![Senior [500]](https://i.imgur.com/Nmfn8cD.png)
![Novice [250]](https://i.imgur.com/lrYlde6.png)
Receiving another request from Elyx directly, Leila had to venture out from her comfort zone and enter the so-called Cursed Lands. This place was insane and no one should even go there, but the guild master did offer her better position, whatever that meant. She had no position while being guildless and nothing like that would ever bother her. Now there was some stupid hierarchy that forced her to wonder if entering the guild really was a good decision. She was heavily leaning towards it being the biggest mistake ever right now. Especially since her target was basement of some abandoned mansion, where unusual activity was recorded all the time. Not that she was scared of ghost... she was just scared of ghost that could attack her but she could not attack them back! That was completely justifiable fear, surely. But here she was on a horseback, closing the distance between her and this giant mansion. Sure enough, some of the windows were showing flickering light, sending chills down her spine. She didn't even know where to look, the house was too big, and all she knew was that her target was some kind of mirror. If Elyx wanted a stupid mirror, then he had to take one from the nearest shop, not send one of his mages to this place. In few minutes, she was at the front door. Hopping down from her horse, she tried approaching the spooky, halloween-like place. The wind was howling and the whole structure of this building seemed to be... our of shape at best. The whole thing collapsing on her was truly the last thing she needed at this point. But without any further ado, she opened the door and entered.
Inside, a dark corridor awaited. Definitely not inviting, some of the windows were open and slamming as the air danced around them, not exactly adding anything pleasant to the atmosphere. The whole place was dusty and falling apart, making Leila sneeze few times as she creeped about. Investigating one room after another, she found several mirrors already, but all broken. And since this was her job, she was probably looking for a magical mirror too, not just something completely ordinary. Sighing, she would run her finger on few pieces of the abandoned furniture, seeing just how much dust they collected over the years. Spooky sounds were keeping her on toes all the time too, sending shocks into her body rather often. Though, some could say that she herself was one of the more scary things here. After all, her body was bearing odd, gray marks that you would associate with curses and her hair harbored silver color, starting to be transparent the longer it was. If someone else was to meet her here, they would probably jump out of their skin and run away as soon as they could. That was actually quite amusing thought, keeping the young girl distracted from the rest of this manor. Perhaps she could wait here for some unfortunate adventurers and ghost seekers, scaring them for fun. But she could also starve to death, waiting for someone who might never come. As far as she could tell, no one actually explored this place in a while, making it pretty unlikely that she would find another living soul in here. So she just entered another room, not really hoping for anything.
It was another fairly ordinary square room, all walls, ceiling and floor completely wooden. The iron frames of windows were rusted beyond recognition and all of the furniture was taken over by cobwebs. However, there was something that did get Leila's attention. An old, grand piano stood in the corner of the room, it's black cover no longer reflective as it surely once was. Moving towards it slowly, the girl thought about perhaps trying to play it for a bit, given that all the strings inside were still functional. Piano was always seen by her as one of the most elegant tools for producing music. She knew how to play it a bit, but of course she was very far from being considerate a professional player. Still, it would liven up this damp place, surely. However, she didn't even properly touch it and the suspended upper part would fall down, slamming on the rest. The loud noise went through the entire house, echoing for quite a while. And the force it created made the wooden floor below the piano creek. More and more, the noise grew stronger. And before Leila decided that it would be a good idea to move away, the floor gave in and collapsed completely. With a loud and high-pitched yelp, she would fall quite the way along with the heavy piano through the dark tunnel, leading straight down. They would eventually hit the ground in painful manner, as the floor there was made out of solid, blue stone. Thank goodness that Leila was a mage, normal human could never survive fall like that. Or they would but with heavy injuries that would make sure they died moments later, much, much better!
