![Grand Master [2000]](https://i.imgur.com/SGD5XSW.png)
![Master [1000]](https://i.imgur.com/AQXM4xC.png)
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The light faded around them again, and to Sorano’s great relief, the pain that had accompanied her before in the form of the arachnid’s poisonous strike had faded away as well. Once more, gratitude was developed for the transportation services, that allowed her to keep from potentially dying of a magical poison. In fact, how did the Magic Council get their hands on so powerful a portal? And why was it, that with these powers at their fingertips, they still couldn’t solve this beacon issue on their own? Drop a couple Rune Knights in with portals of this strength and they should be able to get the task done just as well too, right? Or what about Samira Nassar, the famed wizard saint that was the greatest mage in all of Fiore? Surely she was a more worthy opponent for these creatures, no? The problem was quite puzzling, but there were greater issues to worry about, as the girls soon realized. See, Snowfall Island, which it was very obviously the place they were, was freezing. Constant ice storms and snow dropped from the skies here, causing the merely human and feline Sorano and Hoshi shivering, feeling the starting up of potential hypothermia in their veins. A shuddering sigh swept through Sorano’s body as her dark eyes peered out at the falling snow, raising an eyebrow briefly before casting a spell to keep them safe. In a gust of energy, a shield of magic settled around them, leaving a small umbrella of warmth and protection from the elements for each mage. It was indeed draining on Sorano’s magical energy, but it was either this or freeze to death. The choice was quite clear.
The two trekked through the snow, trying to get a bearing on where they were. The place was caked in ice and snow, causing their surroundings to simply look like endless fields of pillowy white mounds. Only the barest differences in color of the snow allowed them to tell directions apart, and even then the information was little and insufficient. Giving in to necessity, Sorano placed the charm on her bracelet to the snow, getting it to detect the energy of the place and utilize it to build up a map of the land. The details it provided were too vague for them to be able to really get a grip on their surroundings, however. And it was all too easy to get lost in this mess of a storm that seemed to always be ongoing around them.
Glancing over at Hoshi’s worried expression, Sorano could tell that the situation was too difficult for the exceed as well. With the storm and clouds so thick, flying would be both a dangerous and difficult task that was unlikely to reap much information. With the visibility so low, it would be astonishing if she could indeed see a thing. Instead, they’d have to depend on their other senses, and their magical ability to get through this one. Stretching out her senses, Sorano reached tendrils of her magical energy around the land, trying to pick up that familiar malefic energy that all these monsters possessed. Slowly, the two inched forward, Hoshi casting upon Sorano a furtive glance every now and then to make sure she didn’t trip and fall due to her extreme concentration. It took several minutes, but finally the letter mage looked up, blinking quickly before speedwalking toward a certain direction. The further she went, the more of that familiar energy she could feel, swarming through the air. Sure, there was definitely a risk factor here, but they’d have to defeat the beacon’s key in one way or the other, no?
Making their way through the swirling snow, Sorano frowned as a sudden itching sensation rose up on her arm. Whirling around to see what could have caused it, a faint buzzing sound a flash of icy white would be seen. There it was! A source of the dark energy had just done something to her arm? Peering down, the letter mage observed the familiar mound of a mosquito bite, slowly forming. Ice mosquitoes? Hoshi let out a yell the next moment as well, leading the guild master the swing her head around once more. “There’s little ice mosquitoes coming at me—ahhhhhh!” Hoshi’s yell brought Sorano running, slamming a burst of fire into the air where she could see many other of the creatures coming at them. The fire would melt off a couple of the pesky creatures, but the rest continued strongly, gathering up together before striking at Hoshi with an angry buzzing. This time, Sorano was too late to stop them, the low visibility making it too difficult to aim, and the exceed fell back with an anguished cry. When they left, her fur was matted with pinprick of blood from their attacks, leaving her in shock and weakened immensely. A scowl began twitching at the edge of Sorano’s lips, the shadow of her former self still instructing her body what it was supposed to instinctively do in a situation like this.
