Cries of Desperation (Questline 1/4)

Job Information:

Oras sat in his chair in the corner of the room. Silent. Deep in thought and concern. He knew this was going to occur soon, but the timing was rather dangerous. Amora had lost control yet again recently, this time more so than before. She would have attacked Oras, and anyone else really, if he hadn't kept her under control. She needed to learn how to control her silver fire and power. If she could do that he would be less concerned, but.. He moved his hand and pressed it against his mouth in thought. While he wanted to avoid the loss of innocent life, he was really concerned about what the authorities would do if Amora lost control and lashed out at civilians. If she was ever labeled a dark wizard due to an accident, or something she could not yet fully control, then he would need to keep her hidden and protected. Unfortunately he wasn't going to be able to hide her forever. He may have to find a guild who would be willing to take him in and help him protect her if need be... He looked at his apprentice, who was still sleeping, and sighed as he put the letter down. He needed to find a solution, and quickly. Especially with what was about to come..

It had taken long enough, but Oras had finally received a message from the guards in Beanstalk Village about the Cultists. They had given the objects he took from the wizard that Oras and Amora had defeated to a fellow wizard of theirs. He had taken much time to try and decipher it but with not much luck. What he did figure out however, with the help of Oras and his interrogations, was that there was a cultist living in the East Forest. Very close to Magnolia Town. It barred the need of investigation, and Oras had no doubt in his mind that this investigation would lead them closer to the cultist organization, as well as the dangers it posed. He rose from the chair and began to get his things. Sliding his knives into the bags he carried, sliding the two daggers into his sleeve slots for use. When he saw Amora stir he would walk over and kneel beside her. "Amora? It's morning, we should go ahead and get up ok?" He would wait until she had woken up before standing up and walking over to retrieve his mask.


411 // 411 // 7,500

For Amora she had slept a rather peaceful sleep with a smile on her face all the while throughout the night. Having a rather nice dream of having a amazing hunt against beasts of all sorts and claiming herself as the apex predator even against the greatest of foes. She then slowly wakes up with a small little noises of tiredness as she shifts within the bed as the sheets of it slowly moves out of place. Her eyes twitch ever so slightly to try and close more as she hears a soft voice beckoning her awake as she slowly opens her eyes to see who is calling out to her. She opens them fully and spots a person with red hair looking at her and having a gentle and caring look to it. She tries to understand who she is seeing at first not knowing anyone who has such a description them. Then it hits her who it is as her mind clicks into place as it pushes the first morning fog of confusion away within that moment. Verus? She says softly in shock, but still much sore in a soft and tired voice as she rubs her eyes as if it to see if this is some kind of dream. She opens them once more to find her mentor still within the same outfit and heading towards the door of the room.

She sighs softly and gets out of the bed and opens up her backpack as she switches her outfit. Making sure to wait for her mentor to leave for her own privacy sake as she switches out of what she has to a simple black shirt and long black pants with her usual fur jacket with the hood up as she smiles happily at her choice. She puts the dirty clothes within a separate slot within the backpack and then walks out of the room. When she exits she turns to her mentor with a confused look upon her face. So where are we going today Verus? She asks curiously not going to mention at all seeing him without his mask. Not wanting to make it a big deal just encase that would deter him from doing so in the future. Rather preferring her mentor without he mask since it makes him much more human seeing the face behind the persona of the person who has taught her basically everything about this world. She then glances around the room of the place where she guesses her mentor found residence for the two of them for the night since she doesn't remember walking towards there.

She then remembers the night before and winces ever so slightly remembering the fight and then a silver flash of something then the hunt taking over. She looks down towards the ground in disappointment as she says barely above a whisper. I slipped up again didn't i? She asks in a soft tone of voice to Verus. Hoping that he is able to pick up what she means by that. Not wanting to say what she had failed at though knowing entirely what it was. having failed to have any sense of self-control while within a losing fight. To give up everything that was her for victory that could've costed someone there life if nobody was around her to contain and force her down to be able to do nothing. Just to protect lives that she was going to protect and then possibly failed at from having no control of it at all.

591// 1002// 7,500

Oras smiled when she spoke upon waking up. He could hear the tired and sleepiness in her voice and see it in her eyes. He had long forgotten what it was like to be young or normal. Waking up tired and sleepy in the morning was one of those factors. And seeing as how Oras was no stalker and had respect of other individual's privacy, he typically didn't see anyone sleeping, or waking up for that matter. It gave him a sort of nostalgia if he was being completely honest. He knew what the world was like, what it would do to you if you were not prepared or expecting it. Yet at the same time there were some days he just wanted nothing to do but live in ignorance. In peace with another individual and just live life normally. Living in pure bliss. That however was not what his life would be like. The destruction of his town and everything he loved at a young age had sought to that. Regardless, he couldn't help but wonder if he could at least create a pale imitation of it. At least it would be something. Though could he have that sort of life? Let alone while he had an apprentice? Only time would tell he supposed... "Good morning Amora," he said to her. When he walked over to pick up his mask, she began to rise out of bed. He knew she'd want to change so he walked over to the door and put his mask on, raising his hood before he exited the room. He leaned against the wall as he waited for her to finish, then watched the door open with Amora walking out into the hallway with him.

She seemed confused when she asked him where it was that they would be heading, and she seemed a bit, cautious when she had asked. He wondered why. At any rate she had asked him a question and he would answer. She needed to know what would be happening, especially since they would be taking risks once again. He turned to Amora before he began to explain. "You remember those cultists we had to take on? As well as the plague they had created and started to siphon mana and energy from the surrounding area? The one that destroyed all life around it? Well we've finally got our next lead. We can continue the investigation. There is a cultist who has been living in the East Forest, which is dangerously close to Magnolia Town. Because of this we need to hunt down this individual's living quarters and try to see what we can find. If we're lucky, we'll be able to learn more about their little cult, what they plan on doing, and find out where they are hiding. Once this is done we can make a plan and then move in to cut them down. Either that or inform the magic counsel and let them handle it."

When she mentioned how she had done it again and looked down, he took a step closer and lifted her head with his hand gently. "Don't lower your head in shame Amora. Whatever this power of yours is, you don't have full control of it yet. No one in their right mind can blame you for this. No one was killed or harmed and nor will they be. I'll be here to help you learn this power, and how to control it. Don't worry too much about it ok? I'm not angry at you, and I don't expect to be either. Just make sure to do your best, and if you stumble to stand up and move forward."

617 // 1,619 // 7,500

She smiles happily at the good morning that she gets as she feels some nostalgia for her past. Back when she could actually get such a reply from someone and have it be said with kindness. She smiles to hide away the pain of remembering her past and the things that had come with it from friends lost, to family literally trying to kill her for being who she was. Once she was dressed and out of her room she listened intently towards her mentor as all sleepiness vanishes from her eyes and replaced with a very cold but determined serious look burning within her eyes. Remembering the cultists rather well as the ones that had seriously harmed her, awoken her silver flames, and more importantly were killing her home. her mind kicking into full gear knowing that she had to be as such to deal with those criminals and put them within the ground for daring to do what they had done to all parties involved. At hearing that there is a new lead her eyes narrow slightly as she hangs upon every word that is told to her with the upmost clarity and understanding of what is being told to her as vital information. Once she hears the mission she nods her head quickly her amber eyes looking into your mask. A saddened frown on her face seeing the mask having hoped to see your face once more as she quickly corrects her face. I understand and i won't allow a repeat of last time to happen i promise! They won't get the drop on me again. I can't allow that to happen once more and cause you to needlessly worry about me now can i. besides you've taken me on dangerous missions. I can do this...i know i can. She tells herself softly near the end to give her a little motivational prep as her hand goes to her chest where she got stabbed last time in slight worry.

