A Wizard's Grace

Kirara went back to the park bench that Psyche had recently placed her on. She hadn't been assaulted physically by the monsters, but for her it felt as if she had been trampled by four dozen horses. She did not want to use her 'chaos eye' again anytime soon. She did need it at the time, however. It was the only way she would have been able to make the small amount of money she had. She was practically homeless, and she didn't have a stable income, unless she continued to go about doing job, after job, after job. She didn't really like the idea of that, but it would be a reality that she would have to face.

The freshly watered grass in Magnolia filled her nostrils with a scent that reminded her of home. She missed her family dearly, but the last thing she planned on doing was going back home. Her newfound freedom was the best thing that had ever happened to her, and she didn't plan on giving it up. However, she did need to figure out a plan; how to stay sheltered, fed, and somewhat comfortable. "I need to take a moment and think about things..." She said to herself. "Now, there are a few things I'm gonna need if I plan on, you know, living. I'll need a place to stay, which takes about 200 jewel per night at that inn. I'll need food, which would also be another 200 jewel. Water and everything else will probably be provided at the inn, so that leaves me with 1500 Jewel if I stay at the inn tonight. Good enough." Kirara grabbed her bag, and headed toward the inn.

The inn looked very friendly and welcoming to all new guests. It had a big sign that said "Need a place to stay? Better be willing to pay!" Hospitable was not a word that one would use for those who were not 'willing to pay'. However, it did have a very nice looking exterior. The rectangular building stood at about 3 stories high facing north. It was wooden, but very sturdy. It had two concrete steps leading to leadign to a recessed rectangular opening with a double door. It was a rather large door, but not something that she wasn't used to dealing with. Each paneled wood door contained three glass orbs i the upper corner of the door that lit up.

Kirara walked up to the door and knocked on it. As she knocked, she was quickly greeted by a peculiar man. He was tall and rather hyper. He wore a pink and white shirt with 4 buttons, all unbuttoned, green pants that were tight in the thigh area, but loose below the knees, and no shoes. He was very spirited and lively, as he moved and spoke extremely fast. "Hey, how are ya? Interested in staying at the inn? That'll be 200 jewel a night. You look like a very young girl, do you have the money to stay here? You know we don't accept window shoppers. You can only stay if you're willing to pay. The man spoke a thousand words a minute, and this was nearly meant literally. Kirara tried to get several words in, but he just kept going on. "Do you know I saw you on the park bench? If that's where you sleep, you can't possibly have money to stay here. Or do you? Do ya?"

It appeared the man was finally enabling Kirara to get a single word out. He was a rather strange character indeed. "YES. Yes. I have the money to stay here." Kirara was somewhat loud when she first spoke. She had to make sure she got those few words in before he began to talk up a storm once more. "Oh, really? Show me. I won't believe it until I see it. You don't look like you have it. Are you sure you have it? Where are your parents? DO they know you're out here." Kirara quickly pulled out the 200 Jewel in her bag and the man finally shut up. "We welcome paying customers with open arms, step right in!" He motioned for Kirara to enter, and as she walked in, she was alarmed by what she saw. There were a lot of people there, which surprised her because of the outrageous prize. All of the people in there appeared to be just like Kirara, mages.

"Do you get a lot of magic users here?" She nearly regretted asking that question, but all the man did was nod. As she stepped inside she noticed a job request board. "Exactly what I needed!" She cheered as she approached the job board. The first thing she looked at was the reward given by the job, as money was a huge need in her life at the time.

It seemed as if she was being driven by the same thing as her parents: money. That's why they ventured around the world. They traveled far and wide and created their own estate off of the money they earned by performing jobs... without magic! The only resource they had were their martial arts. Of course, they didn't do jobs that were extremely dangerous. They always did ones like Kirara was. It was hard to believe that the descendants of two magic using parents were born without magic! And then they only produced one child that was able to use magic, and that was Kirara. As much as a novice as she was, she was pretty good with her magic. She wasn't the best, but she was far from the worst. Her only real limitation is her future sight. That has caused the greatest strain she has ever had in her entire life.

She eyed the job request, wanting to know every little detail so that she knew exactly what she was partaking in. "Seems dangerous... but the reward.... but it's dangerous.... The reward is worth it!" She said it pretty loudly, and a rather buff and large man approached her. "You sure a young girl like you should be taking a job like that? Let the big kids handle it." Kirara heard kid and got a bit frustrated. She didn't appreciate him stepping in and trying to tell her what she can and can't do. She was able to make her decisions, and she wasn't gonna let him persuade her to give up on it. "My fellas and I were gonna take that job, but we can't get it if you're in the way.""Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I got it first, so I'm taking it." THe strange man from before had stepped in between them, trying to calm down the situation.