Coldly, the letter mage blasted open a dome of light around herself and Hoshi, as well as the mosquitoes. Even more mosquitoes fell this time, the dome’s holy energy frying a few while also healing Hoshi’s wounds. As soon as the feline looked ot be back on her feet, the letter mage let the shield drop, moving on to defeat the others. This would be done with a well-placed lightning strike, crashing down from the sky and frying the mosquitoes where they flew. A satisfying crackle of electricity blasted apart the clouds for a moment as well, lending the mages brief, sweet respite from the onslaught of cold flakes. Now – onto the key! With this goal in mind, the two surged forward in determination. They were almost done with reactivating all the beacons by now. After Snowfall Island’s beacon, all that would be left should be Divide Island – likely the most difficult one as well, based on what Sorano had observed in previous occasions. It seemed that each island’s monsters became harder and harder to deal with than the next. What could be the cause of that? As usual, the letter mage’s tendency to overthink caused her to hesitate, wasting precious time before Hoshi tuggd her forward with a groan. “C’mon, Sorano, we gotta fight the key first. Then you can muse and theorize all you want, is that fine?”
The letter mage nodded quickly, blinking herself out of her thoughts in a movement so innocent that Hoshi couldn’t help but giggle at the sight, injecting a much needed moment of humor into the whole affair. However, when your companion was an emotionless child who was far more accomplished than you in every way possible, there was no one to share her laughter with, and the exceed quickly stopped. The atmosphere thickened again once more as they trekked along, Sorano pulling out her bracelet and placing it against the corpse of one of the ice mosquitoes. With this information, they could then have the jewelry set direct the girls to the location of the source of these creatures, which was probably the key. After all, the keys hadall held the highest concentrations of dark and malefic energy, meaning that they should easily be detected by a gimmick such as the one Sorano had bought. The bracelet and earring set was turning out to be quite useful, and they were making good time through the snow, something that had not been expected considering the weather.
Before long, the two approached a giant pillar of ice, holding within a mage who looked almost to be one with the ice around him himself. Radiating outwards from him was not only the powerful malefic energy, but also astonishing magical power as well. Whoever this mage was, he was not someone that they would want to mess around with. His abilities may very well be far above those of Sorano’s – seeing as the previous keys were already greatly risky, one could only imagine the painful effort it would take to defeat someone like this.
Instantly, Sorano attacked, hurling a sound-based spell all around her, and knocking him briefly forward. He looked surprised, before turning around with a smirk on his face. The mage promptly placed his hands on the floor, calling out “Ice Make: Battlefield!” in a ferocious roar before a huge blizzard engulfed the entire pillar, clouding the visibility even more and trapping them all within the pillar of ice. The temperature promptly dropped as well, forcing Sorano to up the warmth of their protective circles even more. Already, she knew that he obviously had the upper hand in this situation. There was no way to reverse his magic spell easily, that was for sure. Striking out again, Sorano let loose her signature lightning bolt on top of the pillar, the electricity crackling wildly around them as it struck the man on his head. He once more looked surprised, shocked that such a small girl was capable of so much destructive energy, which helped to lower his guards. Reacting instantly, taking full advantage of his slip-up, the letter mage pulled out Fanirvuh and loosed an arrow in his direction. It exploded upon impact, causing the man to suddenly lower immensely in speed, making it easy for Sorano to strike with an explosion from another arrow, only a second later. This time, the man stumbled again, but was more accustomed to Sorano’s attacks, taking it really quite well. It would continue on like this, the battle between two powerful mages. Sorano’s constant barrage of spells against the man and his ice shield with Hoshi on the side distracting him and striking every now and then with bursts of fire at her paws, they slowly wore him down.
With a final barrage of spears followed up promptly by an explosion of electricity upon his head, the man would find himself stumbling, slowing down at last. On the other hand, Sorano wasn’t faring much better, either. Her magic stores were near depleted, and she stumbled, suffering from deep gashes in her legs where the Master Maker had sent most of his attacks. But even so, they would eventually succeed, the man dying with a spear through the heart and collapsing on te ground, the beacon glowing once more at his death. A golden light swept up around the slowly collapsing into unconsciousness Sorano and Hoshi, teleporting them to their final destination.