Once she spoke of her mistake she feels her chin be lifted as she gazes into the mask once more rather worried she might get yelled. However, the response she gets instead moves her heart ever so slightly as she starts blinking rapidly and can only just nod her head quickly as she turns her head away as she quickly wipes away the tears that had fell from her eyes. Knowing she should be use to some kind words by now, but finding herself rather happy to have them told to her. To have something that was ripped from her childhood the moment she was being hunted by the people in her village that she had trusted. When she was thrusted into her new home and reality for the next long winters of life. A simple caring parental like figure at her side to help guide her through life and to show some genuine care for her life and how she is going to change in this life. She smiles happily and nods her head again. I'll make sure to learn this power. After all if i didn't master it then that would just make it easier for you to beat me in our little sparring matches. Can't allow you to beat me forever i will be the master of the hunt just yet Verus. She says in a playful tone towards her caretaker with a grin on her face as she then quickly makes her way towards the door of the place to get heading on over towards the destination in question. her cheerful smile once more switching to a serious look on her face rather more then ready to take down the cult that is doing something as unholy and horrible as there acts.

628 // 2247 //7500

Oras had noticed the saddened appearance on her face when she looked into the visor of his mask. Why was she sad he wondered. It hadn't crossed his mind just yet, or rather he wasn't thinking too much about when he left his mask off. It just sort of, happened. He had grown to trust Amora, not only that but he cared about her. He needed to protect her when possible. Of course this was more of a subconscious decision, and because he didn't think about it too much he didn't make the connection. That Amora actually enjoyed seeing him without his mask and was saddened because he had chosen to wear the metallic shield once again. Regardless of this however, He did notice that she was indeed serious and even angry towards the idea of the cultists. She was angry for a good reason of course. She grew up in the forest, so when they destroyed the forest beside Beanstalk Village, it had infuriated her. Not only that but she had to see the wildlife she was so used to become infected and controlled by the mysterious purple plague. The infection had taken control of the animal's minds, covering them in the algae that gave them strength but also gave them a revolting appearance. On top of all of that, the cultist they fought had in fact hurt Amora very badly... She clearly remembered it too as she touched the area she was stabbed in. "It's not a crime to make mistakes Amora. I only ask that you learn from mistakes you make and move forward. After all, we tend to learn more from failures and losing than we do from successes and victories. Proof of this is your newfound skills. You have become far more skillful, and powerful than your last encounter with these cultists."

He watched as Amora seemed to react in surprise and relief, wiping away the tears she was shedding when he was speaking with her. He had never really, had this reaction from anyone in his life. It was unique and very enlightening to him. It showed him how powerful words could be, and how sometimes all anyone needed was some encouragement. Not how things should be done. Not an explanation of how things are. Not facts, or to the point conversations. Just some calm, soothing and encouraging words. He of course didn't realize just how badly she needed those words, nor how much they meant to her, despite the lack of OOC knowledge he did learn one thing: Words had power, and he should be more careful about what he said from this moment onward. She then smiled once more, which made him smile under the mask. She ensured him that she would learn more about the power, and joked about how by not learning and mastering it would only make it easier for Oras to beat her. He chuckled and patted her shoulder encouragingly. "Keep telling yourself that Amora. Keep telling yourself that. In the meantime, we should go ahead and head out. The longer we wait, the closer those cultists are to achieving their goals, whatever they are."

The two soon left the harbor town of Hargeon, heading out to Magnolia. The peaceful town had no idea there was a deadly threat living so dangerously close to them. And just as he had thought before, the town didn't have many defenses. What defenses they did have were rather lax indeed, and instead of being on guard most of the time they chose to celebrate and participate in festivals and the like. Oras and Amora would not be able to share the same benefits today. Not by a long shot. The two walked through the East Forest, Oras using his illusions to widen the scope of his scouting. "Alright. So we have no idea what we'll find, if the Cultist is still around, or if the cultist has any traps set up. Because of this we should be careful and expect the worst case scenario. We should proceed with caution and never let our guards down. Make sure you keep your eyes out for anyone in hiding at any moment, understand?"

700 // 2,947 // 7,500

She nods her head at hearing what was told to her about failure and nods her head in understanding. Remembering that lesson quite well that was hammered in by the very nature itself during her time within the woods. That failure is not a wall that blocks the path which is a end to whatever one was pursuing. That it was instead a obstacle like everything else that can be broken down to use its destroyed remains to build it into something better that was part of what one is able to become and change into with proper dedication and commitment to the cause that they are doing there best to do. That with overcoming failure only means new peaks are formed for one to reach and once more overcome and destroy with what she can use and what she can observe and learn from the failures that will happen within her lifetime.  Yeah i know what you mean Verus. I can only hope that with what i have learned i have made it that much more difficult for these guys in trying to be able to strike me down with there abilities that they could now have from the time they had to learn and get stronger. She says with a slight frown at the thought of them being just as equally strong as she had become given time to face and confront them. That with such time she herself could be mortally wounded once more by these people if they are strong enough, or if they could get a nasty surprise attack within before she would have time to react and try to defend herself.

At receiving the small shoulder pat she chuckles at the response she gets and smiles to herself at verus being willing to joke around with her. She just smiles remembering when he had once been trying to get her to leave him alone, and now seems much more use to her presence and even kind to her to a great degree. Oh please you know if given time and with the right tactics i can learn by messing with my surroundings that i could easily beat you in combat. You're just to terrified of my awesome power to admit it. She says jokingly to her mentor with a chuckle escaping her lips as she just enjoys some good natured joking around. Once more of being reminded of there goal she continues walking forward to there destination her hands within her pockets as her hand rests upon her dagger gripped tightly around its handle. She looks back towards the town of Hargeon with some worry remembering the undead creature upon its shores. She then quickly turns her head to focus up on ahead to ignore it hoping that the issue isn't anything tremendously horrible. Only able to pray that whatever undead creatures were there aren't apart of this cultist problem that is sprouting up in another town, or that it isn't a sign of various other cults rising up in the name of this one to try and spread undeath everywhere that they could try to reach.

She glances towards her mentor and makes sure to listen onto every word that he speaks as she nods her own head as they travel from one town to the other as she practices her magic one after the other while quickly taking care not to leave them there. Just wanting to make sure that she can improve in getting them out quicker and trying to figure out some kind of combination to work together in getting what she would want. Once they start arriving closer her senses go on high alert as she keeps her gaze trained on every little detail within her environment encase it could be some kind of trap. She just gives  rather brief glance towards her mentor to nod knowing the threat of being unprepared for the dangers ahead that could end her life. her eyes scan through the forest spotting trees of various sizes throughout everything that she can see. She then spot simple creature trying to move through the area as she feels a sickening shiver run down her spine as her mind tries to force itself to imagine the simple creatures as grotesque beasts of fungi abominations. She shakes her head ever so slightly to get rid of such thoughts and just focus on the task of finding the home of the person that is supposedly part of this cult to put him down. her ears being fine tuned towards her surroundings to try and spot anybody trying to sneak up upon the duo during there search.

