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Post by Maruno on Mar 18, 2007 18:51:58 GMT
Fen really needed to change his clothes. He just hadn't had the chance yet. The first city they came across, he'd go to a clothes shop and buy a new outfit.
Fen finished mentally reciting his spell. "Sickle gust!" he exclaimed, sweeping an arm across. A dozen tiny curved blades appeared as he did so, and flew at Jathe. The blades were highly compressed air, reflecting light strangely and appearing shiny because of their high air density.
Jathe threw his two knives forward past the sickles and ducked below the attack. Fen also ducked to avoid the knives, quickly muttering another chant.
Jathe clenched his fist and slammed it into the ground. The ground cracked in a mostly straight line pointing towards Fen. Fen jumped to the side as a small flurry of stones shot out under him. He stood up, quickly untying the ribbon which was wrapped around his waist. The ribbon unravelled and the ends fell loose, but only for a moment before they danced up again, guided by Fen's latest Wind spell, and darted towards Jathe.
Jathe whipped out another knife and slashed at the ribbon, cutting the carefully sharpened edges off and letting them fall harmlessly to the ground.
Unphased, Fen continued his ribbon's attack, and managed to wrap one end around one of Jathe's wrists. It pulled, and caused him to stumble sideways. Fen attacked with his other ribbon in that moment, and caught the other arm. Quickly, the rest of the ribbon bound Jathe tightly.
Fen began another chant as Jathe struggled to get free. "Fire Burst!" Fen shouted. A large gust of wind suddenly blew from him towards Jathe, tinged with flames. The flames hit Jathe and suddenly flared up, engulfing him in hot fire.
The fire quickly subsided. The remains of the restraining ribbon fell to the ground. Jathe had been torched.
Or had he? His darkened body crumbled into dirt, revealing underneath an untouched Jathe. It was another Earth spell, a coat of protective dirt that had sheltered him from the flames.
"Tch." Fen stepped back and considered his options. His speciality was Wind, which was fairly weak against Earth. He knew some Fire and Electricity too, but only in combination with his Wind. He could electrify a Wind attack, but he couldn't create a bolt of lightning. Besides, Electricity was weak against Earth too, and Fire wasn't much better. But since Jathe had this Earth coat spell, even Fire didn't do anything.
The only other option he had was Psyche, but that involved physical combat, and Jathe was most likely better at short-range combat than even this mid-range fighting.
Basically, Fen was stuck.
"Have you finished playing around yet?" Jathe asked patronisingly. The fight was making his blood race, exciting him. Once he had finished off Fen, he would kill the girl too just for the fun of it. "I seem to have the advantage against a Windy like yourself."
"Earthies do," Fen replied. "But don't think I can't beat you."
"Oh, I see," said Jathe. "You have a plan already?"
"Wouldn't be much of a great warrior if I didn't." Actually, Fen was trying desperately to come up with anything. The ground around here was damp, making it harder for his Wind sickles to cut through.
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 18, 2007 20:19:45 GMT
"... Something wrong?" Ai Rin asked Fen with a slight smile.
"Do you want me to take over? Such an opponent wouldn't be too difficult for me to handle..." she said, enjoying her temporary feeling of superiority over the powerful mage.
<< OOC: I take it Jathe is doing his best to stay on the ground, right? Since he specialises in Earth magic and wants to be as close to his element as possble... >>
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Post by Maruno on Mar 20, 2007 16:55:55 GMT
"I've got it, thanks," Fen replied absently.
If only he had his staff. With its amplification, his Fire Burst might have been enough to dry out Jathe's Earth coat, leaving an opening for some more Wind Sickles.
Fen whipped up a small hurricane around himself as a shield to buy himself more time to think.
Jathe smirked slightly. "Raigeki," he spoke, and a large bolt of lightning shot forward from his hands towards Fen. Fen's eyes widened in shock, and he tried to evade it. His Wind shield did nothing to block it, as Wind magic is generally very weak against Electricity. The Raigeki shot past close to his arm, scorching it a little, and hit a tree. The tree promptly split apart and burned a little. Fen lay on the ground clutching his arm.
"You have no chance of surviving," Jathe said. "I control both Earth and Electricity, the ultimate attack and defence pairing. Nothing you can do can overcome my skills."
