Gamora anticipated that her opponent would strike first, however it seems that they're locked in a standstill. It wasn't surprising to her however, seeing that her opponent didn't look to be the kind that would strike headlong into the fray first. However, the elven warrior couldn't simply be some average swordsman. There was something she's hiding, but the question is what. She must be careful when dealing with her. Either way, there's only one option that the officer is forced to initiate at this point.

"Not gonna move, huh?" she calls out challengingly, "So be it! I've tried to be generous towards you, laddy, but you've left me with no choice!"

Shortly after, Gamora begins running towards the elf at great speed, kicking up dust as she gets rapidly closer towards her opponent. With several meters to spare, the turtle warrior jumps high into the air in a spinning motion. As she reached the peak of her leap, she inserts her arms into her Claw Sleeves and takes out her shell-shield. She was spinning at such a fast pace that only those few with very keen eyes can possibly even hint to see what she's doing. Upon completing her last twirl, Gamora suddenly chucks her shield towards the elven swordsman as it spins rapidly towards her. Whether it hits or misses, the shield would quickly come around to meet with its user once again.

--- Practice Halls ---

Feeling both the nick and the warm numbness spreading through his leg, Kazudain merely looked back as the blade disappeared into shadows once more. Turning back to Thessir, the man's grin looked somewhat feral. Without a prompt Maldur growled low, eyes aglow as a ring of ice appeared on Kazudain's leg, binding tightly to the limb as a tourniquet. Kazudain knew it wouldn't stop the poison's spread but it would slow it down a margin.

"It's rare to see one so young have hold of poisons so potent. A black market purchase no doubt." His grin seemed to get wider as he held the wounded leg up. "It seems we must fight a bit more... unorthodox Maldur." He knew a few blessings that would help but it was a race against the clock as this one needed a little time to build.

Slamming his paw on the ground Maldur made his irritation known by summoning a vast sheet of ice upon the ground, stretching to both sides of the hall. With a roar that shook the hall Maldur was encased in gleaming ice armour. Brushing against his Master, Thessir wouldn't see the spark that passed between the two.

With nary a warning Maldur crossed the distance to Thessir faster than would be anticipated. Attacking from the side Maldur swiped with a large paw, claws outstretched. If Thessir didn't dodge he'd be in for a world of hurt. If he did, he still have little time to react to the mace of ice that encased the end of the tiger's tail. If that one slammed home, Thessir would be knocked flat. And if he dodged that, he'd likely get struck by the beam of lightning coming from the wounded master. All the while ice would sprout where Maldur stepped, growing outward to make uneven ground.

Maldur had a odd love to children, even those Thessir's age no matter the race. But the cat-beast could smell the potency of the poison used and that made all bets off. There were other reasons why this angered Maldur but for now he focused on the young boy before him. Thessir would find that the cat-beast wouldn't give him a moments peace, moving with a swiftness that seemed impossible for it's size.

Kazudain concentrated, in a somewhat meditative state as he breathed slowly. The smile was gone, all his focus was on keeping his heart rate slowed and gathering the power needed. It was somewhat like his debuff blessing but this version was a little more, let's say, self harming in ways. While he would still need a potion brewed to remove the effects of the poison, what Kazudain was about to do would rid him of the poison already in his system.

--- Warehouse ---

Quickly taking out a flask from his pocket, Tibrus thought for a moment on how it came to this before taking drinking it all. Orange sparks soon danced across his form. He looked to Enishi and spoke softly through the charm Faye gave them.

"We'll have to hold that idea for now. You handle the larger one, he's definitely more skilled. We'll join you once we subdue the thug. Miss Faye,-" He cast her a quick glance, still whispering through the charm. "Knock-out and sleeping charms if possible, or if you have a better idea I'll differ. I can hold the thug off for a bit to give you time but this brew won't last very long."

Thessir

So his tigir's a caster too huh? Talk about fair play. Hah!

He watched as the beast cast a spell to try and slow his poison's spread. It was cute to see that his opening move had them so ruffled. They had yet to see the half of what he was bringing to the table.

With the man trading words with his pet it gave him plenty of time to whisper a few words to himself too. These weren't just mere mumblings however. Just as the man started to trade buffs with his tiger Thessir turned his head down, the rim of his hat covering what skin was visible from the front. His flesh softened as his skin quickly darkened. All details vanished as his head turned as black as the night. He no longer held any visible facial features, it was almost as though his face was naught but a blank slate. He could still see, taste and hear but what shapes and contours that had previously defined the presence of such organs were all now identical to the dark mass that his face now consisted of. His hair flickered and flowed about the air like shadowy wisps, the hairs having transformed into tiny tendrils of hybridized darkness.

Taking the time to make a short hop so the ice rolling across the ground did not catch his feet he didn't even bother to look up and see what they were doing. It didn't take a genius to figure the tiger was going to leap on him now and that's exactly what it did. As predictable as it was the outstretched paw whapped against his side. He had changed his entire torso and head into dark mass, leaving his arms and legs as normal. This way all his vital points were now soft and malleable, no longer vulnerable to many forms of damage which he was about to see inflicted upon them.

_
His jacket crumpled around the tiger's foreleg, his gooey self still inside as it wrapped around the limb from the force of it's swipe. His arms and legs were cast off, falling onto the icy ground directly below them where they laid limp. The ends which his body previously covered were capped with a small glob of his dark mass to keep them from bleeding out.

As for the remaining attacks the second one from Maldur's ice tail smashed into his jacket still coiled about the leg. There was a loud crunch as some knives were jostled and a glass bottle was crushed, the faint smell of barbecue sauce wafting up below the tiger's keen nose, however the rest of the force from the blow did little more than squish a bit of his mass as the majority of the impact was instead transferred through to the limb he was wrapped around.