WC: 779 // 3726 // 7500

Failure. Oras Auro knew that experience far too well. To be honest he was going easy on Amora. Whenever he sparred with his teacher, his mentor. Well, he left completely covered in bruises. Any time he got just a little bit better he'd receive a second set. His tutor had put him through grueling training, never traveling anywhere save for massive mountains to clime and hike, or lakes to swim around in circles for an hour. On top of all of that, they had two sparring sessions a day. One which was melee combat which in fact included blades (Oras still had scars from those duels), and one that involved magic. It was highly unfair as Oras' tutor manipulated the forces of nature itself, and Oras himself had to learn how to use magic from scratch. Needless to say Oras hated gravity very much so after most of those duels. Never once had Oras actually defeated his mentor in sparring, outlasting him in exercises. Nothing. In short: Oras knew exactly what failure was like. However he was never angry or upset at his mentor for beating him up so often. The reason for this was because despite his perfect record of none stop losses, it was clear he had been making improvements the entire way. Where he used to only last about a minute in a duel with him, he could later last a minute and a quarter. It wasn't much to a spectator, but when you were in a fight that could be a long time. However right now, Oras felt really proud. Without having to go through such grueling training as Oras had, Amora learned the value of learning from one's mistakes. It was a lesson he had hoped to teach her before she lost to someone in a real fight, but he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to accomplish that. But he was proud of her and how far she had come. Hopefully she could live a happier life than he did. When she continued the joke however he chuckled. "Just wait till I get serious with my magic. You'll be in a state of vertigo for days."


--


Oras noticed her reaction upon seeing the animal run across, the brief moment of dread. He didn't know what she had seen but he could make a guess. Hopefully she could remain calm if they saw any cultists this time. They walked through the forest for quite a long time before they finally spotted something in the distance. Oras couldn't make it out at first, but as they drew closer he could see what it was: A hut. In total disrepair as if it hadn't been used in forever. They soon reached the building, or rather, the edge of a tiny clearing (about 2 meters of clearing between the hut and the forest) and motioned for Amora to stop. His illusions scanned the entire outside and he gestured for her that it was ok. They walked up to the hut and honestly, even Oras believed this to be a very sad sight. There was a garden bed but all of the flowers looked like brown and decaying skeletons, with weeds, vines, mushrooms (normal ones) and the like. The walls were severely damaged, though not completely broken. The roof was missing most of it's protection from weather and there were several holes that were large, with a great many small holes and cuts. Moss and vines grew and spread all over the entire building, and a well nearby with moss as well. He didn't say anything however as he approached the door, readying his magic just in case, and opened the door. He scanned the room for life but found nothing. Oras spotted many pots all over the floor where the water must have started to leak. Regardless the attempt seemed pointless as the wooden floor had warped everywhere and cracked. There was a thin bookshelf, a small bed, a small desk with no chair, a chest, and curtains blocking the windows both outside the hut and inside. Most of the books and notes were destroyed from the weather. "Well.. We had better get searching."

700 // 4,426 // 7,500

She makes her way through the forest ignoring her minds constant attempts at trying to make her imagine these creatures as the grotesque beings that the cultist could turn them into for whatever sick experiments they are trying to run. For whatever purpose they could have for trying to drain the life and energy from the various beings and land itself with whatever they had resurfaced with the fungi disease that had spread. She gazes around the various trees and finds herself somewhat surprised that there wouldn't be any sort of natural traps trying to impede the two from entering anywhere even close to the building. A small sense of worry at such a thought enters her being knowing that a common phrase could be put in place for this scenario. Hey Verus. Doesn't this seem a bit too easy to just walk up through this forest? Amora asks in a soft tone of voice encase anyone could be nearby and trying to listen in onto the duo. Figuring that people could be listening in and waiting for the perfect moment to strike when they would least expect to do so. When they would arrive at the house she looks forward at it and glances around finding herself very wary her mind still prepared for any kind of traps that could be in store. As she glances at the exterior she just frowns at the rather disrespect and death that the place seems to represent even then as somewhere that a human is meant to live in. Haven't they heard of something called life? Seriously they are obsessed with making everything as dead and creepy as possible. She says softly under her breathe before she then entered the home along with her mentor to search this place down from the top to the bottom.

She glances around the room her mind running through what she knows about human culture and what she should expect to find to help with there investigation of the home. I'll look at the desk, and bookshelf Verus. She says over towards her mentor so they don't cover the same ground as she moves over towards the desk that has the damaged notes first. The damage being from some kind of source which she could guess would be the age of them, or the weather since the roof is not really providing them much cover. She glances through them all each one seeing as unintelligible as the last that she had looked at. As she starts to give up hope with this she notices one that looks different then the rest of them. She picks it up and reads through it carefully finding that whoever owned this place was terminated from something. She nods her head and puts that separate from the other pages that have been degraded through weather. With that she delicately places them together and holds onto them figuring that reparing things that are damaged could be within the realm of magic so she could figure out what the rest of these pages hold.

She places them on the desk now neatly piled up for when they would leave as then glances towards the bookcase and makes her way over towards it. Examining the sides of the books most seeming to have been ruined with a few exceptions that she pulls out and glances over. One seeming to have told of some kind of plant mixtures, and the more interesting one seeming to be talking about magic. She takes the more magical looking book and places it on the desk alongside the pink slip with a nod of her head as she glances towards her mentor. I found something that whoever owned this place was angry they got terminated, and a book that seems to be about magic. She says towards her mentor and waits to hear a response. Her right hand resting upon her dagger encase something would come to attack her while she wouldn't be prepared.

WC: 666 // 5092 // 7500

As the two approached the building he listened to what Amora said. She spoke, softly of course, about how it seemed too easy just walking into the building without any traps or such. No sign of any cultist or monster. No undead minions, no infection or plague. Nothing. Everything seemed perfectly normal as you would expect. Other than the abandoned building of course. Oras nodded in response to her words. "I have a few illusions keeping watch on the borders currently. We'll know if someone is approaching from behind. However, I don't see any traps of any sort here... Perhaps they fled once they knew we'd caught them but, that's highly unlikely..." After they had a better view of the place and saw the sheer disrepair and horrible shape it was in, Amora's reaction was. Well it was normal for their situation. So far the cultists didn't seem to have any respect for life in any shape or form. Whether it be the lives of villagers, lives of the wildlife, or plants, or even the very air. They seemed to have no issues with sucking the land dry of any and all energy and life. So it was natural for Amora to come to the conclusion that the cultists chose to have their home in this state. In a dead, rotting and decaying state. As Oras looked around he could tell vaguely that it was being used to some extent. However... The issue was that despite being used, nothing else was touched. Oras did agree that it was purposefully in this state, but he believed the reason to be different than taste... "I do agree that they left the place like this on purpose, however I believe it's for reasons other than the one you reached. It could be that they let this place fall into such a state, so as to avoid attention. To be honest it would work very well indeed, effectively keeping the cultist or cultists who lived here hidden from the rest of the world. And from prying or investigating eyes. Another reason could be the individual themself. Perhaps something happened that caused them to become broken. They no longer have the willpower to clean and tidy the place, and simply use it as a means of shelter from the world. Or perhaps they keep it like this to reflect their pain and stew on past scars. There could be a number of reasons to be completely honest..."

