Aaban walked forth and passed beside Dragneel. "I shall unite the people of this town and conjure a consensus. For we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another."

His eyes wandered through the windows of surrounding homes, capturing sight of marveled pupils staring back. "Do not fear free spirits, for I have brought the teachings of our Father. I am the vessel of his lordship, so let me help you reach heaven through relinquished sin. As this book states...." Aaban then removed his book from within his coat. He weaved it from window to window, allowing all to see the cross tainted by red blood. "....For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. So come out of your iniquitous shelters and breach through the winds of fate. Let the sun above us shine on your flesh as if God himself baptized your body through luminescence."

Suddenly, one after another, townsfolk exited their homes and began listening to Aaban's speech, to the literature read from the Bible's script. Again, Aaban shone and deliberately stood out from the crowd abroad. He blinked slowly, eyeing every single person in the crowd. All their fearing eyes returned the powerful gaze. The people have been enslaved by darkness for what seemed eternity.

"You've all suffered penance due to lack of strength and courage, but tis not your doing. But dread no longer, for I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen" he finished as the crowd started to cheer. The sound of their applause was as loud as the Temple Musician's harps. They roared throughout the barrier of defense, echoing through the nation. This was not just a cry of hope, but one of freedom.

Aaban once again provided the audience with a faint smile and started walking through them towards the stool he sat on awhile back. The crowd tapped his shoulder and provided him with appreciation for his readings. "As I stated, I am a mere vessel of HIS teachings. Thank our Lord for what has just occurred, allow him to hear your gratitude, for it is most desired." After sitting, he continued to read the lectures of fate. That small event gave aspiration to the townspeople. It takes small changes for every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Yes! I'm being useful for once! Aria thought to herself, giving Winny a thumbs up and a joyful smile as the battle ended. She tried to never smile with her mouth open, as a lot of people mistook her dragons fangs for a Vampire's, it just generally made her feel bad. Not that Winny would make fun of it or anything. She was like an awesome big sister, like Iggy was her hotheaded but loveable big brother.

With the dark mages defeated and thrown out of town, Aria decided to go and help any civilians that got hit by stray blasts of magic. Not hit by their friends of course - they wouldn't dare risk innocents. They were all injuries caused by darkness magic. Elemental, not all that bad unless the user was very skilled. If these were hardcore Darkness users, they could have done far worse than simply injure or kill their victims... But thankfully, Aria only had to heal a few scorches and cuts here and there.

"Alright people, we have a healing mage! Line up in an orderly fashion, worst injuries and children first, scrapes last!" A village official called out. It was such a rare magic, but it was costly to the user. But that didn't matter! Aria wasn't made to fight, she thought. She was made for helping others, and she loved doing it despite being crowded and involuntarily made to do this. The only negative point is that after healing too many people she would need a long rest, or at least some time to meditate and focus on restoring her power.

"Uhm.. Excuse me..?" A quiet voice spoke up from behind Aria. It sounded like a child, but when she turned around to look there was a cat staring up at her. An Exceed, but standing on four legs instead of two. He was black-furred, but had a white patch around his right eye, a white tail tip and white socks.

"Are you hurt? Can I help?" Aria asked it, the cat shaking it's head with a sad expression. "Oh.. What do you need then?"

"I lost my former owner when the dark mages came, so ...I'm a stray now.. I saw you fighting and helping the townspeople with magic..." He hesitated, "...I want to help you!" The black & white Exceed claimed. "I can fly really fast and carry a few times my own weight! Can I join you guys? I need to fight somehow!"

Aria looked puzzled at the little cat for a moment, but then nodded with an approving smile. "I don't fight much, so I could use a hand. You're welcome to help out, I'm sure we have a long, winding road ahead of us." She told him while scratching under the Exceed's neck as a barrier of runes encased the village.

"Thanks... It means a lot to me to fight the evils in the world. My name is Skyler, it's nice to meet you Miss Dragon Slayer!" Skyler said with a big catlike smile as the crowd cheered on Aaban.

"Aria Marvell. A pleasure to meet you too..." Aria said, shaking her new partner's paw before more of the injured approached needing attention. "Now let's get back to work!" She told Skyler, who winked and flew off to get some minor medical supplies from a store in the village. "Aye~!"

(I noticed I forgot to give the Dragon Slayer an Exceed! So I gaves her one from another RP. Demon knows him x3)

Sayuri drags over several mages that she knocked and tossed them in a pile in front of Iggy, "So how are we gonna get all of them out of town? I'll gather them up and start tossing them out but I'd like some help cause there are still a LOT of them still lying around..." As she finishes the statement she grabs some more nearby mages and adds them to the pile.