Fen winced from the pain now shooting around his left arm. "You brag too much," he said. "You... have plenty of weaknesses."
"Would you care to elaborate?" There was no reply. "Fine." Jathe took three knives from his belt and muttered a quick spell. The knives crackled slightly with electricity. He took a stance, and threw them towards Fen, who was still lying on the ground.
As the knives were about to hit, Fen vanished. There was a short "fzz" sound as the electrified blades discharged into the ground.
Jathe stepped back in surprise, and quickly found one of his own knives being held to his throat. He swallowed, and asked, "What was that?"
Fen slashed.
As Jathe dropped to the ground, writhing around, Fen replied, "Optical illusion. Your weakness." With that, he walked away, towards Ai Rin.
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 21, 2007 16:12:52 GMT
Ai Rin didn't seem as impressed this time. Maybe she didn't care much for illusion spells, especially with her sensing ability as it is.
"Are you just going to leave him like that?" Ai Rin asked.
"You should at least try to find out what you can from him... though he already said a lot when he introduced himself..." she added.
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Post by Maruno on Mar 21, 2007 19:20:44 GMT
"You did see me kill him, right?"
To emphasise this point, Jathe gave one last gurgle and died.
Fen looked around at the trees, now becoming rather dark and foreboding with the setting sun. "If I'd left him alive he would have used another spell. I saw an opportunity, and I took it. There's no sense wasting time and energy on what is most likely a pointless endeavour.
"He was from the Rola group. They and the Chougokin are... rivals. He wouldn't have said anything, arrogant though he was."
But they could deduce some things from what little he had said. They were certainly on the right track of whatever was happening here; otherwise Jathe would not have attacked them. He was certainly a sensible man, and he wouldn't have attacked someone just for the sake of it. He was guarding something...
Fen's eyes fell to his ribbon, the two sharpened ends and the small charred pieces that remained of it. He seriously needed some new clothes.
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 21, 2007 20:36:17 GMT
Ai Rin was trying not to look too closely at what just occurred.
"So... what shall we do now?" she asked. "... I might be able to find out roughly where the seals are by analysing this area... but it will take quite some time... and I can't be sure of the results... It's already getting late... and that man's allies might still be around somewhere..."
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Post by Maruno on Mar 23, 2007 21:51:44 GMT
"Yes," Fen nodded. "Ordinarily I'd find out what was going on, and do what I could to stop the Rola..." Fen snarled slightly when he mentioned that name.
Fen really didn't like the Rola. Years of being brought up surrounded by the prejudice of his superiors towards the Rola had ensured he shared their distrust. But even when he had tried to be all nice and neutral about them (earning the disapproval of most of the Chougokin in the process), he still saw that they were bad. Their every action, their attitudes, their ruthlessness, their morals... They went against every image of compassion and justice.
Fen felt compelled to stop what the Rola were doing, regardless of what it was. All his misgivings and all his bias told him what whatever they were doing, it was surely not something good. Indeed, Jathe's small introduction had revealed they were (once again) pursuing power, presumably from whatever artefact was locked away within this seal.
"...But I don't know what's going on, where people are and who we're up against." Plus, such a small group as the Rola were, they tended to move around as a whole, so taking the time to determine their whereabouts and their strategies and weaknesses was a very good idea. After all, it was only Fen up against them all, at least five of them. He'd stand no chance if he couldn't fight them one on one, preferably with time to heal in between.
It wasn't that he didn't doubt Ai Rin's abilities. It was just that he doubted she was even on the same level as him, let alone above him. He didn't want to have to rely on her in a fight. It wasn't pride; it was common sense. Would you rely on a shoelace to support your weight while you were suspended over a cliff?
"However, I don't want to give them any more time than they already have," Fen said. "They need to be taken care of quickly, and preferably killed." A grim look adorned his face now as he looked around at the forest again.
<< OOC: I wrote half of this the first time and it was such a lot better, but I randomly lost it somehow. >>
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 26, 2007 22:12:47 GMT
Ai Rin didn't really know how to response to his comments, especially since he kept so much to himself.
"I guess I'll start trying to find the locations of those seals, then... It'll probably take at least a few hours... .... could you... dispose of... move that body somewhere else... I'll need this whole area to work with... I'll leave it to you to guard this place while I work, in case more trouble appears..." Ai Rin said to Fen.