Now as for the last attack he was actually looking out for this one. Instead of avoiding this one he purposefully held out a knife to try and catch the beam of lightning with it. With another tendril he pressed the flat of the blade against the ice bracer on Maldur's foreleg. Now he was no expert in lightning magic but he certainly spent a fair while listening during class unlike certain other students. He knew that once electricity reaches it's target if there were no enchantments designed to enhance or guide it's pathing it would always choose the path of least resistance in it's ever constant yearning to meet the ground. He was not touching the ground but the tiger certainly was. By forming a conduit through the ends of his throwing knives he planned to divert Kazudain's lightning attack into his precious pet.

Now, dark mass was far different from regular flesh and it's properties regarding electricity were quite different as well. A major detail Thessir had not been aware of was that the darkness was not conductive to electricity. On one hand his nervous system didn't operate like how it did with normal flesh meaning he experienced no involuntary seizing as was characteristic of electrocution. On the other hand the amount of resistance his dark mass provided essentially stalled the shock by the time it reached halfway down the tendril holding the receiving blade. The heat generated by said resistance caused the substance to bubble slightly and the cuff of his sleeve was starting to smoke. Were it regular flesh it would have been thoroughly cooked but of course when it came to dark mass heating it up only made it more fluid which really didn't disrupt his form any, at least not at this level of heat.

"Yikes!" He remarked with both fascination and surprise as he retracted his knife-wielding tendrils into his body. Talk about an odd time to make a new discovery about the properties of darkness. That was not to mention the fact that the flash of the lightning stung his tendril like a splash of rubbing alcohol on an open wound.

_
Coming down from his failed idea for retaliation he swiftly concocted a new plan on the spot. Leaping off the tiger's foreleg he dove into it's shadow, catching his arms on the way through though his legs were a little far to easily grab in a single leap so he left those behind. He emerged within the darkness underneath Kazudain's cloak, right between his legs. Extending his ropey tendrils he attempted to wind himself around both legs with the entirety of his body. He figured by fighting this close up on it's master the tiger would be unable to attack him without risking harm upon the other.

With his arms, daggers still clutched in their grip, he stabbed up at him while using his outfit to mask his attack. His aim was to plunge both daggers right up under Kazudain's rib cage where all the soft vital parts rested. He figured if he was about to kill the man then the judge would surely call the fight regardless of whether his tiger was still in fighting condition or not.

The truth was that the poison earlier wasn't truly meant to remove him from the fight...

It was to keep him from escaping.

Waiting for deletion

~~Seleth~~

@PaulHaynek@Polaris North

---

Connecting her strike, Seleth exhaled as Raviel was sent off balance. None of her curses seemed to have gotten through, disappointing but she'd need to follow through. Snapping her fingers, a bright flash of light emanated from the tip of her spear as her 'Misleading Dazzle' spell took effect. Following through, she'd attempt to knock his feet out from under him and pin him to the ground.

Raviel had not known what had happened as his teleport failed and he was sent stumbling to the side. His conjured pole staff disappeared as well, giving the notion that he was, indeed, too disoriented to keep up the magic. But he had recovered and turned to Seleth only to get taken by surprise by the flash of bright light. All he needed to do was get out of there, and he had already gotten a feel of the arena. He quickly jumped backwards and attempted to teleport away.


Faye nodded at Tibrus once he relayed their intentions. She should be able to handle him. If anything, it would be up to her since Tibrus does seem to be a support type but at least he could fight. She rose from her crouching position and then took out her fans, spreading it with one swift motion. This man seemed to be skilled, however, which made her more alert. She can't let him get the upper hand or else it would be over.

So she took the first action and sent three sharp crescent winds that would be able to knock him (or make him stumble) before following it with two spears of condensed air - sending it towards him. Time to test out what that armor can do to protect him.

Thessir's seemingly-clever plan failed thanks to the laws of reality, as he found out. In an attempt to salvage the situation, he made use of the shadows to get close to Kazudain and try to take him out in order for the fight to end before Maldur could do anything.

Meanwhile, Maldur has done little damage to Thessir's dark, amorphous body which has entangled itself to its limbs, locking it in place. After Thessir's plan failed, Maldur was free to move again but its target has reached its master via the darkness cast by their shadows. The beast may be swift but it had limited options against the Rogue Elf with this distance.

Thessir was quick with his knives. Kazudain was technically quicker but he was still in a meditative state and it would take time to get out of it, much less react to the attack. Meanwhile, Maldur's options were limited but there were still options.



Raviel was hit by Seleth's 'Misleading Dazzle'. The spell blurred the Beastkin's sense of direction so when he attempted to back away, he went to a different direction, allowing the Dark Elf to knock him off his feet.

Still, Raviel was able to teleport away. However, he was still under the effects of Misleading Dazzle so instead of teleporting to a safe distance from Seleth, Raviel found himself appearing above the Dark Elf. There was a moment before Raviel landed on Seleth in a rather comic moment of the match. The two fighters could feel the audience's, as well as the referee's, amusement at this development.

The fight was not over, however, and the effects of 'Misleading Dazzle' were wearing off. Raviel and Seleth may be entangled on each other for the moment but this only meant that the quickest in move and wit could seize the advantage.

---

---

Faye sent out her crescent wind attacks but they were blocked by Ragnar's axe. Ragnar then strafed to the side to evade the wind spears hurled at him and charged Faye. Instead of attacking with the axe, however, Ragnar tackled the Fox Beastkin to the ground.

Ragnar then followed it up with an overhead swing, aimed at the grounded Faye. The attack was slow enough for Faye to react to though.

