Mashyuu and Sorano in: Scare away those thugs!

Job Details::

Mashyuu and Rocky, two members of Sacred Gaia and Wizards of Sabertooth had once again been called to the town of Hargeon to help someone else with a problem. Mashyuu was honestly starting to think that he was in town seemingly every other week. The Earth Wizard was even getting to the point that he had been considering buying a home in the city just to have a place that he could hang his hat during his jobs in the town. The sun was just hitting the apex of it's rise, signaling to the Slayer that the time was hitting noon. He stopped at a small bench and sat down to lace up his favorite pair of red and gold high top converse shoes. The long red laces flopped down almost hitting the ground from the highest point of the bow he made. Mashyuu ran a hand over the bright red shorts he wore then petted Rocky behind the ears as the small Earth Elemental panted like a dog and smiled up at the Slayer. Mashyuu thought about why he was in town this time and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Ya know Rocky... I don't know why there is even a guild in this town if they keep calling us. Sabertooth to do jobs here. What do you think little buddy?" He asked but before Rocky could even attempt to answer the golden ring on his right index finger echoed with a mental voice on the Dragon Slayer could hear. Stay alert Mashyuu, remember you are to meet a Fairy Tail Wizard here and it wouldn't do you any good to get off on the wrong foot with her by boasting about your power or how often you come to this town's rescue. The ring chided the Stone using Wizard. Mashyuu rolled his eyes and leaned his arms over the back of the wooden bench he was sitting on while looking over the various small shops in the small district he was in. He wondered what small time gang could possibly be shaking down shop owners for protection money or how much they could really get from the shops at this point? It couldn't have been much.

WC: 373

Now, unlike Mashyuu, Sorano and Hoshi hadn't actually been to Hargeon many times before. In fact, most of the jobs they'd done were in all sorts of different cities and places all over Fiore and even in other countries, but perhaps only once or twice to Hargeon. So, much of what the two Fairy Tail mages knew about this city came from books and retellings and recollections from other guild members, along with some stray information about the guild there, Lamia Scale.

"It'll be interesting to see what Hargeon's like, right, Sorano-chan?" A small voice piped up as the two mages soared through the sky, it's source a small tabby exceed who was grasping onto straps designed for the purpose that were attached to her friend's back. "I suppose so, Hoshi. What do you suppose this Sabertooth mage will be like?" Sorano replied, her voice just as cold and emotionless as usual. "I have no idea, Sorano-chan, but I hope he's not scary..." See, Hoshi was basically the definition of the phrase "scaredy-cat". Being terrified of just about everything, it was hard to find a moment when the exceed wasn't worrying about something. Sorano did her best to boost her friend's confidence, but it was difficult to comfort the exceed.

"Don't worry, Hoshi. There are plenty of rowdy mages in Fairy Tail, so even if this mage is scary, I'm sure you can manage. We've worked with all sorts of people before, right? Hey, I'm sure he can't be much worse than Kinzoku-san in a bad mood," was all the letter mage could think of to say. As they neared the port town, Hoshi began to angle downwards, and after checking the job form, found the place they were to meet up with this Sabertooth mage. Sorano's aura vision soon sought out Mashyuu, and the began to walk over, Hoshi flying beside her.

"Um, excuse me? Are you the Sabertooth mage assigned on this job?" Sorano asked, holding up the form. "If so, I'm Sorano Granon, and my companion is Hoshi. We are the Fairy Tail mages assigned on the the job. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Mashyuu started to give up on the Fairy Tail Wizard coming to help him when Rocky started to yap happily. Mashyuu looked over in the direction the dog was barking and saw the girl coming closer to the Earth Wizard. Mashyuu waved at her and stood up to greet the smaller woman while extending his hand to shake hers and nodding at her flyer."Yep, I'm Mashyuu. Slayer of Sabertooth and general doer of good." Mashyuu said with a cheesy grin on his face. His deep blue eyes watched the woman carefully for a moment while trying to get a feel for her and the cat at her side. He had heard about the Exceeds and learned that they tended to meet up with Slayers to help them. He kindly nodded at the woman and the cat then went on. "Are you a Slayer? I ask because of your friend here." Mashyuu's nostrils flared up while he took in the scent of the cat and fear or maybe it was just worry he smelt. "Why are you afraid?" He asked, not knowing why something that should be happy to see another Legal Wizard would be worried about it. Mashyuu cleared his throat and pointed to the stone Elemental at his side. "Oh, I'm sorry I don't work with Wizards I've never met before often. This is Rocky the Earth Elemental. He can change into a rather large Gargoyle." Mashyuu explained while turning to walk towards the shop they were hired by. "So I have been sitting here for a while but haven't seen anything that would constitute as thugs. I'm not even really sure what's going on. Maybe this is a joke. But there has been a bird... A Tucan I believe. It keeps flying around here but I don't know where they even come from. I doubt any are native to here." Mashyuu explained. It wasn't so much that he didn't know why a bird like that would be flying around but more that he thought it could be a spy, or a look out for a well organized criminal group. Hell it could have been a mascot. Mashyuu and Rocky came to a standing rest outside of a small mom and pop's shop that had a battered sign that once displayed the owners names. It was likely a warning to the owners that they needed to pay. Mashyuu himself felt bad for even taking the money they were offering the Wizards but he didn't want to insult them by not taking it either. "Lets see what we are getting into..." Mashyuu said to the girl and pushed open the wood and glass door while stepping inside...