"Now, now. There will be no fighting in my inn, take this mess outside." He motioned for them to get out. "I think I will go. BUT, I'm going to beanstalk village to complete this job. If you have a problem, bring it up with someone who cares." Kirara could call this battle a victory, as she had not backed down from the big bad bully, and she stood her ground against him, even though he was about twice her size. She took her jewels back and headed for beanstalk village.

She furiously exited the inn, angry, yet satisfied at her verbal victory. She had performed fairly well in a situation where the odds, if there were to be a fight, would be against her. Though she didn't care that she was heavily outnumbered, she stood her ground for what she wanted to do. She got tired of being told what to do. It was time for her to be free and do what she felt was right, and what she felt was right was doing this job. More so after she had been ordered not to do it. She wanted to perform the job, and perform it well, just to spite those awful brutes.

As she left, the biggest one from before had followed her out. "Sure you wanna continue you what you're doing, little girl? A lot of people tried to do this before, and they all came back in caskets. What makes you think you'll do better?" However many times he tried to discourage her, Kirara would not listen. Instead, she got infuriated with the many attempts. "What makes you think that a highly skilled individual like myself is unable to perform such a task? You don't know me, so you don't know what I'm capable of. I could very well be the princess of Fiore! I'm not, but you wouldn't know that. Just like you don't know if I'll be able to complete this job or not. Actually, you do. I'm telling you now, I'm going to finish it. And I don't need help from any of you people." Kirara stomped off.

"Now, all I need to do is to figure out how to get to beanstalk village..." She resorted to her normal, well thought out plan; asking strangers. She tapped on a young man who looked to be around her age, and attempted to win him over with her little girl charm, though the boy wasn't much larger than her. In the books that she read, a lot of women had to charm the men in order to get what they wanted, and Kirara wanted directions. "Excuse me, do you know where I should go to get to beanstalk village?" She said this as sweet as she possible could, of course making an adorable face while doing it. Though, normally someone would not have to do such a thing to get directions, but it wasn't uncommon for Kirara to lack knowledge of the world, but the young man didn't seem to mind.

"I-It's, I mean, there's a boat that can take you right over there." The young man appeared to be starstruck! Kirara could have possibly drained him for a few jewel, but she wasn't a dishonest person. To her, something like that i disloyal and rude. She had yet to become a legal mage, but she most certainly steered toward the path of righteousness. She treated everyone with respect, up until they disrespect her, and she's initially kind to everyone, unless she's given a reason not to be. She was kind of a tough girl, and she didn't take any type of mess from anyone! She would always stand up for herself, no matter who it is. Unless it's her parents. She would stand against them to an extent. However, they're her parents, and showing disrespect was... disrespectful.

She got on the boat, paying the man in charge of that position as she got in. She settled herself on one of the seats, and prepared for the ride. After sitting for a few minutes, a passenger on the boat approached her. "Are you headed to Beanstalk Village?" The woman shook a bit as she spoke. It seemed natural, considering she was an elderly woman. She had gray her, and her skin was far from perfect. Though she appeared to be very sweet. "Yeah, I am." Kirara looked the woman up and down, but went unnoticed. "Oh, dear. Do you know about the tragedy that has taken place there? It's very bad. A young woman like yourself could get hurt." Kirara slightly smiled. "That's actually why I'm headed there. I'm going to help fix this problem."

"You're such a sweet young girl. Not many people were willing to help us. I went to that town to search for help, but no one seemed to want to accept the request." Kirara remembered the man she had encountered before. "I met someone who seemed pretty eager to get me to not come here. He said that he was going to do this himself, but that could have easily been a lie. What if he was the one responsible?" The last sentence was one that took place in Kirara's head. She didn't want to admit that she may have possibly let the cause of the problem slip right past her. "Oh, bless you young souls. So sweet and willing to help our little village. I appreciate you very much."

"It's not problem at all, I'm happy to help." Kirara smiled at the old woman. "My name is Kirara by the way. You are?" "I'm Michelle. Nice to meet you, Kirara." "Likewise! So, can you tell me a little about beanstalk village?" Kirara needed a little prior knowledge before getting on with this quest. She didn't want to go into it completely blind, and she had an opportunity to learn as much as she could about Beanstalk Village, and she gladly took it. Well, as you may already know, our little village resides in the northern forest of Fiore, so you'll likely see a lot of wildlife. Our village holds a big weight when it comes to the production of farm and produce. But lately, the crops have been withering, and we can't figure out why. They began to sprout black thorns, and began to glow a very strange color. We fear that there is an ominous presence at hand." The old woman looked a bit saddened by her explanation. Facing the truth about a bad situation is always hard, and Kirara understood that.