Picking herself up, she sighed at her misfortune and started looking around. The place was dark, only illuminated by strange, unnatural light coming from down the stairs. Right now, she was in a blind hallway that only lead down and seemingly into a much bigger room. And since there was not much to do, even with the broken piano next to her, she started walking down the stairs and slowly entered the room. It was made out of the blue stone just like the hallway, harboring no difference at all. Though, unlike it, this room was much taller and bigger, having a single light source in the middle in form of a magical ball. Whatever it really was, Leila was unsure. But it certainly wasn't natural source of light like torches. In fact, this whole room felt strangely fabricated, especially since it seemingly served no purpose at all. The only other thing besides the light source in this room was a big mirror. It stood on four elegant, golden legs in shape of animal claws. The whole frame was made out of clear goal, seemingly untouched by time. And the glass seemed to be in pristine state, not even a single spec of dust on it. That certainly was one hell of an alarming sign. No mirror should be this clean in place like this. Unless there were ghost maids cleaning it every single day. But since Leila saw nothing that could be described as a ghostly maid, the only other rational idea was that this was the mirror Elyx wanted. So in the end, it wasn't so hard to find! She just had to touch some random piano, break the floor and get nearly killed by a fall. Easy enough. Now only to collect the giant thing.
Approaching the object with that intention, Leila was suddenly drawn in by the reflection of that mirror. It was... somehow odd. Kinda like the mirrors in circuses, where your body gets all wobbly and obscenely proportionate. Only, here it wasn't all that visible. It was more of a feeling that actually something she could see. And then, all of her instincts started screaming at her. Alarmed, Leila would jump several meters back, her fists ready for a royal rumble. What happened next, she could barely believe. She, herself exited though the mirror into reality, the glass creating waves like a water's surface. And now, there was a clone of her, staring her down. This was... weird to say the least. Unsure of what to do about this situation, she just tried speaking. "Wha-" "Hello, me." The fake would interrupt her rudely, greeting her. All the hers in this room were starting to get really confusing! "What the goodness is this?" The real one would scream out, only for the fake one to laugh a bit. "What do you think this is?" Taunting her with her words, Leila decided that this was surely some kind of trick or illusion. Lowering her body, the fake would to the very same, just like the image in the mirror. Once their hands touched the cold floor, roots would start travelling from both of them towards the other. But, of course, they met in the middle and shot out of earth prematurely, hitting absolutely nothing but the other girl's attack. Two of the same made zero, apparently.
"Okaaay, this is weird..." The real one would say, returning her body to the previous state with a slow motion. The fake would naturally follow the suit, doing exactly the same movements as the real one. "Whatever would be weird about this, me? It's only natural." The real one did not know if this fake wanted to confuse her, or if she herself was actually talking in riddles like this all the time. Hopefully it was the former, because it would painfully explain the lack of friends Leila had if this really was how she normally talked. Thinking about it, that possibly was why she had almost no friends at all. Actually... did she have any friends? Thinking about it more and more, she started realizing just how lonely she truly was... "Don't worry, me. I'm sure you could make some good friends eventually if you were allowed to live." Almost as if she was capable of reading minds, the fake would make few inappropriate comments about the real one's thoughts that dug surprisingly deep. "S.. shut up! I have plenty of friends! You don't know me..." Though her initial way of speaking was powerful and loud, as she continued that sentence, her voice would drop low nad loose it's confidence completely. "Of course I know you. I am you, after all." She had a point there, the two looked exactly the same. "Hold on, what did you mean about me not being allowed to live...?" The real one would suddenly realize that those words were even worse than those about not having any friends!