WC: 454

Sorano tilted her head to the side as Mashyuu asked his question, then shook her head slowly, in slight confusion. "No, I'm not a slayer, I use Solid Script and mirror magic. Hoshi has been my companion for a few years now, I found her in the Phoenix Mountains awhile ago," she said in reply. Then, as Mashyuu seemed to take in the smells around him, Sorano raised an eyebrow at his next comment. "Why are you afraid?" This was obviously directed at Hoshi, as Sorano literally could not feel fear. Being emotionless had its advantages and disadvantages, but the inability to feel fear was a double-sided sword. However, Hoshi definitely feared enough things for the both of them, and the letter mage only had to look to her exceed companion's aura and check if the fear was Afraid, Really Afraid, Super Afraid, Deathly Afraid, Nope I'm Outta Here Afraid, or Die On the Spot Afraid. It was surprisingly useful for the girl.

"I-I-, um, Sorano-chan s-says I have s-severe case of panophobia, the fear of everything..." Hoshi stuttered, and you could see her visibly shaking on the spot. Sorano tried to smile comfortingly down at the exceed, but failed tremendously with a weird expression in which her mouth was forced upwards at the edges. She then turned, and listened to Mashyuu's next comment. "I've only been on a few jobs with people from other guilds... Well, things never did turn out too well in any of those jobs. I hope this job will be successful experience for once." After Mashyuu's comment about the toucan, Sorano couldn't help but curiously tilt her head upwards. A toucan? Surely such tropical birds weren't native around a seaside port area! After gazing up for a few seconds, she did indeed notice a small aura that glimmered in and out of her vision. It broadcasted the characteristics of a toucan, just the way the Sabertooth had said.

As they approached a broken-down restaurant, the two Fairy Tail mages noticed the sign as well, Sorano barely glancing at it before having read it all. It was no surprise, then, that the reward wasn't anything too high like in other jobs. The letter mage didn't mind, having the skills and magic to survive on little money, and continued onwards indifferently. She followed Mashyuu and Rocky in, carefully noting the auras of two people, likely their clients inside. "Two humans inside. Non-mages." was al she said quietly aloud, just for the other mages' sakes.

Silently Mashyuu's new companion Sorano commented upon the two humans inside and spoke about the fact that they weren't mages. Mashyuu could feel magical power but apparently the girl could actually see magic. How else would she have known about them as the door even opened? Mashyuu glanced over his shoulder at her and half smiled. "Your a strange one aren't you?" Mashyuu asked as a pair of older folks came up to the Wizards.

"You're the Wizards from Fairy Tail and Sabertooth yes? OH We are so glad to see you! The thugs said they would be here today at One, it's only about forty five minutes from now." The old man shouted. His shock white hair stuck out wildly and his apron was covered with various smatterings of food. Mashyuu half raised his hand and smiled.
"Yep. That's us. Please, please Mr...." Mashyuu glanced down at his flyer and scanned it for the names of the shop keepers. "...Kaome. Calm down. I promise that no harm will come to your shop and the thugs won't be bothering you after today." Mashyuu assured the man and glanced up at a clock. "Sorano, you said you use solid script magic. Can you put up a force field around this place, that way if anyone gets past us they won't be able to get into this place for a while?" Mashyuu asked while spinning around to face her. His left arm reached out to adjust the short brown jacket that was on his arms. His bare right arm waved around to motion to the shops walls.

Suddenly Mashyuu's ears tweaked and his nose flared up as he picked up some scents, some of them had a small force of magic and others had a large force. While some of them didn't have any at all. "There coming. A lot of them. Come on Sorano, Rocky lets go. If anyone is afraid to do this then stay inside and try to keep each other safe." Mashyuu ordered, not letting anyone say anything to argue with him. The Earth Wizard stepped outside and twisted his body to the right. Coming down a road was a massive amount of men and women, even some stupid birds. All were dressed like a group of thugs would be and one in the back shouted out to them. "Step aside, we are here to take down these buildings. If you don't move my men are going to walk right through you."

WC: 421

OOC: Will you roll the monster die?))

Sorano tilted her head to one side, saying, "It's just an ability passed down to me through my mother's side of the family. I can see emotional as well as energy auras, and identify what something or someone's species or race is." With that, she quickly slid in next to the Sabertooth mages, looking over at the couple seated at the table. As usual, Sorano was perfectly aloof, eyes cold and indifferent which probably, unfortunately, creeped the couple out a little bit. The man's appearance was rather eccentric, with shock-white hair that stood straight up and a messy apron. However, Sorano knew enough white-haired people to last her a lifetime. Two were in fact on her team, and one other had been her old "boyfriend". Eh, to be honest, more of a one-sided relationship.

They would listen to him speak, but Sorano frowned slightly when Mashyuu instructed her to put up a force-shield. She had no spells to encase the whole area, and though Hoshi had a shield spell, it was one sided. Her own barrier spell was small, mostly for one or two person use. Thinking, she ended up combining her two magics, creating a mirror, curving it, carefully printing the word " barrier" on it, and then letting the mirror grow, along with the force shield until it could encase the whole restaurant. As it was only a C rank spell, it wouldn't last long, but hopefully it would be of use, and, the reflective surface that reflected one's emotions along with blinding sunlight might help.

As the letter mage quickly finished up her spell, she heard Mashyuu's warning and quickly sprang up, freeing one hand for mirror-spawning and writing, and one hand to grab darts or arrows, or hold up Luna to protect herself. Of course, even though Hoshi was scared to death, at the level of Super Afraid to Deathly Afraid, she wouldn't leave Sorano's side. After all, the emotionless mage was basically the one thing she wasn't afraid of. As the mage's stepped out, Sorano's eyes immediately began to scan the crowd of thugs and...toucans? Well, Mashyuu  was right, the birds were indeed on the enemy side. "Step aside, we are here to take down these buildings. If you don't move my men are going to walk right through you." Inside, Sorano secretly smirked at the irony. In her auric form, they literally could step through her. However, now, she simply raised a hand, to prepare for battle. "I'm afraid we cannot let you do that."

