[Social/Private] The earth, the Shadow, and the snow

I nod my head with a smile in excitement for what is about to happen. To take flight..in the...air. I pause as my body freezes up as the words hit me making me realize what is just about to happen as i let out a nervous chuckle. I'll just see you their Aria. I'll just walk if that is fine with you i don't want to be a burden or anything. I say wanting to avoid flying at all cost. Preferring to not being away from the one thing that has kept me safe all this time. The ground. The sweet earth that keeps me safe by allowing me to use it to avoid those who wish to harm me. To leave that sweet protector being absolutely frightening to being so vulnerable and weak with no way to fight. With such thoughts and words thought up and said i start to try and walk back towards camp, but tries to keep you within my sight. That is to say if Aria doesn't just grabs me and forces me to fly with her.

Aria's wings drooped slightly, a sad look on her face. "You should have said you have a fear of heights... " she groaned. "I would have used my other one... Just... Just shut your eyes, I think I can remember how to get back. I wanna get there before this wears off. It won't take me very long." Aria grasped Amora by the arm, and carefully placed her in between her wings, making sure Amora wouldn't fall. "I swear I won't drop you Amora." Aria took off into the air, shooting just above the treeline, and landed right on top of one, perching there as if she were a bird. "Heights aren't that scary if you learn to enjoy the sky." Aria said softly, her voice having a soothing tone to it. "You can see everything like this!" Aria took off again, and looked around for the man that Amora kept referring to as Verus, finally spotting him in the clearing where they had met. Aria set Amora down in a tree nearby the clearing. "Stay here, I'm about to do something really stupid, Amora." Said Aria Darkly, before shooting towards "Verus" with her hands glowing a bright white, before flying less than a meter away from him, and conjuring her attack."FREEZING SNOW!!" A brilliant white snowball "That's for being rude you JERK!!" She shouted, and dove back into the air with a burst of speed, rising at least 8 meters above the tree within a second or two.

Shut my eyes? i say innocently as i do just that as i feel myself get picked up, and then placed on you and without wasting a second i grip onto you tightly with my eyes closed fiercely as i whisper softly over and over. back to safe ground, back to safe ground. Over and over knowing what is about to happen as i feel the wind whipping my hair around as eventually i feel the safety of the tree once more as i quickly jump towards the ground as i create a earthen spike to slide down towards the ground and then hugging the earthen creation. Oh ground how i missed you. I say softly and happily. I then hear a attack and turns to see a snowball going after Verus. 'Oh no this is going to end badly.' i think to myself in worry as i quickly make my way over towards the duo. Seeing the seven versions of verus attack i slide my foot along the ground forcing the tendrils of earth up as it surrounds Aria and then acts like a whip shield smacking at each of the Verus' to make them back off, or back off. NO FIGHTING! We're allies people. You ruined her clothes, and attacked her. She attacked you. Everything is fine. I say not wanting this to get out of hands.

(Aria is now at 60% MP, and UA3 Activates automatically.)

Aria felt her own attack smash into her, knocking the wind out of her, and causing her to cough up blood as she was flung through several trees, and knocked out of her Gleaming takeover. before she could go very far though, an earthen cage seemed to catch her, and she looked around herself to see that she had been pulled back, and had several clones of Amora's friend around her cage. "What the hell was that cheap shot you jerk! THAT HURT!!!" she shouted at the figure, her voice taking on an angry growl. "I should have realized you fought with illusions. Especially After your power started fluctuating the way it did. But, You could have KILLED me with that." Aria was surrounded by bright red snow and Ice, which gave off an ominous feeling. "I know I'm probably on the losing end of this, but I don't like it when other people play with another person's specialty." The Ice dissolved into a red mist, revealing a very pissed off Aria with a demonic look about her person. Aria noticed Amora was trying to get the fight to stop, which elicited a scoff from Aria. "That attack I flung at him wouldn't have even hurt him really." Aria said flatly. "If he was as strong as I thought he was, I figured he would just shrug it off, y'know? Take it like a man. It's how I learned how to take a punch from someone strong enough to knock me out with a simple punch. It's why he didn't knock me the hell out when he hit me with my own attack." Aria was simply staring at "Verus", her now red eyes gleaming with hate. "Call off your illusions, and I'll deactivate my takeover."

