The Day That Lightning Struck The Guild [Intro]

”It starts here…” he quietly mumbled as his feet touched the ground that appeared to be the beginning of that forest, in which the guild was supposed to reside in. He had his lack of precise knowledge about that, but a mere forest wasn’t going to stop him, was it? Quickly, he darted into the area, carrying his large chain mail sack with nothing else than weapons. They made a tinkling sound as they shook around in the sack that appeared too large for even a figure like his to carry. It was many times bigger than him, but that didn’t keep him from taking it with him. It was his precious, private armory, and if he were to live anywhere, then it would never be without them. He kept his precious thoughts about his beloved weapons as he charged through the shrubbery.

His family let him go with their blessings for his safety, but he kept thinking about them. He would surely miss his roots a lot, but things like this journey were natural. Someday, he had to take his departure, so it wouldn’t bother him that much at the moment. Besides, he could always pay them a visit in the near future. However, as he felt that peace was settling in his journey now, a strange group of shadows overwhelmed his track. He braked, scanning the area of trees and wild bushes, only to spot the presence of large birds above him. Judging by their wild dances across the heavens right above the spike-haired boy, they didn’t show off any signs of mere peaceful actions. Rather, it appeared to charge at him, and as he realized that, he suddenly felt the air push him upwards from the descent of one of the birds. It came down so quickly, and managed to land in a perfect position within the blink of an eye, in which the gust was created. Shen let out a roar of shock, before recovering his state and landing on a large branch. His teeth grinded together as he let out in mild annoyance: “What was that about…” His eyes quickly locked onto the two others that weren’t wanting to waste any time on bringing down the intruder; Shen wasn’t going to let them rip him apart or anything like that, so he rapidly leaped across the trees’ many branches. A few times were the birds close enough to grab him by the yellow scarf that he wore, causing it to shred to flakes. One appeared to come close from a blind spot, but its shadow was visible beneath Shen's feet. They were all about to gang up on him, in which he was forced to use his eye; out of nowhere, he changed direction and let two birds strike into each other. With a hand onto his left eye, he kept speeding up in worry and pain from the strain that he gained, but as he managed to make it to a small cave, his body disappeared from the rest of the Phoenix Birds. In confusion, they started searching every corner and hiding spot around, and if not for the cover of spiking stones, they could’ve easily found Shen. Sitting behind a large rock, he sighed. He didn’t know that birds were wildly hunting down humans around here; he barely knew that such large poultry lived here. Surprisingly, he was capable of wielding his sack all the way, so he sighed in relief by that fact. It might be close by… I’ll just have to stay here for a while… He took a grab on his scarf and looked at the flakes that were made. Mom… Dad…, he kept repeating inside his cool head, Someday… you’ll all be proud of what I became.

Another brave wanderer of the guild. The Phoenix Birds seemed to be keeping everything in check, and while they have not been able to find the target, no one was safe from his magic sensing while he was at the top of the mountain. Recruiting days were some of the most interesting. Many people took all sorts of forms when it came to surviving. The birds were of high security, but one can outsmart them if they were able to see through the patterns. And if Elyx truly wanted someone dead, he'd approach them himself. But this was more of a test, and he survived long enough to be considered smart and adventurous. Elyx considered things from at least a D rank mages views. The Phoenix Birds were all around A to S rank beings according to the Magic Council. With that logic, there was no way that a D rank could beat them, but it could outsmart them. Rank did not define the intellect of a being, and that was an example presented to him from here. The Guild Master was interested in this new character. So he would begin by jumping off the side of the mountain and towards the direction of the being that he could sense the magic of. It was likely to notice him, but if it were truly the strength of a D rank mage, it certainly could not get away from him. Once he did that, he would make an attempt to land about ten meters from the being that was hiding from the Phoenix Birds. A half smile was placed on his lips as he would turn his head to the side to face the newcomer. You aren't from around here, now are you? Lost perhaps? The Guild Master would ask, giving a small moment for an answer before he would continue to speak. The Phoenix Birds won't do a thing to you while I'm here. Feel free to come forward. If you can trust a stranger that much at least anyways.

Skeptical about the efficiency of his hiding place, Shen pulled up his large chain mail sack and was about to move on by the signs of no threats nearby. Perhaps... I should just make sure. Just a brief second, he thought with one hand having its fingers around his red eye. Better to be fully sure that the danger wasn't going to show up just as he was going out, or it wouldn't end well for him. However, as his red eye began to light up, he was suddenly expecting a new figure. Someone’s magic power was approaching him… dark-brown hair, a half smile and appearing to sound friendly was going to meet him in a moment. Suddenly, he held his entire hand onto his eye, feeling the lesser strain surprise him again. He was getting used to the pain, but one could never avoid flinching by it. Whoever was approaching was stronger than the Phoenix Birds. ... Kind of wasted that moment, he complained internally, slowly removing his hand from his red eye, and spotting that whoever made their arrival outside of the cave, a few 10 meters away from Shen, appeared to be just what he'd seen. Shen’s eyes were bolted towards the new guy; who was he? Perhaps he was from that guild nearby; he was about to ask Shen out, as seen. That was what Shen concluded that this person wasn't going to be a threat. “… Salve,” he greeted the newcomer as Shen would approach, his face showing no apparent expressions at the moment. Stranger-danger didn’t ring any alarms here. “You can say that I’m lost… I’m just searching for a specific guild.” As Elyx was about to open his mouth once again, Shen interrupted: "They won't harm me as long as I'm with you, am I right? I see..." Wihtout warning, and with the feeling to skip this strange moment where he predicted Elyx' question before they even left his mouth,  he calmly asked out: "Golden Phoenix; you’re from there?" He looked directly into the pupils of Elyx with his strange eye pattern; a yellow and a red eye, shining brightly, supported by the reflective light that shone into the cave. All that wasn’t just for show, in the end…

