Mentor and Apprentice {Ardere only/private}

Page after page was flipped and signed, as Ardere let out as heavy sigh. It had been weeks since he had to do paperwork, and he was grateful as he was not really the desk or paperwork kind of guild master. Most of the time spent in his office was reading, not necessarily business activities. He often found himself reading or training like normal, it was nice to be able to continue as himself even when the entire guild of Infinity Hydra was at his command and under his wing. The unfortunate reason he was staring at a mountain of paperwork was a few of his members had gotten into trouble out in the village below the guild, some drunken escapades. Normally they were a bit more tact when in town, they kept their rambunctious activities here in the guild. It seemed this time it had been unavoidable, luckily he could cover the costs himself. Pale fingers running across the papers as he signed them, one page made him stop in his tracks. Ten thousand jewels worth of destruction in yard gnomes? Who the hell went around breaking yard gnomes? Running his fingers through the thick brown locks on his head, he twisted his lip. Rather than letting himself get worked up, he took a sip of sake from his cup. It was one of the off days where he was sitting at the bar and doing paper work.

During his paperwork signing and stamping, a new scent cross his nose. Things had calmed down in terms of gaining new members, but he still found himself meeting new people every week. Whether it was to join or to visit, he welcomed newcomers to the guild hall. Ardere finished the paperwork and tossed it into a bin, as he heard the foot steps getting closer to the hall. Turning around to face the door, he leaned up against the bar and arched a brow as a young armored woman entered the guild, asking for him. Don't tell me, I owe you money? Smiling he put his leather covered hands on his hips. Welcome to Infinity Hydra, joining or just visiting? He was friendly enough, but his calm demeanor should have tipped her off that he was not a confrontational greeter.

Lifting up a cup of warm sake to his lips, the fire mage took a sip as the woman promptly explained herself. It seemed to be a common occurrence these days that other mages came to him for help with their magics. He was no weakling, but it was a bit odd that so many were coming to him as of late. Fortunately he was a kind man, and did not object. The young redhead seemed a bit formal, but that was a good thing when making a first impression. Ah, I see. Well I'm certainly not opposed to it, I'd be happy to help. Finishing the cup of steaming liquid, he sat it down on the bar and wiped his hands. Pushing the long cloak that covered most of his attire behind his shoulders, his elegant red Samurai armor would be revealed. We have a training room upstairs, but first; mind if I know where you're from? Guild, town, or country. Whichever you wish to disclose. While he did not mind helping people train, even strangers, he still did like to know who he was helping to some extent. Personal information wasn't necessarily required, but a little bit to get an idea would be nice.

After the woman introduced herself, he would motion to her and lead the way upstairs. It was not a long walk, but the large wooden stairs did require a bit of leg work to traverse. The tapestries and paintings across the walls certainly livened up the walk, as the training room was quite large. The two large sliding doors bore katanas at the top, to signify what the room was made for. The room is encased in magic resistant metal, so we should be able to have an easy time with practice. The guild master hoped this young woman would like the training area, as he had spent quite some time designing it. Actually he had spent quite come time designing the guild hall itself.

Nodding and giving a slight bow, Ardere smiled ever so slightly. Many thanks, it is quite something. Taking a few steps forward to give her some space, he put one hand on his side and kept the other limb by his alternate side. Waiting for some instructions as to what she wished to gain from this training, he noticed that she mentioned Fairy Tail. While he was not a personal friend of Kira, that guild was certainly one of the most well known legal guilds in Fiore, and he respected what they had accomplished. While she did not have a particularly powerful aura, it was quite unique. Judging by her determination to come all the way out here, he was certainly intrigued as to her magic. He was known as the Fire King, so perhaps it was expected to have people interested in seeing what he knew. From what he knew he was the strongest fire mage in terms of the legal side, but he had heard of a dark mage who could rival his power. Perhaps he would test that some day, but for now he was interested in teaching this young woman.

Thanks again, it does have a very good Dojo feel to it. Just fire off a spell or two to let me gauge where you are at, then I'll do a demonstration myself. Then we'll go from there. Sound good? Awaiting her response, if she responded positively he would take quite a few steps behind her to give her some room to breathe. Ardere was quite interested to see what kind of flames she could produce, and he could give her tips on the other element as well. While fire was his specialty, he had amassed quite the amount of knowledge on magic in general, and had helped people with a few different elements and forms of magic. He was kind, but he would push her to her limits to get her stronger.