Stats and Stuff:

Mashyuu smiled while trying to count the thugs that were around the Wizards and animals. His straight white teeth glinted in the sunlight while Mashyuu agreed with his friend. "Like she said, can't let you do that. Besides you're early. We still have thirty minutes before your supposed to be here." The Dragon Slayer called out to the thugs that were only about fifteen feet away. Mashyuu wasn't sure how strong his current partner was but he knew how strong Rocky was the man was confident that the pair could take the thugs and likely the boss of the group two if things came down to it. "Are you more of an offensive, defensive or support caster?" Mashyuu asked during the stare down, trying to get a feel for how to best work with Sorano. Just as she was starting to speak the leader of the thugs shouted out some strange command word and three thugs with clubs stepped forward to face the group. Mashyuu half grinned and ran a hand through his spiked brown hair. "You think you can really beat me? Come on, why not add a bird to the fight. Unless my friend here has an objection I'll take all three of you myself." Mashyuu boasted and stepped out to meet them. Of course he wasn't alone, the ring on his finger was always watching his back and teaching the Earth Wizard more and more magic spells. The three thugs all looked at each other and then snapped their fingers, a toucan flew up to the side of the thugs and all three charged Mashyuu. What Mashyuu didn't see was the other three thugs step up and get ready in case Sorano stepped into the fray. As the three thugs charged Mashyuu, he simply waved his right hand out and opened his palm. Calmly he stated: "Earth Dragons War Hammer." The ground broke and came up to form a single handed War Hammer. The Slayer whirled it around in his palm and preformed a ducking and spinning swing of his weapon. It went out and slammed into one man's knee, crippling the thug but not killing him. As Mashyuu came up the hammer's blunt and heavy end smashed into the man's jaw. Thanks to the Wizard Saint Dragon Ring on Mashyuu's finger his spells had a massive boost in power and the two strikes ended the first thugs resolve to battle.

WC: 408

Sorano carefully scoped out the group. What were some advantages they had, and disadvantages? The thugs were obviously higher in number, but as for skill, she didn't know yet. Among the crowd, most auras showed no magic. However, she did notice a glimmer of magical power every here and there. "There are mages within the group, but most are just carrying weapons and armor for fighting." she stated woodenly, her eyes still flitting over the figures. Could she find a leader? She knew that most groups were weakened in confidence when a leader was taken out. As Mashyuu asked her a question about her magic, she replied with, "I can adapt to any of those, though I'm not quite as good with support."

And then... Aha. An obvious leading figure stepped out, commanding three of the thugs to go at them. Mashyuu quickly got ready to fight, taking the three on. In the corner of her vision, the letter mage noticed three other thugs position themselves in her direction. Sorano sighed wearily. She doubted they would see her as much of a potential opponent as Mashyuu, she being only thirteen after all. Still, better to take them out fast. With a few quick scribbles in the air, misty letters seemed to fade into reality, before snapping into the word "water" while made of actual water. With a downward motion of her fingers, Sorano sent the word splitting into bullets of water, and zooming towards the thugs. Then, she sprang into action, knowing that after you make a first move, there was no getting out.

A slip of her fingers into her bag revealed small feather-like projectiles which she would clutch, in case the opponents saw her coming. She couldn't use her bow at such close range, so if her favorite technique of using pressure points failed, she would have to resort to the darts. Occasionally, a small twirl of her fingers would change the direction the watery bullets came at the thugs, which she hoped would keep them confused. Coming up behind the first thug, Sorano leapt up, grabbed onto the man's shoulder, having to cling to him like a little parasite to press two fingers onto a certain spot below his ear. One Mississippi, Two Mississippi, just a few seconds but not too long, and he was down. Now, the other two opponents!

Sorano wasn't very strong, but she could jump and she could run. She rushed between the remaining two, keeping low to the ground so she received only a nick from one of their daggers, she reached up, inserting a dart onto one of their cheeks, and sent the rest of a torrent of water bullets into the other one. They weren't quite defeated yet, though, merely badly injured. She sent a glance over at Hoshi, then took care of one thug, slamming the edge of her hand into a nerve at the top of his neck. Hoshi would fly about the other thug, darting in and out, occasionally scoring her claws down his arms. As the water still had him blinded, he often hit himself, and soon grew dizzy from having to try and catch Hoshi. Sorano could easily knock him out.

As neither of them were well enough fighters to use normal techniques, they had to make do with things learned from books, pressure points. Combined with training from there mentor who tried to make moves as unpredictable as possible, their fighting style could only be described as extremely strange. Both had sustained injuries, however, as no matter how fast they could be, it was impossible not to be hit.

Stats and Stuff:

Mashyuu finished the swing of his hammer, dropping the thug with almost little effort. Wind was cut with the flip of Mashyuu's hammer as he hefted it up into the air and caught it in his hand. A punk thug with a wide pipe came swinging in at Mashyuu. Lazily Mashyuu took a half step back and used the head of his hammer to knock the pipe up into the air. Mashyuu slammed his foot straight out into the chest of the thug, sending him back a few paces. With a cocky grin on his face Mashyuu glanced over at the leader of the thugs and jabbed his hammer out smashing it into the thugs chest while the Slayer's ring told him a man was coming in from behind Mashyuu to try and take the brown haired mans head. "Rocky!" The Slayer shouted and his stone dog focused for a moment before it grew wings, a tail and sharp claws. A moment later it was the size of Mashyuu and slamming into the thug with it's sharp claws. The Thug froze solid and turned to stone. Mashyuu placed his index finger to the man and the stone man raised off the ground. "Earth Bullet!" He shouted, sending the stone man into the body of the other thug who Mashyuu had just slammed with his hammer. Both men went down hard and one changed back from the stone form to his normal form. Slowly he started to get up while Mashyuu took the chance to make sure that his new partner was doing o.k. He knew the cat wasn't going to be much of a fighter and Sorano didn't instill much confidence in Mashyuu. Honestly he was mostly afraid he would have to watch their backs but he it looked like they were doing just fine. That thug pulled himself up rushed Mashyuu trying desperately to knock the Earth Wizard down but for his troubles Mashyuu brought his hammer down straight atop the thugs knee, cracking it and crippling the man. The Earth Slayer turned to face the men while Rocky joined in at his side. "That's it huh? Can't muster anything better?"