She told him that she would look over at the bookshelf for anything they could find. He looked at the bookshelf and the wretched state it was in, but went ahead and nodded. There wasn't any reason not to. There was always the chance she could find something of use among the damaged and simply destroyed products hidden within the rotten wooden shelves. He looked around to find somewhere else he could possibly look for evidence or leads. Oras decided to try and look through the chest in the room. He crouched down and tried to open the chest, but it was stuck real fast. He frowned under the mask before using his magic to shave off all the rust and decay on the metal, causing dust and rust to fly into the air. Another good reason he had a mask on: It kept flying dust and debris from hitting him or going into his lungs. He opened the chest and looked inside. There were a great many things, most of them junk. Broken or rusted tools such as hammers, screw drivers, scissors. Saws even. In addition there was also more blocks of wood, most of them splintered, chopped in jagged forms on one side, or just plain old rotten from the rain that seeped into the chest. As he kept looking he found a few other things such as smoothed out stones. Some of them were purple, some of them blue, and some of them black. Most of these things seemed to be just random junk, but the further he investigated, the closer he got to the bottom. He soon reached the point where he pulled out something interesting. He then pushed all the junk aside to get to the hidden treasures in the bottom and pulled out several plants. He set them on the desk and looked them over carefully, trying to remember what he had looked up before. If he was remembering right, some of these plants and even stones could be used to make paralysis potions, poisons and the like. But there were other plants and objects that, didn't... It took him some thinking, but he figured it out. Memory wiping potion. It was a potion that temporarily wiped the memory of something... But why would-

He heard Amora approach him and tell him about the pink slip and the spell book. The magic tome he couldn't decipher, but it had the same colors and design as the cultist book that was certain. The pink slip however. "So he was working for a company or group but was fired. Thus he was angered because of it. Interesting... It took a while but I found a chest that had ingredients for a potion: A memory wiping potion. Either it was for cultist purposes or for the man himself. However I believe it to be the latter of the two options. the reason I say this is because the memory wiping potion only removes a specific memory of your choice for a short amount of time. It's like getting drunk without the side effects. Either this job of his meant that much to him that he'd want to forget it, or there was something else he cared for. Possibly a family." Oras began to pace the floor when he noticed something and stopped at the other end. He didn't turn around, and instead closed his eyes. "Amora, could you walk over here for a second?" When she did, he would say, about half way over: "Stop... Step on that board again..." No sound. "Now step everywhere else." He would wait until she did so and if she didn't figure it out herself he would explain, turning around. "Everything in this house is in the worst shape possible. Everything except those boards. Feel it," he said as he crouched down to do so himself. "These boards are fresh, new and sturdy. They were just altered to appear like they were decayed. Why would someone do that?"

1,079 // 6,171 // 7,500

She frowns slightly as her mentor talks about how he has prepared himself for responding against any possible attacks by forming a border around the place where they are at to try and spot any people trying to sneak around the hut. She pauses and looks at the home just giving it a few once overs from what she is able to spot and look at from here as she takes everything down to memory encase anything gets put out of place while she is looking it over. What if he is still here though? In some kind of hiding place that is meant to ambush people who get here? She suggest as a possibility knowing from personal experience the art of creating false floors during her hunts against creatures to make them easier targets to attack from above. To attack prey while they are vulnerable being a rather normal procedure to guarantee success since once they can't get out it is only a matter of time till they die from starvation or the hunter. She looks overs toward she her mentor entirely confused and wondering what he is even talking about when trying to mention things like internal scars or how a person feels about themselves to explain the state of one's home. Not really grasping the concept of having where you live represent things that a person might feel within themselves either intentionally or unintentionally. She just shrugs her shoulders without much care about such a rather abstract thought process and looks around the area of the home. If anything i would say you would be closer with the first one. That it is meant to deter people from going in since no person would use this as shelter if they are wandering, or not view this as a logical source for a investigation since the suspect would be long gone by the time we had got here like just now. She says while they enter the home that is beyond repair. She spends around ten to fifteen minutes investigating the notes and the books upon the shelf making sure to skim each one to quicken her pace of trying to find only the most important looking things that could be a quick and easy to sort out between the clues that they could try to find.

When she finishes her investigation she looks over towards her teacher pulling some plants out of a chest as she gains a rather puzzles look upon her face at seeing that. Wondering why he would pull plants and think they are useful within a place like this. She goes over things within her mind and nods her head forming the conclusion that they were making a lot of these plants for one reason or the other to make sure they can form what could be necessary for there plague spreading thing they do upon nature. Amora herself not really knowing the darker side of alchemic properties to know what these roots and plants could be used for besides her own conclusion from what she knows of the building they are investigating. Upon hearing her teacher state what the items are used for she frowns at the plants now having a slightly better idea of what they could be used for in terms of a cult. hearing her mentor's ideas and hearing how it is a specific memory she looks even more perplexed by having that little stipulation thrown in. Well maybe if this guy is with the cult he is creating these in mass production to wipe out people's memories to make them more agreeable to what he cult wants in people to do what they wish? She says to her mentor as she then hears him ask her to walk over to him as she shrugs and walks over towards her mentor not really seeing the need be to do so. Just walking around the entire room until he explained it to her. Her eyes widen slightly at that as she rests her right hand within her pocket and grips her knife tightly.

Once asked the question her worst thoughts when entering the home appeared to be coming true as she pulls out her dagger and holds it tightly within her right hand. Give the cultist credit they know how to trick and hunt there prey. False floors as i said earlier are a rather good way to go about trying to hide away from your prey or trap them. The question is which is the false floor hiding. Our prey, or is it a way to get to our prey. She says in a curious town as she forms her dagger into a crow bar and slips it into the floor boards and without much care she rips out one of the boards with all of her strength. A grin of pride at doing so forming upon her face at ripping the floor board from its place as she then looks down to see what it would've been hiding. She looks down seeing a key, and a poem as she carefully grabs each and looks over the poem carefully trying to understand what she is even reading. Raising it upwards so she can read the words, but failing to notice the tune written upon the back of the parchment that Verus could see if he was looking at Amora. I...i don't get what this even means. Why go through the trouble of hiding a stupid poem. She says rather confused about that as she just hands it to her mentor and goes back towards the clues that they have found previously. Having kept the kept the key in her possession as she puts it in one of her pockets while glancing through what is one the table. magic, Memory wiping, and being fired. So you are probably want in him wanting to forget whatever he got fired from, but that doesn't answer why he got fired in the first place. She says softly to herself while glancing at what is on the table trying to figure out what happened just by everything they have except the poem.

1028 // 7199 // 7500

Amora did not seem satisfied with his answer, clearly a bit anxious and nervous. Her eyes he noticed darted too and fro across the room as she looked for anyone in hiding. Fear was an important and useful tool if you could master it. Fear ensured that you kept your eyes and ears open, as well as gave you an adrenaline rush when you were in real danger. However if one lost control of their emotions, fear could control the person. Causing them to react to situations and people who mean no harm, make a mistake in a fight or chase, and even miss critical details that could mean life or death. It was a skill that had to be tempered over time. Oras stood there on high alert, keeping all his illusion eyes peeled for any sign of an enemy. She then continued, stating her concern that the cultists could be in hiding somewhere in the hut, or in the forest. A secret compartment, trap door, etc. It was indeed a strategy that could be used and taken advantage of he knew.. However: "While it is indeed a possibility, think about it this way: Have you seen any wall that could possibly be thick enough to hold someone? Is the wood stable enough to function as a trap door? There are no carpets or other such tools to hide a trapdoor. The only hiding place is that chest over there and even if someone did hide in it, they would be far too cramped to fight when coming out. In addition, if you reach out with your mind, you'll sense no magic energy in the area, meaning that no one is using a spell to conceal their location, or hide in a pocket dimension. The conclusion would be a three percent chance there is someone hiding from us right now. The chance this place was ditched before we came here is about seventeen percent, and the following is that the cultist will eventually come back but have not done so as of yet. When they do, we'll use my illusions to be aware of it, and we can go out and fight them. Or spring an ambush or trap. Currently my illusions are in the form of birds, specifically crows which I noticed tend to hang out here, so they blend in with the environment."