Instead of dispersing, shattering, or just vanishing, the illusions moved around the earthen attacks and landed on the nearby trees. Amora seemed to think that Oras was attacking her out of anger, or to harm her. He wasn't really, although the girl was proving to be nothing but an annoyance thus far to him. He would respond to Amora first before speaking to the newcomer, Aria. "Never did I attack her. I got her attention and gave her a warning. If I had actually attacked her, she would be unable to escape or fight back." He turned his attention to the frost wizard, who seemed to hate his guts at this point. Didn't matter too much to Oras, he didn't ask her to be with them in the first place. In fact, he tried the opposite. When she mentioned his power fluctuating he narrowed his eyes in, confusion. What was she talking about? "If you launch an attack at someone, always expect a counter. Next time you're that careless could be your last." Take the hit like a man? Shrug it off? She was a child and could only see through the eyes of a child. When she told him to remove his illusions he thought quickly. She made the assumption based of of his fluctuating power, which didn't make any sense to him. What fluctuation? "My magic is not illusion magic. Tell me what you mean when you claim that my power fluctuates. I am not aware of anything of the sort."

I look at the two as the talk as i sigh softly and then focuses as much as possible knowing this won't stop Verus by any means at all, but at the very least hopefully Aria to try and then have a civil conversation. I lightly tap the ground with my foot as if being impatient as i form more and more earthen tendrils behind the both of them and then quickly moves to bind the two people from behind. To grab the limbs and pull them behind their back, and try to get them off the ground . With either result of failure or success for either of the two i do look at them. We just started off on the wrong foot you two. Can't we just have a nice meal to eat? You know just talk over some food to try and ease the stress of the situation? I ask hopefully not wanting this to build up into a worse and worse situation. As i glance more so towards Verus with the want of just relaxing and stopping anything that could seem hostile to another individual.

"I expected one, just not with my own attack!" Aria growled, her face flushed with anger. "And don't act all high and mighty! You might try and act like one, and for all I know, you probably ARE one, but you still act like a teen that didn't get their way! But. that's a different problem entirely. Maybe Amora can break you of that someday?" After Amora started to try and keep Oras from killing her, Aria decided to let her eyes start to shift back to their clear blue color, And allowed the bright red Ice to crumble away, leaving her defenseless and trapped inside of the earthen cage that surrounded her, trusting Amora to not hurt her. "Ok." She said softly, finally turning back to Amora "Thank you for intervening Amora. I guess both of us were out of line there...
I can buy a new jacket out by Magnolia town without any problems....The anger gave way to confusion when he mentioned he didn't use illusory magic. 'That... that doesn't make any sense!' She thought, her confusion at the situation growing stronger the more she thought about it. And it even seemed this was new to him as well! "You're... you're kidding, right?" Aria asked, her face openly displaying her confusion at his statement. "So.. you're saying that I'm imagining the fact that your strength seems to fluctuate wildly? ... no. I don't think I am..." Aria turned to Amora, and let out a yelp as more earthen tendrils surrounded her, and tightened around her waist. "Is this really necessary Amora?!" Aria squeaked, struggling against her bonds. "But that's beside the point right now. do you sense it too? His power keeps changing. Even if I was wrong about his magic, I seriously don't think I was wrong about his magic aura!"