With a dark smirk, the fake Leila would start charging towards the original. "It meas you will be dying here, as all before you who tried to steal this mirror!" Assuming defensive stance, Leila tried summoning four pillars around the running fake in order to stop her. But as she did, so did she. In the very same second, they were both frozen in place for several seconds before the barriers dissipated simultaneously. And the fake one certainly didn't want to be stopped in her tracks, as she continued running as soon as she could. "Tsch..." Leila would click her tung and move back a little, gesturing her hand forward. A giant spike would fly out of the ground, angled so that it would hit the running fake right in the stomach. However, just as she summoned one spike, the fake summoned another one, just like before. The two would collide, creating a platform that allowed the fake to jump high into the air and land behind the real Leila. As they both transformed their hands and fingers into claws, they would try slashing one another. But the real one's attacks were perfectly countered by her reflection and vice versa. That was rather infuriating, especially since the real one knew that if she would drop her guard even for second, the fake would most certainly win. She wasn't just fighting against herself, she was fighting against a version of herself that was actually better than the original. Utilizing knowledge about herself and tactically using it against the opponent. She was meant to be doing that... but the clone did it instead.
Trying to create some distance between the two, Leila attempted to kick the fake in the face, only to have her skillfully jump back and avoid the strike with ease. Creating a small flower that bloomed and bore the bomb fruit, the real one took the magical bomb and started running around with it. Of course, the fake did just the same. Suddenly throwing the fruit without any warning, the two bombs would meet in the middle of the room and explode, creating quite the dust cloud. And while this blinded the fake, the real one tried to get some hits in. Finally having some semblance of hope, only to have it crushed like it was nothing at all. The fake easily countered all of Leila's attacks, even when she was supposed to be not capable of doing so. She was out of options now. Avoiding several strikes from the fake Leila, the real one would start thinking about a method of defeating this problematic foe. And then it hit her! She had ability that would create two versus one scenario. In that case, the real one would surely win. As smile appeared on her face, she would make sure that the distance between the two would be great enough. It would be a problem if the fake interrupted the incantation after all. "Hold it together, birds of a feather, Nothing but lies and crooked wings. Oh. Fly over me evil angel. Open your wings evil angel." The fake only stood still, watching as briliant light formed a magical circle next to Leila. Just as she thought, even this reflection of hers could not copy something like the evil angel! And with that, the tide would surely turn, as Xiolan now stood by the real Leila's side.
"Xiolan, dispatch of the one standing next to you!" That sharp and precise voice surely wasn't Leila's. It was the fake's. The doppelganger started commanding the fallen angel as soon as she came to be in this world. And she obeyed... a single, heavy punch would nearly land on Leila's face if she didn't block it with her hands. Of course, that was no real defense and damage was still done, even sending the real summoner flying backwards and landing on her backside. "W..what are you doing, Xiolan?" Her voice was shaking, filled with despair and shock. Her angel obeyed the fake so easily, it was nearly unbelievable. "Silly me, you don't get anything. The way you are now... there is just no way you could control the fallen angel Xiolan. She hates everyone, you included. The fact you always plead to her, apologize to her... it only makes her more angry. But she is chained with a powerful seal. Magic too strong for any of us to break. However, I am you. And thus I have the same blood as you. We are both Xiolan's master. And she'll rather obey me than good old wimpy you. So... go ahead, Xiolan. Kill her. Toy with her. Make her suffer. That is your order and you must absolutely not disobey me!" The fake Leila's voice was filled with confidence and strength, something that the real one could never hope to achieve. Surely, the things she said were true. There was no hope for this poor mage. Winning was not for her, not now, not ever. Even though she managed to pull through on several occasions, this was the harsh reality.
Getting tossed around by the angel's merciless kicks and punches, she counted at least nine wounds already, all over her body. Her strength was drained quickly too. Perhaps this was the end? The angel certainly thought it was, as she grabbed Leila by the collar of her clothes, lifting her up high into the air. And with all of her force, she threw the poor mage into nearby wall. The impact was actually so strong that the wall itself shattered, letting her body fall through it. Sudden force of wind enveloped Leila's body, as she was now falling. She was outside again. After all, the manor stood on a cliff. And apparently this hidden cellar had one of the walls right where the edge of the mountain was. Quickly realizing that falling from this height would seal her fate for good, her hands move on almost instinctive manner and grabbed the harsh rocks. Her hands were soon bloody red, as she held for her dear life. In the end, she was not ready to accept her own end. Not while looking for a stupid mirror! Even if she didn't want to admit it, Leila was afraid of death. She was afraid of dropping down this cliff and falling to her death. She had to climb back up and faced that stupid clone again, but win this time. Though she certainly was no hill climber. Just holding on was taking a lot of effort. But people on the verge of death were generally stronger and way more determined, which helped her climb up step by step, even if it was taking a lot of time. She would eventually reach the place where she fell from, peeking inside to see if Xiolan and the clone were still there. Strangely, they were not.