Meanwhile, Tibrus was duelling the thug with the longsword. His decent pose indicated some skill but he was definitely no military material. The thug began the fight with a heavy, horizontal swing at Tibrus. It was a little clumsy but it had power behind it.



Your long journey has taken you to this place. Zauberheim, the capital city of Razelia. The seers of your homeland speak of a great event that shall happen here. They speak with mystery and uncertainty and fear. Fear for the future. One thing was for certain though, it would be something that shall affect the entire world.

You arrived at Zauberheim by evening, the night sky dotted with bright stars with the occasional cloud here and there. The city itself was alight with activity. The tournament you had heard of was certainly being celebrated here. Tournament-related merchandise were sold on almost every stall. Food and drink were aplenty. Inns for visitors were advertised. Truly, the night was not done yet.

Once you were paid and dismissed from the merchant caravan you attached to, you find yourself wandering into the alleyways of the town where you first entered. You were deep into the town when you heard sounds of fighting. You investigate and find yourself near a conspicuous warehouse and beside that warehouse was a small skirmish between four people.

You spot three Humans and one Beastkin. Two of the Humans were fighting each other while one Human had tackled the Beastkin into the ground and was about to swing his large axe at her. What shall you do?

--- Warehouse ---

Tibrus was glad he took the small concoction when he did, else he'd never hope of dodging the blade as he did. While ducking to the ground Tibrus burst forward, shoulder-tackling the thug with surprising force and speed. The orange arcs that jumped about Tibrus' body now latched onto the thug, who would find that his movements slowed. It wasn't a full paralysis but the man would be fighting at a disadvantage now.

Using that speed the Architect pulled back out of the swords reach to see what this thug would do.

--- Practice Halls ---
Kazudain had watched impassively as things progressed. He found the boy's ability quite fascinating, though he did note something particular about the boy's shift.

'Hmm, it doesn't cover everything. So the technique isn't fully mastered perhaps yet? File for later.' Watching still as he gathered the power internally. Maldur for his part was greatly annoyed by his unwelcome passenger. After the failed attempt of using his masters lightning against him, the cat beast made to freeze the runt but said runt dove into his shadow with a surprising swiftness. Turning quickly Maldur caught the boy's scent as it reappeared, right under his master cloak.

It's master was stupid sometimes. Maldur knew if it had the capacity to he would groan at some of the things the man had done during their long history together. Getting caught by this young cub of a boy wasn't stupid; a bit surprising yes but not stupid. The boy was quite crafty, the master was correct in saying they had to fight a bit more unorthodox to win.

Which is what its master did, which is what Maldur believed was stupid. It just miffed the cat-beast that letting yourself get stabbed worked for his master.

As one trains in the use of lightning magics they find that as a side effect their own thoughts and reactions tend become naturally faster as they try to control the chaotic energies. As a master with centuries of experience and training in the element, Kazudain's reaction time gave new meaning to the term swift. Being in a meditative state did slow him in some ways but there were always a means to bring oneself back to the forefront of awareness and respond. Pain being a chief means of such and it wouldn't be the first time the man used it.

As the blades pierced his flesh Kazudain was instantly out of the trance, grinning as his own makeshift trap was sprung. Before the blades could touch his lungs, a truly massive current of lightning burst from the man, stunning those watching by both light and sound. It covered Kazudain and flowed through him, burning the poison from his blood stream with easy direction. At the same time it would flow through the boy's dark imbued limbs that stretched from the shadow of the man's cloak and covered his legs. It would also flow through the blades currently nicking his sides. The heat from the blades would no doubt cauterize the wounds giving Kazudain some time before they needed to be healed.

Unlike the earlier bolt, this constant current was flowing in an amount by several orders of magnitude. If the small bolt only made the dark ooze merely bubble, this constant flow would prove far more devastating.

With the poison now burned away, Kazudain was free to move as he wished. With a crack of thunder the man appeared on the other side of the hall from his starting position. While the ooze that clung to his legs would probably remain, the limbs that stabbed him wouldn't be so lucky.

While it seemed that a few minutes had passed, the entire exchange from the boy's appearance from Kazudain's shadow to that man's movement across the room had taken only 4 seconds.

If he was right and the boy's limbs did stretch out if not disconnect entirely from the sudden movement, Maldur would freeze them solid in blocks of ice after letting out a bellowing roar to unsettle the boy further.

Thessir

How utterly predictable.

Thessir pretty much saw this one coming a mile away. A lightning mage charging him with electricity? No way!?... Yeah, as if that'd catch him off guard.

The electrical current running through his plain arms hurt, true. The smell of cooked flesh wafted through the air, not that he could smell it in this form. He hadn't seen the damage dealt to them yet but he didn't really need to. His arms would be useless for anything requiring any degree of precision from then on out.

Luckily for Thessir when electricity runs through flesh it causes all the muscles to seize up, effectively immobilizing all effected parts. Since his hands were gripped onto his daggers the muscles in his fingers contracted creating an even tighter grip on his weapons. As for his dark mass he was barely effected by Kazudain's self-centered surge. Sure, as a potent resistor the electricity that failed to travel through his flesh created a fair degree of heat but unlike the last bolt his body had a far greater amount of surface area to displace the heat across. By the end of it his general dark mass was about the temperature of beach sand on a hot summer's day. Even then Thessir himself felt no discomfort as the darkness that was infused with his flesh decreased the potency of his flesh's physical properties by the amount of flesh the darkness was effectively replacing. As such not only was his flesh less conductive but he felt less pain too. He also felt less of his other sensations like the feeling of touch or the fact he couldn't smell almost anything while his head was infused. He's well aware of these limitations as he's been balancing the amount of darkness he's replaced his body with to find that sweet spot between malleable darkness and living flesh to reap the benefits of both. Alas, he's had to settle with this for his latest incarnation of this particular spell.

