Ria blinked at the comment. She had heard of the peculiar tastes Akemi had, but she figured perhaps the things in the book would be interesting to Zenith. That didn't seem to be the case from his reaction. But she kept her smile from fading. "
Yeah, maybe. I'll see if I can find a book that's more suitable for you then," the younger mage responded with a cheerful tone and large smile. She was certain there would be some book she could find that would have recipes that he not only hadn't made before, but would be interested in cooking. Exotic recipes didn't seem to be the case.
Before she had a chance to turn to Lavinia to offer to help clean up, Felix popped up with his usual vigor. She
had promised him a fight at a different time. She didn't want to postpone on him again - the powers above knew she'd already done that enough given his time to rest and recover and then her own withdrawal after the job in Era. But now there was so much
charcoal attempted cookies charred onto a tray and just as much smoke damage to one of the kitchen's two ovens. If they were to get a rush as part of the festival - no, what was she thinking, there was a very good likelihood given the guild was still enjoying a bit of renown after having defeated that beast in Era.
She hesitated perhaps too long because the boy headed off. Her attention turned to the spunky bloodmage before her with a smile. "
Don't worry. I'll be back to help clean everything up. It'll be ready before the usual dinner rush."
Picking up the discarded book, she brought it with her as she left the kitchen and headed for the library. The bags of books for the newly built library were placed on the study table in neat piles; for now, adding them to the guild's catalogue, reorganizing the shelves, and putting everything away would just have to be in her 'to do list' part of her brain as something to get back to. Just like the kitchen. Just like so much other stuff. She'd get to it just like everything else. Now, at least, she had something else quiet to do while the others slept that wasn't reading or drawing in her room.
It was only a few minutes of being gone from the guildhall but already seemed like some tensions were picking up. Unfortunately, that area was right where she needed to go. She stopped across from Felix and offered him a smile. "
I do have a lot I have to do but I promised you a month ago we would fight, and I do want you to train to get stronger. If a fight will help you do so..." Ria smiled a bit more. "
Of course I will put us training together at the top of my to-do list. So, did you want to go do this now, or perhaps wait until after I help Lavinia with the kitchen clean up?"
Felix frowned at Ria, narrowing his eyes. "
You suggested I wait once. I waited over a month. Lavinia can clean the kitchen herself for now. Come on!" He hopped off the stool and headed for the door, only waiting long enough to make sure the water mage was following him.
A short walk later, and they were just outside the city limits in the training fields. Of course in noticing the heightened wind in the field, Ria's attention turned to where it might be coming from and spotted a guy with two - was wolves a correct term given they had a power to them not exactly seen in earthly animals? - beside him. If it had just been the lad by himself, Ria might not have recognized him, but after word that they recently had a new member join that had two wolves with him it was hard not to realize who it was. Short of being able to remember his name, at least she knew they were encroaching on a guildmember's training space and she directed them to a further point in the field where the wind wasn't as active.
"
Okay, so this should be -" Ria had barely started to get the words out before Felix was on her. She turned just in time to summon up a water shield for him to punch, which immediately blasted apart.
"
Don't think I'm going to go light because you don't usually fight." Felix slid into a fighting stance as he stared at her. "
You're A Class. You should be able to fight."
Ria smiled lightly, nodding back at him. "
Okay. Neither of us will hold back, yes?" She didn't shift her stance though. The water mage simply watched her younger guildmate with a smile and her stance braced for reaction.
Felix didn't not so much as start charging a ball in his fist. "
Blast: Rock." He launched himself at Ria. Seconds before reaching her, he discharged the ball at her.
Ria threw up a shield just in time to have it take the hit. It didn't stop it from dissipating, and letting Felix through to land a solid punch to her jaw though. She lost her footing and landed on her back, quickly rolling backward onto her feet to avoid the next punch. She stayed crouched as she cast, "
Undertow." The air thickened around them, slowing the next punch Felix tried to deliver. It gave her just enough time to use her position to her advantage. She grabbed his arm, rolling and planting her foot against his chest to then release him with a kick.