Ai Rin became focused with the task in front of her and using the light from her bag and several books from within her bag, began working on how to identify the locations of the seals. She made notes in a notepad as she worked and began drawing several diagrams which she hoped to modify and link together somehow, arranged around this area, reading the flow of mana, in hope of identifying where the seals were located. This would take her some time to do properly.
<< OOC: I'll leave it to you to decide whether time should pass here or if you want Fen to do something then come back to Ai Rin, or someone to interrupt them after XX amount of time etc. >> << OOC: That shoelace comment is unnecessary... ^_^++ >>
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Post by Maruno on Mar 29, 2007 22:36:26 GMT
<< OOC: Well, I just wanted to get the point across Fen doesn't want to assume Ai Rin is stronger than she actually is, in case it proves disastrous later on. Therein lies his selfishness, and his biggest character flaw. >> Fen grabbed the dead man by his ankles, and dragged him off into the trees. As he dropped his feet back down again next to a convenient bush, he took a look at him. But this wasn't the same kind of glance he'd given before. The man looked sad. Perhaps all dead people wore the same expression; Fen hadn't noticed; but Jathe looked sad. He missed someone, something, or somewhere, longed for it. There was no reason to hide your feelings when faced with your imminent death, and it was obvious Jathe had deep regrets about something. It was the way his eyes gleamed in what little light there was. Fen then examined the rest of him. He wore a neat blue outfit, simple yet elegant, and perhaps a size or two too big for him. Perhaps he liked loose-fitting clothes. He was also perhaps a size or two smaller than Fen. Fen thought, and ten minutes later returned to the clearing with the tree and Ai Rin, now wearing a nice new set of clothes. Perhaps not his style, and he certainly felt uneasy about it, but they were better than his old clothes and they fit well enough. His old clothes now lay with Jathe below a concealing shrubbery. He wandered around a little, looking at and admiring the diagrams Ai Rin was drawing, before finding another tree to sit against. About two minutes later he realised he was watching Ai Rin. Even without noticing it himself he was following her movements. She looked very busy and occupied, and hadn't apparently noticed in return what Fen was up to. He wasn't up to much, of course, but Ai Rin was too immersed in her work to even notice he had returned. She probably took great pride in her work, and wanted to make sure everything she was doing went well. Perhaps she was doing this to make a point, or to prove herself. If it was Fen he would have wandered around the forest looking for things resembling ancient magical seals instead of trying to divine their locations. Ai Rin was on a quest to find a long-lost artefact. After a random encounter Fen had singly decided to tag along with her, for lack of anything else to do. Then he managed to drag her off track and come poking around this forest instead of doing what she had set out to do. Even if it had been her suggestion to come back here, it had been Fen's thoughts that prompted it. If he had kept quiet about what he had reasoned, they would probably have left already. But that was an issue for another time. Fen stopped thinking, and began to watch Ai Rin. Not with interest in what she was doing, though; he simply watched her movements. They'd gone through several ordeals already, even though they'd only met about a day ago. His mind looked back to earlier when he had sat by her while she slept. His thoughts back then had been... Fen reminded himself of his situation. All his friends and family (biological and Chougokin) were dead, he had nothing to do and nowhere to go. To return home would be too painful for him, to see everyone's belongings strewn about the place they had hoped to return to. Fen's world had been destroyed, and he was nothing to the world. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be a part of it again. Time passed.
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Post by Mu-chan on Apr 1, 2007 23:54:05 GMT
Ai Rin made some final notes in her notepad before giving out a small sign of relief. "Done," she thought to herself and released the magic she had gathered. The multiple layers of drawings carefully arranged around the tree in the clearing disappeared, as they were drawn magically using her own mana and naginata, and various magic circles focusing the surrounding mana. It all looked quite pretty arranged like that, before they disappeared that is.
"I think we'll be able to find these other seals then. There seems to be ten seals on total, linked together in various layers all protecting something below this tree," she pointed to the large tree. "There may be an additional seal on this area as well, but we'll only be able to tell if we break the other seals.