When the woman's speaking began to cease, the boat had finally stopped in beanstalk village. "Oh, please come to my house. I would like to serve you some tea." "Thank you, I'd like that. Getting a little nourishment would help me figure this out. Kirara walked to the woman's house, seeing a lot of glum faces along the way. This epidemic seemed to have been causing a large toll on the residents of Beanstalk Village. This could largely be due to the fact that without the production of goods, they won't be able to sell anything, therefor there will be no income. As they arrived at the woman's home, Kirara went up the few steps to enter the woman's home. She lived in a small place, and she appeared to be the only one that lived there. Kirara saw pictures of numerous people whom she assumed to be the woman's family.

"Sit here, I'll be back soon." Kirara sat where the woman instructed and waited. The woman soon returned with cookies and tea. "Thank you very much," Kirara was guilty of being a messy eater... and a very greedy one. She devoured all of the cookies in a matter of seconds, and gulped down the tea quicker. "Thank you, but I think I should be going now." Kirara exited the house and started walking toward the field of damaged crops.

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

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'Monster Dice' :

The moment she set foot on the field, a large number of hazardous looking vegetables popped up. "W-what?" Kirara began to count the number of crops that had suddenly sprouted from the ground. "1, 2, 3, 4.... 25... 30!??" Kirara was extremely shocked. She began to prepare herself to call upon one of her gods, but right as she clasped her hands to perform the prayer, she had been charged at by one of the corn crops. However, Kirara managed to jump over it. She attempetd to try once more, but five of the other corn crops had charged her. "Well, looks like it's time for me to do things on my own!" Kirara clenched her fists and prepared for attack.

"I can do this." SHe said to herself. She didn't have much experience with fighting, but she read books that included them, but she was also unsure of what good that would do her. Without a visual representation, other than the one in her head, she had no clue how most actions were performed, but she was willing to give it a try. She stood in a battle stand, waiting for them to approach her. She stood firmly on the ground, but not so firm to the point where she was unable to move around at will. Only five of the crops took an interest in her, all of them were the corn crops, but the others seemed to be indulged in their own activities, which was strange to her. As they charged at her, Kirara grabbed the arm of one them, placing it past her face, and putting her other arm on the other side of it's face, giving her the ability to lift it off the ground and throw it at the other attacking corn crops. "W-what? Did I manage to do something like that?" Kirara was extremely surprised. It had been the first time she had even attempted to do something like that, and she pulled it off flawlessly.

Kirara thought it was time to stop waiting for them to attack her, so she charged at them this time. She punched one, launching it into another, dodging the attack of another in the process. She then kicked another into the air, grabbing it and slamming it into the ground shortly after. She then threw two punches at it, forgetting about the other ones. THis was a mistake, however, as she had been hit by a blasted kernel from another corn crop. "Ow, that hurt!" She shouted.

Kirara held her arm that had been injured from the attack. She wasn't use to getting harmed, so she was definitely a little shocked by it. "C-calm down, Kirara. It isn't that bed." She looked at the area she had been hit in, and noticed that it had torn through her clothing. She could see a slight bruise on her arm from it. The area was extremely red. She let go of her arm and stood up. "Hey, don't think that measly attack is gonna do me in!" She shouted, unknowingly gaining the attention of all of the other plant demons. "Don't think we'll be defeated by some bitch in tacky clothing!" She was a bit shocked at the language, but that made her a little more interested in defeating them.

She clenched her fists, and awaited for them to attack. They all charged at her simultaneously, but were in different area. She took advantage of this by kicking the closest one toward her in the face, while dodging the corn assault of another in the process. She evaded the attacks of the broccoli demons, grabbing one in the process and throwing it at the other plant demons. She was charged by one of the corn plant demons and jumped over it, only to be hit by an incoming kernel. She fell to the floor, but quickly recovered. She panted, as she was running out of energy, and she was vastly outnumbered. The plant demons stared at her, and she stared back. "Hurts doesn't it? Maybe we'd go easier on you if you dressed better, like us. You could use a little yellow in your wardrobe."