WC: 366

Sorano glanced over her shoulder, quickly checking on the Sabertooth mages' progress. The two were skilled fighters, obviously quite strong and well-equipped in the role of battle mages, unlike the two girls. Sorano and Hoshi were a good team, however, and after knocking those three thugs out, they were prepared for another three rushing over from the other side. With her darts in hand, Sorano quickly threw three, aiming for the thugs' eyes. Of course, she was unable to get all of them,  only hitting one square in the eye, one on his arm, and one was easily batted away due to its light weight. The letter mage quickly directed the remaining water bullets at them, then charged into battle.

"Solid Script: Fire!" letters were written through the air before Sorano, and a surge of flames rushed at the thugs along with the water. This not only created a large attack, but also a substantial amount of steam in the air that the mage's could use to their advantage. As they were getting singed and battered by the spells, the letter mage quickly darted in, immune to her own spells, and, sliding low, slammed the edge of Luna into one thug's knees, causing him to crumple to the ground, and then working her way over to the remaining two.

This thug was the one who had been stabbed by the dart in his eye, and was very easy to render unconscious in a quick jab in a certain nerve at the top of his neck. The other one, however, held a thick club and was the least injured of them all. As he rushed at her, Sorano flattened herself to the ground, rolling closer to her opponent, Luna shielding her head. Then, the second she neared him, she ducked around him, barely seen in the steam, and jabbed into a nerve with the edge of her hand. She then batted away some steam, and went over to Mashyuu, breathing heavily and covered in small bruises and scratches, but otherwise fine. These thugs were pretty hard to deal with in her mind, that she had sustained so many small injuries. She would have to be moue careful.

Stats and Stuff:

Mashyuu was surprised to see Sorano do so well for herself. Normally he would have stepped in to help her out but she seemed to be doing alright aside from a few nicks and bruises. As she came up to Mashyuu's side and the last thug she was dealing with started to give chase Mashyuu whirled his hammer, letting the massive stone weapon whip through the air before he tossed it hard and casually letting it rocket into the thugs chest, cracking bones and knocking the man out. Mashyuu grinned wide and glanced down at the shorter young girl. "Hey, not bad kid. Holding up alright or do you need a rest?" The Earth Wizard asked.

A muted shout came from the crowd of men and women, then thugs started to spread as a single large man in thick armor of grey steel, carrying a rounded shield and long spear stood in front of the group of Wizards. "Seriously if you need a bit of a break I can handle this guy... I think. Armor of Stone!" Mashyuu called out. The ground under him rumbled then erupted up in slabs. Each slate of stone slammed into Mashyuu's body, leaving only his head not covered as the Earth Slayer used a spell he was becoming known for. He took a heavy step forward, slowed by his stone armor and the man with the spear did the same. Both men circled each other for a moment before the spear user made a lunge for Mashyuu. The Earth Slayer twisted and barely avoided the spear. He lashed out with his fist and slammed it into the metal shield. Mashyuu's fist struck true but did almost nothing as his attack was deflected from the now dented shield. Mashyuu scowled as the man with the spear took a half step back and lunged for the Wizard yet again. Mashyuu ducked to a knee while extending his palm out. "Stone Blast!" He shouted, pelting the monster of a man with small stones, not dealing any real damage but weakening the fighters armor. He moved to stab again and Mashyuu used a special ability he had to rocket himself backwards along the earth to avoid the length of the man's spear.

WC: 377

Sorano watched as Mashyuu easily defeated the remaining thug with a few well executed moves. The Sabertooth was definitely not an opponent she would want to go against. "I'm doing fairly well, I suppose if I had executed a few of the moves better there, I'd have less injuries but I can't go back and fix that now. And thank you, I suppose I had a good teacher," was the letter mage's reply, still as formal and dignified as always. She slipped into a brief meditative state, calming her breathing, and checking herself for any severe injuries. Finding everything to be fine, Sorano carefully checked Hoshi over, then looked up as the new man approached.

This new opponent was covered in thick armor, and carried a good-sized spear. The letter mage was honestly quite unsure as to whether she could defeat him herself. "Seriously if you need a bit of a break I can handle this guy... I think. Armor of Stone!" Mashyuu quickly sprang into battle, leaving little room for Sorano to join in. Though she was fast, Mashyuu would still have to look out for her if she entered the fray, so she would be a bit of a nuisance. It would be better if she could find a good vantage point to try and shoot an arrow or two at the opponent. Sorano was an excellent shot, so she felt she could shoot easily without hitting her ally.

Carefully becoming to Hoshi, Sorano let the exceed take her to the roof of the restaurant, where she had a nice view of the whole place. Overall, this man seemed impenetrable, with hard armor and a sturdy shield. However, everyone had a weak point, and that was usually their eyes. It was difficult to armor one's eyes, and they were so soft and easy to injure. As the man put up his shield, occupied with Mashyuu, Sorano quickly tilted her aim at an angle, directing an arrow neatly in his direction. She watched in hopeful anticipation, and sighed a little bit when he got rid of it before it had sunk in deep enough. But the man was tired, and would likely fall soon. However, and injury so close to the eye had caused blood to flow into it, making him blind on one side. She had still succeeded.