"Some of those ten seals seem to have been severed from the overall seal. In other words they've already been destroyed. That darkness from before must have been a protection spell on that shrine we saw. Someone must have set it off and it reacted to our presence, and we either accidentally broke the seal there or left it open for someone else to break with the protection spell gone.
"Currently, there are six remaining seals arranged around this forest, and they'll probably have protection spells on them as well that would activate once the seals are in danger of being broken. Finding the seals' locations wasn't that difficult, once I'd realised the pattern they are arranged in and the position of the already destroyed seals, since it appears these seals must be broken in the correct order as they have varying levels of reaction and they are layered on top of one another. Two seals per layer, so we currently have two choices of where to go from here.
"The closest seal to us should be in that direction," she pointed west. "I'm still not entirely sure whereabouts it is located, but I have its signature, which means the closer we get to it, the stronger we will be able to sense it.
"So, what shall we do next?" She said with that slightly evil smile of her's with her eyes glowing. "Shall we break these seals or leave them be? I realise you want to stop these Rola people and that you clearly don't like them, but how about it? Shall we break this seal? I'm curious about what's inside... Not only that, but looking at this seal, I think it is what has been draining our mana, and I don't forgive it for doing that. It seems to prefer human mana, so if I reveal more of my demon mana to it, I won't look as tasty to it...
She moved closer to Fen looking at him with her eyes glistening. "I'm sure you already noticed that I not only have purple eyes but they glow whenever I cast any magic. If I remember this feeling, I can maintain this aura with little effort which should block most of the draining, but I won't be able to hide my aura as well, and my mana is still used up but at a much slower rate. Although the blood is quite faint, it's enough to protect me from this spell... for now at least..."
She stepped back again. "It doesn't seem interested in you very much. You seem to be blocking it almost naturally doing whatever it is you are doing. Just don't let your guard down to it." It seems in the few hours she had to think by herself and set up her spell here, she had time to look at everything more closely around her.
The draining effects of the seal act on all the surrounding area. Meaning, the people living near the seal must have built-up some relationship with the seal, with it draining their strength at the same rate they recovered it so only outsiders showed effects of being drained... so she assumed. Ai Rin couldn't tell what would happen to those people if the draining spell was broken, but likely nothing would happen. They would reach their current maximum potentials at about the same rate as they currently do, and behave as if nothing had happened, just like if they left this region. But she did wonder why she heard no rumours of people entering this area getting their mana sapped from them, when from those villagers before they seemed to get a lot of travellers. But then again, from their reactions to magic users, most of those travellers were probably so magically weak, they wouldn't even notice the effects of the spell on them, as this is a mostly peaceful area so strong fighters and the like would have little reason to go here unless they were just passing by or knew of seals such as this one...
She gave a slight glance at Fen's new outfit. She knew exactly where he got it from. In her opinion, it didn't suit him, but she wasn't going to say anything, and just hoped that with the way he fights it wouldn't restrict his movement too much...
"There will probably be some Rola to deal with when we approach this seal, as they'll likely be searching for those two seals I located, trying to release them."
She gave a slight smile. "Shall we go?"