Widening his eyes a bit, Ardere had to restrain himself to not interfere. She seemed to have control for a moment, but as the flames moved up he could tel it was hazardous. Sucking in the bright flames, he limited the amount of burns and melting she would take. As a flame slayer, it was an easy task to suck the flames away. Quickly rushing over to examine her wounds, he brought some bandages. Holy crap, are you alright? The guild master had seen magic backfire before, but never such as this. The look in his orange piercing eyes was one of concern, but also of intrigue. What was causing this woman's magic to backfire? Pressing his fingers to her armor for her arms, he disassembled them using crash magic so the metal did not stick to her skin so roughly. Wrapping the clean bandages around her wounds, he could not help but wince. It pained him to see a young girl in this sort of pain from her own magic, it reminded him of when he was first mastering his flames. While he had not burned his skin like this, he did know how hard it could be. It's not your fault, you'll get the hang of it I promise.

Rubbing his chin, he was quite curious as to the purple glow he had seen earlier when she activated her magic. It was a mark of sorts, obviously one of very powerful magic. If Ardere had to guess, it was a seal of sorts. He had never encountered such magic, at least not in a long time. The closest thing he could describe it to was that of Hades, but that was only due to what Hephaestus had shown him. Twisting his lip as he tended to her wounds, the fire mage would also look at the mark. Did you get that mark from somewhere, or were you born with it? Also this is gonna sting. Disinfecting her wounds with pure alcohol, he would finish wrapping them. Holding her down until he was done, he did not want her jumping away before he patched her up. When you focus on flames, do you focus on rage or serenity? Just curious as to your method. Standing up, he flipped his cloak back again. This young woman was quite intriguing, and if he couldn't do something for her physical body, he could give some sound advice to help her out.

Hating to see her in pain, Ardere was glad to see that she was feeling some relief. He had known for a long time that he had fatherly instincts around many people, and injuries upon good people brought that out in him. You'll be fine, I'll help ya the best I can. Helping her up as she talked, he would move her over to one of the benches. Take a seat here. Setting her down, he listened to her words intently. This young woman had come quite far, and she had an interesting past. He was certain that mark was the cause of her problems, but only she could overcome this. Stepping back, he cracked his shoulders and arms, popping sounds emitting from them. Taking his spot a good deal away from her, his orange eyes full of flames. While anger can be the most powerful emotion, you have to know how to control it. Don't let the anger control you. Black flames began to swirl around his body, even though he was a distance away from the young woman it was likely that she could feel their intensity.

I tend to find a sense of inner peace when training, but I have found my strongest moments were when I was angry. But my anger comes from innocents being harmed, or those I care about. You just have to find your motivation. Turning away from the young red headed woman, he drew his arm back. Punching it forward, a drill of black flames erupted from his fist. This drill was massive in size, larger enough to scrape the walls and the ceiling around the fire mage. Fortunately LeeAnn was behind him, and would not be harmed but his flames were quite intense. Considering the training room was rather large, his flames scorched across 80 meters before creating a point. This was perhaps one of his most powerful spells. Flame God's Judgement! The flames looked like they could destroy half the building, but the magic resistant metal within the Dojo prevented that. Once the flames dissipated, he turned to the young woman. Like that.

Slowly walking back over to the red headed girl, Ardere kept his armor covered arms by his side. The young woman's words got to him, he could empathize with the way she felt but he had come to his own conclusions over the years. Crouching down in front of her, due to his height he was relatively able to still look her in the eyes. People do hurt each other, yes. But there is a lot of good in the world too, after you've been through a lot it's just hard to see sometimes. Conviction is the key, you need to fight for what you believe in and don't stop. Eventually things will get better, but unfortunately it's never easy. Standing back up, it was now that the woman's companion would appear. He was a rather interesting looking creature, and he was capable of speech. The two appeared to have quite the fun relationship, it reminded him of the way he and Celica were most of the time. Nodding, he folded his arms. Slow it down, don't hurt yourself. The more she pushed, the more her wounds would hurt.

I'm sure you do a great job with it too, I'm Ardere. Her companion was fairly intelligent, and he was looking out for her like a good friend would. It seems you do have a friend to rely on, and you can consider yourself having made one more. Keep these people close. While I may be a great judge of character, only you can overcome your own problems. It's going to take a lot of work and focus, perhaps anger is not the right thing for you. Maybe you need to find some peace of mind, a place in your mind that you can forget about everything. You just have to relax, the more you tense up your body the worst it will be. Taking off the long cloak he had been wearing, his Samurai armor was now fully revealed. Putting leather covered hands on his hips, he let out a slight sigh. When you're ready, we'll try something more simple.