Stats and Stuff:

Mashyuu could hear Sorano fly away from the fight but knowing Fairy Tail Wizards he doubted she was simply leaving him to fend for himself. The two fighters continued to do battle, and Mashyuu smashed his shoulder hard into the thugs shield. The combined strike of his shoulder and fist smashes shattering the round metal shield. The thug stumbled backwards in time for some sort of arrow to smash into the side of the man's armored head. It didn't shatter the armor but the man did stagger and a bit of blood ran down the thugs visor. Mashyuu smiled ear to ear and pulled back his right arm. Golden electricity crackled over his stone arm while he took aim. Extending his arm Mashyuu shouted. "Thunder Flash!" The armored jacket that once belonged to his mother gave Mashyuu an ability to harness some of his mom's secondary magic and the electricity lanced out and smashed into the thugs armor. It coursed through the man and shattered the armor. The Earth Slayer grinned wide and brought both hands together right in front of him, harnessing the power of his earth Magic and cast one of his strongest spells. "Hail of Stone!" The ground around Mashyuu erupted up and whipped about, pelting the man in the face with stones, knocking him out cold. Mashyuu was starting to take deep breaths of air, feeling his magical energy drop just a bit. Most of the spells he used were his signature spells but the hail of stone and the hammer were some strong spells he didn't use often. "All right.... Who's next? Or would you rather all just run now?" Mashyuu was worried about the fight but had a good poker face. There were a lot more of them then there were of him and Sorano. But it was good that she was safe on the roof and offering cover fire. Mashyuu was capable of a few ranged spells but honestly he was more of a brawler. While the ring and gloves on his hands increased both his boosted slayer skills and the power of his earth magic, he wasn't sure if it would be enough to handle all the men. There was a hushed whisper going over the crowd until a man stepped forward. He wore a deep blue robe with a hood. It held golden runes that trimmed the suit and masked his face. In his left hand was a long staff and Mashyuu twisted his head to the side. "So you and your friend have beaten my best and worst. But can you defeat me?" The dark voice man extended his staff and bolts of pure light smashed into Mashyuu's chest. Shattering his stone armor in a single blast. Mashyuu watched as the armor fell to the floor in pieces and he flashed a worried grin. "I've taken better..." Albeit he had a lot of help. He lifted his right hand with two fingers up in hopes that Sorano would understand that he wanted her to lay down cover fire on the man with the staff to create an opening.

WC: 523

Sorano watched carefully as the Sabertooth quickly took the armored man down. The mage was impressive in his work, and she knew that he was someone she could respect. She eyed the new man carefully, critically inspecting his magic and studying his physique and weapons to gain more understanding. It seemed to be that this newcomer was a mage, and one that held his powers extravagantly. The blue robe and the over-done runes were proof of that, and the letter mage smirked inwardly at what they meant. See, most mages didn't understand ancient runes very well, besides letter mages and jutsu-shiki users. Right now, the inscriptions upon his cloak mostly held funny bits of nonsense that meant things from "tea-kettle" to "seal-fur".

She then carefully noted that despite his appearance, he seemed fairly powerful. With a magic level around the same as Mashyuu's, things might get difficult. When the Sabertooth mage raised two fingers, Sorano understood what she should do. She moved to draw her bow again, then, paused a moment, then decided it wouldn't make enough of a difference in this fight. Instead, she let a mirror form at her fingertips, the silvery surface flashing into existence. With a quick movement of her hand, the piece shattered into ten separate shards of the material for her to use at her disposal. Carefully, Sorano positioned them in careful areas where the surfaces would reflect the light just so that they would seem invisible. Then, without a moment's more of hesitation, she released two, sending them zooming over towards the mage.

If these were aimed precisely at his legs, and Sorano knew that mobility was one of the most important things in battle. Then, she released the rest in a barrage, aiming with precision at important, but not deadly points. The Fairy Law forbid her guild to kill, so she would focus on wounding him instead. His arms, his eyes, his legs, hopefully it would give Mashyuu enough of an advantage to defeat him. Otherwise, the letter mage was well-prepared to lend him support in any way she could. She usually played more of a front-line role, but supporting was doable as well.

Stats and Stuff:

Mashyuu's fingers bent down to signal the need he had for her to fire an arrow volley but it never came. The Wizard before him grinned ear to ear under his dark hooded robe. Mashyuu started to get nervous at the thought of being left to fight this foe on his own but then out of the sky a series of glass shards smashed into the Dark Wizards legs, then his arms and soon all over him cutting into his hood's sides, barely missing his eyes. The Man recoiled as small strips of blood seeped all around his body. Mashyuu couldn't help but smile at the attacks and extended his left hand, palm facing the ground and pointed at the Dark Wizard. "Lets try something new...Earth Dragons Blasting Stomp!" His right leg came up and his foot slammed down just in front of the Dark Wizard, launching Mashyuu into the sky and backwards. Where he had stomped the ground shot up like bullets, pelting the Dark Wizard and forcing him backwards. What the man wasn't ready for was the stones that shot out in a thirty five foot circle in lines. With a resounding thwack the man stumbled back again and snarled. Mashyuu touched down while Rocky rolled along the floor laughing at the Dark Wizard.