All three of us are actually." the voice that broke through behind Elyx was like ice, so cold and distant that it was almost static compared to the sounds of the forest. She was a newer member of the guild, one who had arrived only a few days ago and spent most of that time settling in. Thus? She had not directly met Elyx herself, but they would have seen each other in passing and she was well aware of his status as the guild leader, careful to stay behind him instead of going in front of him or something else that could be seen as disrespectful. Honestly the habit was not her own, but one she had picked up from her spirits, a useful habit, but still one born of the way she interacted with her summons, instead of the way she had been before becoming a mage.

      "Do I count ma'am, I mean I'm just one of your spirits." she had Aries out again, letting the zodiac ram walk around as she pleased. Doing this? Would slowly strength the young mage until she could acquire the power to take on a job. Lolita was no idiot, she knew Celestial wizards were at a disadvantage compared to most other wizards, because until they became skilled they had no spells of their own! Instead she had to rely entirely on her celestial keys, and the strongest she had was no major fighter, her attacker was Crice, a mere silver key. Thus the child wanted to gain a rank or two in ways that did not involve fighting, increase her strength until she could truly be useful, at least until she perfected Star Dress. "Of course you count Aries, both you and Circe do to me, clearly I can't do anything without you guys, so you count as my team. Which in retrospect means to me there are five people standing here even thought Circe isn't psychically here." the girl spoke up, smiling slightly at the pink haired lamb standing next to her, before she took on a blank expression again, mostly waiting for Elyx to act as she held her summons hand.

The mage said that he was looking for a specific guild, and there was not a guild within close range other than Golden Phoenix for many miles. That did not mean that the Reiaki would just assume things, though it was very hard not to. Before given the chance to speak again, the other mage would continue to talk. He questioned if the Phoenix Birds would attack, only to say that it was interesting. However, he did not seem to move from his place. Smart, not trusting a stranger. Though he might need to use his magic sensing to see if there was any difference between a rogue and a guild Master. If the both of them were difference while the Guild Master did not try to disguise himself, there was more to be taught than he expected. Being a former bounty hunter that probably never hunted any monsters, but knew more than most of the others that he ended up speaking to, he’d probably just expect too much out of a rogue mage. You could say that. Perhaps I'm a lot closer to the guild than you might think. What are you trying to get from them?So it was time for them to prove themselves. Only for a sudden new being to get caught on his radar, so that was going to have to be delayed for now. A member from his guild... The Birds did not have an interest in attacking her. So they favored her presence, and unless she was from Pharaoh's Call... She was from his own guild. One of the Aces must have brought her in, which was fine to him since he trusted their judgement.

What was interesting to him was that one of the two beings, he knew. Being one of the twelve beings to own a Zodiac Key, this was quite an honor. Now there was a new being to existence on the same plane and in the same guild. Two of the Zodiacs. How does Elyx know this? It was exhaustive research with Zack, trying to understand him and the... 13th Zodiac. Quite a battle... Even the King of the Celestials had to get involved. He shattered Virgo for it... And getting the key repaired was just full on damning. But he had done it. Aries... Another Golden Key. To think that he would have the honor of meeting her. Yet... Despite having the Golden Key of Virgo, he would refrain from summoning her. There was no legitimate reason to summon her by his side yet. Instead, he would ask the both of them a question without turning his head around. Hello there you two. Care to join the party?

What Shen’s eye didn’t get to catch was the information that Elyx was from the guild that Shen was looking for. Therefore, he tilted a little to the stranger’s reply that was being all mystic about it. He was briefly annoyed by that, and that the person didn’t just say out what his connection to the guild was; was he a member? Was he some kind of Ace? Heck, he could even be the guild master himself, but none of that was told to the red-eyed male. He opened his mouth to explain when all of a sudden, a new figure showed up; small figure, light-blue hair and the statement that she was from the same guild. Shen felt rather fascinated by that fact as his red eye darted into the girl’s. “… Salve,” he calmly greeted her, still with the same face as he’d been having for now. She was accompanied by another person, a calm, taller lady with the few yet clear traits of a… ram? Perhaps it was a part of some role, a magical one or just for show. Being in that case, he went with the friendly situation; they hadn’t tried to assault him or anything, and overall appeared quite welcoming. This was what he’d expected from a group of mages, and he wouldn’t regret the choice that he made back then. Slowly, he lifted up his chain mail sack, letting out his request: “My name is Shen, Shen of the Dao family. I come from Ca-Elum, and I wish to join your guild.”