Prodigal Son

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Felix considered for a moment. "It's not that a staff is more user friendly than a wand. When I said that wands are a difficult medium to channel magic through, what I meant is that putting magic through a small wand has a lot of strain on the material. This causes wands to overload and potentially fail on you in crucial times. Staves are more reliable is all. With a wand, because of how small they are, the material has to be of a certain quality or you run the very significant risk of the wand overloading. Unfortunately the woods and metals that stable wands can be made of are very rare, they can only be grown or found in areas with highly concentrated mana waves." Felix explained

"Aetherwoods and aethermetals are hard to come by naturally, and even harder to cultivate artificially. If you ever come upon any seraphwood or umbralwood, you are extremely lucky. You can make a fortune off of the stuff if you could ever figure a viable way of cultivating them. As it stands, places like Academia and the Vatican are in the locations they are because of the highly concentrated mana waves but even they have a hard time cultivating enough of the trees to make weapons from them." Felix waved his hand in the air, a white slender ornate staff 6 feet tall, with a blue glowing mana crystal at the top.

Staff

"This was my staff that I used as a Vatican student. It was required for a class I took, but I never really used it very much after. It's ash wood, which isn't necessarily bad but it definitely is not top of the line by any means." Felix extended the staff out to Zuri, "It might be a bit tall for you, but you can have it until you find yourself a better fit." Felix said with a smile.

"If you don't know how to use your mana inventory I can teach you the beginner incantations used to get accustomed to your mana inventory." Felix suggested.

---

Raiya followed Nemo downstairs, "I'd like to say that the only place I had ever heard of you was from my childhood and the battle you had with Felix, but that isn't true. I have heard your name many times from many different people in the Yakuza. 白鬼　(Shiro Oni) is what they call you. Although, most of them talk about you as if you were just a myth, a story to scare children."

Raiya sat down at the table across from Nemo. "I was actually on a lead right before you... er- 'recruited' me" Raiya explained, putting an emphasis on the recruited part, "I had just used my connections to look at the case file that the police had on my parents' murder. Something I found out was that they were Talents, and they definitely weren't killed by normal means. I could sense latent mana waves in the belongings that were bagged as evidence. Though, I know they were their mana waves, the items were saturated in them, and that could only mean they were fighting for their lives before they were killed." Raiya puffed out a sigh, "But it's lookin' like I won't be investigating into this any further anytime soon."

Raiya cocked an eyebrow at the umeshu, "Impressive... Normally I don't like sweet things, but alcohol is a different story. And it has been a hell of a long time since I have had umeshu. The last time was when I was in Japan a few years back." Raiya took the crystal tumbler glass and held it out in front of her.

"To Japan." her toast suggestion hung in the air awaiting Nemo to confirm the toast with a clash of their glasses.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Raiya considered all the things Nemo said. She had never personally heard of any of these people and she supposed that just went to show how out of touch with the underworld community she had been. While she was technically a part of an underworld community, her role had her mostly interacting with untalents. Ordinary gangsters who just wanted to sell drugs to the community, or traffic weapons, among other things.

"I have to be honest, I have never heard of any of those people you just mentioned." Raiya confessed, "I don't really interact with very many Talents. And the ones that I do interact with are either my immediate comrades, or they tend to end up on the wrong side of my sword." Raiya explained.

Raiya considered Nemo's offer.

"I suppose my mouth is a bit dry. But I'd rather go for a stiff drink," Raiya explained as she got up to follow Nemo.

---

Felix considered Zuri's request.

"Wands are a pretty difficult medium to channel magic through. Mostly because unless the wand is made from the finest materials, it can fail on you at a moments notice. Plenty of important historical figures met their dooms because of the failure of their wands. Gilgamesh, Muhammad, Alexander the Great, Adolf Hitler, all people whose ultimate deaths were caused by the failure of their wands. Are you sure that is the medium you want?" Felix asked.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Raiya decided that her fidgeting was no longer accomplishing anything. She took the cloth and clenched it in her hands, creating an immolation spell that burnt the cloth into ash. She poured the ashes into a small trash can next to the table she was using. She clapped her fingers together, removing the remaining ash dust. Then she laced her fingers together and bent them outwards, a serious of pops rang out from her hands and then she waved her hand over her dissembled weapon. All the sword components levitated from the desk and began reassembling themselves, a pinkish aura surrounding them. Raiya slid the clean sword into its scabbard and then flicked her wrist outwards, storing the sword in her mana-inventory.