"It's now or never." Kirara clasped her hands together and began to chant. "In dire trouble I appear to be, please come forth and give your aid to me. Through faith and worship I shall uphold, lend me your strength, Palaemon!" With those words, he appeared. The crop field became encircled in water. "I saw how hard you workd, and I'm very proud. You held out for a pretty long time with such a large number of enemies. Palaemon smiled at her. "Thanks. I'm not really used to fighting on my own." Palaemon nodded at her. "Hop on the cuttlefish, I'll protect you now." Kirara did as he instructed, and sat down on the cuttlefish. If anything would protect her from the plant demons, it was the cuttlefish. But deep down inside, Kirara didn't want to be protected. She wanted to help, but she knew she was in no condition to do so.

"I don't want Palaemon to have to do this alone, so I'll call for Nemean." Kirara clasped her hands together and began to chant, "Come and see me on the outside with your deadly lion hide. Thick and strong is what you are, truly you are a shining star. Come in this ocean of cerulean, for I call upon you, Nemean!" And with the chant, Nemean appeared. "It's been a while, Kirara. Haven't needed teh strength of your strongest God?" Palaemon scoffed at the remark. "N-no, it's not that! It's just, uh, I'm not sure, hehe." She actually wasn't sure why she hadn't been calling on Nemean. He was very strong, no doubt about that, but Kirara had a tendency to call on Palaemon whenever she was in trouble.

Nemean immediately began attacking the crops. He jumped on one of them, clawing away at its kernels. "Ugh, how tasteless! My beautiful kernels!" The corn plant demon seemed to be a bit distressed from the action, which was fine with Kirara. Palaemon didn't fall short with the attacking either. He trapped 10 of the crops in water orbs, using the denseness to crush them. "Nice going, guys!" Kirara shouted. Palaemon went to where all of the broccoli plant demons were gathered, and charged at one. "Wouldn't it be faster if Nemean used his ability?" Kirara had forgotten that Nemean had a spell that only he and Kirara could activate. Kirara forgot that she could activate certain spells for the Gods as well. Kirara directed her magical energy toward Nemean through her hands and began to speak, "Serrated claws!" With those words his claws grow 3 inches, and become serrated, giving them jagged edges, making them sharper.

He began to ravage the broccoli crops, slicing and dicing them up with his sharpened claws. Palaemon didn't want to get left in the dust either, so he created five needle like structures out of the water, which were extremely sharp, and aimed them at one of the broccoli plant demons. Once the attack landed, the demon disappeared. As the number of plant demons began to fade, a lot of the other crops began to slowly revert back to their normal appearance. "I-is this how we win?" Kirara muttered to herself. "I'm gonna help speed up this process!" Kirara jumped off of the cuttlefish and hopped into the water. "M-miss Kirara, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to help you guys!" Kirara sawm toward one of the plant demons, jumping on top of it and boosting herself into the air. As she fell to the ground, she hit it with her elbow. "Good job, Kirara! You're becoming pretty strong." Kirara cheered a bit in the water. She then swam to Nemean, getting on hid back. "I have an idea. Gather the attention of the plant demons." Nemean did as instructed and let out a giant roar, which alerted all of the plant demons, causing them to come toward him. Once they were in a good enough range, Kirara began to shout. "PALAEMON, CREATE A TYPHOON FROM THE WATER!" She motioned for Nemean to vault into the air, and he did as instructed. Once in the air, Kirara instructed him to return to the heavens.

Kirara landed on top of the cuttlefish while Palaemon was stirring up the typhoon. The remaining plant demons had been trapped inside. "What now?" "Attack them from the inside." Palaemon nodded as he began to attack the plant demons with the needle like structures which he had been creating from inside the water. "Alright, release it!" Once he had released them, the water fell into the soil, nourishing all of the crops and returning them to normal, including the ones that had recently been destroyed. They somehow managed to return to their previous healthy state, though they weren't in the ground anymore. Kirara and Palaemon collected the crops that had been recently by them, and brought them to the chief of the village.

As the approached him, he appeared to be shocked, amazed, and extremely happy at the same time, which was unusual to Kirara. She didn't know people could feel so many emotions at the same time. "We have completed your request and got rid of whatever had been cursing your crops. Everything is well now." Kirara smiled at him, and he smiled back. He gave her a hug and lifted her in the air. "Thank you so much! Our village is no longer cursed!" Kirara left the chief's office and went outside, where she and Palaemon had been greeted by the Beanstalk village residents. They all shouted and thanked her. As she navigated her way through the crowd, she spotted a familiar face; the old woman from before. The old woman hugged her and thanked her. Kirara hugged her back, receiving her reward from the old woman, which was odd to her, but she didn't really mind.