the spell had failed to bring us the results we were looking for, I suppose there is at least some silver lining to be had. The Causality Scryer's secondary task is documenting whatever it scans and pulls apart. What we have here, I think, is a small portion of that 'curse' it took."

"Alright. fair enough." Raiya conceded, "How about this then. 12 rounds, using two guns. I'll use this 1911 and my USP and you use whatever revolvers you want. But they cannot be shot at the same time. We must both use our pistols one after the other. Manainventory is okay to use, but no akimbo." Raiya suggested

---

Felix raised his right eyebrow. "This is good. Very good. You analyze the data you've obtained while I brief Zuri on what we've discovered so far. This is a lot to deal with right before starting a mission. However, it's better we figure this out now rather than risk something catastrophic happening in the future."

"I suppose that's acceptable." Nemo said as he holstered his short barreled black revolver and spawned his more standard sized silver colored colt. Nemo reached his hand out and used a basic spell to move one of the targets to the side of another, creating two targets for them at an identical distance away.

"I have to warn you though Raiya, I'm not going to go easy on you." Nemo said, spinning his revolver idly and waiting for the signal to start.

Travis couldn't hide back the quizzical look directed at the Magi, "Having a sample will certainly help uncovering this curse or whatever it really is, however, its not guaranteed to tell us the full story. Honestly it is going to take time to dissect this snippet before coming up with a, practical, solution."

Felix nodded, "I don't expect an instant miracle. Just do what you can before tomorrow's mission. I'll join you in the lab in a bit." Felix patted Travis on the shoulder before walking past him and stopping at the couch where Zuri was laying.

Felix sat down on the wooden coffee table that was in front of the sofa Zuri was on so that he could level with her. "Well, how are you feeling, Zuri?" Travis asked.

---

Raiya took in a breath, "Alright." She materialized a small firecracker that looked like a miniature stick of dynamite, the size of Raiya's pinky, which was fairly small. The wick, however, was large, about 10 inches. "We used these fireworks at festivals in Japan. I still have a few left over from a few years ago. It will serve as our start signal. I will also use my manadial to record this competition so we can analyze the results" Raiya grabbed the inlay crystal of the manadial and tossed it up in the air, instead of falling back down to the earth, it hovered in place about twelve feet above the ground, glowing blue. Raiya placed the firecracker in a small mound of soil so that it was stuck facing wick up. She snapped her fingers on the tip of the wick casting a small spark spell that ignited the wick. The spark trailed slowly along the wick with a hissing sound. Raiya readied herself, pistol in hand. After about 14 seconds the firework made a loud pop signifying the start of the competition. Immediately Raiya aimed at the target, firing as fast and consistently as possible. She counted each round, dropping the gun at the sixth round, immediately absorbing it into her mana inventory, trading it out for her USP. It took her an extra 1.8 seconds to retrieve her USP and aim it accurately. She unloaded six rounds, the pistol slide stuck open signifying it was empty. After all was said and done all her bullets hit the target within 12.4 seconds.

With one his revolvers still in the holster, Nemo kept spinning his main gun until the firework blasted. Nemo abruptly stopped the spin and began to fan fire off all six shots into the target. Once it was empty, Nemo didn't despawn the gun back to his inventory, instead he tossed it high into the air like a juggling pin and drew his other pistol. Nemo proceeded to fan off the second gun's cylinder full of lead into the target as well before catching his first revolver before it hit the ground. The entire ordeal was completely in roughly three seconds. The speed which Nemo fired made the shots almost seem automatic, except for the small break as he drew his next gun.

After Raiya was done, Nemo spun his silver gun back into it's holster and began to reload his main gun. He had no doubt won the competition, but strangely Nemo wasn't filled with the familiar sensation of accomplishment and pride that he usually felt. Nemo looked over to Raiya now, realizing why. He had always been an extremely competitive person, but in this instance he had really hoped she would win. If winning meant that she would have to lose it really left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Well, it was a pretty good try, Raiya, but there's a reason my skills have been so highly valued in my time. I certainly paid for them myself as well." Nemo said. "But at least I know people don't call you Lightning Raiya for your gun-play now." Nemo added, putting a hand over his mouth to hold back a chuckle.

Raiya's jaw dropped open as she witnessed the quick speed and accuracy of the shots fired by Nemo. After a moment of silence she bowed her head and held out her hand, spawning a white headband with an imperial japanese red rising sun in the center. She tied the headband around her forehead and knelt down on the ground, sitting down on her legs. She then held out her hand and spawned a traditional wakazashi short knife and pointed it towards her abdomen. "I should have known this would be the result... Well, Nemo, it has been a fun time. Saiyonara." She said as she began inching the blade closer to her abdomen.