10,542 / 12,500 words
Next Part
The light faded around them again, and to Sorano’s great relief, the pain that had accompanied her before in the form of the arachnid’s poisonous strike had faded away as well. Once more, gratitude was developed for the transportation services, that allowed her to keep from potentially dying of a magical poison. In fact, how did the Magic Council get their hands on so powerful a portal? And why was it, that with these powers at their fingertips, they still couldn’t solve this beacon issue on their own? Drop a couple Rune Knights in with portals of this strength and they should be able to get the task done just as well too, right? Or what about Samira Nassar, the famed wizard saint that was the greatest mage in all of Fiore? Surely she was a more worthy opponent for these creatures, no? The problem was quite puzzling, but there were greater issues to worry about, as the girls soon realized. See, Snowfall Island, which it was very obviously the place they were, was freezing. Constant ice storms and snow dropped from the skies here, causing the merely human and feline Sorano and Hoshi shivering, feeling the starting up of potential hypothermia in their veins. A shuddering sigh swept through Sorano’s body as her dark eyes peered out at the falling snow, raising an eyebrow briefly before casting a spell to keep them safe. In a gust of energy, a shield of magic settled around them, leaving a small umbrella of warmth and protection from the elements for each mage. It was indeed draining on Sorano’s magical energy, but it was either this or freeze to death. The choice was quite clear.
The two trekked through the snow, trying to get a bearing on where they were. The place was caked in ice and snow, causing their surroundings to simply look like endless fields of pillowy white mounds. Only the barest differences in color of the snow allowed them to tell directions apart, and even then the information was little and insufficient. Giving in to necessity, Sorano placed the charm on her bracelet to the snow, getting it to detect the energy of the place and utilize it to build up a map of the land. The details it provided were too vague for them to be able to really get a grip on their surroundings, however. And it was all too easy to get lost in this mess of a storm that seemed to always be ongoing around them.
Glancing over at Hoshi’s worried expression, Sorano could tell that the situation was too difficult for the exceed as well. With the storm and clouds so thick, flying would be both a dangerous and difficult task that was unlikely to reap much information. With the visibility so low, it would be astonishing if she could indeed see a thing. Instead, they’d have to depend on their other senses, and their magical ability to get through this one. Stretching out her senses, Sorano reached tendrils of her magical energy around the land, trying to pick up that familiar malefic energy that all these monsters possessed. Slowly, the two inched forward, Hoshi casting upon Sorano a furtive glance every now and then to make sure she didn’t trip and fall due to her extreme concentration. It took several minutes, but finally the letter mage looked up, blinking quickly before speedwalking toward a certain direction. The further she went, the more of that familiar energy she could feel, swarming through the air. Sure, there was definitely a risk factor here, but they’d have to defeat the beacon’s key in one way or the other, no?
Making their way through the swirling snow, Sorano frowned as a sudden itching sensation rose up on her arm. Whirling around to see what could have caused it, a faint buzzing sound a flash of icy white would be seen. There it was! A source of the dark energy had just done something to her arm? Peering down, the letter mage observed the familiar mound of a mosquito bite, slowly forming. Ice mosquitoes? Hoshi let out a yell the next moment as well, leading the guild master the swing her head around once more. “There’s little ice mosquitoes coming at me—ahhhhhh!” Hoshi’s yell brought Sorano running, slamming a burst of fire into the air where she could see many other of the creatures coming at them. The fire would melt off a couple of the pesky creatures, but the rest continued strongly, gathering up together before striking at Hoshi with an angry buzzing. This time, Sorano was too late to stop them, the low visibility making it too difficult to aim, and the exceed fell back with an anguished cry. When they left, her fur was matted with pinprick of blood from their attacks, leaving her in shock and weakened immensely. A scowl began twitching at the edge of Sorano’s lips, the shadow of her former self still instructing her body what it was supposed to instinctively do in a situation like this.