<< OOC: I decided to write everything Ai Rin wanted to say in one post long post, and I underlined some key points to make them stand out. If you see any important details that needs changing etc, just ask. I think I've stayed consistent with what we've written so far. ^_^ >>
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Post by Maruno on Apr 4, 2007 23:02:21 GMT
Ai Rin made some final notes in her notepad before giving out a small sign of relief. "Done," she thought to herself and released the magic she had gathered. The multiple layers of drawings carefully arranged around the tree in the clearing disappeared, as they were drawn magically using her own mana and naginata, and various magic circles focusing the surrounding mana. It all looked quite pretty arranged like that, before they disappeared that is. Fen woke up at this. He had been dozing, still leaning back against the tree he had sat down at earlier. It must have been around midnight by now, perhaps even later. It was certainly dark enough for it. "I think we'll be able to find these other seals then. There seems to be ten seals on total, linked together in various layers all protecting something below this tree," she pointed to the large tree. "There may be an additional seal on this area as well, but we'll only be able to tell if we break the other seals. "Some of those ten seals seem to have been severed from the overall seal. In other words they've already been destroyed. That darkness from before must have been a protection spell on that shrine we saw. Someone must have set it off and it reacted to our presence, and we either accidentally broke the seal there or left it open for someone else to break with the protection spell gone." Fen nodded at this, as he stirred to stand up and stretch. He shook his head free of the half-formed thoughts and dreams still weaving through his mind. Some of them were explicit... "Currently, there are six remaining seals arranged around this forest, and they'll probably have protection spells on them as well that would activate once the seals are in danger of being broken. Finding the seals' locations wasn't that difficult, once I'd realised the pattern they are arranged in and the position of the already destroyed seals, since it appears these seals must be broken in the correct order as they have varying levels of reaction and they are layered on top of one another. Two seals per layer, so we currently have two choices of where to go from here." Fen tried to keep up with this volley of information. He yawned, and nodded again as if he was following this perfectly. What he decided upon, though, was that there were six seals left, each protected by some spell, and they had to be broken in a certain order. The choices thing wasn't important to him, since in the end they would all have to be broken anyway. "The closest seal to us should be in that direction," she pointed west. "I'm still not entirely sure whereabouts it is located, but I have its signature, which means the closer we get to it, the stronger we will be able to sense it." Fen looked west as Ai Rin pointed, but of course there was nothing to see except more trees. "So, what shall we do next?" She said with that slightly evil smile of her's with her eyes glowing. "Shall we break these seals or leave them be? I realise you want to stop these Rola people and that you clearly don't like them, but how about it? Shall we break this seal? I'm curious about what's inside... Not only that, but looking at this seal, I think it is what has been draining our mana, and I don't forgive it for doing that. It seems to prefer human mana, so if I reveal more of my demon mana to it, I won't look as tasty to it..." Fen perked up, first at the prospect of breaking this big seal themselves, but more importantly at the mention of demons... "Demon?" he repeated. "What do you mean by that?" Ai Rin moved closer to Fen looking at him with her eyes glistening. "I'm sure you already noticed that I not only have purple eyes but they glow whenever I cast any magic. If I remember this feeling, I can maintain this aura with little effort which should block most of the draining, but I won't be able to hide my aura as well, and my mana is still used up but at a much slower rate. Although the blood is quite faint, it's enough to protect me from this spell... for now at least..." That wasn't an answer as such, but it hinted towards demon blood. Fen was about to ask further, when... Ai Rin stepped back again. "It doesn't seem interested in you very much. You seem to be blocking it almost naturally doing whatever it is you are doing. Just don't let your guard down to it." It seems in the few hours she had to think by herself and set up her spell here, she had time to look at everything more closely around her. "Not interested in me?" Fen asked. "I just thought I was strong enough to last the draining. I didn't think it was weaker for me as well..." Why on Middle Earth would that be? Was there something special about him? Perhaps internal mana was more difficult to drain by this seal. Yes, after all, internal mana was fully and precisely regulated by the user pretty much unconsciously, so it would be harder to extract anything from such a system. Or perhaps he was some kind of chosen one, a fabled knight of legend destined to break the seal and claim the reward, and would therefore be recognised by the seal and be treated well by it. Or perhaps Ai Rin was just mistaken, and the seal wasn't affecting him any differently, and that it was simply his high mana level throwing off her calculations. Who was to say which was correct? The draining effects of the seal act on all the surrounding area. Meaning, the people living near the seal must have built-up some relationship with the seal, with it draining their strength at the same rate they recovered it so only outsiders showed effects of being drained... so she assumed. Ai Rin couldn't tell what would happen to those people if the draining spell was broken, but likely nothing would happen. They would reach their current maximum potentials at about the same rate as they currently do, and behave as if nothing had happened, just like if they left this region. But she did wonder why she heard no rumours of people entering this area getting their mana sapped from them, when from those villagers before they seemed to get a lot of travellers. But then again, from their reactions to magic users, most of those travellers were probably so magically weak, they wouldn't even notice the effects of the spell on them, as this is a mostly peaceful area so strong fighters and the like would have little reason to go here unless they were just passing by or knew of seals such as this one... The village was only a small village, built around an unpopular main road that led North past the side of the forest the two now stood in, and up to a couple of small towns. The North was nowhere near as populated as the West or the South, or even the lower East, so not many people tended to travel in that direction anyway. Also, as Mu-chan mentioned, normal people tended to have practically no mana to drain anyway, so they would barely notice anything. The effect would be like a mild cold. Thus, the lack of stories of mana-sapping was unsurprising. Ai Rin gave a slight glance at Fen's new outfit. She knew exactly where he got it from. In her opinion, it didn't suit him, but she wasn't going to say anything, and just hoped that with the way he fights it wouldn't restrict his movement too much... "There will probably be some Rola to deal with when we approach this seal, as they'll likely be searching for those two seals I located, trying to release them." She gave a slight smile. "Shall we go?" Fen didn't think anyone would, or rather should, be awake this late, so he doubted the presence of Rola members. Even they, he was sure, would have reasonable sleep schedules. He did like the idea of breaking the seal himself, though. For one, it would stop the Rola from doing the same; two, he would know what they were up to, and perhaps could get rid of some more of them in the process; and three, breaking an ancient powerful magical seal sounded like fun. "Good idea," he said with a small grin, and he gestured west with a slight bow. "Ladies first."