She turned to Nemo. "As you can imagine, I have lots of enemies. Rival gangs, occasional Salem Disciples, law enforcement..." Raiya leaned back in her chair and placed her hands on top over her head, her elbows winging out. "Nothing I can't handle though. Nothing that really offers me a challenge. Although, the Arcanocracy has been after me for quite some time, they stopped sending people after me after the second or third one I killed. Well... I suppose I didn't really kill them myself, my gang members did. But they still attribute their deaths to me." Raiya finished

"What about you? I'm sure you have tons of people besides Felix who want to see you dead. Any interesting ones?" Raiya asked.

---

Felix smiled and folded his arms, "Where to start, where to start...?" Felix pondered out loud while tapping his right forefinger on his upper left arm. He jolted up right and snapped his fingers, "Magic types!" Felix exclaimed. "Their are many methods of categorizing magic. Restoration, and destruction, fire and ice. Blah blah blah. Here's what you need to know. Most everyone is born with a clear aura, an aura untainted by our personalities and use. The only people who are born with an aura color are people with Talent Marks. Talent Marks are a wide range of biological mutations that occur in rare cases. The cause is unknown but we know it has something to do with the how the aura of the mother and the fetus interact with each other. It results in certain beast-like physical qualities. Take Raiya for example, her yellow eye is like that of a great snake, and by all means biologically it IS a great snake's eye, at least the dna template is the same as an actual great snake's eye. And, I never asked Nemo so I don't know for sure, but I am fairly certain that his ghostly white appearance is the result of a Talent Mark as well. People with Talent Marks have a Aura color from birth, which means they are extremely adept at their magic type." Felix paused for a moment before continuing.

"Auras come in many colors but they all either fall under one or between two of the six types of magic elements. Earth, fire, water, air, aether, and void. Raiya's, for instance, falls between fire and air. Now, the color of the aura by itself is not important, but the color mixed with the feeling or vibe it gives off is the main indicator of what type of aura it is. And you can feel and see all of this if you activate manalysis. Manalysis is a fancy term for using our own aura to feel the mana waves given off by other auras. When it is activated, it also enhances your sight and allows you to see mana waves as well as feel them." Felix explained.

"Your aura is the manifestation of the mana in your mana-well. Your mana-wells are metaphysical organs located within the heart. They are not visible to the naked eye, but can be seen with manalysis. Mana is released through your blood stream and secretes out of your pores which creates the visible aura. To cast a spell, you must focus on your aura and give it meaning, intention. In order to do this you can do a number of things, using incantations, or placing the aura into a runic symbol, or channel it through a physical medium like a staff or sword. Once you're skilled enough, you can even cast spells without using such means, just by thinking about it some spells can be cast." Felix flicked his wrist causing his blue manaegis sword to solidify to existence. It dropped in his right hand, he twirled it around for a moment before tossing it up into the air causing it to dissipate into a blue flame.

"Is any of this making sense to you?" Felix asked

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

@ShiningSector@Accurian

going to need some posts here soon guys.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Felix leaned back, his butt touching the edge of the table that he was leaning on for support. Felix crossed his arms and placed his right hand under his chin in an expression of deep thought.

"In terms of returning your lost memories, there is not much in the way of remedies that can help you in that department. Neurology is not a hard science as we know it, there is much left unknown and unexplored. We have made various assumptions on how the brain works in junction with the electrical impulses and have mapped out potential areas of stored memory, but it is all still very uncertain. What we do know is that magic cannot restore memory, it is impossible to recreate a genuine experience in the brain. Even illusions are not neuro-centric as we know them, they are tricks of the light, sounds and smells. In other words, they do not effect the individual directly but rather illusions effect the physical reality around them, creating fake sensations that feel real." Felix explained. He then looked over at Zuri, narrowing his eyes, "But you said that your memories are, 'clouded'? Meaning you sense bits and pieces of a remnant of something that you can no longer fully grasp? Interesting..."

Felix activated manalysis and began sensing Zuri's aura. He could see the thick black cloud of void energy as it filled the room. Yes, no doubt this was a void aura. While not unheard of, void was certainly among the rarest of all the aspects. Aether was next to void in terms of rarity, the two being opposites of each other yet intertwined together. As Felix began to take a closer look he noticed something. Zuri's aura was not all black. There was a hint of a different aura. It took Felix by surprise, but he was certain that Zuri had two separate auras.