Oras wasn't worried about the earthen attack, as Amora could only see the illusions. He made the illusion she was targeting seem to vanish, almost as if he had teleported to a different location. When the illusion vanished, he made himself visible again, calm as ever. They seemed to learn rather slowly. He turned his attention to Aria who got upset that it was her own attack that was the counter. Now who was being childish he thought to himself. "When working with or against magic, never have a narrow minded view. Learn to expect any and every outcome as magic has no limitations. Just like the world, magic is ever changing, never the same." He didn't bother remarking the child comment as it wasn't an argument he needed to waste his time on. The woman seemed to calm herself down now, her takeover form diminishing. Oras listened to her as she seemed completely shocked that Oras himself didn't know about this aura fluctuation. Oras was still and calm, though his illusions did vanish as the threat level had fallen greatly. She even called out to Amora, asking whether or not she could sense the fluctuation. If Amora focused she would, even though Oras himself didn't realize it was there it was. Shifting from ranks D, C, B, A, S, even H rank. He seemed to never be the same power level at the same time. Oras was busy trying to figure out what this could mean. He turned his attention to Amora and looked into her eyes through the visor. What was her answer...

Well maybe not necessary, but i thought it was to try and make sure nobody killed the other. I say innocently to Aria as i release the earthen tendrils from her seeing both sides are not attacking anymore as i relax. At asking if i can sense it i turn to verus and focus very intensely. Using what i have learned about how to do so. 'Okay deep breathe. exhale. Now use your magical abilities like a sonar.' I think to myself as i let my sense go out of my body sensing the energy within others. I quickly find the fluctuations as i quickly stop sensing as i nod my head having had my luck at sensing it change from S to H. Yep i sense it to Aria. He changed from something low to something higher. I say with a nod of my head as i look to Verus, and then back to Aria. I'm guessing this isn't normal by any standard. I say having never heard of such a thing in those ancestry books Verus had me read. Well if none of us know why don't we all focus on something else for the moment like trying to relax with a nice meal after getting off on the wrong foot. I say trying to divert some attention to discuss later when getting to know each other could be better.

Aria shot an annoyed glare at Oras. "I'm not narrow-minded." She said grumpily. "It's ju- Ah, forget it! That last bit fell on deaf ears I guess." Aria let out a sigh of relief when Amora freed her from the cage and earthen bindings, though she wobbled a bit and fell to her knees."... I'm pretty tired... I guess fighting someone over something petty really takes alot out of you..." Aria had a weak smile when Amora confirmed her suspicions. 'That guy's Aura's making me feel even worse' Aria thought, her eyes closing involuntary, a small wave of nausea washing over her. Aria perked up slightly when Amora mentioned that they should have a meal together, and talk everything over. "Thats... fine by me, I guess?" Aria said weakly, "I'm not really in a position to refuse either... plus we probably do need to have a civil conversation. I don't even think I got a formal introduction from your friend!" Aria turned to Oras, extending her hand out for a handshake. "My name is Aria. What's Yours?"

To say that Oras was made uncomfortable at hearing that Aria's comment about his aura fluctuating was true. He would need to look into this and be careful of himself. He had no idea what this could mean or what was causing it. And while Biology was something he was somewhat skilled in, knowing exactly what his magical or spiritual self was and being able to recognize what was wrong and what wasn't, was not something he had practiced before. His mentor knew a lot of things, but focusing on the spirit was not one of them. And He wouldn't be able to teach Oras how to study his magical side as he had yet to develop it until after his mentor had left him. He would need to go and find a specialist to examine him and give him a full report. Oras himself didn't know anyone, but perhaps a guild nearby did. The recalled his encounter with Ruvel and their relationship was a bit shaky. Perhaps, he could speak with him, and see if they had someone who could help. But that may not work out to Oras' advantage. The man was kind but he was also a living time bomb. He reacted for the littlest of reasons and kept his secrets locked more so than Oras. The second option would be the Rose guild as he met two of their wizards. Perhaps Charlotte...