Status
HP: 20 (-180 from Xiolan)
MP: 45% (-10, -15, -15, 15)
Word count: 2820
Inside, a dark corridor awaited. Definitely not inviting, some of the windows were open and slamming as the air danced around them, not exactly adding anything pleasant to the atmosphere. The whole place was dusty and falling apart, making Leila sneeze few times as she creeped about. Investigating one room after another, she found several mirrors already, but all broken. And since this was her job, she was probably looking for a magical mirror too, not just something completely ordinary. Sighing, she would run her finger on few pieces of the abandoned furniture, seeing just how much dust they collected over the years. Spooky sounds were keeping her on toes all the time too, sending shocks into her body rather often. Though, some could say that she herself was one of the more scary things here. After all, her body was bearing odd, gray marks that you would associate with curses and her hair harbored silver color, starting to be transparent the longer it was. If someone else was to meet her here, they would probably jump out of their skin and run away as soon as they could. That was actually quite amusing thought, keeping the young girl distracted from the rest of this manor. Perhaps she could wait here for some unfortunate adventurers and ghost seekers, scaring them for fun. But she could also starve to death, waiting for someone who might never come. As far as she could tell, no one actually explored this place in a while, making it pretty unlikely that she would find another living soul in here. So she just entered another room, not really hoping for anything.
It was another fairly ordinary square room, all walls, ceiling and floor completely wooden. The iron frames of windows were rusted beyond recognition and all of the furniture was taken over by cobwebs. However, there was something that did get Leila's attention. An old, grand piano stood in the corner of the room, it's black cover no longer reflective as it surely once was. Moving towards it slowly, the girl thought about perhaps trying to play it for a bit, given that all the strings inside were still functional. Piano was always seen by her as one of the most elegant tools for producing music. She knew how to play it a bit, but of course she was very far from being considerate a professional player. Still, it would liven up this damp place, surely. However, she didn't even properly touch it and the suspended upper part would fall down, slamming on the rest. The loud noise went through the entire house, echoing for quite a while. And the force it created made the wooden floor below the piano creek. More and more, the noise grew stronger. And before Leila decided that it would be a good idea to move away, the floor gave in and collapsed completely. With a loud and high-pitched yelp, she would fall quite the way along with the heavy piano through the dark tunnel, leading straight down. They would eventually hit the ground in painful manner, as the floor there was made out of solid, blue stone. Thank goodness that Leila was a mage, normal human could never survive fall like that. Or they would but with heavy injuries that would make sure they died moments later, much, much better!
Picking herself up, she sighed at her misfortune and started looking around. The place was dark, only illuminated by strange, unnatural light coming from down the stairs. Right now, she was in a blind hallway that only lead down and seemingly into a much bigger room. And since there was not much to do, even with the broken piano next to her, she started walking down the stairs and slowly entered the room. It was made out of the blue stone just like the hallway, harboring no difference at all. Though, unlike it, this room was much taller and bigger, having a single light source in the middle in form of a magical ball. Whatever it really was, Leila was unsure. But it certainly wasn't natural source of light like torches. In fact, this whole room felt strangely fabricated, especially since it seemingly served no purpose at all. The only other thing besides the light source in this room was a big mirror. It stood on four elegant, golden legs in shape of animal claws. The whole frame was made out of clear goal, seemingly untouched by time. And the glass seemed to be in pristine state, not even a single spec of dust on it. That certainly was one hell of an alarming sign. No mirror should be this clean in place like this. Unless there were ghost maids cleaning it every single day. But since Leila saw nothing that could be described as a ghostly maid, the only other rational idea was that this was the mirror Elyx wanted. So in the end, it wasn't so hard to find! She just had to touch some random piano, break the floor and get nearly killed by a fall. Easy enough. Now only to collect the giant thing.