"Hmm... that's certainly odd..." Felix murmured, "Zuri, you have two separate auras. but that must mean... Yes, I'm certain of it! You're cursed. That's the only explanation. Another magical energy has come into contact with your own, dampening it, and almost taking over. I'm not quite sure what it has done to you, but I know that it has fully integrated within your mana-wells, it has quite literally tainted your soul." Felix explained

"I'm not quite sure how to deal with this. Obviously the first step would be to attempt some basic purification spells." Felix explained.

Felix raised his right hand and his left hand, a ball of fire appeared in his right hand and a ball of water in his left. He began reciting a spell-verse, "Everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean," Felix released the ball of fire at Zuri, the fire enveloped Zuri, but was not hot, in fact it did not have a feeling to it whatsoever, "But it shall be purified with water for impurity," Felix continued, "But whatever cannot stand the fire you shall pass through the water. Numbers, verse 31 chapter 23" Felix released the ball of water which quenched the fire engulfing Zuri. The water did not dampen Zuri, or even have the same properties as normal water. In fact, it all seemed a bit illusory.

"Intersting," Felix said, "that spell I just cast was a purification spell. However, it seemed to have had no effect on lifting your curse. This is worse than I thought."

Felix continued watching the black aura closely, a small hint of a different aura barely registering on Felix's senses. "If only we could sever the hold this curse has on y-" Felix stood up straight and snapped his fingers, "That's it!" Felix exclaimed, "Ley lines! The ley lines, if we sever them, the curse would be lifted." Felix's enthusiasm died down a bit after he realized the weight of what he said, "The only current method of severing ley lines is irreversible so that won't work."

"But if Travis and I can figure out a solution to this permanent ley line severing, we would have a cure." Felix eyed Travis, "You know what this means don't you?" Felix rhetorically asked Travis, "It means you have your next official task to work on!" Felix clapped his hands together in a swift single motion, a big smile on his face.

"You know, Zuri." Felix pointed his clasped together hands at Zuri, "It occurs to me that because of your amnesiac state, you do not understand the fundamentals of magic theory and the application there-of." Felix paused, "In other words, you don't know how magic works." Felix surmised, "I could tell you a bit of the basics before I send you out on the next mission if you'd like."

---

Raiya continued fidgeting with her metal and her cleaning cloth. Not looking up from her work, she replied to Nemo's question.

"Not much to know really. The Crux gang is new. It was set up as a proxy gang for the Yakuza, as a sort of Yakuza foreign affairs office. The Crux gang deals with the distribution of Yakuza goods on US soil, as well as the routing of profits gained through this distribution back to Japanese soil. We also deal with every business negotiations on the US soil." Raiya said with little enthusiasm, "The main office is in New York, but there are 50 different main branches, and thousands of sub-branches throughout the states. My job mostly consists of keeping the New York gang in order. But my word is law throughout all of the gangs, and this sometimes requires me to visit the different states in order to settle disputes and quash dissent." Raiya glanced up from her work staring briefly at the wall in front of her, "But the threat of the Yakuza power and name is usually enough to keep dissenters in line." Raiya looked back down at her blade and resumed her work of futility.

"In terms of the name and the theme of the gang, those decisions were left up to me. All of the management decisions were left up to me, actually. I was given one simple task, to, 'extend the Yakuza's reach into the United States territory.' How I did that was up to me." Raiya finished.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Raiya was still rubbing down her blade with the cloth. The blade was now completely clean, gleaming even, yet she was still rubbing it down as if it had a deep stain she was trying to get rid of. This did not change when Nemo entered her room. In fact, it seemed as if her blade cleaning got a bit more fervent as Nemo drew closer. Raiya didn't look up from her work to acknowledge Nemo, but rather, she tilted the blade metal which had an enhanced mirror finish from being cleaned, and glanced at him through the reflection. There wasn't much Raiya would ever compliment Nemo on, but she could not deny that he did in fact have a sense of style, even when attempting to imitate another.

"What do you want...?" She muttered, "Can't you see I'm busy?" She replied as she wiped her cloth on the part of the blade that reflected Nemo, as if trying to wipe him from existence by erasing his reflection. Normally after cleaning any blade, she would sharpen it with a whet-stone and water, but her blade had been forged and enchanted by a master swordsmith and therefore could never lose its keen edge. This just made Raiya more irritated than grateful in times like these, because she could not use sharpening her blade as another excuse to refrain from social interaction. So, she just continued wiping down her blade, every so often putting more alcohol solution on her dirty cloth before continuing.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Raiya unhooked her arms and extended her legs, breaking her fetal position. Her expression a bit downcast as Nemo spoke.