The light he had generated had bothered what little of his dark mass it reached to a mild extent. Lightning magic was no sunlight but the light it cast still burned like any light did. It was a bright but brief flash and only a small portion of it was present beneath his cloak. Even still Thessir was wearing his coat which blocked what little light flashed from below for most of his body. Despite how little or how brief it might of been the light that touched him still did more damage than the actual electricity had, at least to the dark mass. The temperature Kazudain would need to heat his shadow infused flesh to in order to disrupt the physical state would need to be so hot it'd likely inflict third degree burns across every inch of Kazudain's the fluid mass was touching regardless of what clothing stood between him and it. As it was he was nowhere near that temperature.

_
What he did next surprised him, not because he was performing a burst step despite the poison that was supposedly in his system but because of the fact that he decided to try and move despite the fact he was holding onto his legs. As Kazudain rushed across the stage for whatever purpose he couldn't fathom Thessir contracted the tendrils of his body that were wrapped around his legs, attempting to cinch them together so he could trip him mid dash.

As for his arms they did not fall off for a number of factors. Firstly their grip was still fixed to the daggers which unless he was mistaken were still stuck into the man's torso. Secondly the arms were below his cloak. He could escape his arms no better than he could escape his own cloth. Thirdly just because he electrified his arms did not mean the darkness which held them had at any point let them go. At this point even if the arms were paralyzed he could make almost as much use of them as he did before since they clung to the daggers not out of a desire to but rather because they simply could not. The electricity had burned the nerves in his arms to the point he could barely tell if he was holding the blades or not. Given how the muscles were forced to contract he simply hadn't reversed the effect the electricity had on them yet since he couldn't, at least not yet.

While trying to trip him he pulled on the arms with the daggers that were still stuck into Kazudain's body with a crisscross rend. His goal with this motion was to carve his foe's flesh open in a curved X pattern so that he might watch the lightning magus's guts spill from his torn stomach. He had smaller tendrils that were set aside pull spare knives so that he could capitalize on the opening of the wound he intended to create.

While Kazudain had done little more than cook the flesh in his arms Thessir was largely unbothered by this current bout's results thus far. Having experienced the sensations of having his own flesh, blood and bone burned away by the sun's light the pain his arms experienced ranked quite well below such a feeling. If the man wanted to continue electrocuting himself to try and hurt him in vain he was welcome to.

On the other hand despite these events transpiring within the meager frame of four seconds total he had already spent far longer than he cared to spend this close to the man's genitalia. The sooner he could end this battle the better.

The city bustled with a kind of noise she never encountered back home. It was lively, but also sometimes aggressive or discordant. It was the same way at the port city. She found herself wandering alleyways just to escape the noise. She'd also have to find an embassy or something. She had some money from the job that brought her here, and from her landing in the port city, but she really didn't have a good grasp of how long that would last her.

Before she could get herself back out to the street, Lumina caught a familiar commotion in her ear. And this time, the clash of metal addressed her ears with it. After following the sound, she peeked out to assess the situation, and managed to catch things at, seemingly, just the right moment. If that attack connected, it wouldn't be pretty. A cute back alley brawl could turn into a murder, that way. How reckless…

She focused her power. The other two were dueling with swords, which was less than ideal, but she didnt have time to worry about that. She focused on her legs, to enhance her speed, and her right arm, to stop that axe. And away she went, sprinting over to the thug with an axe. Her hand would reach for the axe, under the blade, and she would pull it back. “Hey, now, that's hardly necessary, is it? I don't know what this scuffle’s about, but couldn't you settle it with your fists, instead?”

~~Seleth~~

@PaulHaynek@Polaris North

---

Well that could have gone slightly better.

Her spell was a success, but the effect it had was less than desirable. Instead of causing him to stumble around hopelessly, he attempted teleporting. A good move, on his part...unfortunately, where he ended up was not something Seleth had been expected. Raviel landed on top of her, having teleported a few feet above her. The larger male hit her with enough force to knock her off her feet, sending both her spear and her to the ground.

"Ack! Get off of me you oaf!" Seleth shouted, trying her best to wrestle Raviel off of her. Unfortunately, this was not a match of pure strength she would be able to win if she didn't do something fast, but she couldn't use any of her spells in close range like this. Damn it, was she about to lose in such an undignified manner!? Seleth attempted to break free using agility and her hopefully superior movement. The moment she was free, she'd use 'Shadow Weight' to hopefully keep Raviel on the ground.

If you had asked Raviel what had happened in these few minutes, he wouldn't have been able to tell you with a straight face - or a straight answer.

What was originally his attempt to get away ended up with him on top of Seleth. And he wasn't even planning on doing that. It was like the next thing he knew, he was falling - body first - onto the ground and hit some soft and lumpy object - and not the ground he was expecting. It took him a moment to get out of the effects of Seleth's magic so he was entirely unsure what had hapepend until she spoke up.

"Hey, at least this time, it isn't entirely my fault." Raviel said. He could feel Seleth trying to push him away but was falling short on they physical capability of being able to push him off completely due to his size. Raviel got off of her quickly enough - being the one on top - and then spun around to summon back his bo staff to continue the fight. He wasn't going to be dishonorable enough to strike a person while they're down.

One of his shortcomings, of course.


"Impressive." Faye couldn't help but say as she watched her opponent dodge her attacks. Well, at least she knew her opponent's capabilities - but unfortunately, she still didn't know how much the armor can protect against magic. But whatever, she needed to focus on this fight. Really. She'd get her ass handed to her if she continued to-

"Hey!" She yelped when Ragnar tackled her to the ground - effectively pinning her under him. She smirked when he raised his arms, freeing her arms as well. Faye pointed her fan at him - the end glowing bright green - tumultuous winds waiting to be released. She was about to blast him into the air when she heard footsteps.