When Aria agreed to join them for food Oras nodded and walked over to the spit over the fire. He pulled out three bowls and spoons, and began to pour the soup into each of them. It wasn't the most flavorful of food, but it was highly nutritious and it helped restore stamina and mana quickly. And Amora knew that whenever he cooked this, it would be a more difficult training session than before. Hopefully she'd get the hint. She'd need help this time around. He'd been watching Aria and was satisfied to see that she would not actually harm Amora. She held her hand out to him and he returned the favor, shaking her hand while looking at her through his visor. "Verus. A pleasure." After that he handed her a bowl and spoon and sat down. "Since both of you notice it, it posses a problem I'd like to work on.... Amora, I think we'll go visit an old... Associate of mine, and see if he's able to help me in any way. If he cannot, I have someone else who may be able to help us. In addition we can see if they know anything about your own mystery."

I smile rather happily hearing and seeing that everything is going alright in terms of people now getting along as i sit down by the nice meal that Verus makes and eagerly takes any portion of food that i get and happily eats it. Having been rather starved from the time from my last meal to now, and at seeing what it is taking as much as i can get knowing it is going to be necessary for my survival during this training session. Not even thinking that much to give a warning to Aria thinking that Verus wouldn't put her through a training session just yet. What is this associates speciality that he can help you with identifying this? Since i am assuming that is the case for why we are going to him. Amora says in a calm, and serious tone of voice to the man as i look him in the eyes.

"It's nice to meet you, Verus." Aria replied, her single visible eye gleaming slightly. "I hope you don't mind me staying for a bit, since I don't exactly have a house at the moment" Aria gratefully took the bowl of soup that had been offered to her "Thanks for the food~!" Aria said cheerily, immediately beginning to feel quite a bit better. "It reminds me a little bit of what I used to eat at home... That's a fond memory.." Aria carefully finished the meal, making sure to clean it after, before standing up, and walking towards her magical snowball, and proceding to scoop out a bowlful of the snow, and adding some vanilla to the mixture, as well as a cup of milk. She always kept it in her rucksack, which was where she had left it, at the base of the tree that she had met the pair at. The mixture in the bowl partially resembled ice cream, save for the fact that it had the qualities of magically enhanced food. It was snow dream, a popular treat back home that tasted like an icy variant of cake, and, depending on what you put in it, it could be any flavor, though it was typically eaten as a sweet. Aria, however, always ate it with a dash of salt, a 1/2 cup of milk, some mint leaves (Usually crushed), and just a bit of cinnamon. it nearly tasted like a cold cup of eggnog with mint leaves in it when she made it like that, and it tasted pretty good! "Ahh... it's been a while since I've had this..." Aria moaned, a delighted tone entering her voice. "...Oh! I nearly forgot, I have a question that might not get answered, and I was too nervous to ask about it earlier... but, uh...what were you reading, Amora? It looked kinda interesting, and I need a new book to look at. I'm in dire need of some new reading materials, ever since I had to resort to reading Sorcerers weekly reruns..."

Amora asked Oras who this person was and what he was skilled in, while Aria altered the food. If she had no pleasure foods with her, or ingredients to make it taste better, he wondered if she could survive. He turned to answer Amora. "He is a wizard who works for a trading company, which just so happens to be a guild as well. He's a summoning wizard so he knows a little about contracts and possibly spirits. However it's more of the fact that he has connections with others due to him being a part of the trading company. We'll mainly be using him to seek out someone who can give me a full report." Aria then came back with her food and asked Amora a question. Oras knew they were going to talk for a little bit so he took the mask off and used his illusion magic to ensure that they could only see darkness, even with the help of any magic they may have. With that out of the way he began to eat his food.

I nod my head at Verus in understanding the purpose of going to this individual as i wonder what kind of summoning this person does, and what else magic can hold for me to see it in action. I finish up my meal as quickly as i can do so as i then back away from you and get onto my feet preparing for a attack right away. Starting by being in a relaxed stance as i let my hands go into my pockets to turn the lump of metal in my pocket into a small, but very sturdy dagger. Doing my best to not let my posture give away any signs of preparation for a attack keeping in mind the rather simple idea. "The enemy can't react to a attack if it comes out of nowhere and they have no reason to expect it."