Nemo smacked the blade out of Raiya's hands, emitting nervous laughter as he patted her on the back and removed the headband. "Hey, but on the bright side, I'm sure I can teach you how to carve off some seconds on that trigger finger of yours. Don't be so glum!" He assured.

"However Raiya, a deal is a deal, winning means you'll have to do a favor for me." He noted. "I can think of a couple different ideas, how about I cash that in right now?" Nemo proposed, marking his face with a sly grin.

Raiya picked up the dagger and the headband and stored them back in her inventory. Standing up, she gave an uncaring smile and shrugged. "Remember what I said, though. The favor has to be within reason. If it's too out there I still have the right to refuse." Raiya answered.

"Well, I don't think it to be too complex, but you can say no if you want. I'm sure I could come up with something else later on." Nemo started. "I want to do something I've never really done before. I've always heard it's a pleasant experience, so I've been quite curious." Nemo explained.

Nemo extended his arms out. "My favor is I want a hug." He stated. "And not a cheap one either, at least a good ten seconds so I can really take it in." Nemo added.

Raiya raised her right eyebrow, "I mean, it's not too much to ask. It's a bit weird, though." Raiya replied. She stood up and stretched out her arms indicating the offering of a hug.

Nemo stepped over and embraced Raiya. She was shorter than him, so he had to lean over a little. He gripped her with gentle pressure, and soon all of his muscles seemed to relax. He let out a sigh and rested his head on her shoulder. "You're softer than I expected, Raiya." Nemo noted. "I was scared I wouldn't feel anything, but... I do feel something. I don't really know what, but it feels nice." He spoke softly. "It's even better than I had imagined."

After a short pause Nemo spoke again. "You're a great partner Raiya. Once this mission is over I'll really miss you, but I know that's how things should be." All of the words he spoke seemed to be genuine, despite how strange they were coming from him.

Despite Travis' mere protest, Felix still advised upon him to do what he could before they would eventually partake on their mission. After that, Felix left the hallway and presumably back where Zuri was resting. Travis took the moment to stare back at the memory case, eyeing the ebony mass coursing within it, contemplating what he was going to do.

Eventually reaching the lab again, Travis set the small crystalline cube table and lazily eased back into his chair and beamed at the ceiling. Emotions still churned within him. Guilt. Anger. Confusion. He was so sure and confident that the spell would have worked, perhaps more specifically and bluntly, what he was expecting to work. The reality of the matter was that the spell did its job correctly and was destroying the mysterious curse; the difference however was that the curse apparently served a different purpose and objective. It was the unknown element he had feared of running up against.

Travis clutched his face with his right hand and groaned. At the end of the day, despite the horrible outcome that could have manifested, this event was just another circumstance of trial and error. Now he had solve the new problem that stood before him.

"Fine then," Travis said has he quickly re-oriented himself and took hold of the memory case with both hands. Casting his light projection spell into the small box, a holographic image imitating that dark mass hovered above it. Lastly, he activated the Causality Scryer and adjusted the scheme to dissect the sample in its confines, "lets see what you're really made of."

Raiya had not had very much experience with physical contact. In the past, she'd utilized her feminine wiles to trick enemies into a false sense of security before she assassinated them. But other than that, she'd never so much as hugged anyone besides a family member. The closeness of Nemo's body combined with the warmth exuded from another human in such close proximity left Raiya flustered. She blushed briefly, but it was only long enough for Raiya to recompose herself. After what seemed like an hour, but was in reality only 25 seconds, Raiya herself broke the contact of the hug, slowly tugging herself away from the embrace.

"W-well. You always have a place in the Crux gang if you want some work. We could still be teammates. You'd be a high ranking member right away, too." Raiya wasn't sure why she offered. Mostly, though, she assumed that she offered this position because Nemo was a valuable and strong asset to have around.

Nemo stared at Raiya at first, clearly comprehending what she had said in his mind. He then busted out into a quiet chuckle. "That sounds excellent, Raiya." Nemo replied, however something in his tone made it sound like he didn't believe that would ever come to pass.

Nemo rested his hands behind his back. "So..." He started. "Any ideas on what we should do now?" He asked.

Zuri opens up her eyes when she could feel someone approaching her. She looks at what appears to be Felix. After hearing his question, Zuri takes a few seconds before replying with "Tired.. and weird. It feels.. different. I'm not sure." before taking a deep breath and asked "Did you learn anything about the curse?" she asks Felix.