"Carry them out of course." Iggy said simply as he began to hoist a bunch of the unconscious mages onto his back. "And then after a brief rest we're going to teach the villagers how to fight. If and when the army sends more grunts they'll be able to defend themselves if the barriers is despelled." He said calmly. Yes. That was Iggy's plan. They would free a village, set up a barrier, teach the villagers to use either castor or holder magic and then move on to the next one. "Keep the magical items. A bunch of these mages only used holder magic. The villagers can use them." With this plan the young team could raise an army. And as there numbers grew so woul the experiences of those they had taught starting with this village. It was the beginning of a great plan. It wouldn't work for more than maybe 4 or 5 villages, but a new plan would be formulated when the time came.

When Fox finished her intertwined wall foundation her back was killing her. she had to write the runes in the ground slowly as to not make mistakes. On top of that she was also making sure the intertwining was almost enough to give her a head ache. almost. For now it was her back. after a few minutes of back stretching and popping she walked back to find Iggy. Activating the jutsu shiki would probably drain her but it would be self sustaining so she would get in a good nap. But for now she just needed Iggy to set the rules of the walls

Iggy chuckled a bit as he toss out what was left of the dark mages. "Alright Fox. make the rules so only the villagers and us can enter and exit the barrier at will. We'll most likely only be able to have our group enter and leave if you set it for our names. So that'll have to be done. Sorry. I know you must be tired and in a bit of pain." He apologized before turning to the shadow god slayer of the group. "Now Hunter I was thinking about sending you to head back to one of the towns we'd already visited to make sure they're okay. The people should be progressing nicely in their magic and you're the best one to travel quickly and stealthily and what not." He said smiling. before glancingat everyone else. "How is everyone?" He asked to nobody in particular.

Fox Sighed "well have someone bring me the names of...well everyone in the village. i'll get to working on out group first." when this was all said and done no body better bother her for 24 hours or they will meet a fate worse than hell. that much was a guarantee. she went back to the barrier and clapped her hands, the wall of runes shot into the sky and into a dome before disappearing from sight. she carefuly crafted the runes into the wall to allow herself, iggy and the other members of their small group to be able to pass through the barrier. when someone finally brought her the first set of names she began putting them in as well.... know what...make that 48 hours.

"Big brother, I made the townspeople all better. Is there anything else to do?" Aria said nervously as she walked towards Iggy and Fox, carrying the black and white patched Exceed in her arms. She looked pretty run down and tired down after the healing work. Even if most of them weren't hurt that badly, it was still a lot of people to treat all at the same time. But even so, Aria loved helping people. It gave her a sense of purpose seeing as she couldn't fight as well as everyone else. She was here to make sure they could keep fighting hard for their goal.

The Exceed in her arms looked up at his new owner with a half-smile, "You should have a rest! I can barely sense your power anymore." He said thoughtfully before looking back at the other Mages and extending a paw to them. "More survivors from the Official Guilds! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Booker walked over to the goup looking around. He had no idea what to do. He looked at the guys and had no idea what to do. He looked at Iggy and the rest.

"Well we now have a base of operations. Now what oh fearless one? They are going to know what we did. If we had been subtle about it like I had wanted to this would not have happened..." He grumbled. He had wanted to take them out with gorilla tactics but he had been out voted on that.

Since the first operations success things had more or less gone according to Iggy's plan. The dark mages weren't even able to make it to the dark ruler because they had such little presence in his eyes. Which meant the village had been safe. They were even able to properly train to an extent in the art of magic. Some had a greater affinity for it than others. Some just tried, but could not learn. For the most part it was fine. And now three operations later it was Booker's turn. There obviously weren't many villages Iggy's plan would work on. He knew that but there were a few. So he chose to do things his way for the most part. There hadn't been too many complications.

"Booker. You're in charge this time around. What's the plan." Iggy asked calmly as he stood by his friend. It was night. They were camping out just outside a village in the forest to the west of it. "How and when we do this is all up to you." He added calmly keeping his quiet and calm voice and demeanor.

Booker was not ready for this. Sure it was his turn but was he really ready for this? It was a huge deal after all. He meant that there was no way he could mess this up. Though Iggy sort of was trusting him with this. It was a big deal.

Booker sighed. "Alright. From what we have seen of the village there is a rather large garrison of those mages. If we charge in magic blazing we are dead. " Booker said in his trademarked amount of hope. Maybe it was watching his father get captured or killed. He had no idea if his dad was still alive but enough of that. "I say we hit and fade. Lure them away from the town. Make them search these woods for us. If we keep moving and attacking eventually they will retreat or leave. Either way we win. It's the opposite of what we usually do but it might work. " Booker said looking at the group. "It's all about speed and quick thinking. We could even try and trap the forest. " He said thinking of how his father had taught him. "Any questions or ideas?"