Amora seemed to think they had let this place come to ruin for the tactical strategy Oras suggested. Whether it was due to her lack of knowledge or understanding about personal feeling and reflection on your mental state. Or if it was because she simply did not believe this to be the case at all. She believed the first possibility to be the accurate of the others. Oras nodded quietly. It made sense after all, but he still wasn't sure. It wasn't too big of a detail, just another way of attempting to figure out how they think and work. If they could decipher that then fighting the cultists would become easier. Unfortunately for them, figuring out how they thought, how they operated, and what it is they wanted all required it's own investigations. As far as Oras could tell, these cultists weren't afraid to kill, but other than that he knew hardly anything about them. That's what concerned him more than anything if he was being honest. An enemy you could not predict was one of the most dangerous ones. You didn't know when how or where they were going to attack. You didn't know how they would counter an attack of your own making, whether it would focus on defense, recovery, or counter offensive, or a retreat. You didn't know if when or how they would use traps, how many men they would gather together, how many there would be. What type of formations, where they would move and position themselves. There was too little information. Which is why all they could do was speculate and guess, without any evidence or information to back up their claims. Oras nodded. "At any rate, the end result is this place is severely damaged and could fall apart if we have any sort of fight here. We should be careful not to destroy any evidence."

He listened to Amora's speculation and question to him regarding the memory potion. He shook his head when he heard it too. It certainly wasn't that for multiple reasons. Of course he wasn't upset or annoyed by her statement, he didn't expect her to know. It was clear from her reaction that she didn't know much about alchemy in the first place, so even with logic she wouldn't understand what would be required of what she had just stated. "It doesn't work as easily as you may think Amora, both as a potion and as a system for any group. Even a twisted one like these guys. First I'll explain the potion some more: By combining those ingredients, one of which is very rare indeed, you concoct a potion that allows you to isolate and temporarily disconnect a memory from your mind. It usually lasts about, say, three hours. Afterwards your memory will come back to you. There is a memory wiping potion that has an extended time, but no longer. This would mean that in order to keep the cultists in question under check, and permanently memory wiped, you'd need at least five potions for each cultist every day. That's not counting the individuals who don't sleep very long, or don't need to sleep long. In addition, no matter how resourceful they are these ingredients would not only be taxing on their resources, but it would draw attention. I very much doubt therefore, that they would use it on their own guild. My guess is that the one who lived here was using the potion on himself alone to rid himself of some sort of fowl memory."

Oras looked at the poem himself and looked back at the key, then the poem again. "There could be a number of reasons..." He thought carefully. They were missing something. Some vital clue. "Let's check outside again, see if we can find anything... We didn't exactly give a thorough look just yet. I'll check the building and it's borders, why don't you check the broken garden and the well?"

1,052 // 8,251 // 7,500

She sighs softly and shakes her head finding herself both calmed and annoyed by Verus' analysis of the situation that they were in regarding the hut's structure. That it is calming from knowing that nobody could possibly be hiding within the room of the hut at the very least, and that it would be very difficult to sneak up in now since the entire room has been searched from the very top to the bottom of it in search of anything that would give them a hint of what was going on in it. Then there is the other side of being annoyed since her mentor had to go into the chances of things happening by mentioning math like things. She crosses her arms at her chest and waits for him to finish since she finds herself not really caring for hearing the numbers of it going on. Only really getting from what was said that it is unlikely he is here, but very likely he might come back or stay gone forever from this little terrible rundown dump that hey are calling a home within this forest. Yeah i understand Verus, but that won't stop me from thinking that there is always a possibility that there is more to this then meets the eye. It is how i have learned to function during my time hunting. You suspect everything and move carefully while stalking the prey, and it serves as a better protector then just going off what is the most likely thing the prey is going to do based on information. That plays in a little bit, but the prey can still change what is most likely by doing whatever it is they feel like doing at that time. It is how the best layed plans come to ruin. The prey's ability to adapt to the situations that the hunter puts them in. She says with a shrug of her shoulders while just keeping her senses sharp for things that are around her. Willing to trust her time within the forest rather then the percents or whatever Verus was talking about.

She looks away from the table and glances back towards her mentor and just looks at what they have as she takes the boom and puts it away into her backpack for safe keeping with the pink slip being held within the book for safe keeping. Then looking at the plants that makeup the memory potion and just leaves them there since they have no use being brought back to town for analyzing what they are used for since it is known. With the small little stipulation if they get caught with these ingredients on them it could spell out trouble and make them look suspicious to guards within a town due to the intentions that can be possibly thought up of if one possessed these ingredients only. She then glances towards the poem that was held within her mentor's hand and just shrugs her shoulders not seeing any more reason to be within this home any longer due to having grabbed seemingly everything they could from the place. When she hears about the memory she just shrugs her shoulders not understanding the naming convention of the potion anymore. Finding it rather silly to call something that supposedly wipes a memory away that if it doesn't do so. Finding that a more fitting name from what she understands of the world is a forgetfulness potion or something similar. You human's find weird names for everything don't you? Call it what it is. A temporary forgetting potion or something else. She says with as shrug of her shoulders while walking pass her mentor towards the outside to do what he requested and check the outside. Figuring why not head to the locations since at the very least it is a direction rather then just a vague looking around at everything.

She heads towards the garden bed first and looks at the plants within question and finds that they look just like regular weeds and other things that nature will spawn for its growth long since dead and lying about. She sighs softly while shaking her head and just turns around and makes her way towards the well that looks equally aged and useless to her as she just gazes at it. She sighs softly and tries just for fun using her magical senses to examine the area for anything and finds the well weirdly responding to her senses. She turns her gaze towards it with a curious expression as she takes out the magical book in question that they had managed to find earlier. She casually turns the pages one after the other to try and find anything that could be a hint for what she is dealing with. While doing so she activates the mental mind link thing she has with Verus to get him over here. 'Verus the well is weird. Can you come over here.' She asks mentally to her partner.

The member 'Oras Auro' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

---

'Monster Dice' :

When Amora had told him that she wasn't going to stop thinking there were possibilities he smiled, yet again, under his mask. She learned quick. He nodded approvingly. "I'm glad Amora. Nothing is true, everything and anything changes. For all we know there could be one with stealth magic to hide his magic or appearance. Or both. Or a mage who could change sizes. Or even a long ranged teleporting wizard, or one who could leap through dimensions. In other words, while we should be on guard and as observant as we can at all times, we should also be ready to fight anything and anyone at any time. There is a breaking point of course, as if you push too hard you'll be 'too ready' and your muscles will end up stiffening. It's a matter of sharpening your reactions and reflexes to the point where you 'can't' be caught off guard. It's a useful and effective skill to have. Of course you already possess some of these skills, all that's left is to master them." After he had explained the potion, how it worked, and how it would effect the cultist and their organization in a negative way (if used in the manner she believed it to have been used for), she spoke again, drawing out a chuckle from him. "The more you explore and read and learn, the more you find that most of humanity is built of idiots. However many of them could be described as 'lovable idiots'. Better to be ignorant and happy when you aren't cut out for combat or wizardy in my opinion. You find a profession, provide for Fiore, and you don't have to fight, likely leading to one's death."