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Post by Mu-chan on Apr 8, 2007 1:47:41 GMT
"..."
Ai Rin didn't know how to reply in a situation like this so instead, just began walking ahead, feeling slightly depressed and embarrassed about something that she kept to herself...
The two walked deep into the forest. Ai Rin walked ahead of Fen, quiet as usual. There didn't seem to be any sign of other people in the nearby forest. It was quiet. Except for their footsteps and the rustling of the trees, few other sounds could be heard... Ai Rin tried to stay focused on the aura of the seal they were tracking.
About half an hour had passed. The two had stopped. The aura Ai Rin had been tracking felt strongest at this place, although still quite faint. The area was overshadowed by tall trees so the small amount of light from the night sky did not reach here. There was no grass on the ground, as expected of such a dark place.
Ai Rin shone the light she carried about the area. She could not see anything unusual about the area, so she took a step towards the trees ahead of them and noticed another small shrine hidden in the darkness of the trees.
She walked up to the shrine that was much more worn-down than the last. Once again, there was something written on it.
The inscription was not the same as last time, but once again, Ai Rin didn't know what it said.
Ai Rin gave out a small sigh. "What is this thing...? Are these really the seals...? There is definitely a seal close-by, just as there was definitely one near the last shrine... I don't sense any offensive magic yet... ... maybe it's telling us something or warning us of something... look around and see if you can find anything else suspicious..." she said to Fen.
Ai Rin started looking more closely at the shrine. Maybe the shrine required something to be placed in it. She thought for a bit and looked around. It was dark and hard to see.
She took some scented candles and placed them on the shrine. Nothing happened. She put them away.
She placed some of the paper diagrams she drew into the shrine. Nothing happened. She put them away.
She drew some magical diagrams with her fingers inside the shrine. Nothing happened.
She traced the inscriptions with her hand, and then tried again using a small amount of magic. Nothing happened.
She kicked the shrine. Still nothing happened.
She looked at the stone the actual shrine stood on top of. The inscriptions lay on the top of this stone before the small entrance to the shrine. The total height was probably less than a metre in height. Maybe it required something else... blood? Maybe she should try using some of Fen's blood...
Ai Rin closed her eyes and tried to sense the magic present at the shrine but the magic was too well-hidden here to get any clear ideas.
Fen didn't seem to have much experience in magic seals, and they were in a hurry. Ai Rin thought she would take a small risk...
Ai Rin struck her weapon into the ground and created a magic circle gathering mana from around her. After some time, she whispered to herself, "Hear my voice and appear. My servant, Lu Meria."
Ai Rin's mana decreased from the spell, and a small angellic being appeared before her, only a few inches in height. It had large white feathered wings, with long blond hair, large green eyes, and was wearing a long, sleaveless white robe. It smiled gently at Ai Rin.
"Find out how to set off this seal, please," she weakly smiled at the creature. It smiled back and disappeared deep into the shrine, possibly below it.
Ai Rin waited for a while.
A few minutes later, that feeling of a powerful darkness appeared and the shrine stone and the ground around it lit-up brightly before returning them to the darkness of the night.
Lu Meria returned to Ai Rin then disappeared.