Coldly, the letter mage blasted open a dome of light around herself and Hoshi, as well as the mosquitoes. Even more mosquitoes fell this time, the dome’s holy energy frying a few while also healing Hoshi’s wounds. As soon as the feline looked ot be back on her feet, the letter mage let the shield drop, moving on to defeat the others. This would be done with a well-placed lightning strike, crashing down from the sky and frying the mosquitoes where they flew. A satisfying crackle of electricity blasted apart the clouds for a moment as well, lending the mages brief, sweet respite from the onslaught of cold flakes. Now – onto the key! With this goal in mind, the two surged forward in determination. They were almost done with reactivating all the beacons by now. After Snowfall Island’s beacon, all that would be left should be Divide Island – likely the most difficult one as well, based on what Sorano had observed in previous occasions. It seemed that each island’s monsters became harder and harder to deal with than the next. What could be the cause of that? As usual, the letter mage’s tendency to overthink caused her to hesitate, wasting precious time before Hoshi tuggd her forward with a groan. “C’mon, Sorano, we gotta fight the key first. Then you can muse and theorize all you want, is that fine?”
The letter mage nodded quickly, blinking herself out of her thoughts in a movement so innocent that Hoshi couldn’t help but giggle at the sight, injecting a much needed moment of humor into the whole affair. However, when your companion was an emotionless child who was far more accomplished than you in every way possible, there was no one to share her laughter with, and the exceed quickly stopped. The atmosphere thickened again once more as they trekked along, Sorano pulling out her bracelet and placing it against the corpse of one of the ice mosquitoes. With this information, they could then have the jewelry set direct the girls to the location of the source of these creatures, which was probably the key. After all, the keys hadall held the highest concentrations of dark and malefic energy, meaning that they should easily be detected by a gimmick such as the one Sorano had bought. The bracelet and earring set was turning out to be quite useful, and they were making good time through the snow, something that had not been expected considering the weather.
Before long, the two approached a giant pillar of ice, holding within a mage who looked almost to be one with the ice around him himself. Radiating outwards from him was not only the powerful malefic energy, but also astonishing magical power as well. Whoever this mage was, he was not someone that they would want to mess around with. His abilities may very well be far above those of Sorano’s – seeing as the previous keys were already greatly risky, one could only imagine the painful effort it would take to defeat someone like this.
Instantly, Sorano attacked, hurling a sound-based spell all around her, and knocking him briefly forward. He looked surprised, before turning around with a smirk on his face. The mage promptly placed his hands on the floor, calling out “Ice Make: Battlefield!” in a ferocious roar before a huge blizzard engulfed the entire pillar, clouding the visibility even more and trapping them all within the pillar of ice. The temperature promptly dropped as well, forcing Sorano to up the warmth of their protective circles even more. Already, she knew that he obviously had the upper hand in this situation. There was no way to reverse his magic spell easily, that was for sure. Striking out again, Sorano let loose her signature lightning bolt on top of the pillar, the electricity crackling wildly around them as it struck the man on his head. He once more looked surprised, shocked that such a small girl was capable of so much destructive energy, which helped to lower his guards. Reacting instantly, taking full advantage of his slip-up, the letter mage pulled out Fanirvuh and loosed an arrow in his direction. It exploded upon impact, causing the man to suddenly lower immensely in speed, making it easy for Sorano to strike with an explosion from another arrow, only a second later. This time, the man stumbled again, but was more accustomed to Sorano’s attacks, taking it really quite well. It would continue on like this, the battle between two powerful mages. Sorano’s constant barrage of spells against the man and his ice shield with Hoshi on the side distracting him and striking every now and then with bursts of fire at her paws, they slowly wore him down.
With a final barrage of spears followed up promptly by an explosion of electricity upon his head, the man would find himself stumbling, slowing down at last. On the other hand, Sorano wasn’t faring much better, either. Her magic stores were near depleted, and she stumbled, suffering from deep gashes in her legs where the Master Maker had sent most of his attacks. But even so, they would eventually succeed, the man dying with a spear through the heart and collapsing on te ground, the beacon glowing once more at his death. A golden light swept up around the slowly collapsing into unconsciousness Sorano and Hoshi, teleporting them to their final destination.
10,542 / 12,500 words
Next Part