At asking what i was reading i just smile a bit as i nod my head towards you. Well if you wish to know i was reading about my weapon that i am going to get into using once Verus deems me ready to wield that weapon. Which is after i have a very intimate knowledge of how the weapon works most likely. I say looking over to Verus as i say that.

Aria smirked when she saw that Verus was still hiding his face, without the mask, she only saw a black void where his face should be. "huh... I guess I wasn't entirely wrong." she said, shaking her head. When Amora mentioned that she was reading about a weapon that she planned on using, Aria looked up with surprise. "Neat! I hope you get really good with it, Amora!" Aria watched as Amora made a motion to hide (What she assumed to be one... at least judging by the size of it.) a knife, from what would be Verus's line of sight. Aria stayed silent about it, but reached into her rucksack, and pushed a small dagger* to the top of the pile of objects inside., the blade of the weapon reaching just past her wrist, and the handle the length of about half of her hand (*In reality, it was more or less the length of a short-swords blade, which wouldn't be very feasible for someone smaller to use the same way, as it was basically a short-handled short-sword.). It was really weird that she would be doing that, seeing as she seemed to be friends with Verus, but Aria wasn't about to intervene in something like that.

I smile at the encouragement i receive as i nod my head at the words. knowing that i should be rather good with the weapon once i am fully trained in it, and get some proper strategy of things. I then look over to Verus. So then Verus when do you think i will be ready to learn how to actually use the weapon, and how will you know when i am ready? A book can only do so much in terms of learning how to use it, and how it works. I might need some type of accuracy training or such since i am not use to using a bow and all that let alone one that can also be used as a melee weapon? I ask my mentor curiously as i glance towards Aria and see her getting ready to fight also as i don't acknowledgement it beyond just looking towards her. Just being glad that she is taking defense measures for when Verus inevitably goes for a attack. Hopefully now that it will be two on one in theory should go easier. However, that truly is just wishful thinking when facing a illusionist such as Verus. Knowing he has to be one because of some copies just being phased through when they are attacked.

Aria glanced at Amora, who was currently the only one still talking to Verus, and sighed. He wasn't responding, which meant that he was concerned about what she had mentioned. 'Quite frankly, I don't exactly blame him, either...' she though, a worried expression on her face. 'It could be something really serious... and potentially something that can seriously hurt him.' Aria pulled out her journal, and started writing about the day's events, deciding it to be the best way to pass the time at the moment. 'Let's see... getting yelled at by a stranger, getting my own spell thrown right back at me with double the power. I argued with a guy name Verus, and I made a new friend of his apprentice, Amora. Amora ended up resolving our little dispute, so we're just here in a forest eating together. Verus appears to be in very deep thought, and Amora is getting ready for a fight, meaning that she thinks we might get attacked. I'm not worried though' Aria set her journal down, and put her pencil to her mouth, before tracing the runes on the cover of it, turning the words to code. A nifty trick that her journal had come with, and one that was keyed to her energy. If someone else that she had not keyed to it tried to read it, it would look like either endless drabble, or a simple travelogue (Which for the moment, it really was just a travelogue). Aria looked up, and turned to Verus. "Hellooo? You still awake over there?"

Oras listened as Amora asked him when she'd be able to practice using the actual weapon rather than just read about it in detail. He smiled and put his bowl down, placing his mask back onto his face as he listened to her finish about accuracy with a bow. She was learning quickly and he was proud of her for it. Of course there was still a lot to learn but this was good progress for her. Before he could reply however the girl spoke to Oras asking him if he was awake. She was being rather rude of course but he would ignore it. "Soon Amora, I plan to teach you weapon combat very soon indeed. For now let's clean this place up." He would stand up and start cleaning up the messes. Mainly to get Amora to join in. When she was just finishing the clean up however he would attack. He had waited till her back was turned before using his magic to cancel out his sounds. When he did he rushed at her and would swing his leg out to knock her off the ground, striking a weak point in the process. He was attacking from behind making legitimately no sound. If she did block him it was either sensing him coming with combat instinct, or she saw his movements somehow. Which he would like an explanation for since there was no reflective surface and neither was she in a position for her eyes to see him coming at her.