Amora made her way over to the garden while Oras began to look closely at the walls of the hut itself. He felt no magical energy, and some of the wood even cracked at his gentle touch. It only cracked at the edges however, such as the window frame, where the wood was thinnest and weakest. He noted one or two vines that actually managed to burrow through the wall. He made his way around the building, so far not seeing anything of interest. Eventually he did spot a glimmer, though not in the wall. It was in the grass he was about to step on. He crouched down and picked up, what looked like an earring. The small jewelry looked like a crystal that was cracked, most likely from being stepped on. He frowned. Was the person who lived here. The owner of the building and possibly a cultist. Was the individual a woman? He lost his train of thought when he heard Amora's voice in his mind, telling him that there was something off with the well. Oras stood up with the earring and made his way back around the building towards her. As he did so, he also noticed the well reacting to his magic energy. He stood in front of it curiously, and wondered what they were supposed to do here. He noticed the poem felt a little warm in his pocket and pulled it out. It didn't appear different via sight, but it felt warmer than usual. Oras opened it up to view the words. "...I think it's meant to be read," he told her. He then began to read the poem out loud and when finished, some of the stones began to glow. Oras went to examine them and upon touch, it emitted a sound, like a note. Oras turned the page over and looked at the tune, deciding to give it a shot. Oras messed around with the stones until he figured out which note was which stone.

As he played the tune on the well he sighed. "I think I know who our house owner was, but I don't want to say until we've confirmed it.." As he finished the tune, a mechanical system that they had assumed wasn't workable, started to lower it's rope down, and they could hear the water leaving the well, being drained elsewhere. When they looked down, they would see a door at the bottom. "Clever..."

She looks over towards her mentor rather lost for words at the moment as he goes on and on about different various types of stealth typed magic that would allow for a rather nasty surprise if they were to be caught off guard by some sort of enemy with these abilities. She shakes her head at that and just continues moving forward just preferring to focus on the task at hand before she gets a headache imagining the various ways magic is able to mess with the very fabric of reality. However, she does listen and tries to relax ever so slightly to not be as tense and worried about everything as she had been in regards to a possible attack. Trusting that by doing so she will force her reaction time to be better in order for her to dodge out of the way of an attack that could be meant for her. When hearing the description of some types of humans she just shakes her head no just flat out ignoring such a description. The term lovable idiot is just sugar coating what they are. Fools who refused to accept reality and the nature of the game that they are in. To ignore the facts of reality in order to live in bliss leaves them a weak prey that should be killed off for the betterment of humans in general. She says with very little hesitation along with no sense of a emotional attachment in her voice besides a bit of resentment seeping into her voice. She just continues on her way to continue her investigation of the home that they are in as she glances towards her mentor. They may be safe providing as they can, but eventually the fight could reach them. They can't afford such ignorance when the evil side of humans comes knocking at their door. She says while glancing into her mentor's eyes. A cold look being rather clear within her amber colored ones as she starts her investigation. Finding herself rather indifferent to slightly angry by the thought of such people. Ones who just live ignorant and refuse to look at the darker side of their own species. Such people just going with what the majority says and refuses to notice how evil they could actually be or the others around them. She growls softly under her breathe being reminded once more of her former home long ago.

When her mentor comes over to investigate the well she sees him just play around with it after reading the poem as it creates soft little tunes. It's a song? She says in confusion at that fact as she waits patiently for whatever is meant to occur. Still having her hand resting on her dagger ready to attack at a moment's notice. Once the well is dry she looks down and smiles a bit at what she sees. Down i go! She says cheerfully and goes down the little fast as lightning as she open up the door and goes through it rather quickly. She looks inside carefully while taking her first steps finding a chest inside, a cultist robe, and rather wet stone work. Huh...was expecting something worse. She says softly to herself while making her way over towards the chest.

When he heard Amora's words and the utter lack of hesitation, he put his hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes. "Yes they are made vulnerable because of it, but at the same time they learn and understand something we can't comprehend. And that, is the word peace. Just because the world is destructive and out to get them doesn't mean they should know all the time. And just because someone isn't strong enough to protect themselves to the level we can, it doesn't mean that they should be killed off. There is a difference Amora, between animals and human beings. Animals focus on survival, and survival alone. They don't think about anything else. Humans on the other hand, want to live. They don't just want to survive. Because of this, and because of our human nature, they seek out new ways to enjoy life. Much of it is perverted, yes, but at the same time much of it is good in a way. To take away that joy, even if it comes with some ignorance, would be to take away the only good of humanity. That desire to seek peace, contentment, joy, and love. It's what separates us from the corrupt. To take it away is to become no better than criminals and murderers. We'd be lifeless. Emotionless. And ignorance is no crime either. Just because someone doesn't understand something doesn't mean they should die. Far from it in fact. If you saw a young child, or a mother with her children being attacked and slaughtered in front of you, even though they were ignorant of the world and could never see the attack coming themself. Would you state that it is justified since they were weak prey? No. Because murder is wrong no matter how you look at it. Regardless of how foolish someone is, we protect and save them. When we do, we give them advice and encourage them down a road they will continue to live and survive on. Does that make sense?" He asked.

Soon enough they entered the room, and it was quite empty really. Oras scanned for anything invisible, small, etc. but spotted nothing. Therefore he made his way over to the chest, along with Amora. He bent down to examine it, as well as the lock that kept the lid shut tight. To his surprise and slight disappointment, he found that it was nothing more than an average lock that was very easily picked. He used his telekinesis to move the molecules of the ground and metal around to create a set of lockpicks he could use at a later date. He worked on the lock until it opened up, and opened the chest itself. Inside the chest was a key and two books. One of the books looked exactly like the one the first cultist had. Oras picked it up and handed it to Amora to hold onto or to look at, either way was fine. He then pulled out the second book and upon opening it up discovered that it was a journal. Oras began reading some of what seemed like the highlights of the journal, and soon began figuring it all out. "The reason he was fired was because he chose to work for a company as a bodyguard of some sort. However his magic was weak and ended with him being replaced by another. He attempted to gain a family, but that failed in the end as well for reasons not mentioned. At least from what I skimmed. He then was offered to join the cult we're fighting now and accepted, hoping he could be welcome there as well. In the end it didn't work out either. He was on the bridge of insanity, when. One day. A cultist came to him with a job."

"A mission that would end his suffering, as well as advance the cult, his new family, forward." From the shadows stepped a man wearing a matching robe to the one hanging on the wall. His hood was up, obscuring his upper features. "The poor man was too scarred with pain. He couldn't handle the knowledge he had learned, the truth about the world. What was it you said girl? 'Weak prey like that should be killed off for the betterment of mankind?' I couldn't have said it better myself."