And it wasn't Enishi's or Tibrus's.

A hand stopped the axe from coming down. "I suggest you let go!" Faye quickly shouted as the magic released itself - sending a gale of wind upwards - hopefully connecting with Ragnar's chest with the close proximity. She had only hoped that her fellow beastkin would be able to let go quickly. But if she were to be blasted upwards as well, it would be a simple task to bring her back down without harming her.

*WHIRRRRRRRR*

The sound of a loud whistle rang through the hall, catching both of Thessir and Kazudain's attention before they could do anything else. "A fatal wound has been inflicted! The match is over!" The referee declared.

The referee and some staff arrived to check on Kazudain and the stab wounds he received from Thessir. "Kazudain has been inflicted a fatal wound! Thessir is the winner!" The referee announced after being informed by one of the medics. The audience gave the Rogue Elf a round of applause before beginning to exit the hall.

"Sir, are you alright?" The referee approached Kazudain as his stab wounds were being patched up by the medics. "Your lightning tricks may have done some of the fixing but I strongly advise you to get that looked at." He said about the wounds on Kazudain. "It doesn't look that bad but still. I'd say you need to take a break for a day or two. It's not like you're fighting tomorrow anyway."

Meanwhile, Thessir was free to head off to his own business or stay and have a chat with his lightning-wielding opponent.



Raviel got off of Seleth in order for the fight to resume fairly. However, Seleth was one step ahead, casting her spell 'Shadow Weight' while Raviel conjured his bo staff again.

The dark orbs of 'Shadow Weight' clung and stuck to Raviel's right arm and left leg. The orbs were as heavy as several concrete blocks and effectively pulled Raviel to the ground if he did not actively fight it with all of his strength. With him almost immobilized, Seleth was free to grab her spear and resume the fight, or rather, finish it.

Seleth had the upper hand and, with a few well-placed moves, the victory for this match. Meanwhile, Raviel was restrained and had limited options to get out of this situation, much less even the playing field. However, he can still teleport.





You decisively won your fight against the Elf named Nilfrenda. After being congratulated for your victory by your fans in the audience, you were told that your next match will occur tomorrow and you were free to take a break for the rest of the day. You were also told that since you were advancing to the semifinals, you were going to be fighting in an arena for the next match.

Whether you decided to take a look at the tournament festivities at the Town Square or head home to rest after fighting such an opponent, you went to Seraph Academy's west gate to exit the school. On your way there, you encountered a scene you are all too familiar with being a security officer for Seraph Academy.

Some four female students surrounded a girl backed to a wall. The girl had long, black hair with light skin free from blemishes and the like. Her red dress was simple but it complemented her body shape well. She was, to put it bluntly, beautiful. She was still the target of insults and mockery despite her prettiness. Or perhaps because of it.

You hear slurs, derogatory terms, insults. The bullies had quite the vocabulary with them, unleashing their poisoned and prickly words upon the red-dressed girl who stood there and just took it with an expressionless face. You knew this girl. You and your fellow officers have protected her from bullying several times now. However, not all times were successful.

Nur was her name and it appears you have to save her again.

---

---

Ragnar was surprised that a Beastkin, who came out of nowhere, managed to halt his mighty vertical swing. But only briefly, the warrior released his hold on his and, with a curled fist, punched Lumina away. However, this only cleared the way for Faye to release her wind magic upon Ragnar, sending him to the sky. "AAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

Meanwhile, the thug fighting Tibrus was slowed by the orange energies from the latter. He assumed a defensive stance, knowing that he was at a disadvantage. His eyes were focused on Tibrus, waiting for him to make a--

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Ragnar's screaming took everyone's attention as he landed back on the warehouse and punched a hole through its roof. He landed on a couple of boxes inside the warehouse, surprising the building's shady workers.

"What the s***?! Ragnar?!" Keith was the first to ask.

"Keith, we've been discovered!" Ragnar weakly answered.

"Damn it, we need to get out of here!" Keith then issued orders to those inside the warehouse. "Code Orange! Burn everything! Don't let yourselves get caught!"

Moments later, fires were started throughout the warehouse, threatening to burn everything within down. The workers began evacuating while those left threw torches and oil at the wares. Keith helped with the burning and the razing while Ragnar was helped up and escorted out of the warehouse.

The investigators saw all this from the windows. Tibrus' opponent had fled during the commotion. The investigators still had no concrete evidence of any criminal activity. They could get inside and try to salvage something but that would expose them to the dangers of the flame.

Lisia stared down her opponent, who appeared to be a wolf beastkin. His garb looked vaguely familiar, tribal in appearance. "Sir Vuldur, it's a pleasure to meet you. While at the academy, I've heard of a tribe of beastkin shamans who hail from the mountains to the far north. I'm interesting in what magics you have in store. As the princess of this realm, you have my word that I will give my all to win!"

Lisia made a respectful bow before assuming her fighting stance. Still cautious from her previous fight, she would hope that Vuldur would make the first move - giving her a chance to analyze his abilities and make an effective countermeasure.

---

Hisana payed little attention to the large bag of currency Keith pointed out to her. She then began to listen to his spiel about drugs.

"Truthfully, I don't care for drugs in any manner. Narcotics, enhancements, hallucinogens, and other things of the like do not interest me." Said Hisana plainly.