Approaching the object with that intention, Leila was suddenly drawn in by the reflection of that mirror. It was... somehow odd. Kinda like the mirrors in circuses, where your body gets all wobbly and obscenely proportionate. Only, here it wasn't all that visible. It was more of a feeling that actually something she could see. And then, all of her instincts started screaming at her. Alarmed, Leila would jump several meters back, her fists ready for a royal rumble. What happened next, she could barely believe. She, herself exited though the mirror into reality, the glass creating waves like a water's surface. And now, there was a clone of her, staring her down. This was... weird to say the least. Unsure of what to do about this situation, she just tried speaking. "Wha-" "Hello, me." The fake would interrupt her rudely, greeting her. All the hers in this room were starting to get really confusing! "What the goodness is this?" The real one would scream out, only for the fake one to laugh a bit. "What do you think this is?" Taunting her with her words, Leila decided that this was surely some kind of trick or illusion. Lowering her body, the fake would to the very same, just like the image in the mirror. Once their hands touched the cold floor, roots would start travelling from both of them towards the other. But, of course, they met in the middle and shot out of earth prematurely, hitting absolutely nothing but the other girl's attack. Two of the same made zero, apparently.
"Okaaay, this is weird..." The real one would say, returning her body to the previous state with a slow motion. The fake would naturally follow the suit, doing exactly the same movements as the real one. "Whatever would be weird about this, me? It's only natural." The real one did not know if this fake wanted to confuse her, or if she herself was actually talking in riddles like this all the time. Hopefully it was the former, because it would painfully explain the lack of friends Leila had if this really was how she normally talked. Thinking about it, that possibly was why she had almost no friends at all. Actually... did she have any friends? Thinking about it more and more, she started realizing just how lonely she truly was... "Don't worry, me. I'm sure you could make some good friends eventually if you were allowed to live." Almost as if she was capable of reading minds, the fake would make few inappropriate comments about the real one's thoughts that dug surprisingly deep. "S.. shut up! I have plenty of friends! You don't know me..." Though her initial way of speaking was powerful and loud, as she continued that sentence, her voice would drop low nad loose it's confidence completely. "Of course I know you. I am you, after all." She had a point there, the two looked exactly the same. "Hold on, what did you mean about me not being allowed to live...?" The real one would suddenly realize that those words were even worse than those about not having any friends!
With a dark smirk, the fake Leila would start charging towards the original. "It meas you will be dying here, as all before you who tried to steal this mirror!" Assuming defensive stance, Leila tried summoning four pillars around the running fake in order to stop her. But as she did, so did she. In the very same second, they were both frozen in place for several seconds before the barriers dissipated simultaneously. And the fake one certainly didn't want to be stopped in her tracks, as she continued running as soon as she could. "Tsch..." Leila would click her tung and move back a little, gesturing her hand forward. A giant spike would fly out of the ground, angled so that it would hit the running fake right in the stomach. However, just as she summoned one spike, the fake summoned another one, just like before. The two would collide, creating a platform that allowed the fake to jump high into the air and land behind the real Leila. As they both transformed their hands and fingers into claws, they would try slashing one another. But the real one's attacks were perfectly countered by her reflection and vice versa. That was rather infuriating, especially since the real one knew that if she would drop her guard even for second, the fake would most certainly win. She wasn't just fighting against herself, she was fighting against a version of herself that was actually better than the original. Utilizing knowledge about herself and tactically using it against the opponent. She was meant to be doing that... but the clone did it instead.