Felix righted himself before he hit the ground, landing crouched. He launched himself again, this time charging up a different spell. "
Blast: Rook" that set off a blast explosion as he landed a hit against Ria's arm block. When she stumbled back, he landed another hit with another blast explosion. When she stumbled and fell, he went to land another one but missed when she rolled to the side and he exploded the dirt instead.
"
Cyclone!" Ria blasted Felix to the side with a powerful cyclone from her hands.
Despite smashing the close ranged blast, it still sent the young mage flying backward. Felix slid on his back until he used the momentum to flip to his feet as he utilized another spell to launch himself back toward Ria. He landed with another punch, but only exploded dirt with the girl rolling away.
"
Obscuring Mist!" The field around them disappeared behind an instant cloudbank of fog. Using the cover, Ria landed a hit to knock Felix flat on his back before putting distance between them.
Felix growled angrily, flipping back up onto his feet. "
Blast: Scissors" and used the attack to disperse the fogbank Ria had summoned around them. He didn't waste time once he had eyes on her again, he pointed a fingergun at her. "
Blast: Zero Point."
Ria couldn't dodge the attack fast enough. She took the hit and rolled a bit after landing on her side. A shield of water stopped the next hit as she got to her feet. "
Neptune's Dance." Just as another blast dispersed her shield, two torrents of water shot up from the ground beneath Felix to throw him up into the air.
It didn't last long. The younger mage jumped from the current and - "
Blast: Bishop -" used his magic to propel himself like a jet toward the girl. "
Blast: Knight." He swung his fist toward her as he got close and caught Ria in the ribs with a powerful punch and blast from the impact. As he went to bring his other fist to her, she caught the arm and spun with his momentum. He tumbled to the side when she released him.
The older mage gingerly shook the hand that touched his skin.
Oh no... "
Felix, get control of your magic." Of course her instruction fell on deaf ears as he launched himself at her with another round of
Blast: Rook. She braced her arms behind a water-make shield before he smashed through it with another powerful punch backed by blast magic. Even with some lost footing, she still managed to stay upright. She summoned up another Water-Make buckler to block the next punch. "
Felix, calm down. It's just a training fight."
Felix pressed on anyway. "
Blast: Emperor." He closed the gap in the blink of an eye.
The water mage thrust a hand forward. "
Waterlock!" A sphere of water captured Felix before he could connect with her. The water seemed to boil up around the young mage. Not a moment later, the sphere exploded in a spray of hot water, and the boy dropped to his hands and knees panting with steam rising from him.
"
We're done," Ria said sternly. "
Now hold still. You need to cool down before you fry your brain." She formed a sphere of water in her hand and placed it over his mouth and nose, then encased the young mage in another sphere of water. A gentle touch of her fingers to the sphere was all she needed to chill the water to the point heavy frost fell around it. She watched him as he soaked, using that basic contact to feel if it was working.
After she finally released the sphere from around him, Felix stayed on his hands and knees. "
I can't believe I lost to you." He hit the ground. His gaze remained locked on the moist ground.
Ria shrugged and sat next to him. "
I have four years of training on you." She looked at the sky. "
Being strong and being able to win fights isn't about power. It's about control." She looked back at Felix with a gentle smile. "
You have a lot of power you keep tapping into. You just don't control it. When you tap into that power, you start to heat up and your brain can't handle that and allow you to think so you move on instinct, you go for the stronger spells. You get a handle on that heat aspect of your magic, you will do better in fights.
"The best next step for you on your journey isn't to try to beat stronger mages to get stronger. It's to step back and control the magic you have. You have excellent control at your base level. You just need to learn to control how your body and mind react when you begin to heat up." She smiled a bit more and stood, offering her hand down to help Felix stand as well. "
Come on, I'll look through the library to see if any of the books contain information on heat based magic."