I smile rather excitedly at hearing that i am going to get to training with actual combat soon in terms of weaponry. Wondering how that is going to be like when training with a bow of some type. When i start seeing you clean up i nod my head and happily joins in doing so. Cleaning up the kitchen ware not seeing this as strange since it is what we do when we finish having a meal. Keeping an ear out for the noises you make when cleaning, and when it suddenly disappears i quickly turn around to see you going for a strike as i jump back with a smile. i am a hunter Verus. Catching differences in noises is life and death, so hearing you stop making sounds was more of a give away rather then a help for yourself. I say with a wag of my finger and a playful look on my face. Having heard the nothingness of his movement so figuring it has to be magic to some extent. Which to me means magic is on the table to use in this fight. I glance towards Aria and gives a smile. Just a silent offer for the girl to join in to fight also.

Aria smiled at Amora's enthusiasm. 'I like how excited she is, its always nice to see people that still enjoy learning!' Aria begins humming, and noticed that Verus seemed to be planning something when he suddenly lept at Amora, making no sounds as he moved... however, Amora seemed to know what was going on, as she easily dodged his attack, and playfully taunted him about the lack of sound he made. Amora then gave Aria a look that easily could have meant that she could join in, and spar with them. She had also faintly sensed magic from Verus, meaning that magic was probably allowed. Aria sighed, and shook her head faintly. "I would much rather watch, I haven't seen two reasonably powerful mages spar"

While Amora spoke, and silently invited Aria into the sparring match, Oras began using his magic to alter the world around them. He kept it so that Amora would not hear the sounds of the trees and ground moving, just the sounds of the grass, trees blowing in the wind as they have been. There haven't been any birds chirping to a long time so he did not mimic that sound. Any other sounds that were in the forest with them he would in fact mimic while blocking out the sounds of the altering landscape. He also hid the changing landscape from both of the girls views, preventing them from seeing or hearing the massive change that was occurring. They couldn't even feel the air moving due to the changes since he was altering the air flow to seem normal as well. "You do not realize just how big of a mistake that is Amora. However perhaps it is a good thing, you'll see how powerful magic can be." Oras then used his magic to create the image of himself where he stood and moved away, he and his movements completely invisible to Amora's sight or hearing. He kept the grass seem like it wasn't bending under his feet as he silently repositioned himself. When he did he summoned seven other Oras illusions, one of them placed where Oras himself was, this one being a physical illusion. There were three physical illusions, four normal ones, and Oras himself. She had a hard time fighting just one Oras, so being surrounded by seven could easily be an intimidation factor. If she tried using her magic on her, she would find that the earth didn't reply to her command. When that happened he'd tear down the veil and reveal the new battlefield.

She was standing on a patch of tree bark with no earth to stand on. Branches seemed to come out from the ground, almost as if she were on a tree (and Oras altered her vision so all ground around the bark looked like the sky, giving the illusion that she was on the side of a tree). Tree branches hovered like tentacles above their heads, covered in 'razor sharp' leaves. Any time Amora would make an attempt to attack, either a branch would attack her from above or the bark below would shoot up in the shape of a thorn or pillar to strike her before pulling itself back down into the 'tree'. The seven Oras' would then attack her in sync with the altered world around her, striking in union. The non physical illusions were used to switch places with the physical ones if Amora tried to hit them. Oras wondered how she'd fair against all of this. While Aria had wisely chosen to stay out of this one.