Trying to create some distance between the two, Leila attempted to kick the fake in the face, only to have her skillfully jump back and avoid the strike with ease. Creating a small flower that bloomed and bore the bomb fruit, the real one took the magical bomb and started running around with it. Of course, the fake did just the same. Suddenly throwing the fruit without any warning, the two bombs would meet in the middle of the room and explode, creating quite the dust cloud. And while this blinded the fake, the real one tried to get some hits in. Finally having some semblance of hope, only to have it crushed like it was nothing at all. The fake easily countered all of Leila's attacks, even when she was supposed to be not capable of doing so. She was out of options now. Avoiding several strikes from the fake Leila, the real one would start thinking about a method of defeating this problematic foe. And then it hit her! She had ability that would create two versus one scenario. In that case, the real one would surely win. As smile appeared on her face, she would make sure that the distance between the two would be great enough. It would be a problem if the fake interrupted the incantation after all. "Hold it together, birds of a feather, Nothing but lies and crooked wings. Oh. Fly over me evil angel. Open your wings evil angel." The fake only stood still, watching as briliant light formed a magical circle next to Leila. Just as she thought, even this reflection of hers could not copy something like the evil angel! And with that, the tide would surely turn, as Xiolan now stood by the real Leila's side.
"Xiolan, dispatch of the one standing next to you!" That sharp and precise voice surely wasn't Leila's. It was the fake's. The doppelganger started commanding the fallen angel as soon as she came to be in this world. And she obeyed... a single, heavy punch would nearly land on Leila's face if she didn't block it with her hands. Of course, that was no real defense and damage was still done, even sending the real summoner flying backwards and landing on her backside. "W..what are you doing, Xiolan?" Her voice was shaking, filled with despair and shock. Her angel obeyed the fake so easily, it was nearly unbelievable. "Silly me, you don't get anything. The way you are now... there is just no way you could control the fallen angel Xiolan. She hates everyone, you included. The fact you always plead to her, apologize to her... it only makes her more angry. But she is chained with a powerful seal. Magic too strong for any of us to break. However, I am you. And thus I have the same blood as you. We are both Xiolan's master. And she'll rather obey me than good old wimpy you. So... go ahead, Xiolan. Kill her. Toy with her. Make her suffer. That is your order and you must absolutely not disobey me!" The fake Leila's voice was filled with confidence and strength, something that the real one could never hope to achieve. Surely, the things she said were true. There was no hope for this poor mage. Winning was not for her, not now, not ever. Even though she managed to pull through on several occasions, this was the harsh reality.
Getting tossed around by the angel's merciless kicks and punches, she counted at least nine wounds already, all over her body. Her strength was drained quickly too. Perhaps this was the end? The angel certainly thought it was, as she grabbed Leila by the collar of her clothes, lifting her up high into the air. And with all of her force, she threw the poor mage into nearby wall. The impact was actually so strong that the wall itself shattered, letting her body fall through it. Sudden force of wind enveloped Leila's body, as she was now falling. She was outside again. After all, the manor stood on a cliff. And apparently this hidden cellar had one of the walls right where the edge of the mountain was. Quickly realizing that falling from this height would seal her fate for good, her hands move on almost instinctive manner and grabbed the harsh rocks. Her hands were soon bloody red, as she held for her dear life. In the end, she was not ready to accept her own end. Not while looking for a stupid mirror! Even if she didn't want to admit it, Leila was afraid of death. She was afraid of dropping down this cliff and falling to her death. She had to climb back up and faced that stupid clone again, but win this time. Though she certainly was no hill climber. Just holding on was taking a lot of effort. But people on the verge of death were generally stronger and way more determined, which helped her climb up step by step, even if it was taking a lot of time. She would eventually reach the place where she fell from, peeking inside to see if Xiolan and the clone were still there. Strangely, they were not.
Status
HP: 20 (-180 from Xiolan)
MP: 45% (-10, -15, -15, 15)
Word count: 2820