Amora looks towards her mentor somewhat annoyed that as he starts speaking about the idea of people without that much strength and what they do for something within this very magical world. She sighs softly at what her mentor says mainly from the fact of him somehow having these perspectives and seemingly just knowing what one could think within that place in life. Knowing that he is right in a sense that the difference between human and animal is there and is acknowledged rather easily. That the difference between man and beast isn't that much of a difference from what she could tell, and all the differences that are small enough could just disappear if all laws vanished for humans. That most of them would just become like the beasts around them and start acting into accordance with there new world. With only the select few still remaining what could be called human, and this select few being the ones she could think falls under her mentor's description. Those just wanting to seek peace and do whatever is necessary for survival while caring for one another if they were thrust into such a position. She just crosses her arms at her chest and waits patiently for what is within the chest to be revealed as she glances around the underground cavern as she just keeps her feet planted on the floor. Smiling a bit happily to herself to the fact she is underneath her element. The earth being all around her and thus able to manipulate to her desire from any and every angle at this point. Verus i know you have your understanding of life, but from previous mentions of how you like to talk about people and the species as a whole. I just don't see a reason to keep around people who could willingly bring damage to your people as a whole. If people are willingly ignorant and alive even as they are adult and refuse to acknowledge the evils of the world. Then they put everyone within arms reach in danger along with themselves from not being willing to acknowledge things like deception and other such things that would slowly tear them down. They would be hurting more people do to there ignorance then anything else, or they could be people who accept the evil because of their nature. And ends up like those guards back in the town we were at just willing to accept bribes from people doing horribly things to your own species. She says towards her mentor in a sort of matter of fact tone as she waits.

As they reach the bottom she listens to the man who owned this build reasoning for wanting to join the cult and finding it a rather interesting one. To be faced with nothing and then fall to insanity because of not having anything. Finding the end result rather pathetic that the man couldn't face a simple fact as that. She glances over towards the man and quickly activates earthen tendrils to quickly bind him towards the ground. The earthen tendrils breaking from every point around this former cultist to try and bind him. Joined a cult that lead to a suicide mission all because you didn't have anyone? That is somewhat sad really. I've been through the same and i'm just fine for the most part, but for you to go down something similar and say killing my home and others is fine. Then i won't mind bringing you to the right people to make sure we succeed. Amora says towards the man while taking out her dagger. her gaze as cold as ice while looking at the man. Hating how he could've been a possible outcome from her expulsion from society. Wanting to remove such a person from her sight to make sure she never has to view what could of become of her if she went down a different path.

Oras listened to her words and noted that she had misunderstood him.  He shook his head.  "You misunderstood me Amora.  While I would love to kick those kinds of people in the rear to get them into shape, I'm talking about those whose personalities, and bodies are too weak or mild to be warriors, fighters and the like.  There are certainly people who try to ignore the world as it is and live in their own little fantasies, but to be honest:  That's punishment in itself.  When they ignore the corruption of the world they tend to become corrupt themselves, and pay the consequences for it.  Meanwhile there are those who know about the corruption but can't actually do anything about it themselves.  And then there is those who were never taught about corruption, growing up thinking everything is bliss and perfect, such as those people in Magnolia who celebrate something every other week.  However, no matter what state they were born in, no matter what they were taught being raised as a child, and no matter how 'useless' they may be in the survival of our race as a whole.  It doesn't give us the right to play judge and determine who has the right to live and who doesn't.  Survival of the fittest is a fickle thing, and often times we humans create a system that allows us to bend those rules, letting the weak survive and flourish along with the strong.  In this system, there is a saying:  A strong man fights for himself.  But a stronger man fights for those who cannot.  I personally don't care too much about what happens in general, but I always choose to save the life of another.  The reason why is this:  If I save their life, then they will have a second chance to change, and use their life for a good cause instead of being selfish.  I can't change your mind, but I ask that you be less hasty to judge someone as useless, and especially less hasty to state that the weak are better off dying."

Time lapse to when they are with the cultist

When the cultist heard her words he shrugged, and a purple pulse emitted from him, causing the earthen grip around him to crumble despite Amora controlling it. He took a single step forward, the pulse echoing through the ground, preventing her from controlling it.  "He couldn't take life anymore and we offered him an option that helped both parties.  Any one of us would have done it of course, but since he was such a sorry man we figured we'd-"  He was interrupted as Oras tried to use his magic on him, but the man vanished before their eyes, appearing beside Oras as he touched the man's arm.  Oras grunted from surprise and felt weak, but managed to push the man aside.  The cultist chuckled and continued.  "We figured we'd be better off using him than a more, strong and loyal member.  As for your home, I can only assume...  Well I can't assume anything really.  We haven't killed any villages as of now.  Just a bunch of morons who walked into our harvesting grounds.  That and a few trees in the process.  What's it to you girl?"

She looks over to her mentor realizing that the two of them were talking about two entirely different topics as she shakes her head from side to side at that fact. Wondering how neither picked up on that, or for her not bothering to look too the different side of things. She really doesn't know which and can't find the power to care all that much about who failed to see what. Verus i know that there are those who are too weak to defend themselves that is why they have the strong nearby in the form of those guards who are meant to protect them. I would protect those who are too weak to defend themselves also. I talk about the people who let themselves be corrupt enough to abuse the power they have, or for those who live in blissful ignorance on purpose to try and look away from the evil in the world. Those who choose to live that blissfully ignorant life leave themselves in the most danger from refusing to look at the evil that would be rushing right towards them and thus ending there life in a literal manner or a figurative one. The ones who choose to be ignorant are the ones i have no pity for really. Since they had let that happen to themselves at that point if they were willing to look away from their defeat. She says before jumping down the well ending the conversation for now, and knowing she might hear a ear full later upon this subject.

Time skip to cultist

She looks at the target as it just wipes her earth away within moments as she grits her teeth and then sees her mentor get taken out shortly after as her mind tries to figure out what is even going on. Time magic maybe? Could explain fast movements, earth grumbling from age. She says softly to herself as she takes out her dagger while firing off soon after a rock pellet flying at the man. Having her dagger ready for some close on combat with the man. The rock pellet being one of her faster attacks as she follows up with rock spikes shooting up around him with only one escape plan to jump up where she would slam her earth wall down at him to knock him to the ground, or to jump back towards the corner of the room limiting his range of movements while also being hit by a head sized rock fired at him. My home is nature, and you have violated it with your corruption upon it. For that you will be taken down fro harming my home. She says with some slight anger in her voice controlling it so she doesn't allow manipulation or her forced trap to get ruined.

Clearly she was upset with the cultist, who was now grinning at her anger. When the rock pellet she formed and shot towards him approached, he lifted up his hand, watching as the stone turned to dust and vanished before it hit his face. When she sent the spikes up towards him he seemed to be slightly confused. "Now that is interesting," he muttered to himself. The spikes however also turned to dust then nothing as they almost reached him. He didn't seem to be gaining any fatigue either as he began to walk towards him. When he heard her mention how her home was nature he tilted his head. Oras shot forward again, summoning his illusions as he did so. The cultist laughed lightly. "How amusing!" Oras and his lllusions rushing in to fight melee martial arts. However as they moved to strike him, his illusions flickered out before vanishing completely. The man drew two daggers and fought against Oras, daggers verses daggers. Oras, although shocked, did his best to hold his own. The difficulty of this was that the man was extraordinarily fast. Faster than any normal human should be. What was his magic? Did he have some kind of speed boost? Could he control time? Did he negate magic? The man suddenly threw the dagger at close range to Oras, who managed to dodge it with the exception of receiving a cut in the process. The man then drew something else. When Oras recognized what it was he tried to retaliate but was too late and felt a pain in his back as he was pulled to the cultist. Who of course threw Oras behind him with a satisfied nod.