"Hmmm your friend has cut my legs, slowing me down. You must think that will help you. You're wrong. Light make: Legions!" The Dark Wizard raised his staff in the air and he started to glow, casting a C rank spell to create five fake copies of himself. Mashyuu's eyes darted between the men while he attempted to figure out witch of them were real and fake. "Damn it, I don't know...." Mashyuu muttered and backed up in time to avoid two of the copies rushing at him. Each moved with a hobble and showed signs of weakness from the attacks that Mashyuu and Sorano placed together. Carefully Mashyuu took a step back to prepare to fight as another copy came straight ahead. Then one to Mashyuu's flanks. The Earth Slayer clenched his jaw to ready for a solid hit when he noticed a shadow above him too. All four copies extended a palm and said in unison. "Light Make, Pulsar Blast!" The Earth Wizard wasn't sure what to do when his ring shouted to him. They are all fake! The fifth one! He's firing at Sorano! Mashyuu let the light envelop him but watched as a thick beam of shock white light streaked across the sky towards Sorano at rapid speed. There was nothing Mashyuu could do to protect her at this point. He could only hope that she had a trick up her sleeve.

WC: 458

Sorano carefully watched as the wizard was indeed slowed down by her attack, causing Mashyuu to easily shoot him back up into the air with a slayer attack. As he did so, Sorano carefully pulled back her bow with an arrow prepared to shoot and help her Sabertooth partner. However, her plans were quickly ruined when the wizard if the opposing side created four more copies of himself, each with the exact same characteristics. That was, to Mashyuu, Rocky, and Hoshi. Sorano could clearly spot differences in the auras of the mimics and the real one, the mimics having no emotions of their own. The fifth one, however, shone with the familiar light of his feelings, which shone like a beacon to the letter mage.

Deciding to spring a surprise attack, Sorano quickly dropped down from the roof, careful to stay low and out of sight. She ran low, or sometimes rolled across the ground, resulting in covering herself in mud. This only helped her stay out of sight as she advanced towards the field. Before long, four of the mage's raised their hands, casting a spell that would do no damage to Mashyuu, while the fifth one aimed at Sorano's previous location. The letter mage slowly began to crawl over, slowly standing behind the mage.

Her fingers flashed at her side, and, as none of her allies were standing too close, she would release one of her most efficient spells. Lightning flashed through the sky seemingly out of nowhere, as Sorano's fingers had flicked the spell up into the sky above the mage. It crashed down with him right at the center of the attack, while Sorano was completely unaffected. Her magic gave her complete user immunity, so she had absolutely no fear. Then, she would roll backwards as he recovered, leaving a magical mark on him so that he wouldn't be able to make himself perfect mimics again. The mark was designed so it wouldn't show up on any imitated illusions. She had weapons out, however, in case Mashyuu still needed help. Meanwhile, Hoshi flew over, worried about Sorano. She would blend into the ground as well, her tabby pelt a perfect camouflage.

Stats and Stuff:

Mashyuu thought for sure that Sorano was done for when the beam of light ripped through the sky but a moment later he heard a blood freezing scream as all the images recoiled in pain then turned to face the smaller woman. "Ahhhh That's it! Everyone attack!" The Wizard called out then brought his hands up and clapped them together. "Light Make: Shooting Stars!" His body lit up like a golden star before he vanished and reappeared high in the sky along with his four illusions. It looked like he was trying to buy himself some time to hopefully pick out an opening and take aim at the Wizards.

The ground rumbled and the thugs still in the fight charged. While most seemed like they would be push over punks Mashyuu was still worried that another man with armor would show up. "Looks like I get to try all my new spells today huh? Rocky air support, Sorano start picking em off. I trust you. Just don't get close to me. Earth Dragons Stampede!" Mashyuu called out as ten men charged the Slayer. Mashyuu focused all his weight and some magical energy on his legs then rushed forward as fast as he could go. His magical armored boots increasing his speed even further than that of his slayer magic making him much faster than a man of his rank and skill should be able to move. The ground trembled under each of his steps as he sprang at the men. Mashyuu barreled through the thugs, knocking them all out to his sides almost ten feet and causing each one to take a serious beating in the process. As he cleaved through the then men another armored foe stepped forward, whipping about a massive axe and grinning ear to ear at the Slayer. Mashyuu couldn't help but smile back, knowing the man would never even get close to Mashyuu with his spell active.

The man in armor and with an axe growled in anger then rushed at Mashyuu while the Wizard did the same. The result was simple, Mashyuu charged right past the man, as a wall of magical force knocked him off balance and did a massive amount of damage to the thug, shattering his round shield before he even knew what happened.

WC: 386

Sorano quickly burst back up, ready to fight some more. Now that they seemed to be focusing on just taking everybody out, she could let loose her lineage. It gave her faster speed, more strength, and magic, all in one. Concentrating on her aura, Sorano carefully let her consciousness flow from somebody, and into her aura, slowly giving it a humanoid form. As she slowly pulled away from her body, Hoshi darted over to pick up her limp physical form, carrying it up into a safer spot. As that happened, Sorano would be seen as an almost ghostly, white form made of energy.

As she stepped forward experimentally to test the form, Sorano quickly spoke to Mashyuu. "Don't worry, it's me, Sorano, not an enemy." Then, she quickly leapt into the fray along with Mashyuu, though she heeded his words and stayed a safe distance away. The aura moved as if it were dancing, weaving throughout the thugs in stark contrast to their rowdiness. Slashes of auric energy would spring from her fingertips, creating marks in the hard, tough ground.

Spinning, she broke up the earth in front of a group of thugs charging at her, throwing them back, before attacking them, her spiritual blows landing on non-vital places that would still knock them out. Though blows and attacks went through her aura form, she knew that they would appear on her physical body, so she was still careful to keep out of the way of their blows. Slash after slash, punch after punch, kick after kick. Sorano fought her way through the thugs, though not as quickly or efficiently as Mashyuu. She kept a careful eye trained on the sky as well, being suspicious of the mage that kept checking there. Her lightning had given him quite a shock, but she doubted he was retreating.