"But don't let that bother you, Love❤️ I'll do whatever job you all assign to me. So long as I find it...stimulating⭐"

---

Enishi began to survey the warehouse from above, until he witnessed Tibrus and Faye being attacked by a couple of guards. "Damn..." is all Enishi uttered, frustrated that their plans didn't quite work out as planned. No matter, Enishi placed his right hand on his sword's hilt as he prepared to support his allies. He saw that one of the attackers had Faye pinned down, though he could sense she was preparing wind magic. He thought to shoot the axe out of the guard's hand with a shot of ice then support the architect.

However, another unexpected turn of events occurred at the same time. Another beastkin appeared to stop the axe mid-swing with one hand. Impressive, and fortunate. It was short-lived when the attacker punched her away, only for him to be blasted by Faye's wind magic. That is what is referred to as karma, my friend, Enishi quietly thought to himself.

The sellsword quickly made his way to the stranger beastkin. "Are you alright? You shouldn't be here, it's dangerous!"

Enishi's attention was quickly diverted by the sound of crackling fire. Apparently instead of continuing the fight, the attackers decided to cut their losses and burn the entire warehouse. He expected as much, he's dealt with their kind before.

"Please excuse me, little miss, another pressing matter requires my attention." He said as he walked closer to the burning building.

"Tibrus-san, Faye-san, I'm sure we're in agreement that leaving here empty-handed wouldn't be within our best interests. I'll try to cool the flames down so we can salvage as much as possible. Hopefully something will be left!"

At that point, Enishi extended his arms and placed both hands in front of him. He then began to channel a large amount of mana into his palms, as he was preparing to let loose a stream of icy energy upon the flames. His hope was to quell the flames enough to allow his comrades to get inside and find anything of value before nothing was left at all.

"Fubuki!!" Enishi proclaimed as he began to fire his ice spell. As he did, a thought popped in his head. "Faye-san, perhaps if we combine our magics, it would quell the flames even more. Care to assist me?"

"Huh?" Lumina glanced to the beastkin woman who had been pinned. Magic attack. Distance from- assailant!

"Oof!" Negotiations were met with force. Luckily, she'd been able to meet the man's punch with clenched guts! and managed to keep her footing. Still hurt, though. Her eyes followed the man up into the sky, before her attention turned to the other fight, even as she walked toward the other beastkin to offer her a hand up. A duel of swords wasn't really something she wanted to jump into, even though she had a sword and shield (just a buckler), and it looked like it would end fine. The one with the upper hand didn't seem interested in bloodshed.

Though it didnt have a chance to end, the axe man from earlier crashed back down through the roof of the building they were in front of. And distracted everyone, herself included. A new participant asked of her health, she responded, "hey, friend, thanks, I'm alright. What's all the commotion, gov?"

She decided there must have been more to this than a simple back alley brawl when the building caught fire. Oh well, in for a penny, as they say. They were trying to extinguish or manage the flames, and he said something about salvaging what was inside. The building had been occupied, she could see people leaving through emergence exits. And they were... setting fire to it from within!? Ooh, this reeked of bad business. "Let me guess. You want to nab them for whatever it is they're burning in there?" She started stretching. Run into a burning building and secure something? Sounded simple enough, if dangerous. She'd have to be quick. And creative. "And it goes deeper, doesn't it?" Organized crime was a pain like that.

@AzureKnight@PaulHaynek@Polaris North@Frozen0Titan

~~Seleth~~

@PaulHaynek@Polaris North

---

The moment Raviel removed himself from atop her, she already moved. Making a simple movement, shadowy orbs of darkness formed on Raviel, holding him in place. As strong as he was, he was no match for the magic! Hopefully. At least. Honestly, she felt a little bad. He could have just ended it there by keeping her pinned, but she wasn't about to let victory out of her grasp even if her opponent was going easy on her. She had to prove that she wasn't just all talk. If not to others, just for herself. She couldn't let herself go home empty handed.

"Tch, going easy on me." She grunted, picking up her spear from the ground. "Fine, I'll take the win then." Seleth formed several javelins around her. Breathing deeply and focusing, she ran towards her opponent, the black javelins following suit behind her. She'd need to watch for his teleportation. The weights prevented physical movement, but not magical ones, but hopefully she could strike faster than he could move.

She lunged forward with her spear, aiming it right into Raviel's chest. The shadow Javelins followed behind her, aiming to impale him from various directions.

Raviel had just gotten out of the lock when he felt something pulling him down. He looked down to himself to see these shadowy orbs which were locking him in place, and no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't move from his kneeling position. Perhaps he had mistaken this tournament for something far more noble. It was his honest mistake, and he will admit that he did not expect Seleth to just keep him pinned down after he had tried to just continue it fairly.

The beastkin tried to struggle once more to get out, but obviously the magic was too strong for him to move physically. He saw Seleth make her move - grabbing her lance and then making several other lances. Raviel narrowed his eyes at her before forcing his body to teleport out of the way. Even if it was just a little bit out of the way. He didn't know how taxing magically it would be since he was teleporting both himself and getting out - or taking with him - the shadowy balls of magic that kept him pinned down.


Faye gratefully took the other beastkin's hand and was pulled up. She let out a huff and dusted herself off. "I apologize for nearly blasting you off with that guy." She said, pointing her closed fan to the still rising mercenary. She may have put a bit more magic than she should have into that. Whoops. Well, everyone makes mistakes, even for someone as old experienced as herself. She hadn't spent nearly her entire life training only to be accused that she shouldn't be considered a master of the magic of wind.