Fox raised her hand "if you need traps, im your girl, just tell em what you need and ill make it happen. I say divide them in the forest, by quadrants and take em out square by square" truthfully she preferred Booker's approach at the moment, it maximized survival. Until the enemy caught on. so far the element of surprise was their greatest strength. if word had traveled about them then it was expected that they try something rash bold and chivalrous. not tactically precise and strategic like Booker was proposing. changing tactics kept the group unpredictable, which was a huge advantage.

Winny listened to Booker speak. "if you need traps, im your girl" she heard Fox say. Winny scrunched her eyebrows together as she began thinking of something. "If we plan to lure them out, it needs to be seen that not all of them will leave so while most of the group takes out the ones who leave the town then someone or two to three people need to be able to attack the town." Winny began as she finished her thought process. "I will stay behind and fight the ones in the town, my magic spreads over a wider area and if I use it correctly I can fight a bigger group at the expense that after the battle I won't have much magic left but I'll just need rest." Winny finished speaking her idea.

Aria seemed distant as the battle was being planned out by those older than her, the ones more capable of holding their own. The little girl with twintails was content enough playing with her new Exceed friend off in one corner of the camp, but not too far away from the others. Then she caught on to what Winter was saying, ...she could take the town, sure. But it might be a tough fight if the defenders were good enough at countering the magic she used. It might be safer to have a bunch of enchantments being cast on her. Then Aria thought it might be a bad idea to suggest that - what if she got in the way of Winter's fight?

After Winny voiced her idea, Aria picked up Skyler in her arms and stepped nervously toward the others. "S.. So.. Where should I be during all of this?" She asked the group.

...Come to think of it, she could be doing a lot more than just standing back and supporting with her new cat's help. Exceeds could fly really fast, which might come in handy.

( ok,so whats happening? )

Booker thought for a minute. "Alright. I need traps through out the Forrest. Fox. You get setting that up. " He said pointing at Fox. He pointed to a few spots on a map infront of him. He then pointed at Winny. "Great idea I was think you and Iggy could take out the ones who stay. The twoof you could take it out. You have the best spread magics. I'm not great at this. " He looked at Aria. "Your cat is most likely the fastest of us. So I was thinking it could lead the chase into the traps with Fox. " He said the plan coming together. "We attack at dawn. So get some rest. " He said getting ready.

Aria nodded with an unusually confident grin for the usually shy child. The girl put the Exceed down on the ground before she sat against a felled tree's stump. The cat climbed back into her arms where he would curl up and fall asleep. "Skyler, don't let Booker down. The enemy aren't terrible at using magic, so be careful..."

The black & white Exceed opened one eye and smiled, "I was made for this kinda thing! Don't worry your pretty blue head about it." He assured Aria, then he gave Booker a thumbs/paw up before shutting his eye to get some rest before the operation began. Aria meanwhile assumed she was to not get involved in the fighting, at least if it could be helped. Even though she packed a Dragon's punch, she still found it hard to hurt others - this would undoubtedly lead to the dark mages taking advantage.

fox nodded, "skyler, you should come with me so you know where i set the traps. that way you can lead them into them. and I can also make it so they don't effect you" She explained as she spoke to the exceed. Everyone got to rest and she got to be up all night setting traps in the dark.

Iggy listened calmly to Booker's orders. They were good. "Nice job Booker. Couldn't have made a better plan myself." He said calmly. "But if I may. I think it would be best if Aria came with Winny and I. She can enhance us while we fight. Oh and don't forget to let keep everyone carefully coordinated in certain areas of the forest." He said calmly before looking around and then fixing his sight on Fox. "We should all go with Fox. Not just Skyler. It'll be bad if one of us falls for one of our own traps." He added speaking a bit so all of the current members of his little makeshift team could hear. This would save Booker the trouble of announcing it.

Winny listened to the group. "Shouldn't someone survey the area of the town. I could if you need me to. As you all know acting is one of my skills and I can somehow manipulate them a bit until the attack begins, that way someone is on the inside. And I can have some fun." Winny said smirking. She already had an idea of what she could do. Don't a bunch of men need entertainment when fighting. She can go put on a show, hand out alcohol, dance, and distract them until the attack begins. Winny had become the go to for distractions in their little group. She often enjoyed dressing up like someone else and forgetting about her own past so she could create one for who she was going to be.