Sure enough, she could see him circling around up there, his looking for people to aim at. She began to formulate ideas as to what to do. Fighting in air would be difficult for Mashyuu, so luring him down somehow would be best. She looked over to Hoshi, wondering if the exceed could somehow help, but then decided to wait for the mage to make a first move first.

The result of Mashyuu's charge pushed the thug backwards and away from the earth using Wizard. Mashyuu focused on the armored thug until he heard Sorano speak about how the ghostly figure was indeed her. The Slayer was confused beyond hope about what the hell the woman was. She had arrows and solid script and now she was a ghost. Plus she had an exceed and wasn't a Slayer of any sort. Still Mashyu wasn't complaining about how she seemed to be ripping through the thugs as if they were tissue paper. Bodies laid strewn about around Mashyuu and Sorano while Rocky took a running start and leap't into the sky, wings of stone erupting from it's back and allowing it to take to the sky.

Mashyuu kept his eyes on the fighter in armor as he thwacked his ax into his hand then growled in rage before charging. Mashyuu met that anger and rushed forward to engage the man. Just before Mashyuu could land his blow the Armored thug stopped and twisted around, hurling the ax in his hands straight at Sorano's friend Hoshi. Mashyuu slammed into the thugs back, hitting him with a massive amount of force energy. As the thug started to get pushed backwards Mashyuu extended his palm and launched a bolt of electricity into the thugs side, blowing his metal armor to chunks. Mashyuu continued his attack by pointing to the ground and forcing a stone that Sorano had broken up to float to his finger. "Rock Bullet!" He shouted and the stone launched rapidly at the thugs skull slamming into the side of his head after whistling through the air. The Thug hit the ground, groaning in pain as light faded from his eyes and he passed out from the sheer pain Mashyuu had inflicted upon the man.

Up in the sky Rocky was slamming into tropical birds that had come to their masters aid and formed a sort of shield around the Light using Wizard. Rocky swatted birds from the sky, each strike he made with his claws turning the birds to stone and forcing them to drop from the sky and shatter upon the ground.

WC: 364

OOC: Dice roll was for Hoshi's ability))

Three more thugs appeared before her, determined expressions on their faces. The aura swept through them emotionlessly, knocking them out or disabling them in a way so they couldn't get back up without killing them. When an even larger group appeared, too big for the aura to cast away with a slash, Sorano commanded her energy form to smash down on the earth in front of her, sending a spray of stone into the air. With many thugs knocked unconscious by the blow, Sorano quickly felled the remaining thugs with brisk, efficient slashes. She spotted a small group of thugs rushing at Mashyuu from behind, and seeing as he was occupied with someone else, she sent a large wavering beam of auric energy at them, quickly knocking them flat on the ground. With sharp jabbing motions, she rendered each unconscious with hits at pressure points.

Hoshi, meanwhile, was winded from her near demise which she had been saved from by Mashyuu. She knew that she would have to do something soon, or she would just be in the way. In her current form, Sorano needed no one to fly her around, so Hoshi was free to call on her own magical abilities. She did her best to concentrate, shoving away her fear. As an almost godly aura pulsed around her, it seemed that someone, or something else had appeared. The very essence of nature filled the area, radiating from the small exceed. As Hoshi shot up into the air, the ground cracked, and two large, thorny vines sprang out with her. Hoshi joined Rocky in the sky, her eyes blazing an unusual shade of green. With the elemental's attacks and her own attacks from the vines, they would draw closer and closer to the mage in the sky.

On the ground, Sorano jabbed another thug to the side, narrowly missing a slash from his blade. With a worried glance at her physical body, she could see a few new bruises and cuts. She would have to be more careful. Spinning around, she warded off more thugs with a large slash, then rocketed back into the battle with a renewed urgency. Her auric form would eventually wear off, but the thugs were nearly all on the ground, save a few who all had that annoying armor. These, the aura quickly made her way over to.

The member 'ivyleaf33' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Normal Dice' :

Mashyuu watched the armored fighter drop with a resounding thud just as the ground opened up and vines shot out, trailing behind the Exceed that Sorano flew into battle with. Mashyuu watched as the aura of Sorano lashed out at thug after thug smashing them to the ground and either knocking them out or killing them with a single well timed blow. Mashyuu Smiled, seeing the woman had things well under control. It was time to bring the fight to that pesky light using Wizard high in the sky. Mashyuu extended his left arm and bent it at the elbow straight up while shouting. "Earth Wall!" The ground under Mashyuu jutted up six feet rapidly and launched Mashyuu high into the sky, joining Rocky and Hoshi.

The Earth Wizard pulled his right arm back while extending his left arm. From his palm, a white light appeared and a massive amount of rock and dirt spewed from the gloves. "Earth Dragon's Stone Fist!" He shouted out and extended his right palm towards the Light Wizard. The man in the sky smiled at the group that was coming towards him and simply flicked his wrist. "Light Make: Force Shield!" Mashyuu's Stone Fist smashed into an invisible orb of hard light while the man inside shouted once again. "Light Make: Prysmatic Rays!" Beams of light the colors of the Rainbow lanced out, bending around his allies and heading Straight for the Wizards and their allies.

With a heavy thud Mashyuu and Rocky were both driven into the ground, kicking up dirt and sliding along to land against a near by building. Mashyuu dabbed his hand against his chest to make sure he wasn't dead. Luckily the Wizard had survived but it was hard to be sure. Up in the sky the Light Make Wizard called out again. "Light Make: Buzz Saw!" The shield around him grew sharp looking blades of light along it in various areas then started to spin. Rapidly the Wizard came down at the ground and soared for Mashyuu. Mashyuu swallowed hard and started to look around, thinking of what he could do up until the Wizard would have hit Mashyuu. The Earth Wizard grinned and changed into a bolt of lightning and vanished, only to appear behind the man with his arms crossed over his chest while the Light Make Wizard's shield spell vanished.