Enishi had approached to question the stranger's intentions which was quickly met with a dismissive answer and an inquistive question. The investigation, as far as she was concerned, was a secret and Faye didn't have any intention of just telling anyone of their mission unless Athos specifically allowed them. However, it would not hurt to employ just a little bit of her skills for a short period of time. After all, Tibrus was engaged in his own fight. "Ah well, you see, inside the warehouse is-"

She was rudely cut off by the screaming opponent. She had realized much too late that the trajectory she had launched him was not straight - and he was now falling onto the warehouse. Faye had made a desperate attempt for him not to land on it by releasing a gust of wind, but it had missed and the mercenary crashed through the roof and to the ones inside. A growl emerged from her lips, though so low that the humans of the group couldn't hear her frustrations. She was unsure with her fellow beastkin, however. Minutes later, the warehouse was up in flames and Tibrus' opponent had fled and they still had no evidence.

Enishi was the first to react and began weaving an ice spell to quell the flames, but it was not enough. A smirk pulled up to Faye's lips when Enishi suggested they combine their magic. "Exactly what I was thinking." She planted herself near him and opened her fans. She began moving - raising her hands up quickly before making intricate and precise movements before pointing both fans towards the warehouse. Wind magic began to intermingle with the ice energy. Her wind had already been cooled to the best of Faye's ability and now it should be able to help stop the flames long enough for someone to get inside.

"Indeed." She had replied to the stranger through a strained voice as she continued to keep the stream of wind going. "Just a crate or two will work. Anything... you can get in there." Faye would have been more than happy to run into a burning building, but if she was going to continue the chilly wind she was producing, she had to keep still until it was finished.

"A crate or two? I think I should be able to have that well in hand. Maybe depends on what's in 'em, though." Finished with her stretches Lumina took a deep breath, straightening her posture and quieting her mind. With her breathing, she lowered her stance from standing straight to a martial stance. She was focusing on wrapping her aura up with the air around her, and then making her aura, and the air with it, spin around her body. "If there's anyone sticking around, still, I'll be sure to grab them, too."

It was for their own good at this point, even. They'd be in danger! However, with this bubble of air whipping around her, she should be fine for a little bit. Normally, running fast enough would give you a bubble of wind behind you, but she'd need to hold on to a bigger one for this, without proper equipment. She would have to remember, as well, it wouldn't last a long time.

Step one, protect self, complete. "Ready?" Step two, dynamic entry! "Go!" She charged her legs and broke for the door, leaping up and coming in with a powerful double kick, her aim was to flatten the doors to the ground and use them to generate a gust of wind and kick up dust, to smother the flames. And then she'd have to keep her momentum, to keep her bubble without focusing on it. Some kind if crate, right? Maybe even two, and whoever might have been dumb enough to still stick around.

Seleth made her attack but Raviel summoned all his strength to teleport out of the way. And teleport he did, leaving all of Seleth's Dark Javelins narrowly missing their target. However, using the teleport spell with the orbs still stuck to him consumed all of Raviel's remaining energy. His body gave way and collapsed to the floor unconscious.

The referee entered the field to check up on Raviel. "Raviel has been knocked unconscious! Seleth wins!" The referee announced. A round of applause filled the entire hall. It appeared that the audience, small they may be, truly enjoyed the fight. They began to vacate the hall while the referee and some medical staff continued to check on Raviel.

It took several moments for Raviel to regain consciousness. "Are you okay? You're not that hurt, I'll admit, but you sure drained your energy." The referee told you. "You fought well and hard. You lost, true, but you still deserve a hard-earned rest. Besides, there's always next year. Though, I think you already have that in mind."

Meanwhile, Seleth was free to head off to her own business or stay and have a short chat with the teleporting Beastkin.





You decisively won your battle against the Beastkin and would then be moving on to the next round tomorrow, with the rest of the day being allotted for rest. The audience congratulated you, even if they said that victory was all but assured. Your brother was one of them but had to leave immediately since he would be late for his private classes and he feared the scolding of the teacher.

Exiting the Practice Hall and into the Academy's courtyard, you coincidentally see Varjan sitting on one of the benches with his head down and being comforted by a maid girl with green hair but an otherwise average appearance. Leaning on the bench was a slick katana and since you knew Varjan was not one for weapons, you inferred that it belonged to the maid.

"Please don't grieve, Lord Varjan. The tournament is coming to a close." The maid said. "Whatever you shall do, I shall follow you. Whatever your plan is, I shall be there beside you."

"Whatever I do, Anesh?" Varjan asked.

"Yes, Lord Varjan. Whatever you do." The maid devotedly assured. "If you wish to run away, I shall fetch you the finest horse. If you wish to take revenge against your family, I shall bring them unimaginable pain. If you wish to bring down Razelia, I shall turn it inside out." Big words certainly came out of Anesh's mouth though whether these hyperbole or not was a legitimate question.

It seemed they have not noticed you yet. You could crash this session or stay quiet for the moment and gleam some more insight.

"Truthfully, I don't care for drugs in any manner. Narcotics, enhancements, hallucinogens, and other things of the like do not interest me."

"Really? I pegged you as the type to inject five drugs into the arm for the excitement and rush." Keith remarked. "Well if you crave stimulation and action, I assure you you're gonna find them. You just need to stay in this city in the near future." He added. "Just... don't say I didn't warn you, okay?"

------

Keith led you through the maze of alleys and alleyways that was inside Zauberheim's city square. It almost felt like the mercenary was leading you in circles until you and him arrived at an inconspicuous wooden door at the side of a wall. "Well, here we are. Welcome aboard, Hisana. I guess." Keith opened the door and beckoned you to go inside.

Inside was a small, barely-lit room with a small circular table at the center with several chairs around it. Sitting on of them was a girl of long, blonde hair, a charming black-and-white clothing and eerie red eyes. She lazily spun a knife on the table but said nothing about you and Keith.