Felix gave a sorrowful smile. "Well. We didn't learn a whole lot. To be honest, I first I thought the energy your curse gave off was of a demonic origin. However, the more I think about the more that it can't be the case. I've seen demonic energy. I've tussled with demons first hand. And while they have an aspect of darkness to their mana, there is a border of light that surrounds it. Demons are fallen angels, so they still have an angelic aspect to their aura. It's a profoundly sad beauty to behold a demon's aura. However, the aura of your curse is like nothing I have ever seen before. It is violent, beastly, almost instinctual, with no regard for anything but survival. But, to call it a curse might be getting a bit ahead of ourselves. I don't really know how to say this lightly. But I think that your curse energy might be an innate trait within you. When we were trying to cleanse your curse, it began to kill you. Mages have two mana wells, a innate mana well that everyone, even normal people have, and a talent mana well. If someone's innate mana well is drained, they die. It is the very life essence that holds them together. What we learned through clearing away just a bit of the curse was that the energy has completely taken over your innate mana well. Which means, if we cleanse it, you would die. The only thing holding that energy at bay is your talent mana well. It almost looks like a seal was placed to have your talent mana well be the energy source that holds your innate mana well back. I'm not sure what this means. It could mean that you were actually cursed, and the curse fused with your being to the point where it reached your innate mana source. It could also be that your true self, the person that you have always been, is that ravenous, beastly energy we witnessed and the you we are seeing now is nothing but a byproduct of a seal placed upon you. We don't know. But it doesn't matter. I believe you can control your energy and use it for good. We just need more time to study it."

Felix finished the explaination and stood up, patting Zuri on the head before turning away. "Don't worry, we'll figure it out, I promise." After that, he left for the lab.

---

Raiya took a moment to collect herself before coming up with an idea for their next task. "Well, we do have some chores we have to do before we leave for the mission. We have to do maintenance on our weapons and pack everything up that we need. We might as well do that right away. Then we can think of something to cook for dinner." Raiya suggested.

"That doesn't sound particularly exhilarating, but what must be done, must be done." Nemo replied as he followed her. "I suppose dinner will be interesting though."

For a few minutes, Travis peered forward at projection while spell within the crystalline cube did its work, sharply gazing upon it as if expecting some incredible discovery to emerge. A few minutes later, he frowned and eased back into his seat upon coming to the realization that the process was going to take much more time that he was anticipating. Perhaps more specifically, longer that he was really hopping for. The projection emulating the captured dark mass showcased a number of rings, similar in design with the Causality Scryer's manifested architecture, spinning around the supposed subjects at different intervals. For awhile, Travis would have begun to wonder if the display was really doing anything. Quickly, he shunned the thought and maintained his observation.

A blink later and what appeared to be some numerical code faded into far left side of the holographic image. Travis narrowed his attention to the code and instinctively retrieved a small notebook of many other similar codes with his left hand. The Causality Scryer's creators apparently had programed the advanced self-solving spell with an large aggregate of analyzing and qualifying checkers, each meant to identify certain elements of the entity it was picking apart. Travis begrudgingly remembered having to delve in the tedious task that was entering each of the codes and their meanings into the darn booklet. Another code then appeared and he took note of it as well, writing them down in marker on to a portable white board. The Untalent only spared a few seconds looking at each note and contemplating their meaning but ensure the rest of his attention to the dissecting process.

A few codes later, he heard the lab door open and then shut. Considering that Raiya and Nemo were out doing, whatever they were doing, and Zuri clearly exhausted and not in much mood nor energy to move about, he concluded it was Felix returning. He jotted down another line item and phrase and turned slightly to Felix, "What do you make of it so far?" he asked, referring to the writing on the whiteboard.

"A numerical code, huh?" Felix puzzled aa he examined the data recordings, "did you specifically encode a numeric data reading into your scryer? I'm only asking because I want to know if the code is the result of your spell or something more intrinsic in nature to the energy you captured."

---

Raiya and Nemo returned to the manor. Raiya began to pack a few sets of her everyday outfits as well as some sleepwear and extra sets of underwear. After she got everything packed up in duffel bags, she placed them into her manainventory. Then she headed out to the living room. She sat down on the couch and summoned her new 1911. She began to disassemble it for cleaning but she also had a few mandatory enchantment runes she was ready to inscribed inside the parts as well. Her runes would not alter the appearance of the gun in any way, they would only emboldened the durability of the gun to withstand her "special" ammo.