WC: 400

Sorano noticed out of the corner of her eye, as Mashyuu rushed up into the air, shooting straight at the light mage. Well, it made sense, seeing as he was probably the only one there strong enough to defeat him. She would be left to make care of those armored mages, then. She sent two waves of write auric energy forward, tripping up two, then rushed in. She landed blows strategically, in the weakest parts of the armor. Finally, as some of their armors began to crack, she stole a glance up furtively, wondering how her companions were doing.

The battle above raged, light slamming against earth and vines, as Hoshi did her best to keep the light mage distracted while Mashyuu full-on attacked. The exceed would dart about the mage, entangling him in the vines every chance she could get, or lashing out and scratching the thorns on his skin. With a small shriek as the rainbows of light hit herself and the Sabertooth mages, Hoshi called the vines up to her, commanding them to pull in their thorns and wrap around her. As the exceed was stabilized, she was spared a crash that likely could have given her fragile body a serious, and possibly fatal injury.

When Mashyuu rose up to fight the light mage again, shipping behind in a bolt of lightning, Hoshi would keep the mage distracted in front. The vines would protect her from moft of the damage, and her speed in darting around in front of him would keep him plenty occupied, hopefully so much that he wouldn't notice Mashyuu until it was too late. However, the duration she could hold Mother Nature's powers wasn't long, and she knew that her control would weaken soon, and she would be defenseless once more.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Sorano smashed a spiritual fist though the armor of one thug, finally felling him. Three more came up around her. By now, the aura was starting to exhaust its energy, tiring after the period of fighting. However, she knew that she would have to defeat these thugs to complete the job, and keep them out of the others' way. Another slash of energy rippled out, denting the armor. Slash after slash, kick after kick. White energy crisscrossed the thugs' armors. One more fell, and Sorano grew even more tired.

"Hoshi! How long can Sorano hold out like that?" Mashyuu asked while his right arm started to spark again. The Earth Wizard lifted his palm up and opened his hand, sending a blast of golden electricity into the spine of the Light Using Wizard as Hoshi kept the man busy, simply buzzing about the man in the arcane robes. Mashyuu couldn't have asked for a better distraction. Sadly though he was running out of Magic and needed to give himself some time to recharge. "Rocky, help Sorano, Hoshi and I have this guy." Mashyuu shouted. The Earth Wizard grinned and rushed the Light Make Wizard. The man twisted around after being electrocuted and created a weapon of hard light. The Earth Wizard, even with his enhanced sense of sight couldn't make out what the weapon actually was. As the two charged each other and nearly collided the Light Wizard stabbed out towards Mashyuu.

Blood sprayed from a sudden wound appearing right over Mashyuu's Sabertooth Guild tattoo. Yes a tattoo and not a stamp like many others had. Mashyuu stopped in his tracks and reached up to grab the hard light sword by the blade. "Big....Big Mistake buddy." Mashyuu quipped and took a deep breath of air while pulling the blade out of his chest, letting blood pour freely from the wound. Mashyuu then pulled hard, and dragged the Light Wizard over towards Mashyuu while his knee shot up and into the Light Wizards abdomen.

The Light Wizard released his weapon and dropped to a knee, glaring up at Mashyuu while swearing something under his breath. At the same time Rocky rushed to the aid of the spirit like creature controlled by Sorano. Spikes grew from it's body as it jumped through the air and cannon balled itself into the ribs of one of the armored Wizards, dropping the man on the spot just before he could strike at Sorano. Rocky landed at the spiritual creatures side and barked once and started to growl, showing it's teeth at the remaining thugs. Without saying a word Rocky stood up on it's large legs and walked menacingly towards the thugs, it's long claws slashed out at the closest thug, turning him to stone before the Gargoyle simply pushed the statue over, shattering it in one fell swoop.

WC: 388

Sorano knew she was starting to run out of stamina as she barely dodged a spear thrust from one of the armored thugs. Usually, speed was her strongest point, and the spear shouldn’t have been a problem at all. The letter mage had never had much strength to begin with, relying on speed, long range attacks, and magic. Though her auric form gave her strength, power, and endurance, the mental strength used to control it could be exhausting as well. The next burst of energy she sent out was weak, and unimpressive. She was starting to lose energy, energy she couldn’t afford to lose right now. Hoshi knew this too, and the exceed would reply with a worried , “Not for much longer. Sorano-chan’s never had to stay in this form for this long before…not in a while.”

The exceed would briefly flash back to a time when Sorano had been in grief, and stayed in her auric form most of the time. She shuddered at the memories of how terrible a shape the young girl had been in afterwards, and the extensive therapy she had needed to go through to recover. In fact, she herself was just about to go diving down to help, until Mashyuu sent Rocky. Hoshi sent the Sabertooth mages a relieved smile, before continuing into the complicated patterns she wove around the mage. Then, she was shocked to find that Mashyuu had been hit, and quickly moved to help, before seeing that Mashyuu obviously didn’t need any. “I-Is he defeated?” she asked shakily, staring at the light mage with wide eyes.

On the ground, Sorano let loose a small sigh of relief as the elemental joined her, turning the thugs to stone with his claws. With a thankful nod in his direction, Sorano darted over to the other thug, knocking him unconscious as fast as she could. With a sigh of relief, the letter mage finally allowed the aura to return to her body, the two forms merging, and her physical body snapping to consciousness. A small gasp escaped her lips, as the pain from injuries in battle was suddenly felt acutely. Well, she had done her job, and she could tell Mashyuu and Hoshi would be done with their part soon as well.