"Hey Belle, this is Hisana. The girl I've told you about." Keith began. "She's as good as I said. Mopped the floor on that Wood Elf. Pretty neat tricks up her sleeve and all that."

The girl named Belle chuckled as she stopped spinning the knife. "You're lucky, you know that?" Belle told you. "Normally I'd screen you and everything but considering that we've had... a setback last night, I'm in need of more men than usual. Capable men." She explained. "I picked Keith here up from jail since he's competent despite his looks. I've had little luck everywhere else. Until Keith here told me about you."

"But enough about that, let's start with some formal introductions." Belle cleared her throat. "I am Annabelle Orlov. A simple girl who is just looking to make money. I have other interests as well but something like the most famous tournament in Razelia is an opportunity that I can't pass up."

"Now then, your turn." Belle asked of you. "Oh and, are you aware of what operation we have here?"

---

---

Enishi and Faye's combined magics begun to put out the roaring inferno threatening to burn down the target warehouse. Suddenly, the flames were replaced with explosions that continued the burning. It seemed that someone inside had opted to blow up the merchandise instead of burning them.

One of the explosions brought down some the structure and debris fell on Tibrus. He was still alive but stuck under heavy rubble. Enishi and Faye could help, even just one of them, but could only one of them keep the fire in check now that it's returning back to its full strength?

The fallen wall revealed that it was Keith who were launching explosive fireballs at the boxes.



The wind from your entrance managed to kill some of the flames burning the warehouse. The place was practically a gold mine of crates and boxes. You select one of the smaller packages and you saw that within were glass tubes of unknown liquids and granules. Were these drugs? Was there actually a drug ring--

*SMACK* *CRASH*

The crate was kicked out of your hands and crashed on the floor, spilling its contents and rendering them useless. The culprit was a man in dark-colored armor armed with an iron magical staff. You heard from earlier conversations that this man was Keith. "I'm sorry, Beastie. But I can't let you do that." He said before he sent you away with a spinning kick. "You know, you're lucky I can't kill you!"

With distance created between the two of you, Keith launched fireballs at the wares of the warehouse. However, the flames were dying down thanks to your allies outside. "What the?! Damn it!" Keith launched bigger fireballs from his staff. No longer burning the boxes but exploding them. "Don't have to burn them entirely, just gotta turn them into ash or something more useless." He told himself, accidentally revealing his plan to you.

You have to stop him before he does what he said and leave only ash even if the fire was put out. Also, it appeared he was the only one left in the warehouse besides you.

@PaulHaynek

In high spirits after winning her second match, Lisia thanked her opponent for the match and hoped that one day she could learn more about his interesting magics. She also bid her little brother farewell as he made his way to his next class.

Leaving the tournament halls, the princess happened upon Varjan, the one competitor she felt may snatch the championship right from under her. He seemed to be very distraught over some matter; she saw that he was being comforted by his apparent servant. At first, Lisia felt that it was a private matter that was between master and servant. However, as the princess of the realm, she felt it her duty to see to the struggles of her peers.

She also guessed this would be a good to sit a talk with the boy, she thought it would be beneficial to at least learn more about the boy.

"Excuse me, Varjan, is everything alright?" Said the princess as she made her way over to the other two. She then to the maid who was with him. "Please excuse my intrusion, I simply saw a fellow student that was bewildered about something and I wish to help lighten his shoulders." She said with a respectful bow.

"Would either of you mind if I sat with you for a brief moment?"

---

@PaulHaynek

"I don't require such tripe in order to get off, the heat of the fight is all I need⭐

Seeing the woman that Keith brought her too, Hisana took a moment to size her up. She noticed the knife she was spinning; she wondered how many people she's cut or stabbed with it. She noticed her eyes as well, crimson red and filled with mystery, and a hint of malice. She quite liked them actually, they reminded Hisana of her own.

After her introduction, Annabelle asked Hisana to follow suit. Sure, why not?

"A formal introduction? I was under the impression you already new who I was." Said Hisana as she chuckled. "Since you already know my name, I'll just say this - I'm a wandering fighter who simply wants to follow my heart❤️ Though, according to Keith I'm sure you already know what that entails~" Hisana played with her hair a bit while continuing on.

"I am here because I thought the tournament would make for an interesting experience, but at the end of it I craved something less...rule-oriented. As for your setback, I'd like to think of myself as capable, but I'm afraid I'm not much of a man. I do hope that doesn't damper things for you💧 Regarding your operation, while Keith neglected to tell me any of the specifics, I'm going to assume that it has to do with drugs? I don't particularly care what the job entails, I do have one question. Are we allowed to kill? Hisana looked Annabelle dead in the eyes as she utter her final question.

"Also, if you don't mind me saying, your eyes are quite pretty~❤️

---

@PaulHaynek @Frozen0Titan @Polaris North @CitrusArms

Relieved that he plan seemed to be working, he was surprised to see that the sudden explosions caused by that armored thug were counteracting his magic. It seems like they really don't want anyone to know what substances and items where being used here tonight.

To counter the explosions, Enishi decided to expend further mana and strengthen his ice spell, hoping to quick freeze even a small portion of the combustion. He then noticed Tibrus got stuck under some falling debris, along with the other beastkin kicking her way inside the burning building. He was at a crossroads - Tibrus needed to be saved, and the beastkin was probably going to need backup. But someone needs to tend to the flames. Thinking quick, Enishi made another suggestion.

"Faye-san, I believe that your wind magic would be better suited for freeing Tibrus than mine. Then you two can go support our new friend. Don't worry about me, I'll hold the the fire here as best I can!" The bounty hunter then began motioning toward a small pouch on his waist. "I have some talismans in my pouch that can counter weaker magic. They may not be of much help, but we need any edge we can muster!"