"Evil is evil, good is good. There are no in-betweens, just changes between the two. If a person is doing evil they are evil at that time, if they do good after that they are good at that time. To be good only means your good deeds outweigh your bad. No one is without evil. Some are just more naturally prone to good. And I'm telling you that I am more naturally prone to do evil." Raiya's hard expression gave off an aura of seriousness, "I will betray you more than three times given the opportunity and the motive. So, you can forget your little third time rule." Raiya stood up, her expression changing to an expression of soft anger.

"You say you're a tool to be used however the user sees fit. I say that I will abuse your nature until to get what I want every time." Raiya explained.

"As for your hug, you can keep it. My leather jacket is enough to keep me warm and cozy." She said, gripping the edges of her jacket and tugging on it to accentuate her claim.

And with that she left Nemo's room to go to her own room. She was feeling a bit bothered and needed something to do and a place to think in silence. After she closed the door behind her, she sat herself at a small table in the corner of her room. She retrieved her katana from her inventory, and placed it on the table. She removed the scabbard from the sword, and then began on removing the pins the held the blade to the handle. After she removed the handle, she brought out a cleaning cloth and began cleaning the metal. She materialized an alcohol solution from her mana inventory, pouring the solution onto the cloth. Then she began wiping the metal down starting at the tang and moving up to the blade. No matter how tight the pins and metal separators were on the assembled weapon, blood seemed to always find its way into the tang of the blade. The blood was already dried and black, which made it almost impossible to remove without the solution. As the cloth passed through the dirty areas, dissolving the dried blood and absorbing it into itself, the white cloth began to become tinted red. She would continue this until her blade was satisfactorily clean or someone until interrupted her.

---

Felix raised an eyebrow at Zuri. Her mana-well seemed still on the low side, but not as bad as it was when she came in those few days ago. What Alya was doing seemed to be working.

"I wouldn't be too worried. Mana consumption only becomes a problem when you end up having to tap into your secondary mana-well, your life reservoir. Once that mana-well is completely drained you'll die. Untalents and people like me who use their secondary mana-well as an extra source of power tend to know how their limits a bit better than those who do not. Here's a hint, unlike when using your mana from your primary mana-well, when you use mana from your secondary mana-well, you'll start to feel a pull of fatigue and tiredness. It isn't that great at first, but it becomes worse as you continue to draw from your secondary well." Felix finished.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Raiya pulled her legs up onto the chair, balling herself up in a fetal position of sorts. She wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face into her knees as she listened to Nemo.

When she was ready to reply she placed her chin on her knees to talk. "Akane and Tsukihi... they've sacrificed a lot for me. But, in the back of my mind I still have doubts. There's something inside me the really believes that they are not above betraying me as well." Raiya rested the right side of her face on her knees before she continued, "Humans are vile creatures, even the book Felix and I were raised to believe upon threat of heresy says so. But it wasn't until I saw it for myself that I believed it. And I'm not just talking about Felix betraying me either." Raiya stopped to think if she really wanted to share with Nemo her inner darkness, but ended up deciding that it was okay.

"I've been tortured, seen allies tortured. Seen allies turn on other allies just to get what they want. I have turned on allies just to get what I want..." Raiya was feeling especially raw and vulnerable at this moment, "Nemo, I'm evil. And, if you know what's good for you, you'll stay as far away from me as possible. Because one day, I will betray you."

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

@Accurian
Felix felt Zuri's aura approach before she knocked. The room that they were in was the secret laboratory, the pathway to which was accidentally been left open. The secret pathway led to the laboratory that was separated from the pathway by a frosted glass door.

Felix turned to the door and opened it, "Ah Zuri, I see you've found my lab.The room is covered in runes to suppress mana waves so you must have followed my aura before we got to the lab." Felix thought out loud, "No matter, the lab isn't supposed to be kept a secret from our team, just from anyone who tries to infiltrate the headquarters."

Felix placed his hands inside his robe's pockets, "What can I do for you Ms. Zuri?"

---

Raiya let out a puff of air, "Whatever... Friends are lame anyway. They just betray you at a moments notice and cast you aside. It's better to keep everyone at an arms length if you ask me." Raiya replied.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Raiya crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"It takes much more than simple physical contact to create a relationship. It's like you've never had a friend befo-" Raiya stopped and eyed Nemo up and down, "You never have had a friend before, have you?" Raiya asked with genuine curiosity.