The cultist turned his attention back to Amora. He grinned again as he waved his hand, a shimmer appearing between Oras and he. "So you consider nature to be your home? That's quite selfish of you, seeing as nature is owned by no one. One could say you are claiming to own the world. Regardless of whether or not you claim this of course, you don't have the right to tell others how to interact with nature. That forest wasn't owned by anyone, and the animal species in that forest are nowhere near extinction. A few packs here and there died is all. Still..." He placed his hand on his heart and bowed to her. "My deepest apologies. We didn't mean to bring any harm to anyone you consider your family. If it makes you feel any better, we can and will restore the forest to the glory it was before this... Once we're finished with the harvest sectors that is. If you are still not satisfied then, well. I'll have to do something I suppose." If Amora tried to attack him with her magic, or with a physical attack, he would act quickly. Discarding her magic again and grabbing her by the arm and throat. He'd force her to her knees, disappointment and slight sadness in his smile. Otherwise he'd just wait to hear what she had to say.

She watches as her abilities one after the other just get ignored entirely as she frowns in frustration of this happening for seemingly no reason at all to her as she watches her mentor rush into battle against the cultist in question. She sees the illusions just fade away as her eyes widen realizing the possibilities of what is going on in front of her. Her mind having picked up on teh fact that magic is vast and infinite within its possibilities for what a person could do. With this in mind she quickly activates Gaia's pull to reinforce the gravity around her to try and slow down the person in front of her as she glances towards her mentor watching him get treated like just a child with how he was defeated. Magic cancellation, and maybe empowerment of yourself. That or you somehow know how to boost your own capabilities. She says towards the cultist her mind having worked that as the final solution for how what is happening is actually occurring. That the cultist has some kind of anti-magic field that empowers him when spells are flung in his direction to increase his own power output. She takes out her own dagger and holds it in her hand with a calm look on her face as she just grips it tightly to steel her nerves and anxiety at seeing her mentor get treated like a ragdoll.

She grits her teeth as the man dismisses her claim as nature as her domain. As her safe haven from all of humanity and its annoying rules and society that tries to ruin her life. She grits her teeth as silver flames erupt around her within a silver aura as her eyes remain amber. A rage filled with a weird clarity powering through her as she charges towards the cultist in anger. My home is not yours to toy with! She shouts in anger as she uses her right hand that holds the dagger to make it seem like she is going for a overhead stab. Before quickly switching to a left hook towards the cultists head as fast as her body is willing to push itself.

The cultist's eyebrow raised and he grinned again. Clapping his hands slowly. "Brava my dear, you figured it out... Half of it at least." He saw her attack him, and as she swung her arm at him, he leaned to the right, grabbing her arm with one of his hands and her abdomen with his other, and launched her onto the wall nearby. As she fell to the ground, her dagger turned to metal dust. "The more my opponent's use magic against me, the more my physical body enhances. In addition I mastered a secondary magic: Decay. Not only will your magic fall at the seams against me, but any weapon or armor you possess will be just as useless to you. At any rate, it's not your property. Nature owns itself, but cannot stop anyone superior to it from doing as they wish. you hate me, but you've seen those towns correct? you know as well as I that they could live in the forest the natural way. Yet they tear down billions, trillions of trees just to build their own little governments. Their systems, their police. Their 'protection'. You get angry at us destroying one small area which we promise to restore, yet you ignore the fact that they laid waste to an infinite more. And you've no doubt seen the 'success' they've had with their systems eh? What we plan to achieve? Our main objective? The effects of our success will allow us to fix all of it... But enough of that."

He walked over to Amora and if she struck at him with either fist or foot he would grab it and shove the limb back against the wall. He placed a hand on her throat. "If you intend to fight us, then I'll see to it that you are made useless in that fight. I, am truly sorry about this. I had hoped you would understand our side of it. But now, I must take away your magic." And with that his hand glowed violet. She would feel a searing pain as he cut off her ties to the magic outside of her own flesh and blood. He created a shield around her that kept any of her mana from passing through her skin. Permanently making castor magic impossible for her to use. And thus, rendering her magic useless. "Amora!" Oras cried. The cultist turned to look when he was punched by Oras. The masked individual had lost his mask, the metal having fallen off when he was hit. It lay cracked on the floor. Oras lashed out at the cultist, striking relentlessly. The man was surprised, as he had set up a magic barrier that decayed anything that- Suddenly he realized. He could see the tears, burns, scars and the like on Oras' clothes and skin. He forced his way through. The cultist threw down the shield and fended Oras off long enough to escape the attack, shooting up the rope unlike any human. "Until next time my dears!"

Oras rushed over to Amora. "Amora are you alright? Amora?!"

She growls angrily at the man until she feels her throat grabbed and feels her skin begin to burn as her legs move back as they arch along with her back. Tears starting to form at her eyes from the pain as she lets out a pained gasp that is barely there as her throat tries to form noise as a pained whimper only escapes her magic is cut off from her. She falls onto the ground whimpering and shivering from the sensation as she becomes oblivious to the entire world around her. The silver aura cutting off from her as she passes unconscious for a brief moment only to wake up a second later to searing pain throughout her entire being. She moves a shaky hand to her chest and touches the floor trying to move the earth...she starts crying without any hesitation. Feeling something empty within her. Feeling as if something vitally important had just been robbed from her and that her connection to the world had just been cut off from her. She slams her fist into the ground over and over trying to force even just a tiny spike only for nothing to happen. Amora just covers her head with the hood ignoring the sounds of flesh being hit, ignoring the sound of voices talking as all she feels is pain and a empty void within her now that she can't do what she is proud. She moves her hand to the dagger that has signs of decay slightly along it as she holds it close to herself now having that as the only reminder of what she had once been.

She hears her mentor's voice as she slowly turns her head as the small lights of the room only illuminate her face ever so slightly. Once amber eyes burning with determination and strength now just look dead and lifeless. A girl holding a small dagger vertically and carefully as not to hurt herself huddled up in a fetal position if it was done by sitting upwards. Clothes looking rough for wear because of the man's magic. I...i.. she just mutters out in a broken tone of voice. A voice that has been defeated utterly without any hope of hope. She just stares at the dagger and slowly starts to turn it within her hands.

Oras used his magic to launch the dagger from her hands and into the wall on the other side of the room. He pulled her in close into his arms, holding her tightly. If she fought and beat on him he wouldn't let go. He didn't use magic to hold her still, or reduce the pain. If she tried to crawl out he'd hold her tighter, hugging her in the hopes of consoling her despite him not knowing how to. If/when she calmed down or went limp, he would sit down, still holding her close to him. All throughout all of this he would say: "It's ok. Everything will be alright, it's ok." He rubbed her back as gently as he could, slowly loosening his grip. To a more comforting embrace rather than urgent and protective. Soon enough she was calm enough to listen. "I can't imagine how you must feel right now, but I need to ask you to be strong ok? You can't just lose magic forever, he simply placed a locked door. We'll find a way don't worry Amora. You need to be patient. You need to be strong. You aren't useless, and you won't be a burden to me. No matter what happens I'll be here for you. Ok?" Oras would continue to speak encouragement to her until she either spoke, passed out/fell asleep, or gave any physical acknowledgement. Oras would not leave that position until she made it clear she was better, or at least able and willing to move. If she was ready to go but was too physically weak from the shock to do so, or if she didn't want to physically move, but was ready to leave. Oras would pick her up and help her that way.