"Thank you... So this is what happened... Seems these Rola people must have intentionally set off that other seal, but they were defeated by it or something like that... and the magic that was still present in the forest reacted to Fen and I, and attacked us when we got close to the seal... but this darkness... it's different to the other one... much colder... and I still don't know what these inscriptions say... this one won't be as easy to dispell... must be because it is on a deeper layer than the other one... how exciting...
"Seems this seal's guardian is about to appear... Are you ready, Fen? You can fight whatever appears while I work out how to dispell it," she called out to Fen.
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Post by Maruno on Apr 9, 2007 0:38:32 GMT
Fen had been keeping an eye out for anything suspicious, and keeping the other eye on what Ai Rin was doing. And he had seen nothing and mostly nothing.
As the stone lit up, Fen braced himself. He could feel something too, something he had never felt before. It wasn't so much a presence as his reaction to it. A feeling of coldness, loneliness and despair. Feelings he had been trying to suppress ever since the battle, but were now tormenting him again.
Fen only slightly noted that Ai Rin didn't seem as affected by this darkness as he was. It seemed he would be the one to fight. Again. He just didn't catch a break.
He braced himself further, and waited for the attack.
After a couple of tense moments, nothing happened. Nothing continued to happen for the next minute. Fen lowered his guard slightly to allow him to glance around, and then looked back at Ai Rin. "Are you su-?"
An overwhelming force dropped him to his knees. But it wasn't a physical force; it was as though his mind was weighing him down, spreading waves of sorrow and depression through his body. A tear fell from his eye involuntarily.
Fen couldn't stop himself. He felt like lying down and dying, right there and now. He couldn't carry on, not for one moment longer.
He dropped to his hands, stabbing one on a sharp rock by accident and grazing his wrist and forearm. The pain that shot through his arm just then was real pain, and Fen's mind suddenly cleared for a moment as he clutched at the wound, now bleeding slightly. He looked up sharply, and caught sight of a hooded cloak standing a distance away, seemingly staring right back at him. The anxiety returned instantly, and Fen gripped his wrist tightly, trying to keep a hold on his mind. It wasn't enough, and he dropped down to the ground again, catching his side on the jagged side of the rock. This helped him focus.
"Illumo," he said, and the surrounding area flashed a bright blue. The hooded figure recoiled from the light, and Fen's dark thoughts were gone. As the light subsided he rose to his feet to face the figure, which was apparently just a robe floating in the air.
"I see."
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Post by Mu-chan on Apr 14, 2007 23:33:47 GMT
Ai Rin had shielded her eyes from Fen's attack.
She opened her eyes carefully. Her focused eyes still glowing a glistening purple.
"What's that?" she thought to herself, staring carefully at what appeared to be something near Fen. It was hard for her to make out what it was.
"Is that the guardian of this seal? Is it only going after Fen? If so, why?" she thought to herself, looking around in the darkness sharply, in case of anything else present.
Ai Rin couldn't tell what to do or what was really happening. Without knowing anything, she couldn't even start to work out how to counter this spell...
"Fen... what... do you see...?" Ai Rin asked with insecurity, hoping he would know something.
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Post by Maruno on Apr 15, 2007 1:13:14 GMT
"I see a robe floating in the air," Fen replied. It was true.
"It's the spell protecting this seal," he continued, steadily staring the robe down. Already he could feel the despair working its way into him again. "A Psyche spell, no doubt. I can... feel it."
Now that Fen had decided what he was up against, and had steadied his mind, he could put up some amount of resistance to it. The anguish was not as strong now, although it was still a burden upon him.
Defeating a Psyche user was a relatively easy task, provided one avoided the spells adequately. But defeating a spell itself was an entirely different matter. Breaking a Psyche spell was almost never considered; the vast majority of magicians training against Psyche spells learned instead to avoid them entirely, or lessen their effects to provide a chance for an assault. But that wouldn't help here.
This spell had manifested itself physically. This was a really strange occurrence. It also responded negatively to the Light spell Fen had just used. Light has no effect upon Psyche, only the user.
"Sickle gust!"
The curved blades of wind flew at the robe, which swayed to the side to avoid it. One of the sickles caught an edge of the robe and tore it a little. But it was superficial damage. Fen dropped to one knee as the depression became stronger again.
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