Felix shoved the hand away and stood on his own. He glared at Ria, his frown cutting deep lines on his face. "
I don't need to read books to figure it out and I don't need you patronizing me. I can figure it out on my own. I need to figure it out on my own. Otherwise, I won't actually be strong." He turned and walked away.
Kaden laughed softly at Akemi's dispute of the overprotective nature of Zen. That sounded like pretty standard older sibling stuff. At least, if your sibling wasn't a mage in a powerful guild and with other things to do. He didn't know that personally, but he'd seen it often enough growing up. The dynamic between siblings usually changed when they were in the same guild - or at least he'd also seen that too.
With the offer of the drink though, he could feel the hairs in his nose singeing just from the concoction being closer. He forced his smile to remain, and chuckled again when she withdrew the offer. He opened his mouth to respond when Tone boisterously announced his presence. Intentional or not, it made Kaden raise his brow and watch the overreaction to the foul concoction the strange new mage drank.
Come back later?Then Zenith showed up. Because of course he would. Maybe the newly titled S-Class mage had a sixth sense for when someone was talking to his sister. Whatever made the guy decide he needed to interrupt...here they were. The golden eyed mage smirked as he turned his attention to the other man. "
Zen. Very classy way to interrupt a conversation. Suppose it's better than making a scene. Guess the Rune Knights taught you something."
His gaze stayed on the former Rune Knight as his smile grew a bit more devious. "
Ya know, I was just about to ask your sister something similar. Considering she's still new to Crocus and I've lived her for a while." Kaden looked at Akemi. "
I would be happy to show you around the city. There's a lot more to see than the tourist trap shit they're setting up for the festival."
But the fact he just heard Ria tell Felix she'd fight him, and the two were headed out the door to do just that, pulled his attention away. His gaze followed the pair until the door closed behind them before turning back to the siblings at hand. "
Well, actually...as much fun as that would be, you two can go laugh it up with that. Can't pass up a chance to watch a fight." That and because he knew Ria was a water mage, but he also had heard she rarely got into combat. If he was going to try to use her to learn water magic, it'd be fun to see how she actually fought.
He followed the pair out of the city, and even diverted to where they set up to fight. Considering it was always a good call to stay back from combat like that, he sat himself down about 100 feet away from where the two squared off, and lounged back to watch the fight comfortably. After all - who wouldn't want to pass up the chance to watch a kid get his ass handed to him by a girl?
An intruder in a guild for hunting dark mages would be quite the cause for alarm, as others seemed to believe. The ostentatious entry of opening the guildhall doors with a member would have raised alarms in his head, if Markovis didn't study the situation. The intruder was calm, collected, seemed to be appraising the situation. There was power there, but the woman didn't seem to be looking for opportunities to attack further. While the others in the guild rushed to alarm and react, the stoic S-Class mage simply watched the scene unfold despite being ready to act if necessary. It wouldn't be necessary, he felt. Especially once the guild master announced who it was.
Fenixtear? It wasn't so much that he was surprised the guild might have someone worthy of their ranks. Given they had defeated a dragon not so long ago, of course there was the potential for there to be members strong enough to join them. He hadn't suspected a relatively unknown mage to be the one to be recruited though. It wasn't disappointment Duncan didn't feel his son was ready - he wasn't entirely sure what his son was thinking at this point given the boy moved from a legal guild to one of fleeting popularity. But when a lack of logic was applied, it made sense. A guild like that would separate the boy from the Pendergast legacy he himself had created in the Steel Hydra guild.
His steely gaze followed the woman and his guild master as they left to discuss other things. The expression on his face remained unchanging, even over the course of all that transpired and the instructions in his ear.
That sounds easier said than done. Perhaps the fact she was from the guild his son had moved to it would be easier to accomplish. Or the fact she was a woman of few words - as apparent from her own display as when Duncan confirmed it. Introduced and inducted as an S-Class, understandable as it may be, or not, one fact remained true. She was a new member. A new member that needed to be introduced to the guild's ways. He could see the ways to make it work, once the woman had the appropriate guild